September 2001

A new Spirit, the Spirit of the kingdom of God, which is part of the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord, is coming "down" from God out of heaven to the earth. This new Spirit is being imparted to the elect and chosen ones. He is transforming them within, causing them to grow spiritually, and moving them outwardly from the obsolete church order of the past to the new and higher order of the kingdom of God. We now understand that the kingdom of God has many parts or elements, each part having a specific purpose to fulfill in the earth. The Spirit of God and of His kingdom comes to the earth in many different forms and manifestations, and does so progressively and in stages.

The coming of the Spirit of the Lord, "down" from the heavens of Spirit to dwell within us in a greater measure, is also the coming of the greater glory of the kingdom of God to the earth to tabernacle or dwell within us and among us. And we all should know that the word "down" is not used with reference to any literal, vertical movement, but to the moving of the Spirit from the Heavens of God's Spirit to this earthly realm of our present spiritual experience. The elect of the Lord are receiving a new Spirit from their Father! And that new Spirit is completely changing them and moving them from the old order to the new, making them aware that a new Day in God has begun.

When we realize, by the wisdom of the mind of Christ, that the kingdom of God has come down to earth to dwell within us and among us in a greater way, we will then know that the throne of the Lord is also within us in a greater way. The reign of Christ in our lives in a greater way causes us to hear His word and do the perfect will of our Father. Christ reigns within us now in a greater way than He ever has before, cleansing us within and causing us to grow spiritually. If there is any new spiritual growth taking place within us, it will be exhibited outwardly, showing forth a corresponding change in our outer, earthly walk! Those who are receiving more of Christ and His kingdom truths can fully understand and appreciate that this is a new Day, and that the Lord is doing an entirely new thing in this new Day.

The throne of the Lord within us is actively working in us to deliver us of the old dead works of the past and is setting our feet on the new kingdom highway. This new kingdom highway will lead us through "the strait gate" and onto the narrow way, "which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." According to Jesus, there is a wide gate and a broad way "that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Mt. 7:13-14). Walk along with the multitudes in this new Day, and you will find yourself going through the wide gate and taking the broad path that leads to "destruction." The word "destruction," from the Greek, means "ruin or loss." It is the ruin or loss of the precious Life of Christ that would transform us, as the Lord's firstfruits, into His glorious image and likeness. But Father is leading His elect to go through the strait gate and take the narrow way that leads to the fullness of the Life of Christ.

While the religious multitudes today are walking through the wide gate and are taking the broad way that leads to ruin or loss, God has an elect and chosen remnant who are walking through the strait gate, spiritually speaking, and who are taking the narrow path that leads to the abundant Life of Christ. When we attempt to walk through that "strait gate" onto the narrow path, we will soon discover that we can take none of the old, useless baggage of the past church age along with us. The "strait gate" is too strait; it is too narrow and too confining, so that any baggage we may be carrying from the past cannot go with us through that "strait gate." According to Strong's Concordance, the word "strait" means narrow; it is a slender, confining gate made that way "from obstacles standing close about."

There are so many obstacles around that "strait gate" that we will find it too confining, too narrow and too restrictive to take anything with us through that gate. It is impossible to take the ritual of meetings through that gate; it is impossible to take the pulpit through that gate; it is impossible for any unchanged, old order preachers and teachers, or any other unchanged believers, to go through that gate. It is also impossible to take some old song services, outmoded and time-worn theological teachings and rituals, and anything else from the former church order with us through that gate. We must be stripped clean of all the old baggage of the past age, including our old thinking, before we can make it through the "strait gate," which leads to the abundant Life and the radiant Glory of the Lord. It is the good work of the Spirit of the Lord to take us through the strait gate. But before we can possibly go through that strait gate, our loving Father must strip us clean by removing from us every religious thing that has any connection with the old, obsolete church order of the past.

We grow spiritually by following the Lord wherever He leads us, and by doing all His perfect and holy will. Our Father is leading us beyond Pentecost and beyond church order! By the leading of His Spirit we are growing up into Christ, becoming mature adults in the kingdom of our Father. The divine standard for this new Day now tells us that if we have become a spiritual adult, we are done with the childish ways of the past and have put them all aside. A spiritual child delights in the childish ways of the past. He or she enjoys those childish ways, and continues to work and labor feverishly under the old church order. But when we grow up and become spiritual adults in the more glorious kingdom of our Father, we will then put away the childish toys of the past, and will receive with joy that which is perfect and complete, which is more of Love, or more of God and His kingdom.

This truth is clearly stated by the apostle Paul. "But when the complete and perfect [total] comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away - become antiquated, void and superseded"(1 Cor. 13:10, Amplified). Moving from church order to the higher order of the kingdom of God, or from the mediocre, inpart realm of Pentecost to the higher and more glorious spiritual realm of Tabernacles, is not a matter of us making up our carnal minds to walk a certain spiritual path. Paul makes it clear that when the complete, perfect and total comes, which is Love or God in greater fullness within us; the incomplete and imperfect will simply vanish away. Any desire we have left within us for the things of the past will be removed from within us, by the Spirit, according to the new and higher principles of the new order of the kingdom of God. The old order will then become void and antiquated, to be superseded and replaced by that which is much better and more glorious (see He. 10:9). We just need to drink in of the Spirit and receive more of Christ, as He is being revealed in this new kingdom Day. Then all the old, dead things of the past will simply fall away from us. The new Life within us will drive out of us all the old religious trappings associated with the past!

To put it another way, we may see the work of the Spirit to change us and lift us to a higher realm in God as being a resurrection. Hear what the Apostle Paul wrote about our growth in God: "[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him - that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and understanding [the wonders of His Person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers]; and that I may so SHARE HIS SUFFERINGS AS TO BE CONTINUALLY TRANSFORMED [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] OUT FROM AMONG THE DEAD [even while in the body]" (Phil. 3:10-11, Amplified).

There is most certainly a true, literal resurrection of our physical bodies yet to come. Until then, we will grow progressively, from glory to glory and from one realm to the next, by a resurrection "[that lifts me] OUT FROM AMONG THE DEAD [even while in the body]." The old order of the past is dead as far as we are concerned, for it lacks the precious anointing and Life of Christ! If we are growing spiritually to know the Lord and His glorious, heavenly Person more strongly and more completely by sharing His sufferings, we are also experiencing a spiritual and moral resurrection "out from among the dead," even while we are still in this physical body. We are being progressively transformed by the Spirit into His image and likeness. With each upward step of spiritual growth we take in God, we are experiencing that spiritual resurrection that lifts us out from among the dead.

The Elect: Called to go All the Way Westward

Several years ago, we published a message titled "Man's Journey Godward: From the East to the West." We are quoting some from that message, for the Spirit has added more to it. Throughout the history of God's dealings with man, it has been our Father's supreme purpose to bring His elect to the fullness of His glory and presence so that full deliverance, blessing and restoration could flow out to the needy of earth. We who are called of God as His elect unto sonship should now understand that only as we progress westward toward the Lord and the fullness of His presence and glory can the creation be delivered of its many bondages and the kingdom of God be fully established in the earth with peace, justice and equity for all. From the beginning of time man has been on a spiritual journey toward the Lord and His fullness. It is time now for the elect of the Lord to set their faces as a flint to approach the realm of the Lord's fullness and thus bring about the culmination of all His holy plans and purposes for this world.

"And the Lord God planted a garden EASTWARD in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed" (Ge. 2:8). When the Lord created Adam, He placed him on the east side of Eden. The Lord did this to show that it is His purpose that His firstfruits, and all mankind after them, should progress westward toward the realm of the Lord's presence and glory. Thus, man begins his spiritual journey back to God from the east and travels westward toward the Lord and the realm of His fullness. We begin our spiritual journey back to God from the east, in spiritual type, always traveling westward as we grow in God. It is our Father's sovereign purpose to lead His chosen elect of this hour all the way westward spiritually, to the highest realm of the fullness of His glory and presence. And when the elect have reached the realm of His fullness, there to be transformed, the whole creation shall then be delivered of its bondages to sin and death (Ro. 8:19-23).

When Adam and Eve "fell," or, more correctly, when the Lord brought Adam and Eve down to this lowly state of sin and death in His redemptive process of full restoration (Ro. 8:20-21), the Lord sent them out of the Garden of Eden. "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Ge. 3:24). The Lord sent Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden and away from the tree of life to prevent them from living forever in that fallen state. But as the elect of the Lord continue following Him all the way westward to the realm of His fullness, never deviating and never turning aside from that Divine purpose, we shall partake of the tree of Life, to live forever in our new bodies of the Life and Glory of the Lord. We are returning to the glory of Eden, but in a greater way and with a more perfect and more glorious fullness.

The entrance to the garden of Eden was on the east side. So also was the entrance to the tabernacle in the wilderness on the east side. This answers to the heavenly pattern after which the original tabernacle in the wilderness was designed (He. 8:5). The tabernacle in the wilderness faced the east with the gate of the outer court on the east end, so that all who entered came in from the east and walked toward the west. Even so in our spiritual experience do we go westward, symbolically and spiritually, beginning at the outer court of the tabernacle, then going into the holy place, and finally to the Holy of holies, which also is the Holiest of all. We are always growing and progressing in God as we walk spiritually from the east to the west.

With each new spiritual experience and deepening relationship with the Lord, we are symbolically moving through the Heavenly tabernacle, from the outer court, through the Holy place, and into the Holy of holies, always growing and progressing in God from the east to the west. These three realms in God are also illustrated in the three major feasts of Israel, which are Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. This clearly illustrates the spiritual progress of the saints of the Lord, from the east to the west, and from the immature realm of the outer court to the mature realm of the Holiest of all. This is the example that is given to us, on whom the end of the ages has come. It is the spiritual path we must take if we hope to make it to the realm of His fullness, there to be changed into the image and likeness of Christ.

After the Lord brought Adam and Eve down to this lowly state, man continually manifested his carnal, fleshly ways. Instead of turning to the Lord, man turned his back on God and journeyed spiritually toward the east. "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one accent and mode of expression. And as they journeyed EASTWARD they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top reaches into the sky; and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth" (Ge. 11:1-4, Amplified).

In his fallen, carnal state, man always seeks to build something for himself and make a name for himself. As the carnal man journeyed EASTWARD, his fleshly, carnal, impure desires were evident. The result of man's selfish, self-centered appetites and desires brought confusion (Babel or Babylon) to the earth. This resulted in man being scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth (Ge. 11:9). Eastern religions are well named for they were devised by those who are of the east, symbolically representing man's farthest distance from God. Only as we face the west, spiritually speaking, can we properly describe God and His ways. To further illustrate the distinction between men of flesh and the Lord's elect, we read that when Abram and Lot separated, Lot journeyed east while Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan (Ge. 13:11-12, see also Ge. 25:5-6). And when Balak the king of Moab wanted someone to curse Israel, he found a man (Balaam) out of the mountains of the east who agreed to do that cursing for him (Num. 23:7). But instead of cursing Israel, Balaam could only bless the nation in the name of the Lord (Num. 23:11-12). Thus, God protected His nation and people from the carnal men of the east!

The scriptures abound with many such illustrations of the truth that men of flesh always face EASTWARD, in spiritual type, while the Lord's true sons are always facing WESTWARD in their spiritual walk to the realm of the fullness of the glory and presence of the Lord. In this wonderful new Day, our Father is restoring His elect, causing us to desire only His ways and only His perfect and holy will. He has turned our faces WESTWARD, in the Spirit and by the Spirit! And it is our Father's plan and purpose to continue leading us westward, step by step, up to the realm of His ultimate glory and fullness. And all who are called to walk this lonely path to sonship shall continue to face the WEST, spiritually speaking. They/we are always following the Lord and walking in the Spirit, as He leads us upward to the realm of the fullness of His glory and presence. Let us clearly understand this most important truth: not until the elect have reached the realm of His fullness, to be transformed by the Spirit, shall the whole creation be delivered of its bondage to sin and death. There is nothing more important now than our spiritual progress westward to His fullness!

We should also understand that when we are spiritually facing the west and the presence of the Lord, we cannot "see" the multitudes of this world who are in the east, in spiritual type. When our single "eye" is toward the Lord and the ultimate in God, we do not see people. People and their many needs are not our concern, at this time. Our final goal, our real purpose in God, is to progress and grow spiritually until we have reached the realm of His total and complete fullness. Our faces are set toward the Lord and His fullness, and the immediate needs of the people all around us will not deter us from pressing on in the Spirit. The many needs of the multitudes will be met in greater fullness when we have reached the glorious realm of Tabernacles. There are many others who have no other vision or goal in life than to minister to needy people, or to the "house" (as in Eze. 44:10-11). But we who are the elect of the Lord are called to minister to the Lord and to enter into His innermost sanctuary (as in Eze. 44:15-16). Then, when we have reached the realm of His fullness and are clothed with the new priestly, Melchisedec garments, which are garments of His Life, we shall turn toward the east, or toward the masses of the people, delivering them of their many sins and bondages (Eze. 44:17-19).

Prophecies in scripture warn us of settling for something less than the best, or less than the fullness of God. Let us never be satisfied until we have reached the realm of the fullness of God. Ezekiel was shown the abominations of the Lord's people. The Lord caused the prophet to see women at the gate of the Lord's house "weeping for Tammux," a heathen idol. "Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, WITH THEIR BACKS TOWARD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, AND THEIR FACES TOWARD THE EAST: and they worshiped the sun TOWARD THE EAST" (Ez. 8:15-16, see also vss. 5-6 & Ez. 11:1-3).

What an abomination that was for twenty-five carnal-minded men to turn their backs on the presence of the Lord and worship the heathen idols of the "east"! But it is a greater abomination today, after 2000 years of the work of the Spirit, to see Christians now who have their backs toward the presence of the Lord, in spiritual type, while they worship with their faces toward the east. Many have received Christ as their Savior. The Lord did not lead them any further, so they turned their backs on God and remained at that elementary Passover realm. Other Christians may go on to receive the Holy Spirit. Then, having received the Pentecostal experience and lacking further direction from God, they settle down in that mediocre realm.

The realm of Pentecost, with its gifts, ministries and other outward manifestations, has too much attraction for them. They lack the greater vision of the eternal purposes of God and His fullness, and have no guidance from the Lord to follow on to know Him. Then, they turn their backs on the Lord and remain at that limited, inpart realm of Pentecost. This may be among the greatest of the abominations ever committed in the house of the Lord throughout all of human history! But, in spite of these facts, we all know that the Lord must call His people to this high calling of God in Christ. Only those who are called and chosen of their Father and then found faithful, can walk the sonship walk (see Mt. 22:14, 1 Pe. 2:9)! Father has a faithful remnant in the world today! They stand with Him Who is "Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are CALLED, AND CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL" (Rev. 17:14)! Unless Father permits us to go on to perfection, it is impossible for us do so (see He. 6:1-3). Others may talk the sonship talk, but they cannot walk the walk! They have no desire for His fullness, for the Lord has not called and chosen them to go onward and upward in Him and with Him!

Our Father has a called, chosen and elect remnant in the earth today who have purposed to go all the way with Him. They are not only called and chosen of their Father, but they are faithful to Him as well. Their faces are set toward the west, spiritually speaking, or toward the realm of the presence and the glory of the Lord; and they will not rest or cease walking with Him until they have reached the realm of His fullness. They shall be changed in their minds and bodies, and transformed into the glorious image and likeness of their Savior, Head, and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. These elect and chosen ones truly desire that for which the Psalmist cried out, when he said, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God" (Ps. 84:2 & Phil. 3:10-11). Our only desire now is for the fullness of God and His eternal kingdom of peace, righteousness and justice. No prayer has ever been prayed by an anointed one that expresses more eloquence and Divine purpose than this: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. THY KINGDOM COME. THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH (beginning in this earth that we are), as it is in heaven." Amen!

The Christ Body: Progressing Spiritually from the East to the West

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Mt. 24:27). May the holy Spirit give us wisdom and understanding to see that this verse means much more than we ever thought it did in the past. When the Bible speaks of "the Son of man," it is not referring only to our Lord Jesus Christ. There are 196 references to "the son of man" in the entire King James Bible, and 108 of them are in the Old Testament. This tells us that the term, "son of man," refers to saints of God who have lived and are living on this earth, as well as to Jesus.

For example, Isaiah spoke of a "man," which is any man of the world, and also of "the son of man," which can only be a Godly person (Is. 56:2). He referred to both groups as those who should do no evil. Jeremiah also spoke of "no man," and of "the son of man," to tell us that neither of those groups shall dwell in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah after their destruction (Jer. 49:18, vs. 33, 50:40 & 51:43). We also see that the Lord addressed Ezekiel as "the Son of man." (See Ez. 2:1, 3, 6, 8, 3:1, 3, 4 & 10. There are many more such references in Ezekiel alone, but they are too numerous to list here.) Thus, the references to "son of man," in the scriptures mentioned, refer to those who are Godly as opposed to the people of the world.

The truth is, all the growing and maturing sons of God, who are a part of the body of Christ in the earth, are also a part of that "Son of man" company. Jesus used the illustration of the lightning that comes out of the east and shines to the west to show the spiritual growth of the body of Christ in the earth, which also is THE SON OF MAN COMPANY. Those who are called of God to sonship and who are faithfully WALKING THE SONSHIP WALK, are seen in the Spirit as that Son of man company. They are walking in the Spirit, growing, progressing and maturing spiritually. They are progressing from the east to the west, from the primary realm of Passover to Pentecost, and onward and upward from Pentecost all the way to Tabernacles. The path of the growing and maturing sons of God, which we are, is seen as the lightning that is shining out of us from the east to the west. The Light of Christ within us is lighting our path onward and upward as we go westward and heavenward to the fullness of the kingdom of God. The wise man said, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more UNTO THE PERFECT DAY" (Pro. 4:18).

What is it that makes us shine like the lightning? It is the glorious and transcendent Light of Christ shining out from our innermost beings, lighting our path as we follow on to know the Lord in His fullness. It is the Light of His presence shining out of us and around us, just as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night revealed Israel's path through the wilderness. We are the light of the world! The Light of Christ shines out from within us, and so does the light of God that has purged us and prepared us in the holy fires of His burning presence. We are of those elect and maturing sons of God who have come through the fires of God, who are fully prepared by that fire, which God is (He. 12:29), and who show forth the purging, cleansing glow of the fires of their preparation in and through their lives.

Ezekiel saw this prepared and anointed company of the sons of God, which also is the Son of man company, coming out of the fires of their tests and trials. They were still glowing from the fires of God that had purged and cleansed them. He said of them, "they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass" (Ez. 1:7). The prophet saw that "a whirlwind came out of the north," which is the wind of the Spirit. Then he saw "a great cloud," which was a cloud of Spirit, "and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof (or, out of the midst of the fire) came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; THEY HAD THE LIKENESS OF A MAN" (Ez. 1:4-5).

Indeed, those four beings were spiritual men, each man representing one of the four faces of Christ in His earthly work and ministry, but who become one in Christ. Those four who are one in Christ are the four manifestations of Christ to the world. It is the completed and perfected body of Christ that is seen coming out of the fires of their tests and trials, fully prepared of the Spirit to rule and reign with Christ. They entered the kingdom of God through "much tribulation" (Acts 14:22). This anointed and perfected body of mature Sons of God not only had "four faces," but everyone of them also "had four wings" (Eze. 1:6). Their "wings" enabled them to soar throughout the earth and the heavens to do the perfect will of their Father everywhere, without the hindrances and restrictions of the flesh.

Each of the four faces correspond to the spirit and message of the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Those four find fulfillment in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ the first Son, and in the lives of all the members of the body of Christ. In his excellent writing, "The Four Living Beings," Robert Beecham wrote this about those four beings: "What contrasts! King and yet servant, man and yet God! How amazing! How wonderful! How far beyond human imagination! Has any other person in history combined such opposites? Yet that is what Jesus was and is: the servant-king, the man-God. We too are to reign with him. We too are to be servants of God and of man. Human though we are, we too are to be sons and daughters of God and become `partakers of the divine nature'. The Holy Spirit that indwelt our Savior Jesus was the spirit that made him a king, a servant, a man and a god. The Holy Spirit in us gives us kingly power and authority. He gives us the humble attitude of servants, and the power to serve. By the Holy Spirit we too will manifest the nature of God.

"That same spirit that was in him is now in us. What is impossible to the natural man is possible with God. The same spirit that made Jesus a king will make kings of his body. That same spirit that made Jesus a servant will also make his body members servants. The same spirit that was God in Jesus will be God also in those who follow him. By that spirit they will become a glorious, united body, moving together in perfect unity and harmony. By that spirit they will be one with each other and one with God." (End of quotation.)

If we could see in the Spirit, we would see that our righteous, sonship walk in the Spirit is seen as the lightning that shines from the east to the west. The Light of His glory shines from within us as long as we minister to Him and are continually walking, growing and progressing in the Spirit. It is our Father's sovereign purpose that we should continue growing and progressing in the Spirit, always moving spiritually from Passover to Pentecost and on to Tabernacles, going from the east to the west. As we move westward toward His fullness, the Light of the glory of the Lord is always moving with us, for His Light and Glory is within us. When Ezekiel was brought by the Spirit to the gate that faced the east, he saw that "the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east (His light and glory comes with us): and his voice was like a noise of many waters (or many people): and the earth shined with His glory. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house" (Ez. 43:1-2, 4).

The history of Israel, along with Old Testament types and shadows, are as patterns and examples given to us on whom the end of the ages are come (1 Co. 10:11). These patterns and examples show us that the glory and presence of the Lord always accompanies His elect and chosen ones who do His will and who continue to follow Him. When Israel was making their way through the wilderness to their promised land, the glory and presence of the Lord accompanied them in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So also does the glory and presence of the Lord accompany His elect of this hour as we travel spiritually from the initial salvation realm of Passover to the realm of Tabernacles and the fullness of God, or from the east to the west. The glory of the Lord does not dwell among a people who are static, who remain in a fixed position spiritually. But His glory and presence remains with those who continue to grow spiritually, and who are ever walking, moving and progressing in God.

As we progress from the east to the west, or from the outer court to the Holiest of all, the Light of the glory and presence of the Lord goes with us. We bring the light and glory of the Lord WITH US (from the east) into His house or temple (to the west, Ez. 43:1-2). When we have reached the realm of His fullness and have been transformed into His image and likeness, our Father will turn our faces eastward, toward the multitudes of all the nations of this world. Then the multitudes of the world will come to the Lord, acknowledging Him as their Savior, Lord and King. Then the whole earth will shine with the Light of His glory (vs. 2), for the glory of the Lord will then be within all mankind in fullness. The secret to seeing the glory and presence of the Lord fill His house is for all the elect and chosen ones to continue growing and maturing in God until they have reached the realm of His fullness. That will be the realm of the Holiest of all where they shall be changed into His glorious image and likeness, thus initiating the grand and glorious manifestation of the sons of God! And nothing less than this will satisfy the prophetic word of the Lord, or meet the needs of the groaning, travailing creation (1 Co. 15:19-28, 35-57).

Once we receive a true vision of the plan and purpose of our Father, by the Spirit, we will then see and understand that God is not dealing with the world at this time. Father's purpose now is to take out of the nations "a people for His name" (Acts. 15:14). He is in the process of gathering together His elect out of the religious systems and from the nations, and is leading them spiritually from the east to the west. God is not now working among the nations to save the multitudes, but He is now working on His house. The Spirit of the Lord is now working among His chosen elect to "build again the tabernacle of David, which is (or was) fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue (or the remainder) 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 15:16-18).

Contrary to the false doctrines and religious opinions of some misguided Christians, our Father is not now "trying" to save the world. If God wanted to save the world now, the world would be saved! It is as simple as that! Furthermore, our Father is not the least bit surprised or disappointed at the present state of mankind or of the whole world. He knows all about the distress of both individuals and nations. Yet God will not interrupt His sovereign and omnipotent plan of redemption and restoration, no matter how bad things get in this old world. He has a plan and nothing or no one will ever bypass that wonderful, sovereign plan of full redemption. And since our Father has a plan for the salvation of the world, it is both unscriptural and unspiritual for any of His elect to attempt to minister to the heathen at this time. Not until the River of God flows out of His completed house in holy torrents of Divine blessing and deliverance (see Ez. 47:1-5) will it be the time to deliver the multitudes. The true sons of God are patiently awaiting the fullness of Father's time and purpose, when the waters of the River of His Life have risen (Ez. 47:5). Then His Spirit shall flow out to the nations in heavenly, spiritual glory and kingdom abundance, and WE WILL CONTINUE FLOWING WITH HIM.

If we are honestly and truly concerned and burdened with the needs of the people and the travail of the creation, we will do our best to seek the face of the Lord, grow in the Spirit, and continue our westward, spiritual journey to the realm of His fullness. Then, after the house of the Lord has been restored and filled with His body of sons, or with the Son of man company, and the great glory of the Lord has also filled His house, "the residue (or the remainder) of men (SHALL) seek after the Lord." What a wonderful plan our Father has for us, His elect, and for the whole groaning and travailing creation!

We now see ourselves, in the Spirit and by the Spirit, moving westward toward the Holiest of all, which is the realm of the fullness of the glory of the Lord. To go westward in our spiritual journey, we have had to turn our backs on people and on the nations, and set our faces as a flint to see the Lord and partake of the fullness of His glory. The time is coming when we will be led of the Spirit to turn from the Holiest of all and go out from that high and holy realm toward the east, or toward the multitudes of the nations, taking with us the greater glory and presence of the Lord (see Ez. 47:1-5). But we shall not turn eastward to minister to the people of the nations as individuals.

It is not individual believers who shall "descend," as it were, from the heavens of His Spirit to the earth. It is an anointed BODY, the Son of man company, which shall turn eastward to the multitudes. It is the Son of man company who shall descend from the Holiest of all in the heavenlies to the earth. The day of individual ministries is over! God is preparing a body, the manchild company, or the Son of man company; they shall minister as one man to the multitudes of this world AFTER they have received of His fullness! In our walk with the Lord, we will maintain a proper balance between His will and ways and our earthly walk, by being led by His Spirit. The sons of God in the earth today are those who are led by the Spirit. They are flowing with God at all times and in all circumstances. When the Spirit changes direction, from going toward the west and His fullness, to flowing eastward toward the nations, we will have no problem changing our spiritual direction, for we are accustomed to flowing with God.

Go West Young Man

In 1851, around the time of the westward expansion of this country, John Soule coined the phrase, "Go west young man, and grow up with the country." Horace Greeley picked up that phrase and used it extensively when giving advice to young men. Thus, the phrase, "Go west young man" became popular. Today a manchild is growing up and maturing in the Spirit. Those of this company, who are all maturing sons of God doing the perfect will of their Father in the earth, may hear a word within them saying, "Go west young man." The pleadings of their Father have been persistent and determined as the young man was urged to press his way westward.

The young man of this hour, which is the manchild or the son of man company, is indeed pressing his way westward, spiritually speaking. And they will continue to do so until they have reached the realm of the Lord's fullness and they have all been perfected and matured. Then they shall be led of the Spirit to turn around and go eastward, to minister to the nations in the power and glory of His transforming fullness. Then, having received of His fullness, the Lord's chosen elect will NOT go to the nations by themselves, or as individuals, but they will go eastward to the nations AS ONE BODY, AND AS ONE CORPORATE MAN OF THE SPIRIT! We shall not descend or come down from the heavens of His Spirit as individuals; it is the Christ man, the son of man company, in all the fullness of the glory and life of Christ, that shall come down from the heavens to the earth. God is forming a BODY, and that holy, anointed and obedient BODY shall remain in blessed and hallowed unity, doing only and always the perfect will of their Father everywhere and in every situation!

This blessed truth is revealed in the prophetic Word of the Lord. The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of the anointed and completed Body of Christ. He saw that many-membered company as a Body that was functioning as ONE MAN. "And they went EVERY ONE straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked THEY FOLLOWED IT (HIM); they turned not as they went. And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes (the eyes of the Spirit, 1 Pe. 3:12, Rev. 1:14, 2:18, 4:8, & 5:6) round about, even the wheels that they four had" (Ez. 1:12-14, 10:11-12).

Under the old, Pentecostal, church order, ministries went everywhere, some of them doing as they pleased, others doing the will of their Father in that inpart realm, as the Spirit led them. But in the new kingdom order the elect shall bring Life to the whole creation as they go forth in the fullness of the unity of the Spirit, ministering, not as scattered individuals doing their own thing, but AS ONE MAN UNITED IN THE SPIRIT and anointed by that same Spirit. The deliverance of the whole creation depends on the sons of God and the spiritual direction they are taking at this time. As this united company continues their westward, spiritual journey toward the Lord and His kingdom grandeur, we shall partake of the fullness of our Father's Life and Glory, to become a part of the flowing of His abundant, torrential and overflowing River of Life.

In this glorious new Day of the greater manifestation of the kingdom of God in the earth, "the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people,... And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." In other words, Israel and Judah shall become one people again, when the Lord recovers the remnant of His people. Is not this taking place now in the Spirit? Surely the elect of the Lord are becoming one people, or one corporate man, by the work of the Spirit within each of them.

The word of the Lord continued, saying, "But they (the restored and regathered remnant of Israel, which we are) shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines TOWARD THE WEST; they shall spoil them of the east together" (Is. 11:11-14). What wonderful truths are revealed in this prophecy! As the saints of God continue to journey westward toward the presence and the glory of the Lord, never turning to the right hand or to the left, we will find that all our enemies, which symbolically are those of the east, shall be spoiled by the mighty presence of the fullness of the Lord, which accompanies us.

This anointed prophecy also tells us that we, the remnant of the Lord, "shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines." The Philistines were one of Israel's enemies, and those enemies were assisting Israel spiritually. Those Philistines were fulfilling a purpose in God for His nation and people by adding to their negative pressures, which increased Israel's tests and trials at that time. The greater, spiritual truth given here is that our enemies, no matter who they are or what they are, are being used of our Father to bring us to maturity. We are seen spiritually "flying" or moving on the shoulders of our enemies. In other words, we are making spiritual progress because of the tests and trials brought on by our enemies, which can only assist us in our spiritual growth. Our enemies might like to harm us or prevent us from attaining our goal in Christ. But they really are assisting us in our spiritual journey westward to the fullness of God!

The tests and trials of this life, including our enemies, are working together for good to them who are the called according to Father's sovereign purpose. The negative circumstances of this life are ordained of our Father to make us perfect and complete and to transform us into His glorious image and likeness. None of those negative circumstances can defeat us or discourage us, for "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ro. 8:28, 37-39).

It is by the presence of the Lord, which accompanies the spiritually westward moving sons of God, that all our enemies shall be defeated and put under our feet (Ps. 9:3). As we remain in His holy temple, maintaining a living, vital and growing relationship with our Father, He will hear our voice in His temple when we cry out to Him (Ps. 18:1-3, 6). And in hearing us, our Father will deliver us and raise us up to the glory of His Life. Our Father has a purpose in sending tests and trials our way and in allowing our "enemies" to trouble us. Every test and trial, including the resistance of our enemies, are purposed of our Father to assist us in our spiritual growth. Every negative thing contributes to our westward, spiritual growth and progress in God!

Knowing this truth will help us understand these words of Jesus a little better, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children (or sons) of your Father which is in heaven. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Mt. 5:43-45, 48). And, "Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Ro. 12:20-21 see also 2 Thess. 3:14-16). By the coming of the power of God, from the heavens of His Spirit to the earth, our Father shall eliminate every enemy, including all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Ro. 1:18-19). Until that blessed hour, all those "enemies" are assisting us in our spiritual growth. All things are of God, including the negative things of this "life." God is using all of it to perfect us and fulfill all His holy will and purpose!

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