Stuck in Mud or Soaring as Eagles
by Ron McGatlin
In the old days of my youth in Texas, many roads in rural areas were dirt or graveled. In parts of the world, they still are that way. In a rainy season it took a certain skill, developed by experience, to navigate the mud and ruts without getting stuck or sliding off into the ditch on either side of the road.
The trails and roads traveled by forerunners in the frontier of transitioning into the kingdom of God are yet unpaved and can be seriously difficult at times. Traveling alone or with one or two others, a forerunner can acquire skill in dealing with the miry mud and pitfalls of preparing a road.
It is much more difficult to attempt to lead a group of busses loaded with people through the undeveloped roads and trails of the kingdom frontier. Their previous lives on the paved streets of Babylonian cities did not prepare the bus drivers for the difficulties of moving through the unfamiliar unpaved roads toward the kingdom of God lifestyle. The road to New Jerusalem, the City of God, can be much more difficult than the religious routines of the paved streets ofBabylon.
The job of forerunners and pioneers in the transition to kingdom is to build up a highway for the people to travel on through the wilderness and desert areas to the kingdom of God life (Isa 62:10).
My heart aches again and again as I witness good people seeking to navigate the trail of forerunners getting stuck in the mud or sliding off the road into the ditch.
Much of the problem is that they usually have a heavily loaded trailer hitched to their small vehicle. Mostly their trailers are loaded with people, possessions, and keepsakes (traditional ways) from their past lives.
Often they are trying to drag people who do not want to go and will not go on this forerunner journey. They soon become stuck in the mud and waste great amounts of energy in spinning their wheels. Yes, they have a powerful engine of Spirit-led desire to make the journey out of Babylon and into New Jerusalem, the real kingdom of God. However, they have no traction to move the loaded vehicle from being stuck in the mud of their unwillingness to leave things that they do not really need in the kingdom and the people who are not willing to go.
Natural Human Compassion
Through misguided human compassion they believe they that must not leave anyone behind on this journey. They cannot see clearly through the fog of natural compassion. They do not know that the best thing they can do for everyone involved is to respond to God’s call and move forward toward the kingdom, to establish a road and eventually a highway for the people coming after them.
The first century disciples left their businesses, lands, and families to follow Jesus toward the kingdom of God. Even Jesus left His disciples temporarily dashing their hopes and dreams of kingdom. However, He left them with the promise that He would come again for them to abide in Him and He in them to establish the kingdom of God on earth.
Not everyone must be a forerunner. However, those who will be must leave their past life and receive the fullness of kingdom life now in Christ and Christ in them.
"Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life." ~ Jesus
Do not be deceived.
We must lift up our eyes to the hills (the higher places of God) and receive His help to cleanse our hands and ascend the hill of the Lord (Psa 24). Do not be deceived; we cannot drag anything that defiles into the New Jerusalem life of the kingdom of God on earth (Rev 21:27). Even more importantly, we cannot go ourselves if we stay with them.
No sexually immoral person will make this journey. Liars, cheaters, thieves, unbelievers, manipulators, extortionist, murderers, and those who take simple people and naïve children captive shall not make this journey. No one with other gods in their hearts will make this forerunner trip into the fullness of the kingdom of God. Those who cannot leave their religion and release to God their possessions, businesses, and families cannot be forerunners.
We cannot look back.
"No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." ~ Jesus
Forerunners must not be distracted by natural civilian things. All else in life is secondary at best. Looking back will disqualify us from moving on into becoming mature sons of the kingdom of God now. How much more does reaching back, for any reason, prove us to be unfit for the kingdom?
Only by the Spirit can these things be done.
Utter dependence and reliance on the Spirit of Christ in us by the Holy Spirit is the only way to be and to do the things before us in transitioning to the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. The grace of God flowing by the Holy Spirit is the empowerment to will and to do the supernatural work of moving from treading in mud to soaring in the Spirit as eagles.
If the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us to lift us to the supernatural spiritual reality of being as Christ is in this world, we can soar as eagles. The supernatural transition can be much faster and easier – a light burden and easy yoke, by the Spirit.
This journey will not be without opposition. Wild beasts will stalk us throughout the journey through the frontier. However, in Christ and Christ in us we are more than conquerors and fully overcome. He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. We must ignore the wild beast that stalk us and seek to distract us on our journey. Focus on the Lord and ignore the evil spirits and those driven by them around us. If we focus on the evil ones, we will lose our focus on the Lord and the journey into His kingdom. We will find ourselves again stuck and spinning our wheels in mud or sliding off into the roadside ditch of distraction.
I believe there are a lot of road-building kingdom people reading this who are on this journey that are now gathering into troops of a militia type army of forerunners to lead the worldwide body to fully cross over the Jordan and possess the promised land. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. ~ Paul
It is my opinion, that there has never been a more extreme and potentially productive season in history regarding the reality of the kingdom of God from heaven on earth. This is not a time for pondering or indecision in spiritual weakness or hesitation. Rather, it is a day for clearly hearing by the Spirit and quickly obeying with boldness the leading of the Lord of glory.
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” ~ Jesus
Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
David Wilkerson Was Killed Today In A Car Crash -
Please pray for the Wilkerson family and church family. David Wilkerson was killed in a car accident and his wife is in critical condition. He was a true man of God.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/April/Rev-David-Wilkerson-Killed-in-TX-Car-Crash/
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/April/Rev-David-Wilkerson-Killed-in-TX-Car-Crash/
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
How Can A Nation Survive!
CALLED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
How Can A Nation Survive!
Prophetic words are speaking volumes in this hour and God's still small voice is speaking. Hear Him. The Word of the Lord is going forth from mouths that are willing to speak. Some have not yet come to maturity but God is never the less raising up prophetic voices that will come to maturity in the days ahead. The voice of the Lord is speaking through things that are taking place in the nations. God is speaking and His voice is resounding through the disasters we are seeing. We are hearing, seeing the need to repent of sin in our land.
How can a nation survive if there God is not the Lord? How can a nation win out over the enemy if she is living in sin? How can a nation survive if it kills its unborn before they come to life? How can a nation survive if they have other gods before Me? How can a nation survive if they do not serve Me, the one true God? Jesus is My name!
How can a nation go on in pretense and not wake up to the times they are living in? How can a nation survive without prayer in its churches and in the hearts of men and women? How can a nation survive if there are no family altars, I ask you how can your nation survive? Cry out, cry loud for the Word of the Lord needs to be spoken from the mouth of God's prophets. Repentance needs to be preached, and do not fear to speak it out loudly. There needs to be a sound throughout the land, crying out. Repent of the sins of the people, repent of the sins in your land. Repent, repent, repent lest a worst thing come upon you.
Now is the day of your salvation, now is the day of deliverance from the hand of your enemies. The enemy is at the door and he is encroaching just waiting for another opportunity to pounce like a thief in the night. Wake up My people! Wake up out of your sleep and I will give you light. There is no better day to serve the Lord, for darkness is on the face of your land. Cry out, for out of this there can be two outcomes. Victory and peace from your enemies or they will control you and you will be brought into a life of servitude to them. Nations were taken captive who did not serve Me but chose to serve other gods. Do you not desire better for your children and your childrens, children?
Repent and come before Me solemnly. Repent of your sin and turn to Me before it is too late. The hour is late but there is still opportunity for repentance in your land though the time is short. Repent and hear My voice, says the Lord.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Word of the Lord May 2011 by Prophet Phyllis Ford
Word of the Lord May 2011
by Prophet Phyllis Ford
Arlington, Texas
www.carpenterstouch.org
PhyllisFordMinistries@gmail.com
April 24, 2011
“Behold I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious and he that believeth on me shall not be confounded.” 1 Peter 2:6
I am building you, joining you together, and preparing you to be a holy habitation of my grace and my glory. (Eph 2:21) I will pour out my power, and breathe the breath of life over you---- and you will know because I will direct you by my own Spirit, by my anointing, and by my dominion. I will build up the areas of your life that have been torn down by the perils of the day. So allow my Spirit to direct you. Stay in a place of consecration and prayer, so that I may strengthen you and rebuild within you that which you need to be victorious. I will blow upon you my wisdom, and it will enhance that which I originally placed in you before the foundations of the earth----You will walk in a grace that will bring you to a peace even in the midst of this storm. So allow me to walk you through these trouble times ahead. It will not be easy, but it is not impossible----only believe. But, you must build as I build---in your word life and prayer life, and walking in obedience of my word---Stay before me.----I will reveal to you mysteries in my word, and I will take you into levels and depths that you have never seen.
I am placing order in your lives according to that which I established in my word before. As you follow my pathway that I set before you, you will be able to see the perils that placed this nation in the trouble that it is in. This will give you greater insight as how to pray to avert some serious things ahead. Because as these days of upheaval arise, you must have answers for those who are ready to make the necessary adjustments and ready for those who are called to cry out and for those who are ready to really make a difference without wavering. There is much to do, and the time to initiate the changes nationwide is short.
But know that out of chaos I will bring order; I will bring my light and my glory----and it will be upon my people in the time---when it is most needed. For I will execute a mighty plan, and as it unfolds you will see and you will understand. So walk it out and win. Allow me to navigate you through the trouble that you are looking at in this hour, and do not fear. For you will see confusion in the land and amongst the people, but you must be sober minded and focus on the kingdom work ahead, and you will not be ashamed, says the Lord.
I will reveal the hidden plans in the White House, in the government, and even within the leaders of other nations; for there will be a gathering, a positioning, and a revealing of those whose hidden agenda will be made known. You will know whose loyalties are with whom. So these next three months will unveil the enemies’ plots, and there will be a battle in the heavenlies and a battle amongst the nations: a battle amongst heads of government, and the US must cry out for direction, protection, and strength. They must pray about the leaders within the US and ask for wisdom on how to handle their affairs to avert the evil plots that are being set up against them; and pray concerning how to maneuver around the traps set in place against them even concerning the declaration of war. Pray around the food shortages that are already in existence. Many dilemmas will be surrounding the US and there will be frustration and confusion in the cities and confusion in the government.
The Prayer level must increase, because THE PRAYERS WILL POSITION AND PREPARE THE RIGHTTEOUS --- AND MY PEOPLE SHALL ARISE WITH STRENGTH AND KEEN DISCERNMENT --- and you will fight this battle on several levels.
1. Within your own life and as you regain victory in the spiritual realm through your faith and conviction to walk out your life in the obedience of my word to fulfill your calling and destiny. You will come forth and carry the glory of my presence.
2. As you grow more and more responsible in your kingdom sonship----you will walk in realms that you have not been able to achieve on your own, for I will be your strength.
3. You must work out and move forth to implement great plans. Plans of storehouses, watchmen and watchtowers over regions, prayer movements, and deployment strategies within the government of the Most High.
Trouble is looming over Israel and over your land. The enemy is positioning himself to destroy her, (Israel), to strike out at her, but know that I will cover her with my love and divine protection. Cry out for Israel. ---- Cry out for her. For, your very prayers and intercession for her will open the very access and grace for your own protection. But know, I am watching over her and my promises towards her are yea and amen. But, continue to pray that my righteous will for her will be fulfilled by the sounding of my trump. Her enemies are surrounding her, but her allies are about to assemble as well. This is why I am raising up my remnant in this hour, those that have not denied my name, and I am deploying them for the battle in prayer, and I am getting them ready for the battle that will eventually take place concerning Israel; and there will be a great shaking also that is about to arise in this nation. Many mistakes have been made in the US, and the judging of those mistakes is now before the land and the people.
I will release to you my end time promises and mysteries of the kingdom, and you will know what to do and how to overcome; so press in further, dig deeper, pray stronger, because in that place I will release to you spiritual weapons that you will need in order to fight the good fight of faith. You will see my power manifest upon you, and you will know what to do. In this month, you will see things that will shake the very core of your life, but do not fear--- remember my words that I have spoken this day as you prepare before my presence with repentance and supplication for the land and the people. For, the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men avail much. Know that your prayers are the key to your deliverance and your future, says the Lord.
Prophetic Insights:
For those who are true watchmen and intercessors: over the next three months the Lord is calling us to heavy prayer and supplication.
We must pray:
· over the regions and issues mentioned in the Word of the Lord April 2011.
· for the building process of the body.
· concerning the trouble in Israel and the serious problems in our nation.
There is much to be done. The Lord told me to mention that there is a spirit of slumber which manifests feelings of lethargy, weariness, and hopelessness. When we see a manifestation of these things, it is to keep us from pushing in prayer. When the level of watch is at an all-time high, it can be effective to work in groups. --- Press in, and increase not decrease; breakthrough will come if we are vigilant. The Lord said that he would release resources over the next 17 days from various avenues.
by Prophet Phyllis Ford
Arlington, Texas
www.carpenterstouch.org
PhyllisFordMinistries@gmail.com
April 24, 2011
“Behold I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious and he that believeth on me shall not be confounded.” 1 Peter 2:6
I am building you, joining you together, and preparing you to be a holy habitation of my grace and my glory. (Eph 2:21) I will pour out my power, and breathe the breath of life over you---- and you will know because I will direct you by my own Spirit, by my anointing, and by my dominion. I will build up the areas of your life that have been torn down by the perils of the day. So allow my Spirit to direct you. Stay in a place of consecration and prayer, so that I may strengthen you and rebuild within you that which you need to be victorious. I will blow upon you my wisdom, and it will enhance that which I originally placed in you before the foundations of the earth----You will walk in a grace that will bring you to a peace even in the midst of this storm. So allow me to walk you through these trouble times ahead. It will not be easy, but it is not impossible----only believe. But, you must build as I build---in your word life and prayer life, and walking in obedience of my word---Stay before me.----I will reveal to you mysteries in my word, and I will take you into levels and depths that you have never seen.
I am placing order in your lives according to that which I established in my word before. As you follow my pathway that I set before you, you will be able to see the perils that placed this nation in the trouble that it is in. This will give you greater insight as how to pray to avert some serious things ahead. Because as these days of upheaval arise, you must have answers for those who are ready to make the necessary adjustments and ready for those who are called to cry out and for those who are ready to really make a difference without wavering. There is much to do, and the time to initiate the changes nationwide is short.
But know that out of chaos I will bring order; I will bring my light and my glory----and it will be upon my people in the time---when it is most needed. For I will execute a mighty plan, and as it unfolds you will see and you will understand. So walk it out and win. Allow me to navigate you through the trouble that you are looking at in this hour, and do not fear. For you will see confusion in the land and amongst the people, but you must be sober minded and focus on the kingdom work ahead, and you will not be ashamed, says the Lord.
I will reveal the hidden plans in the White House, in the government, and even within the leaders of other nations; for there will be a gathering, a positioning, and a revealing of those whose hidden agenda will be made known. You will know whose loyalties are with whom. So these next three months will unveil the enemies’ plots, and there will be a battle in the heavenlies and a battle amongst the nations: a battle amongst heads of government, and the US must cry out for direction, protection, and strength. They must pray about the leaders within the US and ask for wisdom on how to handle their affairs to avert the evil plots that are being set up against them; and pray concerning how to maneuver around the traps set in place against them even concerning the declaration of war. Pray around the food shortages that are already in existence. Many dilemmas will be surrounding the US and there will be frustration and confusion in the cities and confusion in the government.
The Prayer level must increase, because THE PRAYERS WILL POSITION AND PREPARE THE RIGHTTEOUS --- AND MY PEOPLE SHALL ARISE WITH STRENGTH AND KEEN DISCERNMENT --- and you will fight this battle on several levels.
1. Within your own life and as you regain victory in the spiritual realm through your faith and conviction to walk out your life in the obedience of my word to fulfill your calling and destiny. You will come forth and carry the glory of my presence.
2. As you grow more and more responsible in your kingdom sonship----you will walk in realms that you have not been able to achieve on your own, for I will be your strength.
3. You must work out and move forth to implement great plans. Plans of storehouses, watchmen and watchtowers over regions, prayer movements, and deployment strategies within the government of the Most High.
Trouble is looming over Israel and over your land. The enemy is positioning himself to destroy her, (Israel), to strike out at her, but know that I will cover her with my love and divine protection. Cry out for Israel. ---- Cry out for her. For, your very prayers and intercession for her will open the very access and grace for your own protection. But know, I am watching over her and my promises towards her are yea and amen. But, continue to pray that my righteous will for her will be fulfilled by the sounding of my trump. Her enemies are surrounding her, but her allies are about to assemble as well. This is why I am raising up my remnant in this hour, those that have not denied my name, and I am deploying them for the battle in prayer, and I am getting them ready for the battle that will eventually take place concerning Israel; and there will be a great shaking also that is about to arise in this nation. Many mistakes have been made in the US, and the judging of those mistakes is now before the land and the people.
I will release to you my end time promises and mysteries of the kingdom, and you will know what to do and how to overcome; so press in further, dig deeper, pray stronger, because in that place I will release to you spiritual weapons that you will need in order to fight the good fight of faith. You will see my power manifest upon you, and you will know what to do. In this month, you will see things that will shake the very core of your life, but do not fear--- remember my words that I have spoken this day as you prepare before my presence with repentance and supplication for the land and the people. For, the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men avail much. Know that your prayers are the key to your deliverance and your future, says the Lord.
Prophetic Insights:
For those who are true watchmen and intercessors: over the next three months the Lord is calling us to heavy prayer and supplication.
We must pray:
· over the regions and issues mentioned in the Word of the Lord April 2011.
· for the building process of the body.
· concerning the trouble in Israel and the serious problems in our nation.
There is much to be done. The Lord told me to mention that there is a spirit of slumber which manifests feelings of lethargy, weariness, and hopelessness. When we see a manifestation of these things, it is to keep us from pushing in prayer. When the level of watch is at an all-time high, it can be effective to work in groups. --- Press in, and increase not decrease; breakthrough will come if we are vigilant. The Lord said that he would release resources over the next 17 days from various avenues.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sleepy Eyes On Your Watch!
CALLED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
Sleepy Eyes On Your Watch!
This morning I read a headline that read, "Sleepy eyes on nations skies". Air traffic controllers have been dozing on the job and then I heard, "it is the same in the Kingdom of God". Many of you are called "intercessors" and are to be on the wall before the Lord. You are one who God called to be in place to watch over the things Father entrusts to you. That brings me to the next question. Are you sleeping on the job? Are you alert and watching in the spirit or are you like a few of the air traffic controllers asleep at the helm?
When we drive to my mothers on an old country road there is a tall tower along the way. One could climb up it if they were extremely fit. Each time in seeing it, it makes me think of an intercessors place in the spirit. One can see in the distance from above in all directions and so can you when you are before God seeing in the Spirit.
Lives depend on you! You might say, "God will raise up another" and perhaps you have become half hearted about being one of God's intercessors. Day time seems like a good time to pray but you really do dislike being wakened up from your sleep or you do wake up, roll over and are too tired to rise and intercede.
With human eyes it does seem like a thankless place where no one sees what you are doing. Most of what you see you do not share and there seems to be little recognition. Do you not think Father knows all this and yet He has called YOU. When you do rise and pray, He is right there with you just waiting to share His secrets with you. Let Father refresh you.
Wipe the slumber from your eyes, man or woman of God. Wash your face if need be and WAKE UP. The WAKE UP call is going out! Will you be available to the Lord when He needs you? You are of value and one cannot put a price on a true intercessor. You perhaps do not feel you are getting far in this area of your life and that you fail. Repent, pick up the pieces and determine in your heart to be what God has called you to be. Intercessor you are needed by the Father. You have a job to do for the Kingdom of God. Lives depend on your being alert and on the wall. It is kind of like firefighters. They may sleep in the hall but when the alarm goes off they are awake immediately and report for duty.
Prophets are intercessors and if you are going to fulfill your prophetic commission you need to be on your face before the Lord more than just a few moments each day. You need to have your eyes open to see and ears open to hear for only then can you bring fresh manna to God's people. Let us all get some fresh determination to do the things that are needful. Like Martha you can be busy about so very much. Is it all needful or do you need to do an evaluation of the priorities in your life. Take your eyes off your own situation and put it on others. If you were to stand before the Lord tomorrow what would you rather be doing today. Spending time with Father would be your first priority and making sure all things in your heart are right. You have been given life today.
Only in living life to the fullest, in being that prophetic/intercessor God has called you to be will you find true happiness fulfilling your place in the Kingdom of God.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30
Sleepy Eyes On Your Watch!
This morning I read a headline that read, "Sleepy eyes on nations skies". Air traffic controllers have been dozing on the job and then I heard, "it is the same in the Kingdom of God". Many of you are called "intercessors" and are to be on the wall before the Lord. You are one who God called to be in place to watch over the things Father entrusts to you. That brings me to the next question. Are you sleeping on the job? Are you alert and watching in the spirit or are you like a few of the air traffic controllers asleep at the helm?
When we drive to my mothers on an old country road there is a tall tower along the way. One could climb up it if they were extremely fit. Each time in seeing it, it makes me think of an intercessors place in the spirit. One can see in the distance from above in all directions and so can you when you are before God seeing in the Spirit.
Lives depend on you! You might say, "God will raise up another" and perhaps you have become half hearted about being one of God's intercessors. Day time seems like a good time to pray but you really do dislike being wakened up from your sleep or you do wake up, roll over and are too tired to rise and intercede.
With human eyes it does seem like a thankless place where no one sees what you are doing. Most of what you see you do not share and there seems to be little recognition. Do you not think Father knows all this and yet He has called YOU. When you do rise and pray, He is right there with you just waiting to share His secrets with you. Let Father refresh you.
Wipe the slumber from your eyes, man or woman of God. Wash your face if need be and WAKE UP. The WAKE UP call is going out! Will you be available to the Lord when He needs you? You are of value and one cannot put a price on a true intercessor. You perhaps do not feel you are getting far in this area of your life and that you fail. Repent, pick up the pieces and determine in your heart to be what God has called you to be. Intercessor you are needed by the Father. You have a job to do for the Kingdom of God. Lives depend on your being alert and on the wall. It is kind of like firefighters. They may sleep in the hall but when the alarm goes off they are awake immediately and report for duty.
Prophets are intercessors and if you are going to fulfill your prophetic commission you need to be on your face before the Lord more than just a few moments each day. You need to have your eyes open to see and ears open to hear for only then can you bring fresh manna to God's people. Let us all get some fresh determination to do the things that are needful. Like Martha you can be busy about so very much. Is it all needful or do you need to do an evaluation of the priorities in your life. Take your eyes off your own situation and put it on others. If you were to stand before the Lord tomorrow what would you rather be doing today. Spending time with Father would be your first priority and making sure all things in your heart are right. You have been given life today.
Only in living life to the fullest, in being that prophetic/intercessor God has called you to be will you find true happiness fulfilling your place in the Kingdom of God.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne by T. Austin-Sparks
The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne
by T. Austin-Sparks
Chapter 4 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:1-2).
We started out in our previous meditation by indicating the connection between the Passover of the Jews and the Lord's Supper of the Church as brought about by the Lord Jesus Himself in the night in which He was betrayed, and what we set out to see was that the Passover or the Lord's Supper, and what they represent of the death of Christ, is the beginning of the history of the Lord's people. All history, from God's standpoint, begins there, and, although Christendom may have created its Calendar and we talk about 1941 A.D., you have to take thirty-three years of that away before you start history from God's standpoint. The Cross of the Lord Jesus was the zero hour of this universe from God's standpoint. The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the zero hour of the history of every child of God, and nothing is taken account of by God before that, and from that and what that represents as a basic thing in history, in spiritual history, from that everything is taken account of as being of God. Now, if we can understand that, we shall have the key to everything and find a very great deal of help.
One of the outstanding features of the Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Chapter 13 of Exodus deals especially with that. In Chapter 12 verse 8 it is mentioned. "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Then that little clause "and unleavened bread" is taken up in Chapter 13, and we have a quite extensive paragraph on the matter.
"Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Jehovah. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders." (verses 6 and 7.) Now you notice that Luke makes much of that — Chapter 22:7: "And the day of unleavened bread came, on which the passover must be sacrificed."
It is already mentioned in verse 1. "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover."
That introduces the Passover and the Lord's Supper, as you will see, and that feast of unleavened bread carried on for seven days — that is a perfect spiritual period, and gives a special significance to spiritual history. Until you and I have learned the meaning of unleavened bread we have not begun real spiritual history, for such history begins by a very definite, positive establishing, as a memorial, of the meaning of unleavened bread.
I think we know what leaven stands for. To say that it is sin is far too general; it is not specific and definite enough. Of course, it is sin; but leaven is the old nature; it is the natural or the carnal man; it is that energy of the old creation; it is that ferment of the flesh; it is that seething that is in us that is ever trying to work its way out, to express itself, to enlarge itself, to inflate itself, to make its presence and influence felt, to get, possess, to get hold — all that sort of thing which is the flesh, an active element in the old carnal nature. Now that history has to have a definite crisis and be brought to an end in that crisis, has to be smitten in the death of the Lord Jesus, and not until the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread have been completed can we begin our history in living union with God's Son. That is fundamental to spiritual history.
An End and a Beginning
We have said that God takes account of nothing until the Passover is fulfilled, and everything that is of God begins and takes its rise at the point where the feast of unleavened bread is completed. That is a tremendous thing to say, beloved, but because that has not been recognized, there is the tragic history of very much done for the Lord of which He takes no account, it did not originate with Him. Failure to recognize this, and failure to have this thing really established has been and is the ground of a very great deal of Christian deception. It is an assumption, an assumption that we are the Lord's and that all is well, and Satan loves an assumption, loves people to assume, for assumption is that ground which is most fruitful for his deceptive work. What I mean is this. If with us, with you, with me, there is a coming into the things of God with an unbroken natural will, with an unsubdued natural mind, with an uncrucified natural ambition, that is fertile land for deception. Satan can get a great deal where things are like that. Somewhere, secretly, deeper than our recognition and perhaps consciousness, there is an ambition, ambition for service, for ministry, to do something, to be something, to see something; the ferment of the leaven of the old nature still at work and is brought over to the things of God. The result? Oh, if not entirely, a very large proportion of what follows is not out from God; it is a history of something which is energized by us in the Name of the Lord; a life which has its spring in ourselves although for the Lord. It has leaven in it, it has the natural energy, the natural mind, the natural judgment, the natural reason, the natural will, the natural ambition, the natural emotion. God says that everything of Himself begins at zero where we can produce nothing.
That lamb slain in its representative capacity said that on that side everything was finished. It was made sin, made a curse and smitten — the Cross is God's zero hour for the old creation. From that time, only that which comes directly, immediately out from God Himself is spiritual history, is Divine history, in us. It is only that which counts, it is only that which knows the Lord, it is only that which gets back to the Lord, it is only that which accomplishes the Lord's purpose. Nothing takes its rise in us.
The feast of unleavened bread is a very serious business to be carried on throughout seven days. It says — No place with God for this natural life! It is corrupt, it has in it that seething ferment of pride. Somewhere behind everything there is pride. That is the poison which came into the race from the serpent who said, I will. I will exalt my throne. I will be equal to the Most High. I! I! — that is leaven. The leaven is the 'I' in some form or other. I am not saying, beloved, that you and I can track it out in all its forms, but what we have to recognize is that it is there, and not one of us dare for an instant say, It is not so with me! You and I have to come to God's position about ourselves, and not one of us must seek to justify ourself in God's presence. What we have to do is to say that God's verdict is a true verdict, and, by nature there is in me the deep, active poison of an 'I' life. It is there whether I am alive to it all the time or not. It is there whether I feel most devoted to the Lord or not. It is there. As truly as we have this blood coursing in our veins, the blood of this humanity, we have in that blood the seed of a fallen nature, and that fallen nature in its principle is 'I', and that 'I' is ever aiming at getting hold of the things of God. Let us not forget that. The very heart of that is to get hold of the things of God. Satan said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: ...I will be like the Most High". I will get hold of what is God's!
That was Jacob's terrible, terrible mistake. Yes, the birthright was for Jacob, but, mark you, it was God's. Jacob had a perception of the value of Divine things. Jacob had a sense of the importance of the things of God which his brother had not, but Jacob was not content to believe, to trust that God would secure in him those Divine things, and for him and to him. Jacob, recognizing the value of Divine things, in the ferment of the leaven of the self-life must act to get his hands upon those things. You and I may be quite right in our perception of the value of Divine things, but to get them into our own hands is quite another matter; to have blessing for self, to have power to use, to have position for influence, all of which may subtly be the bringing of us somewhere — that is leaven. God cannot go on with Jacob. Twenty years of deepest discipline must lie between that first act of putting his hand upon Divine things and his being brought into the good of them; deep, deep history. That is the history of most of us. History begins there, with a feast of unleavened bread. It begins with a repudiation unto death of the self-life, the "I" principle.
In Israel it had to be very thorough. They had to search their houses with candles for any hidden leaven, and even then in their ritual afterward, before they dare offer their sacrifice, having searched, they had to make a declaration to the effect — We have searched our houses for leaven, we have done that which is commanded us in the law, but if there yet be something hidden which we have not discovered, we forswear it! It had to be very thorough.
The Feast of Remembrance
And the Lord said, This shall be a memorial throughout your generations forever! And whenever the feast of the Passover came, year by year, the feast of unleavened bread led up to it, was bound up with it. What then was its significance? It was a remembrance of a great act of separation, separation from evil. As they sat down to the feast, the story was told year by year of what the Lord did to the Egyptians, and how the Lord brought them out of Egypt, and the Lord says, This must be throughout your generations forever.
Now beloved, if the Lord's Supper corresponds to the Passover in spiritual principle, do you not see that every time we come to the Lord's Table we are telling the story? That is exactly the meaning of Paul's words in 1 Cor. 11, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim..." declare, set forth, narrate. We tell the story in act, we act the story.
The Lord marked the beginning of our spiritual history with a feast of unleavened bread. He brought us out of Egypt. What is Egypt? Well, Egypt typifies the strength and glory of the flesh: and how God had to get Egypt out of the very bones of Moses! He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and for forty long years in the wilderness Egypt was being smitten in Moses. He started out in the energy of Egypt, he started out in the wisdom of Egypt, he attempted the things of God with Egyptian resources, his position, his abilities — and God said, No! The feast of unleavened bread for forty years, and we start at zero! The man who is going to be used as an instrument for bringing people out on to heavenly ground must go through discipline. He must find heavenly ground and be emptied of all earthly ground, all natural ground. The Lord makes this divide very clear.
I know perhaps some of you are thinking, Well, where are we? We have been Christians for years; in some cases, many years. Where are we? What is our position? Well, beloved, we have to face God's facts. I am not saying that we are not Christians, that we do not belong to the Lord, but I am saying that you and I have to face God's position squarely and it is never too late to do that. God is working with us all the way along to bring us back. Oh, that we had seen it all at the beginning, but even if we had, I wonder if we could have accepted it. I wonder if it is not necessary for us to go through things in order to accept new light. We are never really brought into light by a presentation of truth. We really only come livingly into things when something has happened in us, and it takes time. However, here we are, and whatever may be said about this, here is God's position, and I ask you faithfully and solemnly, have you had a feast of unleavened bread, do you really know the consummation of that feast in the Passover in your history? If not, you have reason to question a great many things. Some of us know the divide which that makes. There have been years of very energetic, active, enthusiastic, exhausting Christian work, preaching and what not; but oh! how we look back on those years with regret and shame, that, with all the zeal and all the energy, how little, how very little comparatively of a real coming out from the Lord, and we have to ask many questions about those years. The one thing that is quite patent to us is that we were the energizers, we were the fountain of the activity, we were doing it, we were in it, and much more than that.
Then God brought to us the feast of unleavened bread. It was a dry time. Unleavened bread is not palatable — a good many bitter herbs are associated with unleavened bread. The flesh does not delight in that diet. But it was and it is a real thing; it is coming to God's zero, and, whatever may have been the sense then of weakness and failure and imperfection, we do know one thing, that that feast of unleavened bread marked a new beginning where the Lord was concerned, marked a new coming in of the Lord, and marked a new realm of life and work. From that time we know one thing if we know nothing else, namely, that from that time onward it is the Lord and not ourselves, and the Lord has kept us on that principle Himself, smiting, continually smiting, any deviation from the point where it was the Lord; and that has been a memorial throughout our generation. The Lord brings us back to that again and again I ask you, do you know that real crisis?
Life through Death
It is this to which the Apostle refers as being the very secret of life, the secret of Divine life. It is here that Divine life takes its rise. The river of Divine life springs out of the Cross, and he says, "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus" — strange language! "The putting to death of Jesus". That is one aspect of the death of Christ, only one aspect. There are others, but that is a very important aspect. The putting to death of Jesus. Why was He put to death? He was put to death because He stood by choice, voluntarily, of His own will, in the place of the old creation; in your place, in my place. He was put to death as representing the natural life of the old creation which He took upon Him, not His but ours. And you and I are always to be bearing about in the body that putting to death. If that is so — the putting to death of the old nature, the 'I', the self, the flesh, the carnal principle, the leaven of this nature — then the life also of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. You see, there is no life save by way of that death. All life comes by the way of that death. What is the value and working of this life?
Well, we are to reckon ourselves as alive unto God. What is it to be alive unto God? Beloved, this being alive unto God means a new kind of living knowledge and intelligence, which is not the knowledge and the intelligence of the old man. That old reason has been put to death, and now it is a new knowledge. I ask you again, is it true in your case that, because of a definite crisis in the feast of unleavened bread, that knowledge which you have is a living knowledge which has come after that crisis, or have you carried over the old man, the old reasoning, the old judgment, into the things of God? If so, you see, you are dead while you live, and I believe that is the reason why so many Christians are without living revelation.
Beloved, believe me, it is the birthright of every child of God to have living revelation of God, to know the Lord by revelation of the Holy Spirit. It is your birthright. Oh, if every Christian was there, had that, what a different situation there would be! If every child of God really was living in the light of direct revelation of the Lord in the heart! It may be through the Word, but it is ours, we have our own personal blessed enjoyment of the Lord revealing Himself to us. If that is not true, then I do not understand my Bible. I have to close a great deal of the Word of God and say, Well, that does not mean what it says! What is the meaning of the anointing that abideth in us and teacheth us all things, as John says? What is the meaning of this that the Lord has been saying about "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me..."? What is the meaning of it if it does not mean that every child of God should have, perhaps in small beginnings, but in ever-growing and enlarging measure, a direct and personal inward knowledge of the Lord, so that the Lord speaks to that child of God in an inward way regarding His will, His mind, His thoughts, and teaches them all the time. It is true, beloved, this is life, it is the life that does it. The Spirit of life will touch you on every point where the Lord has something to say. If you are alive to God, the Spirit of God will touch you as to the Lord's mind on everything where there is a need for Him to say something.
He will touch you on the matter of dress. He will touch you on the matter of your conversation. He will touch you upon some inconsistency in your life, some unrighteousness in your transactions. He will touch you upon the question of trustworthiness. He will even touch you on the matter of punctuality in keeping your engagements. He will touch you on anything where He has something to say on a matter of rectitude, conscientiousness. Oh, there is nothing more character-forming than a life in the Holy Spirit. This is life, and it is revelation, it is knowing the Lord. Do not think of knowing the Lord and revelation of the Lord merely as a beautiful unveiling of a wonderful God in glory. No, the revelation of the Lord is this, on these practical matters. Oh yes, we have been through it. I know it is true and you know it is true. To walk with God is to be checked up, and being checked up by the Holy Spirit is knowing the Lord.
Well now, being alive unto God as from the dead it cannot be until the feast of unleavened bread has been established. It does mean that our own will and mind and desire and everything that is of ourselves must have been smitten. There must have been a crisis. It is not done once for all, completely and finally, in an act, although something is done. Something has been broken, and from that time God has a way in, and as you and I respond to what God is putting through that way which He has secured, the thing grows and grows, and things which to us at one time were perfectly harmless we cannot do now. The Lord is gracious in these matters. He does not bring it on us all at once, but it is wonderful how, when we go on with the Lord, we change. We drop certain things, we change, and how does it come about? Well, if we put it into words, we would say, I came to feel the Lord did not want that or did want it. I believe that that ought to be the expanding experience of every child of God. It should be. Now, don't turn in and begin to go over your spiritual wardrobe, and see whether you can do without this or that. That would not be true spirituality. Walk with the Lord and you will find the wardrobe changes.
Oh, trust the Holy Spirit and He will put you right on everything. But, mark you, basic to everything, there has to be a feast of unleavened bread, that is, the whole life of nature must have been smitten at its root; the putting to death of Jesus must have had a radical start in us. But if the whole history of believers, of the Church, takes its rise from that, if that is where everything begins, then, from God's standpoint, there is no Church except on the basis of a feast of unleavened bread; and there is no history, nothing exists, until that has been done. That is why He stressed this matter so much, because there could be nothing, there would be nothing, and God was after something, but all of Himself, all out from Himself.
The Lamb Newly Slain
So the little clause "with unleavened bread" is taken up and expanded in a certain connection, the separation of the firstborn. The letter to the Hebrews tells us what that is. "Ye are come... to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven", and when you come to see what that enrolment means, turning to the book of the Revelation, it has to do with the Lamb's book of life. The Lamb's book of life, and you look to see the Lamb and it is ever as though it had been slain, in the throne. When the Lamb has reached the final position in glory and exaltation and power, He is still presented as though He had been slain. There is an element in the statement there which suggests, 'as though it had just been slain, newly slain'. God keeps that thing fresh right to the end and the throne, and the Church of the firstborn ones whose names are enrolled in heaven in the Lamb's book of life are those whose history is based on the Passover, on the slaying of the Lamb, at the end of the feast of unleavened bread. That is not just typology. It is tremendously searching truth.
If every celebration of the Communion Service had that behind it, what a different state there would be in the world today. What a tragedy that God's thought about this matter has been lost. It has become a rite, a ceremony. Surely those of us who gather around the Lord's Table will have to take this thing very much more seriously.
All Israel is found together in this lamb. There may have been thousands of lambs in Israel, but in heaven there is only one Lamb. Carrying this over to the Lord's Supper, there is only one Lamb, and there ever was only one Lamb in God's eye. All feasted upon one Lamb, all united in one Lamb, all united by reason of sharing one Lamb, so that this was a fellowship, a feast of fellowship, a fellowship in feasting. What is the basis of real fellowship? We all agree that the Lord's Table ought to be the central thing in our fellowship, it ought to be that in which our fellowship is expressed more than in anything else. What is the basis of fellowship? Oh, what Paul says is so true to principle. Look again at the situation at Corinth — the Lord s Table was there, but there was anything but fellowship. All were divided, one against another in the church, and yet they were coming to the Lord's Table and contradicting its central thought. Paul says, "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body". Our coming to the Table must be on the basis of fellowship which is without condemnation; it is unleavened bread. You know as well as I know that there can be no fellowship amongst the Lord's people until the 'I' has been smitten. It is the 'I', it is the self, it is the personal, that breaks fellowship; it is our reason, our desire, our wish, our conviction.
Oh, the tragedy of endless divisions and splittings up of the Lord's people! They are going on and ever going on. Well, it is simply man's mind coming into play about a certain Christian truth — splitting hairs, we call it. It is man's mind. It is because there is really no basic unleavened bread. The natural man has not been set aside. Well, we cannot have fellowship unless that is done. Unleavened bread is essential to a feast of fellowship, but, blessed be God, if it is true that basically that thing obtains, well, there may be all sorts of things about us naturally that would cause breaking up, scattering, but that basic thing has happened and we go on. We are all very different naturally and there is much about us all which would make it quite impossible for other people to get on with us, but I venture to say that in us some basic thing has been done. The Cross has done something somewhere, and that is the security of our fellowship. I believe that the thing that has been done, in measure at least, is that personal interest has been smitten, and it is just the Lord Himself Who reigns; for Him all that is personal can be let go.
We really must ask the Lord about this matter of unleavened bread, because, as I have said, our glorious history of life and all that that life means in its working out, springs out of this. Where there is leaven there is death because there is corruption; where there is no leaven there is life because the root of corruption, the seed of corruption, has been smitten. The Lord teach us the importance of this!
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Chapter 4 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:1-2).
We started out in our previous meditation by indicating the connection between the Passover of the Jews and the Lord's Supper of the Church as brought about by the Lord Jesus Himself in the night in which He was betrayed, and what we set out to see was that the Passover or the Lord's Supper, and what they represent of the death of Christ, is the beginning of the history of the Lord's people. All history, from God's standpoint, begins there, and, although Christendom may have created its Calendar and we talk about 1941 A.D., you have to take thirty-three years of that away before you start history from God's standpoint. The Cross of the Lord Jesus was the zero hour of this universe from God's standpoint. The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the zero hour of the history of every child of God, and nothing is taken account of by God before that, and from that and what that represents as a basic thing in history, in spiritual history, from that everything is taken account of as being of God. Now, if we can understand that, we shall have the key to everything and find a very great deal of help.
One of the outstanding features of the Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Chapter 13 of Exodus deals especially with that. In Chapter 12 verse 8 it is mentioned. "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Then that little clause "and unleavened bread" is taken up in Chapter 13, and we have a quite extensive paragraph on the matter.
"Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Jehovah. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders." (verses 6 and 7.) Now you notice that Luke makes much of that — Chapter 22:7: "And the day of unleavened bread came, on which the passover must be sacrificed."
It is already mentioned in verse 1. "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover."
That introduces the Passover and the Lord's Supper, as you will see, and that feast of unleavened bread carried on for seven days — that is a perfect spiritual period, and gives a special significance to spiritual history. Until you and I have learned the meaning of unleavened bread we have not begun real spiritual history, for such history begins by a very definite, positive establishing, as a memorial, of the meaning of unleavened bread.
I think we know what leaven stands for. To say that it is sin is far too general; it is not specific and definite enough. Of course, it is sin; but leaven is the old nature; it is the natural or the carnal man; it is that energy of the old creation; it is that ferment of the flesh; it is that seething that is in us that is ever trying to work its way out, to express itself, to enlarge itself, to inflate itself, to make its presence and influence felt, to get, possess, to get hold — all that sort of thing which is the flesh, an active element in the old carnal nature. Now that history has to have a definite crisis and be brought to an end in that crisis, has to be smitten in the death of the Lord Jesus, and not until the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread have been completed can we begin our history in living union with God's Son. That is fundamental to spiritual history.
An End and a Beginning
We have said that God takes account of nothing until the Passover is fulfilled, and everything that is of God begins and takes its rise at the point where the feast of unleavened bread is completed. That is a tremendous thing to say, beloved, but because that has not been recognized, there is the tragic history of very much done for the Lord of which He takes no account, it did not originate with Him. Failure to recognize this, and failure to have this thing really established has been and is the ground of a very great deal of Christian deception. It is an assumption, an assumption that we are the Lord's and that all is well, and Satan loves an assumption, loves people to assume, for assumption is that ground which is most fruitful for his deceptive work. What I mean is this. If with us, with you, with me, there is a coming into the things of God with an unbroken natural will, with an unsubdued natural mind, with an uncrucified natural ambition, that is fertile land for deception. Satan can get a great deal where things are like that. Somewhere, secretly, deeper than our recognition and perhaps consciousness, there is an ambition, ambition for service, for ministry, to do something, to be something, to see something; the ferment of the leaven of the old nature still at work and is brought over to the things of God. The result? Oh, if not entirely, a very large proportion of what follows is not out from God; it is a history of something which is energized by us in the Name of the Lord; a life which has its spring in ourselves although for the Lord. It has leaven in it, it has the natural energy, the natural mind, the natural judgment, the natural reason, the natural will, the natural ambition, the natural emotion. God says that everything of Himself begins at zero where we can produce nothing.
That lamb slain in its representative capacity said that on that side everything was finished. It was made sin, made a curse and smitten — the Cross is God's zero hour for the old creation. From that time, only that which comes directly, immediately out from God Himself is spiritual history, is Divine history, in us. It is only that which counts, it is only that which knows the Lord, it is only that which gets back to the Lord, it is only that which accomplishes the Lord's purpose. Nothing takes its rise in us.
The feast of unleavened bread is a very serious business to be carried on throughout seven days. It says — No place with God for this natural life! It is corrupt, it has in it that seething ferment of pride. Somewhere behind everything there is pride. That is the poison which came into the race from the serpent who said, I will. I will exalt my throne. I will be equal to the Most High. I! I! — that is leaven. The leaven is the 'I' in some form or other. I am not saying, beloved, that you and I can track it out in all its forms, but what we have to recognize is that it is there, and not one of us dare for an instant say, It is not so with me! You and I have to come to God's position about ourselves, and not one of us must seek to justify ourself in God's presence. What we have to do is to say that God's verdict is a true verdict, and, by nature there is in me the deep, active poison of an 'I' life. It is there whether I am alive to it all the time or not. It is there whether I feel most devoted to the Lord or not. It is there. As truly as we have this blood coursing in our veins, the blood of this humanity, we have in that blood the seed of a fallen nature, and that fallen nature in its principle is 'I', and that 'I' is ever aiming at getting hold of the things of God. Let us not forget that. The very heart of that is to get hold of the things of God. Satan said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: ...I will be like the Most High". I will get hold of what is God's!
That was Jacob's terrible, terrible mistake. Yes, the birthright was for Jacob, but, mark you, it was God's. Jacob had a perception of the value of Divine things. Jacob had a sense of the importance of the things of God which his brother had not, but Jacob was not content to believe, to trust that God would secure in him those Divine things, and for him and to him. Jacob, recognizing the value of Divine things, in the ferment of the leaven of the self-life must act to get his hands upon those things. You and I may be quite right in our perception of the value of Divine things, but to get them into our own hands is quite another matter; to have blessing for self, to have power to use, to have position for influence, all of which may subtly be the bringing of us somewhere — that is leaven. God cannot go on with Jacob. Twenty years of deepest discipline must lie between that first act of putting his hand upon Divine things and his being brought into the good of them; deep, deep history. That is the history of most of us. History begins there, with a feast of unleavened bread. It begins with a repudiation unto death of the self-life, the "I" principle.
In Israel it had to be very thorough. They had to search their houses with candles for any hidden leaven, and even then in their ritual afterward, before they dare offer their sacrifice, having searched, they had to make a declaration to the effect — We have searched our houses for leaven, we have done that which is commanded us in the law, but if there yet be something hidden which we have not discovered, we forswear it! It had to be very thorough.
The Feast of Remembrance
And the Lord said, This shall be a memorial throughout your generations forever! And whenever the feast of the Passover came, year by year, the feast of unleavened bread led up to it, was bound up with it. What then was its significance? It was a remembrance of a great act of separation, separation from evil. As they sat down to the feast, the story was told year by year of what the Lord did to the Egyptians, and how the Lord brought them out of Egypt, and the Lord says, This must be throughout your generations forever.
Now beloved, if the Lord's Supper corresponds to the Passover in spiritual principle, do you not see that every time we come to the Lord's Table we are telling the story? That is exactly the meaning of Paul's words in 1 Cor. 11, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim..." declare, set forth, narrate. We tell the story in act, we act the story.
The Lord marked the beginning of our spiritual history with a feast of unleavened bread. He brought us out of Egypt. What is Egypt? Well, Egypt typifies the strength and glory of the flesh: and how God had to get Egypt out of the very bones of Moses! He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and for forty long years in the wilderness Egypt was being smitten in Moses. He started out in the energy of Egypt, he started out in the wisdom of Egypt, he attempted the things of God with Egyptian resources, his position, his abilities — and God said, No! The feast of unleavened bread for forty years, and we start at zero! The man who is going to be used as an instrument for bringing people out on to heavenly ground must go through discipline. He must find heavenly ground and be emptied of all earthly ground, all natural ground. The Lord makes this divide very clear.
I know perhaps some of you are thinking, Well, where are we? We have been Christians for years; in some cases, many years. Where are we? What is our position? Well, beloved, we have to face God's facts. I am not saying that we are not Christians, that we do not belong to the Lord, but I am saying that you and I have to face God's position squarely and it is never too late to do that. God is working with us all the way along to bring us back. Oh, that we had seen it all at the beginning, but even if we had, I wonder if we could have accepted it. I wonder if it is not necessary for us to go through things in order to accept new light. We are never really brought into light by a presentation of truth. We really only come livingly into things when something has happened in us, and it takes time. However, here we are, and whatever may be said about this, here is God's position, and I ask you faithfully and solemnly, have you had a feast of unleavened bread, do you really know the consummation of that feast in the Passover in your history? If not, you have reason to question a great many things. Some of us know the divide which that makes. There have been years of very energetic, active, enthusiastic, exhausting Christian work, preaching and what not; but oh! how we look back on those years with regret and shame, that, with all the zeal and all the energy, how little, how very little comparatively of a real coming out from the Lord, and we have to ask many questions about those years. The one thing that is quite patent to us is that we were the energizers, we were the fountain of the activity, we were doing it, we were in it, and much more than that.
Then God brought to us the feast of unleavened bread. It was a dry time. Unleavened bread is not palatable — a good many bitter herbs are associated with unleavened bread. The flesh does not delight in that diet. But it was and it is a real thing; it is coming to God's zero, and, whatever may have been the sense then of weakness and failure and imperfection, we do know one thing, that that feast of unleavened bread marked a new beginning where the Lord was concerned, marked a new coming in of the Lord, and marked a new realm of life and work. From that time we know one thing if we know nothing else, namely, that from that time onward it is the Lord and not ourselves, and the Lord has kept us on that principle Himself, smiting, continually smiting, any deviation from the point where it was the Lord; and that has been a memorial throughout our generation. The Lord brings us back to that again and again I ask you, do you know that real crisis?
Life through Death
It is this to which the Apostle refers as being the very secret of life, the secret of Divine life. It is here that Divine life takes its rise. The river of Divine life springs out of the Cross, and he says, "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus" — strange language! "The putting to death of Jesus". That is one aspect of the death of Christ, only one aspect. There are others, but that is a very important aspect. The putting to death of Jesus. Why was He put to death? He was put to death because He stood by choice, voluntarily, of His own will, in the place of the old creation; in your place, in my place. He was put to death as representing the natural life of the old creation which He took upon Him, not His but ours. And you and I are always to be bearing about in the body that putting to death. If that is so — the putting to death of the old nature, the 'I', the self, the flesh, the carnal principle, the leaven of this nature — then the life also of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. You see, there is no life save by way of that death. All life comes by the way of that death. What is the value and working of this life?
Well, we are to reckon ourselves as alive unto God. What is it to be alive unto God? Beloved, this being alive unto God means a new kind of living knowledge and intelligence, which is not the knowledge and the intelligence of the old man. That old reason has been put to death, and now it is a new knowledge. I ask you again, is it true in your case that, because of a definite crisis in the feast of unleavened bread, that knowledge which you have is a living knowledge which has come after that crisis, or have you carried over the old man, the old reasoning, the old judgment, into the things of God? If so, you see, you are dead while you live, and I believe that is the reason why so many Christians are without living revelation.
Beloved, believe me, it is the birthright of every child of God to have living revelation of God, to know the Lord by revelation of the Holy Spirit. It is your birthright. Oh, if every Christian was there, had that, what a different situation there would be! If every child of God really was living in the light of direct revelation of the Lord in the heart! It may be through the Word, but it is ours, we have our own personal blessed enjoyment of the Lord revealing Himself to us. If that is not true, then I do not understand my Bible. I have to close a great deal of the Word of God and say, Well, that does not mean what it says! What is the meaning of the anointing that abideth in us and teacheth us all things, as John says? What is the meaning of this that the Lord has been saying about "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me..."? What is the meaning of it if it does not mean that every child of God should have, perhaps in small beginnings, but in ever-growing and enlarging measure, a direct and personal inward knowledge of the Lord, so that the Lord speaks to that child of God in an inward way regarding His will, His mind, His thoughts, and teaches them all the time. It is true, beloved, this is life, it is the life that does it. The Spirit of life will touch you on every point where the Lord has something to say. If you are alive to God, the Spirit of God will touch you as to the Lord's mind on everything where there is a need for Him to say something.
He will touch you on the matter of dress. He will touch you on the matter of your conversation. He will touch you upon some inconsistency in your life, some unrighteousness in your transactions. He will touch you upon the question of trustworthiness. He will even touch you on the matter of punctuality in keeping your engagements. He will touch you on anything where He has something to say on a matter of rectitude, conscientiousness. Oh, there is nothing more character-forming than a life in the Holy Spirit. This is life, and it is revelation, it is knowing the Lord. Do not think of knowing the Lord and revelation of the Lord merely as a beautiful unveiling of a wonderful God in glory. No, the revelation of the Lord is this, on these practical matters. Oh yes, we have been through it. I know it is true and you know it is true. To walk with God is to be checked up, and being checked up by the Holy Spirit is knowing the Lord.
Well now, being alive unto God as from the dead it cannot be until the feast of unleavened bread has been established. It does mean that our own will and mind and desire and everything that is of ourselves must have been smitten. There must have been a crisis. It is not done once for all, completely and finally, in an act, although something is done. Something has been broken, and from that time God has a way in, and as you and I respond to what God is putting through that way which He has secured, the thing grows and grows, and things which to us at one time were perfectly harmless we cannot do now. The Lord is gracious in these matters. He does not bring it on us all at once, but it is wonderful how, when we go on with the Lord, we change. We drop certain things, we change, and how does it come about? Well, if we put it into words, we would say, I came to feel the Lord did not want that or did want it. I believe that that ought to be the expanding experience of every child of God. It should be. Now, don't turn in and begin to go over your spiritual wardrobe, and see whether you can do without this or that. That would not be true spirituality. Walk with the Lord and you will find the wardrobe changes.
Oh, trust the Holy Spirit and He will put you right on everything. But, mark you, basic to everything, there has to be a feast of unleavened bread, that is, the whole life of nature must have been smitten at its root; the putting to death of Jesus must have had a radical start in us. But if the whole history of believers, of the Church, takes its rise from that, if that is where everything begins, then, from God's standpoint, there is no Church except on the basis of a feast of unleavened bread; and there is no history, nothing exists, until that has been done. That is why He stressed this matter so much, because there could be nothing, there would be nothing, and God was after something, but all of Himself, all out from Himself.
The Lamb Newly Slain
So the little clause "with unleavened bread" is taken up and expanded in a certain connection, the separation of the firstborn. The letter to the Hebrews tells us what that is. "Ye are come... to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven", and when you come to see what that enrolment means, turning to the book of the Revelation, it has to do with the Lamb's book of life. The Lamb's book of life, and you look to see the Lamb and it is ever as though it had been slain, in the throne. When the Lamb has reached the final position in glory and exaltation and power, He is still presented as though He had been slain. There is an element in the statement there which suggests, 'as though it had just been slain, newly slain'. God keeps that thing fresh right to the end and the throne, and the Church of the firstborn ones whose names are enrolled in heaven in the Lamb's book of life are those whose history is based on the Passover, on the slaying of the Lamb, at the end of the feast of unleavened bread. That is not just typology. It is tremendously searching truth.
If every celebration of the Communion Service had that behind it, what a different state there would be in the world today. What a tragedy that God's thought about this matter has been lost. It has become a rite, a ceremony. Surely those of us who gather around the Lord's Table will have to take this thing very much more seriously.
All Israel is found together in this lamb. There may have been thousands of lambs in Israel, but in heaven there is only one Lamb. Carrying this over to the Lord's Supper, there is only one Lamb, and there ever was only one Lamb in God's eye. All feasted upon one Lamb, all united in one Lamb, all united by reason of sharing one Lamb, so that this was a fellowship, a feast of fellowship, a fellowship in feasting. What is the basis of real fellowship? We all agree that the Lord's Table ought to be the central thing in our fellowship, it ought to be that in which our fellowship is expressed more than in anything else. What is the basis of fellowship? Oh, what Paul says is so true to principle. Look again at the situation at Corinth — the Lord s Table was there, but there was anything but fellowship. All were divided, one against another in the church, and yet they were coming to the Lord's Table and contradicting its central thought. Paul says, "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body". Our coming to the Table must be on the basis of fellowship which is without condemnation; it is unleavened bread. You know as well as I know that there can be no fellowship amongst the Lord's people until the 'I' has been smitten. It is the 'I', it is the self, it is the personal, that breaks fellowship; it is our reason, our desire, our wish, our conviction.
Oh, the tragedy of endless divisions and splittings up of the Lord's people! They are going on and ever going on. Well, it is simply man's mind coming into play about a certain Christian truth — splitting hairs, we call it. It is man's mind. It is because there is really no basic unleavened bread. The natural man has not been set aside. Well, we cannot have fellowship unless that is done. Unleavened bread is essential to a feast of fellowship, but, blessed be God, if it is true that basically that thing obtains, well, there may be all sorts of things about us naturally that would cause breaking up, scattering, but that basic thing has happened and we go on. We are all very different naturally and there is much about us all which would make it quite impossible for other people to get on with us, but I venture to say that in us some basic thing has been done. The Cross has done something somewhere, and that is the security of our fellowship. I believe that the thing that has been done, in measure at least, is that personal interest has been smitten, and it is just the Lord Himself Who reigns; for Him all that is personal can be let go.
We really must ask the Lord about this matter of unleavened bread, because, as I have said, our glorious history of life and all that that life means in its working out, springs out of this. Where there is leaven there is death because there is corruption; where there is no leaven there is life because the root of corruption, the seed of corruption, has been smitten. The Lord teach us the importance of this!
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China detains Protestant Shouwang devotees
Lets pray for the body of Christ in China and other nations of the world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13180842
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13180842
Saturday, April 23, 2011
The Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse
My heart was touched and very encouraged this morning by a PRAYER ALERT: reading as follows: Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas. God is moving the hearts of leaders to pray and call upon the people of the nation to ask the Lord for rain. I know one family who knew one of the firefighters that died fighting these fires. How very sad for all concerned!
We know prayer and intercession is the answer for all nations as we need to repent of sin to see the hand of God move. We need mercy instead of judgment as we see such devastation in Texas and elsewhere. Where can we go but to the Lord and cry out, Lord have mercy!
In scripture God used drought as a way of dealing with his people. We see in 1Kings 17:1 that Elijah the Tishbite said to Ahab, As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." What a solemn word to hear out of the mouth of God's prophet. Yet it came to pass just as he had spoken. Are we seeing the judgment of the nations in many of the devastations we are seeing? The floods, the hurricanes, tornadoes and the earthquakes seem to be increasing. There is such loss of life. We see things of biblical proportions taking place before our eyes. The birth pangs are coming closer together and unless we cry out to the Lord in repentance we will not see His hand move. God's hand of protection is slowly being lifted and we must cry out now.
Nations have gone on, business as usual, doing it their way, instead of God's way. Yes, there are those that have prayed and stayed on their faces before God and He will honor it, yet we also need to see many MORE who are righteous, holy people crying out on behalf of America and the nations. We need to rise and shine in this hour.
We see Abraham going before God and petitioning Him on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin had gone up before a Holy God and today I would suggest to you that our sin is overflowing and the cup is indeed full. Yet, we have see the hand of God stay, judgments because He is a loving God and not willing that any should perish. We see corruption at the top, right on down. God is looking for a people who will serve Him on His terms. Those that live by the Word of God. We can be a hearer of the Word and not a doer and this needs to be changed.
America, you have seen yourself in the glass and walked away from it, not knowing that you need the Lord God each day. You have taken prayer out of the classrooms and wonder why there is such disaster in the schools. Our own nation has experienced the same devastation. We have allowed the trojan horse in the door and wondered why the enemy is slowly stamping out our liberties. The enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy. What are you going to do today to do your part to see the trojan horse taken apart and totally dismantled?
We have permitted others to immigrate to our country and God bless those that desire to immigrate to our nation and live peacefully in the land. When you come to America you become American. You do not come here trying to uproot the American way of life. Whatever happened to the basics, like looking at the constitution rather than letting judges rule, reign and call the shots even in matters of sharia law.
God help us if we do not stand up now and be counted for. There is no tomorrow except we turn to the Lord. There is no freedom except we follow the boundaries of the Word of God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of any great nation and the degree to which the Lord is removed will be the degree to which she crumbles and falls like past empires. God help us to arise and get it together. Let us get back to the Word of God. Only prayer and intercession will bring change. Yes, there is a timing according to God's word for things to come to pass. Antichrist is rearing his ugly head and was doing so back in bible days also. It will not be long before he is revealed. Let us pray and restrain things until God's timing. Let us see the harvest come in. Let us go and do the Works of Jesus and see revival come to places in our land. Do I think we will have large scale revival as in the Welsh revival. Perhaps it is a lack of faith but seeing rather people in all pockets of life coming to the Lord and not a nation as a whole. How wonderful it would be to have another great revival, men and women down on their knees, crying out to God in repentance!
Yet, I ask you what will it take for this to happen. God is shaking all that can be shaken and the worst and the best is to come. The worst for those that will not bow down to the Lord and the best for those that serve Him. Not because there will be no trials or tribulations or hardship but the best because we serve the Lord and know His love. The angel of the Lord encamps around about those that fear Him and delivers them. So...we must not fear, but trust in the living God, Jesus is His name and cry out to Him for deliverance as things worsen let us become more like Jesus and let Him use us for His glory. Come Lord Jesus.
Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12
by Patricia Hamel
My heart was touched and very encouraged this morning by a PRAYER ALERT: reading as follows: Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas. God is moving the hearts of leaders to pray and call upon the people of the nation to ask the Lord for rain. I know one family who knew one of the firefighters that died fighting these fires. How very sad for all concerned!
We know prayer and intercession is the answer for all nations as we need to repent of sin to see the hand of God move. We need mercy instead of judgment as we see such devastation in Texas and elsewhere. Where can we go but to the Lord and cry out, Lord have mercy!
In scripture God used drought as a way of dealing with his people. We see in 1Kings 17:1 that Elijah the Tishbite said to Ahab, As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." What a solemn word to hear out of the mouth of God's prophet. Yet it came to pass just as he had spoken. Are we seeing the judgment of the nations in many of the devastations we are seeing? The floods, the hurricanes, tornadoes and the earthquakes seem to be increasing. There is such loss of life. We see things of biblical proportions taking place before our eyes. The birth pangs are coming closer together and unless we cry out to the Lord in repentance we will not see His hand move. God's hand of protection is slowly being lifted and we must cry out now.
Nations have gone on, business as usual, doing it their way, instead of God's way. Yes, there are those that have prayed and stayed on their faces before God and He will honor it, yet we also need to see many MORE who are righteous, holy people crying out on behalf of America and the nations. We need to rise and shine in this hour.
We see Abraham going before God and petitioning Him on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin had gone up before a Holy God and today I would suggest to you that our sin is overflowing and the cup is indeed full. Yet, we have see the hand of God stay, judgments because He is a loving God and not willing that any should perish. We see corruption at the top, right on down. God is looking for a people who will serve Him on His terms. Those that live by the Word of God. We can be a hearer of the Word and not a doer and this needs to be changed.
America, you have seen yourself in the glass and walked away from it, not knowing that you need the Lord God each day. You have taken prayer out of the classrooms and wonder why there is such disaster in the schools. Our own nation has experienced the same devastation. We have allowed the trojan horse in the door and wondered why the enemy is slowly stamping out our liberties. The enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy. What are you going to do today to do your part to see the trojan horse taken apart and totally dismantled?
We have permitted others to immigrate to our country and God bless those that desire to immigrate to our nation and live peacefully in the land. When you come to America you become American. You do not come here trying to uproot the American way of life. Whatever happened to the basics, like looking at the constitution rather than letting judges rule, reign and call the shots even in matters of sharia law.
God help us if we do not stand up now and be counted for. There is no tomorrow except we turn to the Lord. There is no freedom except we follow the boundaries of the Word of God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of any great nation and the degree to which the Lord is removed will be the degree to which she crumbles and falls like past empires. God help us to arise and get it together. Let us get back to the Word of God. Only prayer and intercession will bring change. Yes, there is a timing according to God's word for things to come to pass. Antichrist is rearing his ugly head and was doing so back in bible days also. It will not be long before he is revealed. Let us pray and restrain things until God's timing. Let us see the harvest come in. Let us go and do the Works of Jesus and see revival come to places in our land. Do I think we will have large scale revival as in the Welsh revival. Perhaps it is a lack of faith but seeing rather people in all pockets of life coming to the Lord and not a nation as a whole. How wonderful it would be to have another great revival, men and women down on their knees, crying out to God in repentance!
Yet, I ask you what will it take for this to happen. God is shaking all that can be shaken and the worst and the best is to come. The worst for those that will not bow down to the Lord and the best for those that serve Him. Not because there will be no trials or tribulations or hardship but the best because we serve the Lord and know His love. The angel of the Lord encamps around about those that fear Him and delivers them. So...we must not fear, but trust in the living God, Jesus is His name and cry out to Him for deliverance as things worsen let us become more like Jesus and let Him use us for His glory. Come Lord Jesus.
Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12
by Patricia Hamel
Never Again by Eugene and Sherry May
NEVER AGAIN
Proverbs 6:2 – “You are snared with the words of your mouth.”
There is power in your words to kill, destroy, and hurt, or to build, help, encourage and strengthen.
Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word, nor unwholesome or worthless talk EVER come OUT OF YOUR MOUTH: but only such speech as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a BLESSING and give grace to those who hear it.”
1. NEVER AGAIN will I confess “I can’t” for “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
2. NEVER AGAIN will I confess unmet needs or poverty for “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.” Philippians 4:19
3. NEVER AGAIN will I confess fear for “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:17
4. NEVER AGAIN will I confess doubt or lack of faith for “God has given to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3
5. NEVER AGAIN will I confess weakness for “The Lord is the strength of my life.” Psalm 27:1 – Also – “...for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
6. NEVER AGAIN will I confess the supremacy of Satan over my life for “Greater is He that is within me that he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
7. NEVER AGAIN will I confess defeat for “God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
8. NEVER AGAIN will I confess sickness for “With His stripes I am healed.” Isaiah 53:3 – “Himself took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses.” Mathew 8:17
9. NEVER AGAIN will I confess lack of wisdom for “Christ is made unto me wisdom from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:30
10. NEVER AGAIN will I confess worries and frustrations for I am “Casting all my cares upon Him who cares for me.” 1 Peter 5:7
11. NEVER AGAIN will I confess bondage for “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
12. NEVER AGAIN will I confess condemnation for “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 – “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.” Romans 8:33
Eagles Wings, Inc.
Eugene & Sherry May
PO Box 1259 * Valrico, FL 33595-1259
Proverbs 6:2 – “You are snared with the words of your mouth.”
There is power in your words to kill, destroy, and hurt, or to build, help, encourage and strengthen.
Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word, nor unwholesome or worthless talk EVER come OUT OF YOUR MOUTH: but only such speech as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a BLESSING and give grace to those who hear it.”
1. NEVER AGAIN will I confess “I can’t” for “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
2. NEVER AGAIN will I confess unmet needs or poverty for “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.” Philippians 4:19
3. NEVER AGAIN will I confess fear for “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:17
4. NEVER AGAIN will I confess doubt or lack of faith for “God has given to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3
5. NEVER AGAIN will I confess weakness for “The Lord is the strength of my life.” Psalm 27:1 – Also – “...for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
6. NEVER AGAIN will I confess the supremacy of Satan over my life for “Greater is He that is within me that he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
7. NEVER AGAIN will I confess defeat for “God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
8. NEVER AGAIN will I confess sickness for “With His stripes I am healed.” Isaiah 53:3 – “Himself took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses.” Mathew 8:17
9. NEVER AGAIN will I confess lack of wisdom for “Christ is made unto me wisdom from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:30
10. NEVER AGAIN will I confess worries and frustrations for I am “Casting all my cares upon Him who cares for me.” 1 Peter 5:7
11. NEVER AGAIN will I confess bondage for “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
12. NEVER AGAIN will I confess condemnation for “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 – “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.” Romans 8:33
Eagles Wings, Inc.
Eugene & Sherry May
PO Box 1259 * Valrico, FL 33595-1259
PRAYER ALERT: Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas
PRAYER ALERT: Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas
WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life.
For more info, follow this link:
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=8871
WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life.
For more info, follow this link:
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=8871
Friday, April 22, 2011
SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- 4/22/11:
SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- 4/22/11:
I would have you to look through the eyes of the Spirit, and hear through spiritual ears so that you might know and discern the times and the seasons. I speak to you of a level of awareness beyond your physical senses and your natural environment. It is to your advantage that you walk and live in the Spirit, for that is where I am, says the Lord. Come and commune; you will have to leave the comfort of your natural existence, but it will be well worth your time.
Matthew 13:43 "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
I would have you to look through the eyes of the Spirit, and hear through spiritual ears so that you might know and discern the times and the seasons. I speak to you of a level of awareness beyond your physical senses and your natural environment. It is to your advantage that you walk and live in the Spirit, for that is where I am, says the Lord. Come and commune; you will have to leave the comfort of your natural existence, but it will be well worth your time.
Matthew 13:43 "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Pray For Texas
We ask Lord today that you have mercy on the state of Texas. Lord there are those that are planning a work in Possum Kingdom and now it is burning. Father we ask you to have mercy in the midst of these terrible natural disasters that are causing so much havoc. Protect your children and those that are to come to know you. Lord have mercy we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus! We know that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
A Gentle Reminder
A Gentle Reminder
As I looked outside this morning I saw two beautiful doves landing. This scripture came to mind. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Matt. 10:16
We are to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We do need to be reminded that we are sent forth as sheep but are going forth into the middle of wolves. When we go out into this world to work or do the things we need to do serving the Lord we are not always, amongst friends. There is a balance we are told to maintain, by being as wise as a serpent and yet as harmless as doves.
By your Spirit Lord let us walk circumspectly in this world, for we are in it but not of it. Give us wisdom in all of the situations we face today and the discernment to be as you were in this world. Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
�A Time to Redirect the Compass - With a View From Above� by Mary Lindow
�A Time to Redirect the Compass -
With a View From Above�
To listen to this message as a free podcast,
simply click the link below and you will be taken to the podcast.
http://marylindow.podbean.com/2011/04/19/%E2%80%9Ca-time-to- redirect-the-compass-with-a-view-from-above%E2%80%9D/
By Mary Lindow
"Let the wise listen and add to their learning,
And let the discerning get guidance."
Proverbs 1:5
DISTURBING DAYS
It doesn't take a genius mind to know that we are in some terrible times here in the earth! Wars, wars, and more threats of wars! Economic pressures, ungodly rulers, missiles aimed and ready to blow up other countries, more tsunamis and bizarre weather patterns! And this is all just one weeks worth of change and events happening right now!
I hear the Holy Spirit bringing a clear word of comfort and help to His people who have ears to hear what He is saying to them. Those that are determined to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd and not strange voices..
John 10:5
And a stranger will they not follow,
But will flee from him:
For they know not the voice of strangers.
HEARTS OF BROKENNESS
The days have seemingly turned darker, uncertain, and frenzied as media reporters shell out the hyped newscasts of doom and despair. And although much of what is being reported may be actually happening, it is intentionally ratcheted up to keep viewing polls well oiled and operating.
All of the noise pollution and the droning voices of the media personalities can weary and weigh down the heart of those who have a compassionate and sensitive spirit or heart. And. Often through all of the pressure filled "minute by minute live" reporting, people can become restless and fearful, anxiety ridden, and heavy laden with so much hitting them.
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.
IT IS A CRAZY WORLD WE LIVE IN AND IT'S NOT GOING TO GET EASIER AS CORRUPTION AND WICKEDNESS CONTINUE TO PLAY TOGETHER!
What Can We do? Although we are not to be totally ignorant of what is occurring around us as live in recluse mentalities, the Lord does have a greater plan and focus for us during such tough times. You and I as Children of God will never really feel at home here on planet Earth. We have been Divinely implanted with a spiritual device deep in our spirits that longs for the Home of Heaven. No more tears, no more night, no more longing to fully be-long!
We have been walking a pathway of preparation, each of us in different stages of our lives, to transition from this decaying world and body into a heavenly place of resurrection and eternal abundant life. It's the living here now that is so like rough grit sandpaper to our nerve endings!
2 Timothy 4:18
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack.
And will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever.
Psalm 61:3
For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me,
A strong tower against the adversary.
A TIME TO REDIRECT THE COMPASS...
... AND GET A VIEW FROM ABOVE
We are in much need of a directional adjustment as believers right now as the world turns itself upside down with malice, dictatorships, and political posturing. We need to be certain that nothing of the world and its behaviors is hidden in our own hearts. We must hear that Magnetic pulling voice of the Holy Spirit, and obey it without turning left or right.
Deuteronomy 5:32
So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you;
Do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
The Spirit of the Lord is calling out to His People in this very very serious and crucial moment to allow Him your ears that hear and your eyes that see to discern where the compass for your soul is located! It points to a dwelling place of Divine Rest and protection. There is a hidden deep place of safety only revealed to those of pure motive and clean hands.
THE LORD IS CALLING OUT TO YOU AND I
"Come to Me! Run to Me! I know that you are heavily burdened by all of the concentrated pressures mounting around you. Run to the Dwelling place of Divine Rest and Protection. It will require you laying down the things that so easily set you off and get you weighed down with concern and anxiety.
1 Peter 5:7
Casting the whole of your cares
All your anxieties, All your worries,
All your concerns, Once and for all on Him.
For He cares for you affectionately,
and cares about you watchfully.
"Come to the simple place. Huddle into the shadow of My Wings for I AM the Refuge for the child that heeds My voice and runs to Me, abandoning self made plans for protection and self preservation. I AM your shield, I AM your Fortress. But you must come to the Refuge with no agenda in your heart or a Message on your lips. You come to the Resting Place of Safety from the Storm to WAIT, Ponder, Rest and rethink your Life call."
Psalm 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
CONTINUAL SAFETY
When we walk in the way of surrender and tenderness with our ears attuned to the still small voice of God, we actually walk in the Overshadowing safety of the Presence of God. Training our spiritual ears to hear the voice of the Father is a lifetime guarantee of knowing when the storms or troubles will arise and is a promise for direction to a place of Divine Protection and direction whenever needed.
Psalm 16:9
"Therefore my heart is glad,
and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure."
Rest Child of God. REST!
It is the hardest thing the mind and body to do! Learning to rest when the world is screaming at a fevered pitch, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW" is a hard learned yet reachable discipline if we will lean into it and ask for God's help.
Hear the Voice of God calling you to enter into His rest.
It is a place of pleasant simplicity and uncluttered doctrine.
His Presence silences all of the noise of the day and noise of the Head. His Presence is a REFUGE for the weary Dear child of God!
There is no judgment or shame there. It is a restful place of learning to take up an easy yoke and a light burden.
Perhaps right now...
... As you read this - you might just sit back and Enter in to the Refuge of God.
Lay down the weight of worry and frustration. The anger at life all bottled up in rage and gloom! All you need to take with you into the shelter is a willing heart. Ready to trust the Divine Protector and Provider.
Enter...
...Into His Rest.
Psalm 33:22
"May your unfailing love rest upon us,
O LORD, Even as we put our hope in you."
Duplication and re-transmission of this writing is welcomed provided that complete article and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You
Copyright "2011"
" THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
With a View From Above�
To listen to this message as a free podcast,
simply click the link below and you will be taken to the podcast.
http://marylindow.podbean.com/2011/04/19/%E2%80%9Ca-time-to- redirect-the-compass-with-a-view-from-above%E2%80%9D/
By Mary Lindow
"Let the wise listen and add to their learning,
And let the discerning get guidance."
Proverbs 1:5
DISTURBING DAYS
It doesn't take a genius mind to know that we are in some terrible times here in the earth! Wars, wars, and more threats of wars! Economic pressures, ungodly rulers, missiles aimed and ready to blow up other countries, more tsunamis and bizarre weather patterns! And this is all just one weeks worth of change and events happening right now!
I hear the Holy Spirit bringing a clear word of comfort and help to His people who have ears to hear what He is saying to them. Those that are determined to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd and not strange voices..
John 10:5
And a stranger will they not follow,
But will flee from him:
For they know not the voice of strangers.
HEARTS OF BROKENNESS
The days have seemingly turned darker, uncertain, and frenzied as media reporters shell out the hyped newscasts of doom and despair. And although much of what is being reported may be actually happening, it is intentionally ratcheted up to keep viewing polls well oiled and operating.
All of the noise pollution and the droning voices of the media personalities can weary and weigh down the heart of those who have a compassionate and sensitive spirit or heart. And. Often through all of the pressure filled "minute by minute live" reporting, people can become restless and fearful, anxiety ridden, and heavy laden with so much hitting them.
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.
IT IS A CRAZY WORLD WE LIVE IN AND IT'S NOT GOING TO GET EASIER AS CORRUPTION AND WICKEDNESS CONTINUE TO PLAY TOGETHER!
What Can We do? Although we are not to be totally ignorant of what is occurring around us as live in recluse mentalities, the Lord does have a greater plan and focus for us during such tough times. You and I as Children of God will never really feel at home here on planet Earth. We have been Divinely implanted with a spiritual device deep in our spirits that longs for the Home of Heaven. No more tears, no more night, no more longing to fully be-long!
We have been walking a pathway of preparation, each of us in different stages of our lives, to transition from this decaying world and body into a heavenly place of resurrection and eternal abundant life. It's the living here now that is so like rough grit sandpaper to our nerve endings!
2 Timothy 4:18
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack.
And will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever.
Psalm 61:3
For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me,
A strong tower against the adversary.
A TIME TO REDIRECT THE COMPASS...
... AND GET A VIEW FROM ABOVE
We are in much need of a directional adjustment as believers right now as the world turns itself upside down with malice, dictatorships, and political posturing. We need to be certain that nothing of the world and its behaviors is hidden in our own hearts. We must hear that Magnetic pulling voice of the Holy Spirit, and obey it without turning left or right.
Deuteronomy 5:32
So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you;
Do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
The Spirit of the Lord is calling out to His People in this very very serious and crucial moment to allow Him your ears that hear and your eyes that see to discern where the compass for your soul is located! It points to a dwelling place of Divine Rest and protection. There is a hidden deep place of safety only revealed to those of pure motive and clean hands.
THE LORD IS CALLING OUT TO YOU AND I
"Come to Me! Run to Me! I know that you are heavily burdened by all of the concentrated pressures mounting around you. Run to the Dwelling place of Divine Rest and Protection. It will require you laying down the things that so easily set you off and get you weighed down with concern and anxiety.
1 Peter 5:7
Casting the whole of your cares
All your anxieties, All your worries,
All your concerns, Once and for all on Him.
For He cares for you affectionately,
and cares about you watchfully.
"Come to the simple place. Huddle into the shadow of My Wings for I AM the Refuge for the child that heeds My voice and runs to Me, abandoning self made plans for protection and self preservation. I AM your shield, I AM your Fortress. But you must come to the Refuge with no agenda in your heart or a Message on your lips. You come to the Resting Place of Safety from the Storm to WAIT, Ponder, Rest and rethink your Life call."
Psalm 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
CONTINUAL SAFETY
When we walk in the way of surrender and tenderness with our ears attuned to the still small voice of God, we actually walk in the Overshadowing safety of the Presence of God. Training our spiritual ears to hear the voice of the Father is a lifetime guarantee of knowing when the storms or troubles will arise and is a promise for direction to a place of Divine Protection and direction whenever needed.
Psalm 16:9
"Therefore my heart is glad,
and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure."
Rest Child of God. REST!
It is the hardest thing the mind and body to do! Learning to rest when the world is screaming at a fevered pitch, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW" is a hard learned yet reachable discipline if we will lean into it and ask for God's help.
Hear the Voice of God calling you to enter into His rest.
It is a place of pleasant simplicity and uncluttered doctrine.
His Presence silences all of the noise of the day and noise of the Head. His Presence is a REFUGE for the weary Dear child of God!
There is no judgment or shame there. It is a restful place of learning to take up an easy yoke and a light burden.
Perhaps right now...
... As you read this - you might just sit back and Enter in to the Refuge of God.
Lay down the weight of worry and frustration. The anger at life all bottled up in rage and gloom! All you need to take with you into the shelter is a willing heart. Ready to trust the Divine Protector and Provider.
Enter...
...Into His Rest.
Psalm 33:22
"May your unfailing love rest upon us,
O LORD, Even as we put our hope in you."
Duplication and re-transmission of this writing is welcomed provided that complete article and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You
Copyright "2011"
" THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Beauty for Ashes by Ron McGatlin
Beauty for Ashes
By Ron McGatlin
The world is entering a state of extreme and massive change. In history there have been times of all known civilization being affected by significant changes brought about mostly through wars and so called natural disasters. However, the most significant world changing events involve the incarnation of Christ Jesus and the subsequent life and world-changing works of Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit of God.
The season of change that the world is entering now is a major part of the transformational work of Christ Jesus. For the last two millennia mankind has been moving toward the goal and purpose for which Christ Jesus came to earth. Jesus came to restore the kingdoms of this world to the kingdoms of our God. He came to restore all that was lost in the first Adam.
Jesus came with the message to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He came announcing the kingdom of God’s return to earth. Restoring the kingdom of heaven ruling in the earth as it is in heaven first involves the redemption and cleansing of man. The stewardship or dominion of the earth was given to mankind by God in Adam. Mankind must be fully redeemed, pure, and holy in order to accurately and fully redeem the world and all of its system to the unchallenged rule of God.
The written word of God is emitting fresh light in this emerging kingdom age. There is much more being revealed than the limited understanding in the passing church age. It was needful that the first interpretation of the kingdom be the salvation and sanctification or cleansing of people. There must be a pure and holy people on earth to bring forth into natural existence the redemption and cleansing of God to the world.
The focus is shifting from the man-focused beginning portion of the gospel to the focus on God in Christ Jesus in His kingdom on earth. The proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom is not all about man; instead, it is about God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It is not first about getting into heaven when we die but about bringing heaven to earth while we are alive. The more complete gospel of the kingdom of God has the potential to not only change the people of the world but to transform the entire world.
God loves the World. God so loved the WORLD that he gave His only begotten Son.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:16-21
Through becoming one Spirit with Christ (Christ abiding in us and us in Him), Jesus is bringing forth many sons on earth in whom Christ dwells to carry out the work began when Jesus was on earth in His natural body. The body of many members is now beginning to become fitly joined together to become one body with one Spirit and one mind, the Spirit and mind of Christ. Christ in His body of many members will do the same works that He did in His natural body and more to complete His work of redeeming this world to the kingdom of God.
There is condemnation involved with the coming of the light of the kingdom.
The great light of the kingdom of God is again coming forth brightly on earth in the forerunner sons of God. Forerunners are not at all elite but are of those who through brokenness and humility have experienced the consuming fire of God bringing death to their lives and the resurrection life of Christ Jesus now living where they once lived. Many will eventually follow the trail traveled by forerunners.
In the above scripture Jesus spoke of the condemnation of not believing. The light of the gospel of the kingdom is not received or welcomed by everyone. Even many who are Christians and believe the gospel of salvation may not believe the gospel of the kingdom. Therefore, they will not come to the light of the kingdom. They may remain parked beside the trail. God’s love and mercy are sufficient for them. It is my opinion that they will have according to their faith and will be in heaven as they believe. However, they may miss participating in the awesome transformation taking place in this world as the kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms of our God.
The fires of judgment are for cleansing.
There are other multitudes of people that will not come to the light of Christ Jesus and His kingdom. They hate the light and love the darkness because their deeds are evil. They will not come to the light of the kingdom because their evil will be exposed, and they choose to stay in blindness to the gospel of the kingdom.
The world will be cleansed. Those who come early to the light of the kingdom will have their evil exposed to themselves and to others. Their immediate response is brokenness and repentance. This is the cleansing of death that leads to being filled with the resurrection life of Christ.
Those who will not come to the light will suffer condemnation and must quickly turn to the light or risk being removed from the earth through the cleansing judgments of God. In this day of the Lord that is upon us, judgment comes as chastening to cleanse the sons of God unto life. However, the judgment of God coming against peoples who will not turn and who hate the light and love darkness will leave no remnant of them on earth. Thus the world is cleansed from evil either by the cleansing of redemption of the people or by cleansing of the earth by removal of the people.
All who die in the Lord will be met by the angel of the Lord and carried to their destination with the Lord. However, for those who perish that are not in the Lord, it will not be so. God is not willing that any should perish and is merciful to the end. All that can be done to save to the uttermost has and will be done. Many will come to Lord as the judgments grow in intensity.
Beyond the Ashes of Judgments
Beyond the fires of judgment, God will give beauty for ashes. When our lives are burned to ashes, and there is nothing left that could be used to build back our lives as they were, God will then bring forth the life of Christ in us, His holy people. A bride without spot or blemish, holy and pure of heart bringing forth the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. This is happening now in forerunner sons and daughters who have endured the fire of personal judgment and been cleansed through death of past life and the renewal of Christ’s Spirit permeating their spirit with His much more dominant Spirit of resurrection life.
Isa 61:3-4: To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty 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 the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Rev 11:15: Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net
By Ron McGatlin
The world is entering a state of extreme and massive change. In history there have been times of all known civilization being affected by significant changes brought about mostly through wars and so called natural disasters. However, the most significant world changing events involve the incarnation of Christ Jesus and the subsequent life and world-changing works of Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit of God.
The season of change that the world is entering now is a major part of the transformational work of Christ Jesus. For the last two millennia mankind has been moving toward the goal and purpose for which Christ Jesus came to earth. Jesus came to restore the kingdoms of this world to the kingdoms of our God. He came to restore all that was lost in the first Adam.
Jesus came with the message to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He came announcing the kingdom of God’s return to earth. Restoring the kingdom of heaven ruling in the earth as it is in heaven first involves the redemption and cleansing of man. The stewardship or dominion of the earth was given to mankind by God in Adam. Mankind must be fully redeemed, pure, and holy in order to accurately and fully redeem the world and all of its system to the unchallenged rule of God.
The written word of God is emitting fresh light in this emerging kingdom age. There is much more being revealed than the limited understanding in the passing church age. It was needful that the first interpretation of the kingdom be the salvation and sanctification or cleansing of people. There must be a pure and holy people on earth to bring forth into natural existence the redemption and cleansing of God to the world.
The focus is shifting from the man-focused beginning portion of the gospel to the focus on God in Christ Jesus in His kingdom on earth. The proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom is not all about man; instead, it is about God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It is not first about getting into heaven when we die but about bringing heaven to earth while we are alive. The more complete gospel of the kingdom of God has the potential to not only change the people of the world but to transform the entire world.
God loves the World. God so loved the WORLD that he gave His only begotten Son.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:16-21
Through becoming one Spirit with Christ (Christ abiding in us and us in Him), Jesus is bringing forth many sons on earth in whom Christ dwells to carry out the work began when Jesus was on earth in His natural body. The body of many members is now beginning to become fitly joined together to become one body with one Spirit and one mind, the Spirit and mind of Christ. Christ in His body of many members will do the same works that He did in His natural body and more to complete His work of redeeming this world to the kingdom of God.
There is condemnation involved with the coming of the light of the kingdom.
The great light of the kingdom of God is again coming forth brightly on earth in the forerunner sons of God. Forerunners are not at all elite but are of those who through brokenness and humility have experienced the consuming fire of God bringing death to their lives and the resurrection life of Christ Jesus now living where they once lived. Many will eventually follow the trail traveled by forerunners.
In the above scripture Jesus spoke of the condemnation of not believing. The light of the gospel of the kingdom is not received or welcomed by everyone. Even many who are Christians and believe the gospel of salvation may not believe the gospel of the kingdom. Therefore, they will not come to the light of the kingdom. They may remain parked beside the trail. God’s love and mercy are sufficient for them. It is my opinion that they will have according to their faith and will be in heaven as they believe. However, they may miss participating in the awesome transformation taking place in this world as the kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms of our God.
The fires of judgment are for cleansing.
There are other multitudes of people that will not come to the light of Christ Jesus and His kingdom. They hate the light and love the darkness because their deeds are evil. They will not come to the light of the kingdom because their evil will be exposed, and they choose to stay in blindness to the gospel of the kingdom.
The world will be cleansed. Those who come early to the light of the kingdom will have their evil exposed to themselves and to others. Their immediate response is brokenness and repentance. This is the cleansing of death that leads to being filled with the resurrection life of Christ.
Those who will not come to the light will suffer condemnation and must quickly turn to the light or risk being removed from the earth through the cleansing judgments of God. In this day of the Lord that is upon us, judgment comes as chastening to cleanse the sons of God unto life. However, the judgment of God coming against peoples who will not turn and who hate the light and love darkness will leave no remnant of them on earth. Thus the world is cleansed from evil either by the cleansing of redemption of the people or by cleansing of the earth by removal of the people.
All who die in the Lord will be met by the angel of the Lord and carried to their destination with the Lord. However, for those who perish that are not in the Lord, it will not be so. God is not willing that any should perish and is merciful to the end. All that can be done to save to the uttermost has and will be done. Many will come to Lord as the judgments grow in intensity.
Beyond the Ashes of Judgments
Beyond the fires of judgment, God will give beauty for ashes. When our lives are burned to ashes, and there is nothing left that could be used to build back our lives as they were, God will then bring forth the life of Christ in us, His holy people. A bride without spot or blemish, holy and pure of heart bringing forth the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. This is happening now in forerunner sons and daughters who have endured the fire of personal judgment and been cleansed through death of past life and the renewal of Christ’s Spirit permeating their spirit with His much more dominant Spirit of resurrection life.
Isa 61:3-4: To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty 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 the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Rev 11:15: Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Dream of the United States of America
Dream of the United States of America
by Patricia Hamel (March 16, 2008)
I was standing in front of a map.
It was at the level as if it were on
an easel. All I saw was the map of
the United States of America. Then
water started to flow from the top
of it and cover it and flow downwards
and as it got partway down it went
sideways and spread out to the right to
the other states. It moved quickly.
This dream is revealing judgment and revival. Another prophet shared with
me that he believed judgment would come first and then the revival.
Let us continue to be fervent in our prayer and intercession for the United States of America.
by Patricia Hamel (March 16, 2008)
I was standing in front of a map.
It was at the level as if it were on
an easel. All I saw was the map of
the United States of America. Then
water started to flow from the top
of it and cover it and flow downwards
and as it got partway down it went
sideways and spread out to the right to
the other states. It moved quickly.
This dream is revealing judgment and revival. Another prophet shared with
me that he believed judgment would come first and then the revival.
Let us continue to be fervent in our prayer and intercession for the United States of America.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Mercy Seat by T. Austin-Sparks
The Mercy Seat
by T. Austin-Sparks
"Thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end: of one piece with the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. 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. 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. 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" Exodus 25:17-22.
To begin with we are shown by means of this type that through, and in virtue of, the shed and sprinkled blood of the Lord Jesus we have the two great factors in our standing with God.
Remission
The shed blood, which, of course, in the type took place outside by the great altar, provides remission of sins, and before ever we get to the inner place, the sanctuary, the sin question has been dealt with. The sin question is not dealt with in the presence of God, that is, in the inner sanctuary; the sin question is dealt with, as it were, outside. When we do enter in, the question of the remission of sins does not arise at all; that is settled. The matter is not an open matter at all in the immediate presence of God; that has been settled, concluded. But from the shedding of the blood where there is remission of sins, the blood is brought in by the high priest into the innermost shrine of God’s immediate presence and it is sprinkled. The sprinkling, of course, is related to what has taken place outside. It is a testimony to the fact that sins are remitted, forgiven, and atoned for. It is the finished work in relation to sin carried right through into God’s presence and placed before Him as a memorial and a testimony that sin has been dealt with. It is not dealt with there; it has been dealt with, but the dealing with it is testified to. The sprinkling says that it is done. It is something in the presence of God which remains the abiding testimony to sin having been dealt with outside.
Communion
But then the sprinkling, on the other hand, is that which makes it possible for us to have fellowship with God. It is in virtue of the sprinkled blood that there is communion. Forgiveness, remission — that is good, but then, even so, we can still be left outside. The letter to the Hebrews sees Christ in the position of the high priest carrying through His own blood, and, in the antitype, passing through the heavens (not through an earthly veil but through the heavens; that veil dividing earth from heaven), with His own blood into the immediate presence, there to appear before God for us. Therefore, Christ being in the very presence of God with His own blood of the testimony, means not just that we are forgiven and left as forgiven ones — with God’s full pardon, nevertheless left there. There is the added and the extra value that Christ, in virtue of His blood, having passed through the heavens, brings us into the same place as He occupies with the Father in the heavens. We are now not only forgiven, but in fellowship with God in virtue of His sprinkled blood. There must be blood in the presence of God if there is to be any abiding in the presence of God, and so the blood carries us right through with Christ into the fullest fellowship and communion with God.
That is the simple truth with which we are more or less familiar. Through and in virtue of the sprinkled blood it is given to us to have fellowship with God in the utter terms, “I will meet with you there.” It is God being free to come to us, to meet with us.
Where God Speaks
That brings us into the place of the immediate voice of God, where God is speaking. And when God speaks, He is speaking His thoughts, His mind; and God’s thoughts are very pure thoughts. When I use the word ‘pure’ I do not just mean morally pure. It is that essence of God-likeness, that essence of divine nature; not only moral purity, but that which is utterly God, and therefore so utterly different from man as man is. “My thoughts are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are not My thoughts”. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts”. There is a vast expanse between man’s mind and God’s mind. I want you to see the vast difference between the mind of God and the mind of man at its best. There is a difference in character, a difference in quality, a difference in nature. The one thing that children of God learn increasingly and right on, no matter how long they may live and go on with God here, is how differently God thinks and how differently God acts from how we think and act. We get some very exalted ideas and thoughts as to what God would have and how God would act and so on, and yet we learn that our most exalted thoughts which originate in ourselves come far short of His thoughts. We are very sincere, very earnest, very devoted. We mean the very best in what we do and how we do things in our conceptions of the ways and methods and means of God, and we live to see that they fall far short of God’s essential thing: the essence of God’s mind.
Here we are in the presence of the most holy place, of God’s utter mind, God’s utter thought, the very purity which is the essence of God. And the cherubim represent that unmixed thought of God, that divine, that heavenly mind as completely free from the mixture of man’s mind and man’s thought. If you follow the cherubim through the Scriptures you will find that they are the custodians of what is wholly of God. You see them in the garden in the first instance. What has happened here? Two minds have come into conflict. God’s mind has been expressed and laid down quite clearly. God has uttered His thought. Now another mind comes in and raises questions about God’s expressed thought: “Has God said...?” That is reasoning, that is a mind set in motion from another source. The result and issue of that is expulsion, and the cherubim with the flame of a sword gets moving in every direction, saying in effect, "In this place of God’s abode there is no room for two minds, no mixture of man’s thought with God’s thought, or man’s mind and man’s judgement with God’s mind and judgement."
There is no room for the two, and there is expulsion, the severing by fire between these two things. The cherubim right through stand for the thing which is wholly heavenly, divine, and utterly of God. They stand to represent that and are the custodians of that; wholly heavenly and wholly spiritual as to divine thoughts, divine counsels and divine judgements.
Turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel and see the day in which Ezekiel lived. See the mind of the religious people of Israel over against which he was set; the conflict of minds religiously in Ezekiel’s day, the terrible battle with the religious mind and God set against that religious mind. The whole of Ezekiel’s prophecies open with the presentation of the cherubim, and it is as though God in the cherubim sets in motion His heavenly mind, for the cherubim and the wheels are linked with a Man in the throne. Here is God projecting His counsels, His thoughts, His judgements, setting them in motion so that they go right forward. The Spirit of Life is in them, and they turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left. There is no deviation in the counsels of God or in the Divine thought. It is straight, persistent, inviolable, utter; and Israel with their religious mind astray has got to be measured by these thoughts of God.
There is no place in the presence of God for man’s mind. God’s mind is utter and it is final. What would you think (it is unthinkable really) of Moses going into that most holy place, and between the cherubim God beginning to express His will, His mind, and saying, "Now, so-and-so must be done..." Then Moses saying, "I think, Lord, that it would be best to do it this way"; or, "So-and-so said this about it!" It is unthinkable. There would have been a breaking forth of the Fire. Man’s mind has no place here. It is not the advice that someone else has given, and not what someone else has said. God here tolerates no mixture of man’s mind or judgement; His thought is here guarded, preserved; it is final. We may not bring into the oracle what we think or what others say.
You see the point. The life of the Lord’s people was to be governed out from that centre. There was a centre to Israel’s life and all the government came from that centre, and that centre was the most holy place where only God speaks and only God’s mind rules, not man’s mind. From the most holy place the life of the Lord’s people has got to be governed, not by human counsels. We do not begin from the circumference in counsels, and judgements, and committees laying plans and projecting schemes, discussing what we are going to do for the Lord. That is beginning from the circumference. The life of God’s people has to begin from the centre, where everything is silent before the Lord. We stop our thinking, and judging, and coming to conclusions, comparing, taking into account the pros and the cons and then arriving at something. We stop being influenced by outside things such as apparent demand, seeming requirement, force of circumstances; all such things have to be silenced.
All that the best of God’s people would counsel and advise has to be put back. There is something that comes before that, there is something deeper than that. The most holy man, the most holy woman must not be allowed to protrude their best judgements into the place which God occupies alone with His people. All those things have got to be silenced before we can know the Lord and the Lord’s mind. In that place there must be the utter silence of everything that belongs to the life outside religiously, and in every other way. The one and only thing in the most holy place is what God says, and God waits for that silence before He speaks. Only as we are free from man’s system of things can we get a pure expression of God’s mind. God will lead us in the measure in which we are free from the government and influence of an accepted order. If we are governed by a system which is in the hands of men more or less; that is, if we have our spiritual lives governed by something established of men, in that measure we have no voice of God within. But to have the utter voice of God, every other influence and government has to be put back.
There may be very good men and women who know the Lord, but we can never be sure that the best man, the best woman, the most godly, is not in some little way influenced by some consideration that is human, earthly, and that their judgement is not in some little degree touched and affected by upbringing, training, tradition, human opinion, or the accepted thing. You can never be sure. Therefore, the aim and object of every child of God should be to be silent to every other voice, every other influence, silent unto the Lord. “My soul be thou silent unto God” (“wait thou only upon God”, is our version; Psa. 62:5 Lit.). “My soul”. What is my soul? My feelings, my reasonings, my desirings, my willing, all the life around me and its influences, “...Be thou silent unto God”.
This is a very high and a very utter position. I have to measure up to it as much as you have. I am not presenting something to you; we all have to recognise this. But this is not only a demand, not only a challenge; this is a blessed privilege, a blessed possibility. He, Jesus, the Son of God, has passed through the heavens; that passing through the heavens which were closed (“No man cometh unto the Father”) until He fulfilled His work on the Cross and God raised Him from the dead. Then the heavens were rent. The rending of the heavens, which is the removal of the barrier, the opening of what was closed, made it possible for man by the Holy Spirit to go through an opened heaven. The Holy Spirit came in virtue of Calvary, by which the heavens were opened. Now we are represented as being in the heavenlies. That is only another way of saying that what is in heaven is in us. There is no geography in this matter. There is no space nor time in spiritual matters. It is all present and immediate. The same is in us as is in heaven. What is it? A most holy place. How? “…My Father will come unto him, and we will make our abode in him”. Christ within is the propitiatory, the mercy seat, of the remission of our sins, and also the sanctuary where God speaks. In a word, we have an opened heaven, we have a place in the immediate presence of God; Jesus is in our hearts. This is what Peter meant when he said, “Sanctify in your hearts Christ Jesus as Lord.” What does that mean? Well, if Jesus is in your heart, making there the sanctuary, then Jesus must be Lord, and you acknowledge Him as Lord when you put back your own mind, your own judgements, your own feelings, your own desires, and all other considerations of what people say, or want, or judge, or predict, or threaten. When you sanctify Him as Lord in your hearts, then you recognise He is there governing, and any other mind has no place there. This is the place where He is to be sanctified as Lord; the Lordship of Christ is to govern.
This is our privilege. However high and difficult it may sound, this is the privilege of the believer to know the Spirit of the Lord governing the life from the inner sanctuary, the Spirit of the Lord speaking the mind of God in the heart. Now let us be clear, the Holy Spirit does not always come in a way which is like an audible voice although not an audible voice. He does not come with words and say to us when we seek the Lord, ‘You shall do this, you shall not do that!’ He does not do anything like that. The Holy Spirit in us constitutes a spiritual sensibility, for the language of the Spirit is a divine language, and a language in itself. It is not a language of human words (although the Lord has sometimes come down to spiritual children and communicated Himself almost in human words; at any rate, with such understanding and apprehension), but it is the cultivation of the spiritual sense that is needed. Although unable to say the Lord said such words to us definitely, we are able to say, ‘I know quite well the Lord wished that, and did not wish that. It is as clear and plain to me as anything what the Lord’s mind was or is about that.’ That is the believer’s privilege, and it is for us to grow from the immature forms of spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, knowing in the heart what the Lord desires. It is more — if I may put it this way — according to Divine preferences than according to Divine statements.
By living with a person you do not need that person to say, ‘I want this, and I want that’ in words; you get to know the preferences of that person, and if you love that person and esteem them highly, you become governed by what you know to be their desires and how they are disposed. It is an inner sense of their disposal towards this or against that. That is like the Life in the Spirit. It is the cultivation of a spiritual sense which governs us. To have that we have to stand clear from every other influence. It is difficult very often when those we love and those who love us, and those who have our highest interests at heart bring their counsel to bear upon us and advise us. It is difficult not to be influenced; that is, not to be influenced to the point of making our decision according to what they say and how they react. But if we are going to be wholly governed by God we have to suspend that and say, ‘That sounds like good, sound judgement’, and we take account of the fact that it comes from one who has a love for God, is walking with the Lord and although we will not discount it altogether, we must go to the Lord about it. It is not to be done in a spirit of superiority, but we must maintain that position with the Lord. I do not know what your experience is, but mine is that I have often been checked up afterwards by being influenced in my attitudes and decisions by the good counsel and judgement of other children of God, even servants of the Lord. As I have said, you can never be sure that there is not something there which comes from another source — not necessarily a satanic source directly, but merely from a human source, and is not from God.
If a thing is to be wholly of God, then it means that it must be wholly separated from man; God requires that. Remember that the measure of the abiding value of anything is the measure of its having come from the Lord. Every bit that comes from man, even good men, will perish; sooner or later it will break down. Only that which is from God will stand, and we are not building and working for time. We have got a long, long time afterwards, and only that which comes from God will have a place there. We should extract ourselves from this domination of the time factor of this world, and stand all the time in eternity, and ask, ‘What is the value of this for eternity? What is the spiritual value of this? How much of God is there in this?’ If we can always be governed by these considerations, then there is going to be a large measure for eternity. We may have to suffer if we adopt this position of a walk with God. Be careful of spiritual pride that causes us to think that no one else knows but ourselves and that everybody else may be wrong and may be influenced by wrong considerations. They may be right, this may be the voice of God; nevertheless we must have it confirmed, we must take it to the Lord and say, “Oh my soul, be thou silent unto God.” It may be that I do not like that thing, or it may be that I do like it. That does not matter. What we like or do not like is not the factor. “Be thou silent unto God” my soul, God alone has got to speak here if the thing is to work out to His own glory.
See Israel and Israel’s history all in the balances of this inner voice of God. If Israel had lived according to the most holy place, they would have got into the inheritance very much more quickly. We shall come into the fulness of Christ in the measure in which Christ is sanctified as Lord in our hearts, and that means what we have been saying, that there is one voice, and that is the Lord’s voice. We should give thanks that in virtue of the sprinkled blood we have an opened heaven — nothing between — and that to know the Lord for ourselves, growingly, is our privilege as His child, and that knowing is secured unto us in the sprinkled blood of Jesus in the presence of God.
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"Thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end: of one piece with the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. 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. 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. 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" Exodus 25:17-22.
To begin with we are shown by means of this type that through, and in virtue of, the shed and sprinkled blood of the Lord Jesus we have the two great factors in our standing with God.
Remission
The shed blood, which, of course, in the type took place outside by the great altar, provides remission of sins, and before ever we get to the inner place, the sanctuary, the sin question has been dealt with. The sin question is not dealt with in the presence of God, that is, in the inner sanctuary; the sin question is dealt with, as it were, outside. When we do enter in, the question of the remission of sins does not arise at all; that is settled. The matter is not an open matter at all in the immediate presence of God; that has been settled, concluded. But from the shedding of the blood where there is remission of sins, the blood is brought in by the high priest into the innermost shrine of God’s immediate presence and it is sprinkled. The sprinkling, of course, is related to what has taken place outside. It is a testimony to the fact that sins are remitted, forgiven, and atoned for. It is the finished work in relation to sin carried right through into God’s presence and placed before Him as a memorial and a testimony that sin has been dealt with. It is not dealt with there; it has been dealt with, but the dealing with it is testified to. The sprinkling says that it is done. It is something in the presence of God which remains the abiding testimony to sin having been dealt with outside.
Communion
But then the sprinkling, on the other hand, is that which makes it possible for us to have fellowship with God. It is in virtue of the sprinkled blood that there is communion. Forgiveness, remission — that is good, but then, even so, we can still be left outside. The letter to the Hebrews sees Christ in the position of the high priest carrying through His own blood, and, in the antitype, passing through the heavens (not through an earthly veil but through the heavens; that veil dividing earth from heaven), with His own blood into the immediate presence, there to appear before God for us. Therefore, Christ being in the very presence of God with His own blood of the testimony, means not just that we are forgiven and left as forgiven ones — with God’s full pardon, nevertheless left there. There is the added and the extra value that Christ, in virtue of His blood, having passed through the heavens, brings us into the same place as He occupies with the Father in the heavens. We are now not only forgiven, but in fellowship with God in virtue of His sprinkled blood. There must be blood in the presence of God if there is to be any abiding in the presence of God, and so the blood carries us right through with Christ into the fullest fellowship and communion with God.
That is the simple truth with which we are more or less familiar. Through and in virtue of the sprinkled blood it is given to us to have fellowship with God in the utter terms, “I will meet with you there.” It is God being free to come to us, to meet with us.
Where God Speaks
That brings us into the place of the immediate voice of God, where God is speaking. And when God speaks, He is speaking His thoughts, His mind; and God’s thoughts are very pure thoughts. When I use the word ‘pure’ I do not just mean morally pure. It is that essence of God-likeness, that essence of divine nature; not only moral purity, but that which is utterly God, and therefore so utterly different from man as man is. “My thoughts are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are not My thoughts”. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts”. There is a vast expanse between man’s mind and God’s mind. I want you to see the vast difference between the mind of God and the mind of man at its best. There is a difference in character, a difference in quality, a difference in nature. The one thing that children of God learn increasingly and right on, no matter how long they may live and go on with God here, is how differently God thinks and how differently God acts from how we think and act. We get some very exalted ideas and thoughts as to what God would have and how God would act and so on, and yet we learn that our most exalted thoughts which originate in ourselves come far short of His thoughts. We are very sincere, very earnest, very devoted. We mean the very best in what we do and how we do things in our conceptions of the ways and methods and means of God, and we live to see that they fall far short of God’s essential thing: the essence of God’s mind.
Here we are in the presence of the most holy place, of God’s utter mind, God’s utter thought, the very purity which is the essence of God. And the cherubim represent that unmixed thought of God, that divine, that heavenly mind as completely free from the mixture of man’s mind and man’s thought. If you follow the cherubim through the Scriptures you will find that they are the custodians of what is wholly of God. You see them in the garden in the first instance. What has happened here? Two minds have come into conflict. God’s mind has been expressed and laid down quite clearly. God has uttered His thought. Now another mind comes in and raises questions about God’s expressed thought: “Has God said...?” That is reasoning, that is a mind set in motion from another source. The result and issue of that is expulsion, and the cherubim with the flame of a sword gets moving in every direction, saying in effect, "In this place of God’s abode there is no room for two minds, no mixture of man’s thought with God’s thought, or man’s mind and man’s judgement with God’s mind and judgement."
There is no room for the two, and there is expulsion, the severing by fire between these two things. The cherubim right through stand for the thing which is wholly heavenly, divine, and utterly of God. They stand to represent that and are the custodians of that; wholly heavenly and wholly spiritual as to divine thoughts, divine counsels and divine judgements.
Turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel and see the day in which Ezekiel lived. See the mind of the religious people of Israel over against which he was set; the conflict of minds religiously in Ezekiel’s day, the terrible battle with the religious mind and God set against that religious mind. The whole of Ezekiel’s prophecies open with the presentation of the cherubim, and it is as though God in the cherubim sets in motion His heavenly mind, for the cherubim and the wheels are linked with a Man in the throne. Here is God projecting His counsels, His thoughts, His judgements, setting them in motion so that they go right forward. The Spirit of Life is in them, and they turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left. There is no deviation in the counsels of God or in the Divine thought. It is straight, persistent, inviolable, utter; and Israel with their religious mind astray has got to be measured by these thoughts of God.
There is no place in the presence of God for man’s mind. God’s mind is utter and it is final. What would you think (it is unthinkable really) of Moses going into that most holy place, and between the cherubim God beginning to express His will, His mind, and saying, "Now, so-and-so must be done..." Then Moses saying, "I think, Lord, that it would be best to do it this way"; or, "So-and-so said this about it!" It is unthinkable. There would have been a breaking forth of the Fire. Man’s mind has no place here. It is not the advice that someone else has given, and not what someone else has said. God here tolerates no mixture of man’s mind or judgement; His thought is here guarded, preserved; it is final. We may not bring into the oracle what we think or what others say.
You see the point. The life of the Lord’s people was to be governed out from that centre. There was a centre to Israel’s life and all the government came from that centre, and that centre was the most holy place where only God speaks and only God’s mind rules, not man’s mind. From the most holy place the life of the Lord’s people has got to be governed, not by human counsels. We do not begin from the circumference in counsels, and judgements, and committees laying plans and projecting schemes, discussing what we are going to do for the Lord. That is beginning from the circumference. The life of God’s people has to begin from the centre, where everything is silent before the Lord. We stop our thinking, and judging, and coming to conclusions, comparing, taking into account the pros and the cons and then arriving at something. We stop being influenced by outside things such as apparent demand, seeming requirement, force of circumstances; all such things have to be silenced.
All that the best of God’s people would counsel and advise has to be put back. There is something that comes before that, there is something deeper than that. The most holy man, the most holy woman must not be allowed to protrude their best judgements into the place which God occupies alone with His people. All those things have got to be silenced before we can know the Lord and the Lord’s mind. In that place there must be the utter silence of everything that belongs to the life outside religiously, and in every other way. The one and only thing in the most holy place is what God says, and God waits for that silence before He speaks. Only as we are free from man’s system of things can we get a pure expression of God’s mind. God will lead us in the measure in which we are free from the government and influence of an accepted order. If we are governed by a system which is in the hands of men more or less; that is, if we have our spiritual lives governed by something established of men, in that measure we have no voice of God within. But to have the utter voice of God, every other influence and government has to be put back.
There may be very good men and women who know the Lord, but we can never be sure that the best man, the best woman, the most godly, is not in some little way influenced by some consideration that is human, earthly, and that their judgement is not in some little degree touched and affected by upbringing, training, tradition, human opinion, or the accepted thing. You can never be sure. Therefore, the aim and object of every child of God should be to be silent to every other voice, every other influence, silent unto the Lord. “My soul be thou silent unto God” (“wait thou only upon God”, is our version; Psa. 62:5 Lit.). “My soul”. What is my soul? My feelings, my reasonings, my desirings, my willing, all the life around me and its influences, “...Be thou silent unto God”.
This is a very high and a very utter position. I have to measure up to it as much as you have. I am not presenting something to you; we all have to recognise this. But this is not only a demand, not only a challenge; this is a blessed privilege, a blessed possibility. He, Jesus, the Son of God, has passed through the heavens; that passing through the heavens which were closed (“No man cometh unto the Father”) until He fulfilled His work on the Cross and God raised Him from the dead. Then the heavens were rent. The rending of the heavens, which is the removal of the barrier, the opening of what was closed, made it possible for man by the Holy Spirit to go through an opened heaven. The Holy Spirit came in virtue of Calvary, by which the heavens were opened. Now we are represented as being in the heavenlies. That is only another way of saying that what is in heaven is in us. There is no geography in this matter. There is no space nor time in spiritual matters. It is all present and immediate. The same is in us as is in heaven. What is it? A most holy place. How? “…My Father will come unto him, and we will make our abode in him”. Christ within is the propitiatory, the mercy seat, of the remission of our sins, and also the sanctuary where God speaks. In a word, we have an opened heaven, we have a place in the immediate presence of God; Jesus is in our hearts. This is what Peter meant when he said, “Sanctify in your hearts Christ Jesus as Lord.” What does that mean? Well, if Jesus is in your heart, making there the sanctuary, then Jesus must be Lord, and you acknowledge Him as Lord when you put back your own mind, your own judgements, your own feelings, your own desires, and all other considerations of what people say, or want, or judge, or predict, or threaten. When you sanctify Him as Lord in your hearts, then you recognise He is there governing, and any other mind has no place there. This is the place where He is to be sanctified as Lord; the Lordship of Christ is to govern.
This is our privilege. However high and difficult it may sound, this is the privilege of the believer to know the Spirit of the Lord governing the life from the inner sanctuary, the Spirit of the Lord speaking the mind of God in the heart. Now let us be clear, the Holy Spirit does not always come in a way which is like an audible voice although not an audible voice. He does not come with words and say to us when we seek the Lord, ‘You shall do this, you shall not do that!’ He does not do anything like that. The Holy Spirit in us constitutes a spiritual sensibility, for the language of the Spirit is a divine language, and a language in itself. It is not a language of human words (although the Lord has sometimes come down to spiritual children and communicated Himself almost in human words; at any rate, with such understanding and apprehension), but it is the cultivation of the spiritual sense that is needed. Although unable to say the Lord said such words to us definitely, we are able to say, ‘I know quite well the Lord wished that, and did not wish that. It is as clear and plain to me as anything what the Lord’s mind was or is about that.’ That is the believer’s privilege, and it is for us to grow from the immature forms of spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, knowing in the heart what the Lord desires. It is more — if I may put it this way — according to Divine preferences than according to Divine statements.
By living with a person you do not need that person to say, ‘I want this, and I want that’ in words; you get to know the preferences of that person, and if you love that person and esteem them highly, you become governed by what you know to be their desires and how they are disposed. It is an inner sense of their disposal towards this or against that. That is like the Life in the Spirit. It is the cultivation of a spiritual sense which governs us. To have that we have to stand clear from every other influence. It is difficult very often when those we love and those who love us, and those who have our highest interests at heart bring their counsel to bear upon us and advise us. It is difficult not to be influenced; that is, not to be influenced to the point of making our decision according to what they say and how they react. But if we are going to be wholly governed by God we have to suspend that and say, ‘That sounds like good, sound judgement’, and we take account of the fact that it comes from one who has a love for God, is walking with the Lord and although we will not discount it altogether, we must go to the Lord about it. It is not to be done in a spirit of superiority, but we must maintain that position with the Lord. I do not know what your experience is, but mine is that I have often been checked up afterwards by being influenced in my attitudes and decisions by the good counsel and judgement of other children of God, even servants of the Lord. As I have said, you can never be sure that there is not something there which comes from another source — not necessarily a satanic source directly, but merely from a human source, and is not from God.
If a thing is to be wholly of God, then it means that it must be wholly separated from man; God requires that. Remember that the measure of the abiding value of anything is the measure of its having come from the Lord. Every bit that comes from man, even good men, will perish; sooner or later it will break down. Only that which is from God will stand, and we are not building and working for time. We have got a long, long time afterwards, and only that which comes from God will have a place there. We should extract ourselves from this domination of the time factor of this world, and stand all the time in eternity, and ask, ‘What is the value of this for eternity? What is the spiritual value of this? How much of God is there in this?’ If we can always be governed by these considerations, then there is going to be a large measure for eternity. We may have to suffer if we adopt this position of a walk with God. Be careful of spiritual pride that causes us to think that no one else knows but ourselves and that everybody else may be wrong and may be influenced by wrong considerations. They may be right, this may be the voice of God; nevertheless we must have it confirmed, we must take it to the Lord and say, “Oh my soul, be thou silent unto God.” It may be that I do not like that thing, or it may be that I do like it. That does not matter. What we like or do not like is not the factor. “Be thou silent unto God” my soul, God alone has got to speak here if the thing is to work out to His own glory.
See Israel and Israel’s history all in the balances of this inner voice of God. If Israel had lived according to the most holy place, they would have got into the inheritance very much more quickly. We shall come into the fulness of Christ in the measure in which Christ is sanctified as Lord in our hearts, and that means what we have been saying, that there is one voice, and that is the Lord’s voice. We should give thanks that in virtue of the sprinkled blood we have an opened heaven — nothing between — and that to know the Lord for ourselves, growingly, is our privilege as His child, and that knowing is secured unto us in the sprinkled blood of Jesus in the presence of God.
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