KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

studies in end-time revelation 

THE HEAVENS DECLARE 

Part 6 

VIRGO--THE VIRGIN (continued) 

The reality that lies behind what is commonly known today as horoscopes and behind the common signs of the Zodiac is an original revelation designed by God -- a revelation not of pagan mythology or superstitious powers, but of the wonderful truths of God's grand and glorious plan of the ages through His anointed Christ, written in the very stars of heaven--this fact being attested to by the faithful testimony of the scriptures "which are able to make thee wise unto salvation" (II Tim. 3:15). In these twelve celestial signs we have enshrined for us like jewels in a velvet case, the twelve great heavenly laws or principles which we are to pass through and master while we walk our foreordained path on this planet. Each one of the twelve signs embodies a Kingdom of Heaven principle taught in symbol and ritual under the Old Testament administration, and now fulfilled spiritually in Cod's elect. It points to a wonderful progression as we begin in Genesis with the promised Seed of the woman (Virgo) and end in the book of Revelation with LEO, the conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah! Just as the sun passes through each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac in the course of a year, so must we experientially partake of the reality pictured by each sign in our progressive transformation into HIS likeness. 

The first sign, as we pointed out in our last Study, is Virgo. The sun occupies Virgo for forty-three days, passing through it from September 14th to October 29th. This group of stars is associated with the picture of a young woman with an ear of wheat in one hand and a branch in the other. In Hebrew she is called BETHULAH, which means "virgin," just as VIRGO, from Latin, means "the virgin." Everywhere her name is the same. The wheat and the branch in her hands denote fruitfulness --offspring, motherhood. It will not be difficult for any man to see that this is a picture right out of the Bible --A VIRGIN BRINGING FORTH A SEED! In that long ago Eden the almighty Father spoke the first promise of a Redeemer to the erring man and his wife when He gave the blessed assurance, "And I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between THY SEED and HER SEED; IT shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15). HISTORICALLY this is Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, living, dying, and rising again in triumph over death, hell and the grave, opening up the wellspring of eternal salvation to all who would believe. SPIRITUALLY it is the Son of God birthed in us, brought forth unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ out of our own "virgin" relationship with God, conquering the sin, sickness, sorrow and death is us. PROPHETICALLY it points to the manchild of Revelation 12, that glorious company of the many-membered firstfruits Christ, the MANIFESTED SONS OF GOD, birthed out of the mother Church, the pure virgin bride of Jesus Christ, for whom all creation is in deepest travail and who shall deliver the creation from the bondage of corruption. 

VIRGO means the VIRGIN, or the untouched one, the one of undefiled soul. Mary the mother of Jesus, was a virgin when she conceived and bore her divine Son, although she was betrothed (espoused, engaged) to Joseph and under the law of those times was considered his wife. Of the true Church Paul said, "I have espoused (engaged) you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste VIRGIN to Christ" (II Cor. 11:2). Why was Paul so jealous that this little virgin keep herself pure? Ah--Paul had a revelation that from this woman, or virgin Church, the Lord was going to bring forth His seed. Even in the natural a man cannot bring forth a child apart from a woman, so also in the spiritual. God must have a woman that He can plant His life in. She is going to bring forth in these last days, a many-membered manchild that will grow up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, and shall be caught up to the throne. And during that blessed age of the Kingdom of God these sons shall be manifested as that ultimate promised seed that God told Abraham would come forth, who would rule and reign in the earth, solve all the world's problems and bring perfect blessing and life abundant to all the families of the earth 

Just as Jesus was born of a betrothed virgin, so will the manchild company of the manifested sons of God be birthed out of the betrothed, yet virgin, Church. This Church is the pristine bride without spot or wrinkle, not some conglomeration of all so called churches and all believers. May the Spirit of the living God enlighten the eyes of all who read and give understanding that each may be enabled to discern and easily differentiate between that VIRGIN BRIDE without spot or wrinkle, which Jesus Christ is preparing for Himself, and that filthy HARLOT SYSTEM, full of names of blasphemy, with her multiplied sects and denominations, who seduces the inhabitants of the world with the unspeakable lie that she is, herself, the very bride of the Lamb. Such cannot be, for the Bridegroom says of this little virgin bride, "Thou art all fair, My love: there is no spot in thee...thou hast ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse...how fair is thy love, My sister, My spouse! How much better is thy love than wine! And the smell of thine ointments is like the smell of Lebanon (S. of S. 4.7 11). 

In the book of Revelation we have two women described, one is the glorious sun-clad woman of whom we now write and the other is Mystery Babylon riding upon a beast, gorgeously decked with all manner of precious jewels, with rich gaudy apparel and precious stones, having a golden cup in her hand full of "The Wine of Babylon." She has a name on her forehead, "Mystery Babylon, the Great." Notice the difference between these two women in the vision of John. One is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head. See how closely she is associated with heaven, and those things of heaven that bless, guide, and quicken mankind. Clothed with the sun, representing light, illumination, understanding, revelation, truth, vision, warmth, life, reality, growth, transformation and blessing of every kind! The wanton harlot, on the other hand, is decorated with worldly apparel, the things that attract those who love earthly things, temporal things, external things of the sense realm, the treasures of the carnal mind. She is decked with unreality's, riding upon the beast of the carnal nature, the antithesis of the righteousness, peace and joy of the Kingdom of God. 

When John was shown the great city, Mystery Babylon, we read, "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" (Rev. 17:1). Again, when John was shown the New Jerusalem Bride we find, "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials...and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev. 21:9). In each instance the very same angel came and delivered the very same challenge to the astonished Seer of Patmos, "Come hither; I will show unto thee..." These words take on new depth of meaning when we understand that in the book of Revelation the word "come" always signifies AN INVITATION TO REVELATION. The whore and the sun-clad woman are two women; the invitation goes forth to come and see by the Spirit what they mean; and I do not hesitate to tell you that it requires a REVELATION FROM GOD to see either! 

One would certainly think that God's people would respond to this invitation to revelation whereby the Spirit says, "COME HITHER, and I will show you," and that they would look with anointed eyes .and readily see the difference between the virgin and the harlot, but such is not the case. Would God that all men could now see the hidden mystery of Christ and the Church! Would God that all men could see the hidden mystery of the virgin sun-clad woman who delivers the manchild! Would God that all men could see that this hidden mystery has nothing to do with that tradition-ridden system which everywhere calls itself THE CHURCH and CHRISTIANITY! The glory of the sun-clad woman represents the pure, unadulterated TRUTH of God permeating and overwhelming the soul. When the soul is truly overwhelmed and subdued by TRUTH, the seed of Christ (spirit) begins to take form within. Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the white-winged dove of SPIRITUAL REALITY descending upon you. Come hither! Arise from the lowlands of ignorance, false consciousness, and mistaken identity; from the harlot Babylon, the soul encumbered with lies, misconceptions, misrepresentations, falsehoods, error, sense-knowledge, tradition, and static creeds and doctrines of men. Arise until you become conscious of THE TRUTH AS IT IS IN JESUS, THE ETERNAL REALITY OF THE SPIRIT, THE OMNISCIENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE OF THE CHRIST WITHIN, and are caught away IN SPIRIT where you can see the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, the city of TRUTH and LIFE and REALITY built into a living form and expression through a people who live out of the heavenlies of the SPIRIT. When one ceases to live out of the blindness of the carnal mind and commences to live and move and have his being in the reality of THE SPIRIT he has been transported, as was John, from the glitter of Babylon to the glory of the City of God. Oh glorious City of God! City of Celestial Reality! The description of the city as "foursquare" has a profound meaning. The four sides of our city are: Life, Light, Love and Truth, "and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." All who would bring forth the manchild, the manifestation of the Son of God, must dwell there, and walk in this light. Its gates open towards light and glory both within and without, for nothing can enter that city, which "defileth...or maketh a lie." The sons of God shall be born of a chaste, virgin Church, without contradiction, the greatest mother that God has planted on the face of the earth, the Jerusalem which is from above. This Church is not going out with a whimper or a limp. It shall conclude this age victorious, with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and riding a river of peace and blessing and life and power. It shall arise in freedom from all bondage and limitation, with its feet on the neck of every enemy, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. The tempter's power shall be broken. God's people shall be holy, strong, anointed, transformed and glorious. Yes--she will be a great WONDER IN HEAVEN! Virgo the Virgin shall be seen exalted in her magnificent splendor by all the inhabitants of the earth! The heavens declare it! 

THE MANCHILD 

"And she was with child; and she cried out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered" (Rev. 12:2). What does it mean to be with child? It means that a child is in the mother's womb, and the child and the mother are united in one body. When the mother eats, the child is nourished. What the mother eats, good or bad, is transferred to the child. The condition of the mother is the condition of the child. On the other hand, however, this child is different from the mother; it is another being. If you say that they are one, it is truth, for the child receives life from the mother. Yet, as far as his future is concerned, he is different. His future is entirely distinct from that of his mother. Immediately after he is delivered, he is caught up to the throne of God, while his mother flees into the wilderness for testing and proving, as was Job who was declared by God to be a PERFECT MAN, yet was untried and unproven. While the woman is with the child, all that can be seen is the mother; the child is hidden. Outwardly, it appears that there is only the mother. The child assuredly does exist, but he is hidden ¶ with the mother; he is included in the mother. While the individual application of this truth is precious, pointing to the Son, the Spirit, concealed within the womb of the soul, ultimately to come forth in power and glory to reign even over the soul and all things, yet it is to the corporate truth that I would now draw your reverent attention. For many years God's end-time body has been in preparation. There is a people that has come to the Kingdom for such a time as this. And hidden within this body is a group of people among them. This group is a portion of the whole, a part of the many chosen for this hour. This is the manchild to be brought forth by the woman. This means that the manchild 'is not a single individual, but a composition of many saints. In comparison with the mother, this manchild appears to be small. When this group is compared with the whole, their number is in the minority. But God's plan is fulfilled in them and His purpose rests upon them. As the mother is the final glory of the Church age, the manchild is the firstfruits--the glory and power of the greater and more glorious age to come. The woman gathers within her the harvest of this age at the end of the age, whereas the sons of God inaugurate and establish the new order of the Kingdom of God for the coming age. 

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ--that God be manifested in the totality of His divine nature, wisdom and power in a company of sons born from this virgin Church, into the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS of the Christ. The Church will come to perfection in its realm. God will see to it that the Holy Spirit brings her to perfection. There is approaching the day when she comes into her glory and fulfills her perfect work, but she will never be the sonship company nor do his work. In spite of the fact that she will finally be brought to perfection, she is not God's final revelation of Jesus Christ. A sonship company must be born out of this Church. Then in the union of the masculine and the feminine nature of God shall be seen the full revelation of Godhood. Great is the mystery! 

The woman is "clothed" with the sun, the blazing glory of Jesus--divine Truth. But notice, precious friend of mine, the manchild does not "wear" the glory of Jesus as a garment--he IS by very nature and being the glory of Jesus, caught up to His throne! This one has discovered the ALL-SUFFICIENT SPIRIT WITHIN to constitute the sum and substance of his reality and has ceased to see reality as something apart from or without himself, thus developing to live completely in and by the plenitude of God within. These have life within themselves even as the Father has life in Himself. THESE ARE THE SONS OF GOD! Oh, that the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God may enable all who read these lines to comprehend the difference! Can we not see by this that the virgin Church realm is the SOUL CLOTHED UPON WITH CHRIST (TRUTH), SUBMITTED TO CHRIST, OBEDIENT TO CHRIST, YET THE SOUL OPERATING IN ITS OWN PERSONALITY UNDER THE ANOINTING AND HEADSHIP OF THE CHRIST. BUT THE MANCHILD IS THE S-P-I-R-I-T I-T-S-E-L-F BURSTING OUT OF THE WOMB OF THE SOUL TO BECOME THE O-N-L-Y LIFE, WISDOM, TRUTH, REALITY AND PERSONALITY! 

I would say to you that the life of Christ, the life of sonship, is not something outside ourselves. The idea is not that Christ is in heaven, or standing by us, or worn as a garment, so that we stretch out some mysterious faculty and touch Him there. This is the vague form in which babes in Christ conceive the truth, but it is contrary to Christ's teaching and to the analogy of nature. Vegetable life is not contained in a reservoir somewhere in the skies, and measured out spasmodically at certain seasons. Animal life is not bottled up somewhere in the blue beyond and dropped down to earth now and then when it is time for an embryo to be formed. The life is IN every plant and tree, every animal and fish and fowl, inside its own tissue and cells, and works there as a mighty power to form even that which is contained within the life. The life is permanently fixed and rooted in the organism. Life is not one of the homeless forces which promiscuously inhabit space, or which can be gathered like electricity from the clouds and dissipated back again into space. Life is definite and resident; the Spiritual Life is not a visit from a force, but a resident tenant of Being. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a...seed, which a man took, and SOWED IN HIS FIELD." The life of son-ship is not derived from the occasional touch of Jesus as He "passes this way," nor from the weekly refreshing that comes to our weary souls as we gather in our Church meetings. 

Thank God for the fellowship and encouragement of those of "like precious faith," but I declare to you that the life of sonship can only be known as we turn INWARD, to discover and know the living and eternal REALITY OF THE CHRIST WITHIN, conscious of His voice speaking, His hand guiding, His power generating, His life producing, from within, ALL THAT YOU NEED, and the image of God. With my poor and puny ability I cannot make the potential of GOD'S INDWELLING LIFE to be a living, transforming, all-sufficient reality to your heart. None but the Spirit of God can perform this wonderful and divine act of illumination. He alone can take the things of God and show them unto you. 

There was a day in which Jesus and His disciples had made it to Jacob's well in Sychar and decided to stop for lunch. Jesus sat in the shade of the well's shelter while His disciples went into the nearby town for food. Through the shimmering heat haze, a woman with a water pot on her shoulder approached the well. She came to where Jesus was sitting, and He asked her for a drink. Her response was brittle with the hatred between the two peoples: "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (Jn. 4:9). Jesus was unruffled, offering her the gift He had come to give all men: "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (Jn. 4:10). 

You see, Jesus is saying, "You're the one that needs the water, don't you know that?" She responded by saying in so many words, "You don't have a water pot. How are you going to get water? Why, this well is deep, and how are you going to draw from this well? Have you got some water that doesn't come from this well? Are you greater than our father Jacob who dug this well?" She's a little provoked with this Jew that is speaking to her. Then Jesus tells her a principle that she understands all too well in the natural. He said, "You've been drinking this water all your life, and YOU HAVE TO KEEP COMING BACK EVERY DAY. You know what a wearisome thing it is to walk back and forth through the heat and the dust with that water pot on your head. I do have some water, and if you drink of the water that I give you, you'll never thirst again. Take a drink of this water and it will BECOME IN YOU AS A WELL, a never-ending INTERNAL SOURCE! 

Jesus spoke to this woman of a truth more wonderful and glorious than the vast majority of Christians have ever grasped. How many of the Lord's people STILL COME TO THE WELL! How many of us still have our well, our water, our supply, our source of life, ON THE OUTSIDE! We are still trying to pray something down from heaven, or work something up in a meeting, or always looking for some ministry, some prophet, some healer, some experience from which we can DRAW LIFE! And after all our running to and fro, from well to well, from water pot to water pot, we're still thirsty! We're still singing, "Fill my cup, Lord!" We're still conscious of our need! So we keep looking for a well from which to draw to quench our thirst and meet our need. Some even think it is ND~MAL to always be thirsty, to ever be coming to the well, drinking again and again. 

Jesus shared with the Samaritan woman one of the most profound and blessed truths of the ages. He said that He has water to give you, and if you once drink this water, you can throw away your water pots, because this water becomes a mighty artesian well WITHIN YOU. As long as the well is on the outside, as long as our source of life is without, then we have to go to the well and get water to satisfy our thirst. And any time you have to go to the well to drink you are going to be thirsty again! And if you stay away from the well very long you will become famished! Is this not a spiritual thermometer by which one can determine just how mature he is? So Jesus asked the woman, "How would you like to have the well on the inside? No more water pots, no more drawing, no more walking back and forth, no more thirst, no more effort and sweat." Let me ask you, dear reader, What would you think if you had the well on the INSIDE? This is what this thing of sonship is all about! It is the well on the inside: "Christ IN YOU the hope of glory. Sonship, maturity, overcoming, perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, life and immortality--all this is found in that blessed realm where we finally know that we do indeed HAVE LIFE IN OURSELVES even as the Father has life in Himself. This is the well on the inside! And it is high time that we drink until we get the well on the inside! It should be clear to every thinking heart that once you have the well on the inside, not only do you not need to draw from a well without, but you BECOME A SOURCE of life for all about. THIS is sonship! 

What an exciting hour in which to live! For some years now the Holy Ghost has witnessed in every city and hamlet across the length and breadth of the land that the manifestation of the sons of God is at hand--the next order of business on God's schedule of things. Great things are happening! God is moving in a wonderful way among His people. The night is far spent, THE DAY is at hand. This is not just another day, it is THE DAY of the Lord. It is the day when the sons of God are going to be manifest; those whom God has been working with; trying them, testing them, taking them through the fire of His dealings; making them perfect through sufferings; changing them from natural beings into spiritual ones; bringing forth the image of Christ, the reality of SPIRIT. The time is at hand for God to remove the veil and reveal His sons. The great day of the restoration is at hand. What anticipation this evokes within! It is the day all creation has been travailing for, and even now "the whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own" (Rom. 8:19, Phillips). 

ULTIMATE FAITH 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will impress upon the minds of all who treasure the beautiful hope of sonship two important factors about the birth of this manchild seed that need to be burned deeply into our hearts. The first is that this manchild is going to be birthed supernaturally, and the second is that it is going to be through faith. First I want to state with the greatest possible clarity and authority that this manchild is going to be born supernaturally, therefore naturalism cannot and will not have anything to do with the manifestation of the sons of God. One of the most subtle tricks the carnal mind- ever since that fateful day in long ago Eden--is continually playing on God's people is injecting naturalism--carnal means and methods- into their vision, their revelation, their worship, and their walk in God. Because of their lack of faith and patience, the carnal mind (serpent) is continually convincing them that God is going to fulfill His promises somehow through the normal processes of nature, through natural law, natural wisdom, natural knowledge, natural means and formulas. 

The Word of God clearly teaches that the manifestation of the sons of God at the close of this age brings FULL SALVATION, which, of course, includes the BODY OF INCORRUP-TION- salvation for spirit, soul and body. The purpose of this manifestation is twofold: first, to bring full redemption to God's elect; second, to bring deliverance to all peoples, kindreds, tongues and nations, to those now living as well as to the vast multitudes who have lived and died throughout the ages, until sin, sickness, sorrow, darkness, pain and death shall exist no more anywhere in God' s unbounded universe, worlds without end. Let us notice how the apostle Paul reveals this purpose of God in the following words: "For even the whole creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known--waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their son-ship. For the creation was subjected to frailty--to futility, condemned to frustration -- not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him who so subjected it. Yet with the hope that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption and gain an entrance into the glorious freedom of God's children. We know that the whole creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the first fruits of the Holy Spirit -- a foretaste of the blissful things to come --groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies from sensuality and the grave, WHICH WILL REVEAL OUR ADOPTION, OUR MANIFESTATION AS GOD'S SONS" (Rom. 8: 19-23, Amplified). 

When Paul by inspiration penned these blessed words of hope he did not have in mind another great "revival" of the kinds we have experienced in many localities and nations throughout this age of grace. The creation is not groaning for another evangelistic campaign, nor for another healing service, nor for more gifts of the Spirit, nor for more apostles and prophets and teachers, nor for more signs, wonders and miracles, nor yet for 144,000 flaming evangelists just like Jesus when He walked the shores of blue Galilee. In two thousand years none of these things have ever produced a perfect Church, nor have they ever brought the fullness of the Kingdom of God, and not even one of them or all of them put together ever delivered the creation from its bondage to corruption! It is not just another "patch-up" job we want, but a full and complete and eternal deliverance from the whole dreadful realm of corruption in spirit, soul and body! 

How we praise God and bless Him unceasingly for every blessing so lavishly bestowed by His bountiful grace. We rejoice exceedingly in His provision of our daily need, for those healings which have preserved alive these mortal bodies unto this day, for each sign and wonder that has quickened our faith and given assurance of His wonderful love, faithful care and gracious presence. We would not minimize the blessedness of any of these things, yet are aware that none of these are that for which creation, with ourselves, groans and travails. We cannot --dare not- be satisfied until we AWAKE IN HIS LIKENESS! Christ shall minister the fullness of HIS ETERNAL AND INCORRUPTIBLE LIFE to a firstfruits company of sons who shall in turn inpart that same life and glory to the creation. These SONS are alive and in the world today. They may at this present time be fathers, and mothers, and sons, and daughters...they may be carpenters, or plumbers, or nurses, or technicians, or truck drivers, or housewives, or store clerks...or they may be apostles, or prophets, or elders, or deacons. But it is in their ultimate fashioning as SONS that they shall become the LIBERATORS that God has in mind for a world in darkness and bondage. 

I stated earlier that this manchild shall be born supernaturally and through faith, and naturalism cannot and will not have anything to do with the birthing of this man-child. The scriptures make very clear, using the experience of Abraham and Sarah, who birthed Isaac, the first manchild of promise that was to come into this world, completely by-passing the processes of nature, and who was a type of not only Jesus, the manchild that was born two thousand years ago, but also a type of this many-membered manchild that is going to come forth from us in these last days, that naturalism is not going to have anything to do with it. It is very important that all of God's people who are in the flow of God's dealings and revelation today have this truth deeply implanted into their minds and hearts. For, wherever people are moving in the revelatory Word and present truth, the Kingdom message, sooner or later they are going to be visited by so-called "Kingdom Ministry," who will begin presenting to them natural, fleshly, legalistic, letter of the law means by which they can go on to perfection in Christ, and this man-child can be brought forth from within them. 

Many of us who have contact with God's elect across the land and around the world, already have run into these so-called apostles who are teaching these things. They will come into your midst with their juice blenders advising you that the way God has provided to heal everybody's diseases and perfect everybody's health and bring the sons of God into longevity and eternal life is by eating health foods. They will come with their vitamin pills and whole wheat bread, and wheat germ and herbs and all kinds of things grown out of the earth and the water, bought from the health food stores, and teach you that the way into health and longevity and sonship is by ceasing to eat anything that can be bought from the local supermarket, and going on to eat only those foods that can be bought from the health food stores. 

They will tell you that the only way that we can go on to perfection is by keeping perfectly the legalistic letter of the Old Testament dietary laws: touch not, taste not, handle not, don't eat pork, don't eat meat, if there is a literal animal that chews the cud, but doesn't divide the hoof, then that meat is unclean to you before God. And before they are finished they will bring you into a bondage of legalism and naturalism that will separate you completely from the leadership of the Spirit of God, and God's new creation life, and make you in the end to bring forth an Ishmael, a child of the flesh, through the processes of nature just as Hagar did long ago. Hear me! Any minis- try which teaches you that God's means for you fulfilling His will perfectly is to fulfill the letter of God's Word, by keeping typical law of it, particularly the laws and statutes of the Old Testament, is deceived by deceiving spirits, ministering in a deceiving spirit, and bringing you under bondage to a deceiving spirit. Every law and every statute that God gave in the Old Testament has a spiritual fulfillment in this New Testament age that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. It is that spiritual fulfillment in reality that God wants to bring forth in us. 

Now, don't misunderstand me! I do not mean that it is healthy to put any and every kind of food into your body. I am by no means opposed to health foods, proper nutrition, or obeying the natural laws of God established in the physical realm. In fact, I am personally supportive of these things. I have learned experientially that the human body is the most amazing and marvelously constructed mechanism in God's physical universe. It is completely self-constructing, self-preserving, self-defending, and through the mighty power and intelligence put into it by the almighty Creator, it is totally self-cleansing, self-repairing, self-restoring and self-healing. The body is designed to MAINTAIN ITSELF in perfect health, completely free of disease, if its needs are correctly met, and it is not polluted and clogged with all kinds of poisons and contaminating debris. Foremost among these needs are fresh air, pure water, rest and sleep, and a diet to which our bodies are biologically and constitutionally adapted, namely, fresh raw fruits and vegetables with some raw nuts and seeds. Volumes could be written on this subject, were that the call of God upon my life. I have personally been speedily and dramatically healed of seven different physical ailments simply by converting to the diet our bodies were designed for. And I know for a fact that thousands of people have been delivered from practically every disease known to mankind simply by fasting and adapting to the diet to which humans are creatively adapted- fresh, raw, natural foods. But I can also tell you without fear of contradiction that all the fruitarians and vegetarians of all previous generations now lie silent in their graves, for no NATURAL SUBSTANCE possesses one iota of power to impart to spirit, soul or body the elements of spiritual or ETERNAL LIFE. How can corruption minister incorruption? Proper nutrition will enhance the performance and extend the life-span of the earthly, mortal organism, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the nature of God, spiritual life, divine power, the mind of Christ, perfection, incorruption or sonship! 

Beloved, no natural formulas, no natural foods, no laws of nature, and no teaching that God is going to use the natural things to produce this supernatural manchild is going to have anything to do with the birthing of this manchild. It is going to be done supernaturally by the operation of the Spirit just as Isaac was birthed supernaturally by the operation of the Spirit, and the only thing that this manchild can eat that is going to enable him to come forth is the Word of God, which produces faith, for he is going to be born and brought forth and manifested by faith. 

Another delusion that the carnal mind has foisted upon many who seek after sonship is the notion that divine enlightenment and incorruptible life comes by the quickening and re-activation of the PINEAL GLAND, a small cone-shaped gland located at the base of the brain, having no proven function, but believed to be a vestigial sense or endocrine organ. Some teach that this gland ceased to function at the time of Adam's transgression in Eden, thus cutting him off from the flow of wisdom and life from God, resulting in darkness and death. Today God is supposed to be re-activating the pineal gland which stores energy in tiny crystals which compose the gland, so that it acts as a receiver and transmitter, receiving electromagnetically messages from the Spirit of God, and transmitting these through the nervous system into the mind and body of those apprehended to sonship, thus effecting their transformation into life and immortality. I must speak a word against that. I testify to all who read these lines that any "gland" is merely a PHYSICAL BODY ORGAN by which certain constituents are separated from the blood for use in the body or for ejection from it, or by which certain natural changes are produced by the blood or lymph. There is no such thing as a NATURAL, PHYSICAL GLAND infusing the mind with spiritual enlightenment or the body with the properties of eternal life! The only elements affected by a natural and physical gland secreting natural and physical hormones etc. are the physical, temporal and mortal constituents of the flesh-body. Revelation is by THE SPIRIT and God speaks FROM SPIRIT TO SPIRIT. "The SPIRIT ITSELF bears witness with OUR SPIRIT, that we are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:16). The Word cannot he broken: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the TREE OF LIFE WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE PARADISE OF GOD" (Rev. 2:7). Let me present this Tree of Life, this one and only Tree of Life: Christ, risen, glorified and exalted above all heavens! Christ enthroned in the glory He had with the Father before the world was! Christ dwelling IN YOUR HEART (spirit) by faith! HE is the Tree of Life in the paradise of the Kingdom of Heaven within you! And you, dearly beloved, have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness (ignorance, carnal mind, material consciousness) into the Kingdom of God's dear Son! The leaves (truths) of this Tree of the SPIRIT OF YOUR SONSHIP are for the healing of the nations. With ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD RESIDENT WITHIN Y-O-U-R S-P-I-R-I-T- who needs a PINEAL GLAND? 

As we have previously pointed out, the birthing of the first supernatural child of promise, Isaac, makes this very clear to us. When God came to Abraham and Sarah, and gave them a promise saying, Behold Sarah shall have a son, there was no possible way that this child could be born through the laws of nature or any natural process. Sarah was already so old that her womb was dead. She had passed the time of women, there was no possible way that this manchild could be born from her through the natural processes of nature according to the manner of natural women. There was no natural means by which Abraham could help Sarah to bring forth this manchild. He had no pill, no doctor, no scientist to give him some foolish promise by which Sarah's dead womb could be restored to life. He had no juice blenders, no natural health foods, God didn't give him any dietary laws by which if Sarah kept on the right diet, this manchild could be born. There was only one thing that Abraham could do to help Sarah bring forth this manchild, and that was to BELIEVE THE PROMISE OF GOD. 

The inspired record in Gen. 21 tells us that when, after twenty-five years of waiting in faith, the promised manchild was finally born, it was not because nine or ten months before the birth God suddenly livened up Sarah's womb, or re-activated her pineal gland, and through the natural processes, and according to the laws of nature, Sarah finally birthed the child. But Genesis 21 tells us that at the set time GOD VISITED SARAH, .. the manchild was born, not through the natural processes of women, but by the sovereign visitation of the Spirit of God. A sovereign anointing came upon Sarah and she was enabled to birth a supernatural child of promise. And so it is going to be with this little Virgin Woman, the Bride of Christ, that is being clothed with the light of the sun, and prepared to bring forth a manchild. NATURALISM IS NOT GOING TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT! You can count on that. It isn't going to come through any naturalistic formulas preached by preachers, including baptisms, confessions, or any of the rest, but it shall happen supernaturally by faith. 

At the Father's set time when our faith has been tried and proven, there will come the sovereign operation of God by His Spirit upon this Virgin Bride, and through that sovereign operation of the Spirit of God there shall come an anointing upon us, a sovereign anointing of God, that will bring forth and manifest this incorruptible manchild. 

The second thing that we need to have impregnated deeply into our consciousness is that not only is this thing going to be done supernaturally, but it is going to be done by faith, and through faith, yea, by and through nothing else. The scriptures make it very clear that there was absolutely nothing Abraham could do in the natural to help Sarah bring forth this son, except believe the promise of God. It was through twenty-five years of believing God's promise and firmly embracing and clinging to God's promise, and through much testing that this manchild was finally born. 

In that wonderful fourth chapter of Romans is revealed to us the great faith that Abraham had when it proclaims that HE STAGGERED NOT AT THE PROMISE OF GOD, but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God, and the Lord imputed his faith to him for righteousness and the manchild was born. The divine record states that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God. This is the problem with many saints today, they stagger at the promises of God. The promises seem so high and glorious that they do not have the faith to take hold of them. Particularly as God is speaking to His elect in this day, that there is coming an hour when right here as we stand upon our two feet many of us shall be suddenly and gloriously changed from corruptible to incorruptible. This promise is not only in the written Word, but is quickened to us by the Spirit of God, that it shall be fulfilled in a people in these days at the close of the age. It is so high and so glorious that it staggers the mind of those who try to grasp the things of God with their intellect instead of by the spirit. But Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, and was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Even during his whole twenty-five year period of testing, he simply went about as we are today, praising and glorifying God for the wonderful promise, saying, Thank you Lord, I know you are going to do it; praise God! I know your promise will not fail. And for no other reason than this manifested faith, the sovereign visitation of God came and the manchild was born. 

I would earnestly exhort the elect of God in this momentous hour that the faith of yesterday and yesteryear is not sufficient for today. The admonition of the inspired apostle is especially meaningful for God's apprehended ones at this time, wherein he says, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Heb. 6:1-2). 

The King James Version here instructs us to leave the "principles" of the doctrine of Christ. The Moffat translation says, "Let us pass on then to what is mature, leaving ELEMENTARY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE BEHIND..." The Weymouth version reads, "Therefore leaving ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION ABOUT the Christ, let us advance to mature manhood..." The Amplified Bible renders, "Therefore let us go on and GET PAST THE ELEMENTARY STAGE in the teachings and doctrine of Christ. ..advancing steadily toward completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity." So what we are instructed to leave behind is the FIRST ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES of the doctrine of Christ and these are enumerated to us as: (1) Repentance from dead works (2) Faith toward God (3) Baptisms (4) Laying on of hands (5) Resurrection of the dead (6) Eternal (eonian) judgment. 

In spite of such a plain admonition the sad fact is that not one believer in a million ever gets beyond these first stepping stones- these elementary rudiments of the doctrine of Christ. The Spirit declares that ALL these elementary rudiments of the doctrine of Christ pertain to the realm of LITTLE CHILDREN- babes in Christ. In the verses immediately preceding the passage under consideration the apostle says, "For every one who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness, that is, of conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, for he is a MERE INFANT --NOT ABLE TO TALK YET! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses are trained..." (Heb. 5:13-14, Amplified Bible). It is very easy to spot a spiritual babe, for he will always be dwelling around one or more of these ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES...laying and re-laying that foundation. It is one of the great marvels of the universe, and perhaps the eighth wonder of the world, that the family of God has not completely disappeared from the face of the earth, for it is crystal clear to any who have eyes to see that the preachers and leaders of the church world today are altogether as INFANTILE as the church members! They are one and all, according to the criterion of our text, merely spiritual infants. These slobbering, sputtering, dribbling infants are in charge of the care and feeding of the whole congregation of infants. Truly it is the phenomenon of the ages that they have not all starved to death or died in their own purulence.

Now there is nothing wrong with laying these elementary foundations for those that need them, but the immature babes in Christ will always be known by the fact that they will continue to minister these things over and over to God's people who should long ago have passed on to higher things. But those believers sit there in those meetings week after week and service after service drinking that same diet of MILK. And those same preachers, day after day, and year after year, continue to USE MILK and minister milk to the people of God. No wonder they NEVER GO ON TO PERFECTION! And these babes, from the pulpit to the pew, are busily engaged in defending these "fundamental" and ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES of the doctrine of Christ. That's all they know. Start to talk about perfection, sonship, immortality, the Melchizedek Order, the army of God, bringing in the Kingdom and other things related to God's great Kingdom purposes and you are as a Barbarian to them--they have not the foggiest notion what in the world you are talking about ! 

Oh! that once and for all we might clearly see that for us too, NEARLY EVERYTHING WE HAVE EXPERIENCED UP TO NOW has its existence in that realm of elementaries! And it is from HERE that we are exhorted to GO ON TO PERFECTION. You don't go into the first principles in order to go on to perfection. You leave them! The fullness of God in Christ lies beyond all these. If you choose to remain there you simply will never arrive at spiritual maturity in God. The elementary principles are just GRAMMAR SCHOOL for those who would be sons indeed. They constitute the "in part" realm in which we move before that which is PERFECT is come. LET US GO ON TO PERFECTION is the present call of the Spirit. 

In Hebrews 6:1-2 the Holy Spirit lists FAITH among the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ. But let us note that it is not simply FAITH of which the Spirit speaks, but FAITH TOWARD GOD. This distinction is important. The word "toward" is the translation of the Greek word EPI which means "upon," "to," or "toward." The Greek Interlinear New Testament which I have at hand renders this as "faith upon God." The thought is of a faith which turns one in a specific direction and THRUSTS HIM UPON GOD. This faith is directed totally TOWARD God and bears along the one identified with it so that he in turn is directed toward and cast upon God. The Amplified Bible comes very close to expressing the correct thought from the Greek: "Let us not again be laying the foundation of...the faith BY WHICH YOU TURNED TO GOD." Thus, this elementary faith, this faith toward God, is that first ministration of faith to our hearts which turns us around from our stumbling in ignorance and blindness, causing us to trust in the living who is the Saviour of all men. If you lay again and again that foundation you will in the consciousness of your weakness and sin, continually turning again and again ~L, repentance, getting "saved" over and over, never overcoming the flesh, the world, or the devil, but ever "turning" again and again to the Lord for mercy and salvation. Elementary faith is first and foremost the faith that reconciles and saves us --which also appropriates the many elementary blessings and benefits of our redemption such as forgiveness, healing, material provision, gifts of the Spirit, answers to prayer, etc. 

We must not, however, dwell here in this realm of elementary faith for it is the faith of our babyhood walk in God. We are commanded to LEAVE this dimension of faiths and go on to perfection, even PERFECT FAITH. It is required, therefore, that we press on to a HIGHER AND GREATER FAITH which will lay hold upon BETTER THINGS...embracing BETTER PROMISES...revealing the ULTIMATE PURPOSES of God...a faith that will bring the body of Christ into the completion and perfection of God's eternal purpose in the elect. This is why the Spirit is sounding the trumpet across the land, thundering the Kingdom message from one end of the earth to the other! There are those who hear the trumpet sounding for the next great move of God in the earth, and they pull up their tent stakes, get their eyes on the forward moving cloud of His presence and glory, and faith is being evoked in them to literally WALK OUT each and every dealing of God in their lives until they fully and completely qualify to receive a Kingdom and Glory that far transcends any glory yet revealed unto the sons of men. 

There is a most significant passage of scripture in Rom. 1:17: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." The full import of this verse is beautifully brought out in the Amlified Bible: "For in the gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both SPRINGING FROM faith and LEADING TO faith --disclosed through the WAY OF FAITH which AROUSES TO MORE FAITH. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright SHALL LIVE AND SHALL LIVE by faith!" Ah, the gospel reveals a righteousness which both SPRINGS FROM FAITH and LEADS TO FAITH. The righteousness of God in us springs from the elementary faith God ministers to us when we are saved, turned toward God, reconciled. But once the work of God has commenced within us His objective is to cause His inworing in us to LEAD US ON TO FAITH--that is, from one degree of faith to another! This is the "WAY OF FAITH, that AROUSES TO MORE FAITH." The unfolding of God's revelatory truth in this hour is leading the body of Christ into an understanding of God's ULTIMATE PURPOSE in them--GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. And in keeping with this expanded vision the Spirit is INCREASING OUR FAITH FROM ONE REALM OF FAITH TO ANOTHER until finally that PERFECT FAITH, yea, that ULTIMATE FAITH shall have been evoked within and we shall apprehend that ultimate purpose of God. 

It is ULTIMATE FAITH realized in God's ULTIMATE PEOPLE that shall bring to pass in the earth God's ULTIMATE PURPOSE. Let us go on to perfection!

 To Be Continued...

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