KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
Part 99
THE SEALING OF THE 144,000 (continued)
T he one hundred and forty-four thousand are divided into classes called by the names of the twelve tribes of Israel the twelve tribes of those who are Princes of God! The Revelation is a spiritual book, and like everything else in the book the twelve literal tribes of Israel are used as symbols. These are character names, indicating the various aspects of character developed spiritually in every son of God. Many believers have one or more of these characteristics fulfilled in them, but here it is not the whole tribe that is sealed, but only a portion, a special, separated people unto a particular purpose in God. In this vision the twelve tribes do not indicate different groups or companies of Gods called and chosen elect, each company bearing the characteristics of only one of the tribes of Israel. These twelve spiritual character traits bespeak of twelve steps in our experience of Christ by which we progressively put on the mind of Christ and grow up into the maturity of His nature the nature and character of sonship to God! This is a people that has experienced all that is represented by every one of the twelve tribes! Twelve is the number of divine government, therefore these twelve steps bring us to the throne of God and the Lamb where we shall govern the world in righteousness and reign with Christ over all things!
REUBEN
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed
twelve thousand (Rev. 7:5).
Reuben is the second tribe in the list
of tribes revealed to John and the name means Behold
a son! Once we have met Christ in
the spiritual reality of the tribe of Judah, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to whom is
given the scepter and the throne, we receive the revelation of sonship, which is the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. When we have
been quickened to our true heritage and destiny as sons of God, the next step is for the
life of sonship to begin to be raised up within us. We
are no longer concerned about the elementary and childish things most Christians are
occupied with, but our whole desire is for Christ to be formed in us. Suddenly
we do not see ourselves as mere believers, nor do we see those the Father has joined us to
as just Christians, but we view one another as sons of God.
Our whole life becomes focused on the life of sonship. The cry of our heart becomes, Behold, a
son!
We are not at this point a mature son, or a manifest son, for this is merely the beginning of Christ raised up in our lives in the power of the Spirit! It is here that the new creation man begins to grow and develop within us! It is the dawn of our sonship walk, the first baby-steps of our journey to the throne! In that blessed moment when the call to sonship was first quickened in our hearts, my beloved, it marked the very point in our walk in God when the cry was heard in and by the Spirit Reuben! Behold, a son!
GAD
Of
the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve
thousand (Rev. 7:5).
The
third tribe of Israel listed is Gad. Gad translates as a troop. On his death bed Israel prophesied of Gad,
Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall
overcome (the troop) at last (Gen.
49:19). The book Jacobs Dozen gives this meaningful insight:
The English versions of the scriptures cannot adequately catch the word play in this
statement. Four of the six Hebrew words in
this verse are some form of the word Gad.
The following rendering more closely catches the meaning: Gad, a troop shall troop upon him, but he
shall troop on their heels. The passage
succinctly prophesies that the tribe of Gad will be harassed by tribes of hostile enemies
but will eventually repel their advances. A
map of Israel in biblical times vividly displays the precarious position of Gad in
relation to some of Israels ancient enemies. Hostile
bands of Ammonites and Moabites bordered his territory.
The
constant exposure to hostile enemies resulted in Gads developing a reputation as
fierce warriors, constantly ready to defend their land.
In Davids days as a fugitive from Saul, the Gadite warriors who joined
him at Ziklag were described in the following way: And of the Gadites there
separated themselves unto David in the stronghold in the wilderness, men of might, and men
of war fit for the battle, they could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the
faces of lions, and who were as swift as the roes upon the mountains (I Chron.
5:18-20; 12:8). Though little is mentioned of
the tribe of Gad in the Bible, the lessons to be learned from them are many. Gad graduated from the proverbial school of hard knocks. His difficult experiences produced a toughness
that only hard times can bring! The spiritual
lesson gleaned from Gad is that in the furnace of affliction we are prepared to come forth
as gold. Finally, the promise to Gad is that he shall overcome at the last. This corresponds to the seven promises to the overcomer in the book of Revelation! end quote.
A
troop refers not to the large number of Gadites, but to their development as
warriors and their victorious warfare against their enemies. As we move from the spiritual experience of Reuben
where the new life of sonship begins to spring forth within us, the long process begins of
the spiritual experience of Gad, the process of overcoming! The reason so many people fail to attain to great
heights in the Spirit is because they are unable to see Gods purpose, and therefore
they have no particular incentive to seek the great heights that are in Him. Multitudes of Christians are taken up with carnal
ideas and childish notions about pleasing God enough to die and go to heaven, about
mansions and harps and sitting on clouds eating pork chops with nothing to do and all
eternity to do it in, to be able to grasp the transcendental realities of the kingdom of
God!
There
are certain basic principles of the kingdom that are raised up within the consciousness of
all who are called to sonship. We are
learning to think like God! We are beginning
to rule with Christ in this life! Too many saints are weak, frustrated, fearful, and
defeated. But the dynamite of Gods
Spirit comes into the life of every apprehended one and blows us out of the low places of
lethargy, discouragement, oppression, and defeat into a vibrant walk with Christ in the
high places of peace, joy, and triumph in His kingdom!
To the Gadites the Spirit admonishes: Strengthen
yourselves in the Lord and in the power which His supreme might imparts. Put on the complete armor of God, so as to be able
to stand firm against all the stratagems of the devil.
For ours is not a conflict with mere flesh and blood, but with despotisms,
the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world the spiritual hosts
of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly warfare. Wherefore
put on the complete armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground in the evil
day, and having fought to the end, TO REMAIN
VICTORS ON THE FIELD (Eph. 6:10-14, Weymouth).
As
I have pointed out on numerous occasions, the journey to the throne of the universe begins
in that small and undistinguished place where you are.
The kingdom of God is within you. The enChristed who are to reign with Christ from
sea to sea, from planet to planet, and ultimately from universe to universe, are being
trained and prepared! Think not in your
heart, precious friend of mine, that you may pass your life here careless, indifferent to
the dealings of God, suddenly to awake one fine morning to find yourself sitting with
Christ governing the galaxies, because such a thing will not be. This present time is but Gods great
Boot Camp, His proving ground for those who become equipped to reign with
their Lord over the things of this world, over sin, sickness, sorrow, and death, over the nations, and over the endless vastnesses
of infinity. He is raising us up to sit with
Him in the higher than heavenlies! And the
place which He is preparing for each one is not only an age and a world to come, and a
kingdom of life, light, glory, and dominion, but a place IN HIM, bone of His bone, flesh
of His flesh, spirit of His spirit, mind of His mind, heart of His heart, nature of His
nature, life of His life!
Overcome
that is a fighting word, indeed, a Gadite
word! It subdues, conquers, vanquishes,
prevails, and comes off the victor! Overcome
means victory.
Now victory is a word that thrills! Everybody longs to win. If we play even the most trifling game, we prefer
to come out victors. This is all the more
true when the conflict is a matter of life and death!
Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world, said Jesus in the
hour of His passion. Overcoming
is a big word! It means there is something to
come up over, and getting over it is a divine
thing. Even the Lord Jesus was made perfect
through the things that He suffered, through blessed obstacles and divine agonies. Sometimes I have been asked why God permits so
much evil. Permits? Why, bless your heart, He sends it! The old mystic was right who said, There is
no doer but God. Not one of the ills of
life could ever touch you if God did not sign the order. No
matter how malignant your assailant might be, when anything has come to you which your
soul pronounces unwelcome, praise God and go on and then you have overcome! The evils, as we call them, of life are often not
evils at all. We mix up evil with wickedness,
rebellion, or some other negative and talk as if the two were the same. They are not!
Evil is a larger term, and pain may be included in it. When we understand the ways of the Lord, we would
not have suffering, trial, difficulties, trouble, tribulation, or sorrow expelled from
life for all the glory that imagination can conjure up!
Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange
thing had happened unto you (I Pet. 4:12). Fear
none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you
into prison, that ye may be tried
be thou
faithful
and I will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2:10). And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift
you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted (changed by the sifting), strengthen the brethren (Lk. 22:31-32). When we can realize that God ordains trouble, trials, and tribulations to bring forth
the gold of His divine nature from these earthen vessels, we can rejoice, as David, in our
afflictions and trials and exclaim with him, It is good for me that I have been
afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes
(Ps. 119:7).
Any
living thing that grows up without any opposition is weak and powerless. Not only do opposing forces promote growth to produce
strength, stamina, and endurance, but they also build character in people. Gods sons must be strong and powerful, and
anything that desires to be strong, or anyone, must wrestle with a force that is contrary
to them! A plant that grows in a greenhouse
sheltered from the winds and rains, pampered and protected day after day, may grow large
and beautiful, but it is inherently weak, and if suddenly exposed to the elements will
quickly wither and die. Any man who wants to
build muscular power to be strong to overcome an opponent, must spend weeks and months and
years in vigorous training doing heavy exercises, lifting heavy weights, using the opposing force of gravity to develop his strength. There is a great and magnificent future ahead for
the sons of God! There is a great work our
Father has for us to do in the age and the ages to come!
Our work is to subdue, deliver, reconcile, restore, and transform all things
and all men unto God! And He is now preparing
us and making us ready for the high and holy place He has for us! Can we not see that ALL THE OPPOSING FORCES WE NOW
ENCOUNTER, AND OUR RESPSONSE TO THEM are working together for our good to first
make us overcomers within ourselves, to develop the strength, character, understanding,
compassion, wisdom, faith, authority, and power we must acquire to subdue and restore all
things to God! God is right now, this very
hour, making us spiritually like unto the Gadites who joined David to subdue the enemies
and possess the land! Through our trials and
testings, and our overcoming in them, we are becoming spiritually men of might, men of war
fit for the battle, who can handle shield and buckler, whose faces are like the faces of
lions, and who are as swift as the roes upon the mountains!
Arent you glad!
Paul
Mueller has written, The principle purpose which is uppermost in the mind of the
Father at this time is the growth and coming to maturity of His chosen remnant. Every other purpose under heaven is secondary to
this greater purpose during this exceptional time. Therefore,
it is essential that all who are members of this Christ body, the sons of God, should
concentrate on their own spiritual maturity. Strive
not to do the religious works of man, but seek rather for the fullness of Christ in your
own heart and life. There is no other purpose
under heaven that can equal this grand and holy purpose of the Father. Put away all the desires and appetites of the
world and of the flesh, and seek only to please the Lord.
And if you really care for the masses of the world who know not God and His
wonderful grace and mercy, then you will seek for His fullness in your life. If you have really heard the groans of a creation
that is suffering under the burden of sin and shame, you will cease all your religious
activity, which is really only the works of the flesh, and will follow hard after the
Lord. Let us seek to please God as Enoch did,
and we will witness a glorious manifestation of His life that will set every captive
free! end quote.
GREAT
CHANGES ARE TAKING PLACE NOW IN THE LIVES OF GODS ELECT. We are
being changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord! We are not of those who come to a certain
understanding of God and His purposes and then settle down in that spiritual
place, to await a change that will come some day. Our change will certainly be consummated at a time yet to come, including the
transformation and immortalization of our bodies, but the changes are taking place
progressively within us NOW! Each step we
have taken in God has made us the more mature and victorious sons of God that we are now
in the kingdom of our Father! We cannot hope
to be transformed in that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye appearing of
Christ if we fail to take any of the revealed steps of spiritual growth, which are
revealed to us by the Spirit in the glorious promises to the overcomers out of the seven
churches, and are necessary for our complete and total transformation. Each step of spiritual growth in God is an
indispensable and essential part of our full salvation!
We
are learning the lessons that will help us to better serve in the kingdom of God. As we do, great heavenly wealth and power and
opportunity to bless and restore all things lie ahead for each of us. Through Gods overcoming elect, creation will
be lifted, redeemed, restored to life and liberty and glory and that's just the
beginning! Now notice first, we behold
the glory of sonship in the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
There we receive our call to
sonship! Next, by the quickening of the
Father within, the life of sonship begins to be raised up in our experience in the tribe
of Reuben. Now we behold a son!
And then in the tribe of Gad we enter
Gods wonderful training school of overcoming by which we are made strong,
victorious, and mighty in God! God is
raising up His spiritual storm troopers. Oh, how beautiful this is!
ASHER
Of the tribe of Asher were sealed
twelve thousand (Rev. 7:6).
The fourth tribe named is that of Asher. His name means Happy.
Asher was the son of Israel by Zilpah, his wife Leahs handmaid. It is important to know that in those days the
handmaid was the personal property of her mistress, and any children born to
her were counted as the offspring of the mistress. Therefore
it is that at Ashers birth it was Leah who exclaimed, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me
blessed (happy): and she called his name Asher (Gen. 35:26).
By the spiritual provisions of the tribe of Asher the members of Gods elect
begin to experience the rich blessings of the Lord and the overwhelming joy of His kingdom!
It is in the tribe of Asher that we learn that the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost! The kingdom of God
is joy! What
a beautiful day it is when we step onto the territory of the tribe of Asher and discover
the unspeakable joy of the kingdom of God! It
is a special and surpassing type and quality of joy!
There is more than one kind of joy in the world today. A Swedish massage or the sensual pleasures of sex
are examples of physical joy. There is also a superficial soulish joy experienced by every man, woman, and
child on earth irrespective of whether they be saint or sinner, moral or immoral, or what
god they serve. It is the joy of children
playing, the joy of a loved one coming home, the joy of a wedding, the joy of a newborn
baby, the joy of the amusement park and the dance floor, the joy of delightful children
who are an honor to their parents, the joy of accomplishment and recognition. Soulish joy is often a religious joy inspired by the singing of peppy
choruses with the clapping of hands, and emotional prompting from the pulpit. There is nothing wrong with such joy, but if it
can be worked up it is soulish, not spiritual!
While such expressions of praise and thanksgiving may be done as unto
the Lord they should never be confused with spiritual
joy which is the joy of the kingdom of God and joy in the Holy Ghost!
Many
good things bring soulish joy to our lives, but none of these have any relationship to the
kingdom of God. You see, the kingdom of God
is not merely joy it is joy IN THE HOLY GHOST!
It is Gods joy. It is
heavens joy. It is divine joy. It is spiritual joy. It is joy
unspeakable and it is full of glory! We are the people of God, His chosen elect in the
earth to accomplish His kingdom purposes. We
are the vessels that contain the Spirit of God. We
are the embodiment of Gods Christ. To
have a conscious revelation of what Christ is in us arouses the consciousness of the
kingdom of God within. The kingdom of God is
in our spirit. When we walk in the spirit we
are walking in the mind of Christ and in the power of the kingdom of heaven! For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God (Rom. 8:17). The sons of God are also called the sons of
the kingdom (Mat. 13:38). When the Holy
Spirit rules us, when Christ in our spirit rules us, what other son could we be? The Spirit of Christ has come to rule our soulical
senses and our body! Christ is being raised up within us as the personality and power
of our lives! We can now walk and live above
every storm and trouble, above all weakness and limitation, yea, above even sin and death! In this kingdom of the spirit tears are wiped away
from off all faces and sorrow and sighing flee away as the kingdom rules our lives! It is here that we know and experience the
profound and eternal spiritual joy that
is the kingdom of God!
Spiritual joy is the sentiment and feeling of the man who, by virtue of the
indwelling of divine life, shares the emotions of God Himself. God is spirit,
therefore the emotions of God are spiritual. God is the eternal God and His kingdom is
everlasting. His joy, therefore, is constant,
unaffected, and unmoved by the changing course of events, for it has as its source the
unchanging God! The Lord joys in His own
perfections, unable as the perfect One to rejoice in anything less than the perfect. By spiritual birth and divine nature man is
enabled to share the joy God has in Himself, unmoved by the swirling currents of
ever-changing events in the outer world!
Often through the years we have seen the bumper sticker proclaiming Happiness
is
and whatever the natural man relishes is added to those words. Only with the mind of the spirit may we discern
the deep truth that such happiness is not spiritual
happiness but the distorted Selfs substitute.
That kind of happi-ness is related only
to happen-ings.
It depends on the nature of the happenings around man, whether they please
him, suit his fancy, and meet his soulish standards and physical cravings. If they do, then he is happy. If
they run cross-currents with the desires of the Self, then he futilely wishes that they
would unhappen!
And caught in that vice of circumstances he becomes unhappy!
The firstborn Son of God was happy with the joy of the kingdom of God! He bequeathed this joy to His disciples. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (Jn. 15:11). When Jesus spoke these words He was under the
shadow of the cross, suffering and death were blowing their chill breath in His face, and
yet the song of His heart could not be hushed! The
joy that characterized all His yesterdays was with Him still! And what a deep and satisfying joy that was! It is the joy of sonship to God! It is the indestructible joy of the eternal
Spirit! It is the joy of the kingdom of God! It is not the joy of emotions worked up by singing
a chorus twenty-five times amid passionate exhortations to worship it is rather joy
rooted in divine calling, divine knowledge, divine purpose, divine will, and divine
nature. The joy of Jesus was not human
happiness dependent upon happenings, or stirred emotions, but a new kind of joy, a higher
dimension of joy, a deeper current of joy, the joy given by the seal of the living God
upon the foreheads of the holy sons of Asher!
Such a lifestyle and language of joy does not just happen. To come up on mount Zion, to reign with Christ as
sons of God, is to follow Him whom God has anointed with the oil of gladness above all His companions
(Heb. 1:9). This wonderful oil of gladness flows from Christ the Head to Christ the body. The oil of gladness is the anointing of the joy of sonship to God! It is the joy that belongs only to the sons of
God! I think that many who read these lines
are, through the deep dealings of the Father, coming to know this kingdom joy in a very
real and precious way. Those who have
received the call to sonship, those who have experienced the strippings and purgings, the
trials and the testings, those unto whom the Lord Himself has come as a refiners
fire and as fullers soap, those who have fought the spiritual battles of the
Gadites, and overcome in them, know experientially what I am talking about! Ah, what joy this is!
Beautiful for situation, the joy of
the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great
King (Ps. 48:2). When we live in this
high realm of the Spirit where we are filled with the joy of the Lord, we live in mount
Zion, we are citizens of that heavenly city and that holy mountain and we are the joy of the whole earth! There is no people in the whole earth that has joy
like the people that dwells in mount Zion. Mount
Zion is the governmental realm of God! It is
the seat of His sovereignty and His kingdom! It
is the center of His authority and His power! Where
do you live?
What is your residence? Do you dwell in the joy that nothing, absolutely nothing, can disturb, diminish, or destroy? When you live in mount Zion you are the joy of the
whole earth! In a world where everyone is
troubled, sorrowful, fearful, frustrated, and dejected, your very presence will cause the
whole atmosphere to change! The joy of the
Lord is coming to the earth in and through us! If
that is not our experience, then we need to step over into the tribe of Asher!
Its like the old farmer that bought a farm.
The farm was run down and dilapidated, the fences were broken down, weeds had taken
over, everything was in disrepair and disarray, it was in terrible shape. After three years of toil and labor the old farmer
had everything in beautiful shape. One day
the preacher came by, looked over the farm, and said, Brother Brown, the Lord has
certainly done a great job on this farm! Brother
Brown replied, Yeah, but you ought to have seen it when He had it all by
Himself! You see, beloved, God
doesnt do anything apart from us. We are the temple of God. We are
the priesthood of the Lord. We are the saviours on mount Zion (Obadiah 21). We are
the kings upon His throne. We are the body of Christ. We are
the arm of the Lord and the instrument in His hand. We are the government of God upon mount Zion
the joy of the whole earth! We are
ordained to fill the whole earth with the joy of the Lord!
There is no other source of joy,
of the kingdom of God, for the peoples of this earth!
NAPHTALI
Of the tribe of Naphtali were
sealed twelve thousand (Rev. 7:6).
This brings us to the fifth tribe
revealed to John, the tribe of Naphtali. Naphtali
means wrestling, but specifically
struggling to attain to that which seems too high for us. In Israels blessings upon his sons he spoke
of Naphtali in these descriptive words, Naphtali
is a hind let loose; he giveth beautiful words (Gen. 49:21). Hind is the word used in the King
James Bible for a female deer, or doe, just as hart is used for the male deer, or buck. Israels
prophecy is that the tribe of Naphtali would be known by their speed and agility like unto
that of a doe! The fleetness and surety of
foot seen in the deer is mentioned often in scripture.
King David, acknowledging Gods help during his flight from Saul, said,
It is God that girdeth me with strength, and
maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like
hinds feet, and setteth me upon my high
places (Ps. 18:32-33). There is no
doubt that David from his childhood had witnessed the hind as she fled, climbing high upon
the rocks and the hills, at the presence of man.
Do you grasp the significance of this allusion?
Hinds feet are of marvelous swiftness and made to carry them over difficult
places impassable to slower-footed creatures. The
thought in the psalmists mind is that of a divine enduement added to human weakness,
an imparting of agility and confidence to the soul, whereby it springs up, so to speak,
out of the dangers which assail it on the lower levels of life, and climbs lightly and
surely to the uplands of the spirit.
Some years ago I read the story of an Englishman who visited the West of our United
States, in which he related the following incident. It
was in Colorado. Riding with a small party of
friends through the picturesque scenery of that mountainous state, we came to a rugged
narrow pass which presently opened into a narrow glade wherein a herd of antelopes were
quietly grazing. If I remember rightly
another party coming in the opposite
direction rounded the farther corner of the pass at about the same moment, so that the
antelope were caught, as it were, between two fires.
We didnt intend to do them any harm, but should greatly have liked a
closer look at them. That, however, we did
not get. The instant they caught sight of us
they leaped up the side of the cliff to our right hand, at an almost incredible rate of
speed, following one another gracefully and apparently without effort, from point to point
in the giddy ascent, making scarcely a sound as they went, till they were finally lost to
view amid the towering rocks and trees far above our heads.
It was all over in a minute or two, and we were filled with admiration as we
watched the rapidly moving feet of the pretty little creatures springing from crag to
crag. It could hardly be called climbing;
they were not pulling themselves up; they jumped and stood wherever they liked, in perfect
poise, and without slightest hesitation. No
fear of their way being blocked! They could
go where a man could not except with utmost caution and at considerable risk to his own
safety. They were absolutely secure, and they
knew it. Up they fled, and were gone end quote.
Ah, He maketh my feet like hinds feet the nature of the
spirit is one of lightsomeness, of spiritual sure-footedness, if I may put it that way, a
power and confidence whereby we are able to escape from any menace and find our way to
heights where no evil can reach to harm or destroy. That
is the nature of the spirit! Soul and body
are much less sure-footed, they cannot lift themselves up, and hence the
wrestling indicated in Naphtali the struggle we each have experienced
in our efforts to identify with the ability of the Christ within instead of the weakness
of the flesh. There is no struggle in the
spirit, for the spirit is the one who has hinds feet, and can skip and jump over any
wall or any obstacle and escape any danger! The
wrestling, or struggle, is in our mind as we follow on to be renewed in the spirit
of our mind and identify with our true identity as the new creation man
Christ.
As we experience this warfare between the flesh and the spirit, between our old
identity as human beings, natural men, and our true identity as sons of God, we are caught
up in the spirit at times and are able to scale the heights and consciously walk in the
high places of God. But then we revert back
to our human consciousness and natural understanding and descend again in our
consciousness, to identify once more with the rough-and-tumble of life on the lowlands. This is part of our growth experience and
development into the maturity of the Christ! And
thank God, we are learning the ways of the spirit! We
are coming to understand that in every extremity there is always a way up. The way of escape from the flesh, the world, the
pressures of life, the fears and frustrations, the temptations and troubles, is not to try
and find a way out, but to discover the way up! As
we seek the presence of the Lord and draw upon the life of the Christ within, the
hinds feet of the spirit within are raised up within us and by them God sets us on
high!
Nothing is less able to resist the assaults of its enemies than the gentle creature
here referred to as typifying the child of God. It
could easily fall a prey to those that seek to harm it; it has almost no power to defend
itself against them; but it has one great gift that makes it superior to them, it can make
swiftly to the everlasting hills, and no natural hindrance is great enough to bar the way. Oh, the mystery of it! Are you caught like a helpless deer in a horrible
pit of death? The sun has hidden its face and
the sky looms dark with trouble, difficulty, problems, habits, sickness, weakness,
temptation, and pressures too numerous to count; there is no way out; it is hopeless to
look for an escape; all the exits are closed to human wisdom and human strength. Ah, yes, there is a way UP! There is always a way up in every situation,
however desperate! God calls you, O son,
daughter of the Most High, to take the way up! You
have hinds feet in your spirit, right
there within you, in the depth of your life where the mighty Christ dwells!
Now
is the time to prove the revelation God has poured into your life; now your wise heavenly
Father has opened the door of opportunity to take the highest ground and deliver your soul
from death! Are you afraid? Are you too weak to make the effort? Do your weary limbs refuse to work? Even now the Father is sealing you as one of the
twelve thousands of Naphtali! Lay firm hold
upon the mind of Christ given you, upon the mighty indwelling power of the Christ within
you, and the Christ will not fail you! Look
not to this preacher, nor to that ministry, nor to anothers gift. God will make your feet like hinds feet and set you on
high! Others will not tell you this. They will tell you that if you will sit under their ministry, eat at their table, join yourself to their church, drink from their fountain, and put your offering in their offering plate, they can lead you into Life
more abundant. But I point you today only to
the God who can do all. I have no ministry to
promote, no church to build, no following to gather, no movement to advance, no ego to
inflate. The kingdom of God is within you,
and the new creation man within you HAS HINDS FEET!
Just as surely as you have nerves and muscles in your body which enable you
to walk and jump and run, so you have hinds feet in your spirit and they will set
you on high! That is what sonship is all
about! Only look to the Christ within, try
your hinds feet, get your bearings, spring up and mount to where wide horizons break
before you, and shining skies surround you on the blessed table-lands of heavenly life!
This
is Gods new day, this is your day
rise up and leap upon the mountains and skip over the hills. Our Beloved says to us, as He said to the
Shulamite in the long ago, Rise up my
love, my fair one, and COME AWAY! Ah,
the spirit within you will leap over the sin and weakness in you, He will skip over the
corruption and death in you, and cause you to rise into the immortal heights of the
eternal mountains of God! Methinks you have
heard the sound of His voice, methinks you have been stirred in the deepest depths of your
being arise O ye sons of Naphtali and ascend into the heights of victory and glory!
MANASSEH
Of the tribe of Manasseh were
sealed twelve thousand (Rev. 7:6).
The name Manasseh means Causing me to
forget. And unto Joseph were
born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah
priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called
the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my fathers
house (Gen. 41:50-51). Joseph had
passed through many painful experiences with his family in the land of Canaan, but now God
had so blessed and exalted him that the pain had been erased from his memory. Forgetting is a wonderful mechanism! God causes us to forget all the pain of the
struggles, warfare, trials, and tribulations of the journey we have traveled into the
fullness of God. He causes us to forget the
mistakes, the embarrassments, the weaknesses, failures, and sorrows of the flesh realm and
the bondage of corruption. And He causes us
to forget immediately following the wrestling in the tribe of Naphtali where finally we
get our hinds feet! Isnt it
wonderful!
It is a natural thing to feel bad when we miss God, when we make a wrong choice,
and do the wrong thing, but we never have to feel condemned! We simply have to turn away from it and know that
God loves us, He is not against us, He is not out to get us, in fact, He
ordained the very thing which we perceive as a
mistake or a wrong choice He arranged it in our experience to teach us His
ways! He always comes to help us to
get up and press on in Him! Every son of God
is learning this great sovereignty of our Father and His unconditional love! Oh, how hard this is to believe, and the natural
mind cant believe it, but we can believe it from the deepest recesses of our being,
in our spiritual man. GOD IS NOT CONDEMNING
YOU! That doesnt mean He condones and winks at and overlooks everything we think, say, and do, but
His great heart of compassion freely forgives us and rises up within us to bring forth His
victory. It is only the carnal mind that
falls under the accusations and the condemnation and the guilt of sin-consciousness. The carnal mind is enmity against God and always
thinks God is against it! As soon as we cry
out to the Lord for mercy and strength He pours His healing ointment upon us and begins to
flow in us by His presence and power. He
wipes all the tears from our eyes! He
appoints to each of His called and chosen elect that mourn and travail in Zion, to give
unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness; that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the
Lord, that He might be glorified ((Isa. 61:3). He
washes us, cleanses us, flushing away all the old Adamic consciousness of sin, guilt,
fear, and condemnation, establishing within us the consciousness only of the new creation
man which is created after His image.
There is a further consideration concerning this great truth of
forgetting. Biologists have
discovered that there are two tiny glands at the back of the brain of the caterpillar which secrete a growth hormone. These glands control his growth as a worm and his
larval life. It is when these two glands
shrivel and cease to yield their life-giving flow that the caterpillar begins to die and
the butterfly begins to form. This is most
enlightening when spiritually applied to the
renewing of the mind! This is a wonderful
discovery, and I cannot help but believe that these two glands figure in some mysterious
and divine way the carnal mind which gives motivation to the natural man. When we apply the fact of the existence of two glands instead of one, we see an amazing
picture of the duality of the carnal mind the knowledge of good and evil, and the law of sin and death. If
you long, dear one, to be metamorphosed into the image of the heavenly, then PUT OFF
concerning the former manner of life the OLD MAN, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts; and BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND; and PUT ON the NEW MAN, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).
It is an amazing fact that there is an active force, the secretion of a new hormone
which appears in the brain of the caterpillar at the precise time when the two glands
controlling the larval life cease to function. It
is this new hormone which actually causes the metamorphosis from the chrysalis stage to
the butterfly. In other words, both the death
of the caterpillar and the formation of the butterfly begin in the creatures mind! The
death of the caterpillar is effected by the
cessation of a hormone from two glands in the brain, and the formation of the butterfly is
caused by the secretion of a new hormone from another process in the brain. In the light of these remarkable circumstances it
is most significant that the apostle Paul by inspiration wrote, Be ye transformed
(metamorphosed) BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND!
All our lifetime we have been subject to the bondage of corruption and death which
is rooted in the carnal mind. Ah to be carnally minded IS DEATH (Rom. 8:6). That is Gods own definition of death, and
according to inspiration death is IN T-H-E M-I-N-D! Its
all in your mind, they say, and though it may be spoken in jest, it is a wondrous
and divine truth, nonetheless. In the same
chapter a truth is introduced showing that the transformation of the body begins with the
renewing of the mind, for, says the apostle, to be spiritually minded IS LIFE
(Rom.
8:6). Ah life, also, is in the MIND! And he continues,, If the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY HIS SPIRIT
WHICH DWELLETH IN YOU (Rom. 8:11).
If ever a reason was given for a change of mind, a change of thinking, a raising of
consciousness, this must be it: Be ye metamorphosed BY the renewing of your
mind! It is the termination of the old way of thinking the
carnal consciousness of sin and death, viewing ourselves as just human, natural men, with
all the Adamic condition of weakness and limitation and the activation of
a new way of thinking the spiritual consciousness of our true identity and life in Christ
which brings the change, and completes the change until our transformation into the
heavenly state of being is consummated in spirit, soul, and body. Make no mistake about it! Paul declares
forthrightly that this transformation, this change, this metamorphosis begins with the
casting off of the corrupt and carnal mind which carries the mentality of sin and death,
and replacing it with the mind of Christ which is the mind of incorruption, life, virtue,
and glory! We have heard a great deal about
this corruptible putting on incorruption and this mortal putting on immortality. We have embraced many theories about how this
would be accomplished, but in one majestic sweep of inspiration the apostle brushes aside
all theories to tell us plainly and decisively that we
shall be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF OUR MIND!
Mind means thought, intellect, reason, sense, thinking principle. Thought is thinking! The renewing
of the mind means the renovation, reconstitution, reprogramming, of our thought patterns and
processes. The old mind, carnal and human as
it is, is always thinking thoughts of sin and death!
It leaves us mortal, corruptible, and unchanged.
The new mind is the mind of Christ! To
have the mind of Christ means to assume the identity of Christ, for the mind of Christ
knows that it IS CHRIST. My natural mind
knows that I am the flesh and blood man J. Preston Eby with all his human condition. My spiritual mind, however, knows that I am
Christ, that is my true identity, for it is not I, but Christ who lives in me! The mind of Christ is the intellect, the thought
patterns, the thinking principles of Him who has conquered within Himself both sin and
death and abides forever in the life and immortality of the celestial! The mind of Christ is a transforming mind! It renews not only the mind, but the whole being
and identity as well soul and body. Our
minds, our thinking, is being raised from the level of the natural, carnal, earth-bound
minds we were born with, and is being spiritualized. This is not an instant change, it is not attained
with one grand leap, but a continuous renewal as we hear the voice of the Spirit as He
unfolds within us the mind and thoughts of God. These
are thoughts of love, of righteousness, of life and light and power and incorruption and
glory which transform us into the very image of God!
As we wait in holy reverence in our heavenly Fathers divine presence He
teaches us how to think out of our divinity instead of our humanity! When we think like God we act like God. When we act like God we become like God. When we become like God we are the sons of God.
It is indeed wonderful!
Paul speaks not only of the spirit of life but also the law of the spirit of life. He says that the law of the spirit of life is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:2). The law of the spirit means the nature,
consciousness, and function of the spirit. It
is the way the spirit is! Every life has a certain nature, consciousness,
and function. The higher the life, the
loftier its nature, consciousness, and function. For
example, our youngest son, in his teen years, was a lover of hamsters. He had a hamster which from the time of its birth
had never eaten anything but hamster food. One
day he gave it an insect. Immediately, the
hamster bit off the insects head and then proceeded to eat it. Now this unique action of biting off the
insects head before eating it is a feature of the instinct of the
animal. It is in his nature, a part of his
innate consciousness. Though you breed
countless generations of hamsters, and not one of them ever sees an insect, the moment you
give one of those distant descendants an insect he will promptly bite off its head and
then eat it. He requires no training
whatever! This is the LAW of its life
its inherent nature, consciousness, and function. Nature
abounds with millions of examples of this law of
life-consciousness. Everything is what it
is and acts as it acts out of its CONSCIOUSNESS!
The life of our spirit is the life of God Himself, which is the highest life form
in the universe! Therefore, it is the richest
in consciousness! The life within us, when
quickened (activated) by regeneration, causes us to be full of divine consciousness, and
this consciousness is the consciousness of INCORRUPTIBLE LIFE. The law of life within us is this consciousness. So as we put off the carnal mind which is
filled with the consciousness of sin and death, and are renewed in our mind into the mind
of Christ which is the consciousness of righteousness and life, our spirit, soul, and body
will become infused with not only the life of God, but also with the law of divine life, and we will walk in
righteousness instead of sin and we will think the thoughts of incorruption and
immortal life instead of corruption and death!
As soon as we are regenerated and are awakened to the life of God within, this law
of life produces within us divine consciousness. Our
responsibility is to obey this newly activated law of life, thus thinking and acting out
of the consciousness of life rather than death. In
the beginning, the consciousness of this law of life may be comparatively weak and
infrequent. Yet as we learn to obey
the very first impulses of this law of life, though it be weak, the consciousness
following will become stronger and stronger. In
this way the law of life can work within us in ever-increasing measures and power until it
reaches every part of our whole being. In
this way the life within us is enabled to expand outward and increase in depth and height
until all corruption is swallowed up into life in every fiber of our being! This is Christ raised up in us in the power and
glory of His sonship!
Few believe that the spiritual body can be put on here and now even as we stand
upon our feet. Do you? Can you believe it is possible for you to be
changed, transformed, metamorphosed in your whole man here in this life? And, since you cannot by any natural process
perform this for yourself, are you willing and ready to come under the deep secret law of
letting the mind of Christ cancel out the carnal
mind, of letting the law of life nullify the
law of sin and death in the secret chambers of your consciousness? Within the cramped cocoon which swings through the
winter gale on the branch of a tree, a mighty transformation is taking place! Be still all of a sudden the shell cracks,
the cocoon gives way, the folded form stretches itself out of its cramped position, and
limbers itself up with joy. In its new
consciousness it does naturally what it has never done before, the former things have
passed away, and with them all their limitations. The
worm can fly! It is the law of its life! And the law of your life, precious friend of mine,
is to know and live and demonstrate the full capacity of HIM who is within you THE
RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!
Now here is the mystery of it all. The
butterfly has been caused to forget that it was ever a caterpillar! God causes us to forget! The Adamic mind and nature is being put off by the
renewing of our mind! The day is coming, my beloved, when we will no
more remember when it was or what it was like to walk in the old human consciousness of
the natural man, any more than the caterpillar can remember once being a worm. Little by little and day by day God is causing us
to forget
the things which are behind and to press forward into the glory that lies before! Oh, yes! This
is what happens when we are sealed in the tribe of Manasseh it is there that our
mind is renewed and we are caused to forget! That
is the spiritual characteristic of the tribe of Manasseh.
Isnt it wonderful!
SIMEON
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed
twelve thousand (Rev. 7:7).
Simeon was the second son born to Israel and Leah.
The name Simeon is related to the Hebrew word for hear, denoting one who has a hearing ear.
Leah gave him this name because of the thankfulness in her heart to the Lord
expressed at his birth, And she conceived again, and bore a son; and said, Because
the Lord hath heard that I was hated, He hath
therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon (Gen. 29:33). God heard
Leahs prayer, and now Leah prophetically bestows that faculty of spiritual hearing upon her son! As soon as we begin to forget our old,
carnal, worldly, and religious life of the past by the spiritual experience of the tribe
of Manasseh, we are now ready to truly HEAR the voice of our Father in all that He will
reveal unto us!
I am reminded of the story of the two old Dutchmen, sitting on a park bench. The night had come and the moon started to shine. Not far from the bench where they sat, a river
flowed, and from the river came the chorus of the crickets.
Pete, the first old gentleman, listened to the crickets and said,
Crickets sure do sing. John
sitting next to him agreed, saying, Yep, they sure know how to sing. Just then he heard the voices of the choir coming
from the nearby church and remarked, Beautiful music, isnt it? Pete said, Yeah, and to think they do it
just by rubbing their legs together!
Each heard a different music one was listening to the crickets and one was
listening to the choir. What you hear depends
upon where youre coming from and what youre tuned in to. Sometimes you meet one that is religious, awed by
the crowds, the buildings, the great meetings, the charismatic speakers, the beautiful
television programs, the music, and the wonderful works supposedly being done. They feel they are rich and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing. They
can talk much of the milk of the Word, their spiritual gifts and religious toys. But they know nothing of the present truth of His
gathering to Himself a remnant to bring them into His perfections. They are well versed in the traditional doctrines
about the antichrist and the so-called rapture, but they know naught of the mighty move of
God in the earth today preparing a firstfruit company of Kings and Priests to ascend the
throne, reign over the nations, and bring the kingdom of God to pass in all the earth. You cannot begin to speak of the deep mysteries of
the kingdom, or of those divine quickenings which the Holy Spirit of truth has whispered
into your being, for they have no ears to hear them.
Were you to declare the things we are hearing from our Father in the churches of
our day, they would demand your silence or escort you to the door. Their eyes are closed against the bright
vision of that which lies before at the manifestation of the sons of God and the
consummation of Gods great plan of the ages. They
are dull to the knowledge of the Spirits working in this hour in His elect. But, blessed be God, there is a people whose ears
have been touched by the finger of God, a holy race of sons of God who are being quickened
to hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD who speaks from the throne of the heavenlies!
Shortly after becoming king in Israel, Solomon traveled to Gibeon to offer a
sacrifice to the Lord. Here the Lord appeared
to him in a dream, saying, Ask what I shall give you. Though grateful to the Lord for having chosen him
to succeed his father David, Solomon was keenly aware of his inadequacy to govern the
people without divine help. Give Thy
servant therefore, he implored, an understanding
heart to govern Thy people, that I may discern between the good and the evil. Pleased by such a request, the Lord replied,
Because you have asked this, and have not asked for long life, or for riches, or for
the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize what is
just and right, behold
I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and
honor; so that there shall not be any among the kings equal to you all your days (I
Kings 3:11-13). The expression an
understanding heart is in the Hebrew text A HEARING HEART. And in Isaiah 50:4-5 we read of the inner
discipline which Jesus and all the elect sons experience.
Morning by morning He (the Father) wakens, HE WAKENS MY EAR TO HEAR as those that are willing to be taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not
rebellious
A.
B. Simpson was a man of deep spiritual experience. I
quote the following from his article Listening. A score of years ago a friend placed in my
hand a book called True Peace. It was an old medieval message and it had but one
thought THAT GOD WAS WAITING IN THE DEPTHS OF MY BEING TO TALK TO ME IF I WOULD
ONLY GET STILL ENOUGH TO HEAR HIS VOICE. I
thought this would be a very easy matter and so began to get still. I had no sooner commenced than a perfect
pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamoring notes from without and within,
until I could hear nothing but their noise and din. Some
were my own voices, my own questions; some were my very prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter and the
voices from the world of turmoil. In every direction I was pulled and pushed and
greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest.
It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and to answer some of
them; but God said, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.
Then
came the conflict of thoughts for tomorrow and its duties and cares; but God said,
BE STILL. As I listened and
slowly learned to obey and shut my ears to every sound, I found after a while that, when
other voices ceased, (or I ceased to hear them), there was a still, small voice in the
depths of my being that began to speak with inexpressible tenderness and power and
comfort. As I listened, it became to me the
voice of prayer, the voice of wisdom, the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so
hard or pray so hard or trust so hard. That
still, small voice of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God speaking in my secret soul; was
Gods answer to all knowledge and all prayer and all blessings, for it was the living
God Himself as my life, my all. It is thus
that our spirits drink of the life of the risen Lord and we go forth in lifes
conflicts and duties like a flower that has drunk in through the shades of night the cool
and crystal drops of dew. But, as dew never
falls on a stormy night, so the dew of His grace never comes to a restless soul. Oh, the calm!
The rest! The peace which comes
as we wait in His presence until we HEAR FROM HIM!
end quote.
The sons of God, the mature ones, are coming to the place where they unmistakably know His voice. There is a listening to hear the sound thereof, a receptivity within, and a responsiveness to follow in obedience. He is teaching us secret, wondrous things out of His law! It is a precious walk, a communion that sustains and enriches us day by day. This is the blessing of Simeon the Father is sealing us with a hearing ear!
J. PRESTON EBY All writings are distributed on a free-will offering basis. |
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