To him who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…
Hello to everyone,
Here we are at the last of the 7 churches to whom Jesus is speaking. We know that Jesus is dictating these letters and yet we see that He says it is the Spirit who is speaking. This is powerful teaching that God is One yet three. Remember, lest we are tempted to separate God in any way, that Jesus is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17). This can only be grasped by receiving it spiritually and not intellectually so much. The human nature of man continually and I would say unintentionally tries to separate the Godhead when He cannot be. To think of the Holy Spirit doing something that Jesus does not also do is incorrect. The Godhead never ever acts independently apart from another member. The Father is in the Son and the Spirit is Jehovah God. We miss powerful truths in the word unless we see this truth.
So, it is Jehovah God who is speaking to His church by the Amen, the Son, who is the Spirit, who is none other than Jesus Christ, that is, God Almighty, Creator of the universe! Hallelujah! If we will let the spirit receive this, our hearts will soar with the Spirit within us testifying that this is true, even if we don’t understand right now. The Spirit will bear witness with ours that it is true and that He is not a representative of God or a servant of God or a third in command with God, but He IS God…Jehovah God.
So the Lord’s first communication to the Laodicean church is that she is lukewarm. She is neither hot nor cold, and that is so nauseating to God that He says if she remains so, He will spit her out! This is the most visceral communication of the Lord’s disgust with the last day especially, part of the church, that has been so watered down and so worldly that there is nearly nothing in her that resembles His own people. Every other church receives a commendation to start off but not this one. She is wretchedly wayward. Jesus wishes that she were one or the other, hot or cold, because He can work with that. But a miserable, apathetic, wayward church that knows she is and flat doesn’t give a rip, is more than He can stand. He would rather deal with an obstinate church (or believer) who has zeal without knowledge, or a believer (or church) who has knowledge but no zeal, that to fix one who has neither knowledge nor a heart to even care that they know nothing of God.
Interestingly this lukewarm church is rich in goods. They are for the most part without need. They even have works. He says that they are so comfortable in their comfort that the fact that they are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and NAKED is not known to them. Now pay attention to the last word naked because we are going to look at that more in the light of the rest of the scriptures and we will see if powerful doctrine doesn’t emerge as a result. These descriptive words are not random, but communicate truth we need to know. How can a true church (or believer) be saved yet naked? Many mess up doctrine here because they assume that this church is either not a true church or that she has lost her salvation. Neither is true and we will see that before we discuss why she is naked. Brace yourselves for this one and meditate upon it and I will come back in another email to begin our discussion and then to delve into 1 John and discuss sin and what it really is and how it does not belong in the believer’s life.
After the word naked in the scriptures, there is a colon (added later by translators, but is there by intention in the Greek none the less). Jesus is stating it, then pausing to let us chew on it before He wraps up His thought. He states that she IS naked. Then…He advises her to BUY something. Now salvation cannot be bought or earned, so what is He referring to? Well, He tells her to buy gold refined in the fire and white raiment. Now the saints are clothed in white raiment already so how is this lukewarm church different from the saints clothed in white? Gold refers to the refining process of the Smith who burns off the dross of a corroded golden object. Gold tried in the fire. James and Peter tell us to rejoice when we are tried in the fire (always by God, He tries the righteous). For we will come forth as gold if we endure. We will see later in Revelation that some mysterious saints of God during the tribulation have earned the right to wear white, through their suffering. Jesus is exhorting this church to buy this raiment, gold and anoint their eyes so they can SEE. Then He consoles after the spanking. He says He only rebukes those He loves. We know from elsewhere throughout the word that He only chastens His children. This church, these believers who are like Laodicea are NOT NOT NOT lost, or the unsaved! They are HIS! Many teachers miss this. But it is critical to order our understanding of all truth. These children being rebuked so harshly here are the Lord’s. They are just lazy, complacent and dangerously lukewarm. They never turned from God they just stayed in lukewarm immaturity never moving forward, never being transformed by the renewing of the mind ( which is what is meant by eyes and seeing by the way. The eye is the mind in scripture!!!
Notice how Jesus never rebuked Judas who was one who never belonged to Jesus (Jesus invited him to be the elect but Judas rejected the invitation…the Greek meaning of all the words involved in this scripture concerning Judas show us that Judas was invited to be the elect but rejected the invitation). He does not rebuke the lost until they are His. Notice how Peter was always rebuked. He wore a short chain and Jesus was always yanking a knot in it! Why? Because Peter was the Lord’s!!!
So then, the meditation is until next time…how will these lukewarm believers buy gold and white raiment? Is He speaking of salvation? to buy salvation? or something else?
It is something else and we will examine what the Spirit says to us through this letter next time!
Love,
C
There is no doctrine of imminence in the Bible. Those who say there is rely on these two words and they are misunderstanding them. Now my most beloved teachers stick like glue to this doctrine and it’s not even in the word of God. It is a sort of side issue. It is not critical to salvation but it is last day and extremely important doctrine to get right. Can I explain?
“ be ready , for you know not the day nor hour that He will appear…” ( Matt 25:13).
They take this scripture to mean that we have to be ready and have had to be ready from the minute He ascended, because He could return st any minute. No! Not what He said!
Clearly we should always be ready. That goes without saying. He said to watch and be ready.
When He said we don’t know the day or hour He meant just that and nothing more than that. We will not know the day or hour. But we will know the nearness. How? By watching prophecy unfold and come to pass. Ah! This in itself eliminates imminence! What? We have to watch for things to pass to know where we are! That means there are things and have been things that have to happen first. And not just for the second coming but for the rapture. I’ll show you:
The main reason the imminence doctrine is a sloppy one is that there is and always has been a glaring event that absolutely has to pass before Jesus raptures His Church… the fullness of the gentiles has to close. The next thing is that the great falling away or apostasy has to happen first. There is no doctrine of imminence.
What about this even: All of Jesus’ fulfillment of the gospel have happened on a feast day. Why wouldn’t the rapture also happen on a Feast day? If it does, why not the next one in line? Feast of Trumpets? It’s a two day feast!!! Which day? Which hour?? We don’t know! But we sure will know the nearness based on what is unfolding according to Bible prophecy.
The fullness of the gentiles has not come in. But it could anytime. There is tremendous apostasy but has it been THE great apostasy yet? Not yet. Could be tomorrow. But when it happens we who are watching will know and then we should look up!
The Thessalonians were lied to and told it had already happened. These teachers point to that simple fact and say, see, they thought it could have already happened so there you have imminence! What! Terrible hermanutics, I’m sorry. They had so little understanding of deep doctrine then. They were so new. We have much more knowledge at our fingertips and the Holy Spirit has been illuminating His word for 2000 years. They could have believed almost anything. Please don’t form doctrine based on one gathering of believers who were misinformed.
Revelation 3:3 tells us that if we are not watching, we will be caught unaware and not know the hour. So it is also saying then that if we are watching then we will not be caught unaware and will know the hour. Why? Only the ones not watching won’t know the hour. Watching what? Events! Things that have to pass. Watch and consider.
These same teachers say imminence because it helps to keep us Holy. Nonsense!! Walking in the Spirit keeps us holy. Obedience keeps us holy. Loving God keeps us holy!!! It’s not an imaginary fear that I had better behave because He could rapture the church while I’m misbehaving.
The Parables about the wicked servants who are in drunkenness and surfeiting when the Master appears is a general warning to walk with and obey God. It is a parable. It’s a loose concept with hyperbole and some vagueness and limits to make a point.
I could go on. The rapture of the church has not been imminent. Many, many things have had to happen. The thing is this: most of them have.
Although for the last twenty years I have seen what to me seemed like great apostasy, we have not yet seen THE great apostasy. We will know when we see it. It will be gastly.
We have not yet seen the fullness of the gentiles but we are very, very close. It will happen when two other events happen simultaneously. The antichrist will set himself up in the temple of God as God, then the Israelites will be unblinded.
When will the Israelites be unblinded??? When the fullness of the gentiles has come in.
That’s when the rapture will occur. He has told us if we are listening… listening to Him and not to man.
For Israel is blinded in part until the fullness of the gentiles has come in.
When is Israel unblinded? When antichrist sets himself up in the temple. When is the church raptured? When the fullness of the gentiles has come in. When will the fullness of the gentiles come in: when Israel is unblinded? I’m repeating on purpose. Do we see??
Here is the timeline, and by knowing a timeline it only helps us. True believers obey because they love God and not because they are afraid. The fear of the Lord cause one to adore God not to be scared of Him.
Timeline according to the word of God:
1-The Great apostasy
2-Man of sin sets himself up in temple as God. This causes his true identity to be known, he was disguised to the world before this.
3-Fullness of gentiles comes in
4-Israel is unblinded.
5-Rapture of the faithful in Christ.
As far as we know the antichrist could have already signed a treaty with Israel in secret, starting the 7 year clock.
If it has happened now then we have 3.5 years before he reveals his true identity.
Then we should look for THE Great apostasy. It will be a blatant denial of Jesus Christ. It will not be subtle, but nauseating.
Then the man of sin will set himself up as God… etc.
Let’s look for these things and be good stewards when He returns for His own.
In Christ Jesus the Lord.
I want to add this thought, as it is critical to our understanding salvation. A baby who is born IS written in the Book of Life but the baby is lost until he is old enough to repent of sin and receive Christ as savior. His name then, will not be blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. Hitler was ALWAYS lost; even as a precious little baby. If he was baptized as an infant then his parents were doing a meaningless thing. Salvation comes to one old enough to understand he is a sinner, repent and receive Christ in his heart. Baptism ALWAYS follows and has no power in an of itself. It is like a married person wearing a wedding ring. Baptism is an outward proclamation that an inward birth has occurred. Paul explains this when he speaks of Esau and Jacob being who they were before conception. Any pastor or church baptizing a baby does not understand the gospel, but follows another gospel. If he does not understand salvation, then how can he teach it???
This misunderstanding is the cause, some of the time, for a person baptizing a baby…and “Christening” is the same thing, called by a different name). They believe all babies are saved. The scripture in Romans eliminates that possibility. Hitler was a sweet baby but Hitler was never saved…whether he was baptized or not.
Interestingly, a critical scripture in Acts 8 is present only in the Word for Word translations of the Bible and is completely omitted from the paraphrased versions that most believers read. Philip tells the eunuch who has just received Christ by faith after hearing and believing the gospel, that only if he believes with all his heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, then, he can be baptized. Interesting.
So many overlook this huge problem and say it is no big deal. But it is the mark of a false church. If the foundation upon which we build a house is not the rock, then it will crash down. If a church is built on a false truth and does not even understand the elementary principals of Christ, it is not a true church.
The more outward symbols and rituals and icons that are present, the more likely the Spirit is absent, or at best quenched. The true believer is known by the fruit of the Spirit and not by any outward item or symbol or ritual. The hunger for the Spirit, if a soul resists Him, will try to satisfy that hunger, if they are disobedient, by visible, tangible THINGS, rituals, chantings and recitations.
St John of the Cross, wrote about a young monk who thought he could get saved and holy by clinging to his icons, by afflicting his flesh, etc. He boldly snatched the young man’s icon (whatever it was, cross, rosary, relic, or any symbol) out of his hand and told him if he ever wanted to know God, he would not find Him there.
Be blessed and have a great day,
Love,
C
Hello again! I hope everyone is well. I would love to continue with some insights into Revelation and finish up the look at the 7 churches Jesus spoke to, and is still speaking to. We left off last time with the question: What is this Book of Life? I would love to share what I found when I asked the Lord the very question and then did a search and study on the Book. See for yourself what the scriptures say, but at least consider the point I’ll make…it is a good one! haha!
Well, firstly, the Book of Life, I found, is not what the church today claims it is. That is certain. The church (majority) today assumes that this Book of Life is a Book wherein Jesus lists the names of the saved (the Spirit born). Well, this is true but is not that simple. I’m going to state it concisely then I encourage you to do a study for yourself to see if what I say is so. I see that all who were created are at that moment written in the Book of Life. God created man and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and he became a living soul. So…every single person (soul) ever created was written in this Book. ONLY when a person rejects Christ, is his name blotted out of the Book (this is what is called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It is He who presents to every person in some way only known to Him, that his heart is wicked and needs a Savior. If the Holy Spirit has come to a person and spoken this to him, but the person says, I am not wicked and do not need a Savior…he is guilty of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and his name will be eternally blotted out of the Book of Life. He is a Christ rejecter). It really is that simple. From Genesis to Revelation, this Book is mentioned. This is the only explanation that fits with ALL scripture and causes no apparent contradiction with the permanence of salvation.. A person’s name is blotted out when they reject Christ and decide they do not need a Savior after all. We cannot determine this. Only He knows. We may see someone reject Christ (seemingly) their whole lives but then at the end come to Him. So a Christ rejecter is known only to God, unless He has definitely revealed that to someone. But we are to assume at all times that hope is always there until actual death. But after physical death, the Word teaches, that a Christ rejecter is eternally damned. He is a God hater and has chosen to remain in his sin and apart from God forever with no hope. It is a lengthy discussion and I would love to go over the specifics with anyone who wants to. Just email me and let me know. Only the unsaved can be blotted out. The Spirit born cannot be blotted out. This does not in any way mean that all born are saved at first, then lost, then saved again. God offers salvation to ALL created. The Christ rejecters sign their own death certificate. They are rebels who love self rule and are their own gods. They are filled with all manner of evil.
This Book of Life was to all pre-advent believers, the same as the Lamb’s Book of Life to all post-advent believers. Remember that the Gospel was preached to the Israelites in the dessert before the law. Remember that the crucifixion of God was pictured at creation. Jesus has always been, and salvation is only in and of Him.
Now, let’s push forward to the sixth church mentioned in Revelation. It is the church at Philadelphia. Philadelphia parallels the other Kingdom parable (in my little mind) that gains all treasure in Heaven and is without rebuke from the Lord. He only commends. “There is no spot in you…” She represents a holy church, purified and whole hearted, not double minded. She has died to sin and self and has the complete Mind of Christ. He says because of this she has an open door in front of her (this is a door to sanctification, where nothing can go in with us). At salvation, a door is opened and we come in with all our old self and ways. We come as we are. This illuminates the truth that salvation is NOT of me but of God alone. I don’t clean up my act and THEN get saved. This is works based salvation which is a false gospel that most of the church teaches. Within the next door, all has to be dropped; no sin or self rule can pass through here, it is behind the second veil. (I examine this idea intensely with great scripture exposition in “Crucified”.) It is patterned way back in Lev. where Arron is instructed that he can go into the holy place, but NOT into the Most Holy place or even touch the altar, without sanctification. The Most Holy place is behind the second veil.
Jesus says little here but oh so much. She is not strong (in the worldly sense) she keeps His word and has not denied His name. Her works are perfect before Him. Remember James speaks of faith being made perfect through works.. this means obedience and not good deeds in and of themselves (also discussed greatly in Crucified). In other words, she obeys in all areas, all of the time. She has waited on God patiently. She is faithful and endures, never faltering. Her faith is simple and pure. We see the prophecy of the 23rd psalm here…”You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, my cup overflows…” This concept is illuminated in 1 John and the other 2 letters. The faith made perfect believers do not “continually, either deliberately or ignorantly, stray from the perfect will of God” translated simply as “sin”, which is not a good translation of original text. Another topic for another day.
Because this church (also individual believer, and moreso the individual because a church is only comprised of the individuals in it) is whole hearted, she will be preserved from the hour of temptation which must come upon all the earth ( the 7 year tribulation, or 70th week of Daniel). The Thessalonican church is a picture of the Holy church, or believer. This church (believer) receives a new name and it is His name. She is an overcomer. Not all believers are at any given moment overcomers. All believers WILL be but the “when” is the question. Jesus is encouraging BELIEVERS to be overcomers. He will complete the good work He begins but we can hinder the progression by clinging to our ways and rights rather than clinging to Christ no matter what.
“He who has an ear” listen to the Spirit…” Jesus is speaking to those who have an ear, not to those who do not have an ear. He is speaking to the saved and NOT to the lost. The truth is only for the saved. It is foolishness to the dead and dying. He makes sure that the dead do not have an ear, remember? “Lest they repent and be saved”. He is not interested in reaching the God haters, only the caught up in sin, poor in spirit, children of God, the elect. The Holy Spirit speaks from outside of time to those who are in time. He knows His own and speaks only to them. “My sheep hear My voice”.
We will get to Laodicea next time. This is enough to ponder for now. Thanks for listening! Next time we will also look at 1 John and discover exactly what John means when he says “the believer does not sin, cannot sin.” It all makes perfect sense, I promise. Our English translation is glorious but causes some problems. But even these problems are designed and allowed by God to cause us to delve into the scriptures, and therefore deeper into the heart of God. Moses would not have stopped to investigate the bush ablaze, yet not consumed, unless it did not make sense to him. He would have passed on by and missed God!!!!!!!! So next time, we will pause and inspect the burning bush so to speak.
“Earth’s crammed with Heaven and every bush ablaze with the fire of God, but only him who SEE’S takes off his shoes”. EBB
AMEN!!!
Have a glorious day!
Love in Christ,
C
I was moved by the Lord this morning to post a little bit of information on speaking in tongues and how to tell if someone else who might be praying with you or near you in tongues, is really speaking in a true tongue and not in something manufactured or even worse, from Satan. I am very sorry to say that I have rarely heard a true tongue spoken. I didn’t say never, just rarely.
What I have heard is a very common practice of muttering done by believers who are being disobedient. It’s very easy to spot. All we have to do is look at the scriptures to see if someone is first obeying the instructions given to us about when and how and where to speak in tongues. If someone is disobeying the very, very specific instructions of God concerning tongues then surely they are not speaking in a true tongue. The Holy Spirit would stop them.
True “tongues of men and of angels” mentioned in the Bible are just that…either a known language that mankind speaks or an unknown language that angels speak. We as believers can do both: “Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels and have not love…”(1 Corinthians 13:1).
Each of these is a language and not a long gapless string of babbling. A language has inflection, cadence, flow, variation, pauses and emotion. I have never heard this from those who “speak in tongues” in public without knowing there is an interpreter there. God forbids the speaking in tongues in public unless there is an interpreter there. He is not the author of confusion.
What I have heard is jibber jabber, muttering of weird sounds with no pause or emotion or inflection. I have heard same sounds repeated over and again like a jackhammer might sound, (lalalalalalalalalala), or something that sounds as if they are saying an imaginary 3 words over and over again. This is false. Listen: Isaiah spoke of “wizards who peep and mutter…” (Isaiah 8:-9). Wizards peep and mutter.
True tongues of men and of angels is a distinct language with terrific variety and it sounds exactly like someone is speaking in a foreign language and not babbling in a monotone string of repetitive sounds. It is very beautiful and in my opinion musical, at least to my ear.
When we are instructed to pray in tongues when we are in a church gathering by doing it under our breath, if there is not an interpreter there that we know of, it is just that…UNDER our breath. Breath is basically silent unless we are tired or sick or running. So tongues should be even quieter than that. In other words…SILENT.
Wow, does the church need to know this so desperately. I have been praying with many believers who do the fast muttering using the same few sounds over and over and over again and my spirit is so offended as they do it because I can discern that it is false. There is an increasing lack of Bible knowledge in the church and therefore disobedience and immaturity are rampant. What a heart breaker for God, I am sure.
Let’s grow up therefore into “the measure of the stature of the fullness in Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Ask God for the true gift and He will gladly give it if He knows you won’t abuse the privilege. Obey Him. This disobedience really can cause someone on-looking or listening to run away from God… it is offensive to even the unbeliever.
We will dig into that question shortly, just before we look into the messages to the 7 churches in Revelation. But first let’s consider something. One of the main themes we’ve been pressing through all of the emails is this: the Last Day Church is not big but small. She is not getting better but worse. She is not enlightened but is deceived more and more. She is falling away. BUT…there is always a remnant. The reason I press it again here is that we cannot understand Revelation, Matthew 24, 25, Luke 21 or any other prophecy unless we accept that notion. The whole word tells of it, the apostles plead against it, Jesus laments it but offers a way out of it, the Holy Spirit exposes it. Satan tries to hide it. He masquerades as an angel of light.
Paul pleaded that the church in his day, who was already falling away even as she was birthed (there is a reason and explanation for that), would “AWAKEN TO RIGHTEOUSNESS and sin not, for some of you have not the knowledge of God and I say this to your shame”. Satan’s lie is that all is well with her and better than that; or that idea’s counterpart that all is dismal and just give up because man is hopeless. Each idea is a lie.
Remember the birds hiding in the overgrown bush that became a tree? and the woman working leaven into a lump that is to be unleavened? This is wickedness infiltrating the church of the last days and not a growing agent for good. I am amazed at the wonderful analogies God uses. I was watching the cooking channel one day after we talked about the correct understanding of the 7 Kingdom parables. A cook was baking bread. She said this: Don’t add salt to the flour (wheat) in the beginning of the mixing process. Salt kills yeast (leaven). Now who are we as believers instructed to be to the earth? Salt! Salt does these things, it heals by stinging. It is painful to put salt on an open wound but by golly it is a good thing…it heals the disease. Salt also preserves. It covers and keeps bacteria out so rotting cannot happen. Salt also flavors!!! It makes whatever we are eating delicious and extra yummy. It elevates flavor and enhances subtle notes.
But salt ALSO kills yeast! Yeast is leaven and leaven is a symbol for sin…always. I just found that so fascinating. So if we are making pizza dough and want the yeast to live and puff up…make sure you keep the salt away! You can add it in after the yeast has grown and then salt will not affect it. Scary. It has done it’s work. What a lesson. If you really want to have fun. Investigate how sugar feeds yeast, does honey?
So revelation opens and we see Jesus. He is declaring that He is the beginning and the end, the who is was and is and is to come, the Almighty. He is God and now has a message to church as a whole.
Why did Adam have to sin to be God’s companion? Here is why: He always would have had the potential to sin no matter what. He was a free willed creature. Until he did, he could not have felt remorse, and repentance could not have come to him. If repentance did not come, God could not enter and remove sin, and the potential for it ultimately.
If we don’t know repentance, we cannot be saved. God shows us our sin and the sin of others to prove Him right. This brings repentance which opens a door so Jesus can enter and save.
Jesus as man, is the very image of who He is forming us to be. He is man but perfect and without sin. This is why He is called the Last Adam. He is Adam perfected, but infinitely more than that. Jesus Christ is God and we will never be God (Mormons believe this) so this is where the pattern ends. But don’t miss the pattern that is there.
Adam is unfit. Jesus is fit and makes us into His image which also makes us fit.
Jesus is a pictur eof what His own death accomplished for and in us who believe!!!
Ahhh! One last thought till next time. I forgot to emphasize that everything God does is always the plan from the beginning. Nothing is ever a correcting or a new plan fixing the old. He is perfect and does not make mistakes. So it is incorrect to look at Adam and to say, ah, if he only had not sinned, he would have been God’s perfect companion.
Absolutely , no. God knew it would all play out just as it did.
We can understand through pattern, that only one way works. That there is only and has only ever been ONE way. It has always been the one plan.
Satan is real but he is a picture of why God’s companion has to be created as free, but WILLFULLY redeemed. Adam, if he never sinned, would always have had the potential to sin, and hence the impossibility to be indwelt , infused with and by God. He could not have been a fruit producing Bride of God, fully able to have God’s heart and Mind. God had to enter the spirit for this. His death which made a way to kill sin, had to occur. He knew it before He created man.
This is all a picture and pattern explaining to us why God had to create a companion with free willed potential to choose Him or sin.
It solidifies the truth that Jesus is the only way to God, to be His bride. Adam and Eve, before the fall, were unsuited. It would have been like mixing oil with water. After the fall, suddenly able, and if redeemed by choice, now suited to be God’s Holy Bride. And they did choose Him! But many did not and will not and they will not be His bride, no matter how loving and kind they are. Adam was very nice and noble. He was created in God’s image with many of his attributes to a degree. But, it stopped there.
Until he sinned and until God died for the sin, Adam was just an intelligent created thing. But once he did, he then turned his heart and will to God, realizing his sin and necessity for redemption, chose God and BOOM, was infused with God, waiting the actual atonement in history, the promise.
Jesus Christ is the only way. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and NO man comes to the Father, except by Him.
Love,
C
One of the most critical books in the Bible if we can even say that, is Revelation. It is Christ’s revelation of the end of all things as we know them and He reveals that to us. The book is not only completely understandable, unlike so many in the church claim, but I would say that it is critical to make sure we do study Revelation and labor hard to comprehend what Jesus has revealed to us through it. There is a particular blessing given to the believer who makes sure he understands it. John tells us that in the beginning.
It is the testimony of Jesus we are told and we know from this very book that His testimony is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation is a book that is the culmination of the message of the entire Bible. In order to understand it well, we must first have known the entire Word extremely well; especially the prophets. The order and mysterious images John sees and records have all been seen and stated before. Revelation basically restates and pieces together, in order to form one unified message, all prophecy spoken through out the entire Word.
The Bible is mostly prophecy. Even when we don’t realize it as we are reading it. It is either stated in visions or messages or it is acted out in pattern through people. One fine example is the book of Ruth, but there are thousands of others. God has written the gospel in His Word, in History, in nations, in peoples, in events, in creation, in man, everywhere. The message of the redemption of His beloved creation, man, is EVERYWHERE. The whole message of the Word is that God loves us so much that He would come to indwell us making us into His very image, so that we would even be able to fellowship with such a glorious and beautiful Bridegroom.
I personally believe in my heart that the picture of Adam is actually God speaking of Himself. It is a pattern. I wrote about this in “Crucified” and it occurred to me as I wrote. All patterns in nature are lacking in some sense because we are looking at something created to see an uncreated truth. God created man. He looked and saw that there was no suitable companion for him and said that it was not good that man should be alone. So, He caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and from one of Adam’s ribs, he formed woman. Adam loved her. She became his wife. He said, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. A more beautiful story I cannot dream of.
I believe and see all through it the entire gospel. But check that out for yourself. Some of my favorite teachers from long, long ago have stated this: The Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit need nothing. They are completely content within and among themselves. It is in His kindness that He formed man. He is perfect in contentment and needs nothing from us. I humbly disagree with my whole being. I have seen something else that I know is true. God is using Adam to show us a deeper spiritual truth. There is a secret in the Word that is hidden in plain sight.
God made man for His good pleasure. God wanted a companion that would suit Him. But she had to be a holy thing because He is holy. A thing so glorious that her radiance was too much for even Him to look at. Something so pure and spotless that sin was no longer a possibility. She would have to have pure thoughts like His so she could relate to Him and so they could be perfect company for each other; so God made mankind to be His companion. The glory of creation, the earth, the trees, flowers and sky were not enough. The beasts of the field were nice and beautiful but again, not enough. The angels in Heaven who praise Him day and night and serve Him forever were not enough. But mankind could be made to be perfectly suitable for God’s eternal and Holy companion. She would become the Bride of Christ, and Christ is God.
Man born once in the flesh is not able spiritually to see God or to fellowship with Him. A heart born once in the flesh cannot even comprehend God or ever know Him. A man’s heart must first be filled with God by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, in order to become His Bride, His eternal companion…born twice. Adam and Eve are a picture of the Bridegroom and the Bride of Christ and not the other way around. We don’t look at God and the Bride of Christ and say, oh that is just like a human groom and bride. No. It is the other way around.
This is why and how the marriage of a man and a woman perfectly represents and was created ONLY to reflect God’s relationship to redeemed mankind. So the human marriage is a picture to teach us a truth about God’s relationship to mankind (redeemed mankind). We have to be filled with God in order to relate to God. We need His mind and His heart.
The only possible way for God to enter and become part of man, was for Him to take on flesh, because He is Spirit. Then to die in payment for sin, in the man of Christ our Savior, who is God Himself, the Great I Am. Then by His Spirit to give me His very Mind, His very heart. Only then can a once sin filled heart, radiate with the very glory of God. It could only happen by man willfully laying down sin, dying to it, also being crucified with Christ, then he is suited for God and not ever till then, nor is there nay other way.
Satan tried to thwart the plan of God, by offering the Mind of God to Adam before redemption had occurred. This would have meant that man would have the power of the Mind of God but with the corrupted nature of the potential for sin. Disaster. Actually, Satan is a foggy image of that scenario. He does not have God’s Mind but he does have high supernatural knowledge and it has been a wicked disaster.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil then represents the Mind and Spirit of God. Man cannot possess it until God dies in the Person of Christ, and goes through the open door of the spirit of man willing to let God in.
God couldn’t even have created a being that was born with perfect capacity to be His bride. The angels were the closest picture of that but not suitable and never intended for that. They sinned as well.
God was not interested in creating a companion that He never gave the capacity to sin. There would be an emptiness there and a meaningless relationship; forced and held captive by it’s inability to choose to sin.
No. God’s bride would have to be just what we are; made in His image with complete and utter freedom to choose God or to choose sin, but choosing God. Complete and pure and Holy and perfect love is birthed in a man when he chooses to lay down his freedom to be what he is naturally, a sinner, but a free willed one; and to instead die also like Christ did and willfully choose to surrender to God’s infusing into us Hid Spirit, His Mind, His heart. It had to be an act of a free willed being.
It is the test of who the bride is. The bride loves the Bridegroom (God). She is the one who surrenders all she has been given by God only because she loves Him. But, she receives by her surrendering the most glorious gift of all. The Spirit of God, the indwelling of God, the infusing of God into the very fibers of who and what we now are.
There are volumes more to be written on this topic alone, but we will leave it there for pondering. This intro will set us up for a quick peek into the mysteries of Revelation next time.
A critical thought forgotten in the last email. “The two shall become one flesh…” sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Remember Jesus’ prayer to the Father, that we would be one in Him just as He is one in God, that we, the bride (meaning the collective church but ALSO AND MOSTLY the individual…God is the God of the individual) would be one with Him, God. Hidden with Christ, in God. “The two shall become one flesh.”
“I tell you a mystery, the two shall become one flesh, and I speak of the church…”
GLORY!
Love in Him,
C
If anyone is interested in learning more about this mysterious idea of the Mind of Christ, I would love to share some things that God has shown me over the years just by studying His Word. After discussing the importance of knowing and understanding Jesus’ meaning of the 7 Kingdom parables in Matthew, we are conveniently set up now for a more detailed look into this profound mystery, the Mind of Christ. Sadly, if we hold to the thought, as so many teachers today still do, that the Mind of Christ is given in full to every believer at salvation, the rest of the wonderful “hidden things” that are abundantly present in the Word, that so closely relate to the getting of the Mind of Christ, and that God so longs to reveal to us, will remain somewhat if not completely veiled. But there is a glorious door to enter, another door after the door of salvation, where beautiful and powerful truths are revealed if we will just walk through. I’ll propose that it is also a second veil. But you check that out.
Now in order to enter into eternal life, salvation, a man must come to Christ as he is. He is carrying his old baggage, he is ruled by his old man still, and he looks exactly like he did before he entered. The only difference in this man is that he was before only born once…of the flesh. Now, after faith in Christ, he is mysteriously born twice, or born again, that is “Spirit born”. Remember that back in Galatians Paul explains this through the picture of Abraham’s two son’s, Ishmael and Isaac. The first son was born of the flesh (the will of man) the second was of the promise, that is supernaturally conceived by the work and promise of the Holy Spirit. This is a picture of mankind being born once in the flesh, then twice through faith in Christ. Unless he is born twice, he remains spiritually dead, and unable to know God or understand Him or to be in His presence. God is Spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit. The spiritually dead, therefore, cannot know God. And all are spiritually dead until they are covered in the blood of Christ, no matter how nice and humanitarian and agreeable they may be.
Now, when we are born again, the spirit once dead in the person is now quickened or made alive simply by faith. And this is a mystery. Can a man be born again by reciting the sinner’s prayer and earnestly believing? Certainly. But again, this contemporary way is not mentioned in the Bible nor is it even alluded to. It has in my opinion the fingerprints of man intervening into the work of the Holy Spirit, someplace he does not belong, all over it.
There are two perfect examples that the Lord loosely gives. Nicodemus is one and the thief on the cross is another…also Cornelius and many others. The woman in adultery, the woman at the well and so on, the blind man who was blind but now sees, etc. Jesus gives these examples intentionally to show us how absolutely mysterious and profound it is for a man to be born of the Spirit. Nicodemus wondered how a man gets to Heaven. He was THE teacher in Israel, and yet he had no idea how this was done. Jesus told him he must be born again, or of the Spirit, because that which is born of the flesh is just flesh (and we already know that flesh cannot enter Heaven) but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit…and God must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. He leaves it there! High truth of Jesus always first leaves us scratching our heads! hahaha! Then little by little, precept upon precept, here a little there a little, light begins to chase away darkness, and veils are removed.
Then we see Jesus in the middle of two thieves on crosses. All are condemned to death…two justly condemned, one unjustly condemned. One thief, representing an unbeliever, mocks the Lord. One thief is Spirit born. But this is all that we see of this mysterious work. The thief evidently had a heart to be Spirit born (remember the seed sown on fertile ground) because he in one statement expresses repentance and faith and BOOM, it is done. He just looks at Jesus and says this Man is innocent. He is God. I am guilty. Lord remember me when You come into Your Kingdom! Hallelujah. How has mankind so jumbled such a perfectly simple truth like this one…being born twice, of the Spirit that is?
Instead we have come up with all kinds of weird ways to enter Heaven, but every one of them is through another gate not permitted, over the wall. We think we can baptize a baby and the faith of his parents will get him in. We think we can press a poor child at age of 12 to confess Christ is Lord before a church, after a series of classes, and he is confirmed in the church…this gets him in. We think that we can attend church every Sunday and be active in church work and this gets us in, we think we can be the best we can be and do nice things, saying peace, peace, all be well with you… and this gets us in. I could go on.
But the only thing that enables us to know God is to be Spirit born. That’s it.
Now Jeremiah for example was saved and sanctified before he was born. How was that? Now Paul tells us the Jacob belonged to God before he could even choose good or evil and Esau did not. How was that. John the baptist was filled with the Spirit in the womb, how was that?
Believe it or not, the Lord tells us how. He uses Judas Escariot as an example for us. In order to understand election, we have to first hold these things as true in our minds: God knows all things before they happen and always speaks and teaches from that vantage point (the Spirit speaks of things that are not as though they are). He is already at the end of all things (time that is) and knows who are His…even before they are able to choose…even before they were conceived. He knows who will reject Him. But He lets it all play out. Every man must choose or reject Christ and this is done in the dimension of time, of which God is outside completely. There has to be, even for those God knows will receive Him, a moment in time where the person repents of his old nature and receives his new nature in Christ (we will see this in Hebrews). God just knows who will do what before it happens. Judas was invited to be one of the twelve, he just rejected the invitation. Jesus says, Haven’t I chosen you 12 and one is a devil? The meaning of that word is invited, not elected. Only the ones who rsvp in the affirmative are the elect. It is free will but limited. In other words, God will not allow someone whom He knows in eternity past is His to reject Him. It is actually very easy to understand. Now, He also will not allow someone whom He knows in eternity past will never receive Him to be the elect. He explains this with Esau. Esau sought diligently repentance, and it was never given to him. Wow. This gives more understanding to why Isaiah said that there would be those who would ever listen but never hear, ever seeing but never perceiving and God makes sure of it because they are not His…by their own choice. He keeps them in darkness because they are unbelievers. He has already seen their end. Jesus died for the WORLD, giving the opportunity for election to all created.
Why did He even create those who would reject Him then? Paul warns us in Romans that it is just none of our business so don’t pry into it. So there we go.
We can understand this however: God created mankind for Himself. We could never be true companions fit for such a glorious God if we did not choose, of our own will and desire, to love God. He has no interest in making a God hater into His own. He allows them to hate Him. And those who don’t love Him, hate Him, He says.
Now believe it or not, all of this is necessary to set up the teaching of the Mind of Christ. What is it and who has it and why do we need it? I will pause here and put that in another email and send it mid week. Have a wonderful day today and may we know more and more what it is to draw so near the Lord that we are able to, like the butterfly now and not the caterpillar anymore, soar overhead, seeing His truth from an entirely different and grander vantage point.
Love in Him,
Cheryl