Over the last number of weeks, I’ve covered a lot of ground at a high level on the last days.
Topics such as the theme of my writings (restoration, part of “fathering into sonship”); living creatures (a picture of the bride in heaven); falling away (great apostasy); end time revival; and the seventh and eighth Antichrist world kingdoms, among other topics.
The terms “sonship” and “bride” are interchangeable showing different aspects of relationship with our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus.
Based upon my understanding of the Scripture, what the Lord has put in my heart, past and present moves of God, and conversations with people involved in ministry, the Lord is choosing “wise virgins” for “preparation” as forerunners of the last day bride, or, as the bride.
Concurrent are signs of apostasy and the seventh world kingdom, which, according to the Scriptures, comes to fullness before the last day bride is birthed.
Though the seventh world kingdom comes to fullness before the bride is birthed from the womb (Revelation Chapter 12), its’ “nature” is largely hidden and not unveiled until the last day revival.
It is highly likely the Church is pregnant with the bride, or a forerunner of the bride. It is also possible the bride has been birthed and is in the early stages of development. (Isaiah Chapter 66 and Revelation Chapter 12)
When the son/bride comes to maturity, the likeness of Christ – walking in grace and revelation of the Father, not sinless, but in union with Christ as a wife is to her husband – Jesus will reveal himself in one final move of God over a number of years, likely three or four years, completing the 70th week of Daniel.
There will be unprecedented healing, deliverance, and “changed lives,” an open heaven, to those who respond; many will come into the ark of safety, Jesus Christ, while it is still day.
It will be an intense work of the Spirit in a relatively short period of time.
A David and Goliath work of God.
The expression of Christ in the last days will be so pervasive, and restorative to broken lives, the seventh world government will be halted, for all intents and appearances receiving a death wound (Revelation Chapters 13 and 17).
This season will come at great cost to the Church and to the bride.
Jesus will reclaim and redeem many before the onslaught of the eighth and final world kingdom, which rules only for a short season, ushering in the Great Tribulation with vengeance and fury.
It is highly likely some people alive today will witness the climatic end of the New Testament era.
It may be hard for some to believe the Scriptures are actually real in these matters.
Once you experience Christ and the living reality of the Scripture, you realize the fragility of this life, and certainty of God’s plan and word, in spite of the world’s unrelenting assault to capture our heart with its affairs.
Mankind is desperate to find life anywhere, an unending chorus of everything and anything other than Christ.
****
I’ve also covered the plan of God foretold in the account of creation, pictured in the following six millenniums (from Adam and Eve to the 21st century), symbolized as stages of the Christian journey, and also symbolized in the parables of Matthew Chapter 13, Paul’s nine letters to the churches, and the seven churches of Revelation.
I shared some of the moves of God bringing us to our present place in God’s calendar, and some of the Old Covenant types and feasts symbolizing events today and over the last century.
Today there are major movements on a collision course – the preparation of the bride of Christ (the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant Feast of Tabernacles), the evolving great apostasy, and the seventh world kingdom.
History, prophecy, the church, and those outside the church, are all approaching another strategic and transitional time in the redemptive plan and calendar of God.
To be sure, a very dramatic and climactic event is beginning to unfold for mankind, material more riveting than a blockbuster movie.
It will unfold gradually, and then suddenly, world events will be turning on the head of a dime.
In this realm, there are three primary participants, the church, the bride, and those outside the church and the bride.
There are lots of surprises and revelations up ahead. We have the basics but not much of the detail – God will supply that as things continue to unfold.
This world system is not our home or refuge.
We are pilgrims and citizens of another kingdom, the kingdom of Christ.
We are his ambassadors chosen by him to represent him.
****
Note:
I mentioned the Feast of Tabernacles above.
There were three main feasts in the Old Covenant – Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
These feasts are “types,” foretelling new covenant relationships, experiences, and journey in Christ.
Passover begins the process, the “born again” experience.
Pentecost goes a step further, the Holy Spirit “baptism.”
Tabernacles is more intimate. It symbolizes the deeper work of God and is made up of three feasts, Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths.
And these three feasts symbolize the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those chosen by Christ for a deeper work, in grace, of repentance and forgiveness, cleansing and healing.
This feast signifies the journey of the bride coming to maturity, the spiritual rest promised by God. The resurrection life of Christ.
This is a deep place of grace and a corresponding deep place of cleansing and healing.
Why is this understanding important?
Because 500 years ago Luther ushered in the Reformation, Passover rediscovered.
Over 100 years ago Pentecost was ushered into the church – the Azusa Street Revival, which eventually encompassed the earth.
And in our lifetimes, Tabernacles has been unfolding in the form of healings, inner healings, deliverances, the “fathering” movement, intensive prayer and worship ministries, etc.
We are witnessing the final and third feast.
Think it not strange that this would be happening with so many other prophecies having come, and coming to pass.
This deep work of the Spirit, and the relationship it creates, is mentioned in Acts 15:16 – the Tabernacle of David – a picture of profound intimacy with the Lord.
Something we should all desire and fight for.
The Old Covenant Tabernacle of David is a type of the resurrection life in Christ, a picture in the Old Covenant of what it looks like to live in the presence of God.
It foretells intimacy and union with Christ, in grace, partaking of the divine nature, being made one with the Son and the Father by the Spirit of God.
You and I do not want to miss what God is graciously and generously offering men and women today.
****
Keep Watch
With all of these events coming to fruition, what about the five foolish virgins?
Why would Jesus say to them, “‘…Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’” (NIV, Matthew 25:12)
That’s the last thing anyone would ever want to hear.
What can we do on our side of the relationship to help us prepare, and, just as importantly, help us respond to him, in the affirmative, when he brings resources to draw us toward him?
Maybe a start might be to inquire of him, “Lord, what can I do to get closer to you, and become more sensitive and obedient to the moving of your Holy Spirit.”
“What am I not hearing you’re trying to tell me?”
“Lord, I want everything you have for me. Please choose me for a deep work of your Holy Spirit.”
“I do not want to miss out on the promises of God for my life. I give you access to the hidden and secret things of my life; I give you permission to heal and restore the wounded, broken, and sinful places in my life.”
You and I do not want to be one of the foolish virgins who miss the bride and find themselves standing at the door to the Tribulation.
Those who miss the bride sound eerily familiar to those who were outside the ark as the floodwaters came and lifted the boat to safety.
And it sounds familiar, with what the northern kingdom experienced (re: the Assyrians), the southern Judaic kingdom experienced (re: the Babylonians), and the Jews at the time of the Romans on the eve of their captivity.
Further, what did Jesus likely mean by following that comment with this –
“‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.’” (NIV, Matthew 25:13)
He seems to be implying something contrary to what many believe, that is, if you do keep watch, I will walk you through preparation and maturity, and eventually, at the right time, reveal the timing of my calendar to you like I did to Noah, Abraham, Daniel, Christ, and countless others.
It’s an open invitation to you and me to know the Lord and be known by him, one, he may share the intimacies of his heart, plans, and purposes, and even timing.
Yes, Jesus shares his timing with those who are close to him.
It’s part of the plan of intimacy the Father’s invited many into, Old and New Covenants.
As Amos records, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” (NIV, Amos 3:7)
****
Jesus spoke with authority and yet, he did not have a commanding presence.
Isaiah says of Christ,
“…He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” (NIV, Isaiah 53:2-3)
This is a picture of the “ministering” Messiah.
Other than his attire of a rabbi, and the press of crowds, Christ would be indistinguishable from anyone else.
Let’s take a look at what the Scripture says about Christ’s personal journey.
It’s the most important journey of anyone in the history of mankind and one we should know.
****
Regaining What Has Been Lost
Most of us have been taught little about Christ’s personal journey before his presentation to John at the river Jordan.
I’ve heard people say, “Jesus modeled Christianity.”
The reality, Jesus did not model anything.
He was Christianity – he pioneered Christianity, he fought to the death (and I don’t mean Calvary) to possess what his Father apprehended him for.
It cost him everything to become who he became.
There’s nothing magical or mystical about the Lord Jesus Christ, except, the mysterious work of grace and truth by his Father in “making” the Lord Jesus into the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
It was a work of truth and grace by the Father.
Get ready, because this post and the ones to follow will have a lot of Scriptures on Christ’s journey.
The church has done a wonderful job teaching us about the things of God, the Ministry of Christ, principles of growing in Christ, and lessons from Scripture, but there is little or no teaching about the man Christ Jesus and who he became.
I think many stay away from the subject because they’re not sure what to say, or, how, what they believe, and Christian orthodoxy, mesh.
And frankly, many have been taught to accept church orthodoxy because it must be right since much of its been around for 1,500 years.
Jesus did not wear a statement of faith when he ministered the love of God to those he encountered.
Jesus knew who he was, who his Father was, the story he was invited into, and the story he was inviting you and me into.
Tragically, many Christians do not know who Jesus is. They know what church doctrine says about him, at least at a very high level, but they don’t know his journey, which essentially means, him.
Many Christians do not know, have not been informed, of the deep journey Christ desires to usher them into because they do not know the story of Christ.
It begs the question, if one does not know the journey Christ pioneered, the heart of the gospel, the baptism he pioneered and invites you and me into – then how can he know us?
Building Bridges
The enemy has been successful in blinding the world to the grand strategies God set forth and established in his calendar.
He knows the Lord set forth times and seasons for different eras and dispensations.
Is it any wonder a great apostasy precedes the end time revival prophesied to behead the seventh world kingdom and usher in the Great Tribulation?
The enemy is doing everything possible to befuddle as many as he can from the deep things of God.
He wants to “arrest” attempts by the Lord to ignite another great awakening.
Make no mistake about it, there is tremendous warfare happening in the heavenly’s.
But he will be taken in his own devices because the Lord will protect those who are his, ushering those who belong to him to islands of safety and security in the midst of increased darkness.
Now, more than ever, is the time to draw close to the Lord, to seek his will and wisdom for your life, and how to best prepare for his invitation and choosing.
God does not just suddenly bring something new to the body of Christ, or to those seeking Christ, without first creating a bridge to transition them to the new.
Moves of God build upon each other, seed planting and harvest.
Noah was a bridge from the ancients to the patriarchs.
Moses was a bridge for the Hebrews from Goshen to a land flowing with milk and honey.
Samuel was a bridge from the era of the Judges to the age of the Kings, anointing Israel’s first king, Saul, and Israel’s second king, a man after God’s own heart, David, a “type” of Christ.
Jesus is the permanent bridge from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, to the Millennium, and to the New Heaven and New Earth.
Martin Luther was a light shining in darkness, a bridge from the dark ages, the Thyatira church age, to the Reformation, our spiritual forefathers.
Charles Parham and William Seymour (Azusa Street Revival) were bridges from the new birth, being “born again” (the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant Feast of Passover), to the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” (the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant Feast of Pentecost), ushering in spiritual revival in the 20th century.
John Eldredge, the late John Sanford, and many others are bridges from the late stages of 20th-century Pentecostalism to the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles was the last of the three great feasts under the Old Covenant and a “type” foreshadowing the journey into intimacy with Christ.
It begins with a cry to the virgins to awake for the bridegroom is coming.
It’s the intense preparation of the bride by our heavenly Father marked by inner healing and restoration, physical healing, deliverance, and discipline.
This is occurring today across America and around the globe.
Part of the bridge the Lord is building to the Feast of Tabernacles is greater understanding of himself, his journey.
The bride is the last New Testament bridge – she will reveal the seventh world kingdom for what it is and is not, usher many into the kingdom of God, and initiate the events eventually ushering in the millennial rule of Christ.
****
What Christ apprehended is ultimately expressed in who he became, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (NIV, Hebrews 1:3)
The New Testament, and old covenant types, tell the story of Christ’s journey to perfection.
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Christ’s kingly rule, the attribute of a lion.
The Gospel of Mark highlights Christ’s service, the attribute of an ox.
The Gospel of Luke highlights Christ’s priestly ministry, the attribute of a man.
And the Gospel of John, highlights Christ’s prophetic office, soaring in the spiritual realm, taking others into the deep things of the Spirit on the wings of an eagle.
We will explore Christ’s journey in more depth in upcoming posts.
It’s a necessary part of understanding what he invites us into.
Together, Let’s Respond to the Call of God to Go Deeper.
Blessings, Drake
(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™
