~The New Jerusalem~
Chapter:# 71
|
||
Sprouting Leaves |
Yea, than earth’s mightiest mightier,
O Grave, thou hast thy vanquisher!
Long in thy night was man forlorn,
Long dist thou laugh his hope to scorn;
Vainly Philosophy might dream;-
Her light was but the meteor gleam,
Till rose the conqueror of Death,
The humble man of Nazareth;
He stood between us and despair;
He bore, and gave us strength to bear;
The mysteries of the grave unsealed,
Our glorious destiny revealed;
Nor sage nor bard may comprehend
The heaven of rest to which we tend.
Our home is not this mortal clime;
Our life hath not its bounds in time;
And death is but the cloud that lies
Between our souls and paradise.
Mary Howitt, A.D.1804
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of
the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of
life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no
curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his
servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on
their foreheads. Revelation 22:1-4 ASV
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ; Titus 2:11-13
Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once
raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.
For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for
all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship
with Him]. Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it
broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ
Jesus. Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived,
perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its
lusts and evil passions. Romans 6:9-12 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 2 Peter 3:8-14 KJV
The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn. The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be confounded, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: for joy is withered away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah. Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 1:1-20
ASV
( 3 Visions )
“While driving down a freeway I saw above the center meridian of the highway, some 30 to 40 feet in the air an Angel, very tall, holding straight up a two edged flaming sword. The Angel looked upon me as we went by, turning to view us as I drove by, always facing forwards even as we went by.”
( End Vision )
“Then being seated in the car the Angel smote me upon my left thigh and immediately I was caught up in the Spirit. The Angel then carried me supporting me under my arm. I was transported beyond the earth to the very Heaven’s and to the very Throne room of the Lord. Approaching the Heavens while leaving the atmosphere of the earth I saw first a great and a very high mountain. This mountain was the mount of man, high and tall and fortified. The Lord was wroth with this mount and I saw it shaking terribly as I was carried past its height. Then the Angel which had carried me to the paved work set me down upon it. To my left a fire which enfolded in upon itself, and in the midst of the fire a Throne set, even the Throne of the Lord, and upon the Throne the Lord did sit. As I beheld the face of the Lord I cried unto the Angel, “Let me die, for I have seen the Lord!” As I cried unto the Angel I fell over to my right against the Angel who caught me and which held me up. Viewing this terrible sight I saw that the Lord looked upon me. My heart melted and felt unworthy that the Lord should look upon me. He spoke several things which I know will soon be seen in the earth as His work upon this age draws to a conclusion. “Set this word firmly into the hearts of my people, for I have looked upon them and have seen their grief and the long trial wherein they have hoped for my salvation. Yea, I do come at this time to bring in them that completed work, even that work which is done by my word and by my Spirit which would burn within them. These who can see nothing but their own flesh and their bondage to the earth would know that if my word is believed they would have it wrought in them as a testament to my grace and to the hope of glory that would be theirs. As this word is set into their hearts it will burn up this dross of iniquity by which mine own are still bound. Tell them to not be dismayed at the longness of their trial or their lack of seeing me clearly during this time. For I am bringing forth out of those who would overcome that defilement which has been a bondage to them and a curse. It is by this burning that my work will be done, but not just my work, but their own faith and hope which things please me. I would say then to mine own, stand fast in the liberty of spirit that I have given you in my word and know that my will is being accomplished, even by the faith that you carry within your hearts. You who love me will complete your course and will enter my eternal glory and Throne. This my promise is sure.” His voice was as the sound of many waters and as a trumpet speaking. It was then that I realized that the Lord is working mightily in the lives of His people but they for the most part are not aware of His greater works in them.”
( End Vision )
“I saw the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of the Lord full of beautiful bright green leaves. The leaves had scent upon them which descended and fell upon the waters of life which flowed past the tree out unto the nations of the earth. The waters carrying the scent of the leaves forth to draw out the nations and to bring them even unto the tree that the nations might be healed.”
( End Vision )
The Lord would not have His
people to look upon the world or the circumstances that are happening around
them, but to change their eyesight and learn in their faith to only look upon
Him. This looking upon the Lord is paramount to their faith and to enduring the
time that is coming upon the earth wherein the shakings and the judgments of
the Lord will only increase more and more. Nothing can be done by anyone to
prevent the collapse of the world’s systems and the dominion of man. It is
vital to keep ones eyes only upon The Lord Jesus Christ, lifting your hands and
hearts unto Him and praising Him while these things around us are shaken.
As the Spirit of the Lord
moves in the earth at this time, those that Overcome are being set aside and
stripped, both inwardly and outwardly, until all they have left is naked faith.
Nothing else will be theirs. Gone from their minds will be any thought of
safety for their lives in this world. Also gone however will at times be any
conscious awareness of the Lord’s presence, or of His love for them, because
the Spirit of the Lord is a burning fire which will consume in them all their
dross. This dross is presently all that the Overcomer is able to see in their
lives, they cannot fathom or recognize any other thing at this time, they only
see the darkness of their own carnality. It is that small spark of faith and
that faint ray of hope that keeps them. Everything else is removed from them.
Such is the present state of the Overcomer. They are without any foothold in
this earth, even if they are wealthy or busy in business, working and paying
bills, for them it is all just a futile exercise in the nitty gritty of daily
overcoming. The true hope is for the Lord to come and to finish that work in
them, that He delay no longer, that the work be accomplished. This is exactly
what the Lord is doing.
If you are being reduced to bare
naked faith and nothing more, except perhaps a small ray of hope for the work
in your life to be done and for your life to be delivered from this present
evil age, then know this dear reader, you are in the very center of the Will of
the Lord. The mystery of His Will is that His Will is NOT KNOWN except by those
who are stripped. And if the circumstances you are in, however dastardly or
horrid, or mild or meek, cause you to look up unto the author and the finisher
of your faith alone, then you are also in the very center of His perfect will.
For the Lord will bring whatever pressures need be to bear upon the hardened
beam of pride within your fleshly heart, and there by the sheer weight of
outward circumstance He will by judging you collapse that built up beam of
pride, and in you the mystery of Iniquity will be reversed. As your personal
pride is dealt with and removed from you by a great inner destruction from the
Almighty, you will know what true deliverance means. For the true deliverance
from this world and from your life in it can only come by the Lord judging your
heart and collapsing your own built up beam of pride in the structure of
iniquity by which your flesh thrives. Pray for the Lord to judge you, and your
circumstances will become even more unbearable until that pride collapses in
you. Then you will be counted as a true overcomer. One who overcame and had but
faith to hold them.
So then, the Lord reduces you
to nothing but faith and to a head turned upwards and to a gaze fixed upon
Jesus alone. It is that posture that will carry you through the incredible
destruction that is coming upon this world. It is that position of eyesight
which will keep you until He comes and glorifies you and sets you as one member
of His mighty Army. It is that faith alone which you are reduced to which in
the sight of the Lord is the most precious gem in all His Crown. That faith is
the aim of your Lord. That faith is the testament of your hope and that hope
will keep you from being ashamed as you stand naked before the King of Kings
while He judges you and corrects you and delivers you from death.
Christendom has tried for
millenniums to put down and deny their flesh all to no avail. The flesh still
resists the spirit and still rears its ugly head. Nothing seems to work when it
comes to ‘denying’ the flesh. We’ve been trained to put it down, to kill it by
faith, to deny it is there, to reckon ourselves dead to it and it dead to us.
But none of it has worked. That is because that is not what the Lord was
wanting us to do. What he was wanting us to do was to keep our sight upon Him.
The flesh in you and the spirit in you are both growing up together as a tare
and as a wheat stalk. But we give no place, no soil, no nourishment to that
tare when we look to the Lord and lift our hands in worship unto Him, for we
then walk in the wheat stalk, or if you will, we walk IN the spirit, and then
that flesh which would war against us has no power. It is when YOU try to put
the flesh down and YOU try to DENY it, that you fail. But when you fix your
gaze upon Jesus and come up into spirit by worshipping Him that your Spirit
conquers all that opposes it, even your own personal iniquity, and that is the
secret of overcoming victory.
So then as the Lord is honored
in your faith and in your eyesight and as your gaze is fixed upon Him alone,
His Spirit rises through you, not just as a burning flame, but as the full measure
of resurrection life which is so mighty that even your dead bones will come to
life. As you have the Lord arise in you, He brings you up in Spirit so that
your tongue, the most unruly member of your flesh, even falls into submission,
and the Spirit of the Lord moves through your very tongue as waves of
resurrection life and words of emulation and glory. Words that are Spirit and
life and that the world needs to hear. Your very tongue then becomes a ‘leaf’,
on the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of the Lord, which leaf is for
the healing of the nations. Words of SPIRIT AND LIFE then flow forth from the
abundance of His love and life in your heart and those who hear will come and
be healed and be cleansed and will enter into the rest that the Lord has
prepared. The Lord has ordained that all mankind become holy. And it is through
the tongue of the Overcomer as a leaf on the tree of life in the midst of their
soul that this holiness begins in each one who comes from the nations.
That then is the heritage of
those who are being reduced to faith alone, even for those who are counted as
ones who overcame.
To be continued……………
Kenneth B Visscher
Copyright