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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM
THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part
69
THE
THRONE
(continued)
There are pictures in the book of Revelation.
The candlesticks are the churches.
Jesus is addressing the church as One standing in the midst of the
church. Millions of Christians
read the picture language in this book with carnal minds, devoid of any
spiritual understanding. They
read of a golden candlestick, a golden altar, a golden ark, a sea of glass, or
a book of life and suppose them to be some kind of ornate furnishings in a
city on a planet called heaven, somewhere “just inside the eastern gate.”
But the better we understand the types and shadows of the word of God
by the quickening of the Spirit, the clearer we see that these are much more
than exquisite pieces of furniture in a great heavenly temple out there
somewhere beyond the Milky Way. What
they are is furniture from the
tabernacle of Moses! One of
the most important teachings any child of God could have as a foundation for
correctly interpreting the book of Revelation is a clear understanding of the
symbolisms of the tabernacle of Moses. The
tabernacle with its construction, furnishings, offerings, priesthood, and
rituals is the root of nearly all spiritual revelation.
Everything in the tabernacle portrays something of our reality in
Christ!
The entire book of Revelation is communicated by means of signs and
symbols. It is wonderfully true
that the language in which John is writing is redemptive
language — symbols that appear time and again throughout the Bible.
There is no possibility of exhausting scriptural truth!
Scripture is as inexhaustible as God Himself.
There is no end to His wisdom nor His understanding.
Therefore it behooves us to prayerfully search out the symbols to see
what message they proclaim. Of
course, many believers are satisfied with the mundane because they were born
into it; their preachers and teachers only dabble in the elementary principles
of the truth of Christ, so they’ve never known anything else.
Sooner or later, if our heart hungers and thirsts after God, we come to
the point reached by the little boy with the red wagon.
That is to discover that the toughest resistance to pressing into the
depths of God is not from without,
but from within.
The little boy loved to play with his little red wagon.
But one day it suddenly occurred to him that he could not recall ever
seeing an adult playing with a little red wagon.
The moment that thought struck him he burst into tears.
His mother was finally able to get out of him what it was that was
causing such terrible grief. He
sobbed through his tears that he didn’t want to grow up because he was
afraid that then he wouldn’t be able to play with his little red wagon.
His mother encouraged him as best she could.
She assured him that as far as she knew there was no reason why he
should not play with his little red wagon after he grew up, if he wanted
to. No one would prevent him.
That cheered him a bit. But
after a few minutes he burst out crying again.
When she asked him what the trouble was this time, he sobbed, “I’m
afraid I won’t want to!”
From
within each one of us who have received the call to sonship there comes at
last the decisive decision to give up the little red wagons of our childish
religious past, and at costly consequences to grow up into the maturity of our
glorious Head, the firstborn Son of God!
We grow spiritually by hearing the voice of the Lord for ourselves and
by following the Lord wherever He leads us, by releasing all He calls upon us
to release, and doing all His perfect and holy will.
Our Father is leading us beyond the Outer Court with its brazen altar
of atonement and forgiveness of sins, and beyond the Holy Place with its
lighted candlestick fueled by the oil of the indwelling Spirit.
He is also leading us beyond the feast of Passover where we first met
the Lamb of God who died for us, and beyond the feast of Pentecost where we
received the firstfruits of the Spirit — yes, beyond the candlestick
realm, beyond the church order!
By the leading of His Spirit we are growing up into Christ, becoming
mature adults in the kingdom of our Father.
The call for this New Day is to “Come
up hither!” The journey of
this New Day is from the candlestick to
the throne! The divine
evidence that we are heeding that call is if we have truly begun to grow up
and become a spiritual adult, we are done with the childish ways of the past
and have put them all aside. A
spiritual child delights in the childish ways of the past.
He or she enjoys those childish ways, and continues to cling to the
little red wagon — continues to romp and frolic in the entertaining programs
of the old order church system. But
when we grow up and become spiritual adults in the more glorious kingdom of
our Father, we then put away the childish toys of the past, and with joy set
our face toward the throne, ascending in the Spirit into that which is more
perfect and complete — kingship with Christ!
A brother shared this experience some time ago.
He said, “My eighteen-year-old son graduated from high school last
spring. The ceremony
was a great celebration for both the graduates and their parents,
symbolizing the passage from childhood and dependency to greater freedom on
the journey to becoming an independent, responsible adult.
How ludicrous it would have been for the kindergarten teacher of these
students to reappear, proclaiming that in order to keep their diplomas, all
graduates must now report to her in September to review their ABC’s.
You do not take young people who have matured and are ready to accept
adult responsibility and treat them like children.
Even the graduates would have said, ‘We are not going back!’” Oh,
no! We who are growing up into
Christ and have tasted the powers of the age to come are
not going back to the kindergarten of our walk in God!
Let the children play, let them sit Sunday after Sunday and hear the
same salvation story, the same elementary teachings, observe the same forms,
rituals, ceremonies, entertainment, and work and labor feverishly in the same
tired old church programs and promotions.
If they still want to play
with the little red wagon they are not ready yet to leave it.
And there is no condemnation in that!
Children are supposed to play! BUT
WE WILL NOT GO BACK!
With keen spiritual insight the late George Hawtin wrote this
admonition to the Lord’s elect. “Centuries
ago Israel marched across the burning wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:1).
Forty years they journeyed under the continual care and correction of
God. Angels’ food was their
meat (Ps. 18:25) and spiritual water was their drink, for they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ
(I Cor. 10:4). Their bodies grew
not weary and their garments waxed not old; neither was there a feeble one in
their tribes (Ps. 105:37) as they journeyed under God’s orders and moved at
His command. So it came to pass
that, ‘on the day that the tabernacle
was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the
testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance
of fire, until the morning. So it
was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that
the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode,
there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at
the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the
tabernacle they rested in their tents. And
when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children
of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.
And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle;
according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and
according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.
And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and
that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it
was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud
tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode
in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the
commandment of the Lord they journeyed’ (Num. 9:15-23).
“We today are under similar care and similar orders though we know it
not. From time to time through
the ages the church has been commanded to move on with the cloud to new
revelation and experience in God, and after each move to pitch our tent and
patiently wait for the moving of the cloud by day or the pillar of fire by
night. What a tremendous sight it
must have been for Israel, after having camped for a day, a month, a year, or
many years, to see at last the cloudy pillar of God’s presence and glory
begin to move on, and what a hustle
and bustle there must have been as they broke up their old
camps to follow the cloud, every
tribe in his own order, and every man in his order whithersoever the
Spirit led them!
“As
time has swiftly passed, the light of that same fiery pillar has illuminated
to our waiting hearts many truths
which we have embraced and have made part of ourselves and ourselves part of
them. But with many
of us, as with many of them,
God was not well pleased, and they
were overthrown in the wilderness
(I Cor. 10:5). They lusted after evil
things, became idolaters, and committed fornication just as thousands
today are doing who once were baptized in the cloud, drinking of the spiritual
rock and eating the spiritual meat (I Cor. 10:2-4).
We have made jobs and money, possessions and pleasures our idols and
our gods, and we have committed fornication with the harlot daughters of
Babylon times without number. We
have tempted Christ and murmured because of the rigors of the way, sat
down to eat and drink in the fleshly realm, and risen
up to play — to play at church and make a play of religion (I Cor.
10:5-11). These things that
happened to them are for examples for us upon whom the ends
of the ages are come.
“In the depths of my spirit I seem to hear the trumpet call to a new
awakening. It is time to move on
from the revelation of the past years. It
is time to partake of the resurrection, the bread of God, the better
blood and the water of life.
The pillar of fire is moving; it is time to move on!
The great mystery of the ages, ‘let
us make man in our image,’ is about to be fulfilled when all
things will begin to find their one
head in Christ” —
end quote.
That blessed company called to sonship is now passing through a strange
time of transition. In the midst
of deep dealings and great testings and mighty shakings a people is being
formed to be the Lord’s true expression in the earth.
Old things are passing away, new things are coming into view!
The saints who make up the body of Christ in the earth are progressing
from the childish prattle and playing of the carnal church systems to the new
and higher order of the kingdom of God. Those
who are truly apprehended have left their old camps and have left all their
religious play things behind and have released their grasp on every vestige of
that old, passing order, and are laying hold on the new order of the kingdom
of God. In this transition time
when everything is being shaken, we are at peace, resting in Him!
We have taken our seat in the heavenly places in Christ, with the
assurance that we are becoming His will and His salvation for all the ends of
the earth. He is establishing the
rule of His throne in our hearts and lives that we might reign with Him over
the nations and all things.
“The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand,
and the seven golden candlesticks. The
seven stars are the angels of the seven
churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are
the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20).
We do not randomly, haphazardly, or arbitrarily interpret these
symbols, but they are interpreted for us by the Spirit of God.
The candlestick is revealed as a symbol of the church of Christ.
The candlestick in the tabernacle in the wilderness was located in the
Holy Place. All the churches of
the world, all the churches of history have had their experience in the Holy
Place realm of spiritual experience! And
just for that reason every move of God in the church realm, including the
early church, the Reformation churches, the Revival churches, the Pentecostal
churches, and the so-called Latter Rain churches have eventually stagnated and
gone into apostasy. You see, my
beloved, the Holy Place is not a
permanent realm.
I can hear someone say, “But the candlestick is made of gold,
a metal of value and permanency; doesn’t that speak of abiding things and of
an eternal realm?” The gold of
the candlestick is not the whole story! The
gold does indeed speak of the essential nature of the church — the divine
nature. But men
had to make oil for it, or it gave no light.
The oil itself was man
processed. It was made
according to a God-given formula, after the art of the apothecary, but human
hands were necessary to make it. There
is the element of the flesh.
Who can deny that the flesh
has entered in to just about everything done in the church!
Furthermore, the oil had to be made again and again, or it would run
out. It was not the infinite
supply of God! Then, too, within
the lamps there were wicks that daily must be raised or lowered, and trimmed
to keep the light burning evenly. The
ministry of a man was required to snip the wick.
Without these ministrations of men the candlestick could in no way
fulfill its purpose — there was no light!
The Holy Place, representing the Pentecostal realm, or the church
realm, for the church was birthed at Pentecost, also had bread meal associated
with it. The bread meal was sown
with leaven, and leaven throughout the word of God is a type of sin
or error.
That’s why we read in the book of Hebrews, “Now when these things
were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle (Holy
Place), accomplishing the service of God.
But into the second (Most Holy Place) went the high priest alone once
every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the
errors of the people: the Holy Ghost thus signifying that the
way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first
tabernacle (Holy Place) was yet standing” (Heb. 9:6-8).
The Holy Place had an entrance into a realm beyond
the Holy Place! The Holy
Place had an entrance into a realm greater
than the Holy Place! In
that realm, the Holiest of all, there was no oil to be made, no wick to be
trimmed, no bread laced with leaven to be baked.
The light of the Holiest of all was the light of the incorruptible,
eternal glory of God alone! It
never ran out of fuel, man’s hand never touched it, and no man could add
anything to it. And this light
shone over and upon and out of the throne of God upon the ark of the Covenant!
By that incorruptible light the manna was preserved without breeding
worms and stinking, and there was no decaying, deterioration, or dissolution
of anything in that realm! Oh,
yes, the throne
zone was the Holiest of all! Once
each year, in type, the high priest heard, as it were, the call to “Come
up hither!” into a higher and more glorious realm than the candlestick
realm. As he passed through the
veil he made the journey FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE!
This is not the church realm we have known, my friend, this is the incorruptible,
immortal, unchangeable, omnipotent, eternal realm of God!
And it is not a realm we enter after death, in some far-off heaven
somewhere, but it is the realm prepared for God’s mature sons right here
upon earth, the realm of God’s fullness, of perfection, of maturity, of
wisdom, of power and dominion, where God is all that He is in His people —
the realm of manifest sonship!
Most of those who read these lines met Christ as Saviour in the Outer
Court and then served God in the Holy Place.
But that’s not where we have to stay!
Our great high priest, even Jesus, has entered into the Holiest of all
at the right hand of God. We are
the body of the high priest, who is
the Head of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and in
Him we have access into the Most Holy Place!
“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil; whither our forerunner
is for us entered in, even Jesus,
made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter
into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and
having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw
near with a true heart…” (Heb. 6:19-20; 10:17-22).
As we read previously, the Holiest of all is not accessible as long as
the Holy Place is standing (Heb. 8:8). In
other words we can never enter into the Most Holy Place, into the fullness of
God, into manifest sonship IN THE
CHURCH! As long as the
candlestick realm is standing in our lives, in our hearts, in our experience,
in our practice, as long as we cling to it, we cannot pass beyond the veil
into the Holiest of all! That
order must no longer stand in our lives!
Even if we set our foot only one step beyond the veil, we have
completely and totally left the old
order of the candlestick realm behind! Another
picture of this truth is shown us in chapter twelve of the Revelation.
In this wonderful chapter the manchild,
the overcoming company of the sons of God, is birthed
out of the woman church. The
sons of God are separate from their church mother just as a baby is separated
from the body of its mother at the time of birth.
The manchild does not reign in
the woman — He reigns IN THE THRONE! (Rev. 12:1-6).
Is this not the same truth that unfolded within John’s wondering
spirit when he stood in the candlestick realm and heard a voice that
commanded, “Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be
hereafter” — after the candlestick
realm! Immediately he was
caught up in the Spirit and beheld the throne room of God.
The throne was not in the midst
of the candlesticks, it was in a higher realm which necessitated being caught
up — beyond the candlesticks! There
is even now a change of seasons upon us.
The voice of the Son of God has been heard by many in this hour out of
the heavenlies, calling a people to come
up higher and prepare themselves for the next feast, the next realm, the
next experience, the next moving of God in the earth, the third feast, the
third day, the third compartment of the tabernacle — the realm of the
fullness of God in the Holiest of all!
From time to time the Lord speaks to me in dreams — usually at about
six o’clock in the morning. On
October 15, 1995, Larry and Betty Hodges were scheduled to be here in El Paso,
sharing with some brethren who would meet in a home.
That morning I awoke from a dream.
In the dream I was in a large hall such as is used for meetings and
functions of various kinds. At
one side of the hall, against the wall, was a table.
To the right of the table were several people seated in chairs along
the wall. Brother Hodges was
standing before the table, facing the wall, ministering to the people seated
along the wall to his right. His
back was to the large hall. He
was ministering from a manuscript on the table — I could see that it was
typewritten, with a number of pages, and double-spaced like a manuscript
prepared for a publisher. He had
reached the bottom of the first page and was speaking words that evoked a
great excitement in my spirit. I
was saying within my own thoughts, “Amen!
That’s right, brother! That’s
what the Lord has been teaching me!” It
seemed it had something to do with death
to self.
Then I noticed two long tables out in the center of the hall.
And I noted that brother Hodges was facing the table and the people
along the wall — his back to the hall and the tables.
I was aware that a great number of people would soon be arriving.
The tables, however, were cluttered with food and dirty dishes left
over from a previous banquet. There
were two place settings that had not been used at the head of one of the
tables. Obviously, the banquet
that had been held there had ended, and things were not ready for the people
that would be coming. I thought,
“We must clear all this away and make preparations for the arrival of the
people!” Someone began to help
me and we cleared the tables. Then
a folded map appeared in my hands. I
laid the map on a shelf — and awoke from the dream.
In my meditations that morning the Spirit gave me understanding of the
dream. Needless to say, I was
very interested to see what brother Hodges would be ministering that day!
I saw that the manuscript he was ministering from was as an unpublished
manuscript — a fresh word, a new revelation for a new day — not known
by the masses of Christians. It
is that which can only be known by the Spirit and is witnessed to by those who
are hearing from God in this hour! Those
that receive this word are few in number compared to the millions of believers
— a “little flock,” even the “remnant” of the Lord.
But there is coming a great change!
God is setting the stage to move in a new way, in the power of the
kingdom of God, and there shall be a great ingathering!
Multitudes will flow into the kingdom of God through the ministry of
the sons of God! But things are
not quite ready — there are yet preparations to be made.
The tables with the left-over food and dirty dishes bespeak of the
previous move of God — the feast of Pentecost.
It was a glorious feast with rich blessing for many — but the feast has
ended. The meal is over!
Only remnants of blessings and the vessels used remain.
Those that were ordained to partake of that feast came and ate.
Some that were bidden to the feast didn’t make it, or refused the
invitation. This was represented
in the two place settings that had not been used!
Some today do not believe that the feast of Pentecost has ended.
But I tell you that I have been a life-time witness to the power of
Pentecost and have beheld with my own eyes the glory, the signs and wonders,
the miracles and manifestations, the gifts and the ministries of that realm,
and what I have witnessed in my life-time is marvelous beyond words to
express! Believe me when I now
tell you that it is over.
Oh, yes, there are still scraps of food on the table, there are still
tongues and prophecies and occasional miracles and signs, but the vast
majority of what I see today does not impress me at all, it is naught but
showmanship, charlatonism, the power of suggestion, mass hypnosis,
psychologically induced emotionalism, and evangelistic hype.
THERE IS NO REAL POWER OF PENTECOST ANYWHERE IN THE LAND TODAY.
I do not hesitate to say it. I
have been a glad partaker of the real, and I have been a sad spectator of the
imitation. There is
a difference!
The truth that gripped my spirit that morning in 1995 was just this:
The former feast is over and God is now speaking from an unpublished
manuscript! What He has to say
has only begun (brother Hodges was only at the bottom of the first page), and
He is dealing with His called and chosen ones about the price
to be paid and the preparations to
be made for the next great move of God — the feast of Tabernacles!
This is the hour of preparation! Let
us prepare our hearts! All who treasure the beautiful hope of sonship now
leave behind the feast that has ended and set our sight and our hearts upon
the feast that is ready to begin! In
my dream brother Hodges (who represents all the elect of God) had his back to
the hall with the tables and dirty dishes.
In other words, he had renounced that which was past, he had turned
away from that with which God was finished.
He was speaking from a higher realm, a fresh and greater word,
proclaiming a new Day, and pressing into a new glory.
Finally, I saw that the map represents our present walk in the Spirit
and our destination in God. I
laid the folded map on a shelf, meaning that we have not yet received the full
revelation of Father’s timing,
and just when or how the Lord will bring every son to manifestation.
I confess that I do not know all about it, but I do know the word we
have received from God, and today we go forward by
faith! In this hour God is
raising a people in consciousness to heights never known by man, we are
walking in a new place in God, He is establishing a new order in our hearts,
and is beckoning us onward to a new attainment, a ministry and a glory never
before experienced by any except our glorious Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us, beloved, prepare our hearts for the thing God is doing in our
day! And — interestingly, these
are the very things brother Larry ministered that Sunday morning — to which
my spirit gave a hearty “Amen!”
Let no man think that any of the blessings, gifts, anointings,
manifestations, revivals, miracles, or movings of the Spirit we have
experienced along our journey have the power to usher us into manifest sonship
or in any way represent what the sonship ministry will be like.
None of the few grapes and pomegranates we have received on our journey
into the Canaan Land of promise can meet the need of this Day!
None who has spiritual eyes of understanding believes that there is
much left of the fruit of Canaan in the midst of the Lord’s people. When the
children of Israel were in the wilderness, the twelve spies brought back
samples of the fruit of the Land and they were wonderful beyond description!
But the children of Israel were not in the Land, they were in the
wilderness, and the grapes and pomegranates brought to them in the wilderness
were indeed incredibly tasty and exciting, but were soon gone and the people
were still in the wilderness. That’s
how it is with Pentecost — the firstfruits
of the Spirit! Even those grapes
of Eschol, and the pomegranates and figs of former revivals are now but a
fleeting memory of the good old days. And
the Lord’s people are still in the wilderness!
Many are looking for a return of those blessed times of past revival
and visitation, instead of anticipating a still greater and eternal glory that
lies ahead. For no matter how
great those days were in the past, the full measure that God has reserved for
His manifested sons is yet
to be revealed!
“For
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall
be revealed in us. For the
earnest expectation of the creation waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.
Because the creation itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty
of the children of God. For
we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body”
(Rom. 8:18-23).
This, then, in some small part, is the glory
for which the sons
of God seek — the glory of incorruption,
the glory of adoption,
the glory of immortality
— total and eternal deliverance from the power of sin, sorrow, limitation,
and death! The spirit of that
adoption now pulsates within our consecrated hearts.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father! The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God. And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ: if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together” (Rom. 8:15-17). Daily
the spirit of adoption increases in victory and power within every son called
to glory, that in union with Him we might receive the fullness of the graces,
virtues, powers, and riches that are in Christ Jesus!
The history of every son of God will eventually be the story of a
progression from the natural through the spiritual to the celestial; passing
from the realm of darkness and death through the realm of quickening, change,
and transformation, to the fullness of stature and glory in the image and
likeness of God; from the world of sinners through the realm of the church to
the power and glory of the throne of God; from the brazen altar of sacrifice
for sin in the Outer Court to the golden altar and table of prayer, praise,
and communion in the dim light of the candlestick in the Holy Place, then on
into the Holiest of all, where shines the undimmed and more excellent glory of
the undiminished majesty of God.
Many and varied are the ways and paths by which the Lord in
faithfulness prepares the people He has chosen.
A most enlightening aspect of this preparation is found tucked away
among the priceless gems in that treasure house of truth which is the Song of
Solomon. At the bursting beauty
of spring, standing in the garden of delights, the little Shulamite maiden’s
Beloved counsels her, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the
vines: for our vines have tender grapes” (S.of S. 2:15).
Her Beloved warns that it is not enough to dwell in the garden and
admire the beauty of the flowers and trees and smell their fragrance.
It is not enough to listen to the singing of birds and look forward to
the harvest. It is not enough to
rejoice that we have been called and made worthy to become partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light, that we have been delivered out of the
power of the darkness of the world and religion, and translated into the
kingdom of God’s Son. Oh, no!
There is responsibility; we must keep
the vineyard of our own lives and souls!
And we must take every fox, especially the young foxes that hide away
and eat the vines, stripping them of the bark and destroying them.
In this hour at the transition of the ages there is a precious thing
being formed, a new thing, a new
day, a new people who are of
the day, even the firstfruits of the kingdom.
The thing God is doing today cannot be compared with anything
He has done in the past in the religious systems and church revivals.
The only pattern is CHRIST! Christ
is the SON OF GOD, the first and so far ONLY MANIFEST SON OF GOD.
The harvest of the church age is MANY SONS BROUGHT TO HIS GLORY,
CONFORMED TO HIS IMAGE, FILLED WITH HIS FULLNESS — A VAST COMPANY OF
MANIFEST SONS OF GOD! It seems
that always when men pray for a fresh moving of God in their midst, they begin
to examine all the former “moves” and “revivals” of church history and
try to find the “key” as to what will bring the glory of God again, as if
God will ever repeat the past. But
He declares of this day, “Remember ye not the former things, neither
consider the things of old. Behold,
I will do a new
thing; now it shall spring forth…” (Isa. 43:18-19).
As long as we are deeply enwrapped and entangled in the old, yea, even
those old
things God has done, we cannot ever behold the new, for our eyes and
hearts are blinded by the cloak of the old.
There are no little foxes anywhere more cute, deceitful, or treacherous
than these little foxes of the
old ways of Babylon which cling to the vines of our walk in God.
How cunning they are! The
little foxes of the religious systems prey upon the sentimental senses of our
soul, with their music, programs, ordinances, activities, promotions and
entertainment. But, blessed be
God! by the eye of the Spirit I have come to behold the formations of a
completely new move of God ready to be birthed in the earth.
I do not hesitate to declare it! I
do not condemn any of the present orders of meetings and worship, of hymns and
testimonies, of prophecies and prayers, of exhortations and teachings, of
sermons and altar calls, of gifts and ministries, for we know that God uses
them all; yet, the Spirit is speaking, stirring, dealing, quickening,
convincing the hearts of His called and chosen elect to be alert to the little
foxes of the old
order that is passing away and those who hear His voice are not
allowing the ways, methods, traditions, and practices of the old to so cling
to us that they choke and strip us even as our hearts cry out for the NEW and
the tender grapes of HIS SONSHIP appear on our
vines.
That great man of God, Dr. Charles S. Price, many years ago penned this
prophetic poem:
Can Christians grow by holding firm
To doctrine or to creed?
The Shepherd leads His sheep to where
They in new pastures feed.
Can food of yesteryear suffice
For hunger of today?
Was it not for our daily bread
That He taught us how to pray?
A soul can never grow in grace
That is content to stay
In blissful contemplation of
The things of yesterday,
And live alone in memory
Of some bright evening star
His grace had sent to lead us on;
Not keep us where we are!
Unfolding revelation is
God’s purpose for this hour.
Why live in flesh? The
stratospheres
Are vibrant with His power!
There is a Spirit realm to which
We can triumphant rise,
And blend redemption’s melodies
With music from the skies.
It is my deep conviction that the time appointed of the Father for the
manifestation of the sons of God is nigh at hand.
Sons of God shout it loud and clear!
Let the earth know her redemption draweth nigh!
The King of Love is coming! Hallelujah!
The Deliverer is coming out of Zion, the whole Christ-body is being
prepared, and the time is at hand. There
is no other way out of the darkness of this hour.
While the religious systems “play church” and the Christians
“dabble in politics” trying to save the nation and the world, the royal
heralds are going forth blowing their trumpets, proclaiming the message of the
kingdom in the power of the Spirit, preparing the stage for the appearing of
the KING in a vast company of the sons of God — the King in the midst of the
kings, for He is the King of kings
and the Lord of lords!
What a glorious and mighty and exultant victory lies before us!
In my years of ministry I have had occasion to reflect upon this saying
of our Lord, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom (government) of God” (Lk. 9:62).
Some people come to the hard work of pressing into the kingdom only
under painful duress. Once the
price of entrance becomes clear to them, they drop the plow and turn back to
the beggarly elements of religion, joining themselves again to the programs
and activities of a church system in a lesser realm.
They are not yet ready for the kingdom!
They refuse to enter into the kingdom!
In contrast are those who find themselves unable
to leave the kingdom walk! They
are drawn irresistibly to the transforming and creative process going on
within them, and thoroughly understand that there is nothing in the church
systems of man for them anymore. Nothing
could entice them — not blessings, not gifts, not programs, nor fellowship,
nor personalities, nor needs — to turn from their quest of the kingdom.
THEY HAVE REACHED THE POINT OF NO RETURN.
No looking back! The hook
is in their jaw. They can do
nothing else, so help them God. They
have been quickened, captivated, possessed by the voice bidding them to “Come
up hither!”
If we are the elect of God in this hour, there is a call within us, and
deep calleth unto deep. I tell
you, my beloved, there is something within me, an inner compulsion, and I know
that I have set my face as a flint and cannot turn to the right hand or the
left from my journey into God’s fullness.
I can’t go back to the world — the world has nothing to offer me;
it is all vanity and vexation of spirit.
I can’t go back to religion — religion holds nothing for me
anymore; it is wearisome to my soul and an abomination.
I can’t even go back to Pentecost, back to the Holy Place — for the
veil has been rent and I have tasted of the powers of the world to come and
beheld the glories of the throne realm. There
is no turning back because my heart has turned to the Lord!
As the apostle says, “When it (the heart) shall turn to the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away…and we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of
the Lord” (II Cor. 3:16-18). For
some in this hour the veil has been rent in their consciousness and we have
found an entrance to behold the transcendent glories of that promised land
that lies before us. By the blood
of Jesus we have been granted the opportunity to enter into the kingdom of
God!
We must love every man, especially those who are of the household of
faith. I do love them.
I love them every one! I
pray for them all! I care for
them all! I yearn after them more
deeply and fervently than they could ever imagine!
I ask God’s blessing upon them all without partiality!
I want only God’s best for every believer in Jesus Christ,
irrespective of their level of spiritual development, or what doctrines or
religious systems they are involved with.
But I cannot walk with many of them.
I cannot join myself to them in their childish traditions and carnal
institutions. I cannot partake
with them at their table of static creeds and man-made doctrines.
I cannot participate with them in their empty rituals and ceremonies.
I cannot be involved in their grandiose schemes and soulish promotions
by which they imagine to save the world.
Their insipid vision of waiting to die and fly away to that bright
glory-world above has nothing in common with the beautiful hope of sonship to
God and the revelation of the kingdom birthed within my ransomed spirit by the
quickening breath of my Father in heaven.
Their expositions, sermonizings, homilies, meetings, projects, hopes,
aspirations, and goals are but dim flickering candles compared to the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!
The ministry all creation is waiting for, longing for, groaning and
travailing for, is the ministry of sonship.
Only Jesus has demonstrated what it is!
But the ministry of Jesus was not in the gift realm of Pentecost, it
was not “in part,” it was not “by measure,” but His ministry was the
ministry of a MANIFESTED SON OF GOD in all the power and wisdom and glory of
the Father! Some tell us that the
ministry Jesus demonstrated on earth is not
what manifest sonship is. If
sonship ministry is not what Jesus Christ, the Son
of the living God, revealed on earth, then pray tell me, what is it?
I never thought I would see what I see today, brethren who received a
revelation of sonship now “watering it down” to something far less than
what Jesus has shown us. Let me
tell you — the great secret of the ministry of Jesus was that it was not in
limitation but in fullness. Jesus
Himself said that the Father did not give Him the Spirit by
measure. He also said that
the works the Father did through Him were the proof and evidence of His
sonship! Jesus did not receive a
“gift” in the church realm, but He was the incarnation, the embodiment,
the personification of the FULLNESS OF THE FATHER!
That is the realm of sonship.
And that is why creation is not groaning for another gift-ministry,
another apostle, another prophet, another evangelist, pastor, or teacher,
another gospel crusade, or another revival.
Creation is in pain and travail waiting for the manifestation
of the sons of God! Oh, yes!
Only the sons of God will possess within themselves the fullness of the
power of the kingdom of God as did
Jesus! They will have all that He
had plus the power
of His resurrection! Only the
sons of God, in the power of Christ’s resurrection, can deliver creation
from the bondage of corruption.
Jesus is not the firstborn among many Christians, or among many
evangelists, or many teachers, or even many apostles and prophets.
Oh, no! He is the
firstborn among MANY BRETHREN! The
brethren are like Him.
They are completely like Him!
That is what makes them
brethren, and that is what makes them sons!
He is not bringing many gifted Christians to glory, He is not bringing
many musicians to glory, He is not bringing many deacons to glory, He is not
bringing many Sunday School teachers to glory, He is not bringing many
preachers to glory, He is not bringing many apostles and prophets to glory,
but He is
bringing many SONS
to glory! Aren’t you glad!
Sonship is glorious beyond anything our eyes have seen or ears have
heard. Jesus Christ is the
firstborn Son of God. He is what sonship
is! And now all His brothers
are empowered to follow Him to maturity and into the power of His
resurrection. All will follow His
steps, becoming what He is. The
spiritual life of every son has the same origin as the firstborn, for all are
born of God. We are being
perfected by the same process, and will ultimately achieve the same result.
Jesus Christ was and is the personification of the Father, and so shall
we be. The holy and divine nature
of Jesus Christ is ours to be raised up within us.
The works He did we shall do as well.
The authority of Jesus Christ, the power of His throne, even the
dominion of the ages and all things, He will share with those who come unto
the measure of the stature of His
fullness. Jesus possesses the
totality of God’s essence and substance, and this is the heritage of every
manifest son of God. The present
resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus Christ is the portrait of
our destiny! Oh, the wonder of
it!
The sons of God are destined to inherit all things; they are selected
by the Father to become the dispensers of blessing to all created realms.
Thus creation groans in sympathetic birth pangs, longing for their
arrival! From powerful angels in
heaven, to worlds in the farthest galaxy, the universe resonates with
anticipation of the glorious unveiling of the sons of God.
The sons will share the fullness of the glory of their Father.
They will grow up into the attributes of God as a permanent state of
being. The sons of God will
partake of Godlikeness, and a spiritual inheritance that is incomprehensible
to natural men, even religious men, saved men, and Spirit-baptized men!
This celestial race of beings shall be endowed with all the authority
and capacity of God. Immortal
omnipotence will flow from them as the light rays from the sun.
In the heaven blest days before us, those who have attained to sonship
will be displayed in the blazing glory of immortality.
This climatic finale is a fast approaching certainty.
From the difficulties, struggles, testings and processings of this
present time the son company will burst into everlasting splendor, streaming
glory, wisdom, and power as a shower of stars.
With Jesus as the Captain, this reigning government of God shall invade
the bastions of darkness and by war, yea, by spiritual
warfare shall they take the rule from the kings of the earth.
These are celestial kings and priests, trained and tested in conquest.
They are invincible in the nature and power of the Father.
Nothing shall confound them; all will succumb to their sway.
This company of sons is the final world government — it will never be
overthrown! They will subdue
every enemy, transform every life, renew every mind, and be the fountainhead
of every blessing! They are the
solution that God has ordained for the travail of earth’s teeming billions.
This is the destiny of God’s Christ, Head and
body!
God has put His hand to the task; He is ready to grasp the whole
world and, through the sonship ministry, switch it on to another track,
changing its course and destination. I
tell you, dear ones, as sons of God we are laborers together with God in
inaugurating the next stage of the
kingdom which will impact every living nation of earth.
We are now called to “come up hither” to His throne!
We shall work and work, minister and minister, reign and reconcile and
bless and deliver and transform all nations and all men and all realms and all
worlds and all ages until we accomplish the
end. “Then cometh the
end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For
He must reign, until He hath put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:24-26).
If it takes a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century, a millennium,
a billion years or a trillion years, it matters not one whit — the kingdom
of God shall increase and expand and triumph until that blessed day when from
pole to pole and from sea to sea and throughout all the vastnesses of infinity
everywhere God shall be ALL IN ALL!
Let the mountains reverberate with the sound of the message, let the
hills shout aloud for joy, and all the trees of the forest clap their hands!
For we now stand on the threshold of a new dimension of the kingdom of
God, and we must be prepared to receive HIM in fullness.
As we earnestly look for His appearing, we are to receive ALL THAT HE
IS, for when He appears in His glory in His manifest sons, all the traditions
of yesterday will be swept away and the realms of limitation swallowed up in
His surpassing glory. I cannot
overemphasize this great and important truth: When Christ appears in the
fullness of Himself in His many
brethren, we must be prepared to receive Him on a higher plane than we have
known Him hitherto. We cannot
tell Him what portion of Him we will receive and what portion we will not
receive. WE WILL RECEIVE AND
MANIFEST HIM IN FULLNESS, and without any reservations or preconceived ideas,
or we will not receive Him at all. Either
we will walk in the power and glory of His sonship, or we will miss the glory.
We will not bring into that new order of life and power the old ways
and traditions of the church systems of man.
Should we cling to the ministries and methods of the past, we will not
be manifest sons. Vast multitudes
of Christians will not stand in this new glory because of their tradition —
but their time of visitation will come later.
But for those who are willing to pay the price, to be thoroughly purged
of all that is of the flesh, and disposed to turn loose of the past religious
traditions, the old forms and ceremonies, the former means and methods, and
the stagnant remains of yesterday’s visitations, there awaits great glory
and heavenly wealth, and a world-shaking ministry beyond the comprehension of
mortal mind.
Captain James Cook was an English explorer who lived more than two
hundred years ago. His
adventurous life began when he joined the British navy at the age of 27.
He surveyed the St. Lawrence Channel and the coasts of Newfoundland and
Labrador before he was given his own ship, the Endeavor,
to command. He sailed this ship
all the way around the world, exploring the coasts of eastern Australia and
New Zealand on the way. After
returning to England he set out again for the South Pacific with two ships,
the Resolution and the Adventure,
and explored the icy Antarctic Ocean. He
explored the New Hebrides Islands and discovered the island of New Caledonia
in the Pacific Ocean off Australia. Early
in his career Captain Cook made this amazing statement, I don’t remember the
precise words, but the thought was this: “It is not my desire to merely go
where other men have not gone; I WANT TO GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN
TO GO!” And his wish was
granted, for when he was killed in 1779 by natives in the Hawaiian Islands,
there were no more frontiers on this planet to explore, and no more coasts to
be charted.
Ah, in the spiritual world just such a desire has arisen within a
company, those destined to manifest sonship,
the desire to not merely press on in God to heights and depths not
discovered by those great ones who have blessed this earth with God’s grace,
wisdom, and power, but indeed to GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO GO IN
GOD! What a vision!
We are well acquainted with the “in part” realm, where God anoints
men with the Holy Ghost and with power, and their gifts increase and their
ministries expand and many are blessed. But
then they die, and while others might try to carry on their vision, it is
never again the same for those left behind do not possess the same wisdom or
have the same anointing from God, so the movement crystallizes around the
“part” the ministry possessed, and when men try to perpetuate it, it
finally stagnates and dies. For
one thing, every generation needs a new vision and not a carry-over of the
old, but in this transition of the ages God is birthing a SON COMPANY that
desires not merely to rebuild and restore the work of God of yesteryear, be it
New Testament Church Order, five-fold ministry, gifts of the Spirit,
expressions of worship, methods of evangelism, or whatever; but we are
possessed of a heart to become identified
with Jesus Christ beyond the veil,
in the Holiest of all, after the power of an endless life, to know God not
just in a measure, but in His fullness, and receiving that ministry after the
order of Melchizedek which can proceed through the ages until a full victory
is consummated and God is ALL IN ALL.
The compelling passion of my life is to be filled with all the fullness
of God and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That is what sonship is! The
deep cry of my heart is for the satisfaction of knowing that my life counts
for God. As God knows my heart,
it is not a selfish desire. The
reason I want to be like Jesus is because I love Him so, and also because it
is the only way I can ever be used
in the restoration of fallen creation. I
see the needs of the world around me, and realize that I am practically
powerless to do anything about them. And
should I initiate a program it would not even scratch the surface of the need.
We thank God for all who are ministering to mankind on whatever level,
and they shall receive their reward. Yet,
men hold great crusades today and when you listen to their glowing reports you
would think the whole world is turning to God.
But should you walk the streets of the city they just left, you can
barely find a trace of evidence that they were ever there.
City-wide life goes on as before.
Oh yes, we can pray, believe God, and touch whom we can, and see some
people saved, blessed, healed, and delivered.
But anyone who says that they have reached the place where their
ministry is meeting the needs of the world and changing the order of things is
either blind to the realities on this planet, a proud hypocrite, or a liar.
But God is not blind to the need of this day, nor is He impotent to
move. He has a plan, a wonderful
plan! And He is going to move in
mighty power just as soon as the time is ripe for it.
God is shaping our lives with a view to the future.
What is happening to each son of God today has a bearing on what his
role will be in the kingdom of God throughout the ages to come.
Our present travail will be easier when we understand this truth.
A crown prince cannot live like other people.
When the crown prince of Great Britain is born, he is a marked child
from the day of his birth. He is
different from other children. He
cannot go just anywhere or do or be anything he chooses.
His education, his way of dress, what he is taught in the home, his
associations, his activities, where he goes and when and how, his leisure time
— everything about his life is planned to prepare him to be a king.
The man or woman called to sonship cannot be like other people or other
of God’s children any longer. God
has a special plan for this one! The
truth is that a son of God marches to a different tune than his
contemporaries. He hears the band
playing the march of victory! He
stays in line with those in-Christed ones who march with him.
He keeps in step with his leader, Jesus Christ.
He marches to the music of the celestials.
He marches in the procession of Christ.
His music is the music of the kingdom.
Because this is a different kind of marching from that of those in the
church systems, he is often out of step with them.
They are not all marching to
the same place! Most Christians
are marching to a place in the sky with golden streets, harps, and palm
branches to sing and dance and play and frolic for eternity.
Sons do not have time for such frivolity, for they are marching to the
throne of the universe, to a position of eminence, power, authority,
responsibility, and eternal glory as lords and kings and priests and creators
after the likeness of their eternal Father.
Their business is not dancing over the hillsides of glory, but bringing
the kingdom of God to pass throughout the infinity of God’s universe!
Always men have greeted friends and loved ones at the beginning of a
new day with a cheery greeting, “Good morning!”
In these words is the story of the night that is gone and the day which
beckons. Fled from us are the
lurking shades of night; eagerly we rush to greet the rosy countenance
of the dawn. It is fitting
that the discovery of the resurrection of our Lord should have been realized
in the dawning light of a new day. Behind
the disciples was the nightmare of the cross and the tomb.
“Very early in the morning” they came to the sepulcher to minister
to the dead body of Jesus — only to hear the angels’ words, “Why seek ye
the living among the dead? He is
not here, but is risen.” It is
as if the angels had said, “Good morning!”
It was a good morning; there was nothing more to fear.
A new day had dawned for mankind!
Forget the fears and dreads of the night; rejoice in the wonders of the
day!
Out of the deep and sovereign movings of God a prophetic voice has
sounded forth in our generation. The
church age is over! The old order
is done! God is calling a people
by revelation of His Spirit to arise and make the transition into the new age
of the kingdom of God, into the new day of manifest sonship.
We have heard the voice, we have responded to the call of the voice as
of a trumpet to “Come up hither!”
In the Spirit we have beheld the throne set in the heavens.
It is set for us. Aren’t
you glad! The throne is our
destiny. The kingdom of God is at
hand. The manchild is ready to be
birthed — to be caught up into the throne.
A new order for all mankind is on the horizon.
The Day has dawned and the daystar is rising in our hearts.
The time of our change has come. Even
now a mighty power, a living hope, is working in our lives.
“GOOD MORNING SONS OF GOD!”
To be continued… J.
PRESTON EBY
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