The Body of Jesus removed from the cross.
~The New Jerusalem~
The Body of Jesus removed from the cross.
~The New Jerusalem~
 ..PDF Version |
Chapter:# 47
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| Judas Iscariot, Saved |
“And while he
yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve,
went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto
him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” Luke 22:47-48 KJV
“…if so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that
grace of God which was given me to you-ward; how that by revelation was made
known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye
read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other
generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to wit, that the
Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,…” Ephesians
3:2-6 ASV
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and
blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in
that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are
tempted.” Hebrews 2:14-18 KJV
“Arise,
shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people:
but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And
the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy
rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves
together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters
shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine
heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be
converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The
multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all
they from
( 3 Visions )
“I beheld the soldiers of the
cross, each wearing the breastplate of righteousness as well as the full armor
of the Lord. Behind each breastplate I could see the hearts of the soldiers. An
invisible hand holding a sharp flint stone was cutting away flesh from around
the hearts of the soldiers, circumcising the flesh away from their hearts which
was under the breastplate of righteousness. This was a continual working, a
present and a future reality for they who are soldiers of the cross.”
“Behold, unto Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the
heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein. Only Jehovah had a
delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even
you above all peoples, as at this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of
your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. For Jehovah your God, he is God of
gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who
regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.” Deuteronomy
10:14-17 ASV
( End Vision )
“From this elevated position I
was able to see gross darkness covering the entire earth and all nations within
it. There was hardly any true witness of the Spirit in the earth except upon
the lives of those who would overcome. These who were Overcomers gathered
together to one focal point in the earth and they formed a mass of people who
waited for the fullness of the Lord to come and to deliver them from this
darkness. And I saw Jesus. As He came to them His Glory enlightened upon them
within and without and their bodies changed enabling them to house this
unspeakable Glory of the Lord. This company of those who overcame were filled
with the same light of Glory as the Lord Jesus Christ who did come a second
time in His raised body, even unto them. All around them was the earth
enveloped in gross darkness, the nations had no light, the religious systems
had false light that was as dark as the gross darkness around them. The
governments of men had no answer for the darkness and crime and terror of the
dark that enveloped their nations and their ability to govern. But as the Lord
did arise upon the Overcomers and did enlighten them they became bright as the
Glory of Jesus. Their light did penetrate the darkness, not to overtake it, but
to announce to it that the light of the Lord of Glory had come. I saw then
waves and waves of the Spirit of the Lord move out through them in the
unstoppable love of God. These waves went out to all the peoples of the nations
and these waves caused those in darkness to turn and to see the Lord arise upon
this overcoming company, and all the nations came to the light and to the
brightness of this rising. It was the coming of Christ in His Overcomers, those
who would display the love of God without any measure, and to this the nations
of the earth were at first startled, but then came to this rising, drawn by the
waves of the love of God that came from this glorified company. Not one soul
and not one nation was left out of this tremendous love that came in
unstoppable waves through the Glorified company of Overcomers.”
( End Vision )
“Then was I carried and beheld from a great distance the entire
earth, the cosmos and the Heavens all in one moment of time, all in one view
from this place wherein I was carried that enabled me to see all of these at
once. For the Overcomers will not just minister the life of God in the earth,
but to the outer reaches of the cosmos, the Heavens themselves will they fill
with the light and the Glory of the Lord in a new creation, even in bodies
glorified. To the outer reaches of the highest places of God’s creation shall
this Overcoming company go, even to all that which fell away in the great fall
which came of Adam partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. For all did fall, everything in the cosmos as well as on the earth,
all went into the bondage of corruption, and it is to this corruption that the
Overcomer will bring the life of He who dwells as the Ancient of Days in the
ceaseless ages. I beheld the earth, covered in gross thick darkness, yet upon
the earth scattered throughout the nations were points of light, bright as the
Glory of the Lord, these lights being the lives of they who overcame and who
are manifesting the fullness of the Lord. The earth had many of these points of
light which in time would dispel the darkness, not just upon the earth, but in
time through the entire cosmos itself.” ( End Vision )
One cannot understand Judas
Iscariot without also having but a portion of understanding on what the Apostle
Paul called “the mystery of Christ”.
Rather than develop a doctrine
on the life and death of Judas Iscariot I would much rather note that he was
the tool used for Jesus passion to be fulfilled. Although he was called the
betrayer, yet he brought about the prophecy Jesus had of His death upon the
cross. It is not my aim in this study to reveal secrets about Judas, but rather
to show you Jesus and how Jesus overcame this betrayal. Not only so, but
betrayal is a common element in the flesh of man. We betray Jesus the same way
when we envelop our pleasures in sin for a season, the very sin Jesus suffered
and died to redeem us from.
Judas Iscariot is listed as an
Apostle whose name was written into the foundation of The New Jerusalem. He did
not fall outside of the grace of God any more than any other sinner in this
world, albeit He was the instrument of delivering the savior up to be
crucified, he was still called to that very purpose! His was a ‘calling’, even
one of the most mysterious of callings. That the Lord would use ‘evil’ to work
good. The miracle of Christ’s death and resurrection is not just the outcome of
this betrayal, but it is the singular hope of the Christian world and is the
base of faith upon which we stand, that we know Jesus rose from the dead, never
to die again. And that He also ascended far above all principality and power
and was exalted by God and given a name which is above every name. Jesus laid
down His life of His own will, He stated “no man takes my life from me”. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father.” John 10:17-18 KJV
The mystery of Christ then
because of this atonement made has become our greatest treasure in the faith we
hold. It also sets us in a mode of careful warning and much needed discernment.
As ever, this salvation comes to us with the need for obedience. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye
have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of
all principality and power:” Colossians
2:6-10 KJV
The most amazing thing about
The Lord Jesus Christ is His identity with us. He covers us in salvation during
3 points in scripture.
1)
He was the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. “And all that
dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book
of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an
ear, let him hear.” Revelation 13:8-9 KJV Even before this entire fall happened by Adam in the
garden, Christ – in the first part of the mystery of Christ – was slain. God
slew a lamb. If man would not have fallen, then God would have been found
“guilty” of murdering a lamb! The fall of man was the plan of God and by it
this world was thrust into the bondage of corruption, all part of His great
purpose.
2)
His actual passion. “For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”
1 Peter 3:18 KJV
3)
The point of your actual born
again experience. “But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the
word of faith, which we preach: because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all
that call upon him: for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it
is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good
things! But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith,
Lord, who hath believed our report? So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by
the word of Christ.” Romans 10:8-17 ASV
The fall of man and the
subsequent need for a redeemer came of partaking of the Tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. This Tree became the bane of all mankind, for by eating of
it, Adam was found with iniquity in himself, and God thrust all creation into
the bondage of decay. When we view Judas Iscariot, he was simply another member
of this bound up family of mankind, one who also needed full redemption. He was
hand picked by Jesus, was a friend of Jesus, and was SAVED by Jesus.
So the mystery of Christ in a
few words would be this. That The Lord Jesus Christ, went TO the Tree of the
knowledge of good and evil – TO RESCUE
I equated Judas Iscariot to
being the layer of Topaz in the foundation of The New Jerusalem, because Topaz
represented ‘burden bearing’. It was the element found first in the Ephod which
represented two types of burdens that a person in this world who desires to
please the Lord can bear. The first is that they bear, at the beginning, false
burdens, burdens which bind them and keep them from being free as they are in
the Lord’s salvation. This binding and burden bearing is to that false element
Jesus called “the son of perdition”, or if you will, “the fallen Lucifer
nature”. The carnal effort of religious ambition. That is the first burden one
coming to Christ will find they will have to overcome. The second burden is the
true burden, where they bear the name and the testimony of The Lord Jesus
Christ and allow Him to have His way in their lives. This is indeed part of the
infrastructure of the City of
Continued repentance becomes
our middle name as we walk on in the things of the Lord that will soon be upon
us. These things are all in preparation for His appearing, and for the time of
the Lord giving glorified bodies to His Army. Joining those who have gone on
before with those who are alive and remain. This is my most excitable aim, to
be part of this thing which the Lord is about to do in the earth, and in time
through the entire cosmos itself. For the redemption of Christ will bring
creation back to this Edenic state. There will however be in the midst of this
future
And how is it that our works
of faith can also at times be seen by the Christian world as being evil? The
overcomer also reveals the plan of salvation as encompassing all men
everywhere, and for that we are called usurpers and evil and betrayers of the
work of the gospel. That because we believe that Jesus will destroy completely
the effects of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for every soul, we are
found by others of faith to be lacking the virtue of religious effort. Instead
we declare Christ’s completed work which cannot be undone, and for that we are
found to be evil. The Christian world is still bearing the Topaz stone of the
first burden, and that is to this Lucifer which imitates the true and
persecutes the true. It is this line drawn that is separating those who
overcome from those who will not. And so it is for you dear reader, if you know
that Jesus will make a full end, you will also be counted as an evil worker.
But not in the eyesight of the Lord. He will see you as one who is more than a
conqueror, a pioneer in this walk of faith and one who would blaze a trail for
others to follow. Judas Iscariot blazed such a trail, it is hard to be understood,
but it was a trail nonetheless. It was a trail that seemed to have such
horrible consequence, but in the end was the salvation of all the world.
So is the faith of they that
overcome.
To be continued………….Kenneth B Visscher
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