#352 Kingdom: To Whom The Father Reveals Him
Many years ago several of the “old writers”spoke of the “ELECT,” those chosen by God, making statements like, “We who are chosen of God in this generation,” etc. This always offended me because I assumed that EVERYBODY was chosen and called by God and that God desired all men to be saved and for none to perish. Doesn’t the Bible say that God wants everybody to come to repentance? Yes, it does!
Then there must be a difference between the elect and “all men.” There may be a difference between being saved and responding to a special calling by God.
1Ti 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
It is generally accepted that God chooses out of each generation those whom He selects by His sovereignty, to fulfill His purpose in their generation.
Mar 13:20 “And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days.
Paul writes to the church and addresses them as God’s elect or those chosen by God. Our purpose in this study is not to argue over “if” God chooses but to whom He reveals Himself.
Mat 11:27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
The Father and the Son are sovereign over those to whom they reveal themselves and they choose whosoever they want.
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit. God also chose these with a specific purpose in mind. Our response to God’s choosing is what we call, “consecration.”
2Pe 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
Mat 22:13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
When we respond to God’s calling and to His choosing us, we are preparing ourselves for His Kingdom. First we should acknowledge that it wasn’t because of our own cleverness that we are here but that He chose us; we didn’t choose Him. Since He revealed Himself to us and chose us, we are His elect or we are “chosen by God.” AFTER we discover who God is, we will understand that we are truly blest to be chosen as God’s elect!
Gal 1:15 But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles
The illumination of this principle of the revelation of Christ and to whom He is revealed should begin in the Old Testament. Why? Because Jesus Christ is concealed there in the “letter of scripture.” He is revealed to us through the “Spirit of the scripture.”
The Old Covenant is like a road sign pointing out the way to Christ. We may see a road sign that says Washington, DC this way. The road sign is NOT Washington, DC but just points toward Washington, DC. We can be at the road sign and be many miles from Washington, DC. One of the dangers of the Messianic Movement is they have a tendency to camp at the road sign and speak about Christ, the Messiah.
In the last paper we looked at Jesus, the Man as the wrapping in which the Eternal Word of God, the Spirit of Christ, was concealed. The human form was just the Veil that concealed the reality that was behind the Veil. The very Glory of God was among men and the great majority failed to recognize Him. Nevertheless, what they did see was the Veil. However, God did reveal Him that was in the Veil to those whom He chose beforehand. The Father didn’t reveal Him to everybody but just to those whom He chose. Somewhere in this “viewpoint” we discover something about the Kingdom of God.
Israel had been waiting for centuries for the Messiah to appear and to establish the Kingdom in Israel. They were looking for a Messiah according to the “letter of the scripture” that was taught and many of them read. However, they missed the “messiah of the Spirit.” They were also looking for “the letter of the kingdom” rather than the “spiritual Kingdom.” They had in mind a kingdom like David’s and a king over Israel. They looked for an earthly and ethnic kingdom, ruled by a messianic King.
Is the Kingdom just “letter” or is the Kingdom “Spirit?” Interpreting the Kingdom as “letter,” “natural,” “ethnic,” “local” and “earthly” may also be confusing us, as it did Israel AND the disciples.
Act 1:6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” :7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
In effect Jesus said, “Now, disciples, I don’t want you to get involved in the “letter of the Kingdom” so lets not talk about the earthly Kingdom now.” “You go into Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come and He will reveal the “Spirit of the Kingdom” to you.” “You should not try to make the Kingdom a doctrine but you should be “My witnesses” of the reality of the Kingdom in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
We generally have made the subject of this scripture “preaching the gospel of salvation to the whole world” but the context is clearly the Kingdom and its reality. Without guidance and teaching by the Holy Spirit there is a great danger that we will just preach the Letter of the Kingdom. We may discover some facts about the Kingdom and start constructing “kingdom halls.” Why? Because there is a Veil over the Kingdom and the reality of the Kingdom is behind the Veil. Therefore, let us pass through the Veil and then preach what we see and hear. In this dimension we’ll discover that there is no necessity for “kingdom halls” or earthly kings to rule over the church! The Head of the church, which IS His body, is THE king and ALL members serve and obey Him.
Dan 7:27 ‘Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
The “letter of the Kingdom” will not help us because Jesus said My Kingdom is not of this world. My Kingdom is NOT physical or of the “letter” and just understanding the “letter of scripture” will not reveal the Kingdom. By that method you will only see and preach the Veil over the Kingdom.
In the same way that it is the Father that reveals Christ so also it is Christ and the Father that reveals the Kingdom. Trying to discover and define the Kingdom by human means of the natural man using the natural mind and logic has created a lot of confusion concerning the Kingdom of God. No one can come to Christ except the Father draw him and no one can decide to enter the Kingdom unless the Father reveals the Kingdom and draws us into it.
Why is that God’s plan? Because the Kingdom is not natural or physical but is spiritual. It is, at this time, NOT an outward Government on the earth but is an inward government in the heart of the citizens of the Kingdom. God’s Laws are not nailed to the church door but are put into our mind and written upon our heart.
The Kingdom is a great treasure but it is hidden in the “letter of scripture .” Thank God it is revealed in the “Spirit” of the scripture. Still, the spirit of scripture is another veil unless the Holy Spirit reveals the Kingdom to us. Going out of the city into the country to find a field in which to search out the Kingdom may be a popular concept for a natural church committee sent out to investigate this “new doctrine.” This is a common error of interpretation of making that which is ONLY spiritual into something natural. Searching for the treasure is passing from the letter of scripture to the Spirit of scripture. AFTER we dig in the Spirit of scripture, the treasure is revealed. Once we find the treasure in the Spirit of Scripture we must buy the field and not return again to the “letter of scripture.” Why? Because we cannot mix the two.
Our garments cannot be woven with two kinds of threads and a woman cannot wear her husbands garments. She has to weave and produce her own. This is the shadow of the “letter.” The natural person will interpret this only as a natural law for the church and start counting threads and defining women’s natural clothes.
Now we realize that the Father is wanting everybody to repent and be saved in a kind of universal way. God was in Christ reconciling the whole world to Himself. Nevertheless, the Father will draw, He will choose, He will call and He will work in us both to will and to do His good pleasure! And THEN He will chose those who respond and meet the requirements, or those who have made their calling and choosing by God a certain thing. How? By conforming their character to the Life of God in them. These are those who are accounted as worthy of the Kingdom! Hold this thought while we expand our realm of conjecture from certain experiences over the years.
Moving from the natural light of the Outer Court and into the purely spiritual light of the Holy Place is the restoration that confronts us today. Since much of this transition is just conjecture, at the present time, we are expressing an opinion based upon incomplete personal evidence. Never the less, we are, (even if its only through a cloudy glass), seeing something that is interesting and necessary for “vision” regarding varieties of ministries.
Therefore, we will take the condition of which we are all familiar. The preaching of the 33 years of the life of Jesus. These 33 years of history are certainly NOT representative of the Life Of Jesus Christ. This is the history of the “veil” that concealed Christ. We preach and teach about the veil being removed in Matthew 27, but then we keep preaching about the Veil. The song leader insists upon taking us through the Veil with his guitar. Great sermons are preached about the torn Veil but no one seems to know what is on the other side. Preachers who are in the flesh are preaching about the Veil which is His torn flesh. However, their flesh is still very much intact and “ministering.”
To speak about the Life of Christ we have to begin before time began and in another realm. 1Jo 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you The Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
This person known as Jesus Christ is the Word of Life Who IS the Eternal Life which was with the Father before the beginning. This LIFE was manifested to us behind the Veil. If we ONLY know Christ after the flesh we are limited to preaching the Veil and the Christ after the Spirit remains a mystery. Then where do we see this Christ of the Spirit? Behind the Veil!
During the Charismatic Renewal there was a preacher from Argentina that told the story about an angel that came down to visit a big Charismatic Conference. The ministers were preaching on the subject “the Power of Christ.” When he returned to the company of Angels, he told them how humorous the meetings were so all the angels would get a good laugh.
The angel told them how the preachers were telling the congregations how Jesus turned the water into wine and fed the 5000; about casting out demons and calming the storm. The climax of the message of power was about Jesus Christ cursing the Fig tree and how it dried up. Now the angels all had a good laugh.
Surely these humans didn’t have a clue about whom they spoke. They were amazed at how shallow the message was and how ignorant of God these mortals are. Here is the one who hung the stars in the universe and created billions of galaxies. He is the one who designed time and predestined the end from the beginning and these mortals are impressed with cursing a fig tree.
They all agreed that these humans ONLY knew Christ after the flesh. However, they realized that ONLY someone who had lived as man and the limitation of the natural mind, living in the covering of humanity, could possibly understand this level of ignorance about the Creator God. It was then that the Incarnation of Christ, the Word of God, became apparent.
It is ONLY this Christ, the Eternal Word of God, Him who IS Eternal Life, who can guide man out of this natural dimension into the next dimension. Beyond this “next dimension” is another and even “higher” dimension that God has designed for man to inherit. No matter how much we have experienced in this realm, it is nothing compared to the revelation of the Christ of Eternity. We are all babies in knowing Christ after the Spirit.
When we put this story in the understanding of the earthly Tabernacle we see coverings, veils, fences, and gates everywhere. They all seem to say “Stay Out, No Trespassing, Entrance Forbidden! Danger!” However, they are just Veils that cover the reality of each dimension. The Revelation of each dimension uncovers the fulness of that dimension but Not the fulness of the whole. Coming to the “perfection” of one dimension is still short of growing to the “perfection” of all the dimensions. Unless we have a vision for and enter into the “next” dimension, the dimension “upward” from our present experience, we will never come to know the “fullness” of the preceding dimension, i.e. the one in which we have become, “overcomers.” In other words, “We will not come to the fullness of the Outer Court experiences unless or until we have a vision for and enter beyond the veil or entrance to the Holy Place.” “We will not come to the fullness of the Holy Place experiences unless or until we have a vision for and enter through the veil that divides the Holy from the Most Holy Place.” Having access to these realms, because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished and provided for us through His death, burial and resurrection, does not fulfill the reality of our having entered.
Phi 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Phi 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
Paul knew that even “many coming to perfection” in one dimension is still not “many coming to perfection” in the next dimension. Each dimension in the Tabernacle has its own perfection or fulness or completeness. Hopefully, there are “many” who are coming to the “perfection” of the Outer Court and are becoming very dissatisfied, and have the desire to be introduced to the “perfection” of the next dimension. We approach the First Veil and feel the goose bumps and think we have arrived at the fullness of God’s purpose. We feel these same goose bumps and think we have “arrived” with every experience that becomes our reality, at every progressive step of the way.
God’s design is to remove all the Veils, one at a time, until we arrive in His manifest Presence and see Him as He is. We say this as a cliche but to bring a human being from outside the Tabernacle, through the different dimensions, into God’s Glorious Presence is a tremendous work to accomplish in man. A total transformation of the inner man is essential.
Today we preach stories and facts about Christ, after the flesh, and think we are preaching the Gospel. We preach the “letter” of scripture and call it ministry! We are supposed to be born again into the New Covenant where the Veils are removed. At least they CAN be removed as we pass through the different dimensions. The Veils open like doors when we pass from one realm to the next. The Veils don’t need to open if we just sit in our present reality and fail to grow.
We know about physical worship and soulish worship. We have all experienced emotional worship but in this dispensation we are supposed to experience worship in Spirit and in Truth. These lower realms of worship are not wrong but if we need music and atmosphere to worship we are in a shallow dimension. The main difference between the levels of worship is between the outward man and the new inner man. It is the outward man that needs music and atmosphere to worship. Even a deep silence can be as emotional as a lot of noise. All these things have been a great mystery to me for many years and I was unable to understand how to interpret the atmosphere during these times. I still don’t know the experience of worshiping in Spirit and in Truth but I know this is the dispensation of the New Covenant which makes it possible.
IF the early church actually worshiped in Spirit and Truth we should understand how that was lost and how we get it back. After 2000 years, this higher worship in Spirit and Truth should be the standard worship we experience today. Instead of this, that level of worship is still a great mystery in the church today. This appears to be the difference between “letter worship” and “spirit worship.”
The barrier [ Veil ] to the next dimension is the lack of a new revelation of Christ in the Spirit dimension. We have come as far as the “letter understanding of Christ” can take us. It is clear that the New Covenant is the basis of ministry today.
2Co 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Human adequacy in the ministry is one of the barriers to the New Covenant becoming effective and that human level of “ministry” can never take us beyond the Outer Court. Human adequacy and ministering the letter go hand in hand. So what is the answer?
The Father must draw, reveal, chose, prepare, equip, root up, tear down and destroy the whole system of ministering the letter before He can begin building something in the Spirit. Is this too negative? Only to those who think this is all that God planned the church to become!
2Co 3:2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Once again we see the evidence of the New Covenant in the experience of the early church. This is somewhat clearer in the Phillips translation but this shows the transition from carrying a Bible to becoming a “letter written by Christ.” Not carrying the “letter” but the “spirit.” Not written upon tablets of stone but upon the new inner man. Paul held the pen but the Spirit of the Living God did the writing. Not in a Bible but upon the new inner man. Christ must be formed in them so they become a letter from God.
Sending out Bibles to foreign lands is just not the same as sending out “living letters from Christ” who are manifesting the New Covenant Gospel, the Kingdom of God! It is my opinion that God is not drawing, choosing, preparing us for the next restoration in the Holy Place Life and Ministry by the “letter” but by the “Spirit.” Human adequacy must be rejected and the New Covenant must become our experience rather than another doctrine we preach. Preaching the New Covenant without the experience of the New Covenant will just be more “letter without the Life.”
The New Covenant must be an inward covenant, manifested by the new inner man that confirms that it is Christ in us that is our hope of Glory. That it is the Spirit of God in us causing us to walk in His ways and obeying the Laws written in our hearts and minds. That we know and experience the Holy Spirit teaching us in the inner man and revealing Christ to us.
How will we know when it is working according to God’s plan for the church? The same Spirit which He put upon the Redeemer and the same Word that He put in the Redeemers mouth will not depart from His mouth OR the mouth of His Offspring from then on and forever. As incredible as this sounds it is surely included in the New Covenant!
I am guessing that Isa 59:20 onward is the key to the next restoration!