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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part
98
THE SEALING
OF THE 144,000
(continued)
And I heard the number of them that were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four
thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel (Rev. 7:4).
In order to understand the deep mystery of the hundred and forty-four thousand we
must see beyond the veil of the flesh and the mists of the earthly and literal and see
right into the very heart of God with the eyes of the spirit. My purpose in writing of these mysteries is that
all who read might see WHO ISRAEL IS. There
is a marvelous prophetic passage of scripture in the book of Genesis in which is related
the experience of the very first Israel of God. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a
man with him until the breaking of the day. And
when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the
hollow of Jacobs thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy
name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and
hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and
said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he
said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?
And he blessed him there. And
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: For I have seen God face to face, and my life
is preserved (Gen. 28:24-28).
It may stagger your imagination to hear what I now say, but once you grasp the
truth, you will be mightily helped by it. The
kernel of truth in the story related above concerns how Jacob became Israel, Prince of
God. Its so very important for those
who would lay hold upon the reality of sonship to study the life of Jacob who was first
called Israel. For, as a brother we
ministered with some years ago has written, Jacob was not the only Israel, but he
was only the first Israel of God! For you see, the word Israel simply means PRINCE
OF GOD, and Jacob was only the first man that God called out of the world to deal with him
until He had changed his nature from the nature of a schemer and a grasper and a
supplanter, which was what his name Jacob meant by interpretation, to the nature of one
who no longer went through life and thought
to conquer life by his own scheming and grasping and supplanting, but became one who,
completely helpless in his own strength, could take hold of God and say, I will not let
you go until I get the blessing. And when God
had changed Jacobs nature from the nature of a schemer, a grasper, and a supplanter
to the nature of a prince of God, He gave him a new name to fit
his new nature!
The Bible says there wrestled a man with Jacob all night long. And toward the breaking of the day, when he
prevailed not, the man touched the hollow of Jacobs thigh and Jacob became
absolutely helpless and could walk no longer in his own strength. And then the picture changes. No longer is the angel of the Lord wrestling with
Jacob, but now Jacob is wrestling with the angel of the Lord! And he takes a fresh hold upon the angel of the
Lord, and the angel of the Lord said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. The angel really didnt want Jacob to let go, he was only testing Jacob to
see how hard Jacob could hang on. And Jacob
takes a fresh grip, and says, I will not let you go until I get the blessing! And the angel of the Lord says, What is your name? He says, Jacob,
schemer, grasper, supplanter. And the
angel says, No, thou shalt no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, Prince
of God! For as a prince hast thou
power with God and men, for thou hast prevailed. No
longer Jacob, schemer, grasper, supplanter, but Israel, Prince of God. And as such Jacob was only the type of all those in every generation that God
calls by His Spirit, out of the world, to change their nature from the nature of schemer,
grasper, supplanter, that is, fleshly dependency and effort, to a prince of God
with power. Then He gives them a new
name to fit their new nature! Therefore,
Jacob was the first Israel, for he was the first called out of the world that God might
change his name and his nature.
Out of Jacob came twelve sons and they were mighty ones, Gods Israel
for that generation. Out of them came twelve
tribes, and they were Gods Israel for their generation. Then, finally, out of the twelve tribes came
Jesus, and while Jesus was in the world, He was Gods Israel, Gods Prince. Then out of Jesus came a generation of enChristed
Israel and they were Gods Israel, Gods mighty ones, for their generation. Then over the last 2,000 years have come
generation after generation of enChristed Israel. Each
out of the previous generation, and they were Gods Israel for their generation and
now, we who have been called and chosen by the Spirit of God out of the masses of the
world and religious Babylon, that God might deal with us and change our nature, that he
might change our name we are Gods
Israel for our generation!
Dearly beloved, this is the place that God has been apprehending you and me
for, waiting for us to come to from the day we were born!
Yea, the river Jabok, where Jacob camped, is where we have been brought to the
place of aloneness with God, separated from the world and religious Babylon. Here we sit completely helpless and the hollow of
our thigh has been touched where we can no longer walk in our own strength. No more schemes to depend on, no more of our own
thinking, carnal ways, and fleshly effort. The
flesh has schemed and worked our way into a corner where we cant go backward or
forward, the only way we can look is up! Then
the Spirit of God begins to wrestle with us through that long night of darkness wherein He
seeks to change our nature from one who is
always seeking to grasp and scheme and push our own way into the things of God, to one who
has become completely helpless. No longer
able to walk in our own strength, but in prayer and the spirit we take hold of God and
say, I will not let you go until I get the answer! There
is coming a breaking day for us; yea, our long night of darkness and testing is coming to
an end, and the daybreak is coming to us where well become that helpless in our own
strength. And God will have finally changed
our nature from one who continually tries to grasp and supplant our own way through by
self-effort and fleshly striving, to one who, completely helpless, takes hold of the Lord,
and in and by the spirit says, I will not let you go until you bless me with that new and
greater thing that only comes from you!
When that happens God changes our name and gives us a new name to fit our new
nature. Only the new name that He gives us is
not just Israel, Prince of God. The name that
He gives us is CHRIST SON OF GOD! For
then is fulfilled the scripture wherein Jesus said, Him that overcometh
I will
write upon him my new name (Rev. 3:12). Thou art the CHRIST, the SON OF THE LIVING
GOD thats who He is, and that is our new name! From that hour forth we have power with God and
with men, and prevail over every battle that will ever come against us, for God has
changed our nature from one who fights his own battles to one who has become completely
helpless in his own strength and ability; one through whom God fights! Then
the angel of the Lord says to us, What is thy name? Jacob,
schemer, grasper, supplanter? No! From henceforth thou shalt have a new name. Not just Israel, Prince of God, but Christ, Son of
God. And thou hast prevailed. Hallelujah!
end quote. And
these, my beloved, as Jacob-Israel of old, ARE THE TRUE ISRAEL OF GOD! If ye be Christs, T-H-E-N are ye
Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29). Now we,
brethren, as Isaac was, ARE THE CHILDREN OF
THE PROMISE (Gal. 4:28). For
we are the circumcision (Israel), which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE IN THE
FLESH (Phil. 3:3). That is Israel whose
thigh has been touched! Oh, the mystery of
it!
Everything in the book of Revelation is a sequence.
The seven trumpets flow out of the seven seals, the seven vials flow out of the
seven trumpets. The book begins on the isle
of Patmos, moves to the seven churches of Asia, and proceeds to the throne of God. It is a mighty stream of God, the river of life
flowing out from the throne and flowing and flowing and flowing until all creation is
watered, quickened by His life all
things made new! The seven promises to the
overcomers are seven steps in the progression
of our overcoming and receiving within ourselves the fullness of our inheritance. Some contend that there is no processing in God everything was finished by the work of Jesus two thousand years ago. But the revelation, the unveiling of Christ within
us, involves seven seals which are broken one at a
time, and a work is wrought under each
seal. Who can deny that that involves a process and the work wrought in us through
that process is processing!
As each seal is broken there is a further activity of God in the soul and in
the body, there is more light, more understanding, greater victory, maturity, glory, and
power! Everything is sequential! And here in the names of the twelve tribes of
Israel there is likewise a sequence twelve precise steps in the progressive sealing of the mind of
Christ in our foreheads! John was in the day
of the Lord and from that vantage point he could see the end from the beginning, the whole
process of God from beginning to end. Nothing
was hidden from him, he saw in and by the Spirit the entire unfolding of the purposes,
activities, and accomplishments of God within His elect and in all creation!
The 144,000 are divided into classes called by the names of the twelve tribes of
Israel the twelve tribes of those who are the Princes of God! It is a common mistake to think of these as the
natural, fleshly tribes of Israel, either of the Jews or the ten-tribed house of Israel. But the Revelation is a spiritual book and these are symbols! If
the four angels, the four winds, the four
corners of the earth, the seal of the living God, the earth, sea, and trees, are symbols,
then the twelve tribes that are sealed are likewise symbols! Can anything be plainer than that? These are character names, indicating the various aspects of
character developed spiritually in every son of God.
It doesnt indicate different groups or companies of Gods elect,
each company bearing the characteristics of only one of the tribes of Israel. These twelve spiritual character traits represent twelve steps in our experience of Christ by which
we progressively put on the mind of Christ and grow up into His mature nature and
character the nature and character of sonship
to God! Twelve is the number of divine government, therefore these twelve steps
bring us to the throne of Gods kingdom to govern the world in righteousness and
reign with Christ over all things!
Each step represents a new level of spiritual experience and maturity ordained for
every one apprehended to sonship. Each tribal
name reveals an attainment of the life and glory of God in our own experience until we
find ourselves seated with Him in His throne. Twelve
tribes speak to us of different dimensions of growth which all the Lords elect must
pass through. The twelve tribes are twelve stages by which we move out of one realm
into another, out of one level of consciousness into a higher level of consciousness, and
out of one state of being into a more perfect
state of being. The twelve tribes
represent twelve steps of ascent to the throne of the universe! We cannot reach the throne in all it means and is
until we have passed through them all in succession.
Each experience is greater than the preceding one! Each step through the tribes brings us closer to
incorruptible nature and immortal life and the authority and power of the throne!
All who are called and chosen of the Father as king-priests are diligently climbing
up that ascending pathway! We are daily
applying ourselves to this walk! By the
strength and power of the Christ within, we are pressing upward through one tribe at a
time. The twelve tribes were not all birthed
at the same time! The head of each tribe was
born in his time, one after another, until all twelve had been birthed! This is a picture of our progression in spiritual
life from one tribe to another! As we pass
from tribe to tribe we experience within ourselves all that each tribe embodies. When we have arrived at the last tribe
Benjamin we will be sons of the right hand! We will have experienced within ourselves all the
authority, power, and dominion of Gods omnipotent throne! Once the reality of each of the twelve tribes has
been progressively fulfilled within us, the victorious believer is then complete, mature,
and has attained the first resurrection and the glory of manifest sonship. We will be able to rule over all things as sons of
God! Gods promise to Abraham in the
long ago will at last be fulfilled in all its glorious and eternal reality in thee, and in thy seed, shall ALL THE FAMILIES
OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED!
Before proceeding into our study of the twelve tribes of Israel, there is a very
important truth which we should all understand in this connection. One of the tribes of Israel was omitted from the
list of tribes given us by the Holy Spirit in chapter seven of the Revelation. That tribe is Dan. Dan
means judgment. When the dying
Jacob blessed his sons, he said of Dan, Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so
that his rider shall fall backward (Gen. 49:17).
Abrupt, fragmentary, and enigmatic as these words are, they startle us by
the way they raise questionings within our minds about the nature and role of Dan. We are looking upon a specially sealed company, an
hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel. But Dan is not found among them! In Jacobs prophecy over Dan, the
patriarchs first words concerning Dan imply a strange, dangerous, and low place
if not the lowest place for him. When
the tribes of Israel crossed the Jordan and conquered the promised land, Dan was given a
portion on the extreme northern border of the land. He
retained his place as part of the nation, but was far removed from most of the action. And if we naturally ask, Why? the answer is in the
verse quoted above: Dan shall be a serpent
an
adder
that biteth the horse heels, so that
his rider shall fall backward.
Plainly
these are negative characterizations which associate him in some way with the power of the
adversary, and a dark, sinister role among the tribes.
The word serpent denotes the idea of wisdom and cunning (Mat.
10:16). The serpents weapon has always
been his mouth specifically, the venom
that comes out of that mouth! The word
adder in Hebrew means to snap at, thrust out the tongue and fits
the idea of spoken venom as a weapon of jealousy and anger.
God gave Dan the commission to judge Israel righteously. Keen observation and spiritual discernment are
necessary for a judge! These gifts were given
to Dan, but instead of using them aright, he became a backbiter, a cruel critic, a
condemner. The gift intended for a blessing,
when perverted, became an injury, causing others to fall.
The cruel critic, the one who always detects the evil in others and speaks of it
first, has the gift of judgment misdirected. None
who persist on that course can inherit the throne, for the manchild occupies the throne
whereas the accuser of the brethren is cast out of the heavens of dominion! The most famous Danite was Samson who judged
Israel for twenty years, but sold out his anointing to
the Philistine seducer, Delilah. The history of the tribe of Dan is darker than the
history of any other of the twelve tribes. Jeroboam,
Solomons servant, set up a golden calf in Dan and put high places throughout Israel,
causing Israel to sin.
The spirit of unrighteous judgment, vindictiveness, and condemnation is the spirit
of the church world today! The judgment
preached and expressed in the church systems is the spirit of the serpent, for it presents
Gods judgments as punitive, vindictive, destructive, and eternally tortuous rather
than a loving, purposeful correction. Thats
the serpent, it bites you when it shouldnt, and its
bite is deadly! Jesus crushed the
serpents head, he has no more power to bite you, yet the preachers still put the
deadly venom of condemnation, destruction, and eternal damnation into their proclamations
of judgment, characterizing God as a vengeful, implacable
tyrant ready to cast men into never-ending hell fire for the slightest offense. Dan does not represent the righteous judgment of
the sons of God, but rather the unrighteous, heinous, hateful judgment of a maniacal
despot.
When we come to the sealing of the twelve tribes Dans name is left out. The omission is absolute the tribe is cut
off from its brethren and its name blotted out. This
one tribe is deleted and another is added. In
like manner there was a deletion from the number of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and
an addition. Judas was cut off from his
apostleship, and Matthias was added (Acts 1:15-26). God
took something that didnt pertain to the order of sonship, and added that which
complemented or fulfilled the spirit of sonship. So
when vindictive judgment was removed, Levi, the tribe of the priesthood, who had no inheritance in Israel, and
was not normally included in the list of tribes, was added.
Can you not see the mystery? The
spirit of condemnation and vindictive judgment was removed, and mercy and reconciliation were added! To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR
TRESPASSES UNTO THEM; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (II
Cor. 5:19). THAT is the spirit of sonship! Mercy, grace, reconciliation, deliverance,
redemption, restoration, and life for all! Yet
that includes even Dan! People
possessing the spirit of the tribe of Dan are not finally cut off from the goodness of
God, for in Ezekiels glowing prophecy there is a portion for Dan (Eze. 48:1). No man is eternally cut off from God! But those of the spirit of Dan are not included in
the company of the manifest sons of God!
And of the tribe of Judah were
sealed twelve thousand (Rev. 7:5).
Let us consider this highly unusual statement.
If we were talking about the natural Israel, the proper order would be to begin
with the firstborn son of Israel Reuben. It
would read, And of the tribe of Reuben
were sealed
The people of Israel
were extreme devotees of the proper order. Listing
the eldest son first is as much a part of Old Testament
order as were the feasts of Israel! In every
previous genealogy, the list of tribes always began with Reuben. Now we come to the book of Revelation and the
order is changed, and the tribe of Reuben is not listed first. Here we find the tribe of Judah listed in the
first place. There is a wonderful reason for
this! The book of Revelation is not a
historical or prophetical book either about the
fleshly Israel or addressed to the natural
Israel. It is a spiritual book addressed to a spiritual people, the church, which is the body of Christ!
The reason we have the tribe of Judah listed first is because it is evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah, and He is the firstborn
of a spiritual seed which is the spiritual and true Israel of God! He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and by His
spiritual and heavenly kingship and dominion we are raised up into the seed of Abraham by
the Spirit. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22).
What I am declaring is not what is referred to as replacement theology
which just throws the natural Israel out and brings the Gentiles in. What God did was draw a larger circle, and the
circle is just this: Anybody who comes to me to be covenantally related to me must
come by the new birth, for verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again
(Greek: from above) he cannot see
enter the kingdom of God (Jn.
3:3,5). Jew, Israelite, Greek, Russian,
African, Asian, or whatever, there is only one way into the covenant of promise, and
thats not by physical birth or natural genealogy, for in Isaac shall thy seed
be called and Isaac comes by a supernatural birth! The firstborn of this heavenly lineage is our Lord
Jesus Christ who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah whose right it is to rule, to sit upon
the throne of Israel, which is the throne of the Lord within us. As it is written, The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto HIM
shall the gathering of the people be (Gen. 49:10).
Shiloh is the Lord Jesus Christ! We are not dealing with a natural Israel in the
book of Revelation, but with a spiritual seed brought forth out of the loins of Christ by
the new birth. This Israel begins with the spiritual and heavenly tribe of Judah!
When
the aged Jacob lay dying he commanded his twelve sons, who were destined to be the heads
of the twelve tribes of Israel, to come to his bedside that he might impart to them his
prophetic blessing. Gather yourselves
together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father (Gen.
49:2). The twelve boys dutifully assembled to
hear their fathers all-important final words. Israel
pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bed and his sons gathered themselves around
him. We are not told what emotional reactions
the twelve sons had as each heard his respective blessing, but contained in the blessings
were exhilarating highs and depressive lows as Israel prophesied of their destinies.
Let it be thoroughly known and understood by every reader of these lines that the
list in chapter seven of the Revelation is a list of persons, and the first, the Leader,
of this list is the tribe of Judah! The tribe
of Judah is now, under the new covenant, counted as the tribe of the FIRSTBORN. Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah! He is, furthermore, the firstborn among many brethren! He is the firstborn
of every creature! He is the firstborn from the dead! He is the firstborn among many brethren, and that
means that He is not the only son of God, He is the first
son of God, there is a vast company of sons destined to grow up into His likeness, to
share the fullness of all that He is and has. He
is the firstborn from the dead, and that means that He is not the only one to rise from
the dead, He is the first to rise from the
dead, and multitudes shall follow. He is the
firstborn of every creature, and that means
that He is in the position to restore the whole creation and every living being in it to
find their one head in Him, that God may be all in all.
It is indeed wonderful!
From earliest times the firstborn son held an honored position in the family. The law of the firstborn is divinely recognized
throughout the scriptures in both the sphere of the family and in that of the nations, and
also in the heavenly regions as well as the earthly.
God commanded to Israel that the firstborn son should inherit twice as much
of the fathers estate as any other child (Deut. 21:17). To this son fell also the right and responsibility
of control in the family, subject to the father; and also, in the older eras at least, the
firstborn son acted as the family priest. The
firstborn came into considerable prominence at the time that God delivered His people from
slavery in Egypt. Among the Egyptians, the
firstborn were dedicated as sacred to the sun god Amon-Ra, the supposed preserver of all
the firstborn. The tenth plague that the Lord
brought upon the Egyptians served to discredit this god and showed up his inability to
protect the firstborn. By obeying Gods
instructions concerning the slaying of a lamb and the splashing of its blood upon the
doorposts and upper part of the doorway of their houses, the Israelites did not lose their
firstborn in death, whereas all the firstborn of the Egyptians, both of man and beast,
were slain (Ex. 12:21-29).
God claimed as specially His own all the firstborn males of Israel. These were in the highest sense HIS FIRSTBORN! But then God substituted in their place the tribe
of Levi, the priestly tribe, so that this entire tribe became especially His firstborn
son. They were to grow up to be
educated, disciplined, and trained to live and serve the peculiar property of the
living God, separated from all others by the
very hand of God, hallowed unto Him, sanctified as His ministers on behalf of all to whom
He would show His mercy and power. The
Levites were in fact the TITHE AND OFFERING of the people unto God. Aaron was to offer the Levites for an
OFFERING of the children of Israel and thus they were wholly given unto
the Lord to do nothing but serve Him and His people.
Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren, but the entire house of sons is called
the Church of the Firstborn the body of that firstborn Son who is
become the Head of the Order of the Firstborn! Jesus
was the firstborn and as such received the inheritance of the firstborn. But by His graciousness and love and purpose we
share with Him counted as heirs of God and JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST in the
inheritance of the firstborn!
Let us use this illustration. At the
performance of an opera, the first part of the evening is given over to the playing of the
overture. As I understand it, the overture is
made up of, or contains, parts of all the main numbers of the whole opera. The overture is an
overall pre-view, or glimpse of the opera throughout until the end. But following the overture, the action goes back
again to the beginning, and the whole opera is performed in its detail unto the finish. Thus the overture presents the plot in portions,
and points to the end, so that one who has never heard it, will have a view of the action
and the climax of it. But, as I pointed out,
following the overture the action returns to the beginning and the detail of the whole
plot is played out. However, both the
overture and the detailed action come to a common end or result.
Let all who read these lines grasp the
great truth that THE MANIFEST SONS OF GOD ARE THE OVERTURE OF GODS WHOLE GREAT DRAMA
OF SIN AND REDEMPTION! Jesus is the overture
for the sons, while the sons are the overture for all creation. The working out of redemption and restoration
into the image of God is revealed in THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.
He is the first, and so far, THE ONLY PERFECTED MAN.
This gives us knowledge of two wonderful things!
Through Jesus we have the knowledge of the END of Gods great drama of sin and
redemption MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD! But
we also have the knowledge of the dealings and processings by which man is brought to that
end. And WE ARE THE OVERTURE, the preview,
the firstfruit, the demonstration of all Gods wonderful creative and redemptive
purpose, presenting upon the cosmic stage of the universe the final end that God has in
mind for His whole vast creation, praise His wonderful name!
Jesus is the firstborn! And that is where our sonship begins! We
must be born of the seed of the firstborn, be a
member in the church of the firstborn, and a
part of the body of the firstborn, who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah! Youve got to start with Jesus or you will go
nowhere in God. Truly HE is the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man comes unto the Father
but through HIM! Not only does no man come to
the Father except through Jesus, no man can come to sonship
to God except through Jesus! HE is the firstborn among many brethren! As the first born it is He who received the
double portion of the inheritance that through
Him and with Him we may receive and share
in it as joint-heirs. That is the mystery. HE is our Elder
Brother! HE is the High Priest of our profession!
HE is the Captain of our salvation!
HE is the Forerunner who
has entered in beyond the veil for us! Never forget it, my beloved!
The central truth in the sealing of the tribe of Judah is just this. The sealing
bespeaks a knowing, an experiencing, and putting on of Christ in a deeper, fuller, and
more powerful measure. It is here that we
meet JESUS, no longer merely as our Saviour, Healer, Baptizer, and Blesser, but as the SON
OF GOD with power! As we are sealed in the
tribe of Judah the revelation of HIS SONSHIP and OUR SONSHIP IN HIM breaks with wonder
within our illumined consciousness in the power of the Holy Spirit. In that blessed moment we behold Jesus as the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the King of Israel, the Prince of the kings of the earth, and the
Lord of the universe! We see Him upon the
throne of His Father! When we are spiritually
birthed or sealed as a member of the elect of the tribe of Judah, we are quickened to the
reality and the realm of sonship, to see as we have never seen, to hear as we have never
heard, to understand as we have never understood the Fathers purpose for us,
receiving within ourselves the witness of the spirit in the call to sonship!
Im sure that all who read these lines who have received the call to
sonship, remember the day or the time or the season when each was initiated by the dealing
of the Father into this NEW REALM IN CHRIST. From
that time forward we knew and understood with great clarity and deep conviction that we
are no longer merely believers, or disciples, or Christians, but indeed SONS OF THE LIVING
GOD!
It is appropriate at this point that I share the inspired words of brother Charles
Schmidt who has penned a message that should be heard by every man and woman and young
person who has received the call to sonship. Brother
Schmidt wrote: One of the present prevailing topics in many Spirit-filled circles is
that of sonship.
And this issue of maturity, of God-likeness, of the magnitude of our inheritance in
God is to be the foremost issue of the hour! Amidst
the wealth of scriptural truth that is to be brought forth on the subject of sonship there is, however, also to be heard the
sound of a tone from time to time that is neither scriptural, nor true, nor set for the
enrichment of the saints of God. It is one of
the gravest errors ever to be written or uttered in connection with the subject of
sonship. It is summed up in the following
statement taken from the tape of an exhortation on sonship.
All too long we have put Jesus
on a pedestal. It is time to take Him off the
pedestal and move up into the place where God has ordained for us to move in. And, all too often, what has not been so
bluntly stated as this has been implied or suggested in other ways.
First of all, I observe that those who hold such diminishing views of our
Lord Jesus and yet propound the vastness of our sonship inheritance are actually thereby
doing the most to hinder men from being brought into fullness, for actually all the
prospects of inheritance and fullness and wealth are treasured in none other than the
person of Jesus Christ. It is of His fullness (that) we all received, and grace
upon grace (Jn. 1:16). If He is
depreciated, then also are we! If the
church is His body, the Fullness of Him that filleth all in all and His Fullness
is depreciated, then by so much also is the treasury of the saints depleted!
We may rather safely conclude that the greater and grander and more excellent
Jesus Christ appears, the more of His fullness we as His members can believe to
appropriate! Yes, some are blindly lowering
Jesus so as not to feel His stature too high for their reach, but God has highly exalted Him and we are to
rejoice that we are joined to Him there by faith and as members of His body are made full
in Him! The apparent endeavor of some to
lower Jesus a bit and then exalt us some is that we all, the Son and the sons, may appear
on the same level. This, however, is
unscriptural. We are told in the Song of
Songs that the Shulamite confesses her lover to be
the CHIEFEST among ten thousand DISTINGUISHED,
PREEMINENT, SOLITARY IN EXCELLENCE AMONG TEN THOUSAND (Song 5:10). The ten thousand may be ten thousand sons of God
but HE is still solitary in excellence amongst them. He is the HEAD; they are His Body!
There is a singular worthiness about Jesus Christ that makes Him ever
THE KING of kings and THE LORD of lords.
That we should be made kings and lords in Him is scriptural. But that He Himself, by virtue of His own eternal
majesty, should be THE KING of kings and THE LORD of lords is exactly as
scriptural. Regardless of how emphatic the
demand that we should be like Him,
He still shall stand as having the
preeminence in all things (Col. 1:18); as highly
exalted with every knee bowing to HIM and confessing HIM as LORD to the glory of God the Father
(Phil. 2:8-11). Indeed He is exalted as far above all (Eph. 1:21). As has been said before, that we even appear at
all, no less that we should appear with Him in glory, is purely by His mercy and solely by
virtue of our union with Him who is our living Head.
But some are not even content to lower Jesus in their estimation to the same
level as the sons of God they would even exalt the possibilities of our sonship
beyond that of the sonship of Jesus! The
support is found by partially quoting John 14:12, the
works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do. Greater works!
Therefore greater sonship! Therefore
greater than Jesus! The obvious omission is
what deflates the balloon greater
works than these shall he do, because I go to the
Father. Had He not gone to the
Father, He could not have come again in us; and it is only HIS PRESENCE IN US that allows
of any greater works! The
greater works are actually HIS! His
ministry in His Universal Body is destined to be greater than His earthly ministry in
Galilee! The Gospels indeed are simply all that Jesus began both to do and teach (Acts 1:1). And the Acts and the Epistles are but greater
continuations of His doing and of His teaching through His many-membered Body. Do we then exceed Him? No! But
rather His Universal Ministry in us exceeds His former Judean ministry! And this keeps the proper perspective!
Consequently, no individual saint could ever be Jesus or ever be equal to
Him, no more than an individual part could ever equal the whole. Jesus is unique!
He is the one of a kind Son
of God! One of a kind is the best translation
of the Greek word monogenes, usually translated
as only begotten. Whereas we are sons of God, Jesus is
monogenes, the unique, one-of-a-kind Son.
It takes all of us together to express Him and to flesh Him out on the earth. But He alone singular, solitary, and
unique expresses all of the Fathers fullness, and He alone fully within
Himself fleshes out the invisible God! Jesus
incarnation is, therefore, unique. His Godhood is unique. He
is the King of all other kings and the Lord of all other lords! He stands supreme, solitary, and singular. He is the Head, and we, all together, are HIS
BODY. He is the Vine the root, the
stems
we are the branches in Him.
One final observation before we conclude.
Many will think that this is all just fine as long as we relegate this supremacy to
Christ but not to Jesus! Subtle
distinction, but none-the-less there in the minds of some and none-the-less erroneous. The Christ that is, the eternal nature of
God is indeed worthy to be supreme, some may reason, but Jesus, the man of Galilee, is
like a worn out coat to be hung up somewhere in the museum of Jewish history end quote.
Before concluding brother Schmidts message I would like to insert here this
observation. The notion that there is a
Christ apart from Jesus is nowhere supported in the scriptures. Yes Christ is corporate, a composite body,
a many-membered man, of which Jesus Christ is the Head.
He is also the firstborn; as Head the one who in all things has preeminence. Listen to the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul:
For IN HIM dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And
YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of
all principality and power (Col. 2:9-10). A
many-membered Christ implies that each member possesses an identity. We
certainly understand that in the natural each member of a body has its own identity! We know the difference between an arm, a foot, a
kidney, a heart, and a stomach! Do you
suppose, dear one, that in order to be a member of the Christ-body that you must lose your
identity as an individual with a particular place and function within that body? Is it not true that should every member of Christ
lose his identity Christ would cease to BE either a body,
many-membered, composite, or corporate? If you do not forfeit your place, identity, and function in that
many-membered body, how could it be that the resurrected MAN Jesus, who is the Christ, has
relinquished His place and function as Head of the body?
Nothing could be plainer! Nothing
could be grander!
Oh,
no, the flesh and blood man, Jesus of Nazareth, is not the Jesus we know; but the
RESURRECTED MAN, JESUS OF NAZARETH, IS EXALTED AS HEAD OF THIS GLORIOUS BODY! After Jesus resurrection, ascension, and
return in the power of the Spirit, Peter
spoke to the lame man at the gate of the temple, saying, Silver and gold have I
none; but such as I have give I thee: in the name of JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH rise up and walk
and immediately
his feet and ankle bones received strength (Acts 3:6-7). Oh, yes, this was not some cosmic
Christ who made the lame man whole this was the RESURRECTED AND ASCENDED JESUS OF NAZARETH!
Dont try and do away with the man Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, my friend
He lives still, He has an identity still, we have one God and one mediator between
God and man, the MAN CHRIST JESUS! He is
still a man, He is still Jesus, He is still Jesus of Nazareth, and He is still a member of
the Corporate Christ with an identity and function just the same as you have an identity and function. He is the HEAD!
And we are the members of His body! And
that is THE CHRIST! There is not some
cosmic Christ that exists apart from these called and chosen and glorified men
who make up the Christ. There is not one
scripture in the whole body that suggests such an idea!
It is an imagination of carnal reasoning, an interpretation of erroneous thinking.
JESUS
CHRIST! Oh, the glory of His name! Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him,
and given Him a name which is above every name:
that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11). Reading
this passage we can see clearly that it is NOT at the name of J. Preston Eby that every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess! Nor
is it at the name of some cosmic Christ consciousness that every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess! It is not even
at the name of Christ, the many-membered, corporate One, that every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess! Oh, no! It is at the name of JESUS that every knee bows
and every tongue confesses! JESUS is the name
above every name! Not Christ
but JESUS!
God has exalted HIM! Nor
does every tongue confess that J. Preston Eby is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! Nor yet does every tongue confess that the
cosmic Christ consciousness is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father! Nor
does every tongue confess that the Corporate Christ Body is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father! Oh, no! Every
tongue shall confess that JESUS CHRIST IS
LORD, to the glory of God the Father! He
is Lord! JESUS! How sweet the name!
How glorious the name! How
powerful the name! How exalted the name! We cannot divorce the Eternal Christ
from JESUS OF NAZARETH! It is Jesus of
Nazareth that God raised from the dead, raised up far above all heavens, gave the name
above every other name, and made Head of that Christ-body which we are. That is the only Christ there is!
Now
to conclude brother Charles Schmidts writing on this subject. I wish to sound a solemn warning in
conclusion. We are fore-warned in the literal translation of I John 4:2-3 that
every spirit that ANNULLETH JESUS IS NOT OF GOD: and this is the spirit of the anti-Christ (opposer of Christ),
whereof ye have heard that it cometh. It
is one of the most dangerous things to annul or to diminish or to depreciate Jesus in any
way either by implication or by omission or by direct statement or by statements
that could be misunderstood for by thy WORDS
thou shalt be justified or condemned.
To
touch HIM is to touch the very heart and core of our faith.
To degrade Him in any way is to be as foolish as the branch that is cut down
and destroyed the vine from which it was growing in order that men might not be hindered
in noticing the branches. To undermine Him is
to destroy the very foundation of everything we have in God for it is all in Him. He is the fullness the entire plenitude of
everything that God is. He fills everything
everywhere with Himself. He upholds
everything by the word of His power. He is
creator of everything, sustainer of everything, and ultimate possessor of everything. He is the whole creation and Jesus is His
Name! Everything has life in Him. And in everything everywhere He is preeminent. Everything has been placed beneath His feet, and
He has become Head over everything to the church, which is His body! And it is only because of His wonder and His
beauty that we shall shine as the stars forever for we are conjoined to Him, united
with Him, alive in Him, filled with Him, seated with Him made sons of God in Him,
this Beloved WHO IS our very life! Amen! end quote.
The
significance of Judah being listed first among the tribes of Gods sons who are
sealed is spiritual truth concerning those who are born out of the tribe of Judah, those
who comprise the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven (Heb. 12:23).
Jacobs dying prophecy to Judah was this: Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy
fathers children shall bow down before thee. Judah
is a lions whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he
couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the
people be (Gen. 49:8-10).
There
is an inexhaustible storehouse of spiritual truth in that wonderful prophecy! All that is said of Judah speaks of overcoming,
strength, power, authority, dominion, and rulership.
These characteristics reveal the awesome purpose and destiny of each
apprehended son of God! But since only the names of the tribes are given to John, it is
obvious that these are character names, so we
will not explore all the facets of the lives of the twelve sons of Israel, but will
restrict our meditations to the meanings of the names.
The significance of Judahs name is revealed in this portion of
Israels prophecy, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise
It is appropriate that Judah would be praised by his brothers since his name means praise! The
account of his birth makes this clear: And Leah conceived again, and bore a son: and
she said, Now will I praise the Lord: and
therefore she called his name Judah; and ceased bearing (Gen. 29:35). Thus Judah, whose name means praise, will be praised by
his brothers who will recognize his position of leadership.
It
doesnt mean merely that Judah was a praiser one who continually offered up
spiritual praise unto God. I do not doubt
that Judah was a praiser, but praise is often associated in our minds with singing,
thanksgiving, and noise but true praise lies beyond what one speaks it is a
state of being. Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise
Judah was not known for praising, rather he was praised because his life was a praise unto God! There is a principle I have alluded to over and
over again through the years, namely: The highest form of anything is TO BECOME that
thing. Thus we see that the highest form of
praise is not shouting words of adulation to God, it is when we become a LIVING PRAISE in
our state of being, emanating the virtues and excellencies of Christ! We are to BECOME HIS PRAISE in the earth, not to
just praise, but a state of being that redounds to His glory. Our Elder Brother and Pattern, our Lord Jesus the
Christ, is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the strong One of this glorious tribe, who was
ruled by the mind and will of the Father at all times and in all things. His life was
a praise to God! It was in harmony with
the purpose of God and revealed the character and glory of God. That, my beloved, is where we begin our journey
into the fullness of God, to the heavenly mount Zion, to the throne of God and the Lamb!
Before
we received the call to sonship we were great praisers. And truly He is worthy of all our praise!
We praise Him still! Not,
however, as many who simply love the atmosphere of praise and get a
high from entering into a realm of praise that makes them feel emotionally
whole. If we are praising for what
we get out of it, then we have missed the whole point of praise! Many people so esteem that wonderful
atmosphere or feeling derived in the realms of praise that they
truly worship praise more than they worship the
Lord! Some do the service of praise because
they believe that praise brings the presence of the Lord.
The truth is, however, that it is the presence
of the Lord that brings praise! In the
days of the great Latter Rain outpouring of the Spirit the people were caught up in realms
of the high praises of God, and it was glorious far beyond any attempt to
describe! Yet many lost sight of the
fact that it was not praise that brought the Rain it was the Rain that evoked the
praise! Never in the scriptures were men
moved to praise God in order to bring a revelation of His glory. Instead, it was when the Lord came to them, and
appeared to them in His glory, that men were moved to praise and exalt His greatness!
In
the book of Revelation we have the same picture; it is only when the Lamb is revealed
standing in the midst of the throne that the four living creatures and the twenty-four
elders sing their hymn of praise, followed by the voice of many angels, and every creature
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in
them, crying out, and saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever! It was not the praise that brought the revelation
of the Lamb! Rather, it was the revelation of
the Lamb in His glory and majesty that evoked this universal paean of praise!
When
the Father sovereignly apprehended us unto the high calling of sonship, we were drawn out
of the world, and out of the carnal church systems of man, separated unto God to be a praise
unto Him! Our sonship calling begins when we
are sealed in the tribe of Judah, the tribe that is to be praised, and it begins with a word from the
Lord spoken into our spiritual ear, You are not called to be an ordinary believer or
Christian you have been chosen of the Father to be a special people unto His
purpose, to become His expression and His praise unto all the ends of the earth! What a calling!
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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