Mythology Buster

In each age past, the age culminated in separation and destruction. Paul, writing to the Hebrews, expounded to them that they were in their last days. What did he mean by that? Obviously there are still Hebrews. And they still cling to the vestiges of their past in the hope that it will be revived and restored to former estate. Today, there is a daily ritualistic practice of standing before the remnants of Herod’s stone wall he built to surround the temple. Prayers are stuffed into cracks and the people labor under the illusion that some day the wall will be built again, the temple will be built again, and the nation will somehow become what it was in times past. But Moses, by whom the law had come, did testify to the end of his house, saying that God would raise up from among the people, another prophet (like Moses in many respects) and that God would cause His words to be heard in this prophet. Furthermore, it would come to pass that whoever would not hear this one, would be destroyed from among the people. So then, “The People” is now defined as those who hear this one whom the Lord has raised up.

The age and house of Moses are ended. Paul was expounding that the time and individual of whom Moses had spoken, was come. The last legitimate priest  of the house of Levi was John the baptist. He identified the Lamb of God , proclaimed Him a fitting sacrifice, and ritualistically washed the sacrifice in water. Thereafter John proclaimed his house finished, saying of Christ, “He must increase and I must decrease”. John, having baptized Jesus in the Jordan, testified, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost”.

This testimony identified Jesus not only as the lamb of God, but as the rest and eternal abode of the Spirit of God, as prophetically portrayed in the end of another age which culminated in a flood. For when Noah and the ark rested upon Mount Ararat, Noah put forth a dove who returned to him, not having rest for the soles of her feet. Again Noah put her forth and she returned with an olive leaf. Again he put her forth and she “returned not to him again”. It is Christ of whom John testified as to what he saw. The dove John saw was a visible sign, a signification of the invisible Spirit of the Father, which abides fully and completely in Christ ( and all in Christ).

This same Jesus is the one Moses spoke about, he is the one Abraham was spoken to concerning his seed who would be heir of all promises and the one in whom all nations and peoples would be blessed. Of this seed, the promises were to Abraham’s seed singular, not plural. He remains the heir, and we by faith, joint heirs with him. He is also the same seed of whom the Lord spoke when Adam and his race fell into sin and corruption. For the Lord had said to the wicked one, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shalt bruise his heel”. Jesus, speaking before of the resurrection, said that except a seed fall to the earth and die, it abides alone. But if it falls to the earth and dies, it brings forth much fruit. He is the resurrection. He is the end of the age, and he, the resurrection, is the only way to survive this age. He is the only hope of redemption, and always has been. There is no other. Faith in him is as essential to having a future, as pollen is to a flower. Christ in you, is the resurrection in you. It is everything he is, in you. Life in this world and in this flesh is very short. It is like a vapor, a cloud that appears and then vanishes away. Paul, being asked concerning resurrection, was asked with what body do they come? Again, the example of a seed. He said, to every seed, God gives a body. What comes up is the result of what was written in it. I have never driven past a wheat field and seen row upon orderly row of wheat seeds poking up out of the ground. The seed died and went back to the dust. The message written in it is what I see. A multitude of plants, each bearing the likeness of the complete plant that the seed came from. Paul went on to say, it is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
From the very beginning a truth was established, that every living thing brings forth after it’s own kind.

In reading Genesis 4 and 5, there is a prophetic picture of the resurrection, and the enmity manifest between the seed of works and of faith. Also there is a prophetic picture of the time we now live in. In being put from that described as a garden, the promise was spoken of the savior arising from the woman. Also it was said to the man, cursed is the ground for your sake. It will no longer simply serve you. It will resist you, producing thorns, weeds and resistance to your efforts. And in sweat and toil will you struggle to force a living from it. But there is no salvation in it. Humanity can not lift himself up by his boot straps. Being driven from the garden, Eve conceived two sons, I am sure they were twins. They were as close genetically as it is possible for two humans to be. Cain was a tiller of the ground. Abel was a keeper of sheep. Cain chose to make his profession of the cursed thing. Abel chose to keep sheep. Cain made an offering to the Lord of his own labors. Abel offered of the best of the flock. Cain was of works. Abel was of faith. How so? Cain presumed to take of his own labors and toils, the curse, and elevate them to an offering. Abel simply offered something that symbolized his faith in the message concerning the seed of the woman, the savior. Cain , envious that his works were not pleasing, and Abel’s faith was, rose up and killed Abel. It is the same to this day. Cain was “of that evil one” :

1 John 3……Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not [his] brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

Cain was of the seed of the wicked one, Abel of faith. The promise of God was not in Cain, who was (by choice) of that wicked one. How by choice? He chose to disregard both the terms of the curse, and the promise of the one who would deliver us all from it. So the seed of promise was called in Abel. Even murder and death could not make void, the promise of God. For Eve, the mother of all living, conceived again, and called her son SETH, saying, “God has appointed me another seed to take the place of Abel, who Cain killed”. This is clearly a picture of the resurrection. And to further emphasize the terminal nature of works, and the eternal nature of faith, you find that though Abel is dead, it is in Seth, the figurative man of resurrection, that Adam’s generations are called. Cain’s line ends figuratively in Genesis 4 and is not mentioned in the regeneration, beginning in chapter 5:

[Gen 4:25-26 KJV] 25     And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, [said she], hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

[Gen 5:1-5 KJV] 1   This [is] the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:  And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
 

You see that no mention is made of Cain. You see that it was in them born to Seth, the figurative man of resurrection, that men “began to call upon the name of the Lord”. So then, the children of the Lord are of the seed of faith, partakers of the resurrection. The line of Cain, in a figure is no longer found. It is marked, and self destructs. It does not survive the figurative message of chapter 4, it does not appear in the figure of resurrection in chapter 5 :

…And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden…

In saying “everyone that finds me shall slay me”, Cain spoke of his generation to come. The purpose of the mark of Cain was not to spare Cain. It was for the sake of any who can discern it, that they do not participate in vengeance. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. Cain self destructs. Humanity, apart from Christ, is locked in a divinely ordained self destructing downward spiral. If you don’t believe it, turn on the TV and watch the news. Where is this mark of Cain? Like other marks or stigmas, it is spiritually discerned. It is not a tattoo or microchip. It is in the hand and forehead…the works and thinking. Cain, outside of the presence of God, in the land of “wandering” (Nod), produced a son and named him Enoch. He is another, or an “anti” Enoch. His name means “where I will inaugurate”. A city was built and named after this one. So, there is a city named “where I will inaugurate”. Also Cain produced others who sought to shape and lead humanity in it’s works. In his offspring…what they manifested…you can see the mark of Cain. If you see it, be glad. You see it in order that you know what not to fight with. Remember John’s saying in his epistle quoted previously. Let the seed of faith abide in you.

Everything Cain produced, in a repeat of the message of resurrection, perished in the flood. Remember that Jesus, questioned about the close of the age said, “As it was in the days of Noah…”. It was Enoch the seventh from Adam who walked with God, and God took. He did not see death. Not naturally. Not by the flood. God destroyed the city which usurped the identity of the “place of inauguration”. God sealed the true place of inauguration…the INDIVIDUAL who walks with him in faith. Do not be fooled by Cain’s cities, religions, societies, arts and crafts, not anything he produces. Especially that which he attempts to offer up to God.

Time would fail to write of the repeating theme of the resurrection in scripture, how that it is not an event, it is a regeneration. It is not solitary, it is shared by faith in the one who is the resurrection. And it is the only way you will escape this age and this world. The only way. There is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. If the spirit of Christ dwells in you by faith, The Resurrection dwells in you. The Messiah dwells in you, everything He is dwells in you.

The end of the age is upon us. The last age of man. Do not be a participant in Cain’s last days.

JOSEPH’S DREAMS

[Gen 37:3-11 KJV] 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. 4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Will you indeed reign over us? or shall you indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that you hast dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to you to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

After these things, Joseph was sent to look for his brethren in the field. When they saw him, they conspired to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and cast him into some pit and say some animal has killed him. And we will see what will become of his dreams”.

The eleven stars represented his eleven brothers. The sun and moon, his father and mother. It is very important to note, that the supposition that the dreams meant Joseph would rule over his family, was not from Joseph, nor was it in his dreams. It was a false supposition. Here is an example of another false supposition, “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed ) the son of Joseph…”. And another, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”. Joseph, Mary’s husband, was not Jesus’ father. Joseph’s dreams made a distinction between his star and his brother’s stars, a difference between his sheaf and his brother’s sheafs. If you consider that Joseph, cast in a pit by his jealous brothers, became a figure of the resurrection…a figure of Christ…it becomes clear that the star that was bowed to, was not the star Joseph was as a son of Jacob. That star figuratively died in the pit, extinguished by his brothers who hated him. The star that his household would bow to was Christ. The sheaf that his household, to include father and mother would bow, to was Joseph’s word. His testimony was superior to the family vision of father to son blessing and inheriting real estate. Joseph was clearly a figure of Christ. In that he had a change of family identity, consider that later in Egypt, Joseph had two sons by his wife, the daughter of an Egyptian high priest. The first he named Manasseh (which means forgetting)… “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house”. The second son he called Ephraim (which means fruitful)… “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction”. Clearly, the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams involved a change of family identity, a change effected in the resurrection. A change that was figurative in Joseph, but in Christ, factual. Jesus said to the house of Jacob, “…My Father, of whom you say that He is your God…”. And again He said to all who believe, when about to be raised and glorified, “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God”. Jesus is telling us, that our father is no longer traced back to Adam. But by faith, we may have a new Father. His father. This truth was also worked out in the account of Joseph. For in blessing Joseph from his death bead, Jacob comprehended Joseph’s dreams (remember that it says, though angry with Joseph’s dream, Jacob “observed the saying”. It took Jacob a life time, but in the end, he acknowledged the God of Abraham and Isaac, to somehow be the father of Joseph:

“Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)[Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren”.

In the New Testament , particularly in the book of Revelation, the stars, sun and moon of Joseph’s dreams are prophetically used again to signify Christ and the churches, and THE CHURCH which is his body. (For there is a difference).

In Abraham, many spiritual truths are given to us. One, is that Abraham was considered righteous because he believed God. The token of circumcision was given after, as a sign of the righteousness of faith…not a means to it. Another was given when Abraham and Sarah, through a lapse of faith and patience, used an accepted custom of the day, and Abraham produced a son by Sarah’s Egyptian slave, Hagar, who according to custom, was considered to be Sarah’s son and Abraham’s heir. But when the son of promise, the son of Sarah’s womb came along, a tremendous problem had been created. The Lord had not created it. Abraham and Sarah did. But the Lord was left to resolve it as equitably as possible. The son of bondage could not be heir with the son of promise. He could not even dwell in the same household. He was put out, but provided for. Isaac was the heir.

In the book of revelation, the seven lamp stands and the seven stars of them are drawn from Joseph’s dreams. But why seven, and not twelve? Even in the tabernacle of Moses, around which the tribes of Jacob camped, there was a lamp stand of seven lamps. Why not twelve? The answer lies in the spiritual truth, that a son of a slave can not be heir with a son of promise (and of faith).

I want to be absolutely clear, that these truths are SPIRITUAL. They have no real application to any specific nation or people…even the ones in whom the examples were worked out. Anyone, anywhere, regardless of family history and nationality can be an heir of Christ by faith. Jacob and sons are no more the Israel of God , than Joseph was Christ. Tremendous truths and examples were worked out in them, but we must understand who the examples were about. They were about Christ, who is the heir of all things. He will warmly receive the aboriginal bushman who comes to him, as much as he will the repentant Hebrew. Jesus will make absolutely no difference between one person or the other. None at all.

That being said, it is important to note that after the Lord said to Jacob, your name will no longer be Jacob (deceiver) but Israel (prince with God), alternately in the scripture, the names Jacob and Israel were used. In Jacob’s loins was one who would be born of a woman, who would become the heir of all things. Also in his loins were all his natural offspring to come. In the case of the stars, we see two houses prophetically depicted. One, the house of Jacob. The other , the house of Israel. Jacob had two wives, Rachel and Leah. Each wife came with a slave. Zilpah and Bilhah. All of the sons of Jacob were born to these women. Remember the SPIRITUAL truth, a son of promise and faith, can not be heir with a son of bondage.

The house of Jacob (the deceiver):

[Gen 37:2 KJV] 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad [was] with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

The house of Israel (prince and heir with God):

[Rth 4:11-13 KJV] 11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: 12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman. 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.

So, in the camp of Israel about the tabernacle, there are seven stars associated with Rachel and Leah. There are four stars associated with Bilhah and Zilpah. The lamp stand depicts this truth. It consists of seven bowls, seven flames, seven “stars”. It was in the South, against the camp of Gad. Gad was a son of a slave woman and means “troop, assembly”. In the North, the other three sons of bond women, Dan, Asher and Naphtali. So, the house of Jacob (deception) consists of the four sons of bondage and has no representation in the lamp. Among the camp of Gad are two sons of free women. Reuben and Simeon. Their names mean “hear and see”. Everything one may correctly “see and hear” when assembled together, involved learning to eliminate the house of bondage. It will not involve Gad (the assembly). It will not involve Dan (judgment). It will not involve Asher (dainty breads ((Gen. 49)). It will not involve Naphtali ( good sounding words ((Gen. 49)).

Those four sons of bondage have a different arrangement in the book of Revelation. It is composed of them who do not mind spiritual things, but carnal. The picture is created by knowing that it is based upon the stars of Joseph’s dreams, which were twelve. A third of twelve is four.

[Rev 8:12 KJV] 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

[Rev 12:4 KJV] 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

That portion of what Joseph saw that pertains to bondage, became cast down from the heavenly message, which is Christ. It became consumed with earthly things. Paul warned of it, calling it “another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel”. But it is not another. There is no other. It is the house of the deceiver and if made into a picture of four fallen stars and the one that they fell with, might be signified like this:

Now, of the lamp stand of Revelation, there are seven stars, seven lamps, depicting the house of Israel, the prince and heir. Simple math counts a total of eleven stars. Where is the twelfth? In the case of the tabernacle, Joseph’s star ( a figure of the resurrection) is not present. He was the one Jacob said was separate from his brethren and blessed. His two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were given places in the camp, but were never stars of Joseph’s dreams. Joseph’s star would not be figuratively reunited with the camp, until the resurrection. For in Revelation 1,2 &3, stands one “like unto the Son of man” in the midst of the lamp stand, and in whose right hand are the stars (messengers) of the lamp stands.

The entire of Joseph’s dreams are fulfilled in Christ and in a people. If the resurrection, the bright and morning star is in you by faith, all that Joseph saw, is fulfilled in you. All things come down to Christ, whose body, whose church, whose assembly, is Spiritual. Not carnal. In fact, his body is not defined by anything less than The Spirit of God and of His Father. Anything that names the name of Jesus, and has not the Spirit of Christ, is the house of the deceiver. It is Antichrist, or, “another” Christ.

The book of Revelation concludes with the unveiling of a people who have no need of light of sun, moon or even candles. The Lord God almighty and the Lamb are their light. Thus is fulfilled Joseph’s dreams, Jacobs final understanding of them, and Jesus’ words, “I go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. When this is true in me, all other sheaves bow. All other forms of family history and progeny fall.

I conclude with the declaration that the false and deceptive church will fail. It has been put from the heavenly message. The heavenly and true will be unveiled and revealed . It has never departed it’s origins. They that are with the Lamb, having followed Him in resurrection, are called and chosen and faithful. Sun, moon, stars, lamps, all such things will no longer give their light. Only Christ within. The whole creation groans and travails as in labor together, even until this time, awaiting and expecting the manifestation of the Sons of God.

Isaiah cried of these things (Knowing who the Israel of God is):

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at [thy] side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who [are] these [that] fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that [men] may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and [that] their kings [may be] brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through [thee], I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also [shall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

God bless and keep his people. Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory…The resurrection and the rebirth, Christ, is the star of Joseph’s dreams. Our gathering together, spoken of by Isaiah is not and has not been geographic. It is in the Spirit, and our gathering together is to HIM.

“TO HIM THAT OVERCOMES WILL I GIVE THE BRIGHT AND THE MORNING STAR”

[Isa 26:19-21 KJV] 19   Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

[Mat 16:25 KJV] 25      For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

[Mar 8:35 KJV] 35       For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

[Luk 9:24 KJV] 24      For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

[Luk 17:33 KJV] 33      Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

[Gal 2:20 KJV] 20      I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

[Num 17:6-11 KJV] 6     And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, [even] twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron [was] among their rods. 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11 And Moses did [so]: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

[Heb 9:1-14 KJV] 1     Then verily the first [covenant] had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein [was] the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

(((3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein [was] the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;))) 

5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service [of God]. 7 But into the second [went] the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and [for] the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9 Which [was] a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10 [Which stood] only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed [on them] until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

__________________________________________________________________

The verses above all pertain to the resurrection. In particular, I have highlighted what Paul wrote to the Hebrews to establish the testimonies which came to reside in the ark of the tabernacle. Among these, the rod of Aaron. It is generally taught that the rod of Aaron budded. But to be precise, (Numbers 17) it came to life, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. In this state, the rod was placed in the ark of testimonies as a token against rebels.

There are many who preach Christ. Some preach him as an objective, far removed in time and space, and these preachers presume to teach that when you believed, you were delivered into a system by which, if you follow their (the preacher’s) concepts and ideas about Christ, you may some day “die and go to heaven”. Let it be clear, that you were not delivered into a system. You were, by faith, delivered into a finished work. Where is this finished work? what is it? who is it?

It is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. It is the resurrected, glorified Son of man. He is that one king David saw, dwelling in the light unto which no flesh may approach, and so, called him LORD, destroying any arguments of whose son he is. For nothing may dwell with the Father, save that which proceeded from the Father. Jesus once raised a man, Lazarus, from the dead. This was not THE RESURRECTION, but was a reconstitution in order to teach us something. When Jesus came to the place where he would do this miracle, he was met by the dead man’s sisters. One of them commented to Jesus, that had Jesus been there, her brother would not have died. Jesus said, “your brother shall rise again”. She said “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day”. Jesus said to her, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: do you believe this?”

The events that took place in the exodus, those many years ago, were a shadow of things to come. In fact, the entire exodus itself, was a figure of the resurrection. During the exodus, Moses was commanded to build a tabernacle. The first furnishing was the ark of the covenant. The Lord told Moses, “You will put in the ark, the testimonies I GIVE YOU”. During the journey, one of these three items would be the rod of Aaron. During the exodus, certain individuals were angry that Moses and Aaron were the chosen instruments of leadership. They wanted equal status. The Lord commanded that every one of the rebels, the leaders of their houses, take his rod, write his name on it, and lay it up before the ark. And likewise, take the rod of Aaron and do the same. The next day, the rod of Aaron, a dead stick, was alive and bore a crop of almonds. It was rootless. It had no ties with the earth. All of it’s vital supply was within itself. AND it had not been raised alone. It entered into the holiest place, a living branch, adorned with living fruit. In each almond it bore, was written the entire genetic code of the resurrected branch. That code was the code of resurrection, manifest in the living branch. Now, each almond has the POWER TO BECOME written into it. And each almond is now in the holiest place, together with the branch that bore it. Now, each almond can grow, in all things, into the branch that bore it. This is not a process for the generation of resurrection to find it’s way from the world to the holiest place. It’s entire journey, from conception, to birth, to a complete individual, begins and ends in the holiest place. The only part of the journey that involved beginning in the world, and passing through the veil, and into the holiest place, was accomplished by the resurrected rod. Therefore, the ONLY way into the holiest, is to be both crucified with Christ, and raised together with Him. The journey is accomplished entirely in faith.

“…I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: do you believe this?”

The kingdom of God is not accessed by death. It is only entered by birth. “Together with my dead body shall they arise”. (Isaiah 26). This great work is finished. Jesus accomplished this for YOU. And by faith, you may know, that your journey, your almond on that tree of life, is in the holiest place, in Christ NOW. As it says, if any man (man or woman, there is no difference) be in Christ, he is a new creation. It is strongly suggested that you consider that you are abiding in a finished work, and have not been delivered into a process by which you are supposed to scratch and claw your way in search of life and Christ. If weary with laborious religious dead end formulas and methods, lay them down. Go to Him. He will give you rest. His rest. Accept that he has done these things for you, and rest in them. And now be free to grow in him and into him in all things. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. That is to say, he bore it for all. All will not receive it, but he did it nevertheless. All debt has been paid. All of it. But not all will believe that and accept the gift. Very sad. Nevertheless, in the course of time, every eye shall see, every knee shall bow, and every tongue will wag in confession, that He is both Lord and Christ. This is our message to the world. Believe in Him and be saved.

[Col 1:26-28 KJV] 26

“…the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus…”

Faith can be compared to pollen. Two flowers bud, bloom, wither, die, and fade away. One was pollinated , one was not. Contrary to outward appearances, one has a future, one does not. Let faith have her perfect work. It is God that works in you, to both will, and perform his good pleasure.

[Isa 28:17 KJV] 17    Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

[Jer 16:19 KJV] 19     O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and [things] wherein [there is] no profit.

[Mat 16:1-3 KJV] 1   The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, [It will be] fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times?

_____________________________________________________________________

There are two topics in our time, the one in juxtaposition to the other. The concept of preservation by keeping out of the mind, that which has no place in it, and the concept of making peace with the world by allowing the world and it’s thinkers to build bridges into your mind. Walls vs. bridges.

When I was a young man, the political East and West were divided into two distinct camps of thought. Personal freedom and democracy, and the totalitarian state. The greatest symbol of these two camps was the Berlin wall. It was a physical barrier separating the two camps with clear and distinct presence. I had just finished reading in the book of Acts, how that the apostle Paul was to be brought to Rome to the judgment seat of Caesar, to answer for accusations made against him by religious zealots. The accusations were made while the zealots were living in a nation that was under Roman occupation, and it’s government divided into territorial provinces, each ruled by a puppet dictator who answered strictly to Rome. The nation was permitted it’s illusion of national identity in that it retained it’s own “king” ( though by appointment of the Roman senate) and it retained it’s divided religious system with it’s priesthood, it’s Pharisees, it’s Sadducees, it’s rabis and teachers. It was by all outward appearances, it’s own nation. But make no mistake about it, it was through and through, a vassal state of it’s Roman master, EXACTLY as is the United States of America today, with the United States military fulfilling the role of the iron teeth of Daniel 7.

Having appealed to Ceasar to save himself from the Jews, Paul was made a prisoner, placed under perpetual house arrest, and eventually was sent to Rome to have his fate decided. Curiously, Paul was both a Roman citizen by birth, as well as a Jew. But being now a man who believed Jesus, Paul had no real friends either in Rome or Judea. Paul was placed on a ship bound for Rome. The journey was made from port to port, until they came to a place called the “Fair Havens”. The ship stayed their well into the time after which weather could be dangerous. Paul warned his Roman keeper that further journey would result in ruin, loss of the ship, it’s lading, and many lives. But the governor of the ship deemed the weather agreeable, and set out for Crete, intending to Winter there. Soon after setting out, a great storm arose called “Euroclydon”. It is a violent storm resulting when strong winds from the East produce violent waves. The ship was destroyed, all it’s wealth lost, and only the lives saved because they finally listened to Paul’s advice. The wreck occurred in Malta. Such, spiritually, is the plight of any people or nation who turn to Rome for deliverance. Shortly after reading these things in Acts, I remember it was announced that Ronald Reagan and Michail Gorbachev were going to have an historic summit. This summit was to occur on a ship anchored off of Malta. The location and time was chosen for notoriously mild and good weather. Just before the summit took place, within a few days time, both Reagan and Gorbachev went to Rome for an audience where, without doubt, they received instruction. Each were then to be ferried to the ship for the meeting. Seemingly out of nowhere, EUROCLYDON. A storm of such violence arose, that it was nearly decided to cancel the meeting, as ferrying the leaders was deemed dangerous in such a storm. But the meeting took place, a meeting of EAST and WEST, brokered by Rome. Eventually the Berlin wall came down, and bridges between East and West were built. No longer are the lines between democracy and totalitarianism clear. The thinking of the average citizen has been sucked away as rapidly as the recourses of the nation, replaced with religious, social and political gobble-goop. The fall of the nation has been quick and hard. Any ship to Rome seeking justice for it’s captives, will surely be wrecked.Paul had been told before all this, that had he not made his appeal to the judgment seat of Caesar, he might have been set free.

I personally recall this same president, a man I still respect and admire (though he acted in great spiritual ignorance) receive the Roman dictator.  I recall this man receiving the Roman dictator, called the “Supreme Bridge Builder”, which is what Pontifex Maximus means. I saw with my own eyes, this dictator land in this nation on a plane named “Shepherd One”. I saw him descend from the plane while on the TV, an image of the waving American flag was morphed into the fluttering yellow and white Papal flag. I heard the leader of this nation call this man of flesh and blood, “Holy Father”, and say the words, “Our nation is ready to hear you”, effectively casting off the Teacher, the Spirit of Truth, and embracing the one who claims to stand in that place. Natural Israel was lead for many generations without a visible king or leader. From the time they forsook the Lord and chose to have a king over them, they declined very rapidly.

The Lord has promised that any nation or people who cohabit with that thing, will be cast into GREAT TRIBULATION. Great trouble. (Revelation 2:22). Not long after these events I saw a vehicle attempt to rise into the heavens. The vehicle was named “Challenger”. It was to carry seven passengers, a scripturally significant number. One passenger was a TEACHER, by profession. She happened to be a disciple of the Roman dictator. Her name was Christa, which means “anointed” , the title of any in whom  THE TEACHER, the Spirit of Christ and of the only and true Holy Father dwells. In a great sign to the nation, all of this was consumed in the head of a serpent.

 Also, immediately after the dictator was received, the following chart began to take shape:

And now, the nation is a fractured, perfectly divided and subdivided shadow of what it once was. Individualism is faced with great opposition, while pressure is exerted from all sides, to open the mind to any and everything that demands to be heard. Even in my place of work, I have to answer questions about whether or not I am “embracing” diversity. They who craft  such psycho-babel know full well, that “embracing” diversity means destroying it.

In yet another great sign of the times, the subject of walls vs. bridges looms. If you are a student of the scriptures, you will find copious reference to walls , gates and boundaries, and their necessity. It the world in which you walk, if you do not guard what you have and what you are, you will lose it. This is true naturally, but more importantly is true spiritually. In the days of Lot, wicked men stood outside the door of Lot’s house making demands that he send out his guests to them to be raped and defiled, or, they promised, “we will deal worse with you”. These guests were the word of the Lord. The parable is clear. You will read that these guests smote the people without with blindness so that they “wearied themselves to find the door”. If you dwell mentally where Lot did, don’t open the door to these bridge builders, whatever you do. But better still, get out of the place altogether and quit meddling in it.

During the recent political campaigning, the topic of walls and bridges also came to a head, for them with eyes to see. A man who understands the necessity of political, economic and geographic boundaries, and promised to build and restore them, was on the contested Southern border of the nation. On the South side stood a foreign dictator who said a “Christian” would not build a wall, but would build a bridge. That foreign dictator has a vested interest in keeping the borders of the nation porous. This statement is absolutely unfounded and in direct opposition to the scriptures, never mind the fact that the dictator lives in a nation completely surrounded by a nearly fifty foot high wall. The man whose faith this dictator impugned, stood up to the dictator, and told him his words were disgraceful. The man who stood up for himself and his beliefs was obviously prospered. I am not being political, and have no clue what this portends for the nation or how it will play out. What I am emphasizing is the critical nature of walls and boundaries to preserve what is within them, with a view to stating that you have every right as an individual to think and reason for yourself, and no one or no thing have any right to build bridges into your mind and make demands upon you to accept or reject anyone else’s thinking or chosen life style. 

Spiritually speaking (I care nothing about politics), if you embrace diversity, you lose it. I speak to them who believe Jesus. To the world I have only one message. Repent and believe Jesus and save yourself from this wicked generation. There is only one with whom I reason freely, and He did not enter my mind over a bridge. He appeared within by invitation. 

[Isa 1:18 KJV] 18   Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

[Pro 4:23 KJV] 23   Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life.

[Jhn 14:19-26 KJV] 19   Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith unto him, (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being [yet] present with you. 26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

[Psa 88:17 KJV] 17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

[Psa 109:3 KJV] 3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

[Psa 118:10-12 KJV] 10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12 They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

[Rev 20:9 KJV] 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign [will there be] when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Yesterday’s resolution by the “world body” regarding the settlement policies of the West Bank will bring the issue of the Israeli situation once again to the forefront. It bears noting, that some simple definitions are in order; definitions which the scriptures give that bring the individual to a place of decision.

ISRAEL:

Hosea 11:1   When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

SOLUTION :  Jesus is the Israel of God

JERUSALEM:

Galatians 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

SOLUTION:  The heavenly Jerusalem is spiritual. The Jerusalem beneath is bondage, is real estate, and answers to Hagar (not Sarah).

TEMPLE:

2Samuel 7:4And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in [any] house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all [the places] wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great [men] that [are] in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took [it] from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

1Kings 5  And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, [so that there is] neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: [and] I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

1Kings 8  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which [is] the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant] with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

John 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

John 11:25   Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 14:10   Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Mark 14:58    We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

SUMMARY:

If I do not comprehend that it is the heavenly Jerusalem , The Israel of God, the resurrected Son and His Spiritual House, that is being compassed about with enemies, I am in trouble. Natural Israel is but the shadow of things. The Kingdom of God is not fulfilled in shadows of things. It is fulfilled in the things themselves.

from HEBREWS:
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing [that is] not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom [are] all things, and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

EITHER WE WILL BE SPECTATORS AT HIS APPEARING, OR PARTICIPANTS IN IT.

CHOOSE WISELY

[Exo 25:31-40 KJV] 31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

[Exo 26:35 KJV] 35 And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

______________________________________________________________

[Rev 1:12-20 KJV] 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

______________________________________________________________

[Rev 2:1, 5, 12, 14-16, 18-22 KJV] 1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; … 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. …

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; … 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. …

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass; 19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first. 20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

[Rev 3:1, 3, 14, 18-22 KJV] 1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. … 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. …

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; … 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

_____________________________________________________________________

Those things of which you read in the book of Revelation, are a SIGNIFICATION. Things that do not actually exist, are used to give you a picture of things that do exist. The book of Revelation is very much like the tabernacle in the wilderness, which too was a signification. It was a 3D working model, a reflection of things Moses was shown in the heavens, and was subsequently told to take care to make everything EXACTLY as he was told to.

The Candlestick as shown Moses, was a depiction of assembly. It was placed in the South side of the holy place, against the camp of the South, which consisted of Gad, Reuben and Simeon. Gad means “troop/ assembly”. Reuben means “See”. Simeon means “Hear”. The entire camp of the South is composed of tribes whose names create a message. “Assemble to See and Hear”. The “place” of the candlesticks is in the part of the tabernacle that is called the holy place. It is not in the common outer court. It is not in the Holiest place. It’s “place”,  exactly according to what Moses was shown, is within the holy place, in the South, toward the camp of the South, the camp of “Assemble, See, Hear”. If you study scripture, you will find that at no time ever, does the golden candlestick enter into the holiest. Never. It has no “place” there. For within the ark of testimonies are the testimonies which God told Moses,”I will give you”. Among these are the Almond Rod of Aaron that was resurrected. The man made golden effigy of a candlestick, fashioned to look like a flowering Almond branch, is but a shadow of the actual resurrected Almond branch, and that but a shadow of Christ, who IS the resurrection.

Is there a lesson in all this? Yes! The churches have a place and a purpose, but can not fulfill in you, what Christ does. And when Jesus admonished that they should repent before their candlestick be removed from it’s place, that removal can only go in one direction… to the unmeasured outer courts, given over to the nations to be trampled under foot.

[Rev 11:1-2 KJV] 1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.

If the churches serve to testify to those things in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, they have a flame and a purpose. If their testimony turns to unmeasured things pertaining to the nations and vanity, then they have no place in the house called the tabernacle, which consists of the holy place and the holiest. They have but one place…the unmeasured outer courts, where their voices become a powerless addition to the din and mass confusion of all things human. Their uniqueness is lost and their word not measured. If you find yourself coming and going weekly, from a place that is concerning itself increasingly with pleasing all distinctions of fallen flesh, at the expense of unadulterated truth, be encouraged to know that your path is not irrevocably intertwined with the churches. In truth, they will never fulfill what they simply have the ability to point to; to mirror. If they fail to mirror it, they have no place in the message of God, which message is: CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY. We are not delivered into a process whereby we are to bumble and stumble our way through this life, attempting to build or accomplish anything. We are delivered, by faith, into a finished work. For it is finished. It was accomplished entirely by the now glorified Son of Man, who alone is worthy. The churches are to mirror this…to tell of this, but the individual abides in this by faith. When the churches mirror the world and it’s myriad of voices and concerns; they have lost their way, are in need of repenting, remembering from where they are fallen, and returning to their first works and love.

Encrypted in the seven assemblies of Revelation 2, 3 & 4 is THE CHURCH. You will notice two of these descriptive assemblies are not told to repent. These are Smyrna and Philadelphia. Smyrna is a word descended from Myrrh, and speaks of ointment. Philadelphia is “brotherly love”. These things speak of the unity of faith in the Holy Spirit. This unity can not be manufactured , as it already exists perfectly and completely. It is finished. And you abide in it in faith. One may vacillate, coming and going from it. But one can not manufacture it. It is not a middle ground of doctrinal agreement. It is the mind of Christ. No individual is called to forge an agreement with any church or church doctrine. Every individual is to forge an agreement with Christ. Psalm 133 is a beautiful picture of the above encrypted message:

[Psa 133:1-3 KJV] 1 [[A Song of degrees of David.]] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

The ointment bypasses the warp and weave of the priestly garments, joining every member to the head! John, on the Isle of Patmos, having seen the state of the assemblies, is afterward told, “Come up here”.  Before seeing any of these things, John was told that the time is at hand. That was 2000+ years ago. John was not shown a process. he was shown a finished work. Patmos means “My death”.  If any will follow Him, let him take up his cross daily and follow Him. This journey involves walking in the Spirit, and has nothing to do with bodily locomotion. “If we live in the Spirit, then let us also walk in the Spirit” .

[1Jo 2:15-25 KJV] 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever. 18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

(((20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.)))

21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denies the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also]. 24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Antichrist means “another” Christ. But there is no other. There is nothing whatsoever that defines “the church which is His body”, except the Spirit of Christ. There is no other definition for His Church outside of the HABITATION OF GOD BY THE SPIRIT.

There was on the East side of the Sea of Galilee, a region known as the land of the Gadarenes. Jesus was in Galilee with the disciples and suddenly decided to cross over to the land of the Gadarenes:

[Mar 5:1-20 KJV] 1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had [his] dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any [man] tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, [thou] unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What [is] thy name? And he answered, saying, My name [is] Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. 14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told [it] in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw [it] told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and [also] concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. 18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all [men] did marvel.

Jesus often spoke in parables. Some saw the meaning, others did not. But Jesus not only spoke with parables, his entire life was a parable, to include this account of the man formerly called legion. This too some  see, and some do not. The meaning of the name “Gadarene” is “reward after”. The answer to the question, after what? is answered by the place where the man resorted, which was the tombs. Decapolis was one of the provinces the lands of Judah and Israel had been subdivided into by the ruling Roman Empire. The man lived in a nation which had a religion that had fractured into opposing views. It was ruled by a foreign power through puppet appointees placed over the various regions. Herod, for example, was “king of Judea”, a title he received by appointment of the Roman Senate. The average person living in this part of the world had a lot of confusion to deal with. And a lot of things to be afraid of. There were civil authorities, religious authorities, and many, many conflicting voices, all contending for one’s ear. There seems to be one common denominator however, in everything that presents itself as an authority in any matter, and that is the notion that all reward, all answers, all peace, all tranquility and all final relief and deliverance from the human situation, lie on the other side of the grave. Even today, we are often told that we die and go to heaven, whereas Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you”. Therefore, the Way is not the grave. Jesus, tasting death for everyone, has taken the grave out of the equation. We were admonished that if we seek, we will find. The grave does not figure in this admonition in any capacity whatsoever. No man, woman or child is relegated to living life with a head full of conflicting voices, with the only hope of relief being the grave. Many do, and do so willingly, but it is not necessary.

To such an individual, tormented and conflicted, did Jesus come, having heard his cry in the tombs. The conflicting voices were granted a place in a herd of swine, which immediately did what the man called Legion had been doing; choking in a raging, boiling, conflicted sea of human “wisdom”. The man, being delivered, was found clothed, in his right mind, and sitting at Jesus’ feet. Of Jesus, it had been told :

[Isa 40:10 KJV] 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.

[Rev 22:12 KJV] 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Jesus has said, if a man love him and keep his word, He and the Father will make their abode with him. This promise has nothing to do with the grave. It is here and now. For Christ is himself, our reward. Quickly, all the inhabitants of the Gadarenes wanted Jesus to “depart their coasts”. This too is an encrypted message of the scriptures, where their coasts means their thinking. There is no room for present peace and contentment, in a world governed by the thought that it can not exist here, along side the herd mentality.

[Isa 26:3 KJV] 3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.

[Isa 1:18 KJV] 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The nation we live in is exactly as was the land of Israel in the days of this man Jesus came to. Civil and religious strife and contention abound, in a land run and governed by a foreign power, via select members of it’s own citizenry, a foreign power bent on absolute world domination, and identified in the scriptures as “Jezebel” and “The city on seven hills”. Also “The great Whore the sits upon many waters”. Draining a swamp is a great thing. But if I fill it with fresh water for the same snakes and alligators that lived there before, the last case is liable to be worse than the first. But no matter the outcome, to be clothed and in one’s right mind has nothing to do with the issues of the day, for:

[Rom 8:6 KJV] 6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.

THE WAY

[Gen 3:21-24 KJV] 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

[Gen 6:9-14 KJV] 9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

[Psa 14:1-3 KJV] 1 [[To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David.]] The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, [there is] none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.

[Rom 3:10-18 KJV] 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: 14 Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

[Rev 5:1-9 KJV] 1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

[Jhn 14:2-6 KJV] 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The cited verses are to support a very simple truth. The WAY of the Lord, is the Divine Nature. It is not merely a hidden path that leads an individual from point A to point B. Man was created with the ability to become. Created in the likeness and image of the Father, and with the ability to be changed in the very fabric of each individual’s being, from image to image;from glory to glory, into that which he and she is privileged to behold. To behold the very nature of the Father and so, become like Him, or to behold the face of evil and become like him.

Do you wonder about the coat of skins the Father gave to cover the naked fallen people? the people who had become without form and void? For inasmuch as man lost the likeness and image of the Father, reverse engineering humanity will not lead anyone back to the Father. The image was lost. Take your right hand and reach over to your left. Pinch a fold of skin between thumb and forefinger. That is the coat of skin given to man’s fallen race for a covering. A tent, a tabernacle, a frail and temporary covering to facilitate the brief sojourn of every man and woman who comes into the world through the pro-creative ability of a fallen race. What the individual will have, or not have, upon the expiration of his or her tent, is completely dependent upon one thing. If you study a tree, let’s say an apple tree, in the Spring, you will see many flowers bud and blossom. They will all have subtle differences, but will all be, more or less, the same. All will wax beautiful and fragrant. All will wither. All will die and fall to the earth. Some will have a future, and some will not. If you are observant, you will see that some were visited by a pollinating insect. Some were not. Those that received the gift of the pollinator will receive power to become. Those who do not, will have no future.

Christ Jesus is the one who prevailed to open the book; to loose the seals of it’s message. The “WAY” of the Lord is no less than the Divine Nature. We have no possibility of learning that way, until we can behold it. We have no possibility of beholding it, except in the One in whom it is revealed. This way is not revealed in the earth. It is revealed in the individual. It is the Father and the Son, coming to the individual, making their everlasting abode in the individual, and breaking bread. That is to say, revealing in you, the very divine nature which dwells fully in the Son. When the Apostle Paul said that he thanked the Father for choosing him to reveal His Son in him, he did not say “through him”. He said “in him”. Peter was given the keys of the kingdom. I have no doubt that he used them. But if I do not do the same thing, I will have no inheritance in it. I can bind or loose, in the natural, what I will. But I can not bind it or loose it for you.

[Rev 22:10-17 KJV] 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

The entire of chapter 22 of Revelation is about the Tree of Life. It is a “signification”, the truth depicted in familiar objects. It is not about a tree, or water, or a city. It is about a people. The prophesy, or message, or subject of the book, is Christ. Christ in you is your hope of glory…your hope of obtaining the things written therein. If you read and consider that when Christ says, “these things have I sent and testified by my Angel (By His Spirit) in the assemblies; you may go and read in chapters 3 and 4 and see it. And if you continue to read, you will see them largely not repent of the things found in them. You will go on to read of the assemblies, as such, put from the message of the book and of the Father, which message is not behavior modification, political or religious meddling, but which message is Christ. And in particular, Christ ( the Anointing) in you.

Take heart. The course of the world and the age do not dictate the options open to the individual. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, teaches you that the individual may escape the death of an age. The Enoch which is a city named for a son of Cain the murderer, will not. The Lord writes His name, His Father’s name, The name of the City, in the individual who overcomes. He does not write these things upon the things he or she comes out of.

May the Lord bless you with the light that lightens every soul that comes into the world.

ANOTHER JESUS, ANOTHER SPIRIT, ANOTHER GOSPEL

1Jo 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

In his epistles, John writes of Antichrist. Antichrist means “another Christ”, or “in the place of Christ”. It is predicated upon the notion that Christ went away, will return at some time in the future, and therefore has left a void, a hole in the fabric of time, to be filled until such time as he returns. Pivotal to the legitimizing of any other “Jesus, spirit or Gospel” as standing in the gap for Christ, is denying the notion that he is come already, living and abiding in a people, by the Spirit, for whom there is no longer a valid question of his coming, only of his revelation.

The very word, “Christ”, is a name…a title. It very simply means “Anointed”. When Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, He became the “WORD made flesh”. To Him, as the scriptures bare witness, did The Father give the Spirit, not in a measure, but fully and completely. As it is written of Him, before He suffered and was raised again, and glorified, “In Him dwelt all the fullness of the godhead bodily”. Before He was to accomplish this, He spoke repeatedly of the gift of the Father, the Spirit of Truth (which is the Spirit of the Father) whom He would send to us, in His own words, “Not many days hence..”:

Act 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

The thing of which Jesus spoke, began  in a small handful of individuals assembled together on the morning of the feast of Pentecost, when the Spirit came to them. The Apostle Paul could not have afterward admonished, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? And the Spirit of God dwells in you?” …he could not have truthfully testified to this, if it were not in fact, true. So, on that morning in the outer court that Herod built, there stood a small band of people in the midst of a great, grandiose edifice, wherein a collection of men acted out ritualistically and seasonally, the habits of a now vacant and void religion. The Holy Ghost came suddenly to His temple, as the prophets, and Jesus himself, said He would. And to this day, in everyone who receives Him, whether alive in the flesh, or asleep in the Lord, He still comes. Now, what remains is to choose between the two temples. It is the Lord’s people, in whom he dwells by the Spirit? the whole family in heaven and in earth? or is it the building ( and buildings) filled with self appointed actors? It is not the buildingS nor the religion. It is the people. In fact, after that the Lord was glorified, and come again to them that receive him by faith, it is now written:

Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

So then, in his body, dwells his Spirit. The head of all principality and power dwells in you. Do not be beguiled of anything that replaces Christ in you, with Christ in ANYBODY or ANYTHING else. For the very gospel, the very good news, is this; CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY. And as Paul confirmed and wrote:

Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

All of my life, since I first began to believe Jesus about thirty-eight years ago, I have seen and heard speculation about the end of days, the coming of the Lord , Antichrist, etc. The first letter of John addresses what has become known as “end time doctrines”. Curiously, Jesus was asked the same questions, purely from the perspective of the natural mind, even before he suffered and was raised, over two thousand years ago. Believers then, and to this very day, have speculated about this, every generation expecting to see it in their day, naturally speaking. There is an expectation to see with the natural eye, that which comes not with observation that employs the natural eye. When asked the questions, Jesus gave answers. And he prefaced his answers, “See that your hearts are not troubled”.

Listen to what John writes :

1Jo 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

John wrote two thousand years ago, to disciples, that not only is it the last time, but you may know it is the last time because there were even then, many antichrists. So then, the “last time” is an age…and age in which we live. It is the last age, and will culminate in the revealing of the Lord, together with all them in whom he has and is come. But what has given rise to this never ending question of when will days come, that in fact have been upon us for some two thousand years? And what gave rise to this thinking? Where did it spring from? Where do antichrists come from and what is there message? You may know it is the last time because of the very fact that Christ is come, and so is that which does not want to admit it. To do so, reveals it for the irrelevant and impotent thing it is, and it’s very existence hangs upon a thread, namely, keeping humanity in the dark about the fact that Christ (the Anointing) is come now.

“THEY WENT OUT FROM AMONG US , BUT THEY WERE NOT OF US”. This thing did not spring out of the secular world. It was born of them who touched upon Christ, but took a deviant path. Paul wrote of it explicitly in acts 20. And Antichrist is not, as the spirit of it would tell you, yet to appear. It is, and has been here in the world, springing up as soon as the true Anointing came to us, to offer an alternative to that anointing, which lives and abides in a people now. This abominable thing will teach anything, allow anything, embrace anything, coexist with anything, EXCEPT, it will not confess that Christ is come in a people, and dwells in a people NOW, by the Spirit. It teaches you rather, that Christ has gone away, will come again at some unspecified future date, and until then, has left an elite cultus of clergy and church powers and principalities to act as His representation until such time as He “comes again”. The very perpetuation of this myth relies upon keeping the natural eye on the future, and the eyes of your understanding, fast asleep.

There is no doubt that Christ will be revealed in the fullness of the Glory of the Father. When that shall be, no man knows the day nor the hour. But that He is, and was, and is to come in a people now, is not to be denied. The temple of the Lord is in the earth now. It is not brick, stone and mortar. The temple of the Lord is not vacant. Matthew 24 begins with Jesus going out and departing from “the temple”. And his disciples then come to Him to begin to show Him the buildings of the “temple”. The LIVING TEMPLE replied to them, there was not one stone upon another, of all they were bringing to his attention, that would not be thrown down. Then Jesus sits on the Mount of Corruption, and his disciples begin to ask him privately, “when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming?” Jesus firstly says, “Take heed that no man deceive you. Many will come in my name, saying ‘I am Christ’ (I am anointed) and deceive many”. If I am looking for future events, with the carnal eye and mind, I am not seeing what lives and abides in me now.

Knowing what He would accomplish on the tree, knowing that The Spirit of the Father was soon to come to a people, Jesus also knew what would follow after to attempt to take His place.

Isa 66:24
“And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for THEIR worm shall not die, neither shall THEIR fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”

Mar 9:42
“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where THEIR worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where THEIR worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where THEIR worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
“THEIR” :αὐτός:  ( A BAFFLING, BACKWARD WIND AND WORD)

From the particle au [perhaps akin to the base of ἀήρ (G109) through the idea of a baffling wind] (backward) :
From aemi (to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire; by analogy, to blow) :
1 the air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air

2 the atmospheric region

1 himself, herself, themselves, itself

2 he, she, it

3 the same

Eph 2:1
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the AIR, the SPIRIT that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

“AIR” in Eph, 2:1 is the same as the root word of “THEIR worm dieth not…”

It is the religious dung hill. THEIR worm is THEIR word…the lower, dense air, as opposed to the higher, rarefied air of the Holy Spirit. It is the deed and doctrine of the prince of the power of the air, at work in the children of disobedience.

Act 12:21
“And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”

Herod’s worms were his own word. His day old bread that stinks and breeds them. He ruled in Jerusalem beneath, a place spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom means “Burning”. Egypt means “Double straits”.

The place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, is religion. If once lifted out of it, don’t look back.

1Sa 2:8
“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.”

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”

1 Cor 13:11 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 

Gal 4:1 “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

The Nicolaitane concept of obedience to them, is something they see as permanent. A nation of kings and priests is a concept that they do not understand, for they go about seeking subjects to be “mediators” for. Jesus, on the tree, took all of this out of the way. The individual alone…the overcomer alone…passes through the fog of Nicolaitanism like a hot knife through butter. It is the “Christian” version of the dung hill Paul came out of. I am obedient to what was delivered to the body of Christ in resurrection. That, and He, who in me, is the Power to become.A nation of kings and priests has no subjects within it’s own borders. “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” In Christ, you do not look for subjects.