Hello. Welcome again to A Peculiar People. I’ve covered a lot of topics in this series and I’m still circling in 1 Peter.
Believe it or not we’re heading to a conclusion. It will take a few more posts to get there.
There’s a lot of insight here you won’t find in commentaries. I hope you’ve had a chance to read my posts.
Searching Hearts, Looking for Those Who Will Respond & Yield to His Yoke
Commentaries are a great resource on the thinking of theologians in “their day,” and, an historical record on the development of the many beliefs in Christendom.
As I noted in Part 14, and in most of my posts, God continues to unveil new insight and revelation as he takes the church deeper unto himself.
There is a building, a momentum, ultimately to result in the fullness of righteousness at the end of the New Testament age. And sadly, the fullness of evil as well for those caught in the snare, culture, and kingdom of the evil one.
The church, you and me, will come to the fullness and stature of Jesus Christ in our generation, to the depth and degree Christ is able to reveal himself in our lives.
I do not know how close we are to the end of the New Testament age, but I know we are closer than previous generations and closer than we may think.
There is a deep work of the Holy Spirit today, unlike any other, set to eclipse past moves of God. Do you sense it? Are you experiencing God’s preparation? What are you hearing from the Lord?
To the unobservant, the move of God will pass by. To the discerning, the call of the Spirit will awaken their heart to the things of God and ignite their thirst for the Spirit of Jesus.
Jesus is reclaiming the territory of our hearts and lives, and fathering us in the stewardship of those areas formally given over to darkness. I am a witness to the methodical work of the Holy Spirit – and so are many others.
You do not want to miss what Christ is offering in this hour and season of the church. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to bring the sacrifice of your entire being to the altar.
Now is the time to be taken by the Lord Jesus Christ under the umbrella of his love, in the grace of his spirit, and in the gentleness of his hand, to be cleansed and made new from the inside out.
Now is the time to embrace the things of God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your being. Now is the time to take the opportunities and resources Christ sends your way.
Healing the Temple of God
One needs only to look at the last hundred years and see wave after wave of revival and the “increase” in revelation in each successive wave.
In my lifetime, a small period in the span of the New Testament age, I’ve seen a marked increase in the depth and degree of intimacy offered to the body of Christ by the Lord.
The revelation of Christ today in ministries, writings, songs, etc., far surpasses previous generations.
Christ is removing the building blocks of the temple we’ve constructed in our individual lives, bringing them down brick by brick.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, Jesus stated if they destroyed his body (the Jews thinking he was referring to their “Temple”), he would raise it up in three days.
Many of us, to one degree or another, like the Jews of old, have all manner of “markets” within our temple, transacting business in opposition to Christ and the things of God.
Our wounds and sins afflicted Christ’s body, and ours as well, the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Hidden and known, before and after the new birth, we have been buying and selling wounds, sins, and darkness to and among others through the “marketplace” of our temple.
You might even say, some of us have a “corner” on the market of “bad fruit” and other products in opposition to Christ – embracing and specializing in certain sins and weaknesses – marketing them to our family and others.
Maybe there’s an area in your life it seems impossible to overcome. And what about those areas we don’t even know about, waiting for the opportune time to unleash their snare?
Christ, is here, now, in our generation, to cleanse and heal the temple of God – you and me. (Romans 8:11) This is the mandate of the Father to Christ, and our stewardship.
It’s time to go to the marketplace of Christ, and begin buying and selling the things of God and put to death the sinful practices of the old man.
Jesus is waiting to close down the pawnshops and the houses of ill repute in our lives and build a kingdom of kings and priests that last forever.
We are above all people, a blessed generation on the precipice of even more of God.
Jesus Christ is moving in his body, choosing those who want a deeper relationship with him, and wooing others to come alongside and partake of the feast he is prepared to give them.
It’s time to leave the marketplace of our brokenness, the buying and selling of wounds and sins – embracing the temptations of others and offering our own temptations.
Jesus, knows how to bring an end to the cycles and roots of darkness in our lives. Christ is eagerly waiting for the glance of your eyes and the movement of your heart toward him.
He will bring justice to the unjust marketplace of your life and mine.
Together, let’s respond to the call of God to go deep.
Types
For those of you who like types and shadows, and the symbolism of numbers, 3 is generally associated with salvation in the Bible.
You can fill in the details but here’s some interesting thoughts regarding the 3 days mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel of John Chapter 2.
Christ came at the end of the 4th day in Bible creation typology. There are three days left until the New Heaven and New Earth.
He fulfilled the three major feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, and was the only one to fulfill the complete redemption of body, soul and spirit (2nd Adam).
Adam and Eve destroyed the temple, “their body,” God created for them in the Garden. It will take Christ 3 millenniums to completely and perfectly restore the temple of God for all of mankind – the destroyed temple will be raised in 3 days!
Jesus
Jesus is beyond anything we can imagine or think and yet so real and personal in the details of our life. He is matchless.
What, above all else, does the bride meditate and think about? Why, of course, it’s the bridegroom, is it not? He is all-consuming to her. And she is all-consuming to him. And so, it is with Jesus.
A yearning and passion unlike any other. A quest for intimacy and connection beyond anything that can be experienced in the natural.
A hunger and thirst only quenched by the presence of God and union with Christ. A desire and passion only satisfied by kisses from God.
A heart so in love with Jesus, his fragrance and aroma permeates your being.
Oh, to experience and express the revelation of Jesus Christ in depth and in ways those preceding us only dreamt about.
You and I live in a time of unprecedented change and opportunity in Christ. The New Testament age is nearer to completion than ever before, and so is the growth, maturity, and wisdom of the sons and daughters of God.
You and I are part of a plan that continues to unfold and reveal more and more of the mystery of Jesus Christ and the revelation of Christ by grace.
The unimaginable is knocking on the door of your heart, will you respond and allow Jesus to cleanse your temple?
The Word of God Etched on the Tablet of Your Heart and Mine
My friends, be encouraged. Christ has a plan just for you. His plan is to write his very nature and words into the broken and secret areas of your heart and mine.
This will require a journey in the wilderness. This will require a disruption in your life and mine. This will require time alone with the Lord, time for him to speak softly and gently into those areas of your heart and life held in darkness.
This will require Christ’s discipline and testing for your benefit and his. This will require the Father’s care – the care you never received as a child, young adult, or adult.
This will require an open heart, the intentional choosing by you and me to let Christ access not only the things we know, but to the secret and hidden areas of our heart. This will require Christ taking you and me deep in grace and revelation.
The journey is long and the process is complex and it is done through much sacrifice and care. But be of good cheer, the “pioneer” of our faith knows how to bring the Father’s grace to your life and mine in measures we can sustain and flourish.
We need Jesus in our daily life, in the breath we take, the food we eat, sleeping, working, resting, social and family – all of these require Christ because all have been marred by the fall and need redemption.
Contend for the Living Christ
When you and I think about Christianity, do we think about beliefs and practices or the living Christ within us?
When you think about your father, mother or someone else, do you think about their beliefs and practices or their person – there revelation to you of who they are and who you are in them?
Christianity is not a “statement of belief.” How is it possible to express the Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father and the workings of the Holy Spirit in a few sentences and say this is Christianity?
Personally, I believe it would be better to refrain from statements of belief and instead let the Bible speak for itself and through “the words and actions of Christians” and not try to paraphrase thousands upon thousands of thoughts by different men and women over hundreds of years in a few sentences, and promote as the mark and measurement of Christianity.
Is that not one of the obstacles Christ faced in his day? Layers upon layers of theology, beliefs and practices separating the “called” of God from receiving the delight, grace and love of their Father in heaven.
Racing Ahead with God
The word of God is alive, birthing new expressions of God in man in each successive generation. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ races ahead preparing the way for those called and chosen by Christ, into the deeper things of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ continues to reveal himself to the church, increasing the revelation of the nature of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, as the church journeys toward the closing days of the New Testament.
There are yet revelations, experiences, and manifestations of the Holy Spirit to be revealed in our generation and in the generations to come.
So, take heart, you have not reached the end of God, but are experiencing only a small spectrum of his majesty and holiness. We stand on the threshold of unprecedented change coming to the body of Jesus Christ.
Christ is actively preparing his body, you and me, for greater measures of intimacy and connection with him.
As that unfolds, so to does our journey in him. We all need of a lot more cleansing and healing – being made ready by the Lord – for connection and union.
It took a journey to destroy our temples and it will take a journey to reclaim our inheritance.
There is a fullness of time for sin, a fullness of time for righteousness – the completion of the work of God in the heart of his Saints.
Jesus is taking many into the wilderness to reveal himself in grace, speaking gently to the deep, hidden and secret areas of the heart. Christ is unveiling our brokenness and wounds and offering himself as a poultice.
Will you and I be ones counted in this number?
Closing Thoughts
We see in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation, the living creatures ministering in the heavenly realm during the tribulation. The living creatures are the body of Christ having come to his fullness and stature.
We see in the closing days of the New Testament the woman giving birth to the male-child, recorded in Chapter 12 of the book of Revelation.
Nothing is told of the ministry of the male-child. But we see the effect this child has on the world and the authority and position it carries.
So again, take heart, there is a lot ahead for the church. Now is the time to prepare and to be made ready.
Noah’s journey was long, covering decades. It was an extreme time of preparation and ministry – “a baptism” – a deep work of God in him and his family.
The flood occurred over a relatively short period of time but it was of seismic proportions, so much so, it’s one of the highlights of the Bible and captivates our imagination – unlike Noah’s journey before the flood.
We don’t think of the time and the decades of preparation by Noah and his call to others to prepare. Most of the emphasis seems to be on the flood because of its dramatic, unprecedented, all-consuming and all-encompassing nature.
We naturally focus on the results, the flood, and not the journey of preparation. The results would not happen without the journey, and the journey is where we are set apart and changed.
And so, likewise, it may very well be the same with the history of the church in the last of the last days.
The expression of Christ and the expression of evil will be so dramatic and unprecedented those in the millennium will look back and compare events, those who transited from the New Testament into the millennium with Noah, who transited from the ancient world into the New World.
The long history of the church over 2,000 or so years will seem distant and faint, other than the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and the writers of the New Testament, compared to the manifestation of the Lord and the Holy Spirit at the threshold of the millennium.
A time of scarcity and famine for the work and word of God is coming. Now is the time to be made ready.
Some of our wounds need the intimate care of Jesus Christ through the body of Christ – you cannot shout or sing your way out of it.
I pray you and I would say yes to the Lord, and let him care for us like no other.
Blessings, Drake
