“And He hath on His vesture and
on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev.
19:16).
Can we not see that
this remarkable vision, blazing and shining with its scintillating glory
of power and truth, points directly to our Lord Jesus Christ who is King
of kings and Lord of lords, ruling the universe and guiding the
spheres. The reference to the solitary Rider on the white horse is
clearly not to the entire Christ body, but to the Head of that
body. The body of which He is the Head is characterized by the “armies
which were in heaven” that “followed Him upon white horses, clothed in
fine linen, white and clean.” But the One on the lead horse is
the Head, the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS! He is King of
kings because He is King of all those who rule with Him as kings! This
same book of Revelation, as I have previously pointed out, distinctly
and markedly identifies our Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings. “And
from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first
begotten from the dead, and THE PRINCE OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH” (Rev.
1:5). The word “prince” in this verse is translated from the Greek archon which
means “a first in rank or power, prince, ruler.” So Jesus is the
FIRST IN RANK of the kings of the earth! He is the PRINCE of the kings
of the earth! He is the RULER of the kings of the earth! Yes! He is
the KING of the kings of the earth! This reference is not specifically
to all the present carnal rulers of the earth-realm, but to those who
are destined to be the true kings who reign with Christ. I would
solemnly admonish all who read these lines, DON’T TRY TO PULL RANK ON
JESUS! You can never
elevate yourself by trying to diminish Him. Now and forever “HE is the
Head of the body…who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that
in all things HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE” (Col.
1:18).
Jesus is Lord of lords
because all others who rule with Him as lords have completely and
lovingly submitted themselves to His supreme Lordship. No one can rule
with Christ in the kingdom of God who
has not, first of all, subjected himself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
— for the whole objective of the kingdom of God is
to ultimately bring to pass this wonderful end: “Wherefore God hath also
highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that
at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God
the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).
Jesus is the great
King of kings and Lord of lords! He is not the soon coming King as
the citizens of religious Babylon are
trained to say, denying by the very words that Christ has any kingdom on
earth at this present time. Such ignorant statements always leave me
cold! What could be further
from the truth, which truth teaches us that Christ now sits with
His Father in His throne in the heavens of God’s Spirit and that all
power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth! We are
already citizens of that kingdom and have already been translated out of
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s
dear Son. Already it has taken place, already Christ has a
kingdom and is its King! From the barrenness of Patmos John
wrote that he was our brother, and companion in tribulation, and in
the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:9). And if Christ
is in you this day, and if He is now King of your life,
then He is not by any stretch of the imagination your
“soon coming King”! Oh, yes, He shall yet come in marvelous unfoldings
of Himself, but He is not coming to be your King. HE IS KING!
Christ is the great
King right now, ruling all things for the well-being of His subjects and
bringing absolute perfection and completion to His plans which He
ordained before the foundation of the world. He is the King of the ages
and invincible! Through the ages He has revealed His Kingship on
different levels and through various instruments, and He shall yet arise
in power and glory in a new and marvelous expression of His Kingship
through the MANIFEST SONS OF GOD, revealing Himself as the great and
conquering King, bringing deliverance to every man and all creation,
reconciling all things unto Himself, on earth and throughout all the
unbounded heavens. Every son of God is finding his place in this great
Day of the Lord and the hour of manifestation is nigh at hand!
He who rides on the
white horse is the King of kings. Those who follow Him on white
horses are the kings that Jesus is King over. The promises of
God are vast and varied. Some of them, like forgiveness of sins, the
supplying of our needs, and healing, are free and unconditional and may
be obtained very easily. That is why so many receive them! But if you
would be a king in God’s great kingdom and receive power to rule over,
bless, and deliver
creation; if you would learn the life, authority, and governmental power
to reign with Christ, then that is a different matter altogether! You
must become a follower of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises. It takes patience to attain any worthy goal. It takes
endurance too! No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back
is fit for the kingdom of heaven. Even in this hour some do look back
to the former church orders of the church systems that God has brought
them through, and clinging to a lesser realm disqualify themselves for
God’s fullness. We do not attain sonship by a single bound. Neither do
we qualify for kingship in a moment of time. It is not an experience we
can receive one night at the altar, nor can it be conferred on us by the
laying on of hands. We cannot claim it and seize it today by faith. We
have need of patience. We must through faith and patience grow
up unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ! There
must be raised up within us a kingly spirit, a kingly nature, a kingly
heart. As we grow up into the maturity of the Christ we become
spiritually skilled ones through experience. Only such as ride the
white horse of HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND STRENGTH, and expertly wield the
sword of HIS LIVING WORD can serve as kings in the great government of
God!
The following
historical sketch came across my desk. It was the time of the French
Revolution in 1793. They had beheaded the king and then the queen. The
crown prince was left orphaned. Somebody said, “Behead the little
prince.” But then the devilish suggestion was made, “Don’t behead him;
you’ll only send his soul to heaven; that’s too good for royalty! I
say turn him over to old Meg; she’ll teach him the vile, filthy words
and ways of the street. Then he’ll end up going to hell.” So, as the
story goes, he was turned over to this wicked woman of the streets, who
tried to get him to repeat these ugly, profane words and commit vile,
filthy acts. But, he would stamp his feet, clench his fists, and his
little golden curls would shake on his velvet shoulders, and he would
say with determination, “I will not say it; I will not do it;
I was born to be a king, and I will not do it!” I say to every person
reading these lines today, you were born to be a prince, you were born
to be a king with Christ upon His righteous throne and His Father’s
throne, and therefore you will be an overcomer!
Ah, yes, my beloved,
many have failed in the in-part realm and have been disqualified and
fallen by the wayside, debased by the flesh, deceived by human
reasoning, corrupted by the carnal methods and systems of religion,
leaving heartbreak, tragedy, and disaster in the body of Christ. Ern
Baxter, who worked and ministered with William Branham and the great
healing revivals of the 1940’s and 1950’s was once asked to share how he
later faced the change in his relationship with William Branham and the
whole healing movement. He said, “In the ministry with William Branham,
I saw a dimension of the supernatural that had in it such seeds of
spiritual life and other good fruits that my excitement was hard to
contain. But then I saw carnality start to invade the movement —
exaggeration, misrepresentation, metaphysics, and eventually the breakdown
of many of the healers in critical areas of their lives because they
couldn’t handle the crowds, the popularity, or the money — I had to
withdraw from it. That was one of the most traumatic times in my
life. I did a lot of praying at that time, a lot of groaning. In fact,
I did a lot of screaming because I was close to an emotional breakdown. A
tremendous move of God had been sold out so cheaply; it was difficult to
handle. If I hadn’t had an experience with God, if I hadn’t had a
consciousness of His sovereignty, if I hadn’t had a relationship with
God based on process, if it were not for my knowing God, I don’t
know what I would have done…but in the end it wasn’t a matter of the
healers, it was a matter of the most important person in this, and that
was GOD. I knew God, and I knew where God was” — end quote. Of a
certainty I know that it shall not be thus in the kingly ministry
of the manifest sons of God! Oh, no! Those who come with the
Christ, in righteousness judging and making war, subduing the
nations, restoring all things and delivering
creation from the bondage of corruption shall themselves be
incorruptible, having been called, and chosen, and faithful, tested
in the furnace of affliction, proven under pressure, purged, refined,
purified, molded and fashioned into the very nature and character of
Christ, riding white horses, and clothed in fine linen, white and clean. These
shall reign with Christ over all things because they have first reigned
with Him within themselves!
As I have pointed out
many times before, 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,
then from planet to planet, and finally from galaxy to galaxy, are being
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 universe, because such a
thing will not be. Begin today to prepare for kingship! This present
time is but a proving ground for those who through grace will reign with
their Lord over the endless vastnesses of infinity. He is raising us up
to sit with Him in the higher than all heavens. And the place which He
is preparing for each one is not only a world to come, and a kingdom of Life and
Light, but a place IN HIM, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, spirit
of His spirit, mind of His mind, nature of His nature, heart of His
heart, wisdom of His wisdom, power of His power, authority of His
authority, and life of His life!
These are the days in
which God is preparing a people to reign in the kingdom of God over
all things. These will have to be those who are washed in the blood of
the Lamb. They will be those who have been filled with all the fullness
of God. They will be those who have learned to be led only and always
by the Spirit. They will be those who have kept His word and walked
according to His will. This company of people will be one with God in
mind, heart, and purpose. They will have put on the mind of Christ and
their own will shall have given way to His will in all things. The
people whom God shall use to reign over the nations and the universe,
bringing God’s kingdom to pass in all realms, will be a strong
people. They will be a holy people. They will be a compassionate and
loving people. They will be those who live in the presence of God and breathe
in union with Jesus Christ.
Those who reign with
Christ cannot be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, nor
deceived by every great sounding theory of man that poses as a good
scheme of ministry or as deep revelation. They will not be moved by
smooth-tongued orators or fast-talking deceivers. They will perceive
the hearts and motivations of men and understand the true nature of all
things. God is not interested so much in what is going on today within
the church systems of men. God does not want just anybody to go out and
do signs, wonders, and miracles. He is preparing an incorruptible order
of people to do these things on a level never
seen before. There are many miracles and good works done in the name of
Jesus by men whom the Father has not sent. But these men receive at
least a portion of the glory, and use their power over men to suck them
into their own little kingdom. God is very selective in this hour of
those He chooses to manifest His power in the earth. Not just anybody
is suitable. God
trains and chooses in many ways. Moses was in the backside of the
desert for forty years. David went through many years of battles and
trials and testings to be eligible for the throne to which God elevated
him.
God is shaping our
lives with a view to the future. What is happening to each son of God
today has a bearing on what his role will be in the kingdom of God throughout
the ages to come. Our present travail will be easier to bear when we
understand this truth. A crown prince cannot live like other
people. When the crown prince of Great Britain is
born, he is a marked child from the day of his birth. He is different
from other children. His education, his way of dress, what he is taught
in the home, his associations, his activities, where he goes and when
and how, his leisure time — everything about his life is planned to
prepare him to be a king! The man or woman called to sonship cannot be
like other people or other of God’s children any longer. God has a
special plan for this one! The truth is that a son of God marches
to a different tune than his contemporaries. He hears the band playing
the march of victory. He stays in line with those enChristed ones who
march with him. He keeps in step with his leader, Jesus Christ. He marches
to the music of the celestials. He marches
in the procession of Christ. His music is the music of the
kingdom. Because this is a different kind of marching from that of
those in the carnal church systems of man, he is often out of step with
them. They are not all marching to the same place! Most
Christians are marching to a place in the sky with golden streets, palm
branches and harps, and spacious mansions over the hill-top, to sing and
dance and play and frolic for eternity. Sons do not have time for such
frivolity, for they are marching to the throne of the universe, to a
position of eminence, power, authority, responsibility, and eternal
glory as lords and kings and priests and creators after the likeness of
their eternal Father. Their business is not dancing over the hillsides
of glory, but bringing the kingdom of God to
pass throughout the infinity of God’s vast universe!
The great artist, Sir
Joshua Reynolds, once painted a picture of Lord Holland, a prominent
Englishman. The artist asked a large sum for his work, which he had
completed in only a few hours’ time. Lord Holland said to him, “You get
money very quickly. It did not take you much time. How long were you
in painting this picture?” Reynolds replied, “All my life.” The artist
meant that the talents which had been developing all his life had
entered into the picture and had made possible its production in a few
hours. And he was correct. No great picture is painted in an
hour! Life with its years of toil and experience in back of it. And
kings are not made in the day of their coronation. Oh,
no! The willingness to submit to God’s dealings and the work of
conformation into the image of God’s Christ is not reached in a
moment. It is the outcome of an upward process by which we are
transformed from glory to glory into the likeness of
God. Kingship is the outcome of breakings,
purgings, experience, growth, and development in the spirit throughout
long years. God gives us a lifetime to build the character of a king,
and that is generally how long it takes! It is the flowering out of the
Life which has been nurtured in our experience and testings day after
day after day. It is not attained by one grand leap into a spiritual
experience!
The sons of God are
reality. This company of divine-human beings is even now reaching
completion. These will become what Jesus is and have what He has as
their very own reality. God will be in them and through them in all His
unutterable plenitude. What He is they will be also. They are the
express image of their Father in Jesus Christ. This is the revelation
of God and the staggering message of the Bible! The sons of God are
destined to inherit all things on earth and throughout all the
vastnesses of infinity, for they are heirs of God and joint heirs with
Jesus, who is the heir of all things (Heb. 1:1-2). Few
Christians comprehend the immensity and implications of our inheritance
and destiny in Christ Jesus! The sons of God are destined to be the
blessers, deliverers,
quickeners, and transformers of all the created realms. Thus creation
groans with expectant birth pangs, longing for their arrival!
From the lowest
darkness of demons and devils to the inhabitants of the farthest galaxy
of light, the universe stretches in anticipation of the glorious
unveiling of God’s sons (Rom. 8:18-25). They
will be the full and complete expression of God in all the attributes
of His deity. Like a super-nova the sons will burst into everlasting
splendor, streaming glory and power for all creation to behold. These
noble beings will conquer and restore all things to God on earth and
throughout all worlds of the unbounded heavens. As priestly
shepherd-kings they will lead the creation, dispensing judgment unto
righteousness. As saviours they will loose the bands of Adam’s
curse from this world, and the darkness from all worlds in all
realms. The sinful will be redeemed and changed, the ignorant will be
taught of God, those in the man-made church systems will be delivered
from their delusions and guided into
the pure
truth of God. The angelic realms will behold the birth of God’s
manchild and arrive to honor God’s sons. All creation will marvel at
the splendor of a race of beings who are the offspring of God matured up
into the fullness of all He is. The reins of creation will be
surrendered to them, and all created beings everywhere will be committed
to their loving and skillful care. These divine sons of the omnipotent
and loving heavenly Father are the only answer to creation’s lack and
problems. They have been ordained of God as the power that shall deliver
creation from the bondage of corruption.
These sons are the
anointed sovereigns, the appointed rulers of all things. Today they
stand in the wings, at this very moment they fine-tune the instruments
which they are, but suddenly shall they enter upon the stage of history,
strike their majestic chord, and all flesh shall hear the word of the
Lord and see the salvation of God. Then a mighty power shall arise from
the earth, as a stream of expanding light it will race through the
galaxies, spreading out and penetrating all things with the life of
God. Every creature on earth and in distant worlds will see the wonder
of God. Every kingdom will be subdued, changed, instructed, and
brought into harmony with the Father of lights. Throughout the
endless eons to come, the sons of God will govern the creation in
righteousness, infusing all things with the dynamic of His life.
In closing this
thought of the “kings” who ride with the “King,” let us notice where
this illustrious name — KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS — is
written. “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a
name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:20). All
John’s first readers, Jewish, Greek, or Roman, would have readily
understood the signification — the thigh was the place where the
sword hung (Ex. 32:27; Judges 3:16, 21; Ps. 45:3; S. of S.
3:8). Generals carried their swords upon their thighs; it was their
badge of authority. Here, in place of a sword, is a name, and this name
is the badge of His authority and carries the might of heaven with it,
for it is by the conquest of His mighty sword that He becomes King of kings
and Lord of lords! But why was the title written also upon His garment? Surely
for exactly the same reason — the garment, soaked as
it was in blood, is the symbol of that victory which He had
already won within the lives of His Conquerors, His Overcoming Company,
the many-membered body of sons who accompany Him in this great warfare,
the armies of the heavenlies who now ride with Him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean! He comes as King of kings and
Lord of lords and the kings and the lords over whom He reigns come with
Him in His very own power and glory! They are clothed in fine linen
white and clean, for by His conquest of them they have been purified. His
garment, on the other hand, is stained with blood, the symbol of their Adamic
lives which He has slain within them. Therefore, on His
blood-soaked garment is the name He has won for Himself: KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS! Oh, the wonder of it! Oh, the mystery of it!
In chapter nineteen of
the Revelation the Lord Jesus is revealed with seven distinct names —
Faithful, True, Righteous, Judge, Word of God, Almighty, King of kings,
and Lord of lords. Concerning His names there are two striking things —
He has an inner name and an outer name. This is a
significant point which many students of the book overlook. Notice that
in verse twelve He has a name that no man knows but He Himself — that
is His inner name. Then in verse sixteen we are told
that He has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF
KING, AND LORD OF LORDS. That is His outer name. The
inner name no one knows but he that has it. The Word of God is
His inner name — this the world does not see, hear, comprehend, or
believe. He is the logos, the Living Word of God by which all
things were created, are redeemed, and shall be restored. It has three
elements in it. It is a creative word, a redeeming word, and a
restoring word! The world will see and know Him by the outer name; it
is on the banner, it is on the thigh, indicating
the sheath of His sword, and on His vesture in the sight of all — but
His many brethren who ride with Him know Him chiefly by His inner name!
Those who recognize
His inner name are overcomers and to these are given “a little white
stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth save he
who receiveth it” (Rev. 2:17). That is the hidden name of Christ, The
Word of God! They kept the Word and, by it they were kept. The
Psalmist put it right, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I
might not sin against Thee.” It is a Living Word, a Living Power, that
transforms you into His image and reveals to you your true heritage in
Christ! It is simply DIVINE REVELATION! That is the inner name within
yourself! The Lord Jesus has an outer name, and so will His overcoming
ones have an outer name, and it will be in harmony with His inner one
just as His is. Revelation 3:12 reveals much about the names of the
overcomer!
THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD
“And I saw an angel
standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye
may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh or horses, and of
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and
bond, both small and great” (Rev. 19:17-18).
There are two scenes
in the chapter and they are strikingly contrasted. It is a painting on
a single canvas of two suppers, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb,
and the Great Supper of God. A heavenly light, wonderful, mystic,
shines on the former; the latter is deeply shadowed in gloom and
grotesqueness. The attendants at the former are the four living
creatures, the twenty-four elders, and a great multitude robed in
garments of white; the guests at the latter are all the carrion-eating
and scavenger birds that fly in the lower heaven. There is music at the
first supper, the singing of the heavenly choir, hallelujah
songs with the power of harmony like the sound of many waters; at the
second there is no music, no choir, no singing, only wails and groanings
with the sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bones.
Songs are appreciated
most when the words of the song are heard and understood. Listen to the
words of the wedding song they sing at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb: “Hallelujah!
salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God! For
true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great
harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of His servants at her hand! Hallelujah! Amen! For
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give
honor to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath
made herself ready!” Three major notes of joy are struck in the
song. One exalts the Lord God, ascribing to Him worthiness, honor, and
praise. Another is inspired by the triumph of the bride who has been
chosen, and has made herself ready for union with the Bridegroom. And
the other is prompted by the righteous judgments that have fallen on
religious Babylon,
avenging the blood of the saints on the corrupted harlot of uncleanness.
The second scene, in
contrast to the first, is the Great Supper of God. Nothing is said
about a marriage or any rejoicing. It is a strange, weird feast that
follows the great war initiated by the Rider on the white horse and His
armies that follow Him. Be very careful as you view the scene, do not
hurry past. There is something here for every child of God and, indeed,
for every man to consider and meditate upon! The guests at this supper
are carrion-eating, scavenger birds. There is no gourmet meal prepared
by master chefs at this supper! Rather, the guests gorge themselves
with the dead flesh of despotic kings, military captains, mighty
warriors, army horses, armored riders; and finally they are shown
picking the bones of all men, small and great! Need we pause to
interpret the vision? I will only add, God has prepared a feast for the
fowls of the air and that feast is the flesh of ALL
MEN, both small and great. God is saying that ALL
FLESH must go! Those who understand the Revelation in the Spirit and by
the Spirit, will readily “get” what the Spirit is saying!
John sees heaven
opened, and the Christ of God and His armies riding forth. These are
certainly scenes set at the consummation of the church age, when God’s
purpose in His elect is fully formed, matured, and consummated. Christ
and His armies of overcomers ride forth; the sword out of His mouth
searches out individuals
and nations, and cuts to the center of all the institutions,
organizations, governments, military establishments, educational
systems, business enterprises, and all the pride, wealth, and power of
fleshly men. He wears not the colors of any nation of earth. His
uniform is white, pure white, sprinkled with blood. An innumerable host
of white-clad soldiers follow Him on white horses. These are the armies
of heaven!
Much play has been
made by commentators who use the term “Armageddon” to describe this
battle against the two agents, the beast and the false prophet, but in
fact the name “Armageddon” does not occur in this chapter at all. Indeed,
the only place in the whole Bible where the name “Armageddon”
occurs is in Revelation 16:16 where it is a part of the events related
to the pouring out of the sixth vial. There are probably few subjects
in Bible prophecy which have been subjected to such maltreatment as that
of the so-called “Battle of Armageddon.” The simple truth is, first of
all, that it has nothing to do with the vision of chapter
nineteen; and secondly, few Christians realize that “Armageddon” is
mentioned only once in all of scripture — the much speaking about it and
the graphic explanations concerning it would lead one to believe that it
is surely one of the major themes of the prophetic portions of
the Bible! Frightful descriptions have been offered on every hand to
show the involvement of the Jewish people in this “battle” supposed to
take place in the plain of Esdraelon to the north of Palestine where
Deborah and Barak overthrew the army of Sisera, and, centuries later,
where good king Josiah lost his life warring against Pharaoh Necho of
Egypt.
The fantasies woven
around this “battle” by Biblical theorists were a number of years ago
brought to the last degree of absurdity by a pamphlet, emanating I
believe from Canada,
telling us that at that time there had appeared in the valley of Megiddo
in Palestine “a new breed of vultures, a breed never seen before,
multiplying at three times the normal rate.” They then quote an
authority who said that buzzards normally lay one egg at a time, but
these apocalyptic buzzards are laying four eggs at a time, and
that swarms of them are surprising the people in northern Israel. Then
they go on and on promoting their idea that these vultures have been
created by God in preparation for this Great Supper of God, so there
will be enough birds to take care of the vast number of corpses slain in
this great battle. How trivial are these wild guesses (in recent years
we have not heard anything more about the increase of vultures in Israel)
compared with the deep spiritual meaning of the Revelation! Had
the writer of this pamphlet only looked at the preceding chapter he
would have found feathered fowl enough to expose the folly of his
literal interpretation and his wild guesses to boot. He would have read
these meaningful words: “Babylon the
great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and
the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird” (Rev. 18:2). There the unclean, scavenger birds
are related to devils and unclean spirits, signifying the false
doctrines and religious spirits within the religious systems
of Babylon the
Great! Our Canadian friend therefore
errors on two primary facts of John’s vision. First, he concludes that
the birds in the vision are one new breed of vulture, whereas he
overlooks the plain statement of the passage that not one variety of
predatory birds assembles for the feast on the battlefield, but “all the
fowls which fly in the midst of heaven.” Second, he fails to see the
connection between the “unclean birds” of chapter eighteen, which are spiritual
entities, and the deep spiritual meaning of the spiritual
warfare which slays and consumes the “flesh” of the carnal
man!
The fallacious nature
of these far-fetched and sensational expectations concerning the
conflict on this fearful field, is exposed immediately by the verses we
have studied already from chapter nineteen, which almost all Bible
students overlook. The battle is not an earthly battle at all! It is
a spiritual battle fought with the spiritual weapon of
the Living Word of God! The horses are symbols, the white
garments are symbols, the blood splattered on Christ’s garment is
a symbol, the sword out of Christ’s mouth is a symbol, the
winepress is a symbol — therefore, can we not see that the angel
standing in the sun is likewise a symbol, the scavenger birds of
heaven are symbols, and the flesh of all the men they consume is
also a symbol!
So how does the battle
end? With the wings of vision John leaps across the centuries — how
fast he has traveled down the vistas of time and the unfolding purposes
of God, he does not know — but standing at the consummation of the age,
he sees “The Great Supper of God,” where the beast, the beast “out of
the sea,” the whole world system of man, and the false prophet, the
“beast out of the earth,” the entire religious systems of man, are
brought to their final end. The very “flesh,” that is, the “flesh
nature” of the old Adamic
man, the carnal mind, with all his inventions, pride, and power, is
totally consumed. The last battle for the deliverance
and transformation of humanity has been fought. The struggle is
over. The victory is won. Just across the hill is the dawn of a new
and glorious day for the whole world! There are a few more scenes, in
chapter twenty, elaborating on this destruction of the old, and then the
glorious city of God shines
its glory for all the nations to walk in light, and all things are
made new! This, my beloved, IS the revelation of Jesus
Christ!
Another thought about
this great supper. When God prepares a supper He always invites
guests. “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb.” An angel from heaven voices that, and an angel
standing in the scorching sun issues this: “Come and gather
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.” Every man is
accepting one or the other of these invitations! So is every church,
every community, every state or province, and every nation! All will be
guests at one or the other of these two suppers. Those who respond to
the invitation to the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” will be blessed and
will be glad and rejoice, and will give honor unto Him. Those who
reject it go ultimately to the “Great Supper of God” and are saved “though
as by fire” (I Cor. 3:15). For you see, the “supper” of the Lamb
is the result of a union, whereas the “supper” of the great God
is the result of a deadly warfare!
In scripture, the
word flesh has more than one meaning. For example, in Genesis
6:12 it denotes humanity; in Job 19:25 and Ephesians 5:28-29 it
refers to the physical body; and in I Corinthians 3:1-3 it refers
to the self-life along with all the desires, passions, and lusts
of the carnal nature. When we speak of the flesh in this message, it is
used in this last sense. The distinction between the self-life (flesh)
and the life of the spirit can be found in the epistle to the Romans
where Paul
writes, “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set
their minds on the things of the spirit. To set the mind on the flesh
is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the
mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to
God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those
who live in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:5-8). Let
us note that the mind of the flesh not only refuses to submit to God but
it also opposes Him. The flesh is both self-willed and
self-centered. It has to have its own way! And that way is the way of
sin and death!
You will understand a
great mystery when you understand that many have already attended one or
the other of these suppers! You see, beloved, these are spiritual
realities, spiritual experiences — not merely dates on the
calendar! But what does it say to us? First, that Christ is
continually judging and making war in righteousness. He repeatedly does
this as His dealings come into men’s lives. And secondly, we can see
the result of His judgment and warfare — DEAD FLESH! And He then calls
in the flesh-eaters of the heavens, out of a spiritual dimension where
they always fly, and they come to pick the bones clean until there is NO
MORE FLESH! We know from the Old Testament, to give one’s flesh to the
birds of heaven for meat is expressive of the most complete defeat and
shameful subjection of the enemy possible. So here, the Lord is to have
the victory, complete and final victory! The “flesh” of the Adamic man
will be done away, and only the man of “spirit” in the image of God will
remain! The flesh of all men will be consumed! These birds,
these vultures will keep eating away at your fleshliness. In everything
that creeps up in your life, these vultures will keep after you and will
never leave you alone until there is no more flesh left upon your
spiritual bones. That is both the worse thing and the best thing! Oh,
what a wonder — what a victory! And we are told in verse twenty-one
that “all the fowls were filled with their flesh,” implying that there
will come an end to the need for these flesh-consumers.
Let us see how this
is! There was a man in the church at Corinth in
the days of the early apostles who was a fornicator, not an ordinary
fornicator, but was living in open sin by carrying on an incestuous
relationship with his unbelieving step-mother, and justifying himself in
it. He was puffed up in his sin and would not repent, but sought to
contaminate all the saints with his uncleanness in the flesh. After
rebuking the Corinthians for tolerating this man’s flagrant behavior,
the apostle Paul
sent this man to the Great Supper of God! Oh, yes, he did! He
commanded the saints, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye
are gathered together, and my spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver
such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the
spirit may be saved…” (I Cor. 5:1-5). Ah, when this man got
onto Satan’s territory the unclean fowls, the carrion-eating birds consumed
his flesh so that the Spirit of the Lord could then deal with
his spirit unto salvation! That is the mystery.
Satan, taking
advantage of the weakness of the flesh, had enticed this man to sin. So
God would now use Satan for the salvation or release of his
spirit by allowing Satan to destroy his flesh! Since God’s love is a
love that seeks the salvation of all men, divine judgment is never
vindictive, but always remedial. Paul
spoke of it this way, “The grace of God has appeared for the
salvation of all men, training us to renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions,, and to live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). The apostle Peter,
informed by Jesus that Satan had desired him in order to sift him as
wheat, the Lord added, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Peter
refused to heed the warning by insisting, “Lord, I am ready to go with
you to prison and to death!” But he was told, “Peter, the cock will not
crow this day, until you three times deny that you even know me.” Let
us note that Jesus did not pray that Peter be spared, but that his faith
would not fail. Handed over to Satan, he was tried, but as a result of
that sifting the arrogance and self-confidence of his flesh was
destroyed, after which he was used by the Lord in greater and
greater measures for the blessing of multitudes. As one who had
experienced the destruction of his flesh and the salvation or release of
his spirit, Peter writes, “Whoever has suffered in the flesh
(self-life) has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of
his time in the flesh (body) no longer in the lusts of men but by the
will of God” (I Pet. 4:1-2).
Jesus declared, “The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jn.
10:10). Out of God’s own mouth proceeds the assertion, “I have
created the waster to destroy” (Isa. 54:16). We gather
from this passage that Satan is a created entity with a definite
purpose. That purpose is revealed in the opening words of the above
quoted verse: “I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in
the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his
work.” That instrument is for the work of destruction, for the waster
was created to destroy! The “smith” that “bloweth upon the fire”
is also the one that heats the furnace seven times hotter! “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). Our trials and testings are associated in the word of God with
the ministry of Satan. You never
thought of Satan having a ministry? “Then was Jesus led up
of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (tested) of the
devil. And when the Tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the
Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”
(Mat. 4:1-3). “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, strengthen
thy brethren” (Lk. 22:31-32). “Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary (sparring partner, opponent) the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world” (I Pet. 5:8-9). We flounder a
bit in our understanding of these things, but as time passes by and the
Holy Spirit takes the things of God and reveals them unto us, we begin
to understand that God created Satan; He created him for a
purpose; and that God is involved when Satan desires to have us to test
us, and it is God Himself who turns us over into Satan’s hands for that
testing; and the result of the testing and the furnace of affliction is
our strengthening, maturity, and victory! That, my beloved, is
the God-ordained work or ministry of Satan!
Armed with this
understanding, in the light that the Spirit brings we can discern the
true meaning of the momentary processing of God in our lives, and the
glory that follows. As our friend, Connie Asbill, has written, “God is
constructing a temple, made of living stones, through which to manifest
Himself throughout the ages to come, and Satan was created as a chisel
and hammer
to be used in the construction of this building. The living stones that
are even now being placed in this temple have
been chosen, says the Lord, in the ‘furnace of affliction’ (Isa.
48:10). God, however, is mercy; God is love; God is compassion. He is
a healer, not a destroyer. It was, nonetheless, necessary that an oven
be heated in which to purify the gold — a furnace in which the wood, the
hay, and the stubble were to be burned — but God, in His nature of love,
could not Himself perform the necessary affliction. It was for this
reason that He created an instrument that was capable of
performing this essential
action in the lives of men, for in Satan God literally created a chastening
rod. If we can realize that behind the acts of Satan is the mighty
hand of God working to bring forth gold 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). Praise God! When we begin to see the good that
comes from the assaults of Satan on our lives, we are able to appreciate
all the more the greatness of our God and the depth of the wisdom
of His great mind. He is truly a God of might and power, and all
things are in His hand — even the adversary whom we call the devil!”
Did you notice how
strangely both Matthew and Mark speak of Christ’s temptation? “And
immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil.” What a strange statement! The Holy Spirit
of God literally drives the sinless Son of God into the
wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted or tested by Satan,
the arch enemy of all righteousness, a murderer from the beginning, and
the father of lies! Ah, but it was necessary for the firstborn Son to
be proven, to be strong, to demonstrate His
ability to overcome in these realms before entering into
His glorious ministry and before facing the death of the cross. Truly
God creates evil and uses it, too, for His purpose and glory! “I form
the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I
the Lord do all these things” (Isa. 45:7).
The apostle Paul
fully understood this great truth and practiced it himself. We have
already noted how he instructed the saints in Corinth to gather
in the power of the Holy Spirit and turn a certain one over to Satan for
the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved. He
also declares in his letter to the evangelist Timothy that he himself
had delivered
certain brethren unto Satan “that they may learn not to blaspheme” (I
Tim. 1:20). But the apostle had experienced something of this kind of
discipline in his own life also, for he says, “Lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given
me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest
I should be exalted above measure” (II Cor. 12:7). I don’t think the
average Christian today is even aware that such passages are in the
Bible! All this clearly shows that Satan is a force created by God, and
controlled by God, for a specific purpose and work, and even that work
shall result in blessing for God’s children and redound to the glory of
God!
Using typical,
mystical language, John is describing the end of all flesh. This
is not a vision of the savage destruction of all the rebellious sinners
in the world, as the carnal-minded “theologians” would have us
believe! This is a description of the destruction of the Adamic
flesh with all its propensity for sin and its powers of death. It is
the flesh, or the carnal, sinful, Adamic
nature, the “natural man” within all of us that is being destroyed
here! This is not a prophecy of the destruction of all the evil men in
the world, for God has already promised the salvation of all
mankind! Therefore, all wicked people will not be destroyed, but all flesh, that
is, all the evil, all the wickedness, and all the carnality in every
man will be destroyed! That is the event John saw in symbol in
his vision of the Christ’s warfare. Each one of us are two people
within ourselves. We are flesh and we are spirit! One “man” in us is
flesh, a natural man, the son of Adam. The
other “Man” in us is spirit, a spiritual man, the offspring of
God! Throughout the scriptures we find many typical representations of
the destruction of the man of flesh, or the fleshly part of every man
that is under judgment.
Those who now come to
Christ and walk in the spirit are enabled to “put off” the old man with
His deeds. We reckon ourselves indeed
to be “dead” unto sin and “alive” unto God! The sword of the Spirit
works a mighty deliverance
in us by faith! As we saw above in the experience of the fornicator in
the Corinthian church, not all believers yield to the control of the
life of Christ within. The question follows — what happens to the
believer who persists in walking after the flesh? This is a most
natural question and one which can be answered easily both from
scripture and from experience. If a believer refuses to yield to the
Christ life within, the two-edged sword of the Lord cuts deep. It
is a sharp sword and leaves the soul sore when it cuts. There is a
chastisement that the scripture speaks of, and a chastisement we are all
familiar with because of refusing to yield to His regal authority! He
rebukes and chastens because He loves, and because He has chosen us for
higher things in Him. He will proceed to the most desperate actions
against body and soul in order to raise up the spirit. It is better
that our flesh should smart than that our spirit should never be
released to live its life! He does these things not to destroy but to
save, and to bring the one whom He loves to the highest and holiest
place. It is true that we do not always look at chastisement in that
way. But it is blessed when we do! Like the Psalmist we shall find
that even the rod is a comforting instrument!
Some years ago a
brother shared a vision the Lord gave him and I will quote only the
latter part of it. He wrote, “And then, not the very last, but one of
the last things that I saw was a HUGE DOOR. It was high; I could not
tell how high it reached. It was a huge door and the door was overlaid
with gold. And in the door it had a design; and I thought that the
design was like a vine; and on the vine I thought there were grapes or
some kind of fruit growing, and these were gold.
“The door wasn’t
closed, but was opened only a little. Out of the opening were coming
beams or rays of light — I knew that it was Heaven. I knew it was God’s
glory, and I could hear the angels, at least I thought it was the angels
I heard singing. It could have been the saints and the angels both
singing, but I could hear the most beautiful music that was coming
through that door. At first it was awesome to see something so
marvelous and glorious! You know, I just rejoiced in my heart after
seeing all the other things that I saw, and I thought, ‘Well, this is
marvelous!’ But suddenly it hit me! I said, ‘Why is the door only
opened that far? A body can’t get through the opening. The only way to
get through that would be in the spirit!’ Then it dawned on me! ‘Why
is the door opened only that much (about eight or ten inches)? How would
I get through? How could anyone get through?’ You cannot! Flesh and
blood cannot enter the kingdom of God! This
is the day of ‘the end of all flesh’ (Gen. 6:13). The
flesh is not going to be spared! Nothing about the natural man is going
to be spared! ‘No flesh shall glory in His presence.’ So we will not
be able to enter in through that door, friends, except in the
spirit. We have to be CHANGED!” — end quote.
But the rest of
mankind, the “sinners” of the world, who have not through the spirit
“put off” the old man, nor have they experienced the chastisements of
the Lord, will have that old man of flesh slain through Christ’s
mighty warfare, and their flesh will be consumed away from them on the
battlefield of God! Whether through “putting off” or by “warfare,” one
day we shall all — every man — be eternally FREE of this sinful “man” of
the flesh that lurks within us working all unrighteousness. Then, all
will live a New Life, which is the fullness of the Life of Christ, in
the new earth, and under the new heavens, which are to come! Isn’t it
wonderful!
The banquet to which
the fowls are called is indeed
a banquet of flesh. The word “flesh” is repeated five times in
the eighteenth verse! This repitition of the word flesh occurring five
times over — flesh, flesh, flesh, FLESH, F-L-E-S-H — is
truly revealing and instructive! All men have walked in carnal enmity
against God, living and walking after the flesh, and now the day of
God’s dealing is at hand. The Holy Spirit included this vision of John
in the last book of written scripture to remind us how revolting and
nauseating to Him are the deeds of the flesh! Dead, rotting, stinking
meat! Men who live in the flesh will have their flesh destroyed! This
is an invitation to the carrion-eating fowls to a banquet on earth where
they will have blue ribbon flesh to eat!
All this is the
glorious result of the great battle when the Corporate Christ
rides out of the heavens of the Spirit of the Lord upon the white horses
of spiritual conquest! A similar scene is seen in the prophecies of
Zechariah where he describes the Lord coming to fight against the
nations and His feet stand upon the mount of Olives. There are many
precious and beautiful truths here, but no time to explore them at
present. There is never
time nor space to consider these blessed truths as we would love to
consider them! But it may be clearly seen that when the Lord’s “feet”
(the “feet company” of His body) stand upon the symbolic “mount of
Olives” (the Anointed Kingdom),
it is also a day of battle, for in the same hour WAR BREAKS OUT! “Then
shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations,
as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall
stand in that day upon the mount of Olives…and the Lord my God shall
come, and all the saints (holy ones, sons of God) with Thee” (Zech.
14:3-5).
The apocalyptic
description of the Christ setting His feet on the mount of Olives and
engaging in fierce warfare with all the nations that have come against Jerusalem,
portrays no literal conflict with carnal weapons. How utterly
uncharacteristic of our precious Saviour that would be! “And this shall
be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have
fought against Jerusalem; their
flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their
eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth” (Zech. 14:12). Sounds ominous, doesn’t
it? Atomic war, perhaps? NO! There are deep mysteries and profound
realities in these significant words which the veil of the carnal mind
has hidden from our eyes. When the Spirit of God draws aside the
curtain of human tradition and carnal-minded interpretation and shines
His light of inspiration and revelation into the dark recesses of the
understanding, all is made clear.
Three beautiful
spiritual principles emerge from the letter of the Word: (1) their flesh shall
consume away (2) their eyes shall consume away (3) their tongues shall
consume away. When the truth of this dawns like a ray of sunlight in
the heart, it is a life-changing concept and we rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory that shall come to every man who is the
enemy of God that blessed experience in which HIS FLESH (self-life,
carnal nature) consumes away before the blazing countenance of God’s
Christ; his EYES (human understanding, carnal vision) dissolve away as
he leaps for wonder at the revelation that bursts upon his consciousness
from the presence of the Lord; and his TONGUE (speech, confession,
outward expression of the inner nature and religious belief) melts
within him as the Living Word is implanted in his heart by the
regenerating power of the Spirit, and from that moment grows and
develops until its life consumes his old self completely and he can
literally say in absolute truth, “It is not I, but Christ.” Thus does
God’s Christ do battle! Aren’t you glad!
“And it shall be, that
whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to
worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no
rain…this shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the
nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech.
14:17-18). There should be no question in the mind of anyone as to what
the “rain” signifies. The prophet Hosea declared, “Then shall we know
if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the
morning; and HE shall come unto us as THE RAIN, as the latter and
the former rain unto the earth” (Hos. 6:3). There is a strange and
foolish tendency in man to interpret the words of God with the carnal
understanding. If you will take time to meditate upon this with the
spiritual mind it will become clear that the “rain” in both passages
quoted above is the VERY SAME RAIN. It is not the natural rain from the
sky that is withheld from those nations or peoples which fail to follow
on to know the Lord in His fullness in the feast of Tabernacles, but
the glorious RAIN OF HIS SPIRIT — the blessings and benefits of the
kingdom of God! And in this new order of the kingdom the rain of God is
no longer found in the feast of Passover, nor in the feast of
Pentecost, but only in the feast of Tabernacles! In
that day no one will take pride in being a “Fundamentalist,” or an
“Evangelical,” or a “Pentecostal,” or a “Charismatic”! Those who will
not enter on in to this feast, the feast of Tabernacles — upon them
shall be NO RAIN, for the blessings and benefits of the kingdom realm of
God can only be experienced in this final feast of HIS FULLNESS! What a
word that is!
You will never
know the full import of this prophecy until you know that the Jerusalem to
which the nations are called is not the natural and earthly Jerusalem over
in the nation of Israel,
but the Jerusalem which
is above, even that NEW JERUSALEM that descends out of God from
heaven. The earthly Jerusalem is
done away. All the prophets prophesied that God would raise up in the
earth a New Jerusalem, a city of praise, a fully redeemed people for the
Lord. We are looking forward with great anticipation to God’s kingdom
dealings with all the nations and peoples of earth! Humanity is
thirsting for that rain which He is, for these living waters from
heaven! Let us not sell creation short. The rain of the kingdom can
come only from the feast of Tabernacles and from the New Jerusalem! God
is calling a people in this day to move into this new place in Him, to be His feast and
His city. Arise, saints of God, and come away with the enChristed
to the holy Mount of God, the Kingdom of the
Anointing, the FULLNESS OF GOD! The glorious gospel of Christ shall be
proclaimed by this overcoming company. Sin, sickness, limitation, and
death shall have no more claim on them. They shall be even as their
Lord and Master when He walked the earth and ministered among men. Only
more! For they shall arise in the power of His resurrection! We
can easily understand, therefore, how the glorious gospel of Christ
shall be proclaimed in power and great glory throughout the whole
earth. There will not be a country, city, village, or hamlet anywhere
on earth that will be closed to the manifest sons of God or to this gospel
of the kingdom. Aren’t you glad!
