#563 — The Secret and Diverse Kingdom
Recognizing the Portions but Ignoring Whole
The Kingdom is "LIKE" That but is NOT That.
Our Merger With the King and With the Kingdom.
December 29, 2013
Mat 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."
Really? Is the Kingdom like a tiny seed that IF AND WHEN it takes root and grows it becomes something tremendous? But what could we expect IF that tiny seed took root and grew in us? Would it produce something tremendous? Yes! That is exactly what it is supposed to do. Of course if there is no tiny seed planted, we can only expect something religious and disappointing will be produced.
Mat 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.
These two parables are so different that they might appear to be referring to two different Kingdoms. It is that same diversity which is revealed in several of the 34 parables. How can the Kingdom be LIKE so many different things?
If I was permitted to make up a parable I could say the Kingdom is like Swiss Cheese that is made with milk from the spring grasses. How could that possibly be true?
A block of spring Swiss Cheese has thousands of holes though it and each hole is different in size and shape. After the cows have been on winter forage of hay and grain for several months the gasses in the cheese are more subdued and the holes are small. When spring finally arrives and the spring grasses grow rapidly it produces a cheese that is different from the winter cheese because of the abundance of gasses forming in the cheese. Therefore, the cheese has a lot of large holes.
Therefore, the Kingdom is like Swiss Cheese that is made with milk from the spring grasses. Still, the Kingdom is NOT Swiss Cheese in any sense of a milk product. If we examine every hole in that block of cheese and analyzed its flavor and its chemical content it would not tell us ANYTHING about the Kingdom.
Why? That is because the Kingdom is not really like anything here on earth but is of another realm entirely. It is a diverse and secret Kingdom that must be recognized and discerned by more advanced methods than just by natural human abilities. The natural man can discern NOTHING from that realm because he has no inherent ability to understand anything from that realm. However, because he can receive no relevant understanding from that realm, the Kingdom just becomes more foolishness to him.
Mat 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened."
Did the multitudes understand the Parables because they knew the language and the customs and idioms of that area? Certainly not! Even the disciples had no idea what He said and He had to explain the details to them. Did they then understand the Kingdom? Certainly Not! Why? That is because the Kingdom MUST be recognized and understood by an entirely different method than human understanding gained by human intelligence or by any intellectual acumen. However, when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, He will take the things Jesus said and reveal them to us. Understanding these mysteries through the work of the Holy Spirit revealing them is the Divine provision.
Then it might be good to ask; If that is true, why is there so much ignorance about the Kingdom among "Spirit Filled people?" It seems obvious that something is not working like is was designed to work. Why? That is because the Kingdom is not functioning in the visible realm where everybody seems to be looking for it. If they are "seeking first" for something in this temporal realm that can be touched, it seems clear, they will find nothing.
Well. Brother, if that is your calling to preach the Kingdom why don't you tells us all about the Kingdom? The problem is this; even IF I could speak accurately about the Kingdom of God it is not understood that way. Why? The Kingdom seed MUST be in those who then have a tiny capacity to understand a few things but the multitudes who lack this Kingdom Seed, at least in embryo form, will understand nothing. The tiny seed MUST develop and grow before anything tremendous happens and the real Kingdom can be revealed in that person. This is the problem, behind the real problem, that magnifies the problem of not being able to preach a clear and Living Word that is Spirit, Life and Truth. Why? That is what delivers the tiny seed. However, man cannot impart that tiny seed because the Holy Spirit must "overshadow us" like He did Mary.
That is specifically a universal problem of not being able to speak words from that other dimension and then finding people who can hear these advanced and Spiritual words, even IF we could discover and speak them.
1Cor 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
This seems to be the way God designed this ministry to work. The real ministry is by speaking these special words that are far above human wisdom and human understanding. Nevertheless, the New Covenant Ministry is normal when we actually share these fleeting words that have been taught by the Spirit and then by combining spiritual thoughts with these spiritual words. This seems to be what Paul is calling "normal" New Covenant ministry.
2Cor 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.
Now we should ask this question; Is that exactly the way Jesus preached the Kingdom, by the Holy Spirit? Yes! Then why didn't everyone easily understand what He said? This question is still relevant today and every day since the first Pentecost and the same answer is required.
The answer is simple. The ability to understand Spiritual Words comes AFTER ALL the foundations are laid EXPERIENTIALLY in the lives of the believers. Then why do we discover all this ignorance and inability to understand even simple spiritual words in the church today? That is because the "ministries" have never developed any understanding about how to lay the foundations as living experiences. Then after completing the foundations experientially to take the believers on to the next dimension that Paul called "perfection."
After writing so many documents on the Kingdom of God, I discovered that the Kingdom is NOT an impersonal Government made up of impersonal laws and extreme demands. The real Kingdom does NOT stand in direct opposition to every person attempting to press their way into it. Of course that, evidently, is the way it is perceived by many who read these documents. Now, I have discovered that this negative opinion is really understandable because the Kingdom is not very easy to "seek as first priority." Why? I think it is because no Kingdom Seed has been sowed so there is NO GROWTH in that realm of receiving the spiritual words and the accompanying revelation.
But why, after nearly 23 years of seeking the Kingdom and its reality, am I still faced with this same frustration? I will attempt to explain where I failed. The path may wander around some but hopefully we will finally understand and not continue to repeat the same error. This understanding is focused upon the profound revelation of what Jesus prayed in the summation of his work on earth. This incredible statement speaks of the "merger" between God and man that includes us! Jesus boldly proclaimed that He has accomplished what He was sent to do.
John 17:4 "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.
This work is finished so we must not relegate this revealed plan to the future.
John 17:20 "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
This rather casual statement contains an eternal Truth that explains how and why the Eternal Kingdom will completely work successfully throughout Eternity Future. The secret is this; Even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us;
The Father was in Him and He was in the Father and "they" {US} are included by being "in THEM." The prototype Son was in the Father and the Father was in the prototype Son and THAT explains something eternal that contains the answers to many questions concerning the Mysteries that were hidden from past generations but now has been known through the church.
As incredible and profound as this sounds, the extraordinary revelation is that {WE} are included IN THEM. This MERGER of the human with the Divine is the Key to understanding the Kingdom and how and why this Government can be given to the Saints of the Highest One.
Was NOT God taking an extreme risk by assigning the Kingdom to the saints? This is NOT an unreasonal expectation as might be first thought. Why? Because of this "MERGER" of the human with the divine!
Daniel 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 This incredible and profound "provision" (the MERGER-COMBINATION- BLENDING) has already been granted because Jesus FINISHED the work that was assigned to Him. He is now remembering what that work encompassed. However, this is not the first revealing of God's purpose in His Son. Jesus revealed this "Blending" several times and in different ways. This "mystery" MUST be revealed as part of the Gospel of the Kingdom!
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." 31 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'? 35 "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."
John 14:9 Jesus *said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father'?
We should understand that these are "Spiritual Words" and must be understood in another ralm. Why? Because, natural understanding will say "Oh, this is actually the Father speaking with them. Therefore, Jesus IS the Father in bodily form. This is the source of the "oneness doctrine." This explanation of Jesus being the Father will NOT fit into God's Eternal Purpose for the saints to receive the Kingdom.
I want to focus upon this MERGER between the Father and the Son. The Son has been "blended" into the Father and having been "combined" they function together as One. This may appear to be a strange concept but this "oneness" was how the whole process began. The Father, the Living Abiding Word ( the Spirit of Christ) and the Holy Spirit are eternally ONE! However, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit are "merged" into being One Total Entity. Even this is very difficult for most people to understand. Now, what if we included the Son of God, The Lord Jesus Christ, the MAN Christ Jesus into this Divine merger? Does the Father then become the Son or does the Son become the Father. No!
The Son and the Spirit of Christ (the Living and Abiding Word of God) have become ONE so now He is called the Word of God. Because the Spirit of Christ (the Living and Abiding Word of God) is ONE with the Father and has proceeded from the Father there has become a complete "MERGER" with the Divine and one is in the other. Of course if we try to make sense of this REALM by human understanding, we are left with more confusion. However, if we can receive and comprehend this basic "Blending of the human with the Divine" then we will begin to understand the "Secret of the Kingdom and Its Great Diversity."
Of course NONE of this "merger"is possible until there is a complete transformation of the person into another species that is capable of "merging" into the Father. The Father can receive into Himself ONLY that which has originated from Him. In other words, ONLY that which is of the same species as the Father can be "blended" with the Father! To be more specific, ONLY that which has been born of God and from His Divine Seed (Sperma) can ever be "Merged" with the Father.
John 16:28 "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again, and going to the Father."
What came forth from the Father?" The Living and Abiding Word of God, the Spirit of Christ! The Word was made flesh! The Imperishable Seed, the Sperma of God, has come forth from the Father and has created a new species of man upon earth.
God, the Almighty, and His Kingdom are one. We cannot separate the Kingdom from God or God from His Kingdom. One is in the other because they are "blended" into one Divine Government / Person. Even as the Eternal Word is Living and Abiding, so the Kingdom is a Living and Abiding power. It is for that reason that preaching the Kingdom as one thing and then preaching the Person as another thing becomes a serious error which just adds to the confusion. They cannot be rationally separate because they each have the same Divine Life and have "merged" into ONE another.
Now IF I could say that the Kingdom of Priests have "merged" into this other realm of being, I might be correct or at least close to a valid explanation of how the Government of the next world will function. Would it then be correct to call this "MERGER" "the Body of the High Priest?" Is this "merger" compatible with what Jesus said in John 17?
But if this "MERGER" is the normal Christian Life, what about all the other sincere believers who just "already saved" but never advanced beyond the initial experience? Hopefully, while there is some question concerning those "already saved," that they may be fully inspired through preaching to be fully prepared to arrive at the place of "merger."
I made the statement that at last I understand that the Kingdom is not an impersonal Government made up of impersonal Laws and demands that are against us. No! The Kingdom is a Living Government that we can "merge" into us by sharing the same quality of Life, Spirit and Truth. How? By receiving this tiny seed that IS the Kingdom. Why? The Kingdom IS the seed because they are just one.
Even though this "merger" of the human with the Divine sounds incredible, none of this is impossible under the New Covenant Provision after we have experienced it. If I could be so bold I would say this IS EXACTLY what the Holy Spirit is attempting to do in this dispensation. As incredible as this sounds it may be confirmed by this parable. If we neglect the "merger" this parable makes little sense.
Mat 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened."
The Kingdom, when it has come into us and begins its work, it "spreads" outward until it is fully "merged" with Body, Soul and Spirit (the three measures). Since God and His Government are one, this "merger" is all encompassing!
leaven >noun 1 a substance, typically yeast, added to dough to make it ferment and rise. 2 an influence or quality that modifies or improves something: 2 To modify or improve.
One commentary responds to this "Kingdom Leaven" like this; " John's humor was the leaven of his charm." We wonder what hope there is when the most learned think about the Kingdom in this way. This is what Jesus said the Kingdom is like and not some humor John was using about the Kingdom. Nevertheless, the natural explanation is not much better.
Yeast or Leaven 1 a microscopic single-celled fungus capable of converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. 2 a grayish-yellow preparation of this obtained chiefly from fermented beer, used as a fermenting agent, to raise bread dough, and as a food supplement. 3 Biology any single-celled fungus that reproduces vegetatively by budding or fission.
The natural explanation leaves us cold and confused IF THAT IS HOW THE KINGDOM REALLY IS! It is like a beer by-product, a single-celled fungus. Obviously, we need to seek the Kingdom Truth in a more diverse and realistic realm than from dictionary explanations.
A quick conclusion about this "merger into one" then could be this; When the minister has "merged" with God, he has also merged with the Kingdom. As a Christian, he has already merged with the Living and Abiding Word of God. In this "merger" he can speak directly from that inner realm in words taught by the Spirit and he can therefore, speak Spirit, Life and Truth. Of course this is just another cliche until it has really taken place experientially in the "minister." Well then, brother, why don't we start a school and teach students how to preach the Kingdom? Because, that would be a big waste of time! Any student that didn't have the full provision of the New Covenant and the foundations laid experientially in their lives would not be equipped to perceive or function in that realm. Why? Because all they could learn was facts and information about a mechanical kingdom.
What, then, must happen now to prepare ministers AFTER they have experienced all the foundations? We have to minister the KINGDOM SEED ITSELF as leaven that can take up a living residence in each student. Then the Leaven must be free to work until ALL (the whole person) IS LEAVENED with the Divine Government. (the Kingdom IS the Leaven) When this "merger" takes place between the Kingdom and the person, that person will minister the Kingdom, from the Kingdom Life within, and NOT from a book or document. He will not preach theories or innuendos and repeat a bunch of cliches and call that a "sermon." He will preach Life and Spirit and Eternal Truth from that inner Divine Source.
Well, brother, why don't you do just that and speak to us from that realm? That is what I am wondering myself. I am guessing that the sperma of the Kingdom life came into me in about 1985 and I have been struggling with speaking from that realm ever since. But why has it taken so long to reveal itself? I just don't understand how that timing works. I started preaching "about" the Kingdom in 1990 but just the facts and information from the knowledge realm. I would like to preach at least one sermon from the Spirit, Life and Truth realm before I depart this realm. If my theory is correct I would, then, like to have it confirmed through another ministry.
I may never see the Kingdom, itself, preached on a wide scale but surely someone will soon rise to the occasion! This is NOT a matter of someone laying hands on a candidate but this requires that God lays His Hands on that person to activate the process.
It is a revealed fact that; " Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words." This appears to be available to any minister of the New Covenant. Then we may wonder why we do not see or experience this dimension of ministry today.
Surely 2000 years should be enough time for the church to figure out how this works. By this time there should be a huge army of ministers that could minister from that realm of the Spirit by combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words that have been given by the Holy Spirit." I am speculating that in this dimension of ministry, the words given would be about the Kingdom of God and this Divine Merger with the God of the Kingdom.
It would be a terrible injustice if Paul wrote these words and God permitted them to be included in the Bible but this reality was not available to us today. Would He have prepared such a ministry JUST so the early church could get started and then canceled that ministry of the Holy Spirit. That seems ridiculous to me.
Surely, If Christ is in me and I am in Christ, that at least some measure of "MERGER" has taken place. If I am "merged" with Christ and He is "merged" with God, it must mean that I am then merged with the Kingdom of God, at least, potentially.
"Merging with God" does not mean that we become God but that we are "joined to Him by Life." I hope by now, that everyone can see how shallow the "Gospel of believe in Jesus" is when it relates to a Kingdom salvation. If our "so great a salvation" requires this "merger" with the Father (and I am not sure) then our message surely must be radically improved. If our "Merger" with the Kingdom becomes the basis of New Covenant ministry, it seems clear, the accepted standard of "ministry" must be radically elevated to a much higher personal experience.
What is referred to as "my broken record that repeats the same chorus over and over" accuses the current ministries of neglecting their own personal experience of the inner Government of God. This same "broken record" is saying that the pitiful condition in the visible church is the fault and responsibility of the professional ministries. Their poor response to the Kingdom of God and its ultimate reality has contributed to the poor experience among their "members." I am certainly including myself with those "ministries!"
But , brother, what do you mean by "their poor response" to the Kingdom of God? This "condemnation" refers to neglecting this "merger" between the minister and the Father. It is because this "merger" is in another secret and hidden realm that the "thoughts and words" are difficult to "think" and much more difficult to write. Why? Because, they are not from the rational realm. Having a natural and intellectual capacity to "think" is not sufficient.
John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.
John 20:21 Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
John 12:49 "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak.
All of this is experiential and none of this is Christian Idealism. This IS Ultimate Realism and functions within the Kingdom Dimension of Life Experience. This IS the Kingdom of God revealed in a person. He is the prototype Son and just as the Father sent Him He sends us.
In other words, this is exactly why I say it is God's plan to reveal His Kingdom through the Lampstand Church and through the Kingdom of Priests. I do NOT believe that this is just more Kingdom hype.
"Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.
The signs and wonders and miracles in the past 100 years were done though gifts of the Holy Spirit! All that was wonderful and the design of God! However, now it is my opinion that the Greater Works will be the result of our "union" with the Father. This "merger" permits God to do His Works and to Speak His Words though us. However, we are criticized when we say "but NOT through all of us "who are saved." Why? Because, it is my theory that the next dimensin of ministry will be the direct result of this "MERGER" of the Divine with the human. However, the human, after the species of the first Adam, is eliminated from all activity in the Lampstand Church both today and forever.
I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me is the key to this next dimension of ministry.
Back in the early 1970's a Jewish man, who was a business consultant, came to our business to evaluate our business system. When I was bringing him from the airport I said to him, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me" and he said "that is the most arrogant thing I have ever heard." Of course I was just quoting the Bible and assuming that was my experience because I found the verse. This is still a big problem because many of these "statements" are just more cliches. "I and the Father are one" really does appear to be just more Christian hype today.
The real question is this; Is that the real measure of true and full Christianity? If it is then many of us had better seek first the Kingdom and maybe these things can be added to us! To come up short in this realm could be disastrous to our functioning in the next dimension.
But, brother, why are you always referring to the ministry of the "next dimension?" That is simply because the Lampstand Church IS IN THE NEXT DIMENSION! The Priesthood ministry FUNCTIONS IN THE NEXT DIMENSION! The Seven Spirits of God FUNCTION IN THE NEXT DIMENSION. Both the Table of Showbread AND the Altar of Incense ONLY FUNCTION IN THE NEXT DIMENSION. The Third Veil, that was torn, can ONLY BE ENTERED IN THE NEXT DIMENSION! AND THIS "MERGER" OF THE DIVINE AND THE NEW SPECIES OF HUMAN ONLY HAPPENS IN THE NEXT DIMENSION!
THE MINISTRY OF THE NEXT DIMENSION IS A "COMBINATION - MERGER - BLENDING" OF ALL THESE THINGS.
The Kingdom and its Parables, without this "merger," becomes an enigma.