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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 85
BREAKING
THE SEALS
(continued)
And I saw when the Lamb opened
one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise
of thunder, and one of the living creatures
saying, Come and see (Rev. 6:1).
The first seal is the first or outermost of the seals, and its being broken would
permit a certain portion of the scroll to be unrolled and read. The breaking of the seal, and unrolling of the
first portion of the scroll, is an emblem signifying that by this act the revelation of
Christ in us would begin to be unfolded. We
have studied the first five chapters and have begun to understand the great significance of Johns tremendous
vision of the unveiling of Christ in our experience.
On the one hand, the events are in chronological order, but on the other hand, they
are eternal things; that means, they are spiritually already in the present! John sees everything at once, but he can only
describe it to us successively, one thing at a time.
For that reason we cannot separate chapters four, five, and six from each other.
When the first seal is opened John hears as it were the noise of thunder. The word noise is from the Greek phone meaning tone, address, saying,
language, voice a disclosure. Thus,
it is a voice of revelation! Thunder denotes that it is a powerful voice of revelation. It is the voice of the spirit of revelation that
brings the unveiling!
The first horse is introduced by one of the four living creatures. The living creatures represent the spirit of
kingship, for they are in the midst of the throne. The voice of the living creature is the spirit of
His kingship within us crying out for the unveiling of the Christ in our lives! The attribute of majesty speaks! Some have said that it was the lion that spoke,
but it is not said which it was. Neither does
it matter, for all four are equally involved, and successively speak precisely the same
thing. I would point out in passing that
where the living creatures and the elders speak separately, there is a distinction between
them. When the subject concerns priesthood,
the elders speak; but when it concerns kingship, and the going forth of power, the living
creatures speak. Since it is the four living
creatures that announce the four horses and their riders, the horses bespeak the coming
forth of Christ in mighty authority and power to conquer everything within us that hinders
or opposes the Christ-life, and to change and transform us into conquering ones!
And I saw
one of the four living creatures saying, Come and see (Rev. 6:1).
The cry itself is very brief Come! It is not Come and see as we have it
in the King James Bible, but just Come! There
is a variation on this reading in the ancient Greek manuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus has a double imperative,
Come and see, as though the command
is addressed to John. Codex Alexandrinus,
which is the text which shows the least evidence of alteration, has the single imperative,
Come, as a signal for the horseman to ride across the stage of activity. Furthermore, John was already on the spot,
beholding all that was transpiring, and did not need to be called any nearer. If John had needed to approach closer in order to
behold the activity of the first horseman, he would not have needed to do so for the other
three horses; yet we find the same command repeated in each successive instance. Most Bible scholars agree that the words and
see should be omitted.
Whom do the living creatures call? Hear
the cry of Revelation 22:20, Surely I come
quickly. And then John responds to
the words of the Lord, saying, Amen. Even
so, come, Lord Jesus! Hear the echo of Revelation 1:7 wherein John
exclaims, Behold, He cometh with clouds! It is my deep conviction that the call is not
addressed to the prophet John, but to the Lord Himself.
The word Come therefore embodies
the hope and desire of every son of God for the Christ to come forth as the mighty
conqueror within us! This is the cry of every
man and woman called to sonship to God, the earnest longing for the manifestation of the
Lord in all His glorious fullness. The word
come is addressed in each instance to the riders of the different horses; and
it is a call for the Lord to come forth in the various dealings and workings of His Spirit
and power to accomplish in us the work of the unveiling of the Christ.
Traditional teaching has led the Lords people to think in terms of the first
coming of Christ and His second coming, whereas the scriptures speak in terms of the
progressive revelation of Jesus Christ. The
Bible nowhere talks about the first coming and the second coming
as if these two embody the fullness of His coming. People
use those terms as though they are found everywhere in the word of God! Yet the truth is, they are found nowhere! If I were to request a preacher to preach a sermon
on the second coming of Christ using only the scriptures that mention His
second coming it would be a short sermon indeed! In fact, the meeting would be canceled. We could just turn out the lights and all go home. The term is not in the Book. Neither is the term first coming in
the Bible. These are unscriptural and
extra-biblical terms. Those who use them have
invented a theology all their own which is foreign to the scriptures.
What the Bible does talk about is the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, the
unveiling of the Son of God, and many different comings of the Lord. The Holy Spirit records, But thou,
Bethlehem of Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall He come forth unto me who is to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old, from
everlasting (Mic. 5:2). Notice His
goings forth. The plural is used. The goings forth of the Lord speak about the Lord
Jesus Christ! Now, the idea of
goings has to do with the onward marching of God the unfolding of the
purpose of God, step by step. This is what is
indicated here. This is what history is all
about, the progressive revelation of the Christ, the marching forward of God, the
ever-increasing of the unveiling of Himself to man!
We dare not lose sight of the fact that our Lord has already had many comings, many
appearings. We have limited the comings of
Christ strictly to two because of our unscriptural terms first coming and
second coming, but the truth is that He came; He continued to come; He comes;
He continues to come; He will come; and He will continue to come! There are numerous comings and
appearings of the Lord in the New Testament, BUT THEY DO NOT ALL REFER TO THE
SAME EVENT. And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
messengers, when He shall come to be glorified IN His saints, and to be admired IN all
them that believe in that day (II Thes. 1:7,10).
Jesus Christ is coming again, and He is coming to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all the holy sons of God who by His grace have
been conformed into His image throughout the age. These
many brethren are the body of the Son of God!
This is the fullness of Gods Christ!
Not for the world nor all that is in it would I for one moment miss the
glory of the age and the ages which are to come! To
reign with Christ and with Him usher all creation into the glory of God, which has been
the vision of the prophets, the dream of the sages, the cry of the sons, the purpose of
God, and the longing and expectation of all
creation is a prize of far vaster worth than all the power and glory and wealth of all
the nations of earth combined. Though
Gods Christ is One, it will take the ages to come to reveal His manifold beauty and
graces. He is the one Christ, yet His body is
made up of many redeemed souls. He is the
true Vine, yet there are many branches. He is
the only begotten Son of God, yet He is leading many sons to glory! He is the only Saviour, yet He is bringing a
whole company of saviours up on mount Zion!
Like the sound of many waters, the testimony of the word of God records with
abundant and stunning and inescapable evidence that the coming of Christ is not one single
event, or two great events, but includes many different manifestations. His coming to us and in us is a many-faceted
experience! To multitudes He appears as
Saviour. They find Him at the crossroads of
their lives. They invite Him to Come
into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus!
And this coming is just as real and meaningful and powerful as was His coming long
centuries ago! To multitudes He becomes their
salvation, and in this experience they become acquainted with Him, but they
have only a superficial knowledge of Him. They
never venture any deeper to know Him intimately.
To others He appears as Bridegroom. Behold,
the Bridegroom cometh! is the cry that
meets the ears of the virgins waiting for His appearing.
And for those who were unprepared, whose lamps had gone out and they had no
oil, He came as a thief and they missed their hour of visitation. But for those who are prepared, they hear His
voice and are moved by His love, and follow on to know Him in deeper measures of intimacy
and union. To others He appears as a
Refiners Fire. The Lord, whom ye
seek, shall suddenly come to His
temple
like a refiners fire
He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver
He shall purge the sons of Levi (priesthood), that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness (Mal. 3:1-3).
This is a coming of the Lord that the second coming preachers miss
altogether! The Lord comes to His priesthood
company consuming their hay, wood, and stubble, eliminating by the spirit of burning all
that is of self and not of God. These are but
a few of the many comings and appearings of the Lord revealed in
the scriptures. The coming of the Lord is as
many-faceted as the most dazzling crystal of earth! In
the book of Revelation especially we hear the cry for these comings of the Lord.
The Christ within our spirit shall charge through the earth of every man conquering
until He is truly, in the most real way, King and Lord of all! Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Mat. 6:10). So then the kingdom of God originates in the
heavenlies, in the realm of the spirit, and finds expression in the physical realm, in the
earthlies. It is established in the
believers heart. He takes unto Himself
His mighty power and subdues all things unto Himself, not outwardly with tanks and guns
and bombs, but inwardly by the power of His
life. He goes into the soul, conquering and
to conquer, until He has put all things
under His feet.
We are praying for the time when God will give every unbeliever in the
universe to Jesus Christ for His inheritance. We
pray for the day when the uttermost parts of the earth will come under His dominion and
possession. We
pray for the day when all kingdoms will bow before Him and all nations shall
serve Him. We pray for the day when the
mountain of the house of the Lord, His government of kings and priests after the order of
Melchizedek, the many-membered Christ of God, shall be established everywhere. We pray for that day when the fullness of the
Gentiles shall come in and all Israel shall be saved.
In that day it shall be seen that Christ is King over the whole earth! He will appear to every soul on earth, in heaven,
and in hell as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
It is proper for those who love Him to seek His appearing, that He may
appear to and in us in all the mighty workings and manifestations of His life, power, and
glory. Everyone should pray that His kingdom,
the kingdom of life, light, and love, would come quickly and swallow up the kingdoms of
the flesh.
For the elect of God the Day has dawned! The
Sun of Righteousness has arisen within our hearts! We
see Him no longer through a glass darkly, but face to face!
Our old heavens and our old earth have passed away! We live now in a New World, we sing now a New
Song, our night has turned to Day! Darkness
has flown away, sin and sorrow and death are swallowed up, God has wiped all tears from
off our faces, we are living stones in the City which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God, and all things are made new! This
is the present glorious and eternal reality of the sons of God in this wonderful Day of
the Lord! This is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory of God within His chosen ones!
If I did not believe in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God in all realms
and everywhere and over everything throughout the vastnesses of infinity, and if I
believed that this world was to continue to be misruled and misgoverned as it is; if I
believed that sin and sorrow and death and wicked men and vile institutions were to
continue unto the end, I should despair of humanity and God, and I should certainly tear I
Corinthians 15:20-28 out of my Bible and burn it on the trash heap. But God never gives up! God reigns! The
good news which our Lord Jesus the Christ came to preach is good news of great joy to all people. Praise God for the good news! Praise God that it is to all people! God reigns! that is the good news. Neither the will of man nor the power of satan
shall prevail. God shall be Victor! He shall put every enemy under His feet and under
our feet! The horses are galloping and Christ
is riding forth conquering and to conquer! Arent
you glad!
And I saw, and behold a white horse:
and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer (Rev. 6:2).
Bear in mind the Revelation is not a re-viewing of history, nor a pre-view
of future world events. Rather, it is a
super-view of the unfolding of the spiritual life of every son of God! The book of Revelation is the last book of the
Bible, not because it is the end of any revelation from God, but because it carries us
into the revelation process as far as any outer scripture can. After this, it becomes ones own unfoldment
and ones inner knowing and hearing of the Fathers voice that becomes his
scripture. The Bible is actually a book about
this inner scripture, the nature, life, mind, and power of the Christ within, and this is
as far as any book or teacher can bring us: to the realization that the revelation is a
process taking place within us! Let us then
reverently take our places beside the astonished prophet and watch as the Lamb of God
unrolls the scroll.
Everything I was ever taught about the horses of the Revelation, commonly called
The Four Horses of the Apocalypse was always frightening, full of fear and
dread. They always started out with the white
horse rider being the antichrist. One
preacher, showing where his faith lies, goes all the way and declares that the antichrist
is the only person who could accomplish
all these feats! From there things got
worse and worse and by the time they finished with that chapter I was scared to death, the
hair bristling on my neck, goosebumps pulsating on my skin, and chills running up and down
my spine. They gave an altar call and we all
hit the altar weeping and wailing, getting right with God so we wouldnt miss the
rapture and meet those four horses!
No interpretation of the white horse can be correct which does not recognize the
connection with the similar vision found in chapter nineteen, though the two are not
identical. The difference is that the vision
there is the end or consummation of Christs warfare, as He
and all the sons of God ride forth to subdue all things everywhere to their reign; but the
white horse of chapter six is just the beginning or commencement
of Christs warfare as He rides forth in our individual lives to subdue all things
within our personal earth. He is the Alpha
and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. Here in vision He appears as the
Alpha, that is, the first, riding forth out of the inner sanctum of the
spirit of each of us, conquering and to conquer; but in chapter nineteen all those He has
so conquered now ride with Him, we see the Rider on the white horse followed by the armies
of heaven (sons of God) on white horses, going forth to subdue the nations and all things
unto Gods Christ.
My hearts desire is that all who read these truths may be filled with the
divine conviction that God our Father is preparing a people to share the manifest image of
Christ and reign with Him in His kingdom. Herein
is to be found the real meaning, yea, the vital difference between the ministry of the Rider
on the white horse in chapter six and the Rider of the white horse in chapter nineteen. The Rider of the white horse in chapter six is a solitary Rider, crowned with a single victors crown, whereas the Rider on
the white horse in chapter nineteen is crowned with many
crowns and is accompanied by an immense and powerful army astride a host of horses out of the
heavenlies. It should not be difficult for
any to understand that the solitary Rider wearing the single crown is none other than the
forerunner, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His singular victory over sin, death, and hell
riding forth as the glorious Captain of our
salvation to extend that victory into the consciousness and experience of each member
of His elect body, the sons of God. He must
complete His conquest within our mind, heart, and life before we in Him can press the
battle onward to creation!
When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in chapter nineteen He does not come
alone. Long millenniums ago Enoch prophesied
of this appearing of the promised One, saying, Behold the Lord cometh WITH TEN
THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS (or, holy myriads of Himself) to execute judgment upon
all
(Jude 14,15). John with
wonder beheld the scene and wrote, The armies, the ones in the heaven, were
following Him upon white horses (Rev. 19:14). Christ
Jesus is the Head and the Leader as He goes before; His holy ones follow in His train, for
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God; and these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They are
represented as armies! They come forth as a
body of warriors! He has many under His
command! The armies of the heavenlies are
His, and He does battle with them, by them, through them, and as them, even the called, and chosen, and
faithful. There is no infantry. There really is no cavalry, for all the horses are
white, and every one who follows Him is of exalted rank.
It is an army of princes, a host of mighty dignitaries. He is the Leader, yet as He is, so are we! It
is the corporate Christ! It is one new man,
one glorious Head and body! It is not
Christ and us it is simply Christ! Moreover,
they have no weapons, except the sharp two-edged sword that proceeds out of HIS MOUTH,
which is the Living Word of God. His Word is
our Word, and we have no Word except that which He
is and which we are! Oh, the mystery of it!
In both cases the color of the horses is white, an emblem of Christs purity
and divine holiness. Every other place
throughout the visions of John it stands for righteousness and purity. And in Zechariah 14:20 this purity is connected to
horses. In that day shall the bells of
the horses (that is the strength of all) ring out, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. White also bespeaks of light illumination. These are the qualities that characterize, not
only the firstborn Son of God, but also His many brethren, the sons of God. In the messages to the seven churches, the
out-called, challenging them to overcome, we
read, I counsel thee to buy of me
white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed (Rev. 3:18). This is naught
but the transfiguring glory of Christ, as it is
written, And He was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and
His raiment was white as the light (Mat. 17:2). The light is the robe of divine majesty, the
incorruptible life of God in the spirit emanating from the nature of absolute holiness
that illuminates and quickens spirit, soul, and body.
This is the Spirit by which Jesus was raised from the dead, even the spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4). It shines out through these vessels of clay and
transforms us into the incorruptible nature of the indwelling spirit! In this very hour every one who is called to
sonship to God is beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and we are being changed, transformed, transfigured, metamorphosed
even as by the spirit of the Lord! (II Cor. 4:18).
Clearly from a comparison of Revelation 19 with Revelation 6:2 the Rider
is Christ Himself; here He has a bow with which to shoot the arrow of truth
deep into our hearts, whereas there He has a sharp sword going out of His mouth, that with
it He might smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron. In either case it is the same power of His
word going forth, but in different administrations.
I would remind all who read these lines that the Rider in chapter nineteen
is named The
Word of God, and the sword going out of His mouth is the truth going forth to battle. The sword is an instrument of war, and so is the
bow! And what is the bow? The inspired prophet tells us in these words,
Thou didst ride upon Thine horses and Thy chariots of salvation. Thy
bow
was made quite naked
even Thy word (Hab. 3:8-9). Can we not see by this that both the bow and the
sword are THE WORD OF GOD! And then
there was given unto Him a crown. The
Greek word for crown in Revelation 6:2 always indicates a crown of victory, while the word in chapter nineteen
denotes a crown of royalty. In chapter six the crown is given after the Riders appearance, whereas in
chapter nineteen they are already worn. At the commencement He wears a single crown,
bespeaking the individuality of His conquest
within each of us. But then at the end He
wears many crowns representing the crowns of all the sons of God who reign and
conquer by Him!
The Word of God comes riding
upon a white horse, and the army of the sons of God follow Him, all riding upon white
horses. What a scene! The horse is an animal that men ride. It is like a car its a vehicle. The horse in scripture is a symbol for THE
BRINGING OF GODS PRESENCE AND POWER IN WARFARE.
It signifies STRENGTH AND SWIFTNESS IN BATTLE.
The old Roman conquerors, when celebrating a brilliant conquest, rode down the
avenues of the imperial city upon a snow-white steed, and received the plaudits of the
people. The Lord is described as the Word of
God emblematically riding on a white horse; it is the image of aggressive action, of a
prosperous conquest over all His foes. It
means victory! The horse in scripture
represents strength, and fearlessness to accomplish its task. Of the horse it is written, He paweth the
valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrightened;
neither turneth he back from the sword. He
swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; he smelleth the battle afar off, the
thunder of the captains, and the shouting (Job 39:21-25). I have taken away your horses
(strength) (Amos 4:10).
On the negative side, whenever the word horse is used in relationship with
fleshly humanity it signifies human strength.
Isaiah 31:1-3 informs us: Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help;
and stay on horses, and trust in chariots (that is, human strength and human ability),
because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong
they look not
unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!
Again, Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are
fleshly (strength), and not spirit. For
thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved;
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses
(human strength) and confound the riders on the horses (those who trust in human
ability) (Hag. 2:22; Zech. 10:5).
On the positive side, whenever the word horse is used with righteousness, or
divinity, or the Lord, or things heavenly, it means heavenly,
divine, or spiritual strength. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white
horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth
judge and make war
and the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white
horses (Rev. 19:11,14). That is, they
followed Him in heavenly, divine, spiritual strength!
In Habakkuh 3:14-15 the prophet, reminiscing about Israels deliverance from
Egypt, extols the triumph of Yahweh, exclaiming, You pierced with his own arrows the
head of the enemys hordes
You have trodden
the sea with Your horses, beside the heap of great and surging waters. The meaning is clear You have trodden the
sea IN YOUR DIVINE STRENGTH! Egypt had
abundance of horses, swift and strong, but God had horses out of the spirit world! Not literal horses, of course; they represented
the STRENGTH AND MIGHT OF GOD IN BATTLE! They
signify the almighty POWER OF THE SPIRIT in all His manifestations. With what simple words does the Holy Spirit teach
us that the strength of the Spirit always
exceeds and excels over the strength of the flesh! Thus,
horses are symbols given to us that denote the nature and work of the anointing that rests upon the sons of God. Horses are figures of overcoming, invincible
strength and power, signifying that wherever these horses go, WHATEVER IS IN THEIR WAY IS
OVERCOME BY THEM!
Wonderful visions passed before the rapt gaze of the Seer on Patmos lonely
isle. And none could have been more thrilling
than the vision we are now considering. In
the far upper spaces, midst the maze and whirl of mist and cloud, and vast throngs of
beings, and reverberations of great rolling noises, appears a snow-white horse, which
immediately attracts the attention of the apostle. Its
arching neck clothed with thunder, its tossing mane, its dilated nostrils, its deep chest,
its flashing eyes, its superb grace as it pranced before him, made it the noblest horse
and most magnificent which he had ever beheld.
But his glance passed swiftly from horse to rider; and though the
snow-white charger eclipsed any animal John had ever seen, yet it was mounted by a person
who, in form and feature and bearing, surpassed any man he had beheld, and his gaze was
riveted by the unrivaled charm of his person. As
John watched him, he saw him move irresistibly along a path of conquest. And, as he gazed, he recognized the rider as being
his own well-beloved friend and master, Jesus Christ, whom he had so devotedly followed
when, on earth, He walked slowly and wearisomely from place to place. Now, instead of being a pedestrian he was an
equestrian, and instead of meekly submitting to His enemies He was overcoming them by the
tremendous might of His powerful advance. It
was a vision very real to the apostle; but it was recorded to teach, in symbolic form, the
warrior spirit of Christ, and the great campaign upon which He has entered to conquer the
hearts of men! The sphere of His movements,
as perceived by the apostle, was this earth; and the time of His advance was over the
globe throughout the church age unto the establishing of the kingdom.
Furthermore, this One goes forth conquering and to conquer. Special attention must be paid to the peculiar
statement of the elder in Revelation 5:5 that the Lamb has prevailed to open
the book and to loose the seals thereof. The
use of the Greek verb to conquer occurs more frequently in Johns
writings than in any other of the books of the New Testament. This is the word here rendered
prevailed. It is the same word
used when the Rider on the white horse goes forth conquering and to conquer. It is the same word used repeatedly in chapters
two and three of the overcomer where at the termination of each of
the messages to the seven churches the Spirit proclaims, To him that overcometh
To him that conquers! Ah, the Rider on the white horse is going forth
overcoming and to overcome, prevailing and to prevail, conquering and to conquer! The term denotes grammatically AN UNENDING SERIES
OF CONQUESTS, UNINTERRUPTED BY ANY DEFEATS, WHOSE VICTORIES SHOULD LAST FOREVER!
And so Jesus Christ, astride of the snow-white charger, is put in a position where
He is perpetually celebrating a victory. His
march is a victorious march! His movements
always meet with success! His plans are
fulfilled, and His campaigns unfurl to the breezes the banners of triumph. Jesus Christ is going forth as a conqueror, and
He does so with great swiftness, rapidity, and power!
The action in which He is engaged requires the greatest power, even the power of
the spirit; and His movements are energized with tremendous force. Ah, precious friend of mine, are there things in
your life that seem insurmountable and unconquerable?
Have you struggled with attitudes, fears, lusts, emotions, circumstances,
weaknesses, habits, and shortcomings? Have
you despaired of ever truly being conformed to the image of Gods son; have you
questioned whether you can really share in the glory of manifest sonship? Hear the word of the Lord today! It is Christ Himself who is taking up the battle
within you it is Christ the Lord who is galloping through the battlefield of your
heart, soul, and body. Here in the saddle He
is roused, every faculty excited, every source of strength summoned, and He is bearing
forward for the purpose of conquering every foe within you!
He that is within you is mighty! Expose
yourself to His wonderful presence, yield yourself to His powerful word, cast yourself
upon the pathway of His conquest He is
moving down upon the enemy, charging upon all opposition, overcoming by the impetuous
energy of His movements within your life! It
is indeed wonderful!
The purpose of your quickening by Christ was to make you consciously a part of
Himself, to give you a calling to glory, to a place where God by His Spirit can express
Himself through you, so you can bring righteous judgment to the earth. Thats what this white horse is all about! Your life and everything that happens to you is
given to train and equip you for a royal position in God.
The only reason the heavenly Father sent you here from the realm of spirit, lowered
into the bondage of corruption, was to process you, to groom you for a position in God, to
be one in the Saviour and to become a saviour. This
is the day when everything we have hoped and dreamed of in God will be realized in our
experience! We have so limited God in the
way we have thought about Him. Im
telling you that we stand on the threshold of an outworking of God that is so powerful
that it will bring an absolute end to the downward spiral of sin and death in humanity. It will put a blockade in the road to the flesh.
The manifestation of God through His sons which is immediately before us will turn
creation around! We shall manifest unto
mankind a life and victory and power that will shake the very foundations of the earth, an
action that will alter the course of the world, bringing correction and righteousness. A people in this hour is being raised, not out of
the cemetery, but out of the grave of their mind, out of the tomb of carnal, mortal
consciousness, out of the crypt of religion and vain traditions, raised up to the place
where they can be the manifestation of the totality of the personality of God. We are being raised to become the expression of
the substance of His Person. This company is
Christ the Head riding forth upon a white horse followed by Christ the body, all the sons
of God riding with Him upon white horses by the strength of righteousness
bringing the rule of the kingdom of God among men.
But when the Rider of Revelation six comes there are none with Him He rides alone.
Ah is it not within the corridors of your own soul, my beloved, that
you must hear the hoofbeats of this great white steed thundering! He must ride right into your earth,
even that earth which you are, conquering all the territory and
every stronghold of your land.
Dont you hear the clatter of the hoofs of that gallant charger as He
bounds through that world which you are, carrying its Rider to grand battlefields and
glorious victories within? Christ the
conqueror goes forth to conquer! He hath a
bow, and His bow is bent still and He is riding the white horse, and the arrows of Divine
Truth are piercing our hearts, and every enemy within spirit, soul, and body falls down
before Him; all opposition is shattered to pieces; the strongholds and defenses are torn
away as paper walls; the radiant brilliance of His glory flashes its dazzling light upon
the eyes of the understanding, piercing effectively every cherished tradition, human
interpretation, and carnal concept; swallowing up even every sin, all sorrow, pain,
sickness, fear, and death.
I see Christ conquering! Though all
men are His by right of creation and redemption, yet He must do battle to make conquest of
the human heart which has been occupied by the enemies of His mind, heart, and life. He must fight His way inch by inch into the human
soul until He possesses that which He purchased, until the citadels of mind, will,
emotion, and desire have been taken and brought under the dominion of Truth. His victories are victories of peace over
conflict, of joy over sorrow, of faith over fear, of righteousness over unrighteousness,
of love over hate, of truth over error, of holiness over sin, of health over sickness, of
power over weakness, of the image of God over the subterfuge of self, of life and
immortality over corruption and death. Of the
triumph of His life within the overcomers the Lord says, I will ransom them from the
power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O
grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from my eyes (Hos. 13:14). God is the enemy
of death. And He is the enemy of the grave!
God right now is waging a war against the death and the grave that is in your mind, dear one. For to be carnally minded is death
(Rom. 8:6). The Spirit of the Christ within
witnesses, Grave and death youre not going to have any victory! For He must reign, till He hath put all
enemies under His feet. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
(I Cor. 15:25-26). The last enemy that shall
be destroyed in you and in me is death!
When the Lord prophesies this victory over death in Hosea 13:14 He closes His
statement with these words: Repentance shall be hid from my eyes. God says, There is no way that I am going
to change my mind about my purpose when I come forth out of the realm of Spirit and
commence making war with death and hell I will not stop until every foe is
vanquished. In Himself the victory is
already attained, fully and forever! I
am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the
keys of hell and of death. God is not
turning back, the hour for the manifestation of sonship is nigh at hand, and He that hath
begun a good work in us shall complete it. The
day of death is over. Its time to live! Hallelujah!
This is the conquest that is going on right now in that inner world of our hearts,
minds, and bodies. May the blessed Holy
Spirit deeply impress upon all who read these lines this unalterable truth: YOU WILL NEVER
CONQUER UNTIL YOU ARE CONQUERED! You see, in
the army of Christ all the vanquished have enlisted, and all of those who were once
enemies, such as Saul of Tarsus who once opposed Christ and who now is one of the leaders
of that army beyond the veil. As we look at
the triumph of Christ we see that the vanquished and the conquerors merge as one. Saul of Tarsus went forth to war against Jesus,
but he was struck to the ground outside Damascus, the sword was smitten from his hand, and
he was conquered by the Son of God. But in
that conquest Paul was to realize his greatest victory and he, too, was to become a part
of the ongoing triumph of Christ a triumph which is even now proceeding into the
heavenly city.
We dont have to wait until some glad day after while because the
battle is going on right now! GOD ALWAYS
CAUSETH US TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST (II Cor. 2:14). I
want to tell you that is a life-changing concept and, yet, some who read these words have
never yet even begun to touch the hem of its garment.
Our Captain, our King, our General has won
the victory! He has conquered death! He has conquered hell! He has conquered all the powers of the flesh and
of evil! And now He brings that triumph to
us! And we can receive the spoils of His
warfare! How can we be winners and partakers
of that victory? First of all we need to know
that we can never be part of those that conquer with
Christ until we have been conquered by Christ. Therein lies the difference between the white
horses and their Riders in chapters six and nineteen of the Revelation. It was not until Saul had been knocked to his
knees in the dust and all his own struggles and battle had been lost, that he entered into
the victorious army of Jesus Christ. In that
conquest Saul of Tarsus was slain and Paul the apostle rose up to take his place. Perhaps you are struggling in your spiritual life,
trying to overcome, but the problem is you have never completely surrendered to Jesus
Christ. That surrender cannot be merely by
word. It must be in reality! There are those who offer Christ their praise and
speak great swelling words of revelation in the gatherings of the saints, but go out and
know that their life is not conquered by Christ
the Lord.
When Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington he came up to Washington and his
aides, each dressed in their finest military garb. Cornwallis
began to extol Washingtons virtues as a commander and military strategist and told
him how impressed he was with the incredible maneuvers he had used. He continued in this way until suddenly
Washington interrupted him and said, Your
sword, sir! At another time, in
another place, after the Hellespont was crossed, and he was making ready to march through
Thrace, the king of Sparta commissioned heralds to the authorities of the countries
through which he was about to move, asking them if he should come as an enemy or as a
friend. By all means as a friend,
replied nearly every one. The king of
Macedon, however, answered, I will take time to consider. Immediately the king of Sparta sent the message,
In the meantime we march; we march! So
the great King of kings sends us His heralds as He approaches, and asks, Shall I
come to you as a friend or an enemy? Gladly
He would be your friend! Most of us say with
whatever we can muster, Let Him come as my friend. Some may say, We will take time to
consider. Others will say, if not in
words, truly by actions, I want Him to come as my friend to bless me
but I reserve the rights to this or that area of my life. In the meantime the great King marches toward us. He is coming!
He is coming conquering, and to conquer! He
will conquer you, my friend! He will ride into your world swiftly and
powerfully and will shoot His arrows into your heart until every knee bows and Christ is
Lord of all! We will not experience the
victory until first we have been vanquished by Christ and have surrendered our carnal
weapons. The power of His kingdom must reign
supreme within. Our hearts are the seat of
the throne of God, because there He reigns! The
royal seat is the image of God in the spirit; and where this throne is established in the
heart it extends over the whole soul and body.
You who have not yet surrendered to Him as King of kings, you who know Him as
Saviour, as Healer, as Baptizer, as Blesser, but have not crowned Him as Lord of all
within, dont you hear His trumpet pealing in your ears, sounding down through all
the chambers of your souls fortress? You
who have tried to be a good Christian, faithfully performing the religious activities of
the man-made church systems, but have not hitherto heard the call to come out of
her and come up higher into the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus why do
you stand out longer? Why not draw in your
colors this day, and invite HIM to the supreme place in your heart and life, and enroll
yourself among His followers from henceforth, to follow Him to the heights of mount Zion;
and then, when He celebrates His last victory, be among those who come with songs and
everlasting joy to share the fruits of His victory and show forth His praise forevermore. Amen!
The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God over all. The foundation of this kingdom is in the human
heart. The kingdom of God is within
you. The world has not yet witnessed
anything like the total and absolute government of God, except in the life of Jesus. But there has been an increase of His kingdom from
generation to generation and from age to age. A
new order is now coming forth in the earth! The
hour of the completion of the body of Christ that has been forming in the earth for the
past two millenniums is now at hand. The age
of the reigning of Christ through the perfected, matured, empowered manifest sons of God
is now ready to be revealed.
I say to you by the authority of God if Gods kingdom is coming in you,
if His government is increasing in you, then His government is absolutely capable of
ruling in righteousness and peace and power over every situation and circumstance. I do not say it will all happen overnight or
tomorrow. But nothing is too hard for the
government of the almighty Christ! You do not
have to settle for things as they are. YOU
can change them! He that is in you is mighty, and He will make you an overcomer right
where you are. You must overcome within yourself before you can expect to see
changes in those about you. You have been
apprehended as a king-priest after the order of Melchizedek! You have power to conquer, power to possess, power
to inherit, power to bless, power to reconcile, power to redeem, power to change and
transform all things! Oh, yes! When we have fully possessed our own land and claimed our own inheritance we shall then be qualified to rule
nations and worlds and galaxies!
The reign of Christ in our lives is being confirmed as Father changes us, renews
our minds, increases our vision, strengthens our faith, and transforms our natures. When He removed all the old religious traditions
and doctrines and ideas that were not of Him, our Father was preparing us for the pure and
holy and righteous reign of God in us and through us.
In this new Day the love of God and the power of God shall prevail! The elect of God who are beholding the face of the
Lord and being changed into His likeness are the highest expression of the kingdom of God
in the earth. To them shall be given the
fullness of what sonship is the kingdom and the dominion over all things that they
may reign in love, mercy, goodness, reconciliation, power, and righteousness, not forcing men to obey, but imparting to
all men the transforming grace of God in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost
without measure!
The SPIRIT OF MIGHT that rests upon the Rider on the white horse, and which shall
rest upon all of Gods sons, is not the same kind of might known by the people of
this world; it is not the might of force, of marching armies, of clanging swords, of tanks
and bursting bombs, for these exist only in the realm of carnal might.
The might of God and of Gods Christ is spiritual
might. If our eyes have been opened by
the Spirit of God we will see that the nature of all our work in the army of the Lord is
spiritual! The power of the kingdom is spiritual power, its citizens are a spiritual
people, its ministry is a spiritual ministry, its authority is spiritual authority, its
conquests are spiritual conquests, its dominion is spiritual dominion, its laws are
spiritual laws, its weapons are spiritual weapons, its priesthood is a spiritual
priesthood, its sovereignty is a spiritual sovereignty.
Many of the Lords precious people are no further advanced in their
understanding than were the fleshly-minded Jews of Jesus day who looked for the
Messiah to deliver them from Rome as if being free from Rome would change
everything! The work of the kingdom is the
work of rescuing men out of the power of darkness and the bondage of the flesh and the
carnal mind that they may be gained for God. It
is the work of imparting unto men the very life and Spirit of the Lord that men may be
gained even more and more by God until He truly becomes all in all. Thus shall the whole creation be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!
Praise God for the exalted road that leads to Zion, no ravenous beast shall trod
the path that the vultures eye has not seen. These
are glorious days indeed for the army of God, a great people, there has not even been the
like thereof unto the years of many generations. There
is a mighty stirring in the spirit as the army of the Lord musters for battle. Truly the white horse is riding triumphantly
through our land, conquering every enemy within, and announcing to us that He reigns in a
voice of thunder from His throne. May He
reign and speak through us even as He reigns
and speaks within us in the great Day of the
Lord! The weapon of Him who rides through our
land is the bow of His word sending Truth into our minds and hearts; the weapon of the
army of God is the sword of the Spirit, the sharp two-edged sword of the Living Word of
God a sword to smite the nations, not with the carnal force of merciless slaughter,
but with the life-changing properties of TRUTH AND LIFE.
The battle fought by the Christ of God is a spiritual warfare, combat
between light and darkness, between spirit and flesh, between truth and error, between
righteousness and evil, between life and death, between the customs and ways of this world
and the principles of the kingdom of God.
Ride on, O Horseman! Ride on, O
Horsemen!
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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