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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 152
THE
(continued)
And it was given unto him to make war
with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations (Rev. 13:7).
As we consider this thought of the beast making war with the saints and overcoming
them, we do well to recall the message of Christ to the church in
It is not the world we must flee from, but worldliness. Our Lord Himself has taught us that we are in the world, but not of the world, and in the loving embrace of His
final earnest prayer for His own He petitioned the heavenly Father, I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (Jn.
Let me call your attention to another feature.
The beast makes war with the saints! This cannot be during the so-called great
tribulation as we have been told, following the so-called rapture of the
saints, for the saints are right here on earth
when the beast makes war on them and overcomes them! This
is not a fight with the sword nor do the saints rise in political rebellion it is
the spiritual warfare between the bestial system
of man and the people of God. The called and
chosen elect of God refuse to worship the beast, as the Holy Spirit makes plain in these
significant words: And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb (Rev. 13:8). The earth-dwellers, the carnal Christians, all worship the beast, for the life of the Lamb has
not been formed in their minds nor inscribed in their hearts. The clear implication is that those saints in whom
the life of the Lamb has been raised up as the power of their being do not worship the
beast!
Individually, the beast is the mystery of sin dwelling inside of every human being
alive today, evidenced by most people living a totally fleshly life without regard for
God, His will, His ways, or His judgment. Either
we overcome this beast or it overcomes us, and in fact, it has overcome all of us somewhere in our spiritual
journey! God has allowed the flesh and its
bestial system to make war against us for His greater purpose: to cause us to seek Him for
HIS VICTORY to be raised up in us! This
interplay between flesh and spirit is what eventually makes us strong in God!
Ray Prinzing hit the nail squarely on the head when he wrote: No doubt about
it, there is a real warfare going on and to this bestial system is given to make
war with the saints, and to overcome them. But
it is a momentary victory, For a just man
falleth seven times, and riseth up again (Prov. 24:16). Therefore, Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall; I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me (Mic. 7:8). The
ultimate victory belongs to our Lord and those who put their trust in Him. And that there shall arise those who OVERCOME this
whole bestial system, is sure, for later on John writes, I
saw
them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over the
number of his name (Rev. 15:2). In
spirit the prophet Daniel beheld the same: I
beheld, and the same horn (beast system) made war with the saints, and prevailed against
them; UNTIL the Ancient of days came, and judgment
was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom. The saints of the most High shall
take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever
(Dan. 7:21-22,18). We need not become too expansive concerning this
war with the saints by the bestial system of
While we have learned, yea, become surrendered and submissive to HIM, one
with His will, this is an active state of being, not a passive one. Passivity is the law whereby evil-forces work. You have to give your self to them the mind
goes blank, the faculties dormant, the will let go, and even the body relaxed
and passive, then the familiar spirits do their thing.
This is likewise the bestial systems mode of operation! The usurped powers say in effect, We will
think for you, will for you, create the right emotional responses in you, etc. They would control your life in all its action and
thinking, and all of their brain-washing operation is towards this end. The news is controlled so that your thoughts are
channeled as they want them to be. The most
insidious devices ever used to destroy the mind of man are now being used in increasing
numbers, called subliminal persuasion. The innocent looking sales ads, the rock music
and the movies, etc., all designed to cause men to rebel against God, parents, home,
authority, decency. It works below the
threshold of consciousness, to brain-wash the subconscious mind, and thus motivates the
actions accordingly. And in this way the beast
makes war even with the saints! BUT GODS
LAW IS THAT OF ACTIVE CO-OPERATION. He does
not always work instead of us, though He certainly can, for He is sovereign, but He would
work WITH, IN, AND THROUGH YOUR ACTIVE OBEDIENCE. Gods
elect are not automatons behaving mechanically without active intelligence, but
they have truly put on the mind of Christ, to
function with His mind, one in His will, one with His purpose. And thus they overcome the beast! end quote.
According to Gods purpose the beast may battle with the saints; yes, it may
even overcome the saints. How overcome them? Is it possible to overcome the saints? Does not the Lord tell us for our comfort that no
one will be able to tear us out of His hand and that no weapon formed against us shall
prosper? Yes,
In His kingdom parable of the soils the Lord Jesus revealed various weapons of the
bestial system with which it makes war with the saints.
He spoke of seed that fell among the thorns and
that kingdom seed sprouted up but was then choked out by the thorns, bringing no fruit to
perfection. He identified the thorns as the care
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches (Mat.
The
first mention in scripture of thorns and thistles is just this side of the
The cares of this world have turned many peoples lives into a pressure
cooker. The strain of everyday living is
steadily growing worse because of financial problems, higher taxes, inflation, government
policies, demands on the job, the disturbing world situation, added responsibilities,
sickness, hospital bills, rebellion in the home, unemployment, etc., etc. The divisions and distractions of this
world are too numerous to mention, we are all faced with them every day. There are those seemingly needful involvements in
the activities of this worlds order, but when they so OVERWHELM
There is another area of division and distraction by which the bestial system makes
war against our soul that is the religious realm which can cause one to
be so caught up in its programs and lifeless works that it literally becomes destructive
to spiritual life. Well do I remember former
years of pastoring churches when every weekend was crowded with such a whirlwind of
feverish activity that come Monday morning I needed another Sabbath to rest
and recuperate from the one I had just been through! I
suppose I will make some enemies, but I must tell you the truth nonetheless. How much eager-beaver religious work is done out of
a carnal desire to make good, appear successful, win friends and influence people, to
build a kingdom and increase the cash flow! How
many hours of prayer are wasted beseeching God to bless programs that He has
Oh! to escape religiosity that we might learn to worship God in spirit and in
truth. And we rejoice to see how God is
causing His elect to flee this care. To remain
in the midst of all this activity and not become caught in its snare, is an escape which
only God can work in us and maintain for us. Dear
man of God; dear woman of God! Let us pull up by the roots the noxious, choking
weeds of religious excitement and pseudo devotion and mis-guided service and seek the face
of the Lord in deep humility until He comes and
THOSE WHO DO NOT WORSHIP THE
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8).
The beloved John informs us that all the world wondered after the
beast
and they worshipped the beast
and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations. Surely this
would lead us to suppose that every living person upon earth does or shall worship the
beast. But that is not quite true. There is one class of people who refuse to put
their trust in this great power and to pay homage to the beast. And that class of people is especially described as
those whose names have been written in the book of life of the Lamb. The called and chosen elect of God refuse to
worship the beast! Oh, let us hear it! If our names are written in the Lambs book of
life we will not worship the beast, because we
worship our Redeemer who has redeemed us to God by His blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we
shall reign over the earth!
It is interesting to note that in the genealogies of the Bible there are only two
books which are identified: (1) the book
of the generations of
Every mans name is written either in the book of the life of the Lamb, or in
the book of the life of the dragon. When we
see the life of the dragon manifested we recognize it by the fact that we have
been there, we recognize the dragon in his identity, name, and nature. We experience this in our lives as we are growing
in the things of God. Line upon line and
precept upon precept the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own carnal mind, our own
heart, our own fleshly
Our
Father faithfully teaches each of His sons the difference between the precious and the
vile, the holy and the unholy, the pure and the defiled, the truth and the error, and
between life and death. I know, as no one on
earth knows, including my wife, what darkness lurked in my own heart and what a monster I
could have become except for the grace of God and the sovereign choosing of my heavenly
Father. Thus, as the sons of God are being
invested with the seven-fold spirit of sonship, which is the completeness of the mind and
nature of Christ, to bring forth the
Let
us look a little
Notice Moses didnt say,
blot my name out of Thy book, but
blot ME out of Thy book. Moses understood the deep things of the Lord well
enough to know that God has a Book, and that he
himself was a part of that Book! The
prophet David also had knowledge of Gods Book, for he intoned these significant
words in his Psalm, Thou tellest my
wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book? (Ps. 56:8). And again, Let
them be blotted out of the book of the living, and
not be written with the righteous (Ps. 69:28).
A book of the living that is, a book composed not of paper or parchment, but
a book whose pages are people! Notice now how clearly the sweet singer of
This same David prophesied of Christ, using his own experience as a shadow and type
of the coming One. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I
With
all emphasis I must declare that every man and woman of God who reads these lines is also
to be found in Gods Book. Each elect
member of the Christ body has a ministry to
fulfill which was fully recorded in the Volume of the Book a long, long time
ago. In that long ago your spirit rejoiced in
celestial realms with your heavenly Father. Obviously
you did not exist there in your present physical form in that early time when the
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7). And yet you were there in spirit
because you are a son of God! The very
genetics of your being are written there, your nature, who you really are, your true
identity, calling, purpose, attainment, and destiny the whole beautiful story is
inscribed and recounted in golden hues there in Gods Book, not in words of any
tongue of men or of angels, but the very reality of your being is the
page of Gods Living Book. Oh, yes!
When
Jesus read the Book which He was by the spirit
of the revelation of the Father within, He proclaimed, Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I
The
There
is a branch of literature known as biography. Biographies are the histories of
Throughout
the march of the ages men and women have recorded an innumerable multitude of life-stories
of the mighty ones who have trodden this earth and influenced the events of history and
the destinies of men, movements, nations, and empires.
Each and all of those biographies were meaningful to someone, often to many,
but never in all the history of the world was there a life lived out before the universe
of mankind that was so overwhelmingly important, so all-embracing, so transcendent in its
nature and so far-reaching in its results as the life of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in His earthly life
and ministry, in His death, resurrection, and ascension IS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS
GLORIOUS BOOK OF THE LIFE OF THE LAMB!
Let
us now return to our
The
only thing that can happen to those who live out of human nature is to be purified by the
fire, and our God is a consuming fire! And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).
Those who realize that they are spiritual beings begin to live out of a
spiritual consciousness and the Christ-life within is the name or nature that is written
in the Book of the Life of the Lamb! Oh! that
men would awaken to the truth that they might see where reality dwells; that their eyes
might be opened to see the truth that the nature of the new man, Christ, is the nature of
the life of the Lamb! Those who reveal out of
their being the life of the Lamb are themselves the Book of the Life of the Lamb, the epistle of
Christ known and read of all men, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. Arent you glad!
The
revelation of Jesus Christ thats what the book of Revelation is all about! It tells you of the revelation of HIM. The breaking of the seals, the galloping of the
horses, the blast of the trumpets, the sealing of the saints, the beasts, the heads and
horns, the blood flowing, the battle of Armageddon, the vials, the judgments, the city
coming down all that is written in this book relates to the unveiling, the
uncovering, the revelation of Jesus Christ in the lives of His elect in this great day of
the Lord. This revelation has been taking place in measure throughout the
church age, but we have now come to that time unto which all the ages have been converging
the dispensation of the fullness of times! It is my deep conviction that we are standing at
the consummation of the old age of the church, the completion of all things that pertain
to the church age. All the sages and all the
prophets of all the ages have prophesied of this grace and this glory that should come
unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We
are now living in a new age, a new day of the revelation of the fullness of the glory of
the Lord before the face of all nations!
The
Book of the Lambs Life tells a complete story. Each
member of the Christ-body is like a page or chapter in this blessed Book. Each one tells a portion of the story. Each contains only a measure of the revelation of
God in His Christ, Head and body. The
wonderful thing about it is, that while God revealed Himself in so many ways, in so many
forms, through so many people down through the ages, He is now gathering together
(compiling) the revelation that came forth and the experience of every one of them. It is all becoming focused in this glorious company
of Gods sons. The complete revelation of
God is divided into hundreds and thousands, yea, millions of little pieces and fragments
which were revealed through the lives of men and women by their experience of God on the
earth. But now, at the transition of the ages,
God is taking all the experience and
Your
calling, the reason Christ quickened you, was to make you consciously a part of Himself,
to bring you into a calling unto glory, to a place where God by His Spirit could express
Himself through you, so that you could bring the revelation of God into the earth. The multitudes of earth have read many books, even
many religious books of a thousand different kinds, but few have read even one page of THE
LAMBS BOOK. Oh, how mankind needs this
Book released in their midst! Your life and
everything that is happening to you is designed to train you for a
The
Lambs Book of Life, Gods New Covenant seek it not in the starry skies,
nor in the sweet by and by seek it in a life transformed. This is His monument not in cold stone, nor
in chiseled marble, nor in plaques of bronze, not in ancient parchments, not in weighty
documents, but given by the very finger of God upon human hearts and in human lives. Here is the covenant that will last when time is
obsolete, when the sands of the ages have run out, when the elements have melted with
fervent heat. Andrew Murray once asked, What
does it mean to have a law in the heart? It
means this: to have the knowledge and the will and the nature and the power of God inspired into us.
For example, when I speak of an acorn, how do I know it will grow up
into a mighty oak tree that may stand for a hundred years?
Because the law of the oak tree has been written in the heart of the acorn. The acorn may be small, and the oak tree may be
spreading its branches for a hundred years to come, but it was in the acorn. Even so with Christ, the Mediator of the New
Covenant, the One on whom I can depend to make the
covenant true. Christ Jesus is to see that the
Spirit of the Lord God shall be and live in me, rule in me, conquer in me, and work out
all His blessed purposes in me. Christ, the
High Priest, is Mediator of the Covenant for this blessing too a life that lives
out the law written in the heart. And may I
add as the Lord Jesus is the Surety for us of the Covenant, so we in Him are the Surety for the rest of creation. Thus, the New Covenant is not a document nor a
decree it is a people! The Book of Life people are the Covenant for
all men to see, read, and receive. Great is
the mystery!
And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world. Again, read those words
with care for they are taken from the King James Bible.
The Greek
All these things spake Jesus unto the multitudes
in parables
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I
will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things
which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world (Mat.
13:34-35).
Then shall the King say unto them on His right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mat. 25:34).
Father,
I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may
behold my glory, which Thou hast given me: for Thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world (Jn.
According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph. 1:4).
For
we which have believed do enter into rest
the
works were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb.
4:3).
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold
but with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but
was manifest in these last times for you (I Pet. 1:18-20). Note that the spotless Lamb was foreordained, that is, selected, chosen, set aside,
appointed to become the sacrifice, and this selection and appointment was made before the foundation of the world. But it does not say that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. Obviously, that was reserved for when he was manifest for us when He came to earth.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not: and
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the
earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in
the book of life from the foundation of the world (Rev. 17:8).
Ah,
in that final passage even the King James Bible states that it was our names that were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world! Can any doubt that this is also the correct
rendering of the passage in Revelation 13:8? That
would certainly make the two statements agree!
Never
doubt this reality for a moment the only way God could have loved you, chose you in
Christ, and picked you out for His own before the
foundation of the world is that you truly existed in Him and with Him before the
appearing of the worlds. Nothing can be
plainer than that! Yet we have supposed that
we were just recently, in this life, apprehended of God to sonship. I thought the work of God began in my life nearly
eighty years ago. Now I find that the thing
God is doing in humanity began in eternity! It
didnt begin in time. It began before the
ages were framed. That is when the Father
loved Jesus and foreordained Him as the Lamb of God, and that is also when the Father
loved us and predestinated us unto placement as His sons (Eph. 1:4-5). God knew me, loved me, chose me, counseled with me,
and picked me out for His unique purpose before the foundation of the world. My origin was in God!
God begat me of Himself as spirit before
He exhaled me as spirit into a very unique body
upon earth. And He knew you! He loved you! He
chose you! And He has sent you! Clarity is coming to the sons of God. Understanding, perception, consciousness,
expression, purpose, destiny, God is awakening all of this in us. He is awakening within us that reality we knew with
the Father from before the foundation of the world, when our name, our nature, was written
in Gods Book. And you are here by divine
appointment. Isnt it wonderful!
CAPTIVITY
TAKEN CAPTIVE
And he that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints
(Rev. 13:10).
INDIVIDUALLY, it is the flesh, the old
CORPORATELY, Gods kingdom is a body politic.
And there are two parties: Gods righteous government and the opposition. The opposition, deceived and
The opposition even went so far as to crucify the King, the Prince of Peace. But that seeming defeat for Christs cause was
a signal victory, for on the third day the crucified One arose from the tomb to a higher
and more glorious dimension of life in the power of resurrection, thus breaking the sway
of death and delivering all who were in bondage from its clutches. Because He arose, so shall every son of Adam arise! Because He conquered sin, sorrow, death, and hell,
ultimately every man shall receive the blessing and benefit of that triumph! The
hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in
the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth (Jn.
The
The message is clear and the word is sure He that leadeth
into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with
the sword. HERE IS THE PATIENCE AND THE FAITH
OF THE SAINTS!
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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