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The Overcomers – Part IV
The overcomer is marching on, pressing on with all vigor, preempting the Adamic nature at every turn, so that the glory of the Son might be seen in the universe. Nothing can stop the march of the Hosts of the Lord as they conform to the glorious image of the Beloved Son. The overcomer has been called and chosen, to be the repairer of the breach, the intercessor for creation through the life of the Savior, Christ Jesus. Issac Newton wrote of the sons of God and the glorious deliverance they shall bring. Many through the ages have been a remnant, pressing on for a city not made with hands, like Abraham. But now is the time, to cause a critical mass event. If enough people, call on His Name, and partake of His Nature, which is what ‘name’ means, then the change of the governments of this world will become His (Isaiah 9:6-7).
The fourth level of overcoming is that of Pentecost. Truly this
experience of the fourth vessel of the Tabernacle causes much division in the
body of Christ that it should not. But those who are overjoyed at the experience
share it with those who do not have it because they want them to have a similar
experience in Christ. This desire to bless comes across to those who do not have
the experience as an insult to their spirituality. Truly there is a way in
Christ to present this to another without confrontation and without carnal
efforts to share the experience that alienate others. The best way is to let
your light shine, reveal the joy of the experience, the victory of the
experience, etc. Make others hunger for more of what you have.
Pentecost is a word that means fifty. It occurs fifty days after
Passover. It is the second major category of the three feasts. For forty days
(Acts 1:3) Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection. Then on the day of
Pentecost (ten days after the forty days (Acts 2) He returned (John 14:28) and
filled the saints that remained (there were 500 but only 120 remained faithful
and waited) with the Holy Spirit. While the disciples had the Spirit earlier
(John 20:21) they received the power and the gifts on the day of
Pentecost. We might add that the understanding of the Scriptures came then too
because up to this point there was no understanding of the Scriptures and they
were in fear of their lives. Only after one receives the power of the Holy
Spirit is the enlightenment of the Scriptures really opened up for the spiritual
content. And the most significant
statement of Pentecost is that the brethren become emboldened to stand for their
faith and lose their lives. Up to Pentecost the church cowered but after
Pentecost the were empowered. I might add that all the great men of faith and
just to name a few – Luther, Wesley, Moody etc. all had the baptism in the
Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
To be an overcomer, one has the requirement to experience all the feasts in
your lifetime, even as Jesus experienced all the feasts in His. He is our
pattern example to follow (1 Peter 2:21). Recently,
a lady came to our fellowship meeting who was a born again believer and she had
heard from someone that we believed in the salvation of all. She too believed
that. But it was knowledge to her and not Life to her in that she could not act
out and produce the fruit of this truth to others. In talking with her and
probing a little, I found that she had not ever experienced the feast of
Pentecost, that is used any one of the gifts of the Spirit of 1 Corinthians 12.
She understood mentally the concepts of no rapture, reconciliation, etc. but
these were doctrines to her. I explained that she needed the baptism of the
Spirit. I gave her some material that explained the gifts and how they work and
how to receive them, since she did not want to be prayed for to have the
experience immediately. She never returned. Hopefully, she will have the desire
for the experience, but I saw on her face that it was stumbling block to her. The
feast of Pentecost is a powerful experience that should be used to propel us
into Him deeper rather than to bless the flesh with physical health, wants and
desires. But Pentecost also divides those who seek to be an overcomer by the
strength of their mind (knowledge, understanding) or by the power of self-effort
from entering in. For the leading of the Spirit is contrary to the ways of men
– Proverbs 4:7. If man is to get wisdom, then he does not have it. Wisdom is a
person – 1 Corinthians 1:24. Pentecost is an experience that reminds me of
adolescence. As a teenager you feel your adult nature within, but your
immaturity overrides it. You want the rights of adulthood, but are not quite
mature enough to handle the decision making. We have all been there at one time.
Pentecost is like that. You can use the power of the Spirit and go to
exhilarating heights and accomplish tremendous things in God, and the very next
moment be in the doldrums of despair wondering where God is. An overcomer passes
through this experience. All
the feasts, vessels, and levels of overcoming are part of the foundation of our
faith. What testimony would there be without the experience of salvation (Brazen
Altar)? How good a testimony could there be if there is no holiness experienced
(Laver)? Could we testify without the power of Pentecost (Candlestick)? Each
part of our walk is part of a maturing process. Ah, the Christ life is a life
long change into His nature. It is important to partake of all that the Lord has
for us. In
1 Corinthians 12 it states that none can call the Jesus Lord except by the Holy
Spirit. It is the experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that seals us
(Ephesians 1:11-14) from the enemy (1 John 5:18). As the Amplified Bible states:
“We know [absolutely] that any one born of God
does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who
was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him – Christ’s
divine presence within him preserves him against evil – and the wicked one
does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him].”
The power of the Holy Spirit within us keeps us from the wicked one.
Jesus ‘saves us’ and the Holy Spirit (read John 14:16-19), who is a
manifestation of the Lord, protects and empowers us. Now
there are in 1 Corinthians 12 listed nine gifts of the Spirit: (1) word
of wisdom, (2) word of knowledge, (3) faith, (4) gifts of healing, (5) miracles,
(6) prophecy, (7) discerning spirits, (8) gift of tongues, (9) interpretation of
tongues. It is interesting to note in the Tabernacle, in the Holy Place, which
speaks of an inner working, there are nine lights. The ‘candlestick’
as the KJV refers to it has seven lights, the center light and three branches
off either side. But there are two more in the Holy Place and we find them
mentioned in Zechariah 4:2-5. Thus, nine lights each a type of each gift of the
Spirit. All the lights are equal and none better than another is (1 Corinthians
12:11) because they all come from the same Spirit. He gives severally as He
wills. But if you have the experience of one, you know you have them all because
it is the same Spirit. In
fact, contrary to typical Pentecostal preaching, it is not found that every time
the people in Acts were prayed for did they receive speaking in tongues, but
they did receive the Holy Spirit. Also contrary to typical Pentecostal preaching
you do not have to ‘tarry’ to receive the Holy Spirit. We must realize that
God cannot be forced into a certain pattern but will do what is best for that
individual’s personal walk with God. Some
gifts are provided for growth too. As an example tongues and interpretation are
excellent gifts used to edify the body of Christ. If one feels led to speak in
tongues in a service, pray for the interpretation also. You may not have it and
some other might but if no one does, someone was out of order for not having the
interpretation. But chances are it was you. Sometimes what the lord gives us is
not always to be declared and only experience in a loving body can determine
that. Secondly with maturity you can just prophesize without the need of tongues
and interpretation. If you have done the first, go on to prophesying. Now I know
that many churches require that if you have a ‘word’ you need to get
permission from the elders before the service to give it in the service. While
God may bless that, because it is His word, the eldership is wrong in making
such a requirement. The Spirit is to be free in a service and not controlled. If
the person is out of order during the service, then the elders are supposed to
be mature enough to recognize that, and quietly go over to the person and assist
them in understanding. Thus, the whole body is edified as the body of Christ
sees the love of the elders extended to the immature saint (the spiritual
adolesecent) trying to grow in his/her gift. It teaches the body to discern a
word of the Lord from the word of the flesh. But if the elders only allow
approval before a service, the saints remain immature in their discernment
because the discernment is done for them, which according to Hebrews they should
not (Hebrews 5:14). Now,
the candlestick is found in Exodus 25:31-40 and 37:17-24.
This vessel was of one beaten work. That is to say that the craftsman,
hammered this vessel until it was in the shape that he wanted it. The Lord is to
work on us until we are the vessel conformed into the image of Christ (Romans
8:29, and 12:2). “For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.”
(Ephesians 2:10) He is the loving hand that deals with us. The
vessel is unlike the other vessels up to this point (Brazen Altar, Laver, Table
of Showbread). This vessel is made of pure gold. Gold speaks of the divinity of
God, that divine nature we receive when we accept salvation and realize He lives
in us (John 1:9). Why this vessel and not the others? The candlestick speaks of
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. It has to reveal total divinity. You, as a new
creature/creation in Christ are pure and undefiled. The old nature has been done
away in Christ (Romans 6:6-14). You are alive to Christ. Now He is shaping
(Colossians 1:13) you by removing you from sin consciousness to a heavenly one. The
candlestick is a symbol of light. He is the Light of the World. But then so are
you – a light set on a hill (Matthew 5:14). You are to arise above the flesh,
overcome (be on top of that hill of flesh).
In fact with a little study you can see the candlestick outlined in
Matthew 5. There are nine ‘blesses’ in the chapter which correspond to the
light of the Holy Place. Each gift of the Spirit is to fulfill one of those
experientially within you. And of course the whole chapter is about light. But
personal study will reveal even a greater depth of Matthew 5 and the
candlestick. The
candlestick had 66 parts to it – cups, bulbs, branches, etc. God knew there
would be a type and shadow of the number of books in the Bible – from the
beginning. Man struggled to figure out what books should be included and right
under man’s nose, so to speak, was the answer which they never found. And even
today some biblical scholars question…oh well. It
is interesting to note the Hebrew word that is used for the man trunk of the
Menorah. For it means ‘loin.’ Or
one could say the seat of reproduction. Yes, He who is the Light is the way, the
truth and the LIFE. He is Life. The Light is Life (see our booklet: The
Logos, the Light, the Life). We have life as we walk in the light. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
glorious. “(Isaiah
11:10) He is the shaft, the root out of which springs the body of Christ. As
Paul states in Romans 11:16-21, we are the branches. Because we are, He prunes
us to be conformed to His image, a beaten work made of fine gold that we might
prove the acceptable will of God and lead mankind to salvation. For He shall be
glorified in His saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10). The
other two lamps of Zechariah, speak of the Old and New Testament being one. Of
course, there are many other analogies that could be made. The oil in them again
was used to light a dark place – for a light (Christ) shines in darkness (your
old nature) and the darkness comprehends it not. The Old and New Testament find
their fulfillment in Christ and thereby you since you are found in Him. Let
us press on to know Him and the power of His resurrection so that we might be
the offspring of the One who has called us and chosen us to be overcomers in
this day. Let us yield our vessel to the instruction of the Holy Place
(Pentecost) realm so that we might mature into the man of God, the personal and
corporate expression of His nature. We can settle for nothing less than to be
Who He is by His grace working in us. There
is the story of a chicken and a pig. Each is a very important part of the food
chain for humans. Many wake up in the morning and if there is time, which in
this pressing society is not often, one will fry an egg and cook some ham and
bacon for breakfast. The smell of the bacon is enough to stir the juices in
one’s stomach. As we are drawn to the kitchen table, we wait to eat the eggs,
ham and bacon. Our hunger satiated, and empowered by the protein, we are off to
start the day. But
I ask you a question. Who gave more to that meal, the chicken or the pig? Ponder
carefully. Each gave of himself. But one gave more. The chicken produced an egg
and donated. But the pig, ah the pig, gave his abdomen for bacon and his thigh
for ham. The pig was committed totally. It cost him his life to produce life in
another. Such is the work of the Holy Place. The
Baptism of the Spirit and the gifts are for today so that we might be willing to
give this life up in order that another might see the life of Christ made
manifest. The gold divine nature in us is being shaped into an offering of light
(candlestick). Do not struggle against the dealings of God as He fashions you
after His image. Rejoice in the dealings because you are blessed nine times as
Matthew 5 brings out. You are blessed to be chosen, blessed to be conformed and
blessed to be served to others. Now you know the difference between ham and
eggs. In
Revelation 2:18-23, it states certain things concerning this level of overcomer.
As in the first three there was a fight with the flesh – Nicolaitans, Balaam,
false apostles, so too there is a battle here for the overcomer – Jezebel.
In 1 Kings 16th chapter through out the 21st is her
story. But spiritually in the book of Revelation she represents some serious
concerns to the overcomer. It is worthy to note verse 24 states that there is a
remnant that do not hold to this – the overcomers. But the overcomers must
struggle with Jezebel. Jezebel is within a person as well as without (found in
others). In
Pentecost, we find bread with leaven and leaven is a type of sin in the
Scripture. So there must be some things that have to be worked out, removed,
dealt with. Jezebel is some of that leaven that has to be overcome if we are to
progress in God. Spiritually speaking, the woman nature, that soulish nature
must be cast out because she is Hagar, the one who has produced a child of the
flesh, and not of the spirit. Like Eve, she desires the things of the flesh,
good for the eyes and to make oneself wise (Genesis 3:6). This sort of leaven,
the carnal mind, which is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7) must be removed. The
Jezebel nature seeks to take the birthright (the land) from the righteous. This
nature seeks for itself a place that it cannot have because the heart is all
wrong. The carnal mind wants to be religious and pure but it cannot be because
it is not in it to do so. So, it seizes every opportunity to bless itself with
the desires of the flesh – wants, health, etc. The true overcomer sets aside
all things (Philippians 3:8) as dung that he/she might know the righteousness of
Christ. Paul set aside his own body – being beheaded in Rome (as tradition
says) for the testimony of the Lord. Paul used his body as a seed if you will.
The true overcomer has disregard and disdain for the natural and only uses it to
foster life on an eternal plane. The overcomer conquers the Jezebel nature that
seeks to steal the birthright of his body for the kingdom. Jezebel
seeks to take the saint down the path of immorality and idolatry (Revelation
2:20-21). Immorality is a sexual
relation which can be spiritual or physical. But the spiritual sense is the
truly relative point here. Any time we try to produce life without God, it is
immorality. As an example, if a person comes to you for prayer for a sickness,
unless you have the mind of the Lord – don’t pray for healing. Unless the
Lord has told you to pray, you will be committing immorality for you are trying
to produce something with someone else rather than God. You are producing out of
yourself. The
Lord goes on to say in Revelation 2:23 that He will kill the children of
Jezebel. No flesh shall stand before the Lord. No offspring of Adam will enter
into the kingdom. Only those who are in the image of Christ can enter in. For
the soul (that carnal mind) that sins (Ezekiel 18:4) dies. Flesh and blood
cannot enter into the kingdom (1 Corinthians 15). We must rejoice that the Lord
loves all of us enough that He died for us to deliver us from the hand of the
fowler. There
is to be a rejoicing that we do not know the ‘deep things of Satan’
(Revelation 2:24) but rather have concentrated on knowing Him and the power of
His might. If we look on Adam and the old nature our efforts will be there to
destroy him by our own hand, which is carnal effort. But if we look to the
Author and Finisher of our faith, He removes the old nature as we partake
of the Life of God. Look upon Him and you will not see death any longer working.
Look upon Him in others and you will not see death working in others. For as you
see life, life is produced. The
realm of the Holy Place is dark except for the light of the candlestick and the
two of Zechariah 4. The darkness is representative of the inner man because the
outer court was lit by the sun of the natural, but the inner court (Holy Place
and Holy of Holies) is lit by the Spirit which no man sees, except him who knows
himself. As He, Who is the light within deals with us, He leads us to the Altar
of Incense where the final death occurs, where you and I lay down our life as
Christ. Our old nature was killed at the Brazen Altar and now as we mature in
Him, we come to the place, the Altar of Incense where the only thing that we
have to offer is Christ – Romans 12:2. He is the only one pleasing to God, not
our old nature. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to train us, encourage us and
prepare us for the manifestation of Christ in us. Each step of the way we reveal
more and more unto that glorious day when He appears totally within us (Luke
17:20) without a barrier. “And
he that overcomes and keeps my deeds until the end...” states Revelation 2:26
speaks of the end. What ‘end?’ It is not the end of the world it is talking
about. It is concerning the end of your overcoming. Remaining faithful and
overcoming all the obstacles that are within you, will lead to the end of the
struggle – the struggle to produce Christ in you. The
butterfly comes from a worm. The worm is a butterfly. The worm was a butterfly
since the moment it was birthed. It just did not appear what was (1 John 3:2).
There was no concern about its old nature, but only the process to become what
it truly was. The worm was a butterfly in process. When God birthed you out of
Adam into His Son, He saw His Son. The worm life (Adam) is the process of
shedding a false identity so that you can reveal who you are. The work done is
internal and done through the Spirit of God. The actual worm grows to adulthood
and then spins a cocoon. The worm
is preparing its death so that the life might come forth. Jesus prepared His
death, so that the Life could come forth. He was always the Lord, but hidden in
the flesh (worm) until He could be resurrected. You are hidden in your flesh
until you can be revealed too. Now,
the worm spins the cocoon. The key is how the insect does it. As a layman in
science, I might not use the correct terms, but the thought is that the head of
the insect ejects the material that makes the cocoon. The worm starts with
wrapping its end and working up towards its head. When it comes to its head it
spins enough that its head falls off! The carnal mind, which keeps trying to
deceive us all along the journey, is finally defeated by our denial of its
existence since we are in Christ. Identifying with Christ, cause the carnal mind
to spin its own demise! Hear and understand! As we identify with Him and grow in
His nature we are making our challis. Then
the cells of the worm rearrange in some liquid state. The tail becomes the head,
so to speak. The butterfly emerges. A quickening goes on. Overcoming is a
process. “Keep His deeds until the
end.” Revelation
2:26 goes on to state that the overcomer shall rule with a rod of iron. Many
carnal brethren have seen this as a heavy-handed action. I have heard it
explained: “Well, this means we shall straighten out all those who are wrong
and correct them with the rod.” This is not what it means at all. Perhaps Hugo
Grotius said it best in 1654: “He knows not how to rule a kingdom,
that cannot manage a province; nor can he wield a province, that cannot order a
city; nor he order a city, that knows not how to regulate a village; nor he a
village, that cannot guide a family; nor can that man govern well a family that
knows not how to govern himself; neither can any govern himself unless his
reason be the Lord, Will and Appetite her vassals; nor can Reason rule unless
herself be ruled by God, and wholly obedient unto Him.”
The overcomer has conquered any desire to rule over anyone. It is because
that desire to rule has been crucified, that the overcomer is qualified to rule.
Those excited about ruling and reigning with Christ do not realize how carnal
their desire to rule is and yet at the same time the desire is holy and God will
work it out. The sons of thunder wanted to rule and reign and asked for such a
position. Jesus’ reply was it is my Father’s decision, but can you drink the
cup that is required. The two said, “We can.” And we know that they did.
What is required is to drink the cup. Selah.
Revelation
2:28 states that the overcomer shall receive the ‘morning star.’ Revelation
22:16 states: ”I, Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning
star.”
Thus we see that the Lord is the morning star. Peter states that the Day Star
shall arise in our hearts (1:19). If we can overcome, the final test of the
flesh, which is Jezebel, found within the church, that body of Christ and we can
fulfill the words of Hugo Grotius, then we have begun another realm of
overcoming. |
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