I will stand on my watch and set myselfI will stand on my watch and set myself on the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain on the tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is still for an appointed time, but
it speaks to the end, and it does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for
it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:1-3
To the Chief Musician.A Psalm of David. The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse proclaims His handiwork. Day
to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals
knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words; their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the
world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, and he comes forth as a
bridegroom from his canopy; he rejoices as a strong man to run a race, going
forth from the end of the heavens, and its course is to their ends. And there
is nothing hid from its heat. The Law of Jehovah is perfect, converting the
soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making the simple wise. The Precepts of
Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the Commandments of Jehovah are pure,
giving light to the eyes. The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever; the
judgments of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired than
gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. And Your servant is warned by them; in keeping them there is
great reward. Who can understand his errors? Oh make me pure from secret
faults; and keep Your servant back from presumptuous
sins; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be
innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation
of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Jehovah, my
Rock and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:1-14
I
must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh,
when no man can work.As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John 9:4-5
Wherefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;As
obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in
your ignorance:But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation;Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am
holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the
day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand;A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of
clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any
more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.A fire devoureth
before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the
land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.The
appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so
shall they run.Like
the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise
of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle
array.Before their face the people
shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.They shall run like mighty men; they shall
climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every
one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:Neither shall one thrust another; they shall
walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they
shall not be wounded.They
shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall
climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining:And
the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp [is] very
great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the
LORD [is] great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Joel 2:1-11
Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD [are] upon the sinful kingdom, and I will
destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly
destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.For,
lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like
as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, yet
shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.All
the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not
overtake nor prevent us.In
that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up
the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in
the days of old:That
they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called
by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him
that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills
shall melt.And I will bring again the
captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and
inhabit [them]; and they shall plant
vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat
the fruit of them.And I
will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of
their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.Amos
9:8-15
And after they had held their peace, James
answered, saying, Men [and] brethren, hearken unto me:
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did
visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.And to this agree the words of the prophets;
as it is written,After
this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is
fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:That the residue of men might seek after the
Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who
doeth all these things.Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.Acts 15:13-18
Yeadoubtless,
and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto
hisdeath;If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.Not
as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus.Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended: but [this] one
thing [I do], forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.Let
us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even
this unto you.Philippians 3:8-15
(5 Visions)
(1st Vision)
“Broke through a dark black cloud and being then
brought close before the Throne I did behold in the great heat the Ancient of
Days who sat upon the Throne of eternity. He wore a garment of white with a
vest (vesture) of embroidered work, a vest as it were covering His chest. Upon
the vest was the pattern in symbolism of the sun and the moon and the
constellations and the stars which did display the word of God in truth. Set in
this pattern of the sun and the moon and the constellations were the pattern of
the stars according to the months of the years that were upon the earth. The
vest He wore was fluid in motion, it did not sit still as though it were a cloth garment, but it was a living part of the Ancient
of Days, an extension of His person through the vest. As He sat ruling over the
entire creation from there the vest did display His handiwork in a living and
moving fashion. This vest, covered with all this symbolism did speak as He
spoke and did move as He moved, it established His Holy Nature throughout the
power of His Throne and through all the time frames found in eternity. As I
beheld this vest upon God He opened His mouth and spoke. “My people, which are called by my name are
being made holy and right by the power of my settled word. As they seek after
me in this time of great want, I do pour upon them the trials and tribulations
needed to forge within them my very Holy Nature. As I am Holy, so these are to
be Holy. Tell my people so. It is of me that they wait long for my word to be
fulfilled and it is of me that they wait while the heat does consume from them
all the dross that I, by my Holy Fire, do drive forth from within them. Even as
I delivered those who trusted in me by faith, so I deliver these and bring the
promise of salvation to them, even as they that overcame the world and all
things within it. Be of good cheer my people, for as Christ overcame the world,
so too I will see you also do the very same. By that very act of overcoming
will you be established as a Holy People upon whom there is no guile.” After
these words were spoken my attention was drawn down to the feet of the Ancient
of Days which were set upon the paved work before the Throne. I could see the
legs of the Throne upon the same paved work. So the feet were covered and
established and they moved not for the vest moved but the feet remained
constant. So it was that His word was established within this vision and the
power of God to perform that very word.”
(End Vision)
(2nd Vision)
“I beheld the splendid image that was dreamt by
Nebuchadnezzar in ancient Babylon, the splendid image whose head was of gold,
the chest and arms of silver, the loins of brass, the legs of iron and the feet
of part iron and part clay. I saw that the Lord hurled a stone at the feet of
this splendid image and it did crush and destroy the feet of it so that the
entire structure of the image above it broke apart and crumbled and collapsed
to the earth so that nothing recognizable of it remained. This represented all
the world systems of government from the time of ancient Babylon on down to
this present hour. No economy, no structure of man, no place that man built a
name for himself could ever be brought forth again. It was a total destruction,
nothing of this present world could continue past into the next world (age). So
complete was the destruction of this image.”
(End Vision)
(3rd Vision)
And out of the
throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there wereseven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.Revelation 4:5
“In glorified eternal bodies, risen from the death
throes of the world of men marched forth the Army of the Lord. Unfurled above
them was the banner of the Lord, the message of God in truth which did read and
display the holiness of this Army who did march. As they marched forward I saw
not one, but seven pillars of fire which represent the seven spirits of God, each
pillar descending fast like lightning striking the earth around the Army as they
marched forward. As they marched, the pillars would strike the earth, then after striking it two things would happen. A molten
fire would flow forth from the bottom of the pillars out into the earth
consuming all that was in the earth including all the vegetation and all the
elements and minerals and anything that had the life of this present time
within it. The fire would flow over the graves of the dead and consume the
graves. It flowed over the built up areas of man and consumed the built up
areas. It flowed over the life of this world which abides in a curse and it
consumed both the life and the curse. This fire would consume the earth as
though they were rivers and rivulets of pure holy fire, nothing could stand
before this fire. The second thing that would happen after the pillars struck
the earth around the Army was that just as quick as it descended and struck the
earth, so quick in the same way would it ascend again back to its place before
the Ancient of Days. For above this Army sat the Ancient of Days upon the
Throne and before the Throne the seven lamps of fire and from these lamps came
these pillars. Again and again as the Army marched forward would the pillars
descent and ascend quickly as bolts of lightning with great heat and great
noise and fearsome was the sight of it. Nothing of the earth remained intact,
all the elements in the world of man and in the elements of the chemical and
natural make up of the earth was totally consumed in this Holy Fire. As the
Army marched forward at certain intervals the Lord upon the Throne would speak
forth in a voice that sounded like a loud peal of thunder. He would say “This is my beloved Son, hear him!” And
to the Army He would say “Bring forth the
earth unto me!” So great was the urgency and the thunderous sound of the
voice of God that no one in the earth alive at that time mistook it for
anything other than the creator. Also the sight of the Army caused the men in
the earth to abandon their science and their idols and to know that the Lord
rules in the affairs of men and does come to establish a perfect government and
a perfect peace and no one will be able to withstand His love that does come by
this perfect Army of the glorified ones.”
(End Vision)
(4th Vision)
“Over the nations of the earth in present time saw I
the Lord in spirit go unto the leaders of the nations
(all the nations, none exempt). The voice of the Lord rebuked these national
leaders and they in that rebuke withered and crumbled and their bodies broke
apart into fragments and into many bits and pieces. Each leader of each nation
then fell backwards into the populace of their particular nations and they
dissolved into the populace. As this happened the level of iniquity in each
nation rose higher and the people now embroiled in anger and in unrest consumed
the fragmented remains of the broken world leaders into their own lives. As
they did actual literal riots broke out throughout the nations of the earth.
The nations of the earth began to collapse and to break apart, their silver and
their gold and their currencies of trade between them became worthless, all
they had saved up to preserve their lives was removed from them in a single
stroke by this anger and rage that the nations became embroiled in as iniquity
rose and as the systems of man collapsed. So this also is a judgment of the
Lord, we shall see this in our time and nothing can be done neither to prevent
this from taking place nor to preserve personal wealth. So it is that the Lord
is moving now in this present judgment.”
(End Vision)
(5th Vision)
“I saw the individual Overcomers, each one laying upon their backs upon the ground before the Lord. The
Lord tore up their garments revealing their flesh and the scars of past areas
of great hurt and rejection were seen, old scars, some from many decades past.
These scars had healed over and were covered by both new flesh and the clothing
they wore, but the Lord tore off this clothing so that naked the Overcomers lay
fully exposed to the eyesight of the Ancient of Days. So then the Lord reached
down with the tip of His sword and suddenly without any other recourse He tore
open these old wounds which lay long now dormant. It is to be noted that some
of these wounds were wounds long forgotten. They were wounds where forgiveness
had been genuine and love and grace were merciful. Although the painful scars of
the past caused separation from those who caused the scarring, the entire area
of this was forgiven and forgotten. But the Lord brought them once again out
into the open.“That which hath been is now; and that
which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.”
Ecclesiastes 3:15So the tip
of the Lord’s sword cut afresh the long since healed wounds. Tearing them open
with vigor and relentless each and every scar was opened and beneath the scar I
saw not the blood and sinew of the past harm, but instead I saw the cross
laying down flat beneath each wound. The cross with its hard slivered wood and
aged old timbers of the upright section and of the horizontal section, each
wound had the cross entirely covering it from beneath so that the cross was
seen set inside the wound. So it is that the Lord is removing from the
Overcomers the pain of past harm and hurt healing it once and for all by the
all consuming power of the cross. As this cross did work to rise up through the
wound, so the wound was then truly forgotten yet again, the past truly healed
and the result was HOLINESS in the areas where the sorrow once was. So holy
became that area that in time not even the old scar was seen.”
(End
Vision)
Absolutely nothing has changed or been
diminished or been discarded from the Lord’s promise to this creation that He
will restore and compensate all things. I add in “compensate” because the true
penalty for any iniquitous act performed by any man will also be restored.
There is no such thing in the future economy of God that will leave any person
out of absolute perfection in Father’s Kingdom. He is working as He has all
along to finish this work and to wrap it all up into a new age wherein only
righteousness will dwell. We may think that the Lord is very distant at this time,
but He is not, He is working in the very same way He always has and His
determination is to perfect each man in Christ in the final end of things. At
this time however it is as though the world has been placed on “pause” while
the Lord quietly in the background finishes building up His Overcomers who will
be used to bring about this better purpose in all of mankind. The very fact
that you are waiting on the Lord is proof positive of this work being done in
you even if you by your own thinking mind are not able to perceive it. His work
will not be daunting or diminished nor will it fail. All that Father has
purposed is right on time and His will shall be perfect and complete and entire
for each and every soul. The Father will work the very same way in the depths
of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone just as He would work in His own
Throne room wherein He sits and rules over all creation. His working will be
the same; no one will be left out of this incredible final purpose in the
workings of the Lord God Almighty.
Now for the present time the
Lord has discontinued, but for a brief moment of time, working in boldness in
the world of men. He has turned to perfect this little company of Overcomers
and it is to this company that this paper is written. It is not that this
little company of people are special or hold a higher love of God in their
lives, it is according to His overall sovereign purpose for each family of man
that one is chosen out of them to be the savior to the rest. “But upon mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess
their possessions.And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour
them; and there shall not be [any] remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD
hath spoken [it].And [they of] the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and [they of]
the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and
the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead.And the captivity of this host of the
children of Israel [shall possess] that of the Canaanites, [even] unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which [is] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.And saviours shall come up on
mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S” .Obadiah 1:17-21It
is my firm conviction that the Lord chooses one out of each descendant family
of mankind in which He instills the grace needed to bring that one individual
through in complete overcoming victory. This is not for that one single person,
but for the entire family that person represents. It is through that one that
all the iniquity found in that family will be removed, like Jesus their savior,
these will lay down their lives for the sake of the Lord’s Kingdom to bring
about the cleansing of the “whole”; their entire family line right back unto
the heart of Adam. Such a bold statement as this is qualified by the words of
the Lord.Turn, O backsliding children,
saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city,
and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:And I will give you pastors
according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.And it shall come to pass, when
ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of
the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they
remember it; neither shall they visit [it]; neither shall [that] be done any
more.At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the
LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD,
to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil
heart.Jeremiah 3:14-17
So at this present time the
Lord has worked in a hidden manner in the lives of they that would be like
Jesus in such a way as to continually reduce or take away from them their own
will. In a crucified position these await the total experience of the cross to
finish in them, of if you will, the entire time of being entombed to be
accomplished for in varying degrees parts and parcels of the nature of such a
candidate is dealt with by the varied processes of life and judgment from God,
the cross, the tomb and the faith to declare such works finished in them as
they happen. There are areas in our lives where His will is still subjecting us
and other areas where victory is complete. But these things are not perceived
in the natural thinking mind, they are only known by the witness of the Holy
Ghost within. By that nature of Christ which is formed over time by these
trials in life. The Lord works to end the will of men by His hidden power which
is working ever so silently behind the scenes in a quietness that is barely
perceptible, but the power of it is soon to be evident, yes, is even evident in
areas of life. The Lord is working to bring the entire person to this place
where all things are finally and completely subdued, where the reins of the
heart are fully surrendered unto the Lord so that the captivity of their entire
person is owned by God Himself. So it is that we work in this day to NOT work,
but to let HIM work in us. It is not in us to know or to do His pleasure
outside of us first being totally yielded unto His will in all things. This is
still an ongoing process, not one single Overcomer has arrived yet at this
being completed.
Jesus Christ was given a name which is
above every name forevermore. The Overcomers who obey God and who will be used
as saviors for the rest of humanity will also have their names exalted up to
hold rule with the Jesus upon the same Throne, their names also exalted, albeit
to a lesser height until the Lord’s will is fully accomplished in all things.
This is not exalting talk; it is a fact that the difference in reward for those
who obey the Lord now verses mankind who does not retain God in their knowledge
is going to be remarkable. Even though the Overcomers will be used to restore
their family lines and humanity, they will also have greater reward because of
the obedience they held to the cross and to the fellowship of Christ’s
sufferings. Christ will grant to these the right to sit and to rule and reign
with Him upon the Throne, they being subject to Christ, but over the rest of
creation as “Kings and Lords”. The only choice we made in this matter was to
accept the cross, the workings of the Lord in us to conform us to Christ, and
to resist steadfast all that which would oppose His work being done in our
lives. We sought hard after the Lord because we were drawn to Him, this caused
us to be separated from all others in the world as we sought only to be found
hid in Christ in God. There is no other place for us.
In addition to this we also suffered the
processing until this present hour of our own will being broken. This breaking
of our will has been accomplished by the Lord contradicting all we thought was
right in our desire towards Him. In my own life I have noticed a pattern of His
dealing in me that is not what I in my mind would have sought for or asked, but
it was done by His hand and His will whether or not I chose to receive it. When
the Love of God first came to me and lifted me up, making me know I was accepted
in the beloved, I tried to convey this same love back to the Lord. Instead I
found a struggle within as my own carnal nature did not want to share this
affection with the Lord but wanted to keep this affection solely for self and
not Christ. So right after coming to the Lord to know of His love, the Lord
immediately went to work to break me down, to raze me as it were to the ground,
to peel back the layers of flesh and putridity so that my true heart desire
would be a constant hope in front of me rather than something I tried to
accomplish by religious effort. The Lord gave me a hatred of religion. He made
me to see that it was contrary to the working of the Holy Ghost in me. So then
when I sought to love God back, I found war instead raging in my mind against
the Lord. When I sought to conquer that war, I found I was defeated by the
overwhelming power of my own carnal mind to control and rule my heart’s desire
to be just like Jesus. As I sought for this to be real in me, the Lord allowed
the minions of hell to attack me, for deceptions to take me, for my life to be
countered by untold misery of not being able to find a standard of holiness in
which I knew the Lord would approve. Instead of acting and being “right”, I
acted and became very wrong. Instead of standing strong, I stood weak in the
faith and without the ability to cure that weakness. When I tried to rise up to
the Lord He allowed my circumstances and the powers of darkness to beat me back
down again. When I tried to draw near, my flesh coupled with the forces of
darkness wrestled my desire to the dust making everything I hoped for
vainglorious. As I went forth to conquer this nature which the bible tells me
died upon Calvary with Jesus, I was fraught with the reality that my flesh was
all too real and that it ruled me more than my desire to please God ruled me.
All that I wanted to gain in the Lord became loss to me because my own
carnality made me lose it. When I sought peace, there was war. When I sought
hope, there was hopelessness, when I sought to be found perfect in Christ
because the word of God declares it so, I found my flesh man holding me down
and at bay telling me that I was not qualified for this prize. In all these
things I was opposed by mine own worst enemy, my own carnality, it was evident
in the fact that my life had been squeezed into a ditch that I did not choose
to be squeezed into, it was a time of great peril.
So then after all this negativity ruled me
and not the Lord to whom I had given my life, the next thing became apparent.
That this is the gamut presented to anyone who would overcome. They must face
that worst thing that could be faced which is their own carnal resistance to
the will of God. When this reality sunk in that my carnality resisted all that
God would say and do in truth in me, it became reinforced by the minions of
hell who would come and condemn me for not acting and being righteous. It would
condemn me by casting up into my face all the hurts and wounding of the past,
all the disparaging of those who held contempt against me and of all they who
did not accept me in the full measure of the love of God. The sentence of the
court was totally against me, I found that rather than be filled with the
spirit in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in my
heart to the Lord, I was filled with thoughts of condemnation, accusation,
thoughts of self hatred and self disgust, thoughts of unworthiness and of the
proper sentence of condemnation from God for such a wicked ungodly person as
myself. It was into this fray that the Lord had me stand wearing the armor of
the spirit and into this battle that I had to advance, sword in one hand and
shield in the other to battle back all the lies grounded in my own carnally
thinking mind.
When I thought to be free in the Lord, He
made me His slave. When I thought to abide in the love of God, He allowed me to
be in war full time with no let up. When I thought to be cleansed of anything
wrong in my life by the blood of Christ, I found forgiveness, but the area of
defilement still reared its ugly head to condemn me. When I sought to be filled
with the fruits of righteousness by Christ, I found all around my life that
which was ever so unrighteous and ever so unclean. As I waited for the Lord to
take me to higher places in the realm of the spirit, my bondage to Him only
increased. When I came to desire more liberty and joy in the spirit, the cross
became ever more sharp and the nails and the wounds of Calvary ever more
prominent. When I sought to be filled with the hope of the Lord in a great
overwhelming joy of that which His word promised, the powers of hell were
loosed upon me to make me forget that joy and to delude me in anything that
exalted that self nature in me. Every time I tried to be right I ended up wrong.
This is the state that an Overcomer comes to, a state of utter hopeless
condition in their lives when that condition is ruling the heart and the Lord
seems to be suppressed. It is into this fray that the Overcomer is driven by
the spirit of the Lord to war and to take ground and to conquer, it is here
that the full power of the cross is seen not only cancelling out the wrong, but
also empowering the right. The cross works here not just to destroy something
in death, but to apply to it anything that opposes life! This is the experience
of the Overcomer! When they would be in fellowship with other men or women,
they end up cut off! When they would be found as supporters of the body of
Christ, they find themselves outside the camp bearing the reproach of Christ,
rejected by all those others who claim a place in the Lord. The Overcomer finds
that they are cut off and alone and not part of the flow of all they who seem
to flow so freely in the things of heaven, the Overcomer flows bound in the
things of slavery and of warfare. It is not otherwise for any true Overcomer.
So it is in this day in this hour the
Overcomer does not inhabit some lofty position nor do they hold to some special
place above humanity, that is they are no higher than the personal workings of
their own cross. For the cross rectifies the resistances. It takes away from
man that which would take Christ away from man. It removes from man both the
good and the great things as well as the bad and the hard things; all that is
in the life of the Overcomer is NOT YET done with the all consuming power of
the personal cross, it continues, and it is IN that cross that true peace
becomes evident, peace that passes all the warfare, all the condemnation, all
the words of negativity that one hears through the carnal mind; peace that
passes all understanding. Some say that the nature of carnality was dealt with
by the cross at Calvary; the Lord took care of it! Yes indeed, to that agree
the scriptures. But the scriptures also agree that this must be worked out in
the life of the believer, that they must in turn experience the fellowship of
this cross with Jesus in order to overcome as He overcame. One cannot deny that
this duality exists, it does and it does not get removed by any other means
than having that faith worked into us by daily trial which includes the
workings of the personal cross. Ah here it is another writing about the power
of the cross! But for me it is the glory of the power of our Lord!
So it is to this standard of being
stripped and processed by burning and by such judgments that the Lord declares
to the rest of creation that this is the quotation of all He describes as
‘true’. The lowly Overcomer, wrestling not against flesh and blood but against
principality and power and against the spirits of wickedness in high places;
against anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God. It is
this lowly Overcomer that becomes the banner or the standard which God raises
as an example to the rest. Condemned as the off scouring of the earth, these
take on no reputation as Jesus took on no reputation. These seek not to escape
the cross; they embrace it and fall upon it knowing that it is the power of God
unto salvation for them. It is through this that the high calling of God and
the holy calling of God becomes most apparent. It is there that the flesh and
carnality is finally subdued and completely conquered, it is there that we
continue to abide in. Saints who read these papers have for a long time walked
this way, the way of the continual working of the cross. Day after day in their
lives they have been faithful to bear it, to endure it, to cherish the work it
is doing in conforming them into the image of Christ. Their hope becomes
evident in their solitude and their joy in life is found in that fellowship of
suffering that they alone with Jesus share. These are the saviors who will come
to judge the world of men and of man’s flesh. These are the ones who will abide
eternally as risen with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places.
The instruction of the Apostle Paul to us
was to “forget those things which are behind”. This forgetting can only be done
by the painful outworking of the personal cross. By that cross we also press on
to the things before us. It is by that cross that we overcome all things in the
present reality and in the reality of the days that are ahead of us. But hear
me well, this time of pressing forward is a time wherein we are now being
counted worthy, and the time of this will soon be past. The Lord is raising up
a standard over this world and that standard is the life of these people. It is
the life of they who were faithful to this all consuming cross. That standard
is this Army, that company of they who were as Jesus was, suffering loneliness
and abandonment by those closest to Him. The power of this resurrection is what
comes next. The power of His endless life will then spell the end of the
personal cross! It is coming dear readers, it is not some vain hope some
distant day in the future, it is a reality that is
coming to us now in this very day. Look all around you in the world of men. Do
you see the shakings? Do you see the perplexity of nations unprecedented in
world history? Do you see the staggering load of iniquity that the world is
weighed under? Do you perceive the power of this happening in your very
neighborhood, in the city in which you live and in the nation in which you
abide? This is the end time and there is only one end time, this is it. The
more that Babylon collapses, the surer you can be that the cross will work in
you as never before, the more sure you will also be kept by the power of the
Lord unto the day of His promised appearing!
The danger we face is not the greater working of the cross nor is it the power of carnality to resist faith, nor is it the wars brought about by the powers of darkness which oppose the will of God being done. The danger we face is rather simple. It is looking for “signs” rather than looking to Jesus alone, the author and the finisher of our faith. “But he said, Yea
rather, blessed [are] they that
hear the word of God, and keep it.And when the people were gathered thick together, he
began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no
sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this
generation.The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon [is] here.The men of Nineve
shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for
they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas [is]
here. Luke 11:28-32.The danger is looking for signs, looking for that
which would prove His coming to be imminent.We are to look unto Jesus, the
author and the finisher of our faith and we are to look at NO OTHER! Nor
anything other! So what if the world is collapsing and filled with lies! So
what if it condemns the righteous and justifies the wicked! Nothing has changed, the world is still steeped in this carnality and
nothing more can be said to bring it to fruition OTHER THAN the revelation of
the Sons of God! This is the whole aim and point of the Lord working in such
holiness and so silently in the life of they that would overcome!
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