FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part
135
THE WOMAN AND THE
MANCHILD
(continued)
And there
appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered. And she
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child
was caught up unto God, and to His throne (Rev. 12:1-3).
For many years
now, those who are moving in this present truth anointing of the Spirit of God have been
hearing proclaimed what is called the manchild message. When John saw a woman clothed with the sun and the
moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head, she travailed in birth to
bring forth a manchild who, as soon as he was born, was caught up unto God, and to His
throne. We understand by the Spirit that the
sun is a type of the glory of Christ, for He is the Sun of Righteousness, and
on the mount of Transfiguration His countenance shone brighter than the noon-day sun. The fact that this woman is clothed with the sun speaks of the garment of the
bride, who has made herself ready. The moon is
a type of the old order reflective light of outward religious observances of rituals,
ceremonies, programs, creeds, ordinances, sacraments, etc., none of which have any light
of their own, but all reflect light just as the
cold, barren, lifeless moon reflects a portion of the light of the sun. It signifies indirect and partial
revelation. This woman, therefore,
represents the true church, not having the limited, reflected light of the old order
church systems of man, but she has been given the living knowledge of the Son of God and
is clothed upon with the radiant glory of the reality of
the living Christ!
That crown of
twelve stars upon her head signifies that she has come under the divine government of the mind of Christ, for twelve
is the number of divine government, and the stars speak of the power, glory, and dominion
of the wonderful illumination of the mind of Christ. The
moon being under her feet signifies that this woman has been lifted up to a higher place
in God, in both revelation and experience, than the old order church systems of man, the
moon. This tells us that she is hearing
directly from the Lord, rather than responding to others, who have heard about the Lord.
clothed with the sun
Norene Nichols has shared some interesting and
edifying insights into this important theme. The
garbing of the woman of Revelation twelve is unusual in that she is clothed with the sun.
On the surface one might refer to this as being clothed in light or
understanding which it is, but there is much more meaning lying under the surface of these
words than most of us realize. With the help
of the Lord we may ponder this matter a little further and see some of what is involved. In the Greek there are two words used for clothed,
one is enduo and the other is periballo. In
this particular case the word periballo is used,
and realizing that every word is important in respect to where and how it is used by the
Spirit of God in the scriptures, we know that periballo
is distinctly illuminative. Enduo means to go into clothing which
infers that the clothing is of a certain size and specification into which a person must
fit. In other words, a person up to a
particular size could fit into a certain garment, but over that size it would be
impossible to get into it. On the other hand, periballo means to cast around about
which would infer some sort of a garment that can be put on and cast around a person and
made to fit the person rather than the person fit the garment.
For
instance, Luke 24:49 speaks about being ENDUED (enduo
clothed) with power from on high referring to the infilling of the Spirit
on the day of Pentecost. Here the word used
means to be clothed with power in the sense of going into clothing, or having the garment of a
particular size into which the person must fit. We
have seen much in times past of people who claimed so much because of the enduing of
power, when in reality they fitted as best they could into that garment. Thus we have seen many trying to do great wonders
and signs in a garment they are in but which is too big for them, into which they have not
grown up, and which drags in the dust realm (carnality), bringing a reproach and criticism
from many looking on.
On the
other hand, the word periballo used of the
sun-clad woman infers that this full grown woman has a covering of the sun that is cast about her in such a manner that the garment
fits her rather than her trying to fit into the garment.
This woman is a mature woman matured in God, matured in love, matured
in understanding and God grants her the clothing that fits her maturity. Her clothing is comprised of one thing the
sun. The sun is the light and warmth of our
solar system and rises upon the just and the unjust alike.
It is no respecter of persons. The
planets revolve around it and are benefited thereby. Thus
this woman is clothed with the light (understanding, revelation) and warmth (effect,
blessing) of Him who is the Sun of Righteousness. She does not withhold her light and warmth from
anyone either just or unjust, but beams alike upon all.
In other words, her light of understanding is dispersed abroad, not by
words, but by BEING, EVEN AS THE SUN SPEAKS NOT BUT WHAT IT IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE. She claims nothing for herself no position,
no gifts, no power, no ministry but simply IS what she IS by the grace of God. The sun does not have to say, I am the sun! It is that by reason of its being, and this woman
is what she is by reason of her being who she is, and as a result, her light and warmth
are spread abroad without stint
end quote.
and the moon under her feet
Through the summer months Lorain and I enjoy
sitting on the front porch of our house in the late evenings listening to the night sounds
and watching the stars, moon, satellites, and airplanes in the heavens above. We especially like to be out there at the full moon
and see it rise up over the Hueco mountains in all its brilliance. What do we know when we see the beautiful moon
shining so brightly? We know the sun is in the
heavens; we cant see it, but we know its there because the moon is shining,
reflecting the light of the sun! Now, this
woman that John beholds in spirit, this wonder in the heavens, has the moon under her
feet. Do you know why? She doesnt need an external proof anymore
that the Sun of Righteousness is shining for she is clothed with the sun!
May God open the
eyes of every reader of these lines to clearly see and understand the great mystery that
we now unfold. Israel of old with her outward
law, outward sacrifices, outward temple, outward priesthood, outward feasts, outward
rituals and ceremonies all these external ministrations were merely a sign that
Yahweh was in the heavens! All these things
merely reflected the light of God, the Spirit, but they were not the light and not one of
them had any light within itself. The moon
shines so we know that the sun is there. The
great truth that the Holy Spirit would make known to us is that external religious
ordinances of every kind are typified by the moon they are not the true light of
Christ, they merely reflect light. As the
writings of the New Testament progress, we see a theme unfold before our wondering eyes
which eventually bursts forth in all the splendor of a blooming flower of truth. The writer to the Hebrews exudes the fragrance of
this blossoming truth when he writes, Which
was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,
that could not make him that did the service perfect
which stood only in meats and drinks,
and divers washings (Greek: baptismos
baptisms), and carnal ordinances, IMPOSED ON
THEM UNTIL THE TIME OF REFORMATION (CHANGE) (Heb. 9:9-10). These externals were needed when men could neither
see or know God and needed to be assured that God was there.
But now, praise His name, He has sent the Spirit of His Son and we are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are being
clothed with the light of the glory of God that radiates from the face of Jesus Christ! Therefore, we no longer have any need of the moon
for we are clothed with the sun! Isnt
it wonderful!
In nearly every
religious system today we have a lot of reflected
light of outward rituals, ceremonies, sacraments, and ordinances. Water baptism, for example, is merely an outward
symbol of reflected light, for it is an
external exercise which stands for and represents and portrays that true spiritual
baptism into the death of Christ whereby our sins are carried away into the sea of
forgetfulness and our new creation life arises in the power of His resurrection. The Lords supper or communion is but an
outward symbol or reflected light of that deep spiritual
experience whereby we truly eat the flesh (word) of Christ and drink His blood
(spirit) in truth and reality. The whole
Christian world, including some who profess to be sons of God, continues to walk on in the
semi-darkness of the reflected light of the moon. But
this woman, this heavenly woman, this sun-clad woman, this woman pregnant with the Christ has put the moon under her feet! SHE IS LIVING IN THE REALM ABOVE ALL TYPES AND
SHADOWS AND SYMBOLS, ABOVE ALL REFLECTED LIGHT, CLOTHED WITH THE SPLENDOR OF THE NOONDAY
SUN, THE MAJESTY AND GLORY OF THE LIVING CHRIST. She
has risen above the outward shadows!
This woman doesnt
need to appear in church on Easter morning to proclaim the resurrection of our Lord, for
she has risen with Him and is now seated together with Him in the heavenly places in
Christ. She has no need to sip wine or eat a
wafer in order to recognize the death of the Lord and her union with Him, for she bears
within herself the marks of the dying of the Lord Jesus, and she is dead, and her new life
is hid with Christ in God. She doesnt
need to be baptized in water in any particular name, by any certain formula, for any
special work of God, for by one Spirit she has already been baptized into one body, baptized into the Christ, she has put on
Christ, and is now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
Oh, yes! This woman, this virgin
bride of Christ, dwells in a heavenly place in the dazzling glory of spiritual
understanding, reality, and power. Only the
woman thus clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, is able to birth the
manchild, the manifest sons of God! The sons
of God are not birthed out of carnal, earth-bound religious systems of men who are ruled
in the night time darkness of their walk as carnal Christians by the reflected light of
the moon. Coming out of Babylon was not our
birth into sonship! It is the woman who has
come out of Babylon. It is only in the high
place of pure spiritual experience that the life of sonship is conceived and brought to
birth. The Lord is now bringing His elect into
the hot, throbbing, pulsating, radiating, penetrating LIGHT OF LIFE!
Even at the most
elemental level of our spiritual walk every saint of God who yearns for peace, victory,
and growth in the spirit must begin to put the moon of external rules, regulations, laws,
commandments, and man-imposed standards of righteousness under his feet. I believe the dream of every child of God is to
walk fully in the will of the Father. The
ability to do so lies right within HIS NATURE WITHIN US!
All nature teaches us this simple but sublime truth the root determines the fruit. The mystery is just this: Adam can never be
holy; Christ can never sin. So
once the consciousness of the new man arises
within you, you are on your way to victory! God
is not judging you we have all been judged already at Calvary. Once the law of the spirit of life has been
quickened within you your natural man will still be the natural man and he will fail at
times, but God is not looking at that! Our heavenly Father, more than anyone in the
universe, understands perfectly that Adam cannot be
anything but what he is a sinner! He
also knows that only Christ in you has the power
to be holy, for Christ is holy. And even God isnt trying to lay the law on
old Adam (your natural man) and make him reform. Thats
not the plan! The plan is for Christ in you to
daily increase while the Adamic man, the flesh,
daily decreases.
As we learn to live out of our true identity, the new man, Christ in us,
there is no more consciousness of sin. That means we stop worrying about sin and getting
all bent out of shape every time Adam acts up! Instead,
we concentrate on our new life and feed, water, nurture, and cultivate the Christ within!
Im a great
believer in setting men free free from
rules and commandments, free from condemnation, free from the consciousness of sin
for the strength of sin is the law. You are going to be who
you are! Its as simple as that. Someone says, If you dont teach people
the law, if you dont instruct them in what to do and what not to do, if you dont
lay down the guidelines and set the standards, how will they know how to live and do
righteousness? The answer is just this
by
nature! Every man lives by his nature,
and every man who does righteousness does so by the nature of Christ in him or he will not
do righteousness! The law made nothing perfect. Nothing! Can
we grasp that? For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: that the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).
If I have to
instruct you on how to live you are not benefiting from me because I have not the power to
cause you to obey what I tell you. But if I set you free you are free to do one
thing you are free to be who you are!
If you are living in the consciousness of Christ you are going to act like
Him and be like Him! The reason Christ has
redeemed us is not to save us from hell and take us to heaven, as the churches foolishly
teach; rather, it is to quicken us within our spirit so that we can discover our
life, our real self, our true identity as sons of our heavenly Father! Oh, yes! Our
spiritual life within is the secret place of the most High.
It is Christ within us, our only hope
of glory! Once we learn that laws, rules,
regulations, commandments, standards, sacraments, and so-called church disciplines are
absolutely and utterly impotent to do one thing for us, we will put that cold, sterile,
reflective light of the moon under our feet and begin to put on the Lord Jesus Christ
CLOTHED WITH THE SUN! Isnt it
wonderful!
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars
She is crowned, but not with kingly authority, for she is not seated upon the
throne. Her child is caught up unto God, and to His throne. The woman has not reached the highest pinnacle in
the Spirit, for her child, as soon as it is born, is caught up into a realm above her. Her crown is the stephanos crown of the overcomer, yet it is unique,
for instead of being formed of laurel branches as were the stephanos placed upon the head of the victors at
the Greek games, it is composed of stars. It
is neither a true stephanos nor is it the golden crown of a king! It is a crown of twelve stars. Here it is the number that is most significant. Twelve is the number in the numerology of God that
denotes all, absolutely all or the end. And
the end of Gods plan is sonship! You
see, we have sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-four hours in a
day, seven days in a week, four weeks in a month, and twelve months in a year. But when you come to twelve you come to the end of
time as we know it, for in the twelve months the earths circuit around the sun is
complete. In twelve you come to the highest
denomination of time as we know it; you can start over with two years, three years, a
thousand years, or a trillion years, but youve come to the end.
Twelve is also
in scripture the number of divine government. The ruling order of God is revealed in the fact that there were twelve patriarchs from
Seth to Noah before the flood; also twelve after the flood from Shem to Jacob. There were the twelve tribes of Israel and the
twelve princes of those tribes. And in the New
Testament we find the twelve apostles of the Lamb, the twelve foundations in the New
Jerusalem, the twelve gates, the twelve pearls, and the twelve angels (messengers). All the measurements of the city involve the number
twelve. There are twelve stones in the high
priests breastplate. Twelve persons are
recorded as being specially anointed for government, five as priests and seven as kings. All this speaks of Divine Government!
The sun-clad
woman is crowned with divine government, yet, again, it is not government on the level of the throne. The divine government she is under is the order
of God in a particular realm. Each realm in
God has its own order! There was an order of
God for the patriarchs, another order of God for Israel under Moses, a different order of
God for Israel under Joshua, a further order of God for Israel under the judges, and
another order of God for Israel under the kings. Each
was Gods order, His divine order, but the rule of God over His people took different
forms. Today there is a divine order of God
for the church and only a few saints in the whole world have submitted themselves to Gods
divine order. And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13).
Nearly all
churches operate and function under man-made, man-controlled systems, that bear little
resemblance to the order of God! The Babylon
religious system is not the order of the Spirit nor is it in any way divine! Its origin is from the carnal concepts and
inventions of man! The true divine church
order, however, beautiful and wonderful as it is, still is NOT THE DIVINE ORDER FOR THE
SONS OF GOD! The woman is crowned with a crown
of twelve stars, the divine order of church government; but the manchild is caught up to
the highest realm in God to sit as Christ upon His throne!
That is the difference. The
woman has an authority, but it is not the authority of the
throne!
THE
VIRGIN CHURCH
In this study we
are going to share with you one of the greatest mysteries in the word of God; a mystery
that it is absolutely necessary for every member of Gods elect to clearly understand
in order to truly apprehend the calling of sonship with power in this great day of the
Lord. Now in order to understand the great
mystery that Jesus is seeking to reveal to us in Johns vision of the sun-clad woman
who brings forth the manchild, you need to understand that this woman is the virgin church. Now,
who was the original virgin that brought forth a manchild?
The prophet Isaiah prophesies of that first virgin and that first manchild. Therefore
the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call His name Immanuel (Isa. 7:14).
Every Christian knows that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Virgin Mary
gave birth to her firstborn son, Jesus.
We must not make
the mistake of thinking that this sun-clad woman represents the mother of Jesus, or that
at least she represents the fleshly Israel. Many
commentators, reading and understanding with carnal minds, have supposed that this woman
is Mary and the manchild is Jesus. The great
Spanish artist, Murillo, has given us painting after painting of this scene. It was one of his favorite subjects. Magnificent canvasses they are, showing the Virgin
Mary, in her traditional robes of blue and white, her body great with child, most modestly
portrayed, with the glory of the sun about her and the crescent moon under her feet, and
the coronet of stars upon her head. All who
have looked upon one of those great paintings have been awed by the gifts and powers of
the artist BUT THIS IS NOT A VISION OF THE VIRGIN MARY! There is a religious order in the world today which
elevates Mary, the mother of our Lord, to the level of veneration. We cannot deny that of all the women who have
graced this earth from the dawn of history until now, Mary can be said to have been the
greatest and most precious. The angel Gabriel
appeared to her and called her the blessed of the Lord. She was to become the mother of Jesus who would
save His people from their sins.
In the Old
Testament there are many instances in which barren mothers cried out to God for a son. Samuels mother, Samsons mother, Moses
mother, all cried out to God for the removal of their barrenness. Every Hebrew mother hoped, and cherished the
thought, that she might become the mother of the promised Christ the Messiah. God had promised that some woman of Israel would
bear a son who would be the Anointed, the Messiah, who would deliver His people and bring
to pass in the earth the kingdom of God. Therefore,
among all the mothers of Israel, there was none so blessed as was Mary. Mary was indeed chosen of God for a specific and
wonderful purpose. However, it was not Mary
who introduced the new dispensation! She was
selected to be the vessel, the channel through whom God would give a Son, Jesus, and it
was the Son who was destined to bring in the new age.
Mary took her place with one hundred and nineteen other believers on the day
of Pentecost as the glory revealed in her Son, who promised to share it with them, became
a glorious reality in her. Now the mother
could rejoice in the glory of her Son!
In the vision
before us is a picture of the greatest mother ever placed by God upon the earth! Precious as she was, the Virgin Mary is not the greatest mother. John
beheld in spirit a woman of surpassing glory, the greatest mother ordained of God to make
her appearance in history. She is not the
Virgin Mary she is the Virgin Church! Throughout
the New Testament, the woman is used as a metaphor to describe the church. She is never referred to as man or
son. And it is the Virgin Church
which is chosen by our heavenly Father to bring forth a many-membered son the
perfect man, the manifest sons of God! The
greatest mother ever placed upon the earth by God is this Virgin Church, the bride of
Christ. She is a woman adorned for her
Bridegroom.
Contrary to
the fables taught by the church systems, the purpose of the brides existence in the
earth is not merely that she be adorned and prepared, bejeweled with gifts of the Spirit
and ready to become the wife of the Bridegroom. Her
transcendent mission in the earth is to be a mother! She was never ordained to bring in that greater age
to come or to establish the kingdom of God over the nations.
From the beginning God purposed that just as Mary brought forth the firstborn Son of God, so the greater,
many-membered woman, the Virgin Church, would give birth to a many-membered manchild, the manifest sons of God,
who would introduce the new dispensation and bring the kingdom of God to pass in all the
earth. God has placed this church in the earth
not merely to become the wife and the bride of the Bridegroom, glorified in heaven some
day, but to give birth right here on earth to the offspring who should rise up in such
power, in such authority, and such kingship, that all
the principalities and powers in all heavenly and earthly realms shall not equal him in glory!
The many
sons brought to glory shall be born of a chaste, Virgin Church, without
contradiction the greatest mother that God has planted on the face of the earth, the Jerusalem
which is above, in the heavenly realms of the Spirit.
This church is not going out with a whimper or a limp, nor shall it be
evacuated to escape the evil and horrors of an antichrist and a great
tribulation. It shall conclude this age
victorious, with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and riding a river of peace and
blessing and life and power. It shall arise in
freedom from all bondage and limitation, and the Lambs wife shall be holy, strong,
anointed, transformed, and glorious. Oh, yes,
she shall endure the pain of travail in bringing forth her son, but then shall rejoice
with exceeding great joy and victory at the sight of her newborn manchild! Yes she will be a GREAT WONDER IN HEAVEN!
John was not
shown things that had already happened and were now history.
The revelation of Jesus Christ is not a history book! It is the unfolding of the spirit, life, and glory
of Christ, and that glory is not revealed in either Mary or Israel, but in the saints, in
the body of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, John
the Revelator was being shown things which must
be hereafter, and not things which had already taken place. Mary was history when John saw this sun-clad woman,
Jesus had already been born, lived, died, resurrected, and ascended several decades before
John saw this manchild being birthed! The
Revelation is written and sent to the church and
its message concerns the church. Here, the
bride of Christ is portrayed as a symbolic woman. This
is the woman of whom Paul spoke when he told the saints in Corinth, For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (II
Cor. 11:2). And again the apostle speaks of
this woman, the bride of Christ, saying, For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh. THIS IS A GREAT
MYSTERY: BUT I SPEAK CONCERNING CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
(Eph. 5:31-32).
The great
mystery that the Holy Spirit is unfolding to us in the revelation given to John on Patmos
is the truth that Jesus is the Pattern Son, the firstborn among many brethren, and the proto-type of all the manifest sons of God! Just as Jesus, the first Son, was born of a virgin,
so shall every manifest son of God be born of a virgin.
The first Son was only one man, so He was born of a single woman, Mary, the
virgin of Nazareth. But the manifest sons of
God, Christs many brethren, are a corporate body of sons like unto the first Son,
and they are therefore born of a many-membered virgin, the Virgin Church.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon
Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs , and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto
the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man
and
Adam called his wifes name Eve; because she was the mother of all living (Gen. 2:21-23;
3:20). One
reason there is this uncanny attraction of the woman to the male, and the man to the
female, is that the feminine quality was taken out of man.
While the King James Bible says that Eve was made from a rib,
the Hebrew word is much broader than that. It
means a chamber and was used even for rooms or chambers of the temple in Jerusalem. Eve was more than a rib, God took a chamber, a
side, an aspect of Adams personality and substance, and of this he built a woman. The feminine nature had been an integral part of Adams
makeup until the Lord separated it and formed it into an individual personality
Eve. What the woman is, is uniquely what the
man is, and that is why everybody pairs off. So
just as Eve is the mother of all the sons of men, so the Virgin Church is the mother of
all the sons of God!
It is an
unfathomable mystery, but there is a divine quality in God that is feminine, and has
birthed all life after the spirit. And it is
the same divine feminine quality of God formed in a
people, the Virgin Church, that is birthing us into the realm of sonship! Someone says, I dont believe it. Then I must ask, How can the manchild be born
without a mother? The birth of Jesus is
the pattern! But when the fullness of time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman
(Gal. 4:4). Almost two millenniums ago God
manifested His first Son. He is the first-born of all the sons of God and He was not formed or
birthed without a mother! The Son of
God was born into this world from a woman. He
didnt fall out of the sky directly from the Father in heaven. The very fact that Jesus is the first-born among many brethren tells us that all the
manifest sons of God must be born. Ah, my
beloved, Im intrigued with the glory of motherhood!
The womans body functions to bring forth life. How could there be anything more blessed, more
powerful, more wonderful, more glorious? There
is nothing more miraculous or awe-inspiring than this!
The invisible, unknowable, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God of the
universe saw fit to use a woman to manifest His own Son!
She was, in some deep and mysterious way, able to conceive the Word of God
within herself and bring it forth for men to behold and handle as the word of life sent
from heaven! This transcends by far anything
we can conceive of!
Some years ago
Brenda Hoskins shared this testimony. When
God was leading me out of the religious system, I started having gatherings in
my apartment. During one of those meetings, I
had a vision in which I saw a woman giving birth and there were several women (midwives)
standing shoulder to shoulder, forming a circle around her as the child was born. It was a boy and as I looked at this scene, I saw
the child grow from an infant to a youngster as quickly as he was raised up through the
air. It was like he floated up and he grew up
right before my eyes, and all the while there were hands trying to touch him. The hands were reaching through the midwives, but
no hands could touch him as the midwives were his protection. The vision focused on the child and the midwives
more than the woman. His development took only
minutes. Later, Jesus told me that He was
going to take me back to a virgin state. Just
before the Lord told me this I was told about the necessity of the virgin
birth and the holy child had to be conceived and delivered through a vessel never touched
by human hands. He said that in my previous
state I was too contaminated with other lovers and had too much flesh of the religious
mans ways. I understood that when I was
ready, cleansed spiritually, then I would conceive and bring forth a great thing. This was about ten years ago. At the time I knew nothing of the manchild in
Revelation or the bride.
The next thing
you need to understand in order to grasp this great mystery is that the Virgin Church is
just that a virgin. I do not mean that
every person who makes up this virgin church company is naturally and physically a virgin,
one who has never had sexual relations in the flesh. The
Spirit is not talking here about natural things, but He is teaching us of spiritual realities!
Can we not see by this that the beautiful sun-clad woman is spiritually
a virgin, she is virgin in her relationship to the Lord, reserved for Him and for Him
alone. We have known what it is to be
conformed to the course of THIS WORLD. Then we
have known what it is to trust Christ as Saviour and seek to serve Him while remaining
entangled in all the defilement of a corrupt Babylonish religious system. But God is calling forth a glorious body of Christ
who, because of the word of the Lord and the quickening of the Holy Spirit, is desiring to
be VIRGIN separated only unto her glorious Bridegroom. How lightly we sometimes take the purposes of God
in us! It is one thing to be washed in the
blood, freed from all our past sins, and quite another thing to truly be virgin in our
desires to keep ourselves only unto the Lord no other loves. Separation is coming from everything of the flesh,
the world, the devil, and from every vestige of entanglement with the false church systems
of man which we have made our Head in place of the living Christ.
The next mystery
that we need to understand, in order to comprehend what the Holy Spirit is really saying
to us, is that not only does this virgin church company keep itself wholly unto the Lord,
but while she is truly espoused unto the Lord
the marriage of the Lamb has not yet been consummated.
She has not been joined in marriage union with the Lord, else she would not
be a virgin.
When we speak of the virgin church we must understand that we
speak of the bride of Christ who is espoused to
Jesus Christ as His wife. We often entertain
very faulty ideas concerning this beautiful truth because many of our western customs are
so different from the eastern customs. Many
people think that the true church is not yet the
bride of Christ and will only become the bride
of Christ at the time of the marriage of he Lamb revealed in chapter nineteen
of the Revelation. But such is not the case! Let me explain the eastern custom of betrothal and
marriage, the traditions from which the analogy of marriage in scripture is drawn.
The apostle Paul
referred to this great mystery when he wrote, I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (II Cor. 11:2). The meaning put on espousal is vital. The Basic Bible reads, You have been married by me to one husband. Wuest says, I gave you
in marriage
Both show the
marriage as a past event. In Bible days, prior
to the actual marriage consummation, there was what was known as the betrothal or the espousal. This
was somewhat like our modern engagement, except that it was much more binding and
obligatory. It was more than a mere promise
between two individuals to eventually get married, for it was in fact the
marriage. At the time of the espousal the
families of the man and woman were involved in the negotiation of a contract between the
two parties. It was a notable occasion! The payment of a suitable dowry was usually a
feature of the contract. The groom or his
father had to pay a price to the girls father for the bride. When the contract was signed and sealed in the
presence of witnesses, the contract meant that the couple were legally married they
were husband and wife. Matthew makes this
plain when he records, Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with
child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make
her a public example, was minded to put her away (divorce her) privately (Mat.
1:18-19).
This period of
engagement or betrothal was taken so seriously that any violation of the engagement was
adultery and any break-up of the espousal required a legal procedure a bill of
divorcement. This reveals the seriousness of
the situation when Joseph learned that Mary was with child.
The news did more than stun him! It
forced him to make a decision; either to expose Mary publicly or to break off the
relationship privately. In either case, Mary
would have been dishonored by her family and friends, degraded by the Jewish community. Even worse, her son would have been born an outcast
with no rights or citizenship, and prohibited from worship in the temple. Under these circumstances, Joseph chose to be as
gracious and kind as Jewish law permitted; he decided to put her away privately. But then the angel brought the message to Joseph
and he took Mary home as his wife and became the father of Jesus. What explains his change of heart? Just this, his belief in Gods message that
Marys child was a special creation, conceived of the Holy Spirit, to bring salvation
into our world.
Now let us
return to the marriage customs. After the
espousal, at a later time, the second step in the wedding took place. During the interval, the two were not joined
physically in intimacy. The bride remained a
virgin. The girl continued to live in her own
home, and the man in his. The groom begins to
prepare a home for them to live in. This
period also gave the bride a chance to prepare herself and make herself
ready for the coming union. She learns
many needful things and beautifies herself in
every way. She wants to be perfect for her
lover. One of the most important parts of her
beautification was her gown. The white wedding
dress was then chosen and knit together into a beautiful garment for her to wear when the
groom comes for her. The wedding dress
symbolized her pure and chaste life.
On the appointed
day the groom came with his friends to take the bride back to his home, and then a
seven-day wedding feast took place. They often celebrated these feasts twice a day
during those seven days. The feast was the
part of the marriage that Jesus attended in Cana of Galilee when He turned
water into wine. And this is also the scene at
the marriage of the Lamb in the book of Revelation! It is called the marriage supper or
marriage feast of the Lamb. This is not the
espousal, but the time of union. Let
us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made
herself ready. And to her was granted that
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto
me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb
(Rev.
19:7-9).
And now, let us
reveal unto you a secret: In the unfolding revelation of Jesus Christ through the book of
Revelation the marriage feast of the Lamb takes place toward the end of the book in
chapter nineteen; however, the sun-clad woman bears the manchild, the manifest sons of
God, in chapter twelve. Therefore, we see that
the great truth that Jesus has revealed to us here is that just as the firstborn Son of
God was conceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of Mary before she and Joseph came together, so the
manchild company of His many brethren is conceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the
many-membered Virgin Church before the Virgin
Church has entered into her ultimate union and intimacy with Christ. This might astound you, nevertheless it is true! The Virgin Church will be found impregnated with
the seed of sonship by the Holy Ghost to bring forth the manchild from among those who
make up the true church of the living God, which is clothed with the glory of Christ, has
the moon of religion under her feet, and is crowned with the illumination of the mind of
Christ. She is espoused to Christ, but will
become the bride of Christ at the marriage of the Lamb after the days of her purification
are ended in the wilderness place where she makes herself ready.
There are two
companies the second company is found in the spiritual womb of the first company,
and is spiritually birthed out of that company. And
the company of the manifest sons of God which is birthed out from the Virgin Church is
greater in nature, glory, and power than the Virgin Church, just as our Lord Jesus Christ
was greater in nature, glory, and power than His mother, the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, the birth of the manifest sons of God
has nothing to do with Gods people coming out of Babylon, for the sons do not come
out of Babylon, although they may have previously come out of Babylon to become the Virgin
Church, but that is not their birth into sonship. For,
you see, the sons are not born of a harlot the sons are born of the seed of God
which is raised up within them in the womb of the Virgin Church! Oh, the mystery of it! Many symbols are used in the book of Revelation to
describe the progressively unfolding revelation of Jesus Christ in the earth, and these
things are not myth, folklore, fables, or fairy tales.
They are living reality of which we have touched, handled, and tasted and
they are happening right here on this earth in flesh and blood people! Out of this glorious
church there comes forth a conquering army of sons to rule all nations and put all
enemies under the feet of the Christ of God! Isnt
it wonderful!
As John beheld
and pondered this divine mystery, soon thereafter he beheld another wonder altogether as
startling as the first. And there came one of the seven angels which had
the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of
the great whore that setteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine
of her fornication. So he carried me away in
the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full
of names of blasphemy
and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and
decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Rev.
17:1-5).
A little later
the same angel came to John again and spoke with him, saying, Come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lambs wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and
high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem
(Rev.
21:9-10).
Come hither; I will show unto thee
These words take on new depth of meaning when
we understand that in the book of Revelation the word come always signifies AN
INVITATION TO REVELATION. The whore and the
sun-clad woman are two women; the invitation goes forth to come and see by the spirit what
they mean; and I do not hesitate to tell you that it requires a REVELATION FROM GOD to see
either! The church of Christ is called a mystery. She
is presented as a virgin. She is called a bride. Finally,
she is presented as a city, the New Jerusalem,
the city of peace, righteousness, glory, and divine order.
This scarlet-clad woman is called a mystery. She is not a virgin, she is an harlot. She
is not an espoused wife, she is the paramour and
mistress of the kings of the earth. Finally, she is that great city which is called Babylon, the city of
confusion, filthiness, and fleshly disorder. As
to Babylon, John adds, When I saw her, I
wondered with great admiration. And the angel
said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I
WILL TELL THEE THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN
the seven heads are seven mountains, on which
the woman setteth. The waters are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues
and the woman which thou sawest is that great
city (a corporate people), which reigneth over the kings of the earth (Rev.
17:7).
These
prophecies present two broadly contrasted WOMEN, identified with two broadly contrasted
CITIES, one reality being in each case, doubly represented, as a WOMAN, and as a CITY; the
harlot and Babylon are one; the glorious sun-clad woman and the heavenly Jerusalem are
one. May the Spirit of the living God
enlighten the eyes of all who read and give understanding, giving abundantly of the spirit
of wisdom and revelation that each may be able to discern and easily differentiate between
that VIRGIN CHURCH without spot or wrinkle, and that filthy HARLOT SYSTEM, full of names
of blasphemy, with her multiplied sects and denominations, with her abominable false
doctrines and idolatrous practices, who
seduces the inhabitants of the world with the unspeakable lie that she is, herself, the
bride of Christ. One would certainly think
that Gods people would respond to the invitation to revelation whereby the Spirit
says, COME HITHER, and I will show you, and that they would look with anointed
eyes and readily see the difference between
the virgin and the harlot, but such is not the case. Would
God that all men could see the hidden mystery of Christ and the church! Would God that all men could see the hidden mystery
of the sun-clad woman who delivers the manchild! Would
God that all men could see that this hidden mystery has nothing to do with that
tradition-ridden system which all men everywhere believe to be THE CHURCH!
Now there are three companies.
The Scarlet-Clad Woman (harlot church system), the Sun-Clad Woman (virgin
church), and the Manchild (manifest sons of God). Some
precious people, because they have separated from some Babylonish denomination and come
out of the church systems of man, suppose that
this was the mother church birthing them into sonship. This, my beloved, is wrong! The
mother of the manchild is not the harlot
church system but that virgin church composed
exclusively of a people clothed with the glory of Christ, crowned with the stars of Gods
divine order, and having the cold, imitative, reflective light of ceremony, ritual,
tradition, and doctrine put under foot. When
the Spirit calls, Come out of her, my people, this is not His call to sons. This
is His call urging a people to come out of the defilements of Babylon and be cleansed that they might by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost become a virgin
unto Christ. It is here in this virgin
state that the seed of sonship is planted in her womb!
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He
shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Lk. 1:32-35).
It must be
remembered that the manner in which Mary conceived Christ is one thing and the fact that
she really conceived Him is another. The
absence of a human father, or any kind of sexual union, in the conception of Christ
accounts for her virginity remaining intact, but the reality of her maternal role in
conceiving Him was not thereby affected. The
angel proclaimed great and glorious things of the son who would be born of her, but this
did not trouble Mary. She simply believed and
accepted them as the design of God. Her
concern was not can this be done, but How
shall this happen, since I do not know man? More
is contained in this question of the first mother of a son of God than meets the eye! She was espoused to Joseph and her espousal
meant that she was his wife. And yet she was
to become pregnant before she and Joseph came together!
What a dilemma! HOW can this be
fulfilled without sexual intercourse with a man? What
man? The angel overcame this difficulty by
explaining at once that the conception of Jesus would take place not through intercourse
with man, but by the power of God! As a
virgin, and with her virginity intact, she would conceive and become a mother! When she responded to the angel, saying, Let
it be done to me according to thy word, the son of God took flesh in her womb.
I
think that every saint of God who has been granted the revelation of sonship has joined
his or her voice in unison with that of the virgin of Nazareth, HOW SHALL THIS BE,
SEEING I KNOW NOT A MAN? How can we have
this great deliverance, this maturity, this victory over sin, sickness, and death, this
change and transformation, this mighty ministry of life and power, this dominion over the
nations, if we dont do something? If we dont become involved in some
mans program, if we dont join in some great outreach, if we dont become
associated with some great system that has the clout, the connections, the money, the
organization, the network to impact the world and its leaders and governments how
shall this be? My beloved, we are all yearning
for that SPIRIT MOVE WHICH IS WROUGHT APART FROM MAN, that which God Himself shall do! The answer to our hearts cry in this hour is
the same answer the angel gave to the blessed virgin of Nazareth, THE HOLY GHOST
SHALL COME UPON THEE AND THE POWER OF THE HIGHEST SHALL OVERSHADOW THEE: THEREFORE ALSO
THAT HOLY THING WHICH SHALL BE BORN OF THEE SHALL
BE CALLED THE SON OF GOD! Oh, yes! The manchild is not a generative work of man. It is Gods generation in us, to bring forth
after His kind. It is begun by the Holy
Spirit, it is carried on by the Holy Spirit, and it is finished by the Holy Spirit. The creature (not even the woman, the mother)
starts nothing, continues nothing, and finishes nothing.
It is very
important that no member of Gods elect shall know any man in this hour of Gods calling. Paul said, When it pleased God to reveal His
Son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh
and blood. Neither must we go by our
own opinions, for the flesh of our carnal man is no more spiritual than that
of any man! Many people consult their own
intelligence, others are always looking to find some preacher, some prophet, some apostle,
bishop, teacher, fellowship, church, or movement which they can submit to, be mentored by,
and support, which they imagine can carry them
into sonship. God does not want any man to be
involved in what He is doing! God uses men,
but it is one thing for God to use a man, it is quite another thing to think that by some
kind of spiritual union with that man we can
raise up the seed of Christ within ourselves!
Again Paul said,
I am an apostle neither by man nor of man, but by Jesus Christ. Man had nothing to do with Pauls apostleship! It was not conferred on him in Jerusalem by Peter,
John, James, or any of the other apostles of the Lord.
It was the sovereign work of God! The
Holy Ghost came upon him, the power of the Highest overshadowed him, and the seed of
Christ was raised up in him! Yes, God used the
church, just as He used the angel Gabriel to deliver the message to Mary that she would
have a son and how this would come to be. But
Gabriel had no part in bringing it to pass! God
used the ministries of the church to confirm, establish, and send forth Paul and many
others in their ministries in the early church, yet it was not of man, nor was it by man. Now
there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers
as they
ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said: Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had prayed and fasted and laid hands
on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by
the Holy Ghost, departed (Acts 13:1-3).
Yes, God used men, but it was GOD who called them, it was GOD who made
them apostles, and it was GOD who sent them! God
does use men by the power of the Holy Ghost to impart truth to us, and minister many other
wonderful things to us, but there is a difference between this and seeking by some kind of
spiritual union with man to bring forth the
manchild. The former is by the sovereign
moving of God, the latter is by the instigation and manipulation of man!
In closing, Carl
Schwing has shared this precious word of confirmation: In the dawning of the past
age, a virgin, without knowing man conceived by the overshadowing of the
Fathers Spirit. Three men followed a
star and just a few shepherds heard the message and the song of redeeming grace. As the world continued on its merry way, the people
of God argued over the coming of the Messiah
glorious and wonderful works of the Lord
were transpiring
a new age was dawning, and the Holy Child was growing in great
wisdom and obedience. Today, the people of the
world are diligently searching for the right men to govern their countries
there are no right men.
The people of God are running to and fro looking for the right men
to feed their hungry souls
there are no right
men. The many-membered Christ man is
rising with life, righteousness, and equality in His wings.
The Father has given to him (them) the words of the life-giving gospel. It will be by the many-voiced Christ that the
message of freedom and restoration will be proclaimed.
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY