KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven WITH A SHOUT, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thes. 4:16-17).

I believe every word that the beautiful passage above says about the coming of our dear Lord. I believe what it says, not the fables men have built around it. I don't believe what the apostate churches say about it, nor what the tradition-bound preachers say about it; but I certainly believe what the Holy Spirit of truth says about it!

This famous, and often misunderstood scripture, is one of great pondering. Because this is from Paul, the idea prevails that it must be a simple statement of literal facts, easy to understand with the natural mind, and altogether physical and natural; therefore many have come to expect a terrible vibration of the atmosphere from immortal lungs, an actual blast from a silver or perhaps golden trumpet, accompanied with a voice from the throat of Michael the archangel, that will resound throughout the whole earth, and will waken the dead in the cemeteries. But according to this same Paul, in Rom. 8:11, it is the "Spirit of God that DWELLS IN YOU" which will quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies, not the blast of a trumpet.

While the King James Version states that the Lord shall descend from heaven "with a shout," that is not quite the way it appears in the original. The Greek uses the preposition EN meaning "in," and Young's Literal Translation renders it correctly, "Because the Lord Himself, IN a shout, IN the voice of a chief-messenger, and IN the trump of God, shall come down from heaven." The Lord does not come "with" a shout, but "in" a shout. If, therefore, we can recognize the shout, we should accept that as an indication, not that the Lord will come soon, but rather that He has come and is now present, appearing in power and glory IN THE SHOUT.

The word "shout" gives us a clarification, helping our understanding. It comes from the Greek word KELEUMA which means "a cry of incitement, an order, a command." Conybeare translates it, "A SHOUT OF WAR," and in his footnote explains, "this word denotes the shout used in battle." Thus we could rightly term this A WAR CRY. So the Lord descends from heaven in a shout, and this "shout" has a very special character. It is the word of a general ordering his army, the word of a commander to his own troop, of an admiral to his own seamen. It is the summons to His own, the rousing word of command, not with apprehension of fear, but A JOYFUL SOUND, a battle cry filled with courage and victory!

The Lord descends from heaven in a shout, with a summons designed only for the ears and the hearts of His elect. Not one uncircumcised ear shall hear - not one uncircumcised heart will be moved by that heavenly voice. "Shout" is a term implying the relationship that exists between the Lord and His chosen ones, like that of soldiers summoned by their general. If nothing more were meant than the loud, deafening roar of His voice for all the world to hear, then this particular Greek word, KELEUMA, would not be used. This word has nothing to do with the tone or pitch of the voice, but conveys the thought of a shout from one who COMMANDS to those who are COMMANDED; and, therefore, it is mere ignorance to suppose that the Lord comes with a LOUD SHOUT so that all the world can HEAR HIM!

If you ask, "How can some hear and not others," the answer is simple. Modern broadcasting has made it possible for sounds to be heard by some and not by others. You know the reason, of course. Some are tuned in to the right wave length, whereas others are tuned in to other wave lengths. Thus it is with the coming of the Lord! Amid the myriads of voices clamoring for attention in the world today, domineering and demanding, all trying to prescribe the course we should follow, how we rejoice that we can turn the "dial" and "tune out" all such, and on the frequency of the deep inner calm of our own spirit discover the peace, joy, knowledge, wisdom and power that come from listening to the Voice of our Shepherd. Gladly do we turn away from the confusion of the religious systems of our day, with their multiplied creeds and contradictions, that we might be quickened and transformed by the power of HIS LIVING WORD WITHIN. How quickly the pressures of life, the feverish passions of the carnal mind, along with all the confused directions of natural-minded men, are all hushed and cleansed by the presence of the Lord IN HIS WORD to us. The clamoring voices of this bestial system mean nothing when HIS TRUTH is made LIFE WITHIN by the quickening of His Spirit.

"I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search" (Ps. 77:6). "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they KNOW HIS VOICE. And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him: for they KNOW NOT THE VOICE of strangers. My sheep HEAR MY VOICE, and I know them, and they follow Me" (Jn. 10:4-5,27). My sheep hear - the Greek word for "hear" in this Dass is des the meaning OKOUO and while it means "to hear" as in discerning a sound, it also in of "to hearken" and "to understand," a responsive action to one's hearing and the result thereof. This goes beyond the outward hearing of the natural ear, and penetrates into the area of our inner receptivity, understanding, and responsiveness to act in accordance with what is heard.

"He goes before His sheep, and they follow Him, for they KNOW His voice." There are various Greek words for "know," each bearing its own shade and depth of meaning, in this case it is OIDA, denoting ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE. Praise God, there is a realm where you can have absolute knowledge of His voice - without doubts or questionings. I do not hesitate to say that such absolute knowledge comes as a result of prolonged and intimate association, communion, and relationship with HIM. I "know" my wife's voice, not merely its sound, but also its meaning and intent. By each inflection of her voice I discern her attitude, determination, state of being, etc. Such knowledge has developed as a result of thirty-three years of being her HUSBAND! His sheep - the mature ones - shall come to the place where they unmistakably know His voice, not just hear it, but KNOW it. It is precious as we tune out the voices of this world, and of our own carnal minds, and listen only the the voice of the spirit within; the more we do so day by day the stronger and more resonant and meaningful becomes His voice unto us.

There is a beautiful illustration of hearing the Lord's voice in I Kings 19:8-13. After that Elijah had called fire down from heaven and slain the prophets of Baal he fled to the mount of God in Horeb where Moses had met God in the burning bush, and where God in blazing glory had spoken forth His law unto Israel. Elijah found a cave in the side of the mountain and went in it to rest. While he was in the cave, he heard God's voice speaking to him and saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And Elijah said to the Lord, "O Lord God, I have been very earnest for Thee; for the people of Israel have turned away from their promise to serve Thee; they have thrown down Thine altars and have slain Thine prophets with the sword; and now I, even I only, am left; and they are seeking my life, to take it away." Then the Lord said to Elijah, "Go out and stand upon the mountain before the Lord." Then, while Elijah was standing upon the mountain, a great and strong wind swept by and tore the mountains apart and broke the rocks in pieces; but the Lord was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake, shaking the mountains; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire passed by; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was silence and stillness, and Elijah heard a low, quiet voice which he knew was the voice of the Lord. When he heard the voice of the Lord, then Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle, and he stood before the Lord in the opening of the cave.

In commenting on this incident, Ray Prinzing wrote, "'AND, BEHOLD, THE LORD PASSED BY...' Perhaps this is the first level of experience, and we used to sing, 'Jesus is passing this way.' Or again, 'Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.' No consciousness of His indwelling, so we prayed for Him to pass by often. 'AND A GREAT AND STRONG WIND RENT THE MOUNTAINS, AND BRAKE IN PIECES THE ROCKS BEFORE THE LORD; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND.' If we move on that plane, that's the voice we hear. RE-ACTION to the presence of the Lord. He passed by, and what re-action, what a wind, it shook the place, the rocks crumbled, strong men cried like babies, there was shouting, singing, prophesying, re-actions to His presence everywhere, but HE was not in the wind. 'AND AFTER THE WIND, AN EARTHQUAKE; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE.' Say, were you in that meeting last night? everybody was shaken, it was a real earthquake. All they could do was talk about the quake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, that was only some more re-action to His presence passing by. 'AND AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, A FIRE; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE.' Have you had the fire experience? they ask. Or, how about the burning, it is like another baptism. In His own way God surely uses the fires, but if you always try to find God's voice, because once you became conscious of Him in that way, be careful, this time He was not in the fire, it was but another re-action that followed His presence passing by. 'AND AFTER THE FIRE A  S-T-I-L-L  S-M-A-L-L  V-O-I-C-E. AND IT WAS SO, WHEN ELIJAH HEARD, THAT HE WRAPPED HIS FACE IN HIS MANTLE, AND WENT OUT, AND STOOD IN THE ENTERING OF THE CAVE.' If you desire to have a clearer consciousness of the VOICE WITHIN, you will have to get past the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, and wrap your face in the mantle. The mantle prefigured the endowment of the Spirit that rested upon him. When our wanton eyes which are never satisfied with seeing, are covered by the mantle; when our ears that are never filled with hearing, are covered with the mantle; when our nose, forever sniffing out the strange odors, becomes covered with the mantle; and all else that is typified by the face - when all is covered by the mantle, so that we are turned inward - no more distracted by the outward phenomenon, then we are ready to draw out the message via the STILL SMALL VOICE" -end quote.

This "shout" in which the Lord descends is God breaking upon us in POWER as the LIVING WORD OF GOD. May the Spirit of God in His own divine and mystical way shine the light of revelation upon these inspired words from the pen of the apostle Peter: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD OF GOD which LIVETH and abideth forever" (I Pet. 1:23). If the Spirit of God will give us understanding concerning this incorruptible SEED of the WORD OF GOD, then we will understand how it is that Christ comes to us IN A SHOUT. There you have two items: the SHOUT and the Christ who is IN the shout. Within every natural seed that can grow into a new plant or creature there are two parts: the OUTER form or substance, and WITHIN the "germ" of the seed wherein is contained the life and from which the germination and growth must come. Thus, the "germ" or "life" is IN the seed. In like manner the Word of God has the outer form or substance - the actual words spoken, the natural sound, the thought, idea, concept and understanding conveyed - and within the outer is the living germ, the Logos, the Christ of God.

The simple yet infinitely wonderful truth of God is this: the incorruptible, lifegiving, transforming power of the Christ is IN EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God! I must point out that there is the living word, the spoken word, the written word, and the created word. Let there be, therefore, no doubt that the Word of God of which I speak is that word in which Christ dwells, the living word, the Logos of God. A dead word contains no life and gives no life, but a quickening word is the living word wherein is the Logos, the Christ of God. There are many pitiful words and pathetic messages pawned off on God's precious people under the guise of "the word of God." We are going to have to get beyond quoting scriptures and beyond dead doctrines and religious traditions. We are going to have to hear with our spirit the Voice of the Living Christ, for He is the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Reality of God. I cannot emphasize too strongly that it will take more than sermons on sonship and exhortations on perfection and boasts about immortality to make perfect and incorruptible sons in God's image. We must HEAR HIS VOICE, for it is only those that hear His voice who shall live. It is going to take more than having meetings, singing choruses, clapping hands, shouting Amens and Hallelujahs, and preaching to one another about the deep mysteries of God to bring us to the knowledge of God and transformation into His likeness. We shall have to see Him and touch Him and hear Him and walk with Him as did John on the Isle of Patmos. We must hear His voice speaking to us in the deepest recesses of our beings. We must commune with Him in the glory that radiates from the face of Jesus Christ. Sonship can only come by personal association with the LIVING CHRIST. And think not, precious friend of mine, if you cannot now discern His voice amidst the confused babble of voices that fill the earth, that you will hear HIS SHOUT when He comes in that glorious Word by which He shall finally deliver us from the last vestiges of sin and death and present us faultless before His Father as holy sons of God with power.

Praise God for the Voice of the Son of God, the Shout in which the Lord Himself descends from heaven! Jesus Christ, the Logos, the pure and complete and eternal Word of God, is descending from the highest realms of our heavens (spirit) and into the conscious realm of our soul to impart to us that which will enable us to ascend - body and soul caught up into the majesty, glory and incorruptibleness of heaven - the realm of spirit. What a Voice! What a COMMAND! Not only does He come unto His elect in the war cry of triumph and victory, but His chosen ones are, thereby caught up in the high calling of God in Christ Jesus to themselves BECOME the voice of God to creation. He descends in a shout, we are caught up into the shout, made one with Him in His Word. There are myriads of voices crying out in the land today, but there is only one voice which is the LOGOS OF GOD - and it is the voice of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Many are hearing the voices of the sages of ancient times, others are hearing the voices from extra-terrestrial beings, some are listening to the voices of the masters and gurus of the dark pagan religions of the East, some are communing with the familiar spirits of the dead, others have their ears tuned to the bewitching voices of the television evangelists, or the captivating programs, rituals, activities and teachings of the religious systems, while others imagine their own voice to be that of Christ's; but one and all are but the voices of men and devils. There is only one Voice in all God's great universe that will cause one to be lifted up in his soul from the realms of dust and desolation to ascend into the heavens and sit with Christ in His glory - the voice of JESUS. All other voices are facades that masquerade as messengers of God. They are nought but gusty winds from the mid-heavens of men's carnal minds that drive the raging waves of the troubled sea, foaming out their shame.

Blessed be God, He comes IN A SHOUT! It is the shout of the omnipotent Christ of God. It is the same Voice that called into being the heavens and the earth in that primordial beginning. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made and the earth. It was His Voice that spoke on Sinai and shook the earth and the heavens. It was His Voice that said to a dead man in a tomb, "Lazarus, come forth!" and also said, "loose him and let him go." It was His Voice that commanded the waves of the sea, "Peace, be still!" and the hurricane heard that Voice, fell on its face on the glassy, watery floor, and came and licked its Master's hand. As He approached the gate of Nain there met Him a funeral procession, a widow's only son carried out to burial. The astonished crowd heard Him address the figure upon the bier: "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!" The power of the speech of the Prince of Life pierced the realm of the dead! The lad sat up and began to speak. The tender Christ delivered him to his mother, and made effective His command, "Weep not!" Her son was not only brought back from the gates of the tomb, but was restored to her as a gift from the Lord by the POWER OF HIS WORD. It was this same Voice that cried at that zero hour of the ages, "It is finished." At that Voice the veil in the temple was rent in twain, the earth quaked ,the rocks rent, the sun hid its face, the graves of many of the saints were opened and they that slept arose. It was said of our Lord and elder brother, "Never man spake like this man" (Jn. 7:46). "What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? FOR WITH AUTHORITY commandeth HE even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him" (Mk. 1:27). "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" (Mat. 8:27). That which was manifest in Jesus Christ shall also be seen in His many-membered-brethren-company. There are preview glimpses of this even in God's servants in the Old Testament. With what boldness did Elijah the prophet pronounce unto Ahab, "As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, BUT ACCORDING TO MY WORD" (I Kings 17:1). The pure and powerful Word of God shall cause His sons to ride victoriously. Nought shall be able to stand before the two-edged sword of H-I-S  W-O-R-D. How glorious shall be the advance of this mighty company! The Spirit of God is forming and fashioning a people, a glorious company, from whose lips flash forth that CLEAR WORD OF THE LORD which shall cause the traditions and unrighteousness of man to utterly come to nought.

When this Voice comes to you, my beloved, and to me with the command, "Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come away" (S. of S. 2:10), no power of earth, hell or religion can detain the elect of God from rising up to meet Him. No, we have not always been able to clearly hear His voice, but He is teaching us, preparing us as He leads us from pasture to pasture. At the time Jesus was on earth, the Jews had fallen into much slumber and inertia, although outwardly they were religious and self-satisfied, and they did not know the Word of God when He was made flesh and came and stood before them. When their Messiah came, for whom they had been looking for centuries, they neither knew Him nor received Him. Because He was born in a stable, and His body was poor and without comeliness; because He did not come in pomp and glory, the Jews knew Him not.

He who came to His own, was the One who had led them through the wilderness, and who revealed God to them; He had gone before them in the cloud by day and in the pillar of fire by night. It was He who had dwelt in unutterable and unapproachable glory in their Holiest of all; it was He who had defeated their enemies for them, and had spread His pavilion over them, so that all nations were afraid before them. He it was, who came to His own and they knew Him not.

He does not call the elect to come away with Him, but to come away and meet Him. Leave everything, especially your self-life behind, and come away to that which He has for you. We hardly realize that every time Christ calls us and we refuse Him, whether we say it with our lips or with our actions, we really say, "I choose this person or thing, I choose myself, instead of Christ." If we choose to walk with those who are not walking in the Spirit and in the Truth, we really choose carnality and error in the place of choosing Him; for we cannot walk with both. There are times when He offers us advancement, and in place of rising up and leaving everything so that we can enter in and possess that which He shows us, we fail to enter in; we choose our own ease, or the comfort of some Babylonian garment, or our own wills in place of His. It is when we first hear His Voice, that we must rise up and come away to meet Him. God does not stand still, He is ever moving on; and if we delay, His Voice will grow fainter and fainter, so that when we do arise to go to Him, we may not find Him in the glory of His new day. Only as we learn to HEAR and HEED His Voice will we be ready to ascend with Him when He comes to us IN HIS SHOUT.

Thank God! there is a people in this hour unto whom the Lord is coming IN A SHOUT. For those blessed ones there is no more hesitation, no more vacillating back and forth between the flesh and the spirit, no more obeying the voice of the stranger, for these mature ones, these disciplined ones, have received the Lord in a shout of command - they no longer have any other master, priorities, or options - and the response is immediate and unreserved. These make up the mighty army of the Lord, the sons of God who shall rule and bless creation in those glorious ages yet to come. Even now as I pen these words HIS SHOUT is heard by a vast company of men and women over the face of the whole earth, in every nation under heaven, inciting and ordering the members of His body, giving them the command to flee from the harlot system of Babylon and to assemble UNTO HIM in preparation for the glorious manifestation of the sons of God.

As the Christ of God is a many-membered body, so is the shout that issues forth out of His mouth. The shout in which the Lord comes has two aspects - first, His shout of command UNTO US, His brethren; then, His shout of command THROUGH US unto the nations. Furthermore, there is progression to His shout. The Lord ALWAYS comes in a shout. The Lord Himself always descends from heaven in a shout. The Lord descends from the invisible realm of the spirit into our lives, our experience, our world of appearances, our earth - in a shout. He comes to us IN A WORD OF COMMAND, A WORD OF AUTHORITY AND POWER. It is doubtful if any Christian on earth has fully understood as yet how great is the transforming upheaval that works within the soul when men and women through the operation of the Spirit of God in their lives are born again, born from above, seized upon by a life from heaven, renewed, regenerated, recreated and translated out of the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God's dear Son. But this change, this transformation, this translation from death into life could never take place apart from the entrance of the all-powerful, incorruptible Christ into their lives. Ah, when first you were quickened by His Spirit, when the word of salvation reached you, was there not an urgency, a conviction, yea, a compulsion to KNOW HIM? IN that living word of salvation THE LORD HIMSELF DESCENDED into your earth, and in His shout of victory you who were dead in trespasses and sins were quickened and translated from the low realms of darkness and death and made to sit together with Him in heavenly places.

It was the day of Pentecost. As the disciples of Jesus were waiting and praying in the upper room in Jerusalem, the power of God manifested itself in their midst. Had not the messengers declared at His ascension, "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven?" And now, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, suddenly, "there C-A-M-E  F-R-O-M  H-E-A-V-E-N a sound as of a rushing mighty wind... and there APPEARED UNTO THEM cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost..." Ah, it was a fulfillment of the messenger's promise to them, this SAME JESUS had returned, had come from heaven in mighty Spirit power, they heard Him come, they saw Him come from heaven, even as they had seen Him go into heaven. The Lord Himself descended into their midst IN A SHOUT OF COMMAND, and these men and women were quickened, transformed instantly from the carnal traditions, rituals, and ordinances of Old Testament religion into a people ablaze with the dynamic spiritual life of God. Is it not also true, dear reader, that the Lord Himself entered into YOUR TEMPLE in a mighty shout of triumph on that blessed day when you were baptized with that same Holy Ghost and Fire! The principle is plain - every time there is a resurrection, an ascending, a catching up into higher dimensions of HIS LIFE, the change and translation is actuated by the coming of the Lord IN A NEW WORD OF LIFE, IN A FRESH WORD OF COMMAND - A SHOUT! Though we have known Him thus from experience to experience, from realm to realm, and from glory to glory, we yet with patience wait for His descent in that FINAL SHOUT which will bring the consummation and totality of our change into His likeness and image, and the fullness of His incorruptible life in body, soul and spirit.

As the Christ is a many-membered body, so is the shout that issues forth from His mouth. The Word of God is spoken in the world today by the body of Christ on earth, and that Word issues forth as the sound of many waters. I declare to you today that I have heard that sound, I HAVE HEARD H-I-S S-H-O-U-T! In the body of Christ, through many members of teachers, prophets, and anointed ones, I have heard the authority of the Christ's Voice proclaiming that the hour is wonderfully nigh at hand for our transformation, our change, our translation out of corruption into incorruption, out of the carnal mind into the precious mind of Christ, out of our limitation into His omnipotence. This word, this revelation, this proclamation, this Kingdom Message, this SHOUT has sounded throughout the land, echoing from mountain to mountain, reverberating across the valleys and the plains, circling by divine projection the uttermost parts of the globe until there is hardly a city or town or community or hamlet anywhere where its sound has not been heard.

Think, O reader, of the profound depths of truth that lie hidden in these inspired words: "THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN IN A SHOUT!" This opens new and exalted vistas of truth concerning the coming of our Lord, and points us to the time of great battle, the conflict of this dark age coming to its final climax, with the CAPTAIN OF THE HOST descending in a shout of war, to urge on and encourage, ringing out the command, THE TIME HAS COME TO POSSESS THE KINGDOM. First of all the saints must possess the Kingdom, apprehending their full inheritance in Christ. Then shall they go forth in the glorious age to come as the invincible and incorruptible ARMY OF THE LORD, strong and doing exploits, pressing the claims of God's Kingdom upon all men and nations, until there be an ending to the reign of sin, death, and evil everywhere, and the universal establishment of that long-awaited Kingdom of Righteousness over all. A battle will ensue, and the conflict will be dreadful and fierce. The Lord shall descend into the midst of His sons, His army, in a BATTLE CRY, and will UTTER HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY. The purpose of Christ coming is not to provide an escape from tribulation for some weak, unspiritual, half-cleansed church which has corrupted itself with the delusions of Mystery Babylon the Great. He comes, rather, as CAPTAIN OF THE HOSTS OF THE LORD (Jos. 5:14). No battle cry is ever given to CHARGE FORWARD that means retreat, or infers any escapism. The Lord is not coming to "rapture" His army off to some beautiful Isle of Somewhere; He is coming to issue the battle cry and to press the battle to the finish RIGHT HERE ON EARTH, completing the great process of redemption, restoration and the restitution of All things, bringing the wonderful fulfillment of the very prayer He taught us to pray, "THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN." Amen!

True, as someone has pointed out, we have been in our skirmishes and battles, but the greatest battle is yet to be fought, once God takes to Himself His firstfruits company, those conformed to His image, filled with His Spirit, ruled by His mind, yes, and thoroughly equipped with the full armour that He imparts. All previous and present battles are to train and prepare us for that which is to come, therefore we need to learn our lessons and grow up into Him. "I have commanded My sanctified ones, I have also called My mighty ones ... the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle" (Isa. 13:3-4). "And the Lord shall UTTER HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY, for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executeth His word: for the day of the Lord is very great and terrible; and who can abide it?" (Joel 2:11). "The Lord Jesus shall BE REVEALED from heaven WITH HIS MIGHTY MESSENGERS, in flaming fire taking vengence on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Thes. 1:7-8).

Many precious nuggets of truth, rich and encouraging, lie hidden away amidst the verses of the little book of the Song of Solomon. The symbology of the Song of Solomon bespeaks of the riches and glory and honor of the great King and Captain which are conferred upon those elect saints who are called and chosen to be made ONE IN HIM. In the Song of Solomon 6:4 the King (Jesus) speaks to the Shulamite (elect), saying, "Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS." "Terrible as an army with banners" means bannered hosts of armies in a fortified city. The Shulamite has just been compared to the two noted cities of the Israelites. The King now extends His description and declares that she is not only as fair as Tirzah, and as beautiful in her unity and perfection as Jerusalem, but she is as terrible as a city full of valiant hosts that have gone out against the enemy and have brought back innumerable banners. These bannered hosts speak of battles fought and won, of hard conflict with the enemy, in which they came out more than conquerors through Him that loved them.

It is wonderful grace from God that enables us to look upon all opposition, all conflict, all persecution, all difficulties, all attacks of the adversary, however they may come, as opportunities to overcome and to add to the precious banners that God has enabled us to take and will enable us to bring to Him. The elect is not represented here as downtrodden by the enemy. They are not represented as a defeated army with no banners, all having been captured by the enemy. They are represented as a mighty, victorious army, as hosts of valiant soldiers of the Kingdom of God, with so many banners floating that the air above them seems to be alive with these trophies of victory. And, therefore, the inference is, that the enemy is utterly routed.

This same description of the elect appears again in the Song of Solomon 6:10. "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS?" At first glance, it would appear that this description is the same as the King gives in the fourth verse; but while the words are the same, we see by the context that the meaning is different. In the fourth verse, the King compares the Shulamite to the most majestic and beautiful of EARTHLY OBJECTS. He looks down upon earth and draws His comparisons from Tirzah, Jerusalem, and a host of bannered soldiers. But in verse ten it is not the King speaking, but another group called "the daughters of Jerusalem." These daughters of Jerusalem look up to the HEAVENS and compare the Shulamite to HEAVENLY BODIES, the sun and the moon. It would be inconsistent for the elect to be compared in the same description, to the dawn, the moon and the sun, and to hosts of earthly soldiers with banners camped in earthly fortified cities. Therefore it is plain that the reference in verse ten is not to the earthly hosts of victorious soldiers, but to the heavenly hosts typified by the sun, moon, and stars. In Rev. 19:14 we are told of the white horse, coming forth out of heaven with One upon him called Faithful and True; "And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure." in Dan. 12:3: "They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever." The stars are used as the great symbol of those who rule and reign in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Song of Solomon redounds with references to this truth, and we find a further confirmation of it in chapter 6:12. "Before I was aware, my soul set me among the chariots of the prince." Or, the literal translation is, "made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib." Ammi-nadib is composed of two words compounded; the meaning of the first word is "Troops or a company of people congregated together and made one"; the meaning of the last word is "The prince." The meaning of the two words together is, "The people, or company, that have become one, and are the chariots, or war chariots, of the prince!" In Ps. 68:17-18 we are told, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as Sinai, in the sanctuary. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led away captives; Thou hast received gifts among men."

Yet another precious piece of the puzzle is tucked away in the Song of Solomon 6:13. "Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were THE COMPANY OF TWO ARMIES." The "company of two armies" is a figure of the Lord's army in two divisions; and we have already seen that one company is in heaven (the invisible realm of spirit), and the other is upon the earth. But the two armies make ONE SHULAMITE, ONE ELECT, ONE BODY. How little we have been aware of the "working together" of the invisible hosts with the visible, that we might come to the fullness of perfection. Not apart from us shall they attain, and not apart from them should we attain - for who can deny that the dealings, purposes, and activity of God continue upon ALL who LIVE UNTO GOD in the spirit, whether they be in the body or out of the body - matters not to God! In the realm of spirit, transcending mere mortal consciousness, the FAMILY IN HEAVEN is working together and growing together and overcoming together with the FAMILY ON EARTH! And we see an application of this truth in Mat. 18:18, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Sometimes we confine our ideas of the army of God to the visible army on earth, but the army on the other side of the veil is just as real and just as alive and active as that of this world; and because of the hosts of God's armies, He is called Jehovah Sabaoth - the Lord of Hosts. When the king of Syria sent horses and chariots to take Elisha, his servant was filled with fear. And Elisha prayed that Jehovah would open his eyes that he might see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. The elect of the Lord is not only terrible as earthly bannered hosts, but is terrible as the heavenly bannered hosts; for He who leads them forth to battle is the Lord of Sabaoth. He is the Lord of all the hosts of heaven and earth, of all realms, and before Him and His hosts, all the hosts of darkness must fall back; before the chariots of God, none can stand, praise His name!

From the pen of another ready writer I now share precious insight into these wonderful mysteries. "We are somewhat acquainted with the ministry of the family on earth, with the binding and loosing, but do you know who is supporting this work in the more invisible realms? It is the HEAVENLY FAMILY working with us that brings forth the victory. We haven't beheld them, we haven't always been conscious of them, but on rare occasions some have had their visions of this 'invisible ministry.' And we do read, 'Blessed are the dead which DIE IN THE LORD from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours (earth travail); and their works (service, ministry) do FOLLOW THEM' (Rev. 14:13). We rejoice that their works, ministries, do follow them, and they CARRY ON in the invisible realm, to aid us in every way the LORD bids them to give us aid. Are they not part of the 'ministering spirits, sent forth in the service of God for the assistance of those who are to inherit salvation?' (Heb. 1:14, Amplified). What glorious reinforcements are with us!

"Why haven't we been more aware of the power of this reinforcement? Because we have walked so long in the outer realm of the senses of the flesh, and soul. But the more we move into the realm of the spirit, the more we shall become aware of these messengers who not only stand by, but who are working with us. We are going to see an increased activity of the heavenly host, as they help to bring the rest of the 'earth-family' into the fullness of God, that together we might possess our inheritance, and the perfection appointed us. We see our weakness and lack, and we measure our short-comings and almost weep in despair, but God has not ignored this day, and when the enemy comes in like a flood, He has a standard prepared to raise up against him, visible and invisible.

"The oppression was great, and the adversary was heavy against Israel. Then God moved upon Deborah, and she sent for Barak and encouraged him to gather Israel to battle against the hosts of Sisera, and they did so, but they were not alone, for we read, 'They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera' (Judges 5:20). Not only has our lack of spiritual perception held us back from full recognition of our heavenly family, but also God has been taking us through that DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL where even the stars didn't shine, that He might perfect our faith. But just because we have not seen them, not been aware of them, does not mean that they are not there, and ready to penetrate our darkness again at the time of God's appointment.

"THERE MUST BE A BREAK-THROUGH, and a joining of forces with the heavenly host. The scriptures have much concerning the 'armies of heaven' and also concerning the armies on earth - of which we are admonished to become good soldiers and put on the complete armour (II Tim. 2:3; Eph. 6:11-17). As the zero hour draws near for the climax of this great battle of the ages, there will be a uniting of the visible and invisible. We shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep - that is, who have died physically, and are now in the invisible realm, a part of that heavenly register that is spoken of in Heb. 12:23. But the dead in Christ shall rise, and we shall be joined unto that host, becoming the FULL ARMY of the Lord. Then the Lord Himself, as Captain of the Host, shall descend with a war cry, a shout of encouragement to press the battle to its finish, to overcome - conquering and to conquer. We have groaned because of the veil which stands between us and the invisible realm, between us and full spiritual victory. Praise God, He shall give us the command, and the victorious word which shall enable us to break through the barriers, and become JOINED UNTO OUR LORD, AND THE HEAVENLY HOST.

"Are you listening for the shout? Within that war cry, that shout of battle, is all the encouragement, direction, undergirding strength we will need to break through the barrier. The words our Lord speaks are SPIRIT AND LIFE, they are powerful and glorious, and HIS MESSAGE TO HIS OWN will be forceful, yes, will lift them up into new dimensions of victory. No man, no program of man will catapult us into divine fullness. This 'catching up' will be the work of JESUS CHRIST Himself. Our part is to be ready, watching and waiting, yielding to the daily inworkings of His grace so that we might be found unto praise at His coming.

"We are delighted, we praise God for each skirmish fought, and battle won, but remember, there is rejoicing in heaven also, for the 'waiting firstfruits' are desirous that we see the consummation of the process, that we, with them, might enter into our full inheritance. 'And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I WILL HEAR THE HEAVENS, AND THEY SHALL HEAR THE EARTH; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezereel (Jah sows), and I will sow her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not My people, Thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou art my God' (Hos. 2:21-23). The heavens shall hear the earth! There is a drawing together again of that which was separated by so great a gulf. And as the hour of full redemption approaches, we shall find a closeness betwixt ourselves and the rest of those who have been apprehended for firstfruits. The WHOLE FAMILY shall be joined together. And then the new ministry shall begin to be revealed, for the earth shall hear the corn, the wine, and the oil. New life, a new message, food for the hungry - and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" -end quote (Gospel Echoes).

The Lord does not come in silence or gentleness as the Captain of His host, but in a shout - a MIGHTY WORD OF AUTHORITY AND POWER. In these days the Lord will utter His glorious Voice in the midst of His people. Deep shall call unto deep, and there shall be the manifestation and moving of the Lord in GREAT POWER AND GLORY, the sounding forth of His Living Word with life, and blessing, bringing change and transformation to all who hear the Voice of the Son of God. Marvelous indeed is the SHOUT that is sounding into the hearing of God's apprehended ones, a message that is total, complete, for ALL! Truly, when His shout has reverberated down the corridors of your ramsomed soul, you will not fear, for it is A JOYFUL SOUND, a battle cry filled with courage, confidence, and victory. You will shout for joy over the enemy, and the LAST ENEMY that shall be destroyed is DEATH. When the Lord has descended into your consciousness in a shout and His message of TOTAL REDEMPTION has filled your being, there will rise up a responsive shout from God's holy hill. Gone will be that defeatist attitude of "pray for me that I will hold out to the end." Gone will be the worries, fears, frettings, doubts, negative attitudes, negative confessions, and weaknesses that frustrate, torment, and defeat. It is a surging, victorious declaration that GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD. It is His WAR CRY. It signifies that the time has come when HE shall arise to DO BATTLE against all sin, darkness, and death in us, and great shall be the victory. The work begins IN US, and shall then be carried forth THROUGH US. In the triumph of His life the army of God's sons will be a force against which this world system cannot stand.

I assure you that God's army will not fight in the manner that some fight today. The apocalyptic description of the Christ coming out of heaven on a war-horse, magnificently attired, attended by armies of celestial horsemen, to fight the battle against "the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse and against His army," portrays no literal conflict with carnal weapons. It is not on any battlefield on earthly ground that the glorified Redeemer and His heavenly legions confront the banded hosts of earth and hell. The Kingdom of Christ does not conquer the nations by blowing away millions of helpless souls with bullets and bombs and bloody savagery. I believe in no such way of deciding the question between Christ and Satan, between righteousness and unrighteousness, between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of our blessed God. Believing that "the weapons of our warfare are NOT CARNAL," but "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds," I believe the warfare itself to be not carnal.' The warfare, therefore, must be SPIRITUAL!

This is the conquest that is going on right now in that inner world of our hearts, minds and bodies. May the Holy Spirit deeply impress upon you this important truth: YOU WILL NEVER CONQUER UNTIL YOU ARE CONQUERED! You see, in the army of Christ all the vanquished have enlisted, and all of those that were once enemies, such as Saul of Tarsus who once opposed Christ and who is now one of the leaders of that army beyond the veil. As we look at the triumph of Christ we see that the vanquished and the conquerors merge as one. Saul of Tarsus went forth to war against Jesus, but he was struck to the ground outside Damascus, the sword was smitten from his hand, and he was conquered by the Son of God. But in that conquest Paul was to realize his greatest victory and he, too, was to become a part of the ongoing triumph of Christ - a triumph which is even now proceeding into the city of God.

The Captain of the Lord's army descends out of His place IN A SHOUT. This is He who was in the beginning. "In the beginning was the Word" (Jn. 1:1). This is the Word that was God. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. This is He of whom it is written, "He sent His Word, and healed them." This is the Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. In the book of Revelation He is represented as being armed with a sword, two-edged and sharp, passing out of His mouth, indicating that His chief force lies in the action of His lips uttering words. His force is truth - truth expressed by His mouth in words. He goes forth to battle wielding only the weapon of HIS WORD. Christ does not come to avenge blood or slay in battle as other conquerors have done. His words smite all who hear them. As someone has said, It will smite them with conviction and bless them with conversion. It will kill them (the carnal man) and raise them (the spiritual man) from the dead. The spirit which animates Him is the warrior spirit. His object is the conquest of the world - every man and woman and child who has ever lived. He has formed the resolution never to cease from His campaign until the whole world bows devotedly before Him as its rightful Lord and Master, the only true King.

The army of the Lord is at this very moment in careful preparation. The mountains are full of horses and chariots of fire, which the Captain mustereth for the battle. His great command is FOLLOW ME. He goes on from conquering to conquer. Can you hear HIS SHOUT, HIS ENCOURAGING COMMAND, HIS CALL TO RISE UP AND TAKE THE KINGDOM? Can you hear it? Arise, my beloved, and follow the Captain of the Lord's host from victory to victory, from triumph to triumph in your own life; then you, who constitute the Lord's army, will move forward beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS.

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