KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

Part 79

THE SEVEN-SEALED BOOK

(continued)

“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof.  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain” (Rev. 5:5-6).

            The elder came to the weeping John and said, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah… hath prevailed to open the book.”  What did John have every right to expect to see?  There is only one answer.  He had the right to expect to see a lion!  If I am driving with my grandchildren and say to them, “Look at the mountain,” they would expect to see a mountain and not a river.  Were I to point them to a mountain which they could not see, they would ask me to explain what I mean!  If I were to reply, “I mean that river,” they would have every right to say, “But Grandpa, why are you calling a river a mountain?”  In the book of Revelation, this book of symbolic language, such a change in symbols is of supreme importance!  John was told to behold a Lion, but when he looked he saw a Lamb.  What is the explanation?

            John understood, as we also must understand by the Spirit!  The lion is a noble, majestic and kingly creature, strong and courageous, fearing nothing, and so fierce and powerful that no other animal can stand before him.  Mankind from the dawn of history was impressed by what he saw and knew of this awesome and terrible beast and so awarded it the title, “king of beasts.”  And this is the image we are called to contemplate in John’s vision describing the character and majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ in connection with the loosing of the seals of the scroll and the clearing of our earth from all enemies and usurpers.  It is the king of beasts in the jungle who typically represents the King of kings in His triumph over all things!

            The One who is able to accomplish so mighty a work within us is the LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH.  And the Lion of the tribe of Judah is CHRIST THE KING!  When the dying Jacob blessed his sons, he prophesied to his son Judah that he would be a lion, whom his brothers should praise, whose hand should be in the neck of his enemies, and before whom his brethren should bow (Gen. 49:8-9).  What he spoke to Judah indicated Judah’s warlike and victorious energy which was afterward demonstrated in that tribe.  In Judah’s illustrious descendant, David, the lion-nature was strikingly exhibited, and his boast in the Lord was, “I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again until they were consumed.  I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.  For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou has subdued under me those that rose up against me.  Thou hast also given me the necks of  mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.  I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them as the dirt in the streets” (Ps. 18:37-42). 

            While David penned these inspired words out of his own experience as a warrior, they are also a messianic prophecy looking forward to a still mightier King who “sprang out of Judah” as David’s lineal descendant and heir, who at once is David’s Lord and David’s son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is also the Root (ancestor, father) and the offspring (descendant, son) of David.  Why David?  Why not Moses, or Abraham?  David is the representative of Royalty.  Moses is the representative of the Law.  Abraham is the steward of the Promise.  Here we are viewing the authority, dominion, and majesty of the Throne.  Christ is both the Root and the offspring of David — of the Royalty of God raised up in His kings and priests who are the sons of God!   He is the might and majesty of the tribe of Judah and the honor and glory of the house of David! 

The elder, who knew the awesome power of God’s Christ, took the strongest objects in the vegetable and animal kingdoms to represent His power — the root and the lion.  Massive rocks are torn asunder by the noiseless power of the root.  Hidden beneath the soil its power is mighty.  This is the One from whom king David derived his great power of warfare!  In like manner, the power of the Root of David, hidden in the heart and spirit of man, can break the strongest bands of carnality, flesh, corruption, sin, and death.  The Lord Jesus spoke of those who had “no root in themselves” as not being able to endure tribulation.  The Root of David bears the tree of righteousness.  None can be trees of righteousness who have not this pure and holy root hidden in the soil of the heart!  The Root of David produces the character of David within every son of God, the might and overcoming power of Christ in His kingship!

            Yet — the Lion is a Lamb — for He conquers not by brute force but by the power of His poured out life!  John saw by the spirit of revelation that the only way to power was the way of sacrificial love — that is ultimately the only power in the universe.  We would have thought that in calling our Lord “the Lamb” this name would have been used only in respect to His humiliation and death in His earthly walk.  However in scripture it is most often used in reference to His eternal glory in the heavenlies!  Peter saw Him as the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world.  John saw Him as a Lamb that had been slain from the foundation of the world, highly exalted, standing in the midst of the throne.  This slain Lamb is in the midst of everything: in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and of the elders.  This Lamb is peculiarly the One who is in the midst, just as the tree of life was in the midst of the Garden of God.  As the Lamb stands in the midst of each one of God’s called and chosen elect we are enabled to express and manifest, out of our innermost being, the life, nature, and power of the God of the throne!

            The term “Lamb” is used of Christ no less than twenty-eight times in the Revelation, and has two vital characteristics.  Christ is the sacrificial Lamb and the conquering Lamb.  He is seen as slain yet standing in the midst of the throne.  And throughout the book of Revelation it is the Lamb who overcomes and conquers all!  It is the Lamb who gets the victory over the beast, and the false prophet, and the whore, and the dragon, and the kings of the earth; over the flesh, the world, the devil, death, hell, and the grave!  So glory to God and to the Lamb forevermore!  The Lamb shall have the victory!  Christ is Lord over them all, for He was slain before they were, and will be reigning when they are gone!

            The Lamb has conquered and shall conquer all who rise up against Him.  For seventy years the ruthless, atheistic communist regime in Russia blasphemed the Lamb and jailed, tormented, and killed all who proclaimed His name.  They planned and purposed to eradicate His kingdom from the earth!  Today the communist government no longer exists in Russia and it is ironic that the Russian government, through its ministry of education, invited a consortium of sixty American evangelical groups and Christian colleges to train educators in 120,000 Russian public schools on how to teach Christian and spiritual principles.  In commenting on the invitation, Evgeniy Kurkin, the Russian deputy education minister told U. S. A. Today on November 1, 1992: “Seventy years ago, we closed God out of our country and it has caused so many problems in our society we cannot count them.  We must put God back into our country and we must begin with our children.”  Oh, yes!  The word of the Lord is sure:  “These shall make war with the Lamb, and THE LAMB SHALL OVERCOME THEM: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14).  This is the great and beautiful message of the book of Revelation, and this is why the Spirit witnesseth, “Blessed (happy!) is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein” (Rev. 1:3). 

            The wonder of it is that THIS LION-LAMB IS WITHIN US!  The worthy One is within!  When we begin laying hold upon the worthy One within us, the One within us begins unsealing the book within.  Out of that unsealing comes the triumph of the Christ in every dimension of our lives!  He makes war against every false and fleshly thing that there might be the revelation of Jesus Christ in us.  There will be the expression of what is true in us (the Christ within) coming forth into manifestation in our outer realms.  It is not a nature that ignores the corruption and the faulty understanding and perception of the carnal mind and human consciousness — rather, it is a nature that is capable of dealing with the falsity and weakness of the outer man that the spirit of the Lamb in the midst of us be revealed.   Oh, that our eyes might be opened to behold HIM!  HE is the most powerful, terrible, courageous, bold, daring, self-confident, composed, majestic, and yet kind, gentle, gracious, loving, and life-giving Lion-Lamb of all!  HE is worthy to open the book, to fulfill in Himself all the requirements, and now to fulfill IN US all the reality of our redemption.  In absolute power and strength He shall reign with love, mercy, grace, and goodness until every enemy in us is destroyed and the Christ is fully and forever formed in us, formed from the inner to the outer — the image and glory of God in human flesh!

            Thus, the tremendous unveiling in the form of symbols and signs that came to the prophet on that far-away Isle, is today fulfilled spiritually within the people in whom the Christ dwells.  Let all who read these lines know for a certainty that it is the glorious Christ within who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the slain Lamb that lives in the throne!  You will never understand the mystery of the Lion and the Lamb until you understand that Christ is in heaven, and heaven is within us, for the Christ of glory eternally and gloriously lives out His life in His body, His people.  It is within His elect that He must come forth as both the Lion and the Lamb in the midst of the throne, in the power of the kingdom of God within!  The Lion is the omnipotent power and the sovereign authority of God in manifestation, whereas the Lamb is the inward quickening and sustaining life of God by the spirit.

            There is therefore a two-fold working of God in the lives of the Father’s apprehended ones.  First, Self must be dethroned, and in the accomplishment of this Christ is a Lion, clothed with power and majesty and terribleness.  As the Lion He will crush every bone in the body of your Adamic nature and human consciousness and tear away and consume every morsel of your carnal flesh.  The Lion of Judah is king over all the beasts of human nature!  He springs to unscanned heights and to unfathomed depths, to exercise His majesty in all realms.  But as the Lamb He wondrously imparts the quickening of His life that you may live by the spirit.  The Lion is Christ warring, devouring, conquering all that pertains to the old mind and nature of Adam.  The Lamb is Christ as our Life, that we may appear with Him in glory! 

            But further — these same qualities and characteristics are being fulfilled in the elect as we are conformed into His image, made one in Him.  The company of the sons of God shall bear both the image of the Lion and the Lamb!  The kingly strength and regal authority of the Lion nature shall function through the sons in perfect unity with the gentle and ministerial character of the Lamb.  These two streams of the divine nature, working together as one, in both judgment and mercy, shall flow mightily and great, and will cause the very earth to shake, will move heaven and stir hell, and bring the triumph of God’s kingdom among men.  When the effective dealings of God through the Lion are balanced by the merciful, gracious, quickening, transforming administrations of the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb then lie down together in the kingdom of God where there is peace, joy, and righteousness for evermore.  Thank God!  He is preparing His LION AND LAMB COMPANY, those blessed ones made one with the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb upon mount Zion.  This glorious ministry shall prevail in the earth and restore all back into God again.  Aren’t you glad!

            Stripped of symbolic language, this means that power alone, wisdom alone, righteousness alone, could not make man all that he was to be.  Only a God who is love, who gives Himself to the uttermost, who spared not His only begotten Son, but delivered Him up for us all, who pours out His own life into man, only such a One, and by such means, is able to make man all that is in him to become.  That is the teaching of the fifth chapter of the Revelation!  And in this manifestation of redemptive love there was released in history the greatest power that humanity can know.  The Lamb is, therefore, the symbol of power — vast spiritual power — power that no earthly power can overcome.  The Lamb in His weakness — the weakness of self-sacrifice — is the source of the creative, healing, restoring, redeeming power of love in the world: love that delivers men out of the power of darkness into the light of Life, love moving redeemed men ever higher in their pilgrimage toward the City of God.

            The message is just this.  Not power, crushing and compelling, even were it the power of God Himself, can bring to pass the purpose of God.  But the slain Lamb, and all that the Lamb stands for, and all who possess the spirit of the Lamb, are lifting up man from the depths, and bringing to reality all God’s gracious purpose concerning him.  The slain Lamb, by His poured-out life, melts the stubborn hearts of men, and takes them willing captives.  The highest power of the Godhead is manifested in the Lamb that was slain! 

THE LAMBKIN

            Called upon to behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah the Seer turns and sees none other than the slain Lamb in the midst of the throne.  It had been slain — the marks are there on its throat to show how decisively the knife had done its work — but now it was standing erect.  It had seven horns of power and seven eyes of omniscient vision.  In the light of the truth we are now studying many things take on new meaning.  I would draw your reverent attention to the fact that in the Greek text the diminutive form for “lamb” is used, indicating that it is a “little lamb.”  Truly this is Mary’s Little Lamb!  The use of the Greek diminutive Arnion, the “little lamb” or the “lambkin” is the only word used in the Revelation for the Lamb.  It is the contrast between the first little lamb and all the other lambs who follow with Him.  It is a reminder that Jesus is the “firstborn” among many brethren, the “forerunner” of all who enter in to that which is within the veil, and the “first begotten” from the dead.  Jesus Christ is the HEAD of the body, “for in all He shall have the pre-eminence” (Col. 1:18). 

            Yet — the Head also must have a body — so unto Him is added the rest of the firstfruits company.  Even now as Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, He reigns in virtue of the fact that He is a Lambkin.  He reigns as a Lambkin-King, because God is raising up lamb-kings in the earth, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to establish in each member of the body of the Lamb in the earth the nature, and the character, as well as the authority of the Lambkin in the throne.  “He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (Jn. 16:14).  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to inwork in each son of God all that pertains to the exalted Lambkin, that He might be here in the earth to be to you and me, yea, to be through you and me everything that Jesus is upon the throne!

            The “lambkin” as a figure of Christ is indeed complete and perfect; yet it is a type of Christ in a limited measure and at the same time in the greatest measure.  That is the mystery.  How strange that sounds to our ears, how curious to our minds!  In relation to the Lord Jesus Himself, He is not limited at all, but as far as our experience of Him is concerned, there is such a limitation.  When we come to the Lord and receive Him as our Life, the Christ we receive is whole, complete, and perfect; but in our appropriation of Him our experience of Him is only a small measure — at first just as the little lamb of salvation.  From the time we first experienced Christ as the Lamb, as our Life, we have steadily been growing, increasing, progressing, and advancing; we have continually grown and increased in our experience of Christ and received of Him more and more.  This does not mean that Christ has become greater and greater.  Oh, no!  Christ is the same, He changes not!  But as we grow in our appropriation of Him, the increase of His life, the maturity of His nature, the development of His mind, and the strengthening of His power, He becomes greater and greater to us and in us.  Day by day our experience of Christ is becoming greater and greater!  At the stage of our experience in which the total triumph of the Lamb is achieved within, Christ is unlimited to us, He becomes ALL IN ALL.  It is His almighty strength in the heavens revealed through our humanity on earth — the TRIUMPHANT LAMBKIN!  That is the revelation of Jesus Christ!  And that is the manifestation of the sons of God! 

            Thus we see Him in chapter fourteen, “A Lambkin stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand.”  It does not say, “And with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand  men.”  Oh, no!  There stands a Lambkin on mount Zion and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand — what?  The Greek construction indicates that it is in very fact a hundred and forty-four thousand lambs!  The Little Lamb has become many lambs!  We see a similar type, only in the negative realm, in the little serpent in Eden which grows through Adam, and increases within men over the millennia to become in the book of Revelation a great red dragon.  As the subtle serpent came with stealth into the garden of Eden defiling with selfhood the hearts of the parents of the human race, making a murderer of Adam’s first son, so has he developed in mankind from that small and unimposing beginning to become a monster of gigantic dimensions filling the whole world with religious delusion and fleshly corruption.  In Genesis Satan entered Eden as a cunning little serpent, but in the Revelation he has grown into a monstrous fire-belching dragon in the earth and in the sea.  In Genesis Satan is an enchanting serpent indwelling a mere handful of people, whereas in the Revelation he is a “great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,” a composite of peoples, nations, institutions, and governmental authorities.

            In like manner, my beloved, the first Little Lamb was none other than our Lord Jesus, the Christ.  The spirit of the Lambkin was poured out upon a little company of people on the day of Pentecost, the first of a new spiritual race of men destined to fill the earth and conquer the dragon.  The Lambkin has developed in the saints of God from that small and unimposing beginning to become a vast company of lambs upon the pinnacle of mount Zion!  To see such a company that shares and ministers His life to all creation does not magnify man, nor does it detract from Christ; for they are all totally conformed to HIS IMAGE and are partakers of HIS DIVINE NATURE.  HE is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and joined to Him is a lambkin company!  Truly these are the kings and priests of God, a kingdom of priests to reign on the earth and restore all things into God again!

            It is my deep conviction that within the Lambkin, as we see Him again and again in the Revelation, is converged the reality of the four living creatures (kingship) and the twenty-four elders (priesthood).  He brings kingship and priesthood together within Himself.  He is the spirit of the Lamb (priesthood) in the midst of the throne (kingship).  He is the Lambkin (priesthood) standing upon mount Zion (kingship).  Can you not see the mystery?  The four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, and the seven spirits of God are all rolled into One and represented now as the Lambkin!  He is the embodiment and personification of them all!  It is appropriate to refer at this point to the words of another ready writer who said, “Freely, gladly, joyfully Jesus Christ faced the hour of sacrifice, pouring out His life, that it might be diffused and spread over the whole earth.  Now God’s elect are being brought to the same consecration, so that they give everything, for the joy of beholding His life quicken those around them.  Willing to spend and be spent, until HIS LOVE THROUGH THEM has conquered all, and creation is restored into perfect harmony with its Creator.  There is a work that is totally of The Christ, finished at Calvary, which does not have to be re-enacted or duplicated.  He gave His life for the world!  Now, this lambkin company, can freely share it with creation”   — Ray Prinzing.

SEVEN SPIRITS SENT FORTH INTO ALL THE EARTH

            “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6).

            In the book of Revelation are revealed a new name (nature), a new song (revelation, message), a new Jerusalem (people), a new heaven (government), a new earth (order), and finally it is proclaimed, “Behold, I make A-L-L  T-H-I-N-G-S  NEW!”  Hallelujah!  The whole purpose of God in this book is to declare the eternal passing of all that is of the old, and the establishment of ALL THAT IS NEW.

            Then what is here?  The seven spirits!  There is a Lamb with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God.  The Lamb has seven horns, which are the seven spirits of God.  Before the throne are seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God.  Around the throne is a rainbow of seven colors, which are the seven spirits of God.  We only see the Lamb upon the throne with the seven-fold intensified spirit!  That is all.  All the utterances of this book are made by the seven-fold spirit and all reveal that which is entirely new and fresh.  There is nothing old, nothing dead, for the first has passed away;  the stars from heaven have fallen, the moon turned to blood, the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, every mountain and island were moved out of their places, the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, great Babylon was burned with fire, and the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon were cast into the lake of fire.  Now everything is spoken by the living spirit in a new and living way!  There is only the new creation!

            Furthermore, every utterance to the body of Christ in this book is the utterance of the seven-fold spirit.  It is always the seven-fold spirit who is speaking!  “Yea, saith the spirit” (Rev. 14:13).  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:7).  Seven times in chapters two and three we read that it is the spirit who is speaking to the churches.  How different from the prophecies of the prophets who prophesied, “Yea, thus saith the Lord…”  How different from the utterances of the apostles who wrote, “This I (Paul) say…” or “I (Peter) exhort…”  Here in the book of Revelation it never says, “Thus saith the Lord” or “This I say,” etc.  This is not men speaking for God out of an in-part realm.  Oh, no!  This is God speaking directly out of the fullness of Himself.  So it says, “The spirit saith, the spirit saith, the spirit sayeth!”  This very same sentence with the very same wording is repeated seven times: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit sayeth unto the churches.”  Why is this repeated seven times?  Because of the seven-fold spirit!  HE WHO HEARS THE SEVEN-FOLD SPIRIT WILL BE AN OVERCOMER!  HE WHO OVERCOMES WILL BE A SON!  HE WHO IS A SON SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS!  HE WHO INHERITS ALL THINGS RECEIVES THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD!  Isn’t it wonderful!

            Because the seven-fold spirit is bestowed upon the overcomers, eventually the entire book is concluded this way: “And the spirit and the bride say…” (Rev. 22:17).  Oh, the mystery of it!  We read in the beginning of the Revelation that the spirit is speaking to the churches.  But by the end of the book the spirit and the bride have become one — they speak together.  The spirit and the bride in this verse is a compound subject.  The two have been compounded — the two have become one.  The overcomers are one with the seven spirits, and the seven spirits have been fully inworked into the overcomers.  This is the ultimate consummation of the work of God in His called and chosen elect!  In the maturity of sonship one no longer prophesies in the third person, “Thus saith the Lord” or “Yea, the Lord would say unto thee.” A mature son, filled with the seven spirits of God, speaks as Jesus spoke, “Verily, verily I say unto you.”  Never once did Jesus say, “Thus saith the Lord” or  “Yea, the Lord would say unto thee.”  He spoke as the Lord, out of the spirit without measure.

            Let us consider now another aspect of this beautiful truth.  “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets” (Rev. 8:2).  Now notice, there are seven horns and seven eyes in the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.  These are horns of divine power and authority.  They are the horns of the Lamb!  These are seven eyes of vision and perception.  They are the eyes of the Lamb!  There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, and these are the seven spirits of God.  These are the seven lamps of illumination and revelation.   Now there are seven angels with seven trumpets, and they are standing exactly where the seven lamps of fire were standing before the throne, and the trumpets are sounding forth a message.  Can you not see that the seven angels are also the seven spirits?  The seven spirits are sent forth into all the earth and here the seven angels are blowing the seven trumpets and their sound is going forth into the earth!  So the seven trumpets are also the seven spirits!  They are the voice of the Lamb, the word of the Lamb sent forth to change and quicken all things.  When you follow these seven angels all the way through the book, you find that they are related to everything that happens on earth.  They sound the trumpets that affect the earth-realm.  They pour out the vials that affect the earth-realm.  Those seven angels are identified with everything that affects the earth-realm!  We are living in the day when the seven spirits of God in the fullness of divine wisdom and revelation, power and authority, judgment and wisdom will be manifested.

            So you see, in the throne the seven spirits are the seven horns and the seven eyes.  Before the throne the seven spirits are the seven lamps of fire.  But when they are sent forth into all the earth the seven spirits are the seven angels and the seven trumpets.  It is all the seven spirits of God!  There is movement from one to the other.  The movement is always outward.  First of all there is emanation from the throne to the realm before the throne.  Then there follows movement from before the throne outward into all the earth.  This is the activity of God by His spirit towards mankind!  All things flow from the throne, poured out upon the earth, until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.  The reality of God is sent forth into all the earth.  This means that God purposes for His elect to move in the fullness of the revelation and power and wisdom and judgment of the triumphant LAMB OF GOD!  All praise to the Lamb who has the seven spirits!

            You will never in a million years find the seven spirits outside of the Lamb!  If you would have the seven spirits of God your identity must be lost in the Lamb.  You must live in the nature of the Lamb.  He must be your hiding place.  He must be your sphere of existence.  You must be filled with the spirit of the Lamb.  Not just the spirit of God, but the spirit of the Lamb, the spirit of love, humility, mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, and a poured-out life.  It is from the Lamb upon the throne that the seven spirits are sent forth into all the earth.  The seven spirits are associated not only with the Lamb, but with the throne.  All who have received the call to sonship are called to be associated with the throne of the Lamb!  We are moved to be often and long before the throne.  That necessitates consciously abiding in the holy presence of the Lamb.  It means that we open our heart and life to the judgment of Him who sits upon the throne.  It means submitting our mind, heart, and will to the transforming power of the Lamb.  It means repentance and humbling, waiting and worship, prayer and praise before the throne!

            Let all men know that the seven spirits of God do not come from the Christ of Bethlehem, nor from Jesus of Nazareth, nor from the Christ of the mighty signs, wonders, and miracles by the sea, nor yet from the cross of Calvary.  All these manifestations and works of Christ are but vanity except the sacrificed Lamb arose as the triumphant Lion, victorious over all enemies, including the last enemy, to ascend up far above all heavens that He might FILL ALL THINGS!  How positively true are the words of Paul, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (I Cor. 15:17).  And the words of John, “For the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (Jn. 7:39).  The spirit comes from the throne, from the risen, ascended, glorified Christ, pouring forth the victory, glory, and triumph of the Lamb!  Now God is bringing many sons to this glory where they shall totally express the ministry of Jesus Christ in every aspect, where the fullness of the seven spirits of God shall find expression.  When all the holy sons of God are manifest and the whole body of Christ moves in the fullness of the seven spirits, we will fulfill the promise of Jesus.  He was only one man in one place, living and moving and ministering out of the spirit without measure; but when you have ten thousand over here and twenty thousand over there, and thousands more everywhere across the earth, every member of the Christ body functioning in the fullness of the seven spirits, it will bring to pass the Lord’s words, “The works that I do shall ye do also, and greater works than these shall ye do, because I go to the Father” (Jn. 14:12).

            As the firstborn son of God has the seven spirits of God as seven eyes and sees and knows all things, so the sons of God are experiencing the “eyes of enlightened understanding” to “know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward them that believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand” (Eph. 1:18-19).  As the firstborn son of God has the seven spirits of God as seven horns and has all power and authority in heaven and in earth, so the sons of God shall  likewise have the fullness of power and shall do the “greater works.”

            As the anointed body of Christ enters into the fullness of the seven spirits of God in this new  kingdom day, great and glorious blessing shall surely pour forth upon the earth-realm.  The hour is nigh at hand when the sons of God shall minister as none has ever ministered!  What will make their ministry so unique and transcendent?  The operation of the seven spirits in and through them!  It matters not whether the sons simply speak the word or whether they appear before men in the power of resurrection, from them shall flow forth the mighty, deluging, irresistible floodtides of divine life, power, and glory upon all the ends of the earth.  Little wonder that this day is described by the apostle Peter as “the times of the restitution of all things.”  We have seen the gifts of the spirit in operation, and how we bless and magnify God for them, limited as they have been; but soon you will see the seven spirits of God begin to operate in the manifest sons of God!  We have not yet seen this, despite the claims of some who presume that they have already entered into the fullness.  I have heard all the claims of those who proclaim that they have arrived in the highest heaven and all their lower heavens have now passed away; those who declare that they have fully come out of Babylon and now stand on the heights of mount Zion, and all lesser realms and days are forever over; those who say they have experientially entered the fullness of the Day of the Lord, and they now dwell in the brightness of a full revelation and word; those who say they have already put on life and immortality and will never go by way of the grave; but I do not hesitate to tell you that I have not seen either in their lives or in their gatherings even one thing I have not seen in Pentecost for seventy years, nor have I heard one word of teaching or revelation that I have not heard a hundred times before in various “sonship” groups since the days of the Latter Rain outpouring in 1948.  The rhetoric is powerful, but the manifestation is weak and beggarly!  Yet, for those who meet the conditions and qualify for that mighty company of overcomers there awaits the spirit, given without measure to them, and the unimagined and yet incomprehensible ministry of the seven spirits of God!

            The seven spirits of God are the seven spirits of sonship!  They are the seven-fold intensified spirit of the Lord that rested upon the firstborn son of God.  The seven spirits of sonship are enumerated by the prophet Isaiah who prophesied of God’s Christ, Head and body, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord…and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth…the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den…for THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:2-9). 

            As the seven-fold intensified spirit of the Lord flows over the earth from the many-membered body of Christ, what peace, what joy, what blessedness this will result in for the earth-realm!  What changes shall be wrought, what altering of attitudes, what changing of personalities, what transforming of lives!  Imagine the human personalities and characteristics that are here symbolically likened to the wolf, the leopard, the lion, the bear, the asp, the cockatrice!  And while God could certainly alter the whole constitution of the animal kingdom should He so choose, our present application of the type must be to the peace and life of the kingdom of God on a higher level where men of the most corrupt, wicked, and fierce dispositions have their natures so entirely transformed by the matchless grace and redeeming power of Christ that they live in love and righteousness with the meekest of men and those who formerly were an easy prey.  Christ, who is our peace, came to establish PEACE IN THE HEARTS OF MEN!  Thus the asp and the cockatrice (poisonous serpents) cease to be venomous, so that parents let their little children play with them.  In other words, a “generation of vipers” shall be so converted and made a “seed of saints” that the “little ones” of the kingdom shall be trustingly committed into their care!  Matchless grace!  Glorious triumph!  Wonderful peace!  Mighty victory!  “The seven spirits of God SENT FORTH INTO ALL THE EARTH.”  Who would not desire it? 

            The following words by Paul Mueller bear eloquent testimony to this beautiful truth.  “The coming of the kingdom of God to the earth is also the coming of the seven spirits of God to the earth.  The coming of His seven spirits to the earth is also the coming of the presence of the Lord to the earth.  And when the Lord’s presence comes to the earth, all the many millions of unbelievers and hardhearted Christ-rejecters in this world will simply melt in His presence.  The hard, stony hearts of the unbelievers, skeptics, agnostics, and atheists will be melted by the presence of the Lord to become hearts of flesh (Eze. 11:19-20).  Then they shall bow before the Lord, because of the greater power of the presence of the Lord, which has come ‘down’ to earth from the heavens of His Spirit.  He who reigns over the multitudes of this world shall then be their Savior and their Lord, in truth and  in reality.  They shall then be transformed to become spirit, by the omnipotent Spirit of our God.  This is not an impossible task, for we know His power!  We know He is well able to do all this and more, for the seven spirits, which is all that He is, are greater than any other power!

            “Here is a cause and a purpose in God that is greater than the church, greater far than any of the gifts of the Spirit, or a combination of them; it is greater than any of man’s ministries, and much greater than any personal call of God given to any individual.  Here is a Purpose that demands everything from us, but which promises to return much more to us when it is fulfilled!  Every apprehended and chosen son of God, within whose heart dwells the spirit of sonship, has been seeking for something greater than anything they have ever seen or witnessed in the past.  I will never be proven wrong when I declare to you that THIS IS IT!  The ultimate purpose and intention of our Father for the total control and dominion of this earth, and of the entire universe, is worth the absolute and complete surrender of our lives.  And all who have received the glorious vision of the ever-increasing kingdom  of our Father in the earth are making this positive commitment!

            “I hereby renew my dedication to my Father in heaven!  And I have purposed, by His grace, that I shall continue to walk this walk, and will talk this talk, writing the vision clearly, as the Spirit reveals it, so that all who read  it may run with me to the appointed goal  in Christ (Hab. 2:1-2).  The vision He has given us promises absolute victory and involves no failure and no defeat.  The reign of Christ on His Father’s throne in the kingdom of God shall triumph over all, to the glory of God!  I want to be a part of that kingdom that shall overwhelm and overrule all the kingdoms of this world, and I know you do too!”   — end quote.

            In the day when the fullness of these seven spirits of God is realized in the body of Christ it shall also come to pass that “the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun (the glory of Christ) SHALL BE SEVENFOLD, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound (removes the curse)” (Isa. 30:26).  What a promise!  The glory of Christ, who is the “sun of righteousness,” will be seven times brighter and more glorious than any revival or moving of the Spirit God the church has experienced since Jesus ascended to heaven.  God’s promise is the sending forth of the glory of Christ, not in the single light of the man Christ Jesus, nor in the double portion of the Spirit, nor yet in the former and latter rain in the first month, but AS THE LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS CONCENTRATED IN ONE!

            All of us are thankful to God for what we have known of His power, we rejoice with joy unspeakable for every evidence of His manifest glory today, and we honor everyone who is demonstrating any measure of the life of God and accomplishing anything to His glory; but to break the dominion of sin and satan and ignorance and death over the nations in this hour of overshrouding gloom and darkness will require a SEVENFOLD REVELATION OF THE LOVE AND POWER OF GOD!  Nothing God is doing in the lesser realms today can get the job done.  God intends to send forth this sevenfold brightness of His life, light, love, grace, glory, righteousness, peace, joy, and power.  For this, my beloved, God is shaping the nations and preparing His elect in this great hour!

            When the sons of God are manifested more people will come to Christ and salvation than have from Pentecost until now.  As the new age dawns every village, town, and city in every nation will have been visited by the manifestation of the glory of God through His sons.  Every living person will encounter the power of God!  The knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth, and many entire nations will be converted to Him.  As strange and impossible as it may seem today, the state of Israel and the country of Russia will be among the first to be transformed by the power of God’s Christ!  That is the clear word that God has spoken in my spirit.  The magnitude of this sonship ministry cannot be measured by anything that has been before.  Even nature itself will be infused with life and transformation as creation begins to be released from the bondage of corruption.  These results will be obtained without church meetings, revival crusades, healing campaigns, deliverance services, television programs, outreaches, missionary projects, literature distribution, or any of the methods, teachings, and programs of the church systems.  This ministry will not stand in the wisdom of men’s words, but in supernatural power and unparalleled demonstrations of the Holy Spirit.

            The sons  will walk in unlimited power and authority.  Men will no longer look back wistfully at the early church and historic moves of God because of the exploits of those days, beseeching God to “do  it again.”  All will recognize that He certainly has saved the best wine for last!  The most glorious times in the world’s history lie just before us.  The magnitude of this unveiling of the glory of God’s Christ will astonish even the most optimistic believers.  Miracles which exceed even the greatest Biblical marvels will cause whole nations to bow before the authority of God’s sons!  The sons of God will speak a word to men, or lay their hand upon them, and the power of God will come upon even the most ignorant, rebellious, or vile of men; they will tremble and shake and break and weep and magnify and glorify God as the revelation of the Christ of God is reveled in their minds and hearts.  Habits and thought patterns and fleshly lusts and demonic bondages will be broken instantly as they are washed clean and made pure by the blood of the Lamb.  The visible glory of the Lord will appear upon multitudes of people, and power will flow out from them to convict, deliver, and transform all who come into their presence.  The cloud and pillar of fire that hovered over Israel in the wilderness will not even compare to the intense presence of the Lord in these days!  Never has the Lord Himself been as personal and intimate with His people as He will be at this time.  The whole world will stand on tiptoe continually, wondering each day what great wonders they will behold.

            Wondrous things await the people of God, things that it is not possible for a man to utter.  We do not know, we may not know all that awaits us.  But enough is known, enough is revealed, to wean us from the things of earth, from the priorities of religion, from the concerns of time, and fill our souls with rapture on account of the extraordinary vision.  For He hath “made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him…that we should be to the praise of His glory…and…that in the ages to come He might show (display through us) the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:9-12; 2:7).  We are now come to the dispensation of the fullness of times!   This dispensation was yet future in Paul’s day, he pointed to it and to the comprehensive work of restoration God would do in it; and we also know it was yet future in Paul’s day because it has never yet come to pass. But it is now upon us with its power and glory!  The world has never yet seen anything like that which shall take place when God’s sons are manifest in this dispensation of the fullness of times!  The transformation of the saints is the next event in the commencement of this Day.

            I will close this message by quoting from a vision given to Pastor John Hinkle some years ago.

            “On October 18, early in the morning, God gave me the most powerful vision I’ve ever had.  Suddenly, I was in this gigantic football stadium with the game going on.  I do not know where it was or who was playing.  I only heard the announcer say that over 80,000 people were in the stadium.  As I watched, in the next split second of time, the Holy Spirit came as Light (I believe this was the manifest sons of God — Preston) and seemed to stand beside everyone in that stadium.  The Holy Spirit was not in them, but was beside them.  Instantly, everything stopped.  The game ceased, for in that moment God had shown everyone individually just where he stood on the pathway of life and eternity in relationship to the glory of God, or to evil and eternal darkness.  It was so awesome.  It is impossible to describe.  The players, the officials, and everybody in the stadium were on their faces weeping and crying out to God, either for His mercy or for the joy of seeing the glory of heaven revealed, according to whether they believed or did not believe.

            “Again, let me say, the Holy Spirit was beside each one, and He showed them exactly where they were on the pathway of their present life, moving either toward darkness or Light.  It was as if God had caused time to stand still for a few moments and everyone looked into eternity.  Everyone knew it was God, and they knew that they knew it!  There was no doubt left anywhere.  It was as if God stripped away every deception that man had let come into his life, and there he stood before the reality of life as revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord.  There was no condemnation from the Lord and there was no judgment, but it was God reaching out to everyone in His love to let them see just where they stood on the true pathway of life, and whether they were going toward evil or God, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was God.  I also knew at this moment that it was happening worldwide.  No one looked to his right or his left.  He was not concerned about anyone else, but only his personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  He knew in that moment beyond all shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ was King of kings and Lord of lords. 

            “The scene changed and I was looking at the stock exchange, and everyone in it was on their face before God, crying out either for mercy or for more of His righteousness and glory to rule in their life.  Everything in the whole world paused for that moment!  How long the pause was, I do not know.  Just a few moments, I assume, but it was enough.  The people on the streets of every city in the world were on their faces and everyone was shown that if they believed in less than Jesus Christ, they had been deceived.  All shortcomings were exposed in the light of His love, and mercy and forgiveness awaited those who truly repented and wanted eternal glory in Him.

            “Tens of thousands of people began to head for the churches, and the churches were filled to overflowing, but there were no services as we know them, because every minister, priest, and rabbi was on his face before the Lord, for he, too, had had his very soul exposed totally to the glory of God and he realized his own shortcomings and wanted more and more of the Lord Himself.  Every person in the world knew in that moment that he had a choice to make.  God did not force, and again, let me emphasize that there was no condemnation and there was no judgment.  There was just the darkness of man exposed to the glory and the love of God for him.

            “Immediately following this, the Lord gave me Isaiah 40:5 as a confirmation of all that was going on.  It says, ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.’  All flesh was seeing it!  Every believer’s heart was so lifted up because he had seen the glory of God that went beyond anything that he could even imagine or conceive, and he knew that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that was revealing it to him and calling him into a new righteous relationship with God.  He knew that this was in spite of his mistakes and that the blood of the cross had set him free and would set him free to continue on.

            “It is my personal belief that this is going to happen soon for the whole world.  God did not mention a date, but scripture speaks of it and I believe it will be happening soon, for I see clearly now that only the Spirit of the Living God can change the world.  Jesus Christ is still King of kings and Lord of lords, and no matter how dark it looks in the world, the power of God can change it, and will change it in one great burst of His glory if He so chooses to do it that way.  Praise God that we are all in the palm of His hand and the reality of Jesus Christ as our new life in Him is being revealed momentarily to every believer!”   — end quote.

            Should any reader of these lines doubt that our God can or would manifest Himself in such a measure, let us remember Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus, suddenly experiencing the brightness of the glory of the Lord!  He was blinded by the dazzling glory and fell from his horse. He cried out, “Who art Thou, Lord?”  And the voice came from the Light, saying, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest!”  In a moment of time Saul was wonderfully and completely  transformed to become perhaps the greatest apostle of Jesus Christ during the church age!  Brother Hinkle said later that in the moment that this great power of the Spirit came upon every person in the whole world, it was like each individual had an experience with the Lord.  Oh, yes!  If the Lord Jesus can change and transform one man through the revelation of His glory, is it an unthinkable thing that He could convert six billion people in the same way?  Just as our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saul of Tarsus in the manifestation of glory, it is my deep conviction that this greater, worldwide manifestation of glory will come at the manifestation of the sons of God.

            Isaiah looked forward to this Day with intense anticipation and described the glory of its dawning in this way, “Then shall THY LIGHT BREAK FORTH  AS THE MORNING, and thy health (full salvation) shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward” (Isa. 58:8).

            To be continued…                                                                                            J. PRESTON EBY