HEAVEN'S DESCENDERS

(Part 2)

#137.01

   Our previous issue brought out the importance of knowing where we presently abide; namely, in the heavens with Christ Jesus. If we happen to view things from beneath as natural men, we will forever be earthbound and struggling to make our way to heaven. All our thoughts and efforts will be spent on trying to ascend. We will forever be climbing hither and yon with hopes of eventually going up to heaven.

The point made was that we have already ascended, and now the need is to descend. Yet this descent is not made by presumption or trying with all our carnal might and mental will power to believe it. It must be by revelation or experience, and as long as we fail to know where we abide, there will never be a descent, and if there is no descent, there will be no manifestation of God's glory in the earth. Once the reality hits home, and it sets firm in us, things will change.

For one, there will be war; however, due to where we stand, which is in Christ Jesus, the Rock, the Chief Cornerstone, the Sure Foundation, He who is far above all heavens, the war will easily be won. And from that vanguard of victory we will descend and sweep over the earth and finish that which was finished from the foundation of the world. Our presence will be as a rolling tidal wave of fire, bring total destruction of kingdoms in some lives, while to others, we will be as a gentle rain in due season, bringing seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, and this is fine. It is great! Such a quest is an honorable venture; but please keep in mind, we are not meant to remain there forever. To stay in such a place would be like clouds without rain that never had a thing to offer the earth, just sailing along with no substance of worth.

Yes indeed, heaven is a thing to be desired; but for anyone to go up some other way than Jesus, the ascent is dangerous. If the thought of grandeur captures our minds, self-esteem and pride will set in. The next phase of our perilous ascent would be to strap on ethereal wings of loftiness; but it would only be a question of time before we would be met by Heaven's fire coming down.

With such wayward thinking, it may seem to some that they are not doing anything different than those who know the pathway of Life, and who are in union with our Lord Jesus. If they see a difference in what they are declaring, the difference will most likely be from a self-centered perspective. They may view themselves as being head and shoulders over those who won't fly with them into their heavens of delusion. They have kindled fire to offer before the Lord which appears to them like Holy Fire; for in their eyes, fire is fire. But there is a vast difference, and there are dire consequences to be paid when it is not the right fire.

The Old Testament says something of this when two sons of Aaron tried to go up some other way. They had used fire of their own making which led to their destruction: "...Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD" (Lev 10:1-2).

We may not see people today dying physical death when they make their own legalistic, emotional, and/or religious fire; but they die spiritually. Any life they once had will vanish with either the absence of life or in the face of God's fiery oracles.

Korah is another example, along with 250 of his followers. They offered incense and rose up against Moses and Aaron. Their presumption cost them dearly, for they were all consumed by fire that came out from the Lord (Num 16:1-35).

Fire in the scriptures is rarely used other than in reference to God and His Hallowed Glory. When this holy flame was abused or counterfeited, the people usually suffered the judgment of death. It was not a thing to be taken lightly, and it is this fire, the fire of His word, His messengers, His very presence that will descend and mete out justice in the earth with life unto life or death unto death, whichever is the need to be met.

King Uzziah was another who attempted to ascend into heaven the wrong way. He did this by taking upon himself the position of the priest and burning incense. "...When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense" (2 Chr 26:16).

Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests withstood him for his transgression; but it did not sway him. It only made him more determined. "Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar" (2 Chr 26:19). The king was cast from the holy place, separated from the people, and he died a humiliating death in a leper colony. Please, dear friends, let not our kingship be a factor for pride to take root in our minds.

Of a truth, it is not difficult for one to be lifted up in pride. And the religious things done in such a spirit will often be the cause for destruction. It is easy to put on a show that appears to be unto the Lord; but with pride, it will be unto one's own glory. It is a hard thing to go up into the heavens, the holy places of God, by way of strange fire. Any other means than Christ will not do; for most assuredly, anyone who attempts it, will be met with a power to be reckoned with; namely, fire from heaven.

This descending fire comes in varied manifestations; but one of the most notable ways is as the word of God in the mouths of His fiery ministers of His flaming corporate body. Jeremiah wrote: "Is not My word like as a fire? saith the LORD" (Jer 23:29), and God "...maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" (Heb 1:7).

The Hebrew word for descend in the Old Testament is yarad, which indicates a move from a higher place to a lower one. However, as we noticed last time, when it is used in reference to God, His messengers, or other things from heaven, the descent always affects the earth in some way or another. The affects can be profoundly severe, leaving individuals and nations shaken to the core, or the desenders can come as unbridled blessings, forever changing people's lives and ushering them into wonders unknown.

God's descent can pass through the earth like a hurricane, terrifying and wrecking everything in His path. His presence makes many changes in people's lives. Notwithstanding, He often comes as a cool breeze, a calm voice, one of love, and this too will change one's life. Each of us was certainly changed when we first heard His call. I know I was changed, and every instance of hearing His voice since that time has made changes.

If light shines at the whisper of one word, and worlds are formed, or mountains rise at His command, and then tremble as He walks by, and the fruitful place becomes a wilderness, and all the cities thereof are broken down at the presence of the Lord -- what feeble man or woman can stand unshaken or unchanged when He speaks? Brethren, there is none -- no, not one! If there was such a man, he would be mightier than God, stronger than the wind, more fierce than tidal waves; but we have no need to trouble ourselves, for there are none. Ah, the power of God's word, His presence, the manifestation of His person of any sort, is awesome to be heard.

If we should take a moment or two to reflect, we would know that the transforming voice of God came down to us on many occasions, and at times it was His consuming fire. It was not always pleasant, especially when those holy, unblemished things in our lives were consumed. It was difficult to relinquish that which He had so freely given to us -- certain gifts, talents, ministries, works, helps, etc. -- but some to them were consumed with God's descending fire just the same. At such times, not only did we suffer loss, but the order was changed. We see the shadow of this throughout the old testament. One such place is in Second Chronicles:

"Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house" (2 Chr 7:1).

Indeed, it is painful to have our offerings and sacrifices consumed by fire. There are some who resent having their religious programs superceded by God's program. For when that happens, they loose control, a fretful thing for earth-dwellers. Ah, but this is what the Sons of God earnestly desire, the glory of the LORD filling the house! And we should not have to be told that the house is God's house, it is where He lives. It is the place where He is at home, and it is likewise with us. Wherever He lives is where we live. It matters not the location, we are right at home with Him. And I can tell you this, if we are not at home where God lives, then we are servants and not sons. We would be earthy, still savoring man's kingdom and not God's Kingdom. Our living quarters would be that of the servants and not the Master's.

Notwithstanding, as we consider who we are, let us know there is something greater than our gifts and ministries. As glorious as some church orders are, and some are glorious, they cannot compare to the glory which fills our house when He descends into it as fire.

WHEN THAT WHICH IS PERFECT IS COME

You see, we all have a gift, a parcel of faith, a ministry of some sort; however, when that which is perfect descends -- all those parcels will be overcome by the fullness. Prophecies speak of things to come; but after the perfection of that which it speaks arrives, there is no need to prophesy. The prophecies cease after the perfection of reality is held. For example, it would be like the child whose father had gone away on a long trip, and the child was continually foretelling (prophesying) of his father's return. However, after the arrival, the little boy would no longer be compelled to prophesy that which was fulfilled, or made perfect. When that which is perfect is come, prophesying fails. It will not satisfy in the presence of realty.

There is a day when faith will cease. When the things hoped for finally come, the substance of faith will not be needed. After God's full, abiding presence is known, we won't have to have faith for it. We will not have to hope for it. "For...hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it?" (Rom 8:24). As long as we have faith for something, it is an open declaration that we do not have the fullness of that faith. Some, of course, get impatient and say they already possess the fullness; but their lives manifest that they don't.

Declaring something as having been finished does not make it so, even though it was finished in the unseen heavens and earth at the foundation of the world. Naming and claiming that I am in New York City, while I sit in my office in Alamogordo, does not make it so. It makes no difference how much I desire it, the reality is Alamogordo. I can confess it all day long, I can shout it from the roof tops that I am in New York City; but the reality speaks otherwise. I can have the faith, however, that I will someday make it to that noted city, and when I arrive, the fulness of that faith will be mine. And once that fulness is mine, it is then that I will no longer have faith for it, nor will I prophesy it. Both faith and prophesy will be consumed by the reality. My presence alone in that place will testify the perfection of my faith.

It is the same with tongues. The gift of tongues is wonderful; but when perfection, the pure language of the Spirit, comes to all men everywhere, the gift will cease. They will all speak with clarity. Their words will shine with the brightness of God's glory. The gift will have been swallowed up by the whole: "For then will I turn to the people a ⁽¹⁾pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent" (Zeph 3:9), and that is after God descends as fire and pours out His fury upon the earth.

Knowledge will cease. The light of a candle shines brightly in a dark place; but it is consumed by the glory of the noonday sun! We shine bright with the knowledge of the Lord in a world of darkness, a world of gross ignorance and rampant sin. But once our sacrifice is consumed and the glory of the Lord fills His many-membered, corporate house, our light diminishes as individuals in the brightness of the whole. Our prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will vanish away as they are consumed by perfection -- the glory of God in His many membered body.

All knowledge will not vanish away, of course, for without knowledge ignorance is all that is left. That is what would happen if there was no knowledge at all; but the in-part knowledge will vanish as the greater consumes it. "For the earth shall be filled with THE KNOWLEDGE of THE GLORY OF THE LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab 2:14). Although knowledge will still be present -- the parcel, the fragment, the drop shall vanish in the vast sea of THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD! And to think we are something great as individuals in God's vast Kingdom is so self-serving. We were certainly worth enough for Jesus to die for us, this is sure; but when it comes to our individual glory, we can dispense with that notion. Any individual glory there is shall be consumed by the Great Light as it shines in darkness.

"The people who sat in darkness have seen A GREAT LIGHT, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death LIGHT HAS DAWNED" (Mat 4:16 NRSV). Jesus was the dawning of that GREAT LIGHT. Like a beacon on a dark coast he shined His Great Light of Life. But as long as He remained in one body He was localized and that light could not cover the circumference of the earth. He, therefore, had to go away and prepare a place that would be greater -- not different, but GREATER.

He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and GREATER WORKS than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father" (John 14:12). Jesus was taken up into heaven; but He did not remain there. He had to descend again before we could do those greater works; for without Him we can do nothing. With Him being taken up into heaven involves an end of seeing the one man, Jesus. His descent, however, marks the beginning of an intimate and powerful relationship with Him.

As long as we see Jesus as that one man of Galilee, He is outside of us, and other outside things can cause us to waver in our faith and relationship. Paul said that we were to know no man after the flesh, not even Jesus. And with that I am reminded of something the late Douglas Wilson related in one of his articles. He said something to the effect that as long as the devotion of the disciples to Christ depended upon and was governed by his visible presence in the flesh, it was unstable and wavering. His presence did not stop the disciples from quarreling among themselves as to who would be first among them. His presence while in the flesh did not prevent Peter from denying him, nor did His presence stop the disciples from fearing storms and waves. So long as they depended upon a fleshly body, their devotion was very unstable, their faith in Him was limited and could fail. While they depended upon the visible or fleshly body of Jesus, some other visible body could cause them to waver.

You see, when our Lord put off His mortality, He delocalized His presence. As long as He was in a fleshly body of His own, He was a local figure. That is, He could only be in one place at any given time. If He was in the city of Jerusalem, He could not be in Bethlehem. If a person desired to see Him or speak with Him, they had to either go to Him or ask Him to come to them. He was as all of us in that respect, and He remained so until He had divested Himself of His physical body. Therefore, when the Bible speaks of Him as departing, it is not necessarily saying that He went somewhere. But it does mean that He separated Himself from His fleshly body and natural life. This was so He could intensify His presence in another and much GREATER way. And, be reminded, dear readers of The Pathfinder, He had to DESCENDED from heaven into His many-membered body before that GREATER way and GREATER works could ever be known. If He had never descended, the kingdoms would have never been shaken, and we would not be where we are today -- which is the same place where He abides in our Father.

As it was when Solomon offered up the burnt offering, and the house was filled with the Glory of God, so it was with Jesus. After He was offered and went up, "...suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2).

Prior to His descent from heaven and filling His house, the disciples wavered in their faith and allegiance. Ah, but afterwards -- they moved mountains and turned the world upside down.

If He had gone away and remained in heaven, in a far off place, in a region where His household of people had never been, nothing would have changed. But He did not go and leave his house comfortless. He ascended and then descended into every room of it, and He has been there ever since. He has a home, He has a place to lay His head. He has a place He likes, and He will not be moving out.

A mere doctrine and fading memory of a man called Jesus could not have accomplished what has transpired since the day of Pentecost. No, not by any means or stretch of the imagination! Even while He was physically present, His followers had little authority, and enacted nothing to speak of in the world. Only once, when Jesus sent the seventy in His name was there anything done to merit much recognition. That was when they healed the sick and cast out demons, and although not physically present, Jesus saw it; for He said, "...I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18).

Therefore, without His indwelling Spirit, without Him filling His house -- there is no power to do anything at all. If He really went off to some distant galaxy where God is supposed to live, and if He is waiting for the right time to make His "second advent" -- I am here to tell you -- we are in serious trouble! All we would be able to do would be to put our hand to a carnal plow and try to build another church, a fortress against the devil.

But praise God, He is not sitting idly on a natural throne of ivory in the natural heavens, waiting to come back to earth. For He came back nearly 2000 years ago! He came back and filled His house where no man of flesh can stand and minister! He has already descended from heaven! And He has lifted us back to that wonderworking place from where He descended!

From that day forth, those of His house have been ascending and descending, as Jacob saw in the vision. My God! The magnitude of His GREATER WORKS is incomprehensible! Who can know them but the ones in whom He has descended, and those He has made known that they now sit Far Above All Heavens and are ruling over them all.

Moreover, the hour to descend from them in open manifestation is rushing upon us. And please know, this descent is not for the purpose of making religious announcements to the world or to declare new doctrines to the church. This descent is as the very oracles of God! And not only that, as the oracles of God, we shall speak the oracles of God! We shall not foretell what shall be; but in perfection, we will speak the words of LIFE! Hallelujah! THE ORACLES OF GOD⁽²⁾Oracles of God are those who express the effulgence of God from the midst of the Holy of holies. Their substance is God's substance, and it is this substance which flows from the midst of them. And this is what creation is groaning and waiting for -- the manifestation of the Sons of God. This manifestation is not a religious order, or carnal creed. It is the brilliance of God Himself, and no man outside will be able to be a part of it; but those who see the descending glory will surely be changed. "And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshiped, and praised the LORD, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever" (2 Chr 7:2-3).

A friend of ours called the other day and said he woke up from a night's sleep with this question resounding from the heavens: "Can't anybody speak the oracles of God?" By and large, we must say that they have not been speaking them; for how can anyone speak God's oracles if they are not oracles themselves? It is impossible! They may be able to repeat what they hear from an oracle, they can plagiarize oracles; but they are not oracles, and there will be no life in their words.

By the anointing they may be able to speak as the prophets; but when they are not the oracles, their words can only be about Christ. They are not speaking Christ. They are not expressing His substance. Foretelling what will be is not the same as being that which is foretold. Prophets, scribes, and teachers can announce wonderful stories about God, and what He is going to do; but those stories can never compare to the reality of which they speak. Again, when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away.

The writer of Hebrews must have known something of this when he wrote: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the ⁽³⁾express image of His ⁽⁴⁾ person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb 1:3).

You see, by being in the express image of God's person, His substance, there will be power in the word; for our word will then be His descending word. It can be nothing else. Whatever is the substance of a thing, that will be what is manifested. In this case it is the substance of God, His word, which, of course, contains great power.

There is another place hupostasis is found, which is in the book of Hebrews: "For we are made ⁽⁵⁾partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence (hupostasis) stedfast unto the end" (Heb 3:14). The use of the word, confidence, here, causes us to assume it was difficult for the translators to believe we could be of the same substance of Christ, especially since they pictured Him away from us -- "far above all heavens." Nevertheless, the first part of the verse makes it clear that we are of His substance by saying -- we are made PARTAKERS of Christ.

Therefore, since we are PARTAKERS of Christ, the heavenly calling, and His glory (Heb 3:1, 14 & 1 Peter 5:1), and He is the beginning and ending of our SUBSTANCE, we should remain stedfast in knowing WHO WE ARE. Otherwise, we will never descend and manifest that substance in the earth. If we do not know that we are one with Him, that we are seated with Him in the heavens -- we will forever be trying to ascend and all the while hoping to become that which we already are. However, once we know our Father, we will know who we are; and once we know who we are, we will know our purpose; and once we know our purpose we will know our destiny; and once we know our destiny, we will descend and fulfill it in the earth. And the world will then be able to say in one accord -- "My cup runneth over."

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach

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1. pure: barar, to clarify, i.e. brighten. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)

2. oracle: debiyr...the shrine or innermost part of the sanctuary (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance).

3. express image: charakter charakter, a graver (the tool or the person), i.e. (by impl.) engraving (["character"], the figure stamped, i.e. an exact copy or [fig.] representation) (Strong's)

4. Same word for substance (hypostasis) in Heb. 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

5. partakers: metochos, participant, i.e. (as noun) a sharer (Strong's)