The New Jerusalem - The Paradise Of God

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:1-12

Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:8-13

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:24-25

And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Revelation 2:8-11

( 2 Visions )

( 1^st Vision repeated from “Unstopping the Flow” )

“I beheld another vision. This time I saw Golgotha, the place of the skull. Upon its blood stained solid stone structure stood the company of the Overcomers. Each one had come out from systems and from places and from various time frames in history to stand upon this place wherein our Lord was crucified. Each one stood, separate, with the Word of the Lord in their hearts. There were in their midst several empty crosses waiting for the impaled ones to be upon them, those who would suffer crucifixion and who would die to this world upon the cruel trees which were set up for this purpose. Then I saw the Heavens open above them and beheld the Lord upon His Throne. He sat with His great power and glory above this scene and He was indeed Lord over them all. However what I saw next was rather peculiar for I saw the Lord do a work that was very unique and very different from what I have seen before. In the midst of the Overcoming company were a very small few. Choice ones who had indeed been cast aside and who indeed knew nothing of the fellowship of man to man or group to group, but they surely did not fit into any other place or time, even in the midst of the entire overcoming group. The Lord then upon His Throne reached down with rays of glory and with these rays of glory drew a few certain ones up out away from the rest of the Overcomers and caused them to be impaled upon the crosses. They were lifted by the glory of the Lord only as high as the cross beams of these crosses stuck into the stone of Golgotha. These few, taken out of the midst of the rest of them were crucified and died, being rejected and despised even from those who had the Word of the Lord in them and were held in high esteem as true people of the Lord. These who were held in high esteem and who were commonly recognized as overcomers did not go to crosses, they simply stood, alive in the world, and on Golgotha, but they never had any impaling. Only those who were the absolute rejects of this group were impaled by the Lord who drew them to crosses. There they died.”

( End Vision )

( 2^nd Vision )

“Laid out upon the cross was the corporate overcomer, a representation of that group, that company that in this time are set aside unto the coming of the Lord and for His purpose in preparing a company of people for ruling and reigning with Him. This one was as ONE MAN, laid on the ground, on the cross as it lay flat. The hands and feet were being nailed to the beams of this cross. Around this ONE SINGLE MAN were the voices of those who were familiar to them, friends and those in company with them who had not been made part of this ONE MAN which I saw laid out upon the wood of the cross. These others who stood by were mocking this ONE MAN and saying unto him things that were just as hurtful as the nails. “You cannot overcome.” “ You cannot be part of what the Lord is doing in this hour.” “You cannot be used of the Lord for any greater purpose or for any work in the things of the Lord in this last day.” “You are being crucified because you are not of any value to us.” These who mocked also knew the greater things of the Lord in doctrine and in past motions of the Spirit of the Lord, but they were not part of this ONE MAN who laid upon the cross in impaling.

( End Vision )

As an example of perfect suffering Jesus Himself bore the total rejection of His nation, His time and His example. He had come unto His own and His own received Him not. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:10-11 As the Lord’s people we have imagined and hoped for the coming of the Lord, the subsequent judgments which would end man’s ways, and the dominion of His Kingdom, the New Jerusalem, to be set up. This is nothing new in history for men have longed for the things of the Lord from the beginning of time. Israel had longed for the Messiah to come to put down the Roman rule and to bring vindication to their nation. Christians through the ages have hoped for the Lord to come, to bring His Kingdom and power and glory to this world. But it was this very same world that Jesus said His Kingdom was not a part of. “Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” John 18:35-37 So then, because Jesus Kingdom is not of this world, then “this” world MUST come to an end, for the earth itself, this created sphere and all the peoples and nations within it BELONG TO JESUS. He “owns” all this. He is Lord over it all and even though we are in a time of increased evil, He is working to bring this all to a successful conclusion. Not one soul of any person will be left out of this work that Christ will now bring to the earth. No one exempt, all will come into this greater fullness in the love and redemption of Christ.

In this time we are in we are hearing several different words coming forth. These words cause us to test them by the scriptures and by the Spirit of the Lord in us to see whether or not the Lord has truly spoken. One such word taught is that we have already entered this perfect state, this state of total completion, that nothing more need be added to us in regards to spiritual stature because we are in the full scope of redemption and nothing will be left undone in us. We have arrived at that fixed point from whence wonders will flow because Jesus said – “It is finished”, therefore nothing more need be done. This is the subtle side of overcoming, stating that it is done when in fact we need to walk this out, bearing out daily the processings needed for our lives to be found perfect in Christ.

At the same time there are those who teach that Overcomers will reach a state of perfection before the Lord comes. That we will have fully subdued our wills and our iniquities and our wrestlings and will cause our footsteps to be found perfect with no guile prior to His coming. After all they say, the scriptures say - “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” Ephesians 5:25-28 So Christ will come for a spotless wrinkleless church! A holy church. So we will be perfect BEFORE He comes. Until then as long as we live in corruptible bodies, there will be this mystery of iniquity working in us. Perfection in totality is impossible while we abide in bodies subject to death.

Then there are those who state that Overcomers are of “one mind and one purpose”. That no division is possible between them and that no rift can exist. They have all heard the same word, this word of perfection and total redemption for all mankind which will be worked out in perfect succession by the purpose of the Lord in the earth. And they say that the Overcomer is an example of this perfection. “Are we not all of the same mind and hope?” “Do we not desire the same thing?” “Is there anything in us that is out of sync with the purpose of the Lord?” We have this verse amongst other similar ones which we adhere to. “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.” 1 Peter 3:8-11 The truth is that the sword of the Lord IS DIVIDING. It is DIVIDING ASUNDER BONE AND MARROW, SOUL AND SPIRIT. And dear reader, HE IS DIVIDING ONE FROM ANOTHER. There is a division taking place RIGHT IN THE COMPANY OF OVERCOMERS. There are some who are being set aside and taken out of the picture, disqualified from the rest, cast out, disregarded, relegated to useless endeavors. This unity we are to have, this ONE MIND and ONE HEART we are to have IS BEING JUDGED AT THIS PRESENT TIME. For the Lord is getting down to the core element within the life of the Overcomer and He is discerning as never before the thoughts and the intents of the hearts. The scope of personal iniquity along with the calling of God are causing internal conflicts and external separations!

So that unity and hope and desire for His fullness to overtake us is instead meeting with more strife, more division, more suspicion one of another and a tremendous lack of trust. The hearts are being tried, judged and set into open view before the Lord who is doing this by His sword. He is indeed JUDGING US. And in that judgment the dross is rising, the divisions happen and we find that we are no different than the denominations we came out of. We end up bringing that attitude of superiority with us. And instead of overcoming the secular state of self exaltation, we end up being suspicious of each other and divided from one another. Why is that? Because we MUST BE CLEANSED. This cleansing now is in the deepest part of the core of our being. The very center of the soul, the place wherein abides the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life, right in the midst of your very soul. It is there that the axe is being laid to the root of the corruptible nature, that tree of knowledge which would lift itself in pride against the truth. Once this axe has done it’s stroke, THEN UNITY WILL COME.

Right now there is a core group in the company of Overcomers who have willingly laid themselves open to this judgment. This core of people are set aside for one reason only, and that is to be identified with the sufferings of Jesus in each and every area.

From Isaiah 53.

1) “As a root out of dry ground.” The Overcomer seems to be the only green stem of life in this present time, all around them is the dearth of the soil of the earth with no real living sprout to be seen. And the ground is dry as the waters of life are still not present.

2) “No form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” And for those who have laid themselves down, they are despised even by those who know the very same truths! Rather than having a fellowship in suffering, there is a disdain in suffering! Those that are suffering such lack of comeliness are being completely rejected, even by those that know better!

3) “He is despised and rejected of men.” Not so much those in the world in general, for many of them we get along fine with! But those OF THE SAME CALLING. It was the Israel of Jesus day that rejected Jesus, those who had the Word of God and the calling of God and the promise of God. It was THOSE who crucified the King of glory. So it is for the Overcomer, that one who is willingly bearing the cross. They are being refused and rejected, both in their anointed calling and in the words they have to share. Thus it is the same in identity.

4) “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not”. Once the rejection by others is complete, a deep grief in the most hidden part of the heart is the result. A grief over the lack of the fulfillment of the word of the Lord in the life of the Lord’s people and a grief over the fact that NOTHING CAN BE SAID ABOUT IT. It seems as though no one can hear “truth” and no one can bear this about with no remorse. An unspeakable sorrow is the result and it seems as the Overcomer and the Lord are the only ones who know much about it!

5) Taking then this part out of Isaiah 53. “We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Amazing as this was for Jesus to bear, YOU WILL BEAR THE SAME. For when you are rejected by those who you are in familiar company with, THEY WILL THINK YOU DESPISED AND REJECTED AND A GREAT SINNER. That God somehow is “angered” by your life and the result is that you too are being hurt by God who somehow needs to put you aside, outside of His plan. Little do they know that this is the prelude to the complete death of the old nature and the avenue for the waters of life to flow!

When I was a young man the Lord taught me an exercise in the spirit to do, a matter of prayer and of waiting on Him for His will to be worked out in my life.

The Apostle Paul said to Timothy – “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 The gist of this is the word “committed”. And this was the exercise. I took my past, and all that was in it, my present, and all that was in it, and my future, and all that was in it and I committed it completely into those capable nail scarred hands, committing all of it unto the Lord. My prayer was “Lord, may all my past, all my present and all my future be a glory unto your Holy Name.” The Lord who taught me to do this exercise took that commitment all those long years ago. In that commitment was the life of my spouse, my sons, my home, my pets, my finances, my entire world. That included my life in His church, His body, in the fellowship of those who are one with Him in His greater purposes.

So now when the pressure hits, the nails are driven, the tribulation and hurt ensues, the Spirit of the Lord gently and quietly reminds me of this exercise I did all those long years ago. And the Lord says to me thus. “You included your future, and this present cross is part of that future”. What a comfort for those who would Overcome. Do it dear reader, at no matter what station of life you find yourself in, do that wonderful exercise and you will see the endurance needed come to pass as you take each and every day, one day at a time. “Fear not” dear Overcomer, this is the prelude to the flow of living waters, the necessary thing to unstop the life of Christ in you to be openly displayed.