“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”

(NIV, Ecclesiastes 3:1, italicized mine)

This post has a lot of teaching.

I hope it helps you on your quest for more of the Lord.

Only Christ in relationship with you and me can teach us his ways, and, create his nature in us.

It takes a combination of teaching (the water of his Word), sacrifice (the giving of our lives; what the Scripture likens to a “living” sacrifice, even going so far as to call it a “blood” sacrifice for Christ, because of the totality of his sacrifice in being made perfect before his ministry), and, the creative power of the Spirit to make us new (Romans 6:5, 8:10-11; Galatians 5:16; 1 John 5:7-8).

And this can only be done in relationship with Christ and his body.

And it takes the initiation of Christ to lead, guide, and accomplish the work of grace in our lives.

We’re dependent on him to teach us what we need to “receive,” and what and how to sacrifice for the Spirit of grace to bring everything together, making us new from the inside out.

You cannot preach and teach God’s sons and daughters to be like Christ, and expect through their “decisions” for them to be “made” new.

The body of Christ has taught this for decades to no avail.

You may get some low hanging bad fruit, but not the deep and hidden things (generational transgressions and iniquities and their fruit).

Only the transforming power of God can bring death to sin to walk in newness of life – the Holy Spirit fire of the baptism of Christ – the journey of putting sin to death by the restraining power of the cross personally made just for you and me.

I’ve written about the limitations of “decision-making” in previous posts.

How, in the absence of intimate relationship with Christ, the body of Christ at large has turned to “decision-making” as the means of trying to apprehend Christ-likeness.

Decision-making, in all the good it attempts to derive, is powerless to bridge the great divide between the feasts of Passover and Pentecost, and Tabernacles.

Only Jesus can prepare you for the deep work of grace in Tabernacles.

The ways of Passover (the new birth), and Pentecost, will not be enough to face, and overcome, the spiritual warfare up ahead.

We see this in the parable of the five foolish virgins, Christ’s letter to the Laodiceans, Paul’s admonishment to the Colossians to know the mystery of Christ, the stars cast down by the Dragon in Revelation 12, and other last day warnings in Scripture.

Though the pictures of the virgins, Laodiceans, Colossians, and warnings in general, apply to the Gospel age, i.e., the two millenniums between the coming of Christ, and Christ’s millennial rule, these particular writings, and certainly the stars cast down, and certain other warnings, are particular to the end-times.

The “heart of this post” is the revelation of:

• Paul’s sixth letter to the Churches, Philippians (the love of horses – the transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18) of God’s sheep into horses ready for battle, Zechariah 10:3),
• Christ’s sixth letter to the Churches, Philadelphia (the love of the brethren, “transformed” into Christ’s likeness), and,
• Christ’s sixth parable of Matthew 13, the pearl (the transforming power to make an “irritant” into a pearl).

 

I hope you see the common theme, and the order they’re presented in their separate larger accounts – Paul’s nine letters to the Churches, Christ’s seven letters (Revelation), and, Christ’s seven parables of Matthew 13.

There is without question a design and plan to Scripture given by God to inspire discovery and wonder about him, the majesty of his plan, and how he can bring all things together without violating man and woman’s will.

He knows the end from the beginning, and the futility of men and women seeking life apart from the creator of life; allotting seasons for times of choice; limiting mankind’s ability to destroy themselves and others.

God’s longsuffering and grace are beyond human comprehension, seeking to heal and save to the uttermost.

And at the same time, as a good Father, he limits how much mankind can hurt themselves.

For he says, “‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal…’” (NIV, Genesis 6:3)

And the author of Hebrews says, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (NIV, Hebrews 10:31)

These are sober days, a time to run to God with all our hearts; to seek to be hidden in him, in the cleft of the rock (NIV, Exodus 33:22), under the shadow of his wings (NIV, Psalm 91:4), in the embrace of his love and care.

The Philippians, Philadelphians, pearl, five wise virgins, and others, are pictures of the bride in the making throughout the Gospel dispensation, and, particularly, pictures of the bride in the last of the last days.

And most certainly, the baby in the womb of the Church in Revelation 12 is a picture of the last day bride Christ will use, after its been birthed and matured, like a stone from David’s sling to wound the Antichrist system for a season; throwing a great Net from the shores of Heaven, rescuing many in the last of the last days (7th parable of Matthew 13).

Refresh, Christ’s Story

If you’re going to marry someone, you want to know their story, and they want to know yours.

And we cannot rightly know the story of Christ without the revelation of Christ upon his Word; the pioneering (Hebrews 2:10 & 6:20), work of grace accomplished in him by the Father.

How, being made in our likeness (NIV, Romans 1:3, 8:3; Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 2:17), he overcame generational transgressions and iniquities passed to him from his human ancestry.

He put to death the enmity passed to him from his human ancestry (Romans 6:10; Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear), was raised to walk in newness of life, “resurrection life,” being made perfect, our Savior, before his ministry (1 Corinthians 15:20, 15:44-49; Hebrews 5:7-10; 1 Peter 3:18, etc.).

If you’re new to my posts, I’ve written much on how these, and many other verses, do not refer to Calvary.

But, the putting to death of generational transgressions and iniquities by Christ, being made perfect, i.e., healed and restored, mortality taking on immortality, his first glorification, John 12:28, Hebrews 7:16, etc.

Note:

Christ’s first glorification is the death he died in putting sin to death, raised to walk in resurrection life, made perfect, fathered by God.

Christ was “presented” as a living sacrifice to put sin to death, which he did in his perfection, and was not presented to be killed.

Lawless men purposed to kill Christ, not God. More on God’s “will” for Christ in sections below.

Christ was presented as a living sacrifice to put sin to death, before his ministry, noted in, for example: Isaiah 53:4-6 (verses 7-9 are Calvary); Romans 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 15:44-49; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear, Ephesians 4:20-24; Philippians Chapter 2; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 4:14, 5:7-10, 7:16; 1 Peter 2:24 & 3:18, and the many references to “sacrifice” in Hebrews, etc.

These verses are not different descriptions of the killing of Christ, but the putting to death of sin Christ was “sacrificed,” “as a living sacrifice,” before his ministry by the Father in being made complete (Hebrews 5:7-10).

Christ was born to save, but had to be “made” to save, thus, for example, the emphasis on his name, Philippians 2:9-11, after his perfection, not after Calvary.

If you’re new to this series, I refer you to earlier posts on the “new language” of the New Testament; the spiritual symbolism Christ used when speaking, at times, about death, resurrection, blood, flesh, sacrifice, cross, etc., (1 Corinthians 2:13).

In my next post, I’m planning to show the sharp contrast between Scriptures about Calvary, and Scriptures on putting sin to death by the power of the cross; and how Christ fulfilled one stream of prophecies, made perfect, becoming our Savior, and lawless men the other, Calvary.  

Important

Briefly, When Jesus said, “‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’” (NIV, John 12:23-28, italicized mine)

Jesus is not saying what the creeds teach – I came to this earth to be killed as a sacrifice for sin.

He’s saying, my mission was to glorify the Father in the Son, and Israel has rejected the glory I’ve displayed of the Father for over three years.

If they will not accept this glory, then some will accept the glory of the Father in me and come to forgiveness when they “hear,” I was raised again (Matthew 26:28).

The first glory was from mortality to immortality, resurrection life; putting sin to death, raised to walk in new life; NIV, Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10, etc.

The second glory is from actual physical death, to resurrection life, again.

Jesus came to glorify the Father in the Son at all cost; and, if that requires one last sign – one they see in the “natural,” what they were blind to see in the “Spirit,” like Peter (when he confessed earlier, Christ was the Messiah, resurrection life in flesh and blood), then so be it.

Some of these verses, so commonly ascribed to Calvary, I’ve explained earlier in this, and previous series.

***

Even Isaiah 53 separately distinguishes Christ’s death to sin (53:1-6) versus Calvary (53:7-9, some say death in verse 9 is plural in the Hebrew).

Creeds and traditions have made the New Testament a repeat of the Old Testament, liking the killing of Christ to the Old Covenant animal sacrifices.

However, the offering of the New Testament is not the killing of an animal or person, but the sacrifice of one’s life in putting sin to death “God’s punishment on sin,” Christ being the first.

God’s sacrifice is to kill sin, not the person.

Christ offered his life – his sacrifice to the Father, and the Father’s sacrifice of his Son – in putting sin to death by grace through faith in the power of the cross, fathered by God.

The depth and extent of Christ’s “living sacrifice” in putting to death generational transgressions and iniquities passed to him from his human ancestry, was so whole and complete, without sin, the only way it can be described in human terms is to be likened to a “blood sacrifice.”

That’s why Jesus could say the New Covenant was in his blood (NIV, Matthew 26:28).

The only way to get people’s attention to the sacrifice he made in being made perfect (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10), fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles, “redeeming mankind from sin, becoming our sin substitute, establishing a new and better Covenant,” and, the only human word that even comes close, is to use the word “blood,” John Chapter 6.

For Christ, it was the only way to convey the totality of the whole-being giving of himself to the plan and purposes of God in being made perfect, mortality taking on immortality, resurrection life; fulfilling Psalm 16 before his ministry.

It’s the most intimate term possible to describe the entirety of his offering; and the journey and discomfort involved in overcoming and dying to the enmity he inherited in the flesh.

That’s why Jesus talked about his flesh and blood being spiritual life in John 6, and the “‘…new covenant in my blood…’” (NIV, 1 Corinthians 11:25, see also Matthew 26:28, Christ saying this before his death, not after)

Note: Blood is used a few times in the New Testament in reference to being “shed,” where it’s in the Greek, and not “added” by translators to conform to creeds, and of course, in those instances, it’s referring to Calvary.

And because Christ pioneered a new sacrificial system for the the New Testament perfectly, without sin, mortality taking on immortality, “resurrection life;” the death of the old man he inherited from his human ancestry became the death of the testator, ushering in the New Testament in his perfection.

Briefly, Christ fulfilled the true meaning of the Old Covenant’s animal sacrifices by sacrificing his life, a “living sacrifice,” in putting an end to sin in his generations.

Christ, the promised grace to come, pioneered, by grace through faith, a new and better covenant as described in Hebrews.

On behalf of his human ancestry, Christ fulfilled the heart of the Old Testament sacrificial system through repentance and forgiveness, without sin, made perfect, becoming our substitute, Hebrews 5:7 – 10.

(Note: in verse seven of Hebrews 5 the death spoken is not physical death, but the prospect of spiritual death from sinning as James describes when sin is conceived and matured, James 1:15.)

Again, the Scripture clearly teaches Christ put sin to death by grace through faith in repentance and forgiveness (Romans Chapters 3 through 6), without sinning, becoming our substitute (Hebrews 5:7 – 10).

He did what we could never do, and that is, put sin to death without sinning, because mankind is conceived into sin at “conception.”

Whereas, Christ was conceived in grace by the Holy Spirit, breaking the “conception” of sin at fertilization.

However, though conceived in grace, the seeds of sin, what the Scripture calls “enmity,” was passed to him from his human ancestry, and that is what needed to be put to death.

And that is the journey he pioneered, being made perfect; the Father uprooting everything he did not plant (Matthew 15:13).

Redemption Versus Purchase

In the next post, I plan to describe more about the “atonement” accomplished in Christ’s perfection, i.e., the “redemption” by the sacrifice of his life in being made perfect, becoming our Savior, our sin substitute, before his ministry (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10; Romans 6:10; Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear).

Versus, the rejection of the New Covenant in Christ (Matthew 26:28) at Calvary; but where in Revelation, referring to Christ being slain, he’s referred to as “purchasing” them by his own blood.

There’s a night and day difference between the atoning work accomplished in Christ’s perfection, versus, the extension of time and opportunity to receive the grace of God in submitting to man’s rage against him.

Christ knew man’s rage would subside and some would eventually come to him in repentance.

Otherwise, if he took up arms against them, some would die who would later be saved.

***

Creeds and traditions have made a mockery of Christ’s perfection journey; the years he spent in being made perfect, pointing much of the New Testament to Calvary, instead of Christ – the New Testament in flesh and blood displayed to Israel for over three years.

Christ and the Father did not need lawless men and Rome to birth salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the New Covenant.

Christ is our sufficiency – before, during, and after Calvary.

Calvary was the rejection of the New Covenant by Israel, not the beginning.

A new spiritual language came with the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:13), but many theologians, scholars, and others have continued to use the language of the Old Testament to interpret the New, instead of the other way around.

It’s comparable to studying the Sun solely through the eyes of the Moon.

In other words, the Old Testament sits in the shadow of the New Testament, a better covenant, and not vice versa, as creeds and traditions have made it.

Creeds and traditions are powerful agreements, causing the destruction of many over the centuries; some so married to them they’ll do the unthinkable, believing they’re doing God service.

There are a number of Scriptures translators have added words, or rephrased, to conform with the creeds about Calvary.

Word additions and translator rephrasing have not been done maliciously to cause harm and deceive, but with the goal of harmonizing Scriptures with the creeds; to promote and maintain the overarching theme of the creeds institutionalized by the Church in Scripture – to blend the two and make them one.

Christendom has striven for centuries to “package” and “filter” Christianity to be easily digested by the masses, and, easily handed down from generation to generation.

Scripture was never designed to be packaged, neither the plan of redemption, and most certainly, not the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christendom quickly forgot what Jesus said about the wind and the Spirit of God (John 3).

Lacking the revelation of Christ’s pioneering journey amidst the weight of creeds and traditions, i.e., the pressure to adhere to institutionalized doctrine, where, to not do so threatens your reputation and livelihood, and, sometimes one’s life, what else can translators do?

I refer you to earlier posts in this series where I’ve talked about how creeds and traditions have supplanted the Bible; and key Scriptures where words have been added – pointing them to Calvary, when Calvary is not the subject, and, where the original text has been rephrased to point it to Calvary.

Deep inside, many Christians wrestle with the goodness and kindness of God because they’re told to believe God purposely designed the plan of salvation centered around the killing of his Son.

When Christ by his own words refutes that type of thinking; sharing how a kingdom cannot be divided against itself and stand; giving parables showing God’s desire for Israel to accept and respect their Messiah, to receive their Savior.

And Christ left little unsaid when he talked about those who were planning his murder, as those who come from a long line of murderers; Peter confirming on the day of Pentecost they killed their Messiah, and Stephen (Acts 7:52), as well at the time of his stoning.

God is not complicit in murder; the Scripture makes it clear God does not do evil that good may come.

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…” (NIV, James 1:13, italicized mine)

Faced with Calvary, the Father desired (but did not require) Christ to finish his ministry as the “…Prince of Peace” at all cost, leaving the decision to Christ. (NIV, Isaiah 9:6)

Either way, his Father would support him; whether he took up arms defending himself, which he had every right to do as a man of peace, bringing justice righteously, or, choosing to allow them to have their way with him.

Christ had already paid the price for sin in his perfection, becoming the walking, living “blood” sacrifice for sin in flesh and blood to Israel for over three years, healing, saving, performing “…signs, wonders and various miracles…” (NIV, Hebrews 2:4, see also Acts 2:22)

Christ became the New Testament at his perfection, our Savior (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10).

He’s our Savior, before, during, and after Calvary; Calvary did nothing to change Christ and his offer of salvation.

Again, Christ had already paid the price for sin in his perfection, that’s why they hated him so much and determined to kill him.

In his garden experience, Christ chose not to kill those whom he had just spent over three years trying to save.

It cost him his life, but he was glorified again (John 12:28).

You can kill the body of a resurrected person, but you cannot kill them.

And Peter on the day of Pentecost spoke on how God “raised” the “resurrected Christ” from the dead (Acts 2:31-32).

God presented Christ as a living sacrifice to put sin to death, not him, raising him to walk in newness of life, resurrection life!

At Christ’s perfection, mortality took on immortality, Hebrews 7:16.

He presented the “resurrected” Christ, i.e., the “glorified” Son of God, transfigured on the Mount, the “perfected one,” the firstborn of the new covenant, to Israel for over three years.

There’s a world of difference between putting sin to death, destroying the barrier between the law and the flesh (Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear), and killing someone.

Wounded, piercing, crushing is in reference to sin, and its constructs handed down through the generations in transgressions and iniquities, not the killing of someone.

David used some of those terms in reference to the hand of God against sin in his life, but God did not kill David, and certainly did not kill Christ.

Christ was an “offering” by God in putting sin to death – the long journey in destroying the barrier between Christ’s flesh and the law – but, not an offering for murder.

Christ chose to submit to their plots against him knowing some would come to forgiveness who would otherwise be killed or lost had he taken up arms (Matthew 26:28).

No, Calvary was not the place of salvation, but Christ.

But Calvary did reveal their sins they were unwilling to repent of, and his holiness; testifying and confirming who he said he was, and who he said they were.

The cost of salvation for mankind became higher because of Calvary, not less.

Had Christ been received, Israel would’ve been ushered into the New Covenant and Pentecost by the simple act of receiving their Savior.

With his rejection, the cost of salvation escalated; Christ having to “purchase” (Revelation 5:9) those who would come to him by the actual giving of his physical life, when he had already paid the price for their sins in his perfection before he entered ministry.

Christ was Messiah Savior when he was presented to John at the river Jordan, displaying the grace and wonders of God for over three years to Israel.

Ministry does not make someone something – you don’t become something because of ministry.

On the contrary, ministry is the outflow of who you’ve become!

Had Israel accepted Christ, the path to salvation, healing, and restoration would’ve been a lot easier, because Christ would be physically present.

With his murder, the cost to him was greater, and the cost to us greater as well.

Because of his physical absence, i.e., the greater hurdles we brought on ourselves by rejecting his first coming, we face greater barriers of sin, corporately and individually, that would not be there, had Christ been received.

One only has to look at the blessings of the Millennium versus the history of the Gospel era to see the cost mankind incurred because Christ was killed and not accepted, individually, and corporately.

And, by the way, he did not die to save them because they rejected him.

He died because he was murdered, and in that, he continued his love for Israel and mankind offering forgiveness, salvation, and healing no different after than before his death.

Jesus did everything he could to win Israel and not be killed, doing everything possible to avoid being executed, praying Israel would grasp salvation.

But Israel would not have it.

And in his death, he continued his ministry of grace and peace, though the salvation journey for Israel and the Gentiles would be more difficult and challenging, costing more, for both Christ and us.

Israel had at their fingertips eternal life and blessings, but chose to align themselves with the evil one, coming into agreement with him.

No, Calvary was not the birthplace of the New Covenant, nor salvation.

Christ redeemed mankind in his perfection (Hebrews 5:7 – 10), and having been rejected (Matthew 26:28), he rejected those who rejected him, extending his grace by not taking up arms, but by purchasing those who hated him without a cause.

Wounds and brokenness drive us to be event based, and not relational.

Creeds and traditions fit nicely into that because they package salvation around specific events, something our flesh can relate to.

But that’s not how it works in the Kingdom of God, nor his design for salvation.

Salvation is a journey (Philippians 2:12).

Yes, we come into the kingdom with the new birth, but that’s just the entrance; there’s a journey to be endured to receive and secure our inheritance.

Salvation came at the completion of Christ’s journey of healing and restoration, being made perfect, fathered by God (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10), not by an act of lawless men against an innocent man.

Important

God does not need lawless men, and an ungodly kingdom, to help him bring salvation to mankind.

What he needed is someone willing to put sin to death, the power of transgressions and iniquities passed down from generation to generation, and that someone was Christ, the firstborn, first fruit, forerunner, and pioneer of the faith.

If one continues to teach the same things taught centuries and decades ago, from creeds and traditions: Where’s the life in that? And the person of the living Christ?

What need have we of Christ is everything is institutionalized and indoctrinated?

The Bible becomes a handbook, instead of life itself in Christ.

For Christ is certainly not teaching the same things taught centuries, and even decades ago.

The Spirit of God is doing new things today in the 21^st century.

And with that comes a greater understanding of his Word, a greater relationship with Christ, a greater understanding of who he is, his journey, and, what he’s presently doing in the body of Christ.

Finally, if, as creeds and traditions proclaim, Christ’s main commission was to be killed so he could be the Savior, would he not embrace his commission, and not be angry at those intent on destroying everything he sought to do?

If it was the Father’s design for Christ to be killed as the purpose of his coming, would it not be contradictory to call those intent on killing him “murderers,” “wretches,” etc., telling them, in essence, the judgment which they inflict upon him will fall upon their own heads.

Christ was not commissioned by God to be killed, but commissioned by God, as a sacrifice by God, to put generational transgressions and iniquities, inherited from his human ancestry, to death, by grace through faith,

Christ was the promised grace to come prophesied of Old (NIV, 1 Peter 1:10-12); creating a whole new sacrificial system in which sin is put to death, where men and women, Christ being the first, are healed and restored from generational sin under a new and better covenant.

We must be mindful when we read New Covenant Scriptures of what Paul described as the new language, where words have spiritual meanings (NIV, 1 Corinthians 2:13).

That words, such as blood, sacrifice, wounds, cross, death, etc., must be understood in the context in which they appear, and by the revelation of God’s Holy Spirit.

Many left Christ because he talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which he later described as part of the New Covenant’s spiritual language.

Christ fulfilled the stream of prophecies of the promised grace to come, the “… Prince of Peace” to the uttermost. (NIV, Isaiah 9:6)

And Israel fulfilled the stream of prophecies of God’s unrepentant sons and daughters putting Christ to death.

Two different streams, one fulfilling all righteousness, and one fulfilling unrighteousness.

When Christ said he would give his flesh for the world (John 6:51), he already knew by the Spirit of God they would kill him.

He had already given his flesh in the sacrifice of putting sin to death.

But, because Israel was spiritually deaf and blind, and could not perceive like Peter he was the Christ, he chose his last recourse, to give them in the natural, what they could not perceive in the Spirit, his flesh.

Giving them one last opportunity to come to salvation, when they hear about the man Christ Jesus rising from the dead, being glorified again (Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31; Luke 18:33, 24:7; John 12:28).

Important

Creeds and traditions promote a nice Christian package that can be presented to its adherents, and those it seeks to evangelize.

But life, and relationship with Christ, does not work that way.

Creeds and traditions attempt to make the Gospel, yes and no, right and wrong, check the box, a package of beliefs and statements, instead of an intimate, personal, individual, unique relationship with our Lord and Savior.

They become a barrier to intimacy with Christ instead of the pursuit of discovery and intimacy.

In the Garden, it was God’s heart to give the people of Israel more time to come to repentance; that for many, it would take years to realize what slipped through their hands, what they missed, who they missed, and that, though the nation will be lost, their salvation can yet be found in Christ.

Christ honored his Father’s heart, as always, extending grace even in his brutal death, knowing, he could have chosen otherwise – to take the Kingdom by force – and been provided, by his Father, legions of angels to take possession of what was righteously his.

He could have done that, chosen otherwise, and not sinned.

His gave Israel another 40 years and the Gentiles two millenniums.

His next physical coming, ending the Tribulation, will not be so pleasant to those who are opposed to him, and the righteousness of God.

On the Precipice of Historic Transition Once Again

The Scripture is a flowing, dynamic, living river of water and life.

It’s not a text book of facts, figures, and blueprints.

But a living document designed to capture our interests in discovery and wonder.

It’s not regimented, but a flowing river of the Spirit of God coming in waves and crests as seasons come and go.

And we just happen to be approaching the crest of another wave that will crash upon the shores of this Kingdom, and the body of Christ.

We need to make sure, in Christ, our ship is ready to ride the coming waves and not caught off guard, capsize, or, propelled by the winds of this world into darkness.

I pray my posts help inspire you to consider what God is offering the body of Christ today; the greatest season of opportunity he’s presented to mankind, except, of course, the coming of Christ.

May you be swept into the embrace of his arms, and not into the embrace of the world, and the futility of the empty way of life it offers generation after generation.

I hope my posts inspire you to see where the Church has come; to help cultivate desire for Christ in the deep work of grace he’s offering in “our” season of church history, the age of Philadelphia, the feast of Tabernacles.

The body of Christ stands on the precipice of great and terrible times.

Great for those hidden in Christ, having journeyed with Christ in healing and restoration; and terrible, for those who miss the work of grace in this late hour of human and Christian history.

Mankind may believe they’re on the threshold of setting up colonies on the moon and Mars, to pioneer and explore the universe.

But, deep in the heart of men and women they know something else is amiss.

That no matter how satisfied one becomes in this life, there’s always the gnawing inside for more, never being fully satisfied, and never finding full satisfaction.

God has put it in the heart of men and women to know this.

There’s an eternal witness in every man and woman.

Mankind is desperate for life; searching in archaeology, the oceans, the Heavens, microbes, matter, evolution, humanism, anything and everything other than the living God.

Mankind has spent billions upon billions to prove God does not exist exploring the universe.

How tragic and sad.

“…He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (NIV, Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Unbeknownst to many, someone else, the Lord Jesus Christ, has his eyes on the earth, and not the stars, preparing to take what’s rightfully his, this creation and everything in it; to establish himself once and for all as King.

Mankind is looking heavenward, while Christ is looking at them, and what belongs to him.

When we see Jesus, face to face, our questions will be answered; there’ll be no desire to look to the Heavens for answers.

Without his protection and light upon those who call on his name, mankind would’ve destroyed themselves.

The Lord has kept mankind to save as many as possible, knowing some will turn to him in the future.

But there comes a time, like in the days of Noah, and kingdoms after that, where the few is so few, there’s nothing left to save.

It’s only been by the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ mankind has made it this far.

The Lord is not about to let humankind go into another age of darkness after spending two millenniums getting the body of Christ where it is today, the feast of Tabernacles, the final feast of the Christian pilgrimage, the bride.

We’re on the threshold of another fullness of time, where the calendar of God, the journey of those intent on opposing God, and the righteous work of grace in God’s sons and daughters come face-to-face.

The Lord will usher in an opportunity for salvation unlike anything we’ve seen in recent past; setting in motion events to lead mankind toward Christ’s millennial rule.

There’s never been a better time to be alive – we have available before us the greatest opportunities ever presented to men and women in the body of Christ – the promises of the deep work of the Spirit of grace in the age of Philadelphia.

To know Christ intimately, and he, us.

Man’s attempt to find life outside of this earth, and all the dire warnings, are part of mankind’s effort to somehow find life outside of God.

But God, because of his great love for his creation, rejects man’s rejection of him, and will offer himself once again in a profound move of his Spirit, like days of Old, giving opportunity for those who have the slightest hunger for him another chance to make him their Lord and Savior.

The world Kingdom needs a savior, and tragically, the wrong one will be chosen.

But thankfully, his reign will be short lived.

In the coming days, those who’s hope is in Christ, will find themselves protected and secure in their God.

They will do mighty exploits in him, before the great and terrible day of the Lord is unleashed on this earth.

Where, had it not been shortened, no flesh would be saved (NIV, Matthew 24:22).

Preface

Please keep in mind as you read this series, the heart of the Gospel is intimacy and union with Christ, to know and be known by him, deeply, intimately, and completely (NIV, Matthew 7:21-23 & 25:12).

That it’s a journey of growth, stages, and transformation.

That being “born-again,” fulfilling the feast of Passover, is not the same as being “baptized” in the Spirit, fulfilling the feast of Pentecost.

And they are not the same as being “transformed” from glory to glory (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:18), fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles, the Philadelphia church age, our present season in God.

Just as the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place had their special functions, and just as the “…spirit, soul and body…” theirs (1 Thessalonians 5:23), and “…faith, hope and love” theirs (1 Corinthians 13:13), and the “the Spirit, the water and the blood…” theirs (NIV, 1 John 5:8), so to Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles in both the Old and New Covenant. (Bold and italicized mine for quotations)

Passover is the entrance into the Kingdom of God; being “introduced” to a new Kingdom and King; learning “about” the King.

Pentecost is the time of teaching (student and teacher), gifting, offices; learning and operating in the new Kingdom; learning the “presence” of the King.

Whereas Tabernacles is the journey of transformation (healing and restoration), the baptism of Christ; putting sin to death to walk in newness of life.

It’s the crucifixion of the flesh: being “made” new, body, soul, and spirit, by the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

It’s likened in the Scripture to “‘…new wine into new wineskins…’” (NIV, Mark 2:22), i.e., having the Word of God written on our hearts and minds (NIV, Hebrews 8:10 & 10:16), changed even into his own likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18), receiving our new names, being made one with Christ and the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit (Revelation 3:12).

In a few words, the new birth could be described as “being granted access to the new Kingdom.”

For Pentecost, the baptism of the Spirit, it may be described as “the time of learning about, and operating in, the new Kingdom; having a measure of the new nature, but not the fullness offered only in Tabernacles.”

And for Tabernacles, in a few words, “a full-fledged citizen, assimilated, transformed, into the likeness of the King; healed and restored; partaking of the new nature of the Kingdom, having put to death the old nature, fathered by God.”

Note: How far and how deep one goes in Tabernacles is determined by the Lord. Once the journey begins there’s no turning back.

Christ pioneered the Christian pilgrimage from beginning to end: being born into grace (conceived by the Holy Spirit), he was placed into the position of Adam before the fall.

But, and this is important, he had in his flesh the enmity of transgressions and iniquities passed to him from his human ancestry (Romans 8:3; Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear; and Hebrews 2:17).

He experienced Pentecost without measure (John 3:34), having never sinned, unlike you and me, who receive a deposit of the Spirit in Pentecost.

And he fulfilled Tabernacles, likely over almost 2 decades; (his great ancestor King David’s wilderness journey of some 15 years, was a “type” of what Christ apprehended), completing the journey before his presentation to John the Baptist.

Tabernacles was the journey making Christ one with the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 5:7 – 10, Romans 6:10, 1 Corinthians 15:20, etc.)

He was born a Savior, and born God with us, but he had to be “made” a Savior by being made perfect, becoming one with the Father. (Hebrews 5:7-10)

He put generational transgressions and iniquities to death and emptied himself of any rights and privileges that would hinder his relationship with his Father, and ministry (Philippians 2).

** Revealing the Promised Grace to Come **

1 Peter 1:10-12

The Bible is not a manual, textbook, or a compilation of conflicting or contrary writings.

It’s record spans over six millenniums of history, and upwards of 1500 years of writings, having one theme, purpose, and vision – to be found in Christ.

It’s beyond anything remotely possible by human endeavor.

There’s nothing in this creation that has the depth, breath, and fullness the Scripture provides of God’s relationship with man, and man’s relationship with God, beginning with the first family.

And that doesn’t take into consideration the accuracy of prophecies fulfilled, and prophecies in the process of being fulfilled.

There’s no other writing in this creation that captures the events of creation; foretelling through symbolism six millenniums of human history, and the Millennium to come.

Again, no other book captures the history of the last six millenniums, from the time of Adam and Eve, the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms, and the treasures and richness of God’s work of grace through and into this present time.

No, the Bible is not a manual or textbook, or chronicle of history, but an intimate and compelling story of God’s pursuit of fallen men and women to bring them to Christ.

And to do that, God designed an elaborate and detailed plan of redemption through types and shadows, feasts, Tabernacle and temples, kingdoms, people groups, bringing everything together at the right time and at the right place for the Messiah to be revealed and the plan of redemption made known.

What a marvelous revelation God has made known to mankind through the Scriptures.

So broad, it spans six millenniums, yet, so detailed, it reveals, by the light of the Holy Spirit, the seasons of God’s working in and amongst his sons and daughters to know the work of the Spirit in their generations.

And in God’s kindness and grace, he reveals the truths of his Word in seasons where circumstances make their acceptance likely, because of his advance preparatory work.

Christ labors tirelessly with men and women over centuries to bring them to the place where he can fulfill the promises of his Father to those who are called and chosen in him.

And as the tempo of his plan of redemption increases over the course of centuries, he prepares everything necessary in advance for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in him.

And we, living in the 21^st-century, having six millenniums of history in our rearview mirror, and 500 years of Reformation behind us (the Sardis Church age), are on the threshold of the most profound and deep work of grace the body of Christ has ever seen, the season of Philadelphia.

Christ has gone over and above every barrier in preparing in advance everything necessary for his sons and daughters to come into the fullness of the faith (Ephesians 4:13).

21^st century Christians stand on the threshold of the greatest change the body of Christ has ever seen, aside, of course, from the coming of Christ.

We stand at the crossroads between the end of the Gospel dispensation and the millennial reign of Christ.

But before these two dispensations meet, there’s yet a deeper work of grace God has promised to bestow upon those he’s choosing for the deep work of his Spirit in the closing season of the Gospel era.

Jesus is saving the best for last, because the last will need the best to overcome and not be overwhelmed by the rampage of darkness in the last days.

Many are growing weary in well-doing, silently professing in their heart despair for the promise of his coming.

Christ is here now, in the midst of his church, calling and choosing those who desire the deep work of the Spirit to be made whole and holy, in the time he’s reserved, the age of Philadelphia, the final feast, Tabernacles.

There’s a tremendous lack of understanding in the body of Christ of the progressive unfolding of the plan of God; particularly beginning with the Reformation to and including the end-times.

Many, if not most, do not understand the Christian journey is a progressive revelation of the Lord into deeper intimacy, as typified by the Saints of Old, Christ and the Apostles, and the symbolism of the journey God established in the Jewish feasts, the Tabernacle, and the Temples.

Many do not understand the difference between the milestones of the journey and the ultimate destination God has in store for those who earnestly seek and desire Christ.

And, sadly and tragically, many do not understand the journey Christ pioneered.

That he is not a model, but the forerunner and first and only one to complete the journey Adam and Eve failed to complete without sin, and not only without sin, but redeeming what they and their descendants lost, becoming our Savior.

It’s such a paradox; we live in the time of the greatest revelation of Scripture, the most abundant resources God has ever made available to mankind, and yet, a time when the Scripture says there’ll be a great falling away.

We live in a time of great achievements and advancements, everything this life has to offer.

And yet, few, relatively speaking, according to the Scriptures, will partake of the greatest opportunity Christ has reserved for the last days, to be made one with him and the Father, the bride of Christ.

Never before in this creation has God set before mankind on such a large scale the promises of Philadelphia.

Someday, in the Millennium, there’ll be those who look back, and say, “How could those in the body of Christ in the 21^st century, with the of abundance of revelation of God’s Word, not realize the hour of their visitation, what Christ was making available to the Church in that season of history?”

We only have so much time.

Let’s make the best use of our remaining time by asking the Lord to extend our days, to make them fruitful, and do a quick work in our lives.

One last comment about Calvary.

When talking extensively about Christ, it’s impossible not to bring up Calvary, and the fact he was killed, murdered.

Peter on the day of Pentecost told those before him they killed the Messiah; Stephen before his stoning said they murdered him (Acts 7:52); and Christ himself called those planning his death, killers, wretches, and other words none of us enjoy using.

It’s important to be reminded the events of Calvary in no way have any bearing on the offering of salvation to Jew or Gentile.

We all stand, before we’re born-again, guilty of sin before God and deserving of eternal separation.

Jesus made himself immediately available to those who killed him, Jew and Gentile, two millenniums ago.

How much more to Jew and Gentile today!

** The Christian Pilgrimage: Passover (Born-Again), Pentecost (Baptized in the Spirit), & Tabernacles (Christ Likeness) **

 The Christian’s Lifelong Pilgrimage – Entering the Kingdom (fulfilling Passover); Learning about the Kingdom and It’s Promises (fulfilling Pentecost); Being Made One with the King of the Kingdom, the Journey into Intimacy and Union (fulfilling Tabernacles)

“From Awareness, to Desire and Appetite, to Growing and Maturing in Fullness”

The rudimentary principles of Christ (NIV, Hebrews 6:1), and the “…deep truths of the faith…” (NIV,1 Timothy 3:9) only have meaning in relationship with Christ as made known in the revelation of his Word and the moving of his Spirit.

When we’re born-again, we leave one kingdom and enter another “legally,” becoming citizens of Heaven.

But like the natural, a change in “spiritual geography” does not mean an inner change has occurred, or that it is deep; nor does it imply changes have occurred in language, culture, beliefs, expectations, etc., and all manner of practicing and living life.

When we cross over the threshold from death to life – to begin the journey of life in Christ – the promised land of the Kingdom lies before us.

But there’s much, much, work to be done to make us into the image and likeness of the King of the Kingdom.

Grace wraps its arms around us, ushering you and me into the Kingdom, but it doesn’t want you and me to stay in the condition in which we were found.

But to be changed into a new creation, in line with the new Kingdom and King.

It’s a process and a journey.

The sacrifice of Christ in putting sin to death “justifies” our entrance into the Kingdom; being born-again by the power of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the Old Covenant feast of Passover in the New.

Further, Christ’s sacrifice “justifies” you and me to learn and experience the ways and workings of the new Kingdom; its history, language, culture, operations, gifting, administrations, and importantly, its promises, hopes, and vision.

This is the journey of the feast of Pentecost, “learning about and experiencing” the King and his Kingdom, fulfilling the Old in the New.

The first two feasts may be likened to the Outer Court and Holy Place experiences.

The born-again and Pentecostal experiences bring us into the promised land, and its resources, the rudimentary principles of Christ (NIV, Hebrews 6:1), but not into the “…deep truths of the faith…”, the promises themselves. (NIV, 1 Timothy 3:9, bold and italicized mine)

The return of Passover and Pentecost (the Sardis church age, the 1500s to the 20^th century), made known the promises and high calling of God in Christ; but were not designed, ordained, or equipped, to bring those promises to fruition.

That takes a special work of grace reserved for Tabernacles, the Philadelphia church age (which began in the last half of the 20^th century and continues today).

Passover and Pentecost are ordained by God to bring us into the Kingdom, to teach us about the Kingdom, and the promise of becoming a full-fledged citizen.

But the first two feasts lack the power to transform our nature (cleansing and healing all the baggage of the generations brought with us), into the likeness of our new King.

They’re designed to bridge the gap in understanding between the Kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of light; to make known the great divide between the “King’s,” pointing to the promised grace in being made new from the inside out.

But they’re not the promised grace in fullness, but a deposit: a measure sufficient to bring you and me from one kingdom to the next, but not sufficient to transform you and me into the likeness of the new King we serve.

Passover and Pentecost point to how far we’ve come, and yet, how far we still have to journey.

Passover and Pentecost make us aware of the vast difference between us and Christ; bringing you and me to the realization the works of service, worship, obligation, ministry, and all the gifts and offices, etc., will not transform who we are, there is yet more of Christ to apprehend.

Passover and Pentecost make us aware “doing,” is not “becoming.”

That the Outer Court and Holy Place is not the Most Holy Place, where Christ resides, and where God is calling us to journey to be made one with him.

That the harvest of barley and wheat, symbolic of the Christian born-again and Pentecostal experiences, can never produce the precious harvests of the summer fruits, nuts, and olives, which are symbolic of the feast of Tabernacles, being cleansed, healed, and restored to the likeness of Christ.

That after we’ve done everything Passover and Pentecost has to offer, i.e., the fivefold ministry, the gifts, and everything in between, there’s still the deep wounds and brokenness of generational transgression and iniquities in need of cleansing and healing by the power of Christ in the journey of Tabernacles.

That only death to sin, deeply rooted transgressions and iniquities, in journey with Christ, i.e., transformation, will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness of intimacy and union with Christ, “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (NIV, Colossians 1:27)

Passover and Pentecost make known the huge barrier in the kingdom of God between servant and son, foolish and wise, concubine, virgin and bride; transformation can only come about by the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

The price for entrance into Tabernacles is beyond repentance and being sorry for one’s sins, but the cost of one’s life; the giving of oneself to Christ to be made into his likeness; to want Jesus and him alone, no matter the cost.

Passover and Pentecost are designed to inspire and cultivate desire and appetite for Christ, seeing the promises and seeking him as the destination.

Passover justifies you and me, giving us access to Christ.

Pentecost gives glimpses of what’s available, pointing to the promises of Christ.

But, Tabernacles, takes us beyond justification, and the knowledge and experience of some of the promises, into the fullness of the promises, Christ himself, being made new, knowing and being known.

Passover brings us into legal standing with God.

Pentecost acknowledges our legal standing with gifts and ministry.

But, Tabernacles, takes us from legal standing into experiential relationship, intimacy, and eventually union.

Passover and Pentecost teach us about Christ, to know his presence.

Tabernacles brings us into knowing him, and he us.

Whereas Passover and Pentecost teach about the atonement – becoming one with Christ – Tabernacles is the atonement, the deep work of the Spirit of grace, the journey of being made one with our Savior; the “…mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (NIV, Colossians 1:27; bold and italicized mine)

(See Leviticus Chapter 23 regarding the Old Testament and the feasts).

Tabernacles moves us beyond the Outer Court and Holy Place into the Most Holy Place, fulfilling the feasts of atonement and booths, intimacy and union with Christ.

The Bride

The Church teaches the bride will be married to Christ in Heaven; in fact, Christendom points almost anything good, other than being born-again, to Heaven.

On the contrary, the bride, i.e., “coming to fullness and maturity, cleansed and healed, walking in resurrection life,” is joined to Christ here on earth; she receives her new names here, not in Heaven, Revelation 3:12-13.

Resurrection life is for here, not Heaven, otherwise it would not be promised and called resurrection life!

If it was for Heaven, we would not be told to seek to apprehend intimacy and union with Christ here.

The purpose of Christ “coming” to his sons and daughters (Tabernacles) is to make ready a bride for him here, not Heaven.

Eve was made for Adam here, not Heaven.

We don’t need resurrection life in Heaven, we need it here.

When one apprehends resurrection life, they’ve received the promise of Christ to join them to him; confirming and testifying on his life-giving grace.

The “fulfillment” of the mystery of Christ is for this life, not the next.

The enemy works tirelessly to convince God’s sons and daughters God’s promises are for Heaven; while the Spirit is working to increase our trust and faith to believe God to do the unimaginable, “but promised,” here on earth – to redeem our whole person, body, soul, and spirit.

The work of faith, love, hope, etc., is for this life, not the next.

Important

Jesus made an interesting comment when speaking to the Sadducees about the resurrection in Luke 20:36 that went over their heads, like almost everything he said.

He said there’s no death in the resurrection.

Note: being raised from mortality to immortality, resurrection life, 1 Corinthians 15:20, 15:44-49; Hebrews 7:16, etc., like Christ in his perfection, Hebrews 5:7-10, does not mean your body cannot be killed by others, like Christ at Calvary, because we still live in a fallen world.

Obviously, there’s no death in Heaven.

But he was not talking about Heaven, but about walking in resurrection life here on earth, being joined to Christ here, the life he pioneered as the promised grace to come.

He doesn’t want to showcase his bride in Heaven, but here on earth, this is where she’s desperately needed; to draw men and women to him, and into the deep work of the Spirit.

Jesus desires to be joined to his bride here, on earth; to fulfill the longing in his heart to be one with his sons and daughters, as he taught, and, prayed shortly before his death (John 14:18, 14:23, 17:21 and Revelation 3:7-13).

Christendom, through creeds and traditions, points, just like the Old Testament, the promises of God to the shores of the Millennium, or Heaven; always out of reach to the joy of the enemy, pushing God’s sons and daughters to strive for something they’ve been told they cannot reach.

But we’re not in the Old Testament.

The enemy has worked overtime to keep New Testament saints in the Old Testament; convincing many to settle for the loaves and the fishes, not aware Christ stands just around the corner with a banquet.

The body of Christ has not been taught to seek intimacy with Christ, lacking the understanding of the Christian pilgrimage and the feasts.

Some within the Church see the promises of God, but try to apprehend them with the resources of Passover and Pentecost, instead of seeking Christ to be chosen for the deep work of Tabernacles.

It’s like trying to accomplish something in the 21^st century using 1900s technology.

It would be like a biplane used to apprehend the promises of God for an F-35.

As tragic as this sounds, Passover and Pentecost are insufficient to conceive, birth, and mature the bride.

That’s reserved for those who respond to his call and seek him.

And his call is to every man and woman.

Sometimes, it’s people in the worse possible shape who seek Christ with all their heart.

Important

I have a childhood I would hope on no one; and was in a horrible place some twelve, thirteen years ago, far from pleasing Christ, wanting nothing but the chance to pursue Christ once again, and, Jesus answered my prayers and gave me a second chance to pursue him, bringing me into a deep work of grace.

And he can do the same for you, no matter what you’re fighting or captive to.

That’s the story of the Bible; the unrighteous, coming to God like David and his mighty men of Old (many, the outcasts of society).

Christ does not despise our wounds and brokenness.

He looks for windows and doors of humility and contriteness to save and redeem by his loving grace and care.

He’s come to save, not condemn, for all have fallen into sin, no matter how righteous one appears.

The Coming to Make Ready a Bride

Paul’s nine letters to the Churches point to the “promise” of the bride, the journey to be made like Christ; the “coming” of the Lord to usher those who’ve been called and chosen into the deep waters of the Spirit of grace.

There are many Scriptures of Christ “coming” to God’s sons and daughters to usher them into the “…deep truths of the faith…” (NIV, 1 Timothy 3:9), the revelation of Christ by grace (NIV, 1 Peter 1:13), being made one with him.

I discussed a few of the Scriptures in the last post; noting in prior posts the Scriptures of Christ “coming” to his sons and daughters to usher them into the deep work of the Spirit as pioneered and fulfilled by him.

Contrary to what many have been taught, again because of the creeds, the great weight and body of New Testament Scripture is about the journey of Tabernacles, dying to sin, “…made alive in the Spirit” (NIV, 1 Peter 3:18, bold and italicized mine).

Here are a few Scriptures describing the “coming,” “revealing,” “appearing,” “judging,” of Christ to cleanse and heal those he’s called and chosen to be made one with him:

• Matthew 24:40 – 41; Matthew 25:10 (the virgins are made ready for the wedding, changed from virgins to brides); Matthew 25:21 (the servant enters into the “joy” of the Lord, i.e., the deep work of grace to be made one with him),
• John 14:18, 14:23, 21:18 (verse 21:18 is not about martyrdom, but Christ taking Peter aside for the deep work of the Spirit, just like Paul later in the wilderness, and just like David’s wilderness journey foretold for Christ, and, us in Christ), I wrote a section on this verse in another series,
• 1 Corinthians 4:5, 15:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10 (the judgment of Christ is the cleansing and healing of those he’s chosen to be made one with him, this side of Heaven, see 7:1, our part to seek to be cleansed and respond when he comes),
• Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Timothy 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Peter 4:17; Titus 2:13.

 

These Scriptures show even after our pilgrimage into the feasts of Passover and Pentecost, there’s still more, much more, to come in Tabernacles – the feast of cleansing, healing, and restoration to walk in resurrection life.

Passover and Pentecost are not the end of the journey, but the beginning.

Just like the Hebrews when they came to the promised land; it was to be their beginning, but for almost all, it was the beginning of their end.

Passover and Pentecost show what we’ve escaped, teach us about the Kingdom, introducing you and me to the promises of God yet to be fulfilled in Christ.

They make us aware of the past, give us a compass reading, and point you and me to yet something greater to come – the person of Christ.

They’re not the fullness of Christ, but a deposit toward the promised grace to come in the person of Christ, to be made one in the journey of Tabernacles.

The fullness of the promised grace to come, healing and restoration from wounds and brokenness, and, transgressions and iniquities, is best described by Peter from his own experience, the revelation of Christ by grace (NIV, 1 Peter 1:13).

Passover and Pentecost are the connecting bridge between being lost, unhealed and unrestored – an eternal fallen state – to the deep work of the Spirit of grace – healing and restoration into the likeness of Christ.

Finally, when you’re in Passover and Pentecost, certain future prophetic “promises,” look like future prophetic “events,” i.e., a “given.”

But when you’re ushered into Tabernacles, as prophetic promises begin to unfold, you realize they’re not events, but the result of increasing relationship.

For example, the rapture no longer becomes, as many teach, a mass exodus of Christians to Heaven before the Tribulation, but the result of bridal relationship.

The rapture is not the result of an “event,” but, a relationship with Christ, which means, sons and daughters will go at different times.

And the bride will be one who’s life is utterly dependent on Christ for everything, where Christ is life itself.

** Lessons from History **

A few in Israel knew the season of the Messiah’s coming was near, based on the 70 weeks of Daniel, and possibly by connecting the Kingdom of Rome to the beast of Daniel.

Those who were discerning may have known the Roman empire was the fourth beast of Daniel, recognizing the three kingdoms preceding Rome, i.e., the lion, the gold head, was symbolic of Babylon.

The bear, “…chest and arms of silver…” (NIV, Daniel 2:32), were symbolic of Medo – Persia.

And the leopard, the “…belly and thighs of bronze…” (NIV, Daniel 2:32), were symbolic of Greece. See also Daniel Chapter 7.

They may have reasoned Rome was the fourth beast of Daniel, the beast of iron legs, a horrible beast, “…terrifying and frightening and very powerful” “…with its iron teeth and bronze claws…” “…that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.” (NIV, Daniel 7:7 and Daniel 7:19)

Note:

The teaching Christ was to come first as the “suffering Messiah,” to be followed at the end of the Tribulation by his second coming as the “victorious Messiah,” is not in accord with the teachings of Scripture.

This teaching contends it was God’s design to have his Son killed at Calvary, which is common teaching and even massaged into Scripture by translators at various places, like Acts 2:23; I refer you to an interlinear and my previous posts.

God did not design salvation with Calvary as the foundation.

On the contrary, Christ is the foundation for our salvation, not Calvary.

God designed salvation to be ushered in by the death of sin, the perfection of his Son, not the death of his Son; again, see my earlier posts in this series.

Christ suffered in being made perfect through the long journey of fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles, healed and restored, made one with his Father, made “complete” before his presentation to John at the river Jordan (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10).

His journey through Tabernacles, being made one with the Father, healed and restored from generational transgressions and iniquities, was his journey of suffering, “…made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (NIV, Hebrews 5:9, italicized mine).

He entered and left his 40 days of testing as the victorious Christ, entering ministry having defeated sin, defending his crown against the assaults of the evil one, displaying his position and authority in God to Israel for over three years.

Christ’s perfection has been cleverly swallowed up by Calvary in creeds and traditions; the tares, mustard seed, and yeast of Matthew 13 Christ prophesied would happen to the Gospel he planted.

The focus on Calvary hides the distinctiveness and separateness of his journey of being made complete before his ministry.

And in hiding Christ’s journey, the enemy hid the path Christ pioneered for you and me.

The last thing the enemy wants is for the end-time bride to be formed and matured; because it will mark his last days in Heaven, and, his short time on earth after being cast out of Heaven (Revelation 12).

Had the “suffering and victorious” Christ been accepted by Israel, Israel would have, under Christ’s leadership, become the head of nations, spreading the knowledge of God throughout the earth.

***

From the best we can tell, it is likely many in Israel believed “deliverance” meant the Messiah would deliver them from Rome, like in the days of Moses, Joshua, the Judges, and some of the Kings.

The coming of the Messiah was looked at more from what the Messiah would provide in terms of the outward, the betterment and enrichment of their nation as the head of nations, as opposed to the knowledge of individual healing and restoration, i.e., cleansing from sin and the wounds and brokenness it feeds upon.

After over a millennium of preparation by God, doing everything possible to prepare Israel to accept their Messiah, the leaders of Israel failed to recognize the day of their visitation.

Had Christ been accepted, the nation of Israel would’ve received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; baptizing the nation of Israel, corporately and individually, beginning the journey of cleansing and healing hearts and minds.

But Israel rejected the deep work of the Spirit of God in Christ; it threatened all they had come to believe about themselves, the Messiah, Rome, and even God.

And in rejecting the work of the Spirit in Christ, for many knew God was with him, they rejected their opportunity to be healed and restored into wholeness and holiness, in the likeness of their Savior.

And here we are in the 21^st century, facing a similar scenario.

The body of Christ is on the verge of an unprecedented move of God, with many unprepared; believing God is more interested in translating them to Heaven, than preparing them for intimacy and union with Christ.

It’s the same story all over again.

Many today are unprepared and ill-equipped to face the coming move of God, and the retaliation against that move once the Lord completes his work.

Instead, many, like Israel of Old, are looking for the coming of the Messiah to translate them from the Antichrist system, unaware they have not prepared, and the oil in their lamps is about to run out.

Thankfully, we’re not there yet, the Lord letting revival linger yet longer, as he searches for those he can call and choose to come into the deep things of the Spirit while the “door” to Philadelphia (Tabernacles) is still open.

It’s not too late.

And even when revival comes, some who are unprepared, will be ushered into the deep things of God as they open the door of their heart for what will likely be a quick work of the Spirit.

Again, it’s not too late to be called and chosen into the deep things of the Spirit of grace in the revelation of Christ (NIV, 1 Peter 1:13).

Important

If we don’t know history, and what God is doing presently, and how and where what he’s doing aligns with Scripture and the church ages, past, present, and coming, then we’re subject to all manner of speculation about what God is doing, and not doing.

At this stage of Christendom’s journey over two millenniums, by the revelation of the Spirit, we should be able to discern the season we’re living in, what God is presently doing, and what lies before in prophecy yet to be fulfilled.

Of course, this can only be accomplished by the revelation of the Lord, which he is eager to provide to those who hunger and thirst after him.

As the Scripture says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” (NIV, Amos 3:7)

And less we make the same mistake as Israel, we need to know Christ is not coming to throw off the yoke of the Antichrist kingdom by mass exiting Christians in the rapture.

But is coming first and foremost to prepare a bride in fulfillment of all the prophecies foretold of a bride for the Son.

To prepare an “intimate” to share his life and Kingdom.

But first, before there can be a rapture, he must cleanse, heal and restore her wounds and brokenness, and redeem and deliver her of the sins that feed on them.

And that requires entering the journey Christ pioneered, fathered by God, to die to sin to walk in newness of life.

First century Israel missed their Messiah because they thought it was about Rome, and not about sin, repentance, and forgiveness, to be cleansed, healed, and restored, made whole and holy.

They thought it was about everything other than their hearts being healed from sin and the devastation it brings.

They failed to discern the “types,” of Christ, in the “ancients,” and the Old Covenant, and their journey with God; Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, etc., and the prophets, and what they preached about being made new from the inside out.

Today, many focus on the ministry of the likes of Paul, Peter, John, James, etc., but not the journey they took in dying to sin to walk in newness of life.

That their writings are the “overflow” what Christ accomplished in them, in preparing them to be joined to him as one.

The theme of the New Testament is not “event-based,” but the journey of crucifying the flesh, being raised to walk in new life, the same baptism Christ pioneered.

We have got “to want” to be made well, healed and restored.

But if it’s something one does not want, or believe is necessary for them, they can always come before the Lord and ask him to help them search the Scriptures like the Bereans of old (Acts 17:11).

Christ is here, now, bringing revival to sons and daughters all over the earth, from all walks of life, ushering many into the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

He’s preparing many for what he’s about to release upon this earth.

And those who allow Christ to cleanse and heal them, will find the door open to Heaven before the “…great and dreadful day of LORD.” (NIV, Joel 2:31)

** It’s about Relationship **

The establishment of creeds and traditions ushered in a man-made structure over the Garden Christ and the early Apostles had planted, supplanting, what they had plowed, watered, and nurtured.

Creeds and traditions pushed Christianity back into the Old Covenant under the banner of the New – from relationship, to a works-based, event-based religion.

Lest we forget, the traditions of men, and the strongholds of sin holding unrepentant hearts in captivity, put Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Peter recognized who Christ was because of the revelation of the Father to him about his Son.

One has to wonder how many of Israel’s leaders, if any, prayed and asked God about this man many were flocking to see and hear?

Or were traditions so deeply rooted in them, they had lost all spiritual sense to try to connect with God in prayer?

I wonder if creeds and traditions are so deeply rooted in leaders today, so powerful, after 1700 years of fullness, if it’s even possible, outside direct intervention of the Lord, for them to pray about matters considered ironclad in institutionalized Christendom?

How many of us go to prayer and study about the new things God is trying to bring our way?

It’s not easy to war against generational wounds and brokenness, whether they’re at the Church level, or our level.

These are challenging times to say the least.

Now more than ever we need the leading of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of God, and the grace of Christ, to navigate the difficult waters churned up by the whirlwinds of this world.

The natural flow from creeds and traditions only leads in one direction – striving, a religion centered and focused around “events” and the “works of the flesh.”

It’s part of the law of sowing and reaping, whether they’re righteous or unrighteous seeds.

We have a culture, society, and church flush with activities and events as the measure of who we are, “doing,” to become; instead of “being made by the power of the Holy Spirit,” to become.

Passover and Pentecost were designed by God to begin the transition from “doing,” the works of the flesh, to “becoming,” being transformed by grace through faith in the adventure and journey of Christ, the feast of Tabernacles.

Passover and Pentecost open the door to the rudimentary principles of Christ, inspiring and cultivating, through teaching, ministry, and the gifts of the Spirit, the revelation of the deep things of God in the high calling of union with Christ.

That we would begin the process of being “turned” by the Lord toward him, so he could “turn” us completely toward him (see Lamentations 5:21 in an interlinear).

Visible Christendom today is largely a structure of events and activities advertised to produce restoration, but in the end, largely resignation and despair over the great abyss between hope and reality.

Only Christ can take wheat and barley Christians and graft them into him, the restored Tree of Life, to produce in you and me, by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the summer harvest of the fruit of the Spirit.

Wheat and barley can never produce fruit, it can only come from being grafted into Christ, and Tabernacles is reserved for that journey.

Today, there are those rare ministries in the body of Christ God has breathed upon to begin transitioning men and women from event-based theology to relationship with Christ in intimacy.

I’ve been the beneficiary of some of those rare ministries which I am eternally thankful.

Tabernacles is the final leg of the journey where all the trappings of creeds and traditions are finally brought to death, freeing God sons and daughters to breathe the breath of God in intimacy and communion with Christ at a deep and personal level.

Only Christ can initiate and bring one into the journey he pioneered.

It goes without saying some of Christendom’s strongest beliefs, that salvation began at Calvary, and God killed his Son at Calvary, a works-based event-oriented belief about salvation, are the key breeding ground for “striving,” because of the absence of intimacy and union with Christ in his pioneering journey.

Important

Creeds and traditions, and the strongholds they’ve created, can become so strong and powerful, even in the face of signs and wonders, that they’ll lead people to do the unimaginable and sabotage the very salvation they so desperately need.

While Israel’s leaders plotted and schemed to nail Christ to the cross, the enemy’s purpose was even more evil.

For his purpose was not only to kill the manifestation of grace sent to Israel, but more importantly, to wipe out the story of Christ’s pioneering journey in being made perfect, becoming our Savior (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10).

The greatest threat to the enemy, his greatest fear, is not the manifestation of the Spirit that comes and goes in revivals, or the manifestation of the wonders of God.

But those God calls and chooses into the adventure and journey of Tabernacles, dying to sin to walk in newness of life.

The greatest threat to the enemy is those Christ is forming himself in, by cleansing, healing, and restoring their wounds and brokenness and the sins that feed upon.

When sin is put to death the enemy has no hold and has lost not only legal claim, but experiential claim to the land he once possessed in the hearts and minds of God’s sons and daughters.

What the enemy fears above all else is God’s sons and daughters coming into deeper intimacy and care of the Lord – entering the journey Christ pioneered – being made one with Christ and the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The enemy has pulled out all the stops through the centuries to hide the pioneering journey of Christ that fulfilled the feast of Tabernacles.

When sin is vanquished, the enemy has no hold, he’s left wandering in the wilderness having no place to “Tabernacle;” because he’s been vacated from God’s Tabernacle, the temple of our body, soul, and spirit.

Today, Christianity has before it the greatest opportunity ever given to men and women since the dawn of this creation reserved in the age of Philadelphia.

Because, the greatest darkness men and women will face in this creation looms on the horizon.

While Israel’s leaders tried to kill the ministry of Christ, Satan’s motives were much deeper, to kill the story of Christ, but Jesus did not allow that to happen completely, else there’d never be an end-time bride.

Though Israel’s leaders sabotaged their own lives, subjects of the sword of Rome, and though the enemy appeared to shipwreck Christ’s ministry for the moment, God raised up a small band of disciples to finish planting the seeds of the Church and authoring the writings we have today as the New Covenant.

Again, the greatest threat and fear of the enemy is God’s sons and daughters coming to the knowledge of Christ – that God has a plan by grace through faith to heal, restore, and cleanse you and me from our wounds and sins.

Good news to us, horrible news to the enemy.

It’s not just about being born-again and baptized in the Spirit, but the transforming work of the Spirit of grace in Tabernacles.

That’s what the enemy fears, working hard through creeds and traditions to bury.

That’s why the Reformation follows the Dark Ages, finding the buried treasure hidden in a field.

The last thing the enemy wants to lose is his authority and claim over areas of our lives.

Can you imagine how the enemy felt after tempting Christ in the wilderness, and Christ being in a weakened state, and failing to tempt Christ into sin?

The first human to overcome him and not be brought under his dominion.

For remember, the Scripture says Christ came from the stock of fallen men and women, though conceived by the Holy Spirit, he carried the marks of his generations just like you and me.

Knowing all this, the enemy set about building an even a stronger set of creeds and traditions, surpassing those of Israel; to do everything possible to keep God’s sons and daughters out of Tabernacles at all cost.

Important

There are parts of us at war with the grace of God, the truth of his Word, the manifestation of the Spirit of grace, and the kindness of his heart to restore our souls in gentleness.

If Christ had to put to death enmity passed to him from his human ancestry (Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear, Romans 6:10, etc.) that was opposed to the grace and truth of God, we certainly have no claim to do less.

And that’s the mystery of Christ Paul labors over and over again in his writings for the Church to know – to die to sin, to walk in newness of life.

Being born into sin, sin and all its manifestations become familiar; and being born fatherless, spiritual orphans, fatherlessness becomes familiar.

As Paul describes about sin and its destructive power passed from generation to generation:

“‘There was no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” (NIV, Romans 3:10 – 12)

No matter how you look at it, unless you’re an Enoch, Elijah, Paul, or Peter, at the end of their journey, apprehending what Christ apprehended them for, there are parts of our inner man or inner woman at war with Christ, opposed to the Kingdom of God.

We are promised a new heart at conversion, but conversion, i.e., salvation, is a lifelong journey as Paul exhorts to you and me “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (NIV, Philippians 2:12 – 13)

It’s in journey the Word of God is written on our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:8 – 13 and 10:15 – 18).

It’s not a one event thing.

Everyone born of the flesh requires the work of grace to cleanse and heal them from generational transgressions and inequities, and Christ was no exception.

The Scripture is absolutely clear about.

He did it without sin, perfectly, completely, that’s what makes him our Savior! (Hebrews 5:7-10)

Not everyone gets a second chance to journey into the deep things of the Spirit and complete the race.

A number of years ago the Lord spoke to me through a movie, the Cinderella Man, how I was given a second chance to receive the deep work of grace.

It’s humbling to know we only have so many chances to receive the grace and goodness of God.

The Lord says he will not always strive with man, shortening the number of days man has to either receive or refuse the goodness of God.

The foolish virgins are in the same story as the wise, and there comes a time when the Lord comes to begin the process of choosing those who will be made brides.

It’s wonderful to know the grace of God is here to save, but humbling to know we only have so much time to receive it.

Our part is to ask God to save us, and to save us to the uttermost, to do whatever is necessary in our lives to bring us to the highest place possible before we’re cut from the loom of this life.

To pray to the Lord in no uncertain terms we want everything he has to offer, no matter the cost, to learn to love ourselves and others as he has loved us.

It’s a high calling, but we only have one chance at life, and let’s make the most of it.

No matter how far you’ve journeyed, or how old you are, Christ stands at the door knocking to work the work of God in your life.

His grace knows no boundaries.

He only needs the slightest inclinations toward him.

And if your heart cannot even make the smallest of overtures towards the Lord, then ask him to help you turn toward him.

If we but take the smallest of steps, Christ will do everything possible to answer our prayer and bring us into the deep things of his Spirit, no matter how impossible it may seem.

We don’t want to settle for second best, and last place, and seats in the bleachers, when Christ is holding out opportunities for front row seats with him.

He paid a price none of us are asked to pay.

How much more should we respond to his call of love?

The age of Philadelphia offers the most profound promises, the deepest change, and the most intimacy of any of the opportunities and promises presented to men and women since the time of Adam.

Let’s be numbered among those who are wise, and not among those who are foolish and miss intimacy and union with Christ.

“Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.” (NIV, Song of Songs 6:8 – 9)

This is what Jesus is offering to the body of Christ today, to be made one with him and reign with him for all eternity.

This is the promise of the Philadelphia church age, the feast of Tabernacles, to receive “‘…the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem…and…my new name.’” (NIV, Revelation 3:12)

It’s a long journey to subdue the kingdoms of our heart opposed to God.

A journey of success and failure, but if we hold steady in the day of the Lord’s visitation, he will fulfill all he’s promised, bringing you and me into his intimacy and care.

As the author of Hebrews says, “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’” (NIV, Hebrews 3:14 – 15)

And lest anyone misunderstand, receiving a greater measure of Christ is not about more and greater good works, but care from him; allowing him to enter the kingdoms of our heart to bring rest from the heavy toil of wounds and sins.

** Briefly, The Servant Who Hid His Talent **

To digress a little bit, regarding the three servants of Matthew 25 who received talents from their master, two multiplied their talents, and the other hid his.

Their master did not expect them to “give” what they could not give, but “provisioned” them with gifts from him.

Jesus never asks us to multiply the things he gives us by the works of the flesh, but, instead, like him, following his example, by the power of the Holy Spirit, by grace through faith.

The one who hid his talent failed to understand the creative power of God to multiply what he gives us; that he is a multiplier of the seeds of righteousness he plants in our hearts.

That he, the great overseer of our souls, will add, multiply, and complete the work of Christ he starts.

We don’t want to let the Word of God continually fall to the ground and not bear the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives Jesus desires for you and me.

Christ desires to bring his sons and daughters into a state of rest in him, built on the foundations of faith and grace in the care and love of God.

His heart is not to leave us in turmoil but to usher you and me into the joy of the Lord; the Tabernacle of his fullness he promised to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

The servant who hid his talent failed to realize the “leanness” – what he perceived as hardness on the part of his master (the Greek meaning for “hard” in the NIV is leanness) – was because his master had learned from his Father (God), how to live in the provisions of the Spirit of grace.

The master was content by all outward measures and rich in the treasures of God.

The servant who hid the talent did not realize in all his study and years of service, his master lived in the realm of grace; receiving from his “Father” the provisions of life – boundless love and care more than one could ask or think.

He failed to realize his master did not live in the natural.

But in the realm of the Spirit.

That the master’s “Father” would always out match and be over and above the needs of his life; a life lived in security and trust.

That his master had learned from his Father when failure happens, the grace of God is greater than any failure, that failure is not in the vocabulary of his Father, but another opportunity to receive grace and care from the shores of Heaven.

His master was a man of journey; who had long ago learned how to live in the care and provisions of his Father, becoming utterly dependent on him.

And his master desired fellowship on his journeys, but knew his servants needed training and teaching in the ways of grace, relying on the work of the Father to multiply by grace through faith the talents he gave his servants.

In every Christian endeavor we’re invited, we’re dependent upon God to give the increase, and to not expect increase – hiding our talents and gifts – is to believe God will not provide what he’s promised, a lack of faith in receiving grace.

The servant who failed to multiply his talent mistook the “leanness” of his master for fear, projecting his fear on the one who walked by grace through faith.

Maybe the fear of failure, rooted in insecurity, refusing to receive care and love from his master, living an independent life in his heart and thoughts, in the provisions of yesteryear, camped in the ways of the old, while the Spirit beckoned him to new pastures.

He’s an example of an uneasy contentment, centered around the ways of the past, the “familiar,” the well-traveled road, fearful of the new things, and what they may mean and cost to one’s life and circumstances.

He’s the type of those who play it safe, another picture of the foolish virgin; satisfied with a morsel, declining the banquet of the Lord in the deep waters of grace.

He’s a type of those who look at the immediate cost of venturing on with Christ, blind to the glories and provisions of the Spirit of God and the unimaginable waiting around the corner.

He’s an example of those who’ve tasted Christ, but quickly forget the goodness of the Lord, the cares of this life suffocating any budding desire for more.

I know, I’ve been there, I’ve gone down that road, more than once.

But Jesus chased after me, and he’ll chase after you.

He’s an example of those who only feel safe and secure in the empty way of life handed down from the fathers in creeds and traditions; “taught” to fear anything new.

I know, I’ve been there.

I know what that’s like.

But Jesus!!

Jesus knows where we live; the wounds and brokenness of our captivity.

And he has a unique and special plan to cleanse and heal you, just like he has for me.

And by the way, I suggest not being fooled because something is said to have stood the test of time.

Because the test of time is opposed to the progressive revelation of the Lord in bringing his sons and daughters from the rudimentary principles of Christ into the deep waters of his Spirit.

The dark ages stood the test of time to the detriment of untold millions for centuries.

It took the Reformation to break the test of time of the dark ages, the Church of Thyatira.

And Pentecost reborn in Azusa, to the move the Church farther.

And Tabernacles, today, to move the Church, those within the body of Christ who want the deep things of God, even farther.

** Only Christ Can Produce Christ **

Though Christendom has striven for centuries to produce Christ in God’s sons and daughters, it has failed.

And not only fail, but given rise to an undercurrent of hopelessness and despair in many.

We’ve been taught God’s promises are either for Heaven, or, for the future.

There’s a sense to not ask too much, to settle for the little we can get from God.

To hold the fort until Christ comes.

That the promises of God for the deep work of the Spirit to be made one with Christ are simply out of reach, for another time, and, another people group.

The problem is the Church has been looking at Passover and Pentecost, the born-again and baptism of the Holy Spirit experiences, to produce Christ.

But only Christ can produce Christ in the journey of Tabernacles, the final feast of the Christian pilgrimage specifically reserved for the age of Philadelphia.

(There are likely brides from all church ages, but Philadelphia is specifically reserved for the season of the “bride” in the end-times.)

Passover and Pentecost can only produce Passover and Pentecost, no more, no less.

Barley and wheat, (i.e., the born-again and Pentecostal experiences), can only produce barley and wheat – the spiritual and natural law of in-kind established in creation.

Just as Eve came from Adam by the miracle working power of God, the bride must come from intimacy with Christ over the long journey of Tabernacles.

The born-again and Pentecostal experiences cannot produce the “fullness” of the nature of Christ in you and me, it takes the journey of Tabernacles.

This is the design and plan of God, typified, by the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Outer Court, representing Passover; Holy Place, symbolizing Pentecost; and the Most Holy Place, symbolizing Tabernacles).

It is also displayed in Israel’s feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), Israel’s three main harvests (barley, wheat, and summer harvest of fruit, nuts, and olives), and the water, blood, and Spirit, of 1 John; symbolizing the Christian pilgrimage from being born-again, baptized in the Spirit, to the long journey of Tabernacles.

The fullness of Christ can only come about by being grafted into the Tree of Life, Christ Jesus, i.e., the feast of Tabernacles.

Grafting does not happen in the born-again and Pentecostal experiences.

They give us a deposit of Christ, but not the fullness of transformation; which can only come about by being grafted into Christ, the Tree of Life.

And it is through the deep work of transformation – cleansing, healing, and restoration, the work of the Spirit of grace in Tabernacles – the precious summer harvest of “…the fruit of the Spirit…” can occur in your life and mine. (NIV, Galatians 5:22)

Just as the Outer Court and the Holy Place had purpose, with the greater purpose and expectancy pointing to the Most Holy Place; and the barley and wheat harvests had purpose, but pointed to the greater purpose and expectancy, to the summer harvest of fruits, nuts, and olives; so, to Passover and Pentecost, toward Tabernacles.

***

Just like in ages past, many are looking for the next wave of God’s Spirit.

And it is likely to come in the lives of many reading this post.

But without preparation, like the parables of the foolish virgins and the servant who hid his master’s gift, many will be ill-equipped and unprepared; lacking the foundation, understanding, and experience, to move quickly into the deeper things of God as they unfold.

Jesus does not come in revival to exalt who we are, but to reveal who he is.

And in the revealing of Christ, our wounds and brokenness are made known under the light of his care and love (being known, which is a good thing) providing a place of safety for cleansing, healing, and restoration, from the ravages of generational transgressions and inequities.

But we must learn to swim before we can be taken into the deep waters of the Spirit.

And inner healing being offered today through multiple venues in numerous churches and para-church ministries is critical in helping one prepare for what’s coming in the Spirit.

Now is the time to begin the journey.

Now is the time of the “called” to seek the Lord to be “chosen.”

We do not want to be like the Laodiceans who wait too long to answer the knock on the door of their heart.

Those today who are unprepared when revival breaks forth publicly, who could be leaders in the coming move of God, may find themselves challenged and struggling to receive what they need from God as the Spirit of God moves quickly.

Jeremiah said, “‘If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?’” (NIV, Jeremiah 12:5, italicized and bold mine)

The age of Philadelphia (mirrored in Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Philippians means love of horses), and the “pearl,” of Matthew 13) are the running of horses; and those unprepared by Christ may find the race to the finish line more challenging, having neglected the seasons of preparation.

But it is not too late!

God is preparing many today, and he can prepare you as well as you seek him for his all.

Many today are looking for the day when there’s an outward manifestation of revival; where it breaks forth into the public arena like revivals of old.

That is well and good, and likely to happen in our lifetime.

The Scripture points to an unprecedented move of God in the last days, likely surpassing the depth, breath, and scope of the ministry of Christ (Jesus said we would do greater things, of course, it’s Christ doing the work through his body).

And a greater work has been happening privately in the last half-century in inner healing and deliverance, preparing the foundation for what’s coming.

** The Sufferings of Christ (Briefly) **

Contrary to what many believe, revival is brought by Christ to usher you and me into the sufferings of Christ, the journey of putting sin to death, to walk in newness of life.

The sufferings of Christ, the journey of being made one with Christ, is God’s grace to heal and restore you and me from our wounds and brokenness and the sins (transgressions and iniquities) that feed upon them.

To make his sons and daughters a truly new creation in Christ.

And that involves knowing and being known by Christ, the long journey of Tabernacles.

It’s the blessings of God to put sin to death in our lives; we might have greater fullness in Christ as we’re released from the captivity of the enemy.

It’s not only redeeming what Adam and Eve lost, but completing the race they failed to finish.

It’s being restored in body, soul, and spirit, wholeness and holiness.

It’s fulfilling Romans 8:10 – 11, 8:23, 8:29; apprehending what Christ apprehended us for – to be made into his likeness, 2 Corinthians 3:18, the mystery of the Gospel “…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (NIV, Colossians 1:27)

Being made one with Christ, fullness and maturity in him, is not possible through Passover and Pentecost, it takes being chosen by Christ for the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

And that’s what he’s offering today.

Many see revival as a means of escaping pain and the oppression of the enemy and this world.

But Jesus comes, not, that we might escape pain and this world, but to heal and restore the creation God intended us to be all along.

So, we can reach out to others as a testimony of his great mercy and grace.

The sufferings of Christ are the gentle dismantling of all we and our generations have constructed to live life independent of God.

The sufferings of Christ remove the barriers to our wounds and brokenness so they can be cleansed and healed through repentance and forgiveness.

Through journey with Christ, the sufferings of Christ break the authority of darkness over our lives.

It is only through Tabernacles, the deep work of the Spirit, the fullness of Christ, our inheritance – the promise of God – can be formed in you and me.

Finally, the sufferings of Christ in Scripture, unless the subject is clearly about Calvary, refers to Christ’s journey in being made perfect (Hebrews 5:7-10).

Of course, there’s the suffering of discomfort and lack in ministry, but it’s the sufferings of Christ in being perfected that’s the heart of his journey, and the great weight of New Testament writings about Christ and us.

Those sufferings prepared him for the challenge and hardships of ministry, spiritual warfare, and the assaults of others.

Christ ministered from a position of suffering: the discomfort of the human flesh in the face of great challenges and difficulties from those around him, in utter reliance upon the provisions of God in meeting the needs of life.

Even though Christ walked in resurrection life (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 7:16), his body, soul, and spirit felt the discomfort of living in a body once stained by generational transgressions and iniquities, along with the discomfort of dwelling among fallen men and women, and spirits, and all the challenges and complexities imposed on life itself.

Christ did not live, as some contend, like a model, in comfort, but walked and lived in discomfort throughout his ministry.

It does not mean his needs were not met, but that, like Paul, Christ the pioneer for Paul’s journey, placed “…no confidence in the flesh” living in utter dependence upon the provisions of God. (NIV, Philippians 3:3, italicized mine)

Adam and Eve tried to avoid the discomfort of the flesh: we live those results every day.

They chose comfort over discomfort; believing their present discomfort would be relieved by eating the fruit from the tree planted by the enemy.

There was an unmet need inside them God intended to meet at an appointed time.

But his time was not their time, choosing immediate gratification over patience and waiting.

The enemy took advantage of their lack of trust and faith – trust, in the nature of God, his goodness and kindness to come through, and faith, he will come through at the right time.

The sufferings of Christ not only brought him into healing and restoration, being made perfect, but kept him in communion with his Father, and connected to the sufferings of those receiving his love and care.

The perfection of Christ put an end to sin, but not an end to the discomfort of the flesh, perfected or not, and living and ministering to fallen men and women.

It is only through the discomfort of suffering we can be authentic and genuine with one another in our dependence upon God, as a body.

Christ’s perfection did not separate him from others in suffering, but joined him deeply and intimately in care and love for those who were far from God needing his words and touch.

One who is removed from the discomfort of suffering will lack compassion and care for those suffering deeply.

Christ was truly familiar with the complexities of life and the assault of sin upon the heart, mind, and body.

The discomfort of the sufferings of Christ kept him in a place of utter dependence upon God and a companion to those receiving his ministry.

** Seasons of God **

1 John 5:7 – 8

The Scripture says, “For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” (NIV)

The water speaks of the Word of God, written on the tables of our heart and mind (Hebrews 8 & 10); Christ the firstborn of the Word, “made” perfect. (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10).

The Word flows like water on a hot summer day; sometimes in gentle conviction, but more often, in soothing comfort.

The comfort of hope and rest in the security of God’s grace and love.

When the Lord begins the deep work of the Spirit, opening up wounds and sinful practices, it’s critically important to understand he creates an atmosphere of “restoration,” and not “condemnation.”

God’s Word keeps you and me in his grace and love as he gently cleanses and heals our transgressions and iniquities.

Keep in mind, Jesus comes to heal what he’s known all along, and what, more often than not, we are just finding out about ourselves.

He knows the reasons and the “roots” of why we do “thus and thus,” and it’s not until the deep work of the Spirit some of those things become known to us.

The grace of God is unfathomable!

He comes by his Word to remove the fig leaves so we’ll be healed and restored, not shamed for the fig leaves we’ve been wearing, and the sins we and our generations have been hiding.

It is critical to understand this, because this is what separates the Philadelphians from the Laodiceans, i.e., the willingness to let Christ come and heal our deeply rooted transgressions and iniquities, restoring you and me into the fullness of Christ (however far he’s able to take us on the journey).

The blood speaks of the sacrifice of Christ: The New Covenant established a new sacrificial system – a “living sacrifice,” i.e., where sins are overcome by putting it to death, not the person.

It speaks of the extent, depth, and utter sacrifice of Christ in dependence upon God for healing and restoration from transgressions and iniquities passed to him from his human ancestry.

It speaks of the sacrifice he made, in the most intimate of terms, i.e., “his blood,” defined in the new language of the New Testament (e.g., John 6:63 and tens of other new uses Jesus used for words, see also 1 Corinthians 2:13), giving the entirety of his life, including rights and privileges, in putting the enmity in his flesh to death (Romans 6:10, Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear, Hebrews 5:7-10, etc.).

Being fully human, he surrendered every right to vocation and the normal pursuits a young man would follow in search of a wife and family.

The Spirit speaks of life itself; for without the Spirit of the living God, the Word would lack the power to transform and the blood to justify and cleanse.

The Spirit speaks of the living God entering the kingdom of men and women breathing life on the written Word, and life into our sacrifice, being made alive in Spirit, resurrection life.

The written Word and Spirit of God bring together in understandable thought the stream of revelation revealing Christ in your life and mine.

The living Word connects us to the Scriptures.

And the revelation of the Scriptures connects us to what God is doing today.

And in that, we see ourselves not only in the Scriptures, but in the “prophetic time” of the Scriptures, like Daniel who knew Judah was in the season of their 70-year captivity.

Or like the disciples turned Apostles, who came to know they were in the time of the promised grace to come pioneered and authored by Christ.

We, with much more spiritual history in our rear-view, and the present work of grace in our midst, like they of Old, know we’re in another season of “transition and fulfillment” of the promised grace to come in the Gospel age:

fulfillment of the age of the Gospel begun in Christ, and transition to the Millennium.

The water and Spirit reveal not only the work of grace today, connecting you and me to the Scriptures – making us alive with Christ, revealing our place in the prophetic timeline of God – but also the level of sacrifice Christ is inviting his sons and daughters into.

Different church ages have different levels of sacrifice as revealed in Christ’s letters to the Churches.

The age of Philadelphia, the sixth church age, is the High Point, the mountaintop, of all church ages, and the greatest invitation to sacrifice in being made one with Christ.

Likewise, Paul speaks to different levels of sacrifice in his letters to the churches, dependent upon their maturity, resources, etc.; though always calling the sons and daughters of the faith to the highest calling, “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (NIV, Colossians 1:27)

To the Philippians, Paul’s sixth letter in presentation, the counterpart (companion) to Christ’s letter to the Philadelphians, Paul exhorts to complete the race in the fullness to which Christ attained; not only putting sin to death, but surrendering their rights and privileges in pursuit of serving the living God.

The parables of Matthew 13 also call forth different sacrifices.

And the counterpart (companion) to Philippians and Philadelphia is the “pearl,” the sixth parable.

(This is not a coincidence, as I explain in this and other posts. These accounts mirror one another, reflecting unique light from the same gem!)

The sacrifice of the merchant is the greatest invitation to sacrifice of the seven parables.

The sacrifice of Philadelphia, the feast of Tabernacles, is the greatest sacrifice of the seven churches.

And the sacrifice presented to the Philippians, is the greatest sacrifice of Paul’s letters to the churches.

The Word and Spirit testify we’re in the Philadelphia church age – the age of transition, fulfillment, and great sacrifice: the giving of one’s life, spiritually, a “blood sacrifice,” under the sacrificial system of the New Covenant.

Remember, we are not in the Old Covenant, but the New, a better covenant!

As described in previous posts, the term “blood,” used many times in the New Testament, refers to Christ’s sacrificial giving of his life in being made one with the Father – the most intimate expression possible in describing the sacrifice of Christ in putting sin to death, raised to walk in new life before his ministry (Romans 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews 5:7-10, etc.)

Jesus did not walk in new life in presentation of “…signs, wonders and various miracles…” after Calvary, but, before Calvary. (NIV, Hebrews 2:4, italicized mine)

Note: Blood is used a few times in the New Testament in reference to being “shed,” where it’s in the Greek, and not “added” by translators to conform to creeds, and of course, in those instances, it’s referring to Calvary.

Important

It is truly remarkable how much Christ gives of himself in what he asks of us; in terms of coaching, assurance, comfort, and guidance in leading you and me out of fear into rest and joy in him.

That our salvation truly rests in him, and him alone.

He asks so little from us in comparison to what he provides making our comparatively little sacrifice possible and fruitful.

To miss the feast of Tabernacles, the opportunities and promises of the age of Philadelphia (the greatest promises in the Scripture offered individually and collectively to the body of Christ), is to miss the unveiling of Christ.

The Word and Spirit bear witness today, along with the sacrifice many are making in response to Christ’s invitation, we are in another pivotal time in church and human history.

***

The Bible was never designed to be understood outside intimate connection with Christ.

It’s not a textbook or manual, but spiritual food and drink for the body, soul, and spirit.

Eve substituted the need for God, her craving from within, with food.

God is bringing us back to fulfilling our God created need for him with spiritual food and drink by grace through faith in the power of his Spirit.

People today who study the end-times other than through intimacy with Christ, will be misled in what they conclude, and expect to happen in the future.

Christians from all walks of life who search and study the end-times from other than through intimacy with Christ, and the work of grace in Philadelphia, will be misled in what they conclude and expect to happen in the future in both the world and in the body of Christ.

We’re at another crossroads in history; a change in dispensations is on the horizon.

The most important work of the Spirit today is the preparation of the bride for the Son.

The heart of the work of Christ today is centered around Philadelphia, the feast of Tabernacles, preparing the bride for the Son.

Contrary to the hours upon hours of daily news broadcast in America, and around the world, the world is not the center of this creation.

(And sadly, Christian programming is following in hot pursuit, leaving the body of Christ starving for Jesus.)

Christ is the center, and the work of the Spirit of grace is the centerpiece of what God is doing today to prepare his sons and daughters, one way or the other, for the coming fulfillment of the Gospel age, and transition to the Millennium.

Scripture cannot be understood apart from Christ revealing his heart, nature, and labor of love through his Word.

The most important story today, one not heard on the news, but whispered in the secret places of the Most-High, is the revealing of Christ in those who are called and chosen for the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

You may wonder, how can you be so certain the end-times are not determined by the nations, but by what God does through the body of Christ?

Very briefly, in Revelation Chapter 12 the Dragon stands before the woman pregnant with child.

The Dragon is fully grown, ripe for the picking, another fullness of time for sin.

But, it’s not until the child is birthed and revealed the end-times are set in motion.

The birthing, growing and maturing of the child is the last-day bride of Christ.

Christ in her will usher forth the end-time move of God; like the Awakenings, Azusa, and other historic moves of God.

But this time, on a much larger scale, so much so, it is said of the Beast it is wounded for a season.

And after the end-time revival(s) run their course, then, and only then, shall the transition to the Millennium begin.

The end-times are not the end-times because of the world, but because of what God is doing in the body of Christ.

The end-times are the fruit of the deep work of the Spirit of grace in preparing the bride for the Son.

Those who focus their gaze on the nations and the darkness of the hour have a piece of the puzzle, but miss the “picture” of the puzzle, namely, Christ and the work of his Spirit in preparing sons and daughters for union with him.

Any study of the last days short of knowing and experiencing the feast of Tabernacles in the age of Philadelphia is faulty.

Only through the lens of Tabernacles can one possibly hope to interpret and understand the deep work of the Spirit in the last days in their life, and in the body of Christ.

Sin and the actions of sinful nations do not set in motion the end-times.

No, it is Christ who sets in motion the end-times when his bride is ready to be revealed in ministry.

And until that happens, things will wax worse and worse, like in the days of Noah and Lot.

The misunderstanding of the work of the Spirit: looking at some of the worldly signs of the last days, instead of the destination, i.e., the deep work of the Spirit of grace in making the bride for the Son, has resulted in the proliferation of false expectancies about the physical return of the Lord.

Because Christendom has been looking through the lens of the new-birth and Pentecost, speculating about the future, based upon world events, instead of seeing what Jesus is doing through the lens of Tabernacles.

The seasons of God regulate what takes place and not the world.

Briefly, again, in the season of the new-birth, God brings the new-birth; the barley harvest in ancient Israel, foretelling, salvation by grace, the New Covenant, Passover, the first harvest in the Christian’s spiritual pilgrimage.

The New Covenant new-birth returned with the Reformation in the 1500s, the beginning of the end of the dark ages; from the age of Thyatira to Sardis, the fifth church age, who’s companion is Ephesians – the salvation by grace letter – Paul’s fifth letter in presentation, and, the parable of the “treasure,” Christ’s fifth parable.

Ephesians follows Galatians, the “dark ages” of Paul’s letters.

And the “treasure” follows the “dark ages” of Christ’s parables – the yeast kneaded throughout the dough – symbolizing false doctrine throughout the visible church.

The next spiritual season to come in God’s agricultural year is Pentecost, the wheat harvest of old, foretelling the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And of course, this returned in the early 1900s with Azusa Street, spreading global relatively quickly.

Pentecost is the time of beginning experiences and teaching, the fivefold ministry, and the administration and operations of the Gifts of the Spirit.

It’s a time of going beyond learning “about,” Jesus, i.e., the new-birth, to learning and experiencing the “presence,” of God.

In the age of Pentecost, God brought Pentecost; extending the new-birth into the realm of spiritual activities fulfilling the second grain harvest.

Pentecost (returned) completed the Sardis church age.

And in the age of Tabernacles, God brings Tabernacles, the Philadelphia church age.

The Reformation inspired social, political, cultural, scientific, medical, and other advancements from the 1500s to the 20^th century.

The “rebirth” of the new-birth in the Reformation advanced not only the Kingdom of God, but mankind in general, the overflow of grace into the affairs of man.

Pentecost, an even greater light, helped seed even greater changes in the world, including, indirectly, the return of the nation of Israel, critical to the last days.

It’s not a coincidence there were Pentecostal revivals in the late 40’s when Israel became a nation again.

And it’s not a coincidence the advent of the return of Pentecost in the early 1900s occurs in the century of some of the greatest advancements of mankind.

Tabernacles, the greatest light, the revelation of Christ in healing and restoration, foretold by the summer harvest in Israel of Old, has spawned even greater advancements in mankind over the last half century.

What I’m saying in all this, is the moving of God’s Spirit, the opening of Heaven, does not just affect the body of Christ, but usher’s mankind into greater revelation of God’s creation.

The increasing revelation of God’s light in the last days, not only shines light on the body of Christ toward God, but also the light of God on mankind toward deeper levels of his creation.

The press of the Kingdom of God upon this earth, affects everybody in one way or the other.

As Jesus said, “‘…He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.’” (NIV, Matthew 5:45)

And the Lord is not just referring to climate, but to the creation itself.

No wonder medical science has taken leaps and bounds in the last 50 years; the same season of time God began the deep work of the Spirit of grace in healing and restoration in the body of Christ.

We’re in a time of growing and maturing oneness with the Lord in intimacy and union as he takes sons and daughters deep into the feast of Tabernacles.

And it’s no coincidence we see the same thing happening in the world; those outside of Christ also growing and maturing in oneness and union with one another globally like never before.

Finally, conventional teaching has the marriage of the bride to Christ occurring in Heaven, like almost all other New Covenant promises.

But the Scripture teaches otherwise.

It occurs here eventually resulting in the out-translation for those who’ve completed their journey in Christ.

The Lord brings the rapture in the time of the rapture, those whose hearts are raptured for him.

But first, many must be invited, thus, the need for the end-time revival.

** Seasons of God Revealed in Story **

Many are familiar with the stories in the Old Testament beginning with Adam and Eve through Noah, Abraham and his sons, Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, Saul, David, and the kings including those who resettled Jerusalem after Judah’s release.

Then there’s the stories of the major and minor prophets and a host of other stories in the Old Testament.

And of course, the Old Testament builds to a crescendo as the stream of prophecies of Christ’s “coming” comes to fruition in the greatest transition of history, from death to life, permanently establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth again.

The movement of the Old Testament is not only chronologically moving toward Christ, but increasingly revelatory as it moves forward to the day of his appearing.

The closer to his appearance, the greater the revelation of the person of Christ and the separation of the Old from the New.

We are told in the last chapter of the Old Testament of the coming Messiah, “‘…the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.’”

And, “‘He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents…’” (NIV, Malachi 4:2 and 4:6, bold and italicized mine; Christ, the “greatest” Elijah, Elijah being a “type” of Christ.)

As the time shortened to his coming, the greater the revelation given to the prophets of his coming, his nature, his journey, and the timing and nature of his appearance.

King David being one of the greatest “types,” of Christ, in the Old Testament, and Isaiah, one of the greatest visionaries of the promised grace to come.

(Those who are familiar with types and shadows in the Old Testament, and the foretelling of the plan of salvation in creation, know it’s not a coincidence the “Sun” was created on the fourth day, and David and Christ (Christ, the sun of righteousness) straddle the fourth millennium from Adam.)

The closer to Christ’s coming, the more God moved to bring it to pass, and the clearer the picture became of him.

The 400 silent years before Christ’s coming was the intermission between the great work God had done in preparing everything for Christ, and, the greatest work yet to come as his Son’s light breaks forth on the horizon from the shores of Heaven.

From Adam to Christ, we see the story of seasons played out in the Old Testament chronologically, genealogically, spiritually, and revelatory (including “types,” of Christ), pointing to the coming of the Messiah.

From the time of the fall, God labored with mankind to prepare everything necessary for:

1) the successful pioneering journey of his Son in being made one with him; to redeem what Adam and Eve lost in the Garden by sacrificing his life to put their sin, and their descendants, to death, raised to walk in resurrection life – the promised grace to come foretold by the prophets – fulfilling Psalm 16 in his “perfection,” before his presentation to Israel, and,

2) doing everything possible, short of violating Israel’s will, for them to respect and receive their Messiah, the promise of Isaiah 9:6 (Matthew 21:37).

There’s a progressive unveiling of the plan and purposes of God in Christ in greater and greater light as the time of his coming approaches.

It’s unimaginable how God brought everything together over four millenniums to fulfill his promise of a Messiah.

The coming of Christ, the final act of the Old Testament and the birth of the New, closed one book, four millenniums of story, and opened another book, three millenniums of story, in the story and seasons of mankind’s journey back to God.

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, etc., opened and closed chapters within the book of God, but Christ closed the book on the Old, ushering in the New with his perfection (Romans 6:10; Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear; Hebrews 5:7-10, 7:16, etc.).

When we approach the New Testament, most are taught about the truths of the New Testament, like Proverbs, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes of the Old.

But not about journey, the story of journey, like those in the Old Testament, except for Christ’s ministry, and the stories of the early Apostles.

We’ve grown accustomed to seeing the Old Testament as the story of journeys, and the New Testament as the journal of truth, and not a specific pilgrimage with specific journeys.

Just because we’re in the New Testament, it doesn’t mean journey has stopped telling the story of redemption.

On the contrary, it is through journey we’re made one with Christ; specific church ages designed for specific revelations of the grace and nature of Christ.

Important

After the early Apostles, particularly with the imposition of creeds in the fourth and fifth centuries, the Church transitioned away from journey – having lost the pioneering journey of Christ – to “church history and doctrine.”

Simply, the adherence to doctrine replaced intimacy and union with Christ.

The visible church had a new love, and it was not Christ, but creeds and traditions.

And that love is still present today in the 21^st century.

The Old Testament saints gave us stories, so we could see in “type” the story of the Messiah.

Now that we have Christ’s story, we cannot rely on creeds and traditions as the mediator between us and God, but must seek to enter the journey he pioneered.

And the story he pioneered is for you and me to follow in his footsteps and complete, not only being born-from above, the new birth, and baptized in God’s Spirit, but particularly the feast of Tabernacles – the deep pioneering work of Christ, by grace through faith, in being made one with the Father.

In substituting “church history” and “creeds and traditions” for the progressive revelation of Christ, the body of Christ has been left languishing.

But God reversed that trend over the last 500 years, particularly accelerating the growing and maturing of the body of Christ in the last half century with the return of the feast of Tabernacles, after being lost after the early Apostles.

The New Testament Scriptures are no different than the Old in providing a chronological progressive revelation of journey through the church ages: beginning with Christ through and including the end-time bride, and Tribulation saints.

Just as the Old Testament had stories from the fall to the redemption of Christ, at its closing; the New Testament has, at its beginning, the redemption of Christ, and the redemption of the bride at its closing.

Just as the Old Testament had specific timelines married to specific journeys, like Noah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, etc., so too the New Testament.

Just as Christ had a specific timeline related to his personal journey before ministry, and, after ministry, so to the body of Christ.

As the Old Testament came to a close, events accelerated, ushering in the coming of the Messiah; coming suddenly in powerful demonstration of the Spirit, just as the four millenniums of history pointed to it coming.

And likewise, just as the age of the Gentiles approaches its end, events will accelerate; the last day outpouring will come suddenly in demonstration of the power of God just as foretold for over two millenniums in the New Testament.

The end-time bride will bring to fullness the longing of Christ’s heart for a last day bride, completing the plan and purposes of the Gospel dispensation.

** Seasons of God – “Truth” Revealed in Story **

“when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.” (NIV, Ephesians 4:21, bold and italicized mine)

“‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” (NIV, John 14:6, bold and italicized mine)

“They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.” (NIV, 1 Timothy 3:9, bold and italicized mine)

“…We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV, John 1:14, bold and italicized mine)

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (NIV, John 1:17, bold and italicized mine)

***

In the Old Testament, the truth of God’s Word was revealed in journey with God.

In the New Testament, truth for the sake of truth – the preaching of truth – has in many ways replaced journey.

Because Scriptures describing Christ’s journey have, through creeds and traditions, been re-routed to Calvary; glorifying Calvary over Christ; as if God needed the help of lawless men and women to birth salvation.

Truth is revealed and imparted in journey, it cannot happen any other way; including for the most important person to ever live, the Lord Jesus.

It is through journey truth is made real, written on the tables of one’s heart and mind as Hebrews Chapters 8 and 10 promise.

And journey and the impartation of truth does not mean in ministry, the gifts of the Spirit, and all the other outflows of the Spirit in Passover and Pentecost, but primarily by the journey of being fathered by God in the feast of Tabernacles.

And deep journey can only begin once Pentecost is left and Tabernacles is entered.

It is in Tabernacles where one is grafted into Christ, and, in the process of being made one with him, the journey of the revelation of Christ by grace (NIV, 1 Peter 1:13), truth is imparted as we’re transformed.

Through repentance and forgiveness, grace disarms sin, releasing our inner being to be made new by the truth of God’s Word, transformed into a new creation, partaking of Christ’s nature.

Important

Twice in the book of Hebrews God said he would write his laws on the hearts and minds of his children.

And Christ was the first for the Word to be made fully alive, in fullness, defeating and putting sin to death, wholly and completely (NIV, John 1:14), destroying the barrier between the law and the enmity he inherited from his human ancestors (Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear).

The Father wrote his Word on Christ’s heart and mind, perfectly, becoming “…the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (NIV, Hebrews 1:3, bold and italicized mine).

Christ, the last Adam, firstborn, first fruit, forerunner, pioneer, and author of the faith.

***

If Jesus is seen as a “model,” which is the new “word” about Christ heard in the public arena by ministers, instead of “radiating the New Covenant,” i.e., the hard-fought journey of being made perfect, putting to death the enmity in his flesh before his ministry, we strip him of his journey of overcoming and defeating sin – what he was called to do by his Father for us. (NIV, 1 Peter 1:10-12)

Christ preached what he lived, what he journeyed, what he experienced.

He preached from what he experienced in being made perfect, transformed, by grace through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, fathered by God (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10).

What he preached was lived from every member of his being, body, soul, and spirit.

He forged the path for us by the baptismal fires of the Holy Spirit in the feast of Tabernacles, being made perfect; fulfilling the feasts of God, the pioneer and author of the New Testament.

Anything less strips him of his humanity, journey, and the sacrifice of his life in being made perfect so we could have eternal life.

Truth was forged in him in every member of his being.

Everything Christ did flowed out of relationship with his Father; the two having been joined together as one.

If one misses the understanding Christ was fully human, as the Scripture says, i.e.,

• “…he had to be made like them, fully human in every way…” (NIV, Hebrews 2:17)
• “…one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are…” (NIV, Hebrews 4:15)
• the profound truths he taught, and the “…signs, wonders and various miracles…” (NIV, Hebrews 2:4, see also Acts 2:22) flowed from his union with the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit,
• “‘the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’” (NIV, John 5:19)
• made one with the Father over the journey of Tabernacles (Hebrews 5:7-10),
• that he put to death the “enmity” passed to him from his human ancestors, raised to walk in resurrection life before his ministry (NIV, Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear, and Romans 6:10), then:
• we miss the heart of the Gospel, beginning with Christ first, the firstborn, redeeming mankind from sin, being made into the likeness of the Father, restoring and completing the journey Adam failed to complete, and
• in putting generational transgressions and iniquities to death, he became our Savior, and, importantly, the pioneer of the path we’re to follow (Romans Chapter 6).

 

Certain Old Testament “types,” of Christ, pointed to what God promised he would do in fullness, perfectly, in the Messiah to come – writing the Word on his heart and mind, making him one with him.

And in that journey, he would become our sin sacrifice by putting sin to death by the power of the cross – the cross of utter dependence upon God for healing and restoration, the pioneer of the faith.

Truth only has weight in journey, in being made a partaker of the fullness of the new creation in Christ (NIV, 2 Peter 1:4).

If we fail to understand Christ spoke from experiential truth, truth written in the baptismal fires of the Holy Spirit, the personal cross of Christ, in the journey of putting sin to death, raised to walk in new life (Romans 6:10), then:

Christ becomes a hollow shell, a person who preaches what they haven’t become – a model, not the real McCoy.

And if every member of Christ is not real, made by the baptismal fire of the Holy Spirit the ancients and Old Testament “types,” of Christ pointed to, then who and what is he?

If the hundreds of types, of Christ, in the Old Testament are real people, then the person they pointed to must be a real person, otherwise, they’re not types, of Christ, and the Bible is gutted.

You cannot have it both ways, to say they are types, of Christ, yet Christ is not fully human!

You cannot make Jesus a model and exclude him from the hardship of being “transformed” by his “personal cross of journey” before ministry, foretold by the types, of Christ, in the Old Testament: Moses, 40 years in the wilderness before ministry, Joshua, 40 years before ministry, and the likes of Joseph, Samuel, David, Elijah, etc.

Biblical Truth

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” (NIV, Psalm 51:5-8)

Just like mercy and grace are supernatural, the kindness and goodness of God to impart “truth,” to write it on our hearts and minds, is just as supernatural.

Biblical truth is not intellectual, it’s not something apprehended in exercise of the heart and mind – commandeering words of truth to make them our own, like is commonly ascribed to “making decisions for Christ.”

Biblical truth is the writing of the thoughts and words of God on the tables of our heart and mind, changing our nature to conform to his glorious nature.

Moses experienced the hand of God writing the Word of God on tablets of stone; a type foretelling God would one day write his thoughts and words on the hearts and minds of his sons and daughters.

Moses was in a special place for that to happen, and so it is with Tabernacles, the Philadelphia church age; a special place reserved for the writing of the thoughts and words of God on the tables of our heart and mind.

Truth is not read and imbibed, but written by the hand of God on the stony tables of our heart and mind, transforming our natures into his glorious nature.

Mercy brings an awareness of Christ, “experienced” in being born-again.

Grace brings an even greater awareness of Christ, an appetite for even more of Christ, “experienced” in being baptized in the Spirit.

Truth, the transforming power of God to change your natures into his, reveals the nature of Christ in our inner man and woman, “experienced” in Tabernacles.

** Seasons of God – “Grace” Revealed in Story **

“We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV, John 1:14, bold and italicized mine)

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (NIV, John 1:17, bold and italicized mine)

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.” (NIV, 1 Peter 1:10 – 11, bold and italicized mine)

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring…” (NIV, Romans 4:16, bold and italicized mine)

“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand…” (NIV, Romans 5:1-2, bold and italicized mine)

“…For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (NIV, Romans 5:15, bold and italicized mine)

And the understanding of this next passage is critical:

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (NIV, Romans 5:17, bold and italicized mine)

Important

The last verse in a “big picture” captures the Christian pilgrimage.

When we’re born again, fulfilling the Old Covenant feast of Passover in the New Covenant, we pass from death to life by the mercy of God; receiving what we do not deserve, Christ “justifying” you and me before the Father through his sacrifice, a living blood sacrifice, in being made complete, one with the Father.

When we’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the Old Covenant feast of Pentecost in the New Covenant, we receive the charisma of God; God’s favor, grace, to learn the ways of the kingdom; creating desire and passion for the nature of God to be formed in you and me.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not form the nature of God in you and me; it’s the bridge from our lowly nature to God’s holy nature, inspiring the desire for the deep things of God, “transformation,” to partake of the divine nature as Peter describes in 2 Peter 1:4.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit gives the believer a “taste” for the kingdom of God and the person of Christ, planting the seeds of hunger and thirst for more of God; the desire to be ushered into the deep waters of the Spirit, Tabernacles.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit leads to the spiritual awareness of the great distance yet to travel in Christ, i.e., between having his “presence,” versus his “person,” Tabernacles, like Moses, e.g., typified on the Mountain, and King David with the Ark.

When we’re ushered by Christ into Tabernacles, the grace and truth of God by the power of the Holy Spirit begin the deep process of transformation, i.e., the revelation of Christ by grace (NIV, 1 Peter 1:13).

It’s the process of being changed from glory to glory (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:18) reserved for Tabernacles:

the revealing of wounds and brokenness, and the sins that feed upon them, in the hospital of God’s love and care, for cleansing, healing, and restoration; redeeming the whole man and woman, body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Mercy saves us (being born-again), grace brings us into God’s presence (baptism of the Holy Spirit), and the marriage of mercy, grace, and truth, by faith, produces the righteousness of God by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in Tabernacles.

For the Scripture says, “…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” (NIV, Romans 4:17, italicized mine)

***

Grace is the revelation of God’s kindness and goodness, touching eternity in the heart of every human toward the existence of God; only a beautiful God could create the majestic creation we behold every day.

Grace is the revelation of God wooing men and women into humility and contriteness before the un-surpassed grandeur and majesty of the creation.

Grace provides a window into eternity, the Heavens; the knowledge of our mortality and the vastness of eternity in the night sky.

Grace is God extending his hand toward you and me who have no hope in ourselves or mankind; bridging the impassable abyss from death to life; inviting you and me to partake of God’s wholeness and holiness.

Grace says I can do this for you if you will but take my hand.

Grace brings us into the knowledge God can redeem death itself.

Grace says the path you’re on leads to destruction, take my hand, and I will lead you into life.

Grace is the breaking forth of relationship between us and God; the creative power of God to reveal within you and me a divine promise; and the insufficiency in ourselves to fulfill God’s promises apart from him.

Grace brings us into a “safe and secure” place, where truth can be revealed about sins captivity and the destruction it’s causing us, and others, leading you and me into godly sorrow, repentance, and forgiveness.

Grace helps restore confidence and trust, and assurance, of God’s heart to forgive; and to move beyond forgiveness into being changed, and, from being changed, into intimacy and union with him.

Grace reveals the nature of God; he’s approachable, eager to listen, teach, lead, and guide.

Truth reveals what God believes; his thoughts, words, actions, and the nature of wholeness and holiness in relationship to ourselves, others, and God.

Important

What many do not know, but the Scripture clearly teaches, Christ was born into “mortality;” his earthly temple stained by generational transgressions and iniquities passed to him from his human ancestry. (Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear).

And in that mortality, Christ was faced exactly with the divine purpose for being born – to, by grace through faith ((the promised grace to come (1 Peter 1:10-12)), fathered by God, put sin to death for all of mankind.

And he did that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming a “living sacrifice,” likened to a “blood sacrifice (John 6:63),” under the old sacrificial system of the Old Covenant, in the giving of the entirety of his life to the Father.

And in the giving of the entirety of his life, by grace through faith, he put sin to death by his personal cross, through all the attendant sufferings in that, being made perfect, becoming our Savior (Hebrews 5:7-10).

He was raised from mortality to immortality (John 12; Romans 5-8; 1 Corinthians 15; Hebrews 5:7-10, 7:16), his “first glorification,” which he unveiled on the Mount to Peter, James, and John.

And exactly like you and me, Christ received the grace of God to face, overcome, and put sin to death by the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God’s word over the enmity in his flesh, destroying the barrier between the law and his flesh.

That’s why the Scripture says about Christ:

Christ was “…full of grace and truth” (NIV, John 1:14), made perfect by suffering he became the embodiment of the nature of God in fullness (Colossians 2:9) – glorified “resurrected,” from mortality to immortality (Hebrews 7:16), raised to walk in new life (Romans 6:10 & 1 Corinthians 15:20), partaking of the divine nature in fullness “…the exact representation…” of his father (NIV, Hebrews 1:3).

The Spirit of God was given to Christ without measure (John 3:34), Christ passing through the Heavenly Tabernacle (Hebrews 4:14), made one with the Father in his perfection (Hebrews 5:7-10).

Christ was conceived, lived, and breathed the grace of God in his journey of being made one with the Father, the pioneer (Hebrews 2:10 & 6:20) and author of the faith.

***

One more example of mercy, grace, truth, and faith, and how they work together in the love of God in healing you and me.

We know the Tabernacle in the wilderness (and the Temple) symbolized the Christian pilgrimage: from the Outer Court (the feast of Passover, being born-again), to the Holy Place (the feast of Pentecost, the baptism of the Spirit), to the final destination, the Most Holy Place, the feast of Tabernacles, intimacy and union with Christ.

And we know the feast of Tabernacles is the “coming” of the Lord – the journey of being made the bride – putting sin to death, raised to walk in new life.

Mercy brings us into the Outer Court, from death into salvation.

Grace brings us into the Holy Place, learning and experiencing in a measure, the presence of God in gifts, talents, and offices.

And the combination of mercy, grace, and truth, ushers us into Tabernacles, the deep work of the Spirit of grace in healing and restoration.

God has been faithful to give picture after picture of the journey of being made one with Christ.

There are virgins without number, concubines, and queens, but there is only one bride (Song of Songs 6:8-9) – those over the centuries in the seasons of God who’ve allowed God to “complete them” in the provisions of their season.

The greatest ingathering of brides is happening today as Jesus searches for those who want him above all else.

Jesus has provisioned everything needed to complete the Gospel story in todays “generations,” the opportunity of resurrection life like never before.

 ** Seasons of God – Divine Plan **

It’s not a coincidence there’s six days of creation and the seventh a day of rest; and six millenniums of Bible history behind us, from Adam to today, according to the generations of the Bible, with the Millennium on the horizon.

It’s not a coincidence Christ gave seven parables in Matthew Chapter 13, seven letters to churches in Revelation, and, nine letters to churches through Paul; the first seven letters of Paul’s letters strikingly similar in theme and progression to the churches (ages) of Revelation, and the parables of Matthew 13.

Paul’s last two letters, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, symbolize the Church on the threshold and in the Tribulation.

Likewise, in more ways than not, a similar pattern unfolds over the creation account, and, the last six millenniums of Biblically recorded human history.

The pattern, theme, and progression in creation “birthed” the pattern, theme, and progression found over the last six millenniums, from the time of Adam to today, and the letters and parables just mentioned.

There are five witnesses to this pattern; testifying over and over again to the design and plan of God in redeeming men and women through Christ – quite convincing!

Interestingly, Jesus referred to the hidden truths made known from creation:

“‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.’” (NIV, Matthew 13:35)

Paul’s first seven letters, Christ’s letters, and the parables of Matthew Chapter 13, cover the history of the Church – from Heaven’s perspective in detail, and from the mountain top – and, an individual’s pilgrimage through the feasts through the history of Christendom.

Paul’s letters are the most detailed, at the core of the Christian journey.

Christ’s letters speak broadly yet pointedly to the key things he wants his sons and daughters to embrace in that particular season of their journey.

And the parables speak at an even higher level of the key characteristic of each of the seven church ages.

They reflect different glories of light from the same gem – the Word of God foretelling the unfolding of the plan of God through time, through the body of Christ, through progressive stages, in making a bride for the Son.

Christ’s letters and parables cover the broad expanse of the era, what to be on the lookout for, and what to embrace under his love and care.

He reveals his heart for those seasons of the journey and the knowledge everything being done is under his watchful eye and that he is not remiss in shepherding his church but will not force himself on those who reject him.

Paul’s letters provide teaching to inspire and cultivate desire to seek to fulfill what Christ is seeking in his letters.

The three accounts, Paul’s first seven letters to the Churches (Romans to Colossians), Christ’s seven letters (Ephesus to Laodicea), and Christ’s seven parables (the sowing of the seeds to the net) complement and supplement one another in progression, theme, and journey.

Jesus gives the big picture, boundaries, and responses; Paul, foundational details in pursuing Christ; whereas the parables are a mixture of the state of the Church in the first four, continual decline into darkness, and the response of God’s sons and daughters to Christ’s intervention in five and six, and the great end-time harvest of the net, the seventh parable.

These three accounts are both an historical and prophetic account of the Church over two millenniums of history.

To the discerning, they’re unquestionable accurate in foretelling the major transitions of the body of Christ over the last two millenniums.

And lest we forget what all this is about – it’s the apprehension of Christ; being apprehended by him to be made into his likeness.

Important

In each of Paul’s nine letters to the Churches he speaks of the “coming” of the Lord to do a deep work of grace.

The “coming,” “appearing,” “judging,” “revealing,” of the Lord is Christ coming to his sons and daughters to usher them from Passover and Pentecost, into Tabernacles, the deep work of grace in the making of the bride.

Using, symbolically, the barley, wheat, and summer fruit harvests from Israel’s annual harvests, its likened to being transformed from grain Christians, into fruit bearing Christians – being intentionally chosen and grafted into the Tree of Life, Christ.

The same analogy applies to the Outer Court, Holy Place, and Most Holy Place, where the Lord chooses those who can come into his intimate presence after being prepared.

As previously listed above, here are some Scriptures of the Lord coming to his sons and daughters to do the deep work of the Spirit beyond Passover and Pentecost:

Romans 8:10 – 11, 8:23, 8:29, and 16:20; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 4:19 (“birthing”); Ephesians 1:14 and 4:30 (“redemption”); Philippians 1:6, 1:10 and 2:16 (“day”); Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28; and 1 Peter 1:13.

The great weight of these verses reveal the coming of the Lord in the here and now, to heal and restore those he’s called and chosen.

They’re different perspectives of the deep work of grace in preparing a bride for the Son.

Remember, once we’re cut from the loom, that’s who we’ll be for all eternity, Revelation 22:11.

The judging and gifting of Christ is for this life, not the next; it will be too late by then.

The formation of the bride’s heart happens in this life, not the next.

Much of what has been taught in Christianity points God’s promises to Heaven; while the Scripture points the great body of promises to the here and now, because this is where we need them, and where we’re transformed into the image of Christ.

It is here where we need to be changed to walk in newness of life.

It is here where salvation is determined.

The journey with Christ in being made new is for this life, not the next.

The Same Jewel from Different Perspectives

The “three accounts” in the New Testament writings I mentioned, (Paul’s and Christ’s letters to the Churches, & Christ’s seven parables of Matthew 13) show from different angles different perspectives of the Christian’s pilgrimage.

Strikingly, all three accounts show church history over the last two millenniums, and foretell “history” yet to come.

And, the three accounts, i.e., Romans to Colossians, Ephesus to Laodicea, and the seven parables, also show, either from the mountain top, or, at ground level, the individual’s pilgrimage and the spiritual climate they face.

The first four parables of Matthew Chapter 13, Romans through Galatians, and, Ephesus through Thyatira, show an increasing slide downward and away from Christ, toward the “works of the flesh,” the bondage of the law, institutions, and traditions.

The first four (letters, parables) of each account is marked by either extensive teaching, as in Paul’s letters, specific admonishments and exhortations by Christ in his letters, and the prevailing state of “affairs” in the parables.

In all three accounts, the increasing slide downward in the first four into false teaching, works, immorality, etc., are addressed to “right” the ship before it sinks and is lost forever.

The next two of the seven parables, the next two of Paul’s letters (Ephesians and Philippians), and the next two of Christ’s letters (Sardis and Philadelphia), companions to one another, show a dramatic shift back to Christ in the parables of the treasure and pearl, Ephesians and Philippians, and, Sardis and Philadelphia.

The last of the seven parables, the “net,” Paul’s seventh letter (Colossians), and Christ’s seventh letter (Laodicea), companions to one another, are the last opportunity to come to the mystery of Christ before irreversible events are set in motion to transition mankind into the Millennium.

All three accounts depict in one form or another the Christian pilgrimage from beginning to end, with the sixth parable and letters (six is the Scripture number for man) the high point, apprehending Christ; the pearl, Philippians – the love of horses, and, Philadelphia – the love of the brethren.

There’s a hidden truth in the love of horses. You’ll find out below.

Important

The fifth (Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Christ’s letter to Sardis, and the treasure), is the birthing of revival, foretelling the return of the born-again and Pentecostal experiences.

The sixth (Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Christ’s letter to Philadelphia, and the pearl), birth even deeper revival, foretelling Tabernacles, completing the journey God designed.

The seventh in all three accounts (i.e., Colossians, Laodicea, and the net), is the outreach to those who failed to complete the journey in the sixth season, one last opportunity and preparation for the coming transition to the Millennium.

It took the Church over 1400 years to receive the revelation of salvation by grace through faith, to begin to return to the foundation established by Christ.

The operative word here is “begin.”

The transition “out of” the church ages of Galatians, Thyatira, and “yeast,” did not begin until Martin Luther saw the truth in God’s Word and began the journey back to Christ, for him, and eventually untold millions.

The Importance of the Three Accounts

You may wonder, why is the knowledge of the three accounts and the similarity in their progression important today?

Here are a few reasons.

It’s the foundation and pattern God established to build the plan of salvation.

You cannot build something properly without a plan; and the redeeming of the lost requires a plan, something we can understand, discover, journey, and actively participate.

It helps keep us within the boundaries of his love; giving insight on where we, and the body of Christ, are, at any particular season of history.

We have a clearer vision of the goal, and the battle for the goal, Christ, with three accounts instead of one or two.

The Lord lets us see the history of the Church, discovering where the corporate body has been, where we’ve been, where things are presently, and the promises of the future yet to unfold.

And it’s a clock to show the wise where they’re at in the seasons of God, especially important in the last of the last days.

World events are never a good indicator and not neither a compass.

The Scripture says to keep our eyes focused on Christ; and in and through him, he’ll give you and me all the revelation we need to understand the signs of the times, our place in the journey, and the distance yet to be traveled in apprehending him.

He will not leave you and me fatherless, but will come to those searching for him.

“World” events are deceptive, repeating over and over again, untrustworthy and unreliable, are the product of the enemy through sinful men and women, and not an indicator of the work of grace in God’s sons and daughters.

The revelation of Scripture in intimacy with Christ is more than sufficient to provide us with everything we need to understand our journey, where we’re at in the calendar of God, and the journey yet to be apprehended.

The three accounts testify and confirm our journey in Christ and are a window into the age we live in (Philadelphia, Philippians, the “pearl”).

Prophecy fulfilled in the first five ages of church history unquestionably proves the certainty of prophecy yet to be fulfilled.

The three accounts connect you and me intimately with Scripture.

Philadelphia, Philippians, & the Pearl

If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know I’ve shown, as many others also believe, we’re in the age of Philadelphia, the feast of Tabernacles; pictured in the pearl of great price, and Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

We’re in the age with the greatest promises and the deepest work of grace ever offered individually to the body of Christ as part of a specific era.

The three accounts teach there’s more, much more – a master plan at work designed to fulfill the mystery of Christ in you and me.

Providing a litmus test whether we’re in the “faith” or not – the “faith” for the season on God’s calendar, not ours, or the Church’s.

To see if we’re receiving what God is offering in this season of grace.

Knowing what we know from Scripture, and the moving of the Holy Spirit in our midst, the Lord moved beyond Passover and Pentecost in the last half of the 20^th century into the beginning of Tabernacles.

So, the question for everyone in the body of Christ: Are we moving toward Christ, seeking preparation, so he can take us into the deep work of the Spirit of grace he’s promised in the last days?

If the “faith” today is the work of Tabernacles, the Philadelphia church age, the letter to the Philippians, the pearl, and one’s faith is still in Passover and Pentecost, then you know you’re missing the opportunity of a deeper walk with Christ, the promises of Tabernacles for new names, critically important in the last days.

We learn from these accounts teaching alone does not birth Christ in you and me.

It takes Christ to birth Christ in you and me.

It takes the revival by Christ in Ephesians, the Sardis church age, and the “treasure,” to draw men and women back into the simplicity of Christ by grace through faith (NIV, Ephesians 2:8).

And then it takes the person of Christ, in the “…day of Christ…” (NIV, Philippians 1:10 & 2:16, bold and italicized mine), of “Philippians, Philadelphia, and pearl,” to complete the work he started in Romans – to apprehend what he apprehended us for (Philippians 3:14).

Romans to Philippians, Ephesus to Philadelphia, the sowing of the seed to the pearl of great price, is our journey to completion.

Design, Order, and Plan

When we look at the work of grace in us and the corporate body throughout the ages, and the plan and timing of God for mankind, we realize there’s an order, plan, design, to what God desires to bring about in our lives and in the corporate body, whether it be Old or New Testament.

And God has revealed his plan in the layout, order, and story of his Word.

He’s designed accounts, and the stories within the accounts to progressively reveal and foretell a journey, theme, story, for individuals and the corporate body of Christ.

He’s made it a journey of discovery and intimacy, about relationship, and not facts and figures, models, blueprints, and all the like we are told to believe and not believe.

It’s not about what you believe, it’s about responding to Christ and the wooing of the Spirit.

Beliefs will come in relationship, out of intimacy with Christ, not before.

He’s hidden his plans for discovery so we’ll eagerly search the Word and him, and, be excited when we discover truths about us, him, and his plans.

He delights in you and me and our desire to know him, journey with him, and see and understand the progressive revelation of the journey.

There’s an unimaginable joy and peace when Christ comes and ushers one into Tabernacles, because you’re with him, eternal life, facing everything with him and through him.

***

What does God want to accomplish in the last days; days he’s labored to bring about, preparing those who desire him, that he could not accomplish sooner?

Are the last days primarily about the Antichrist, Tribulation, Armageddon, and the physical second coming of the Lord?

Or, is there a specific purpose God desires to accomplish in his sons and daughters before, and as, he transitions the earth and mankind from the Gospel era to the Millennium?

The answer is clear: Christ has labored for almost 2 millennia to bring the body of Christ to the place it is today so he can choose those who desire him above all else to make ready a bride to rule and reign with him.

He’s reserved the age of Philadelphia for the greatest work of the Spirit of grace (aside from his own perfection, and those who’ve completed the race before us, like Peter, and Paul, by their own words), to heal and restore those he’s chosen to be made one with him.

Once Christ completes the bride in the last days, he’ll set in motion her ministry to a lost and dying world.

More Perspectives on the Promised Grace to Come

God gave every conceivable picture possible of the promised grace to come (NIV, 1 Peter 1:10-12), in the lives of the ancients, prophets, and other Old Testament saints, so, when the Messiah came, he would be recognized, respected, received, and honored.

The most important promise in the Scripture is the promise of grace which came in Christ, i.e., the promise of him to be a living sacrifice, putting generational sins to death, raised to walk in resurrection life (Isaiah 53:5-6; Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10).

The promise to fully heal and restore man from the fall, beginning with Christ first (the only perfect one), and not only from the fall, but complete the race Adam and Eve failed to complete.

And the promise of God to share the good news of the promised grace in Christ with Israel first, and then the Gentiles.

The greatest promise to come was not Calvary.

Calvary was the rejection of the promised grace; the rejection of four millenniums of God’s labor to present Israel with his perfected Son, the one he was hoping they would accept, not reject (Matthew 21:37).

Creeds and traditions miss the journey Christ pioneered; the promised grace to come overcoming and putting to death generational transgressions and iniquities; healed and restored from the enmity passed to him through his human ancestry.

That’s the sacrifice God presented, the sacrifice of his Son in being made perfect from the effects of the Fall, redeeming not only his generations, but all those to come who would be grafted into him.

Christ indeed was a sin sacrifice, the sacrifice of putting sin to death over the long journey of Tabernacles, fathered by God.

God’s plan all along was to put sin to death, not Christ, the sacrifice he presented and made complete in the promise of grace to come.

The sacrifice of learning obedience through suffering; destroying the enmity of the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith, fathered by God.

And in being made perfect, Christ sacrificed any rights and privileges that stood between him, his Father, and ministry.

God completed the likeness of himself in Christ, creating an “…exact representation…” (NIV, Hebrews 1:3, italicized mine), Christ’s first glorification; God presented to the Baptist and the nation of Israel at the river Jordan.

This was Christ’s blood sacrifice, a living sacrifice, the giving of the entirety of his life to God, made perfect, our Savior, the most intimate expression possible.

If one misses this, then the New Testament, defined by creeds and traditions, becomes all about the killing of Christ, instead of the killing of sin by Christ, becoming the first perfect man, the firstborn, first fruit, forerunner, pioneer, and author of faith.

Had Christ been accepted by Israel, the Holy Spirit would have fallen on the nation as on the day of Pentecost, except, there’d be no need to repent for killing the Messiah, and God would have set in motion the transition to the Millennium.

But as we all know, Israel rejected their Messiah, just like Adam and Eve fell in the Garden, Israel fell further down the cliff in rejecting the restored Tree of Life presented to them for over three years.

In rejecting the Messiah, Israel fulfilled a separate stream of prophecies of unrepentant lawless men and women killing their only hope of salvation.

It’s not a stream of prophecies God wanted fulfilled, or a stream necessary for salvation, but a separate stream of the response of unrepentant men to Christ.

And in rejecting their rejection of him, refusing to take up arms against those he just tried to save, Christ fulfilled the stream of prophecies about the Messiah, a man of peace.

He fulfilled all that was written of him as the “…Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NIV, Isaiah 9:6, bold and italicized mine).

Christ fulfilled all that was written about him, fulfilling the law perfectly in his flesh; presenting salvation to Israel; refusing to kill those intent on killing him.

That’s the stream of prophecies about the promised grace to come, and all the Messiah would accomplish in presenting and bringing salvation to Israel and the Gentiles.

Important

It’s the stream of prophecies about Christ and everything he would accomplish by grace through faith, fathered by God.

And Christ fulfilled to the uttermost everything spoken about him in his journey of being made perfect (putting sin to death, raised to walk in new life, i.e., his first glorification), becoming the New Covenant in flesh and blood, ministering out of the New Covenant in him healing and salvation for over three years to Israel.

And then there’s the second stream of prophecies:

Israel fulfilling what was foretold of her: unrepentant, rejecting the Messiah in flesh and blood, preferring the traditions of men to the sacrificial system of the New Covenant, i.e., “…sacrifice… a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart… God, will not despise.” (NIV, Psalm 51:17, bold and italicized mine)

In rejecting Christ, they fulfilled a distinctly separate set of prophecies, having nothing to do with salvation, but everything to do with killing the Messiah.

***

Christ rejected their rejection of him, allowing his blood to be shed on the cross of Calvary, (his blood, i.e., his “life,” had already been perfected Matthew 26:28, John 6:63), in being made perfect, becoming our Savior before his presentation to John at the river Jordan (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10).

Christ allowed Israel to see outwardly at Calvary “his righteousness,” being raised a second time, his second glorification (John 12:28), they refused to receive inwardly from his first glorification over three years of ministry.

He showed his righteousness and their sins on the marks of his body.

Either we will fall on the cross and have our sins absolved by Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, or the cross falls on us, exposing our sins as a last resort to draw us to Christ.

At Calvary, Christ went beyond the redemption he had already made for mankind in being made perfect, to purchasing them in the face of their rejection (Revelation 5:19).

Important

In other words, Christ went to the most extreme measure to “pierce” their rejection of him, by shedding, i.e., “revealing” physically, through his resurrection, the New Covenant that was already “in him” for the taking. (Matthew 26:28)

In his perfection, before his ministry, he became our Savior. (Hebrews 5:7-10)

Since they refused him and his ministry, he would go to the extreme and physically reveal the New Testament in him by letting them kill him, being raised a second time, second glorification (John 12:28), so they could see with their eyes in the natural, because they were spiritually blind, what he had said and shown about himself and them in his words and healing over three years.

Because of Israel’s rejection, the cost of bringing salvation increased for Christ, and it also increased for all those being saved.

The journey became longer, harder, and more challenging.

Had Christ been accepted, the road to the Millennium would have been less costly for all, Christ included.

Look at the cost of salvation over the last two millenniums versus if the Millennium had been started at the time of Christ’s first coming.

Just like Israel of Old, they came up to the promised land, and, because of unbelief, refused to go in.

And just like Israel of Old, God gave them another forty years to come to repentance before dying in the wilderness, this time by Rome.

***

No, Calvary is not as advertised in Christian literature and traditions.

It is the not the defining moment of Christianity, but a tragic moment.

One that cost Christ his life – he would have lived forever, having entered resurrection life in his perfection, and one that cost Israel their nation for two millenniums.

Christ’s perfection was the defining moment of history, not Calvary, at least, not like creeds and traditions have made it.

God’s plan of salvation is wonderful – the sacrifice of his Son in putting sin to death by the power of the cross, made one with the Father, perfected – presenting Christ as the sacrificial lamb to Israel at the river Jordan.

Christ having done everything necessary to usher mankind into salvation – fulfilling the promised grace to come in being made perfect.

It is a wonderful and marvelous plan of grace; where generational transgressions and iniquities, having enslaved mankind for over four millenniums, were put to death, fulfilling the law in his flesh, restoring and finishing what was lost by Adam.

The early church fathers looked at the stream of prophecies of lawless men killing Christ as part of the plan of salvation, combining everything about Christ into one nicely knit package, but that is not how the Scripture works, or life.

They cut out the personal story of Christ’s redeeming work of putting his ancestral sins to death by the power of his personal cross, and made it about a story of lawless men, and, an angry God, usurping the pioneering work of Christ so clearly described in Scripture.

And they imposed the language of the Old Testament on the New, in spite of Christ’s and Paul’s extensive teaching on the new language.

God and Christ did not need the help of lawless men to birth salvation.

And most certainly, God did not need Christ murdered to birth salvation.

The Scripture could not be more-clear about these matters.

Christ is our sufficiency, before, during, and after Calvary.

The Church fathers, in creating the creeds, missed the understanding of the feasts in foretelling the Christian pilgrimage, the journey of Christ; it had been long lost, swallowed up by the works of the flesh.

Bottom line, when you have Christ, you do not need writings outside of the Bible describing him, just as a wife does not need someone else’s writing about her husband, if the two have become one.

Again, the Church fathers combined the two streams of prophecies regarding Christ, making them one, when they are two distinct and separate streams.

The one, the promised grace to come, the New Testament in Christ, the sacrifice of his life to put sin to death.

The other, the second, not a promise, but a choice; Will lawless men carry out their plan to kill the Messiah in flesh and blood, refusing the goodness and kindness of God in Christ as the prophets foretold?

We must remember prophecy is not a Script.

It is not something mankind follows as a Script, else, Jesus would not have given the parable of the Landowner, hoping they would respect the Son.

Nor would Christ have tried for so long to avoid their plans, voicing the words he voiced about their characters once they chose to seek his life in the woes.

Christ did everything possible for them to refuse evil short of violating their will.

The first stream of prophecies about the Messiah, the promised grace to come (1 Peter 1:10-12), were fulfilled by Christ in his perfection before ministry, becoming our Savior, the New Testament in his blood (Matthew 26:28; John 6:63; Romans 6:10; Hebrews 5:7-10).

The second stream of prophecies about the Messiah being cut-off, rejected, were initiated by unrepentant sinners; Christ continuing his ministry of grace through his death, and on into his second glorification (John 12:28).

***

The parables of Matthew Chapter 13, Paul’s letters to the Churches (Romans to 2 Thessalonians), and the Church Ages of Revelation, provide different pictures of the Christian journey between the first coming of Christ, up to and including the revealing of the last day bride, certain end-time events, including Christians who miss the rapture and find themselves in the wilderness of the Tribulation.

Paul’s letters to the Churches go deeper in describing certain events of the end-times, even into the first half of the Tribulation, while the last church age of Revelation (Laodicea), and the last parable of Matthew 13, don’t.

The last parable of Matthew 13 concludes with the end-time revival(s).

The last letter of Christ, Laodicea, warns those who refuse Christ’s love and care will find themselves unprepared and ill-equipped to face the coming rage of the Antichrist system, needing to “‘…buy gold…refined in the fire…’” (NIV, Revelation 3:18)

As a whole, these accounts present essentially the same pilgrimage from different perspectives of the body of Christ over the two-millennia Gospel era.

It’s important to remember the three accounts are all after the ministry of Christ and the book of Acts – foretelling the journey of the body of Christ, corporately and individually, to the end-times, and into the first part of the Tribulation.

More on Paul’s First Seven Letters, Christ’s Letters (Seven Church Ages of Revelation), & Seven Parables of Matthew 13

From the mountain top they represent the progressive revelation of the Christian journey in the feasts, and church history.

Romans to Philippians, the first six, captures the progressive revelation of the Christian journey from beginning to end: Romans being the beginning of the journey, confessing Christ (Romans 10:9), and Philippians the end, apprehending Christ (Philippians 3:10) in fullness.

The same applies for the first six parables of Matthew 13, from the planting of the seed, through the pearl, being made into the likeness of Christ.

And the same applies in Christ’s first six letters, from straying in Ephesus, to the greatest promises in apprehending Christ in Philadelphia.

These three accounts capture the journey from beginning to end.

Colossians is the counterpart to Laodicea, Christendom struggling to apprehend the mystery of Christ the Philadelphians and Philippians apprehended.

And whereas 1 and 2 Thessalonians represent a picture of the Church in the end-times, aspects of the bride, and those outside the bride, the seventh parable of Matthew 13 foretells the great harvest of souls in the last days, after the bride has come to fullness and ministry.

Romans to Galatians (Paul’s First Four Letters), Ephesus to Thyatira (Christ’s first four letters), & First Four Parables of Matthew 13

Romans through Galatians represents the corporate body of Christ from the early church through and including the dark ages, the dark ages as that long expanse of time, some 1000 years, before the Reformation.

It was the continual ebbing away of the foundation established by Christ and the apostles to such an extent by the time the body of Christ reaches the book of Galatians, they’ve reverted back to the works of the flesh in their zeal to be made righteous and holy.

Just as Galatians is the low point in Paul’s nine letters to the Churches (the fourth letter to the Churches), so is Christ’s fourth letter to the Church of Thyatira, and, Christ’s fourth parable of the “yeast.”

Romans begins the slide downward as Paul goes to great lengths to teach the grace and faith of Christ that overcame sin.

1 and 2 Corinthians continue the drift away from Christ, corporately and individually, speaking, even warning the Corinthians at the end of his second letter.

Paul goes to great lengths at the end of 1 Corinthians (Chapter 15) describing the journey of Christ, putting sin to death, the last Adam, raised to walk in newness of life, an incorruptible life, i.e., “resurrection life,” to inspire and cultivate desire in the Corinthians to follow the path Christ pioneered.

The baptism for the dead mentioned by Paul is about dying to sin to walk in newness of life, the journey Christ pioneered, and a journey Paul is in, so that as a temple of the Holy Spirit, the new creation – those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit in Tabernacles, made one with Christ – can win the lost to Christ.

Remember the new language of the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 2:13.

“Baptized for the dead” is not about being water baptized for those who are physically dead, as some teach, but about those who go through the “baptism of Christ,” i.e., “putting sin to death, raised to walk in resurrection life,” – the feast of Tabernacles, so that they can offer resurrection life to those walking in death.

In Galatians we see the warring for men’s souls by Paul’s exhortation and admonishment to the Galatians to follow Christ’s example of crucifying the flesh, by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the works of the flesh.

In Galatians Paul is almost beside himself in warring for the revelation of Christ by grace on their behalf; the promised grace of the New Covenant would be apprehended by the Galatians who have fallen back into the works of the flesh in their desire to be perfected, Galatians 3:3.

There are specific “conditions of the heart” in Romans through Galatians similar to the first four parables of Matthew 13, and the first four church ages of Revelation.

For example, the growing practice of a “priesthood” over the body of Christ, in Corinthians is present in Christ’s letters; the Nicolaitans of Ephesus and Pergamum, coming to fullness in Jezebel in Thyatira.

And is pictured as part of the “weeds;” the institutionalization of the Church – the “mustard seed;” and false doctrine – the “yeast,” in the parables.

There are many more companion similarities.

Suffice it to say, the first four parables of Christ of Matthew 13, Paul’s letters to the Romans through Galatians, and the first four church ages of Revelation capture in theme, story, and heart the continual undoing of the work accomplished by Christ and the early apostles.

They’ve come to where leaven has defiled the teachings of the Church (parable of the yeast), the body of Christ has reverted to works based salvation (Galatians), and Christ has to intervene to strike the children of the Church with death (Thyatira).

Because they’ve fallen so far from the promised grace to come, Christ.

Scripture speaks of sin being passed down to the third and fourth generations – a progressive, and intensifying, fall from grace, faith, hope, and love, into the works of the flesh.

That’s the journey of the corporate body of Christ and the impact it had on individual souls over the first 1400 years of the Church, becoming institutionalized and filled with all manner of false teaching and doctrines.

And worse, hiding salvation by grace and the promise to be made new in the journey and adventure of being made one with Christ, healed and restored, putting sin to death to walk in new life.

Thankfully, the “height” of the Church’s “fall from grace and faith” came to an end in the early 1500s, with the advent of the Reformation; the return of the new-birth, restoring the fulfillment of the feast of Passover in the body of Christ.

Other similarities are keywords and phrases unique across the accounts.

Here is just a few: the Tree of Life (Ephesus), grafted into the olive tree (Romans); weeds, mustard seed, and yeast “false teaching and institutional Christianity” (Corinthians, Galatians, Pergamum, Thyatira), and the eating of food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality among accounts.

There’s an undeniable pattern and design to Scripture, birthed from creation itself, a process, that even in the worse of sins the Lord works progressive to right the ship toward him.

In brief, Paul’s and Christ’s first four letters to the Churches show a similar progressive “intensifying” descent as do the first four parables of Matthew 13.

If the letters and parables stopped at Galatians, Thyatira, and the yeast, the Christian journey would end in defeat; as they’re last-ditch efforts to turn God’s sons and daughters from works, back to the Gospel of Christ.

Important

If the New Testament was all about “teaching,” i.e., “making decisions” for Christ, then there’d be no need for the fifth letters by Christ and Paul, or the fifth parable, because sufficient truth had been revealed in the first four letters.

Again, if the New Testament is just about the new-birth and being saved, a digest of truth and information, then Paul’s first four letters are sufficient.

If it’s all about information and teaching, and there’s no wilderness journey with Christ, Tabernacles, then there’d be no further need of additional writings beyond the first four.

The Gospels are filled with the teaching of Christ, and Paul’s first four letters to the Churches have sufficient teaching to advance the Gospel, and birth, and form the bride of Christ.

The fifth parable, Paul’s fifth letter to the Churches (Ephesians), and Christ’s fifth letter to the Churches (Sardis), are critical, because, unless Christ intervenes in our Christian pilgrimage, we would all go astray, giving way to the enmity in our flesh, seeking to be made like Christ through the flesh instead of the Spirit.

Just as there was no life until the fifth day of creation, after the creation of the sun, and no life in God, until the fifth millennium from Adam, after the advent of Christ, there’s no life:

• in Christ’s parables, until the fifth parable, the treasure, and,
• until Paul’s fifth letter, to the Ephesians, where the new-birth is restored by the knowledge of salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8), and,
• until Christ’s fifth letter, to Sardis, where he exhorts the Church to “‘Wake up!’” birthing what we now know as the Reformation (even revivals in America in the 1700s and 1800s have been referred to as the Great Awakening). (NIV, Revelation 3:2, bold and italicized mine)

 

The New Testament is much more that information and truth, it’s a way, a journey, about a pattern established in creation pioneered by Christ.

One last example.

For the Galatians, who had fallen far back into the works of the flesh, Paul draws their attention to the promised grace in Christ, that Christ lived by faith (Galatians 2:16 & 3:22, see an interlinear; also, Romans 3:22 & 3:26, see an interlinear, best rendering is faith “of” Christ, not faith “in” Christ).

Reminding them Christ’s perfection came not by the works of the flesh, but being nailed to the cross: Paul spiritually speaking a truth in symbolism, like those who were deemed “cursed” in the Old Covenant for taking someone’s life.

That those who took someone’s life were put to death (Galatians 3:13), so too Christ put to death the “life of sin,” nailing sin to the cross, his personal cross of dying to generational sin passed to him from his human ancestry to walk in new life (NIV, Romans 6:10).

He brought death to sin, what they’re trying to do by the works of the flesh to be made perfect (Galatians 3:3, see an interlinear), by being nailed to the cross, the cross of utter dependence upon God for healing and restoration, being made perfect, becoming our Savior before his ministry (NIV, Hebrews 5:7-10, and Romans 6:10).

These accounts reflect the beauty of God’s Word.

How the first four letters, parables, reflect man’s attempt to imbibe Christianity absent intimacy with Christ – the downward progression.

The same accounts also represent the history of the church over 1400 years.

And these accounts represent aspects of our personal Christian journey; our struggle with sin and the inability through the years to conquer the lusts of the flesh, resorting to works until Christ’s comes and ushers us into a new season.

Laodicea and Colossae are one step removed from turning back into the depths of Galatians and Thyatira.

That’s why Paul tells the Colossians he’s praying they would find the mystery of Christ and Laodicea is ultimately vomited out of the mouth of Christ.

Sexual immorality, common with all men in one form or another, is the outward trying to capture what’s missing on the inward, the reason Christ has to personally intervene, otherwise, all would be lost in the depths of sin.

***

Paul’s and Christ’s Fifth and Sixth Letters: “Ephesians, Philippians” & “Sardis, Philadelphia” & Parables Five and Six, “Treasure & Pearl”

The tempo and themes of Paul’s and Christ’s letters, and the parables, change dramatically as God’s sons and daughters enter the Reformation and all the succeeding moves of God over the last 500 years.

The fifth letters and parable represent an unprecedented turn in the affairs of men and women from the previous four ages.

Creation establishes the pattern of God’s overall plan of redeeming men and women: the first four days of creation set the foundation, the fifth day, the first day of life, and, the sixth, the day of fullness, the number for man.

Just as the sun, moon, and stars, burst forth on the fourth day, providing the necessary provisions for life to begin on the fifth day, so to in millennia history and these accounts.

Christ came at the end of the fourth millennium from Adam, the “…sun of righteousness…” (NIV, Malachi 4:2), birthing the New Covenant, spiritual life, in the fifth millennium of human history, according to genealogies of the Scriptures.

Remember, 1000 years to men and women is a day to the Lord (NIV, 2 Peter 3:8). 

And it is on the sixth day of human history from the time of Adam, Christ brings his sons and daughters to fullness, fulfilling and redeeming what Adam and Eve lost in the Garden so long ago in making a bride for himself.

The eras of “Ephesians compared to Galatians,” “Sardis to Thyatira,” and the “treasure compared to yeast,” is like comparing light and life, to darkness and death.

Ephesians, Sardis, and the “treasure,” birth the true story of Christ again where it left off some 1400 years ago, the “new birth” and Pentecostal experiences.

The heart of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is about salvation by grace through faith in the saving power of Christ, the same theme of Christ’s letter to Sardis, and, the same theme in the treasure hidden in the field.

Just as the number four represents universal at times, we see in the first four letters, and parables, sin coming to fullness in Galatians, Thyatira, and the “yeast.”

And just as the number five represents grace at times, we see in the fifth letters, Ephesians and Sardis, and the fifth parable, the “treasure,” the intervention of Christ and the grace of God.

Ephesians, Sardis, and, the “treasure” reflect the beauty of the Gospel, even in the darkest of times, to burst forth the beginnings of spiritual life once again.

We also see the coming of life to the body of Christ brought the light of God’s Word to culture, science, medicine, society, industry, etc., over the ensuing 500 years of the Reformation and Pentecostal revivals – from the 1500s to the mid-20^th century.

It is not a coincidence industry, technology, science, standards of living, etc., improved over the same time as God’s light dawned on the Church once again.

Important

It is not a coincidence God created life on the fifth day, Christ birthed the New Covenant on the fifth day, Christ and Paul’s fifth letters birthed life to the Churches, and the “treasure” discovered is the fifth parable.

In Paul’s fifth letter, Ephesians, though preached earlier, comes the understanding of salvation by grace through faith; the bedrock of the New Covenant, and what God accomplished in Christ in his perfection.

And the fifth church age, Sardis (the Reformation and Pentecost), restored the new-birth, fulfilling the feast of Passover, including the return of Pentecost (Azusa in the early 1900s) in the Christian era.

Paul’s and Christ’s fifth letters, and the “treasure,” dovetail together to present a picture of the Reformation from the time of Luther to and including the time of the Pentecostal movements in the 20^th century.

Most important, for you and me in the 21^st century, it is not a coincidence God created the first man and woman on the sixth day, and we’re six millenniums from Adam in the sixth church age, Philadelphia.

And Philadelphia has the greatest promises to the saints in the Bible, the making of the bride – to bring those who’ve been called and chosen to fullness in the feast of Tabernacles.

It is not a coincidence the end-time bride is vividly pictured in Paul’s sixth letter, Philippians, and the heart of the sixth parable, the “pearl.”

And that all of this is coming together on the threshold of the Millennium, the day of rest for God, Christ, and mankind, the seventh millennium from Adam, according to Bible genealogy.

Mankind is approaching another critical time of transition from one era to another that many alive today will see come to pass in their lifetimes.

***

In the fifth church age, pictured by Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Christ’s letter to Sardis, and the “treasure;” the rudimentary principles of the Gospel and the mystery of the Gospel are made alive and fresh once again to those seeking Christ:

• the offices of the Church begin the path of being restored to the Church once again, Ephesians 4:11,
• spiritual warfare is unveiled once again, Ephesians 6:12,
• the mystery of the Gospel, what Paul later describes in Timothy as the “…deep truths of the faith…” (NIV, 1 Timothy 3:9), being made one with Christ in the long journey of the feast of Tabernacles, changed from glory to glory, (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:18), is made known once again through the story Christ pioneered for himself, and, for those who would become his disciples, Ephesians 4:20-24,
• the Church is once again directly and pointedly introduced to the knowledge of the bride, being made one with Christ, Ephesians 5:25 – 27,
• and as noted elsewhere, Paul reveals a deeper understanding of the feast of Tabernacles, referring to it as the “…day of redemption,” (NIV, Ephesians 4:30), and simply as “…redemption…” (NIV, Ephesians 1:7, 1:14) the mystery of being healed and restored in putting sin to death, raised to walk in newness of life, resurrection life,
• and importantly, the foundation of the faith: the knowledge Christ destroyed the barrier of “enmity,” fulfilling the law in his flesh, perfectly, becoming the atoning sacrifice for our sins in his perfection, Ephesians 2:14 – 16, see an interlinear.

 

** Important: from Sheep to Warhorse **

What I’m about to share is critically important to understand.

It’s the knowledge God sees things a lot differently than we do, and uses many expressions to illustrate his divine ability to make something from nothing, to change our nature into his glorious nature.

Whereas in Ephesians the mystery of the Gospel is made known once again, it is in Philippians the mystery is apprehended to the greatest extent of all the Epistles.

It is in Philippi, and Christ’s letter to the Philadelphians, and the “pearl,” a new nature is formed and comes to maturity; and with a new nature, comes new names, Philippians 2:9 – 10, for Christ, and Revelation 3:12, for those in Christ.

Or, as some would say, the making of the person into the name God gave to them.

Jesus was “given” his name at birth but was “made” into his name in being perfected (Hebrews 5:7-10).

We receive our names at birth by our parents, but God gives us new names commensurate with the nature formed within you and me in “making” us into the likeness of Christ (Revelation 3:12).

And that can only happen in the feast of Tabernacles, the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

It cannot happen in Passover and Pentecost, the born-again and Pentecostal experiences.

With great clarity, the letter to the Philippians makes known Christ’s personal journey of dying to sin to walk in newness of life (Philippians Chapter 2; see also Ephesians 1:20-23, 2:14-16, 4:20-24), resurrection life, fulfilling Psalm 16 before his ministry.

(Note: The “death” referred to in Ephesians 1:20 is not the death from Calvary, being raised, his second glorification, but the death of dying to sin, raised to walk in resurrection life, Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:16, “perfected,” eternal life restored.

And with that came the power and authority manifested in the Gospels to heal, save, raise the dead, having all authority on earth and Heaven.

Calvary made it visibly clear what he had already lived, taught, and manifested spiritually in relationship with his Father over three years.)

Many of the references to the cross in Paul’s writings refer to the cross of putting sin to death, the enmity in one’s flesh, Christ being the first to put generational transgressions and iniquities to death.

Resurrection life – healing and restoration – is the fruit of Tabernacles, being made one with Christ.

Only those walking in resurrection life, having had a measure of Christ completed in them, will escape the great persecution to come upon the body of Christ in the transition to the Millennium (Revelation 3:10).

The Philippians, Philadelphians, and “pearl,” depending on what picture you behold, are God’s warrior “horses.”

He will lead his warrior horses, those prepared for battle who have been well equipped and well prepared, in one last outpouring of the Holy Spirit to reach the lost before irreversible events are set in motion to transition what we see all around us, to the millennial rule of Christ, and his bride.

It’s not a coincidence Paul’s letter to the Philippians (the love of horses) is the height of the work of grace in apprehending Christ; Philadelphia (the love of the brethren) the height of the promises of God for a new nature and new names: and, the “pearl” a picture of beauty, made by the creative process of, typically, taking something unclean (a parasite) and making something beautiful.

Isn’t that the promise of the fullness of the Gospel, to take those destined to death, and not only save them, but to make them jewels for God’s treasure.

***

When the Lord guides someone into discovering these patterns, and many have been led to see these patterns, he does it to birth new understandings of his Word.

To confirm through many pictures the present and future work of the Spirit of grace in bringing men and women into deeper intimacy with him.

He brings many things together in pictures, dovetailing the work of the Spirit in your life and mine with the sacrifice in pursuing Christ, i.e., bringing harmony and confirmation of the “…water…” his Word, with the work of the “…Spirit…” and our sacrifice in pursuing Christ, the “…blood…” (NIV, 1 John 5:8)

Remember, blood in the New Covenant is a living sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice.

Yes, Christ’s blood was shed at Calvary, the rejection of his living sacrifice, the blood sacrifice of the entirety of his life he made to God in being made perfect, becoming our Savior, a new and better covenant (Hebrews 5:7-10).

The Covenant they rejected, but he did not reject them; letting his blood be shed, so they could see with their own eyes their sins marked on the holiness of his body.

For us in the 21^st century it could not be any clearer, these patterns, and the direction they point us to, are just as clear as when God told Noah to build an Ark, Moses to speak to Pharoah, Samuel to anoint David, and Joshua to go with courage into Canaan’s land.

We have the completed “book” and six millenniums of Bible history and fulfilled prophecy in our rearview mirror.

And we have, most importantly, the Lord doing what he said he would do in the last days in the feast of Tabernacles.

It cannot be any clearer.

Pictures & more Pictures of the Bride, the Promise of a New Nature

Important

The living creatures of Revelation are pictures of the bride, from Heaven’s perspective, having new natures formed with the attributes of a lion, an ox, and an eagle, and, restored humanity (in contrast to those who have the attributes of a leopard, bear, and lion, formed in the likeness of the evil one, Revelation Chapter 13; more on this hopefully in my next post).

Jesus used pictures of wine and wineskins, and pearl, among others.

In the Song of Songs, a vivid picture is given of the bride, the prize of her mother; the one who captures Solomon’s heart above all others.

In the Old Covenant the prophet Zechariah spoke of God’s anger toward the shepherds for not bringing the fullness of God to God’s people.

He prophesied the Lord would intervene, coming personally to his sons and daughters in healing and restoration.

Zechariah, speaking on behalf of the LORD “‘My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.’” (NIV, Zechariah 10:3)

God promises to make you and me, the sheep of his flock, into proud horses for battle.

And that is going to take a lot of cleansing, healing, and restoration in the care and love of God.

To begin to know the Lord, and he us, in the hidden and secret things of our hearts and minds.

God promises to make his sons and daughters into war horses; horses he can lead into battle to overcome the enemy, bringing the Good News of Christ to the lost, and, to the saved – who are camped, about to be swallowed by darkness if they do not break camp and move with the Spirit.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Christ’s letter to the Philadelphians, and Christ’s parable of the “pearl,” companion accounts and pictures in their unique way, capture the heart of the last milestone of the Christian pilgrimage, the feast of Tabernacles, Christ’s likeness – being made one with our Savior.

The likeness of Christ not only includes restored men and women having the heart of a lion, the sight of an eagle, and the perseverance of an ox, but also the nature of a war horse.

A horse fitted and trained for warfare, advancing the Kingdom of God deeper into the Kingdom of darkness, rescuing as many as will come.

If we miss this, then we miss the heart of the New Testament: to break camp and seek Christ to move beyond Passover and Pentecost, to be chosen by the Lord for the deep work of Tabernacles to be made one with him.

And all these attributes, the lion, ox, eagle, war horse, and others, point not only to the new nature formed from transformation, but to the new names written on the bride by Christ (Revelation 3:12).

And each name written on the heart of the bride will be given because of the unique part of the journey she’s completed in Tabernacles: putting sin to death as a living sacrifice, “Christ’s new name,” forsaking certain rights and privileges, “the name of the Father,” and, being made one with Christ and those of like journey, “the name of the New Jerusalem.”

***

Finally, the mystery of Christ revealed in Ephesians is not the mystery the Gentiles are heirs with Christ, for that’s not a mystery, but, a mistake by theologians and translators, having long lost the knowledge of Christ’s pioneering work in being made perfect, fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles.

The mystery of Christ, the promised grace to come, is the New Covenant promise by grace through faith to put sin to death, “resurrection life;” seated with Christ as joint heirs of the promises his pioneering work brought forth in the New Covenant for this life.

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (NIV, Ephesians 2:22)

Whereas Ephesians reveals the mystery of Christ, i.e., the promised destruction of the barrier of sin keeping you and me from fulfilling the law in our flesh, Philippians apprehends the mystery of Christ.

Paul describes how he wants to be like Christ in the sufferings of his death (NIV, Philippians 3:10).

This is not the death of Calvary, but the death to sin, being made alive by the Spirit of God to walk in new life. (Romans 6:10, 8:10 – 11; Philippians 3:12-21; Hebrews 5:7 – 10, 7:16; 1 Peter 3:18, etc.)

Regarding the two comparable parables to Ephesians and Philippians (and Christ’s letters to Sardis and Philadelphia), are the parables of the “treasure” and the “pearl.”

The “treasure” speaks of not finding salvation in the treasure houses of men, institutionalized Christianity, and all the trappings of creeds and traditions, but in the person of Christ.

Christ, the Savior of all who will come to him, rich and poor.

Bringing Christ to where we live and work and have your being, not in the palaces of kings and queens, the esteemed and prominent, but in the secret places, the “field,” the soil of our heart, where life itself began and sustained.

The “treasure” hidden in the field speaks of the feasts of Passover and Pentecost:

the barley and wheat harvests, i.e., the new-birth and Pentecostal experiences; the beginning of the journey in Christ, and,

finding Christ, but not apprehending all of Christ; knowing “about” Christ, and his “presence,” but not being known, and knowing, in intimacy and union.

The “pearl” speaks of the grafting process, a picture of the third and final feast, Tabernacles, Christ likeness:

the transformation of a parasite, symbolically representing sinful man, into a completely new nature by the mysterious work of the Spirit of grace – being made into the likeness of Christ reserved for the final and third feast of the Christian pilgrimage.

Important

The “pearl” is another picture, like: the “summer harvest of fruits, nuts, and olives (not grains, like the first two feasts, but fruits),” “Most Holy Place,” “sheep transformed into war horses,” “wise virgins transformed into brides,” “the living creatures (Revelation 4:6-9), with new names (Revelation 3:12),” and, “the baby in the womb of the Church,” (Revelation 12:2-5), of the long journey of being transformed into a completely new creation.

As Peter says, “…he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (NIV, 2 Peter 1:4, bold and italicized mine.)

***

Colossians, Laodicea, & Net (Christ’s & Paul’s 7th Letters, & 7th Parable)

The Bible is an inspired history “past, present, and future,” of where mankind has been, is presently, and going, either by the leading of God, or, the leading of the evil one.

If there ever was a so-called middle ground of un-deciders, whether in and out of the Church, it’s quickly disappearing, and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

The design and organization of the New Testament writings are meticulously placed by the Holy Spirit to confirm and testify through many pictures and references, the design, plan, and purposes of God in redeeming you and me.

The Holy Spirit organized, designed, and planned the Scripture to not only tell the story of his plan, but, most importantly, through showing the plan in action in Christ, we’ll come into deeper and deeper relationship with him.

And after all, it’s all about the Lord, bringing you and me into the deepest relationship possible before we’re cut from the loom of this earth.

For us in the 21^st century, we have what no other church age has had, a sweeping and detailed panoramic view of the past (four millenniums before Christ, and two millenniums after Christ), from our position in the present two dominant church ages co-existing at the same time, Philadelphia and Laodicea (pictured together as the baby (Philadelphia) in the womb of the woman (the Church at large, Laodicea) of Revelation 12).

Laodicea being everything in Christendom outside of the deep work of the Spirit in Philadelphia.

Thus, Laodicea is the remnant of Thyatira and the Sardis church ages.

Philadelphia, like Philippians and the “pearl” is a picture of the wise virgins being made brides.

Laodicea, Colossians, and the “net,” companion pictures, are God’s outreach in the last days, circling back, to bring as many as possible into the Kingdom of God before irreversible events of the end-times are set in motion.

Colossians

The letter to the Church of Colossae is one last attempt by Paul to awaken the Colossians to the mystery of the fullness of Christ made available even in this late hour of church history (Colossians 2:2 & 4:16).

Note:

Though Paul’s and Christ’s letters to the Churches are to real churches, they also symbolize the Christian journey individually, and corporately, over the two-millennium era of the Gospel dispensation.

The same with the parables of Matthew Chapter 13.

These accounts capture the work of the Spirit God wants known in those particular seasons of history.

For example, the “pearl,” “Philippians,” “Philadelphia,” represents what God is doing in that particular season of church history – which is the present work of the Spirit today – forming a bride, even though many in Christendom are not partaking of God’s offer.

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The last of Paul’s letters to the Churches before the end-times (i.e., 1 and 2 Thessalonians), is Colossians, the age of lukewarm Christianity, Laodicea by another name, exhorted to seek the mystery of Christ, Tabernacles (Colossians 1:25 – 27 and 2:1 – 5).

Paul explains Christ is the mystery of the Gospel, the journey he pioneered, the “…firstborn over all of creation.” (NIV, Colossians 1:15)

Note:

“Shed” in reference to blood, Colossians 1:20, is not in the Greek, it is not to be understood as “shed,” because Paul is not talking about Calvary, but his journey in being made perfect.

Christ sacrificed the entirety of his life in putting sin to death; only the word “blood” adequately conveys and describes the cost in being made perfect under the New Covenant; crucifying the flesh, “nailed” to one’s personal cross in utter dependence upon God for healing and restoration.

A new sacrificial system, under a new and better covenant, pioneered and authored by Christ, explained by the language of the New Covenant, John 6:63; see also Hebrews 5:7 – 10, Romans 6:10, etc.

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Essentially the same exhortation Paul gives to the Colossians (to awaken and seek to enter the mystery of the Gospel, the feast of Tabernacles to be made one with Christ before it’s too late), Christ admonishes the Laodiceans to “…buy from me gold as refined in the fire…” (NIV, Revelation 3:18)

Though, it appears Christ’s comments refer to the giving of their lives in the first half of the Tribulation, too late to be made a bride in Tabernacles, nonetheless, those who respond to his call now can seek to enter Tabernacles, discerning the Lord’s warning, before it’s too late.

A few brief comments about Colossians.

The public “revealing,” Paul describes in Colossians 2:15 is not the public execution of Christ at Calvary, far from it.

But the ministry of a preacher, having no history or association with the “religious” – no outward attraction – but, walking in the Spirit of resurrection life, openly performing “…signs, wonders and various miracles…” (NIV, Hebrews 2:4, italicized mine, see also Acts 2:22) over three years; overcoming and subduing the powers of darkness in his ministry by the fullness of God in him.

Paul, and the early Apostles, never talked about Calvary as the place Christ nailed sin to the cross, overcoming and putting sin to death, because Calvary was the place of exposing Israel’s unrepentant sins, so they would come to forgiveness in repentance.

Sin is not something you nail, it’s something that has to be put to death, Colossians 3:5.

You don’t put sin to death by killing someone, but by killing it through repentance and forgiveness.

Christ nailed his human ancestral sins to the cross (Isaiah 53:5-6), in the journey being made perfect – destroying the barrier between his flesh and the law (Ephesians 2:14-16, see an interlinear).

The interpretation of this verse as pertaining to Calvary by creeds and traditions is an example of imposing the Old Testament on the New, contrary to Christ’s clear teaching and the writers of the New Testament.

We know the Colossians are camped in Passover and Pentecost because Paul says, “When Christ, who is your life, appears…” letting them clearly know they’ve not entered the feast of Tabernacles, being made one with Christ, but, are on the outside looking in. (NIV, Colossians 3:4)

Colossians are Christians who have missed the great work of the Spirit to be made a bride; the Lord circling back to capture some into Tabernacles, before he sets in motion the events of the end-times.

Whereas Thessalonians is symbolic of the Church, the body of Christ, on the threshold of the Tribulation, and in the first half of the Tribulation.

It’s interesting there’s a number of ties of Colossians to the last day church outside of the bride, Tabernacles; having to face the coming assault head-on of the Antichrist world system, as Paul intimates “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (NIV, Colossians 1:15, italicized mine)

It’s interesting because those virgins who fail to meet the bridegroom and be made into the bride, will face another image they did not want to meet, but are thrust into, the image of the Beast (Revelation 13:1 – 18, and note particularly verses 14 and 15).

We will be made in one likeness or the other, the image of Christ, or the image of the Beast.

The Colossians who fail to be chosen to enter the open door of Philadelphia (to be changed from a sheep to a war horse, i.e., the Philippians, or, from a particle into a “pearl”) must now face the image of the Beast; either giving their life to Christ in the fires of the Tribulation, or be made like unto the Beast.

Only Tabernacles can graft you and me into Christ; and only the coming of Christ to you and me individually can bring that to pass over the journey he pioneered.

Finally, “net” represents the great ingathering of souls in the end-times; those who come to the faith in the last of the last days in revivals yet to come – which are not as close as some would like, nor as far as others would like.

Maybe some of those who come to Christ in the great ingathering to come will have the time to be made into brides, we don’t know for certain.

Thessalonians

Thessalonians is a picture of the Church in the end-times (symbolically), marked by severe suffering in the aftermath of the end-time revivals; the resurgence and building momentum of the Antichrist system after being temporarily wounded by global revival(s).

The wounding of the Antichrist system in the last days is temporary; coming back to life in even more rage; Satan having been thrown out of heaven, walking the earth through the Antichrist system to cause as much destruction as possible.

If you haven’t already, I urge you inquire of the Lord about your relationship with him, and, whether now is the time in your journey to seek Christ for the deep work of the Spirit of grace.

We only have so much time.

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to ask the Lord to be taken on a journey with him into the deep things of the Spirit.

God can do a deep and profound work in a short period of time, it may not be the fullness you would’ve had, had you known and sought differently years earlier, but it will be a greater fullness than staying camped in the feasts of Passover and Pentecost.

The “emphasis” and “outreach” of the days of Pentecost are over.

A mammoth new wave of God’s Spirit is building and will be released some day and wash over the nations in one last Gospel wave of cleaning and catching as many fish as possible in the sea of humanity.

Now is the time, more than ever, to seek the deep things of God.

This kingdom and everything about it will pass by like a hand breath.

One day all of us will be standing on another shore, let’s make sure it’s the shore with Christ’s footsteps in the sand, and not the one the Dragon of Revelation is standing on (Revelation 13:1).

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.™