#470 Kingdom: The Fulness Of Him Who Fills All In All
In the last study we were speculating that each of the seven Outer Court experiences had another dimension connected to it. This dimension is in the invisible realm but is an essential part of the visible experience. We arrived at that speculation by examining the twenty things that the Bible says should have happened when we were baptized. This is what we referred to as the Fourth Dimension of DEPTH. Our thesis was that the Three Dimensions of length, width and breadth were in the visible dimension and the DEPTH was in the invisible dimension. This dimension is here but not seen on the surface or in the dirt dimension. We said that the things which the natural eyes cannot see and the natural ears cannot hear are of the Fourth Dimension. This invisible dimension is the home of the New Creation Inner Man. It can also be related to the Holy and the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle of Moses. Revelation and that special knowledge (epi-gnosis) rightfully belongs to the Fourth Dimension.
Act 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Act 10:40 “God raised Him up on the third day, and granted that He should become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
Jesus was invisible after His resurrection and could appear and disappear and move from place to place instantly. Therefore, He was living and moving in this invisible Fourth Dimension. For forty days He appeared and taught them about the Kingdom of God and then they were witnesses to His “ascension” into the Forth Dimension that was out of their sight. Some have transferred this event into the modern age where all of a sudden He was shot up into the sky by a rocket and landed on some planet some light years away. However, from His words we learn that He is quite near but in the invisible realm. I am guessing that is the realm of the great cloud of witnesses.
John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 “After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also. 20 “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
There are realms of the Christian Life in which we know things but we don’t know how we know. We are aware of our environment and realize we are not alone. We realize there is the visible realm and sometimes we are aware of the invisible realms. This is how we are defining the Fourth Dimension. We may have encountered the manifestation of angels without seeing them because they dwell in the invisible realm of the Fourth Dimension.
In this study our thesis will be that this Fourth Dimension is where we will find and experience the Fulness Of Him Who Fills All In All. Why must we put it in the invisible realm? Because, this obviously is not something we can identify or touch or discern with the five physical senses.
We will assume that “FULNESS” is attached to some or all of the Outer Court experiences but is intrinsically linked to the Depth Dimension. As we examine the usage of this word “fulness” we immediately will be shocked by the implications of what we have received or should have received in Christ. “Of His Fulness” may mean that He has already become “the Fulness of Deity” and that we have received a portion of His Fulness. His complete body then contains the ultimate of His Fulness. Still, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God suggests that fulness may still be future. Or that the “ONE MATURE MAN” ( the corporate Christ) when complete will be the fulness of Christ in Eph 4:13.
Our thesis will include the Fulness of God, the Fulness of Christ and we will speculate that the Fulness of His Purpose will terminate in the Kingdom of God.
G4138 πλήρωμα plērōma play’-ro-mah
From G4137; repletion or completion, that is, (subjectively) what fills (as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude), or (objectively) what is filled (as container, performance, period): - which is put in to fill up, piece that filled up, fulfilling, full, fulness.
John 1:16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
Eph 1:23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
Eph 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.
Col 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him,
Col 2:9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
We may assume that this “filling” was complete and up to the “fulness dimension” but then we discover that what we really got was just the “down payment” or a little bit. Possibly we were “filled” to all we could hold at that time. Then we discover “fulness” on the Lampstand Church and defined as “the Seven Spirits of God” or the Spirit without measure. The first filling resulted in them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. The second “filling” resulted in them speaking the Word of God with boldness. Thus we can identify degrees of “filling” even in the outward dimensions. Many of us are now anticipating the next dimension of “fulness” seen in the Seven Spirits of God. Obviously the transition from the natural light of the Outer Court dimension to the completely Spiritual Light of the Holy Place will be essential. This transition is from the preparation for the Priesthood stage to the function of the Priesthood stage that begins in the Holy Place.
In this study we will focus up the Consecration Offering because we believe this experience is essential to participate in the next restoration of restoring the Priesthood function and the Holy Place Life and Ministry. We will use this as the “fulness” of the seventh Outer Court Experience and the place of “filling” related to the final Priesthood preparation. In addition to that we will look at the Consecration Offering from the viewpoint of the “DEPTH DIMENSION.” Why? Because for over thirty years we have shared the mechanical, visible, shallow, demonstrable part of the experience as we kneel before the lord to give our person, piece by piece, to God as Bondservants. My wife and I did that in December of 1970 by personal revelation and understanding. We both did it with fear and trembling because we didn’t know what it meant, just that God was requiring it. However, after seeing hundreds of believers do this over the last 40 years, we have seen very little results manifested as actual reality of the anticipated “fulness” in our lives. That means that the anticipated “priesthood function”didn’t become recognizable. At this point we are expecting to discover several “Invisible Realities” that exist below the surface that are NOT in the visible realm. To do this I will use Tom Hobart’s Wordbook of Old Testament Words which he permitted me use for this study.
These Old Testament Words are related to the Consecration Offering and mean to be filled or to be full or related to fulness. Derivatives of this word are used 249 times in the Old Testament. As an example it is used to speak of the fulness of times. Also how God’s Glory will fill the whole earth. Also God’s Presence filled the Tabernacle. “Fullness—“ (male -► Hebrew) speaks of the fulness of time for gestation when the baby was born. It is used to speak of the land of Canaan and its entire contents as belonging to the Lord. It is used to speak of the homer-full of manna stored in the Ark in the Presence of God. A derivative of this word (malo- Hebrew) speaks of that “which fills up.”
Exo 29:22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the LORD; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 25 “And you shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the LORD; it is an offering by fire to the LORD.
The word translated as “ordination”(millu-Hebrew) is this word for filling. This Consecration Offering or Ordination is called “The filling of the Hands.” In these following verses it is clear that the Priest who was “ordained” according to the pattern had their hands so full that they could do nothing other than hold the consecrated things. One application is that the Priest not only consecrated his life and person but also his service to the Lord without reservation. We might apply this to Paul’s experience on the Damascus road in his first confrontation with the Lord.
Several pastors who meet together here are now speculating that it is this lack of “consecration” that is keeping the “called out ones” for advancing into the purpose of God. According to the pattern, no one will enter into the “priesthood ministry” of the Holy Place or become part of the Lampstand Church until this “FILLING” is complete, at least in the Outer Court dimension. The casual attitude in the visible church can be attributed to this lack of “consecration, ordination, fullness” that is clearly revealed in the pattern supplied by God but ignored by most of the ministers.
There was a divided priesthood established at Mount Sinai under the Old Covenant because the people refused to go up into God’s Presence, hear his voice, keep His covenant and obey. God’s call was for ALL His people to come up Mount Sinai and He would make them a universal priesthood and a Kingdom of Priests. This divided priesthood (people were one group and Aaron and his Sons were another group) became a substitute priesthood but could NOT perfect anybody, not even the priests. Therefore, it was done away with and replaced with the Priesthood related directly with Mount Zion. That IS the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. This is a universal priesthood that is designed to welcome all believers who will meet the requirements (the experiential consecration) of the Priesthood. We are speculating that Each of the seven Outer Court experiences must be experiential before we will qualify for this Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. Why? Because that is exactly what we see in the Pattern that God has given us. Even if this is ignored by most of the visible church it does not change the truth of the type or God’s requirements to meet His sovereign standards for this New Covenant Priesthood.
1Peter 2:4 And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
Verse 9 is a quote from Exodus 19 when God called all of Israel up Mount Sinai to make them a Kingdom of Priests. Today it is casually assumed that every believer who accepts Jesus as “personal Savior” is automatically a “priest.” Martin Luther established this “fact” as part of the Reformation in 1517. He saw the fact of priesthood but ignored the preparation for the priesthood as a living experience. This same erroneous logic assumes that because Jesus “overcame” that we have “already overcome” in Him. This same logic assumes that since Jesus came to perfection that we are already “perfect in Christ.”
Everything that is given as evidence that we “are being built into a spiritual house” is then ignored because of a small part of one verse. This ignorance has deceived multitudes into believing that “accepting Jesus as personal Savior” is ALL that is required to be experientially righteous, to be an overcomer and to be declared “perfect by God.” Imputed righteousness, because of faith is valid, but experiential righteousness (the bride’s garments) is another thing. Going on to perfection or Paul’s striving to become perfect is ignored. Multitudes have been deceived into believing that after they have “accepted Jesus as personal Savior” they are already sitting with Jesus on His throne. This same deception says that our Priesthood then is just a matter of faith and has nothing to do with preparation, consecration, going up Mount Zion or serving God with our whole New Man and life.
Rom 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
(1) Justified by faith= Peace with God (2) Justified by His Blood= Saved from the wrath of God (3) Reconciled by His death= Saved by His Life. Salvation by receiving the Life of Christ {Sperma} is largely ignored. Instead “Salvation by His blood” is substituted for Life. Forgiveness of sins ( by the blood) is considered as full salvation rather than one step into full salvation. A progressive salvation is largely ignored because of doctrines that revolve around the thief on the cross. Remember, his life produced nothing toward eternity. To preach this {paradise} as New Covenant Salvation is extreme ignorance. To smugly preach that what we are proclaiming about the Kingdom is “just works” that cannot “save you” must ignore the whole message of the Kingdom.
Some of this error revolves around Romans 10: 9-10. Many have assumed that the whole plan of salvation depends upon this one verse “doctrine” and then ignore all the other verses that define the actual experience of salvation. “Old things have passed away and ALL things have become new” and other “evidence” of salvation is ignored. The “doctrine of salvation” has largely replaced the “experience of salvation” in the message of the visible church. The result is that multitudes are trusting in the “doctrine of salvation” for their eternal destiny rather than “repentance” and in a “genuine experience of radical conversion.”
Why are we rehashing these things again? Because experiencing the “fulness of Him who fills all in all” and the requirement that we “be built up into all the fulness of Christ” may be essential to participate in the next restoration.
The next shock will be that coming to the fulness of the Outer Court Preparation and Experiences is NOT the same thing as Coming to the Fulness of the Holy Place Function and Experiences. However, we are speculating that no one will BEGIN the Holy Place Preparation and Experiences without FIRST coming to the Fulness of the Outer Court Preparation and Experiences. Why? Because the Purpose of the Outer Court Preparations is to PREPARE us for our Holy Place Function. No Preparation= No Function! We can only function in the Holy Place “IF GOD PERMITS.” God is under “NO OBLIGATION” to permit us to function in the Priesthood Ministry if we neglect the Preparation. How do we know that? We read the Old Testament! But can’t Kings burn incense? NO! That will kill them. But Nadab and Abihu neglected the Preparation and they burned incense! That is correct! However, they got burned up.
Lev 10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
Rom 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
1Cor 10:10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
To ignore the Old Covenant as examples, types and shadows of the New Covenant life is really ignorant and robs us of many important truths. At least some of our valid New Covenant instruction comes from these examples.
This is certainly true of the Priesthood after the Order of Aaron. Hebrews 7 is nearly all about the former priesthood and how it related to the law. It related the tithe also to the former priesthood. However, a totally different kind of Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek is now established along with a different Law. Jesus has become our High Priest after that Higher Order. Of course according to the example He is NOT the only priest. He is the High Priest who is the head over other priests who are Sons of the High Priest. We know this from the type of Aaron and his sons who were priests. In David’s time there were 24 different orders of priests.
Heb 7:28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
The fact that “perfection” is part of this Priesthood seems to be a lost understanding today. Even defining “perfection” today is discouraged. “Perfection” as full growth, maturity, complete or “harvest ready” is treated as strange in some circles. Why? Because, they say, no one is perfect or even can be in this life. The fact that the Law was worthless to bring anyone to perfection is openly acknowledged but the solution is ignored. Today much emphasis is placed upon the “fivefold ministry” in Ephesians 4:11-15 but NO emphasis is placed upon their work of bringing the church to perfection. The actual “perfection of the church” is the EVIDENCE of validity of their work. Therefore, no one should try to identify with any of these five ministries if they have no evidence of the church coming to perfection. This is exactly why I consider my 30 years of ministry as a “pastor” a failure. In the past 40 years I have seen many “conversions” and a multitude of “believers” but few “Priests after the Order of Melchizedek.” Maybe it wasn’t the time for that restoration but NOW we believe it is the time for this restoration of Priesthood AND Fulness.
Fullness then is our emphasis in this document. There is little to no doubt that the things written about fulness, the fulness of Him who fills all in all, the fulness of Christ, was full believed and must have been experienced by the writers who could boldly record these things. However, we fully suspect that the Spirit of Truth that leads into all truth is responsible for this “truth” being recorded. Some will wonder, if this “truth” is real why has it been hidden all these years? It is NOT that it has been hidden but just that it took this long until our eyes could be opened to see these truths. I believe these truths of “the depths and of fulness” is within of the unfolding of the Wisdom of God for our day. Some may see that as arrogance or “ministry cleverness” in creating a new thing but I view this as essential Truth that was conveyed or imparted to the New Testament writers nearly 2000 years ago. This is NOT New Truth but just an opening of our eyes to see a little of the invisible realms.
We can confidently say that Christianity, as to its “FULLNESS,” is in its infancy. We suddenly realize that we know VERY LITTLE at the present time , even about the things we have believed for a long time. We know very little about ourselves or about the world we live it. We know very little of the Truth that the Spirit of Truth has come to reveal to us. We now understand that there will be no end to the unfolding of God’s Ultimate Truth and the Spirit of Truth can ONLY reveal Truth to those willing to pay the price of preparation. It is now my supposition that the Spirit of Truth is currently revealing ALL He can reveal in the Outer Court dimension. The Truth revealed in the Holy Place dimension by the Seven Spirits of God will be astounding as we are able to eat directly from the Showbread.
Organized Christianity is still in its beginning stages. We find ourselves grappling with mysteries and obtuse truth knowing fully that these things can ONLY come to us as revelation and not just by research. Just to enter into the “depths” of the mystery of “The Eternal Christ” or the “Corporate Christ” or the “Man, Christ Jesus” is beyond our ability as natural man. The realization that neither books or tapes or videos or the preaching of man can ever satisfy the longing that rises within us to experience “Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God” in these hidden dimensions. This can cause us some cynicism and disillusionment if our confidence wavers in the commission given to the Spirit of Truth. His JOB is to lead us into ALL truth. However, the failure is not with Him but with our lack of preparation to be able to see and hear in the dimension in which He is speaking and doing.
I am guessing that it is the LACK of the Consecration Offering, as our living experience, that is preventing us from seeing into this realm of unrestricted Light. I fully believe that the Holy Spirit is revealing EVERYTHING He can to us in the dimension in which we live. Changing realms is the key to greater and clearer revelation. Whatever the cost or the requirements or the fire of purification of the Gold, the Lampstand Church will advance or ascend into the Holy Place dimension. [the Fourth Dimension] How do we know that? Because we have read Revelation 2 and 3 and acknowledge its reality. The revelation of the One who is walking among the Lampstands and is threatening, warning and correcting each one will come as a great shock to those who are focused upon some casual Christianity and a permissive God.