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“On
the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to
the LORD.” (Leviticus 23:34)
The Feast of Tabernacles officially starts in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, although most scholars connect the precursor activities also in the seventh month as a subsidiary part of the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. Consequently, also included, but preceding the Feast are the Blowing of the Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month and the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the month. Since we previously have discussed the Blowing of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, we shall now proceed with the beauty of the Feast of Tabernacles. A true biblical student will find that actual numbers are very important in Scripture. Every word and number in the Bible is divinely placed and has an important role. The reader is to ferret out the depth of the Scriptures. Ed Vallowe, in his book Keys to Scripture Numerics (528 Pine Ridge Dr Forest Park, GA 30050), presents a good study on numbers. Bullinger’s book, Number in Scripture (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI) and Biblical Numerology by John Davis (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI) are also good books on the subject. From these sources we find that the number fifteen is the number of “rest” in the Scriptures. Rest. Think about it. To rest in something is to have no concern. To illustrate this point I use the example of a person who is standing alongside of a bed and falls backward into the bed totally relaxed because he knows the bed is there. In fact, the person enjoys the fall into the bed because the person can really “let go” and allow the body to just release itself to the enjoyment of the fall and the enveloping mattress. How many times as a child we did that, and we laughed so hard that we cried because of the fun of it? So it is with our rest in God. We let go knowing that He is there for us.
Psalm
91:1 reads: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty.” Let me try to explain the power of life in
that verse. The word translated “dwell” in the KJV means the following: to
dwell down in, inhabit, continue, tarry in and remain. In the 1960’s beanbag
chairs were very popular. I had one and you could manipulate a bag into any
shape that was comfortable for you. Oh, it was so relaxing when you created the
perfect fit. Well, to “dwell down in” has such a connotation to it. Some
might use that old expression “hunkering down” or to be totally relaxed in
the arms of God, even as a baby bird settles down in the nest filled with soft
feathers, or as a newborn child upon leaving the womb seeks a place of refuge
and is placed on the mother’s bosom. What a refuge our God is when we dwell
down in His nature rather than in the fallen adamic nature with which we were
birthed. To dwell down in the secret place of God is to dwell in the nature of
Christ and not identify with the fallen adamic nature. The cross destroyed
Adam. Only the new creation man lives.
Jesus told the disciples to give the crowd that
followed them something to eat. They gave of what was available, that is, they
drew from their substance. It matters not how much you have, because it will be
enough for the situation. As you give what you have, what you have is enlarged.
The disciples had a few loaves and ended with 12 bushel baskets left over. Now,
that is resting in who you are! Dwelling down in God means that you draw the
life of that place out of you, as you draw water out of a well, a spiritual well
that never runs dry. How
a small child will easily give of what he has to another. It matters not what
the child has. The child gives out of what he is. Adults many times give out
because it is expected, or if they come from the “faith move” they sometimes
give by faith believing that more will given.
Adults sometimes do not give because they see themselves empty with nothing to give. But when you are
in Christ, even as a babe, you give out of where your heart dwells, even as a
small child does. To dwell down in God and rest in Him implies you understand
His heart and are motivated by His heart, not by your own understanding of
spiritual principles nor by your physical situation. The disciples, when told to
feed the multitude, did as Jesus asked; they were not concerned whether the
loaves and fishes would be enough. They had dwelt long enough with Jesus to
dwell down in His being, resting and just doing what the Master asked.
To “dwell” of Psalms 91 also means to “inhabit.” Scripture
declares that our life is hid with God in Christ (Colossians 3:3). Inhabit has
many synonyms, one of which means to populate. Do you increase the Lord’s
nature in you when you “inhabit” Him? I would think that you do. For the
more time that you spend dwelling in Him and resting in Him, the more you put on
His nature. The more of His nature you have, the less effect the enemy can have
on you. Consider 1 John 5:18.
I liken “inhabit” to this story. A friend came to the house and as he
visited the man who owned the house, the man gave his friend the key for the
front door. The homeowner told his friend that his house was now open to him at
any time and he could feel free to come in and relax, put his feet up, sip an
iced tea and watch TV at his convenience. To dwell in the secret place of the
Most High is to be in Him and to be comfortable in Him. This requires that you
know your way around Him. After all, if the devil were chasing you and you
didn’t know the way into the secret place, it would not do you much good,
would it? Yes, to inhabit the Lord, to rest in the Lord, requires a deep knowing
of His nature so that you can feel comfortable residing in the secret place.
To “dwell in” also means to “continue in.” This means that you never spiritually leave, but as your life goes on, you move with the changes of the natural plane by being within the secret place. The changes of life are bearable as one “continues in” the Lord; however, the changes of life are unbearable if we dwell in the old fallen adamic nature. Let us continue to go on and know the Lord resting in the secret place. What a secret place this is because He ever enlarges Himself to us. The word “dwell” also has within it the word “tarry” and this means to desire to stay. Even though there is a pull to go out from the secret place, do not leave the secret place. There is no need to leave because all that He is, is available to you from being in Him. “For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5). Here the word “tabernacle” in the root stem means “to shine.” Perhaps we could say, “In the secret of His shining shall He hide me.” You see to dwell in God means to dwell in the Light in which there is no darkness at all. So, the shining is the glory of God, that beautiful light of life in which there is no death. To be set up upon the rock means that He has lifted you out of the miry clay and placed you on the sure foundation, who is none other than Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God places us in Christ so that no man can glory, and God is lifted up. We can rest in Him, and this is what the Feast of Tabernacles is speaking of.
Thus, we can see that to “rest” means not only to relax in the Lord,
but also to dwell in Him. Yet, even more, it means to inhabit Him to such a
degree that we tarry there never drawn from the presence of God. That is the
real truth of Tabernacles. I can hear statements from some saying, “Yeah, but
I have to go to work in the secular world.” You can dwell in a spiritual place
that the natural plane cannot remove you from. Jesus did, didn’t He? Can we
not do all things through Christ?
As
we read Leviticus 23:34 we note that the verb “is” denotes the present
tense. The Feast of Tabernacles is neither for the future nor the past. It is
for those in their own lifetime who experience it today. I often raise the
question: If Passover, that salvational experience which some call the “born
again” experience is real, and if Pentecost, with its gifts of the Spirit of 1
Corinthians 12 is real, then shouldn’t Tabernacles also be experienced in your
lifetime too? The answer is yes. Not just yes, but YES! It is a third experience
in this life where the saint is empowered to sit in heavenly places and know
it…not just hope that he gets there someday.
Tabernacles is a present reality! It is not experienced after you die but
is experienced now, so that death has no power over you even when you die
(Romans 14:8). Walking in Him is restful because there is no effort to perform
as there is under pagan religious rites or carnal Christianity. Walking in Him
frees you to manifest Him without effort. He has full reign in you and every
kingdom is brought into subjection within.
It is a “sabbath of complete rest” Leviticus 23:34 states. Complete
rest. The word “sabbath”’ has within it the idea of total cessation and
desisting. A complete rest is one in which there is no activity except His.
There are Christians who have entered into such a place in Him. A complete rest
is that which fills every need that is required. Nothing is left undone. All is
brought into the rest. I declare to you that today, right now, is the time for
you to enter into complete rest. Are you heavy laden? (Matthew 11:28) The Lord
says, “Come and receive rest from the works of the flesh.” The Lord goes on
and states that our soul shall find rest, that is, our minds, will and emotions
shall find rest because His yoke is easy, which means pleasant and kind. His
yoke is kind. It is a yoke that is happily carried because the Lord within
carries it for you and self-effort is not required as the old adamic thinking
would have us believe.
The word “rest” has many meanings but the predominate one we have
already discussed. In some
locations such as Leviticus 23:32 the word “rest” means to celebrate. Why is
it such? Because when you know that you are no longer in the adamic fallen
nature, there is great need to celebrate! There is a rest that is a celebration
because the new life is seen as you walk in your identity with Christ and Adam
is no longer valid or even there. Celebrate! Many are the saints who rejoice in
their place of rest and walk within it.
In Ruth 4:14 the word “rest” is translated as “has not left you
without.” Yes, there is a rest when we know that He has provided a Redeemer
kinsman for us! He has not left us without a redeemer, one who has lifted us out
of the miry clay of Adam and placed us into His dearly Beloved Son. Surely, that is a rest of all rests!
Another time “rest” is translated as “not lacking” as in
Leviticus 2:13. The adamic nature
always comes from the realm of lack. It always cries, “Feed me. I want
more.” But the nature of God in which we live always speaks from abundance and
gives from abundance. For our cup overflows. and we give out of the overflow. We
never dip down into the cup.
Rest then is a powerful place in Tabernacles: it is a place of cessation
of the past, a place of abundance, a place of nothing being left out, a place of
celebration and a place of relaxation. Who could ask for anything more than the
removal of the struggle of the adamic to be like God? Who could ask for any more
life than this Feast of Tabernacles?
The correlation to rest is that it is a time of unity. As was mentioned
before, all manner of trees were used in the creation of the booth or tabernacle
(Nehemiah 8:15, Leviticus 23:40, 42). Rest must come to the individual first.
God’s kingdom must first reign within, having subdued all other kingdoms. Then
the corporate manifestation of the Body of Christ can be seen as each tree (“I
see trees walking” - Mark 8:24) is grafted into one another to reveal all over
the natural world the unity of the Body of Christ. Unity in diversity is seen,
for each individual is different, but yet there is a flowing together.
Much of late has been written about the genome effect, which states that
99.9% of each person is the same as every other person on this planet. The .1%
difference manifests itself in about 5 billion differences (approximate
population of the earth at this time). Why is there division among us if we are
99.9% the same? With the division among humanity, I am glad that it is only .1%
difference, because if there were any more differences, the world would have
ended a long time ago! For 2,000 years the Body of Christ has struggled because
it sees the differences. The truth is we should be focused on building on our
similarities.
Those who have come into the rest fulfill Galatians 3:28. They see
neither male nor female. They see neither slave nor free. They see neither Greek
nor Jew. The leaders of
Christianity, true leaders, are as Paul, they do not see rank (apostle, prophet)
they see Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). They simply see Christ. Only the fallen
nature sees division. Christ sees all things summed up in Him (1 Corinthians
15:28). We are of Christ Jesus.
Anything that causes division and separation within Christianity is not
of Christ. Any ministry that seeks to rule and reign, dominate, have titles and
officiates is not of the Lord but of the flesh. Ministry is seen in the
individual not created by men/women (Galatians 1:1-2). Those who have come to
Tabernacles as an experience have no desire to reign or rule, but have only a
desire to give the experience to another. The joy of the Tabernacles experience
is so great that it compels one to share with another! To be engathered, which
is what Tabernacles means, with the Lord is so tremendous that one must share
it. One cannot hoard the experience nor seek to create realms, but the life is
so great it seeks to remove all barriers (Ephesians 2:14).
The love of God constrains the brethren that have experienced the feast
of the Lord. It is a love that is boundless, bubbling all over. Not a love that
forces itself on another nor a love that is narcissistic but a love that
expunges all death and draws, drags all into a deep desire for the Lord. This is
Tabernacles. It is an inclusive feast. First let me explain inclusive. It does not include other religions. Hinduism, Taoism, Scientology, Islam, whatever else there may be are not included. But it is an inclusive feast. It has such power it causes all other religions to lay down their beliefs, which are false, and enter into the Lord our God, Christ Jesus (Acts 4:12). There are not many roads that lead to God. There is one way, but the way is so strong in those of the Tabernacles experience that others desire to follow, even as others followed the Lord Himself, drawn by His life. Deuteronomy
16:14 states about the Feast of Booths: “ and you shall rejoice in
your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male and female servants,
and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your
towns.” What does this all mean? It means that you, who experience
the Feast of Booths, are to include, that is, bring into the feast your family
and the servants. To us in type and shadow it means those in the faith who are
not of the same fellowship (1 John 1:7), or those who do not quite see things
the way you do, or the religious leader who does not see it, or the unsaved
stranger and the widow and orphan who have no guidance in the things of God. Your
Feast of Booths is inclusive. The agape love that you share and the
servant nature that you have will draw all men unto Him. It cannot be done if
you live in duality (vacillating between being in Christ and Adam), or if you do
not know who you are in Christ. Since
the Feast of Booths is likened to trees, we must realize that trees give forth
fruit. The one who has been engathered to Christ, may have the gifts of the
Spirit, but more importantly reveals fruits that others desire. You can only
produce fruit if you are a mature tree. The Feast of Booths is like the tree in
Revelation 22:1. It has all manner of fruit for the healing of the nations.
There is one tree, speaking of the corporate expression, a fulfilling of Romans
8:19, and it is the sons of God, who bring release to the creation from the
bondage of corruption. Where Passover is a time of planting and Pentecost is a time of growth, Tabernacles is the time for harvesting all that the Lord has sown and watered in your life. Tabernacles is a time when you rest in what He has done and you give freely from what He has revealed and produced in you. If there is to be a physical body change, it will change because you are already walking in the realm of the Spirit to produce it. Leviticus 23:35 clearly states that it is a time
for no “laborious work” or “servile work” depending on the translation
used. What this means is that a servant does not know why a master wants
something done, but a son does. A servant will willingly do what the master asks
because he is paid. But a son does what the master asks because he loves the
master. This Feast of Tabernacles is a time for no “servile work.” It is a
time when a son lovingly does all that is asked in the nature of the Divine.
Thereby it is not work, but a “labor of love.” “(vs.34)…Feast
of Booths for seven days to the LORD…(vs36)…for seven days you shall present
an offering by fire to the LORD”
Numbers 29:13-40 reveals the offerings given during this time, as each
day an offering was given unto the LORD. Each day the offering decreased by one
bull. These offerings were not for sin. The sin offering was done once and for
all at the brazen altar in the outer court and was seen in reality as Jesus on
the cross. As Leviticus states in verse 37: “Burnt
offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and libations, each day’s matter on
its own day.” All these were done in order to honor and esteem the
LORD.
On
every day of the seven days one less bull was offered. While experiencing the
Feast of Tabernacles, the person matures in it also. The person offers one less
bull a day, because the dead old bull nature is being removed as the new nature
is revealed. As one sheds the lesser understandings from the realms of Passover
and Pentecost, the fullness of Tabernacles can be seen. This water comes from
the same well but from a deeper level.
In all, 199 offerings are used over the time period. This is, in Bible
numerics, the number that means “the end” or “Amen.” In fact, the Greek
word for “Amen” is the number 199. As we know the number 200 is
representative of redemption. Thus, redemption comes when the end is done. When
all are finally gathered together in Christ, then He can turn all over to the
Father (1 Corinthians 15:28). Then comes the “Amen.” We, called of Him, bone
of His bone, flesh of His flesh, are the firstfruits of the total revelation,
which shall come to pass.
The offerings were accomplished by fire. Our God, as 1 Kings 18:24
states, is the God Who answers by fire. It is in identification with God, Who is
a consuming fire, that we can lay aside every weight that easily besets us –
our flesh. When we identify with Him, we can rise up off the sacrifice table
like Isaac and walk in the reality of Who we are in Him. It is only in the fire
that we have our life. When the trial comes and says you will die, you give that
thought no place knowing that your life is hid with God. Oh, bring the fire on!
The presence of the fire is not because you are sinning; it is because you are
in the nature of Him. If you are being burned in the fire – you are in Adam;
if you are the fire – you are in God. Seven
days the feast goes on. It is a feast that lasts a week. Creation was completed
in six days, then came the seventh, a day of rest. Six days speak of work and
effort, but this speaks of a time when there are seven days of complete rest.
For six thousand years or more man has labored; Adam has worked. But I declare
to you that Adam’s first day of life was in the seventh day. If he had chosen
he could have had the Tabernacles experience from the beginning. If you choose
today, you can have it in your life today. Tabernacles is not reserved for some
future time, because it is not based on chronological time. It is based on kairos
time – relationship time. It is a realm of the Spirit today. This is to be a perpetual statute. A statute is a law that is not to be broken. It is not a legalistic law but is after the Law of the Spirit (Romans 8:2) in Christ Jesus. For when you are in His nature, you cannot break any law. When you are in the fallen nature you cannot keep any law. For this perpetual statute to work, the person must reside and dwell in the realm of grace and not performance; he must reside in Tabernacles and not Pentecost. Once one enters this perpetual state, one never leaves but continues to grow into its depth.
The booth is to be a remembrance (Leviticus 23:43) of the deliverance
from Egypt during the Passover. It is to be a remembrance that the Lamb saved
you, and not the blood. The Feast of Tabernacles is a constant living in the
Presence of Him who begat you and Him Who you are. As is stated of the Cherubim,
they are the “living ones,” or as another translation says “self-existent
ones.” It is in the Holy of
Holies that we find the final victory. For Lucifer, that anointed Cherub (Adam),
had iniquity found within him, but in the end, Christ Jesus delivers us so that
we can be what we were called to be as the anointed Cherub, residing in the Holy
of Holies. The
Feast of Tabernacles is truly entering into the realm of grace
Tabernacles is a release from the Law of the carnal mind, which is only found in Christians. The people of the world know not that they are in sin. Romans tells us they know of the righteousness that they should have, but they have no knowledge that they are sinners. It takes the Spirit of God drawing them to Himself to makes them aware. Sin is a word used with those who seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Bible is written to those who came to the Lord and faced the issue of becoming like Him and stumbling or sinning. The world doesn’t even see the target (life in Christ), but the Christian sees the target and misses it (sins). It is all because of the carnal mind, which sets itself up as God through self-effort and performance, even trying to live by the Mosaic Law. The carnal mind can never fulfill the Law, for then it would have to bow to the Highest Authority and be deposed from its place of rule. The Feast of Tabernacles is the realization that
identity with Christ provides life and deliverance. It is grace that is the
fulfillment of Tabernacles. For when we walk in Who He is, we extend grace. We
are to be a grace machine. As we live a life of grace, we no longer become a
servant (Leviticus 23:30), but the very Body of Christ as He is our head. There
has been much preaching about the inevitable fall of man (Romans 3:23, Romans
8:19). While some say that man had a free choice, the free choice was as great
as Pharaoh’s free choice (Exodus 4:21). God’s plan would not be thwarted.
God desired that all mankind would know Him and none would perish (2 Peter 3:9).
This is why Christ was slain from before the foundation of the world (Revelation
13:8). The love of God covered before sin was even created by God. God desired
that grace would have a perfect work over sin and the Law.
“Religion of Jesus is the Cross, not the Scales.” (John Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World) As
we have borne the image of the earthly, so also shall we bear the image of the
heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:49). As
we were prisoners, even slaves to sin, so now as we follow Christ we become a
slave, a prisoner of righteousness (Ephesians 3:1) unto Him, exchanging one
master for the Other (Matthew 6:24). The
Law convicts of sin and provides no solution. Thereby, Jesus becomes the
solution for us, as He offered Himself for our sins and became sin for us (2
Corinthians 5:21). It is the Law that brings us to Christ (Galatians 3:24) as a
schoolmaster. It convicts of sin but cannot provide the freedom of sin. It holds
the person accountable for sin but provides no relief from guilt or the sin
nature. Now
there are many that will contend that the Law remains. But it is futile to do so
because the Law is based upon performance that precludes self-effort. Salvation
by Grace is the opposite of such. All religions of the world are based upon
personal effort to meet the standards of their god, and this worship is
performance-based and produced by self-effort. Such pagan philosophies have
invaded the Christian church and rendered it unable to produce life. The Law
only points us to the Savior; it is not the Savior. The Law shows us the
need for deliverance, but cannot deliver, for if it could, there would be no
need for a better covenant. The Law cannot disannul the covenant since the Law
came later (Galatians 3:17). We
are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8). Note
that this is about GOD and not man. It is God’s grace that saves us. We live
BY the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20 KJV). It is about God and His
love for us and His plan for us. The Law supports the effort of man to obtain.
Grace and Truth present God as the solution. Jesus, as the epitome of Grace and
Truth (John 1:17), was sent by a loving God. He came willingly and obediently to
offer Himself freely – there was no bondage there. He came because He loved.
Grace frees people. There
are only two men in the world – Adam and Jesus. There are only two religions
in the world – curses or blessings. I declare to you that Adam is dead once
and for all (Hebrews 10:10, Romans 6:6-13) and was made a spectacle of by Christ
Jesus. The curse of the Law (Galatians 3:10) is dead and removed in Christ. Our
life in Christ is not based on the works of the Law, but on living in the nature
of Christ, maturing in Christ, that is, growing in Christ (2 Peter 3:18, 1 Peter
2:2, Ephesians 4:15). The curse is removed and only blessings flow now. God
alone blesses the world, extending grace that it might come to Him. He is
blessing the world by calling out a people to bear his name, and that name is
“grace.” It
was the Law that was removed, for it was UNTIL Christ (Matthew 11:13).
For the Law was given through Moses, Grace and Truth through Jesus Christ
(John 1:17). Note that Jesus Christ WAS Grace and Truth personified. He lived
and moved and had His being in that realm. It is a realm of Life in which there
is no death, and that is why Satan (the Law), the accuser of the brethren
(Revelation 12:10, John 5:45) could find NOTHING in Christ (John 14:30). (See
our message on Who is Satan?) So it is when we accept Christ as our Savior that the walk begins. The growing in grace begins. We are no longer in the sin nature but are growing in Christ’s nature. Be careful now that one does not pull you from that realm by proclaiming to you that you are a sinner because you do not measure up to the fullness of Christ. You have the fullness (John 1:16, Ephesians 3:19, Colossians 1:9, 19). A colt has all that it needs to be a stallion, but it has to naturally grow into it. Did you catch the word “naturally?” The colt will become a stallion through no self-effort. The essence of the seed produces the result. We are of the seed of Christ, Abraham’s seed, a spiritual seed, and it will produce Him. The seed must grow to a colt and then to a stallion. We do not hold a colt as accountable as a grown stallion, do we? If we do, then we are not in Christ but in the old nature. The
act of accepting Jesus as our Savior begins a new way, a way that leaves the
bondage of corruption. “The necessary act of freedom, making the choice –
always results in the thing we take taking us. You take food, food takes you.
Once you have swallowed it, it is your master. You choose a profession, the
profession takes you over. So freedom is always bondage – but it remains true
freedom because you freely chose what now controls you. (“Freedom from
Bondage,” Norman Grubb, pg 26 of Who Am I). Thus we become a
prisoner of the Lord (Ephesians 4:1) and we must walk in that vocation wherein
we are called. Grace is not the result of the act of Jesus dying on
the cross. It is much larger and broader than that. Grace is a lifestyle of the
Holy of Holies. Grace encompasses the whole person – spirit, soul and body.
Grace cannot be placed in a box, a boundary, because it is meant to remove all
hindrances of unholiness (anything unholy is that which is not aligned with
God’s purposes). Consider Colossians 4:6, which states: “Let
your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye
ought to answer every man.”
This means that all language is to be spoken for edification. Not only that the
words are to be full of grace, but gracefully spoken in such a way that it not
only turns away anger but also changes a person. There has to be a union between
the tongue and the heart in its expression. Many Christians have not reached
this level of union of heart and tongue, because they still choose to remain in
the realm of the Holy Place (Pentecost) rather than Tabernacles. This failure is
due to poor teaching, for most have not heard the good news that we are able to
come to maturity in this day, this life. In the Scripture: “Be
ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew
5:48) the word “perfect” in the KJV is “mature” in the Greek. Our speech shows where we live! One who has strength
of character may be seen by some as lacking in love, but in reality strength of
character in holiness of speech is a signature of love. For love constrains us
to be holy and hold to a higher standard over the need to “keep fences
mended.” Would we say God does not love? I think not. But the Holy of Holies
is a place of fire, where judgment allows nothing less than the holiness of God
to be seen (sin was removed at the brazen altar). God speaks out of the Holy of
Holies and all is created. This creation comes first out of holiness wrapped in
His love. Salt is a preserving agent. Our grace is to be used with salt. We are to speak in such a manner as that it preserves the person. Sometimes the word of life is proclaimed and it falls into a wounded soul and stops the flow of death and cleanses it. In other cases the salt is used to enhance the power, as meant in a seasoning sense. So our words are to enhance the appearance of Christ in others. It is the grace emanating from the throne that overcomes all missteps, all stumbles. Where the Law would hold your stumbles before you, grace cries out to try again and continue on the upward path. Consider Philippians 1:7 which states: “Even
as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart;
inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel,
ye all are partakers of my grace.”
The
implication here seen more clearly in other translations than the NASV, is that
each saint partakes of Paul in his walk of grace through trials and
tribulations. He reveals to them the victory that is available in the trial. As
a minister once said, “There is a yes in every mess.” (see 2 Corinthians
1:20) The power of grace surpasses all laws. The power of grace is revealed in
the midst of every situation and relationship. His grace is sufficient (2
Corinthians 12:9). If one wants to remove the mountain, which is the mountain of the flesh, into the sea (Matthew 21:21) just speak “Grace, Grace to it” as Zechariah 4:7 declares. However, first one must fulfill Zechariah 4:6: “It is not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit.” The Law would make it done by might or power. True accomplishment comes by saying “grace to it,” and that is only done if one is walking in grace. The Adam nature, the fallen nature, the sin nature is
the fountain of all religious ideas. But Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.
All religious laws, ordinances, rituals, etc. are counted as nothing. The saint
becomes a New Creation when salvation occurs within the heart; old things pass
away and all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Consider 2 Corinthians 9:8
which states: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward
you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good
work.”
Grace of the Holy of Holies is to abound in every aspect of one’s life –
against such there is no law (Galatians 5:23). Grace is to be all in all, and
why shouldn’t it be as it was seen in Christ Jesus? We are being conformed to
His image, the personified image of Grace. The Feast of Tabernacles results in no “servant work” Leviticus 23:30 states, and it is to be a “complete” rest as verse 33 declares. This means that grace has a complete work in the individual. Grace never seeks control but releases people, whereas, the Law brings people into bondage and subjection. Servile work creates a caste order, but true grace removes such an order. It is interesting to see that the Scriptures show that the saint is in the world, as Onesimus was a slave to Philemon in the natural order of things, but when together in Christ spiritually – he was not bond but free and equal. Onesimus was mighty and sent back to Philemon by Paul as such. In false religion there is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, or the priesthood over the people, but true Christianity removes all that and each is a servant of all. Grace seeks to serve, not rule. Adam looks to rule. Tabernacles engathers. Grace gathers all into Christ.
Grace is well able and sufficient to bring everything to God. He has translated
us (Colossians 1:13), a Greek word methistemi meaning moving us from one
place unto another. He has moved us into grace. Thoughts on Grace by Charles
Swindoll
Charles Swindoll in his book, The Grace Awakening,
has some interesting thoughts. “Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride…
Legalism is one more expression of the human compulsion for security…
Legalistic authoritarianism shows itself in the confusion of the Christian
principle of unity with a human insistence of unanimity…Unanimity, on the
other hand, is very tidy. It can be measured, monitored and enforced.” (pg 84)
“The second tool that I find legalists using is
ecclesiastical harassment; they are those who spy and enslave. “
(pg 92) “Remember the definition of justification? It is the
sovereign act of God whereby He declares righteous the believing sinner while
still in his sinning state…the sinner is declared righteous.”
(pg 45) “Let’s imagine you have a six-year old son whom you love
dearly. Tragically, one day you discover that your son was horribly
murdered…If you used every means in your power to kill the murderer for his
crime, that would be vengeance. If you…let the legal authorities
take over…that is justice. But if you should plead for the
pardon of the murderer, forgive him completely, invite him into your home and
adopt him as your own son, that is grace.” (pg 45) “Cheap grace justifies the sin
rather than the sinner. True grace justifies the sinner, not the sin.” (pg 46) “We
resist grace when our pride is still paramount.” (pg 300) “A
theology that rests its salvation on one ounce of human performance is not good
news, it is bad information.” (pg 88) “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward
is affection; love that stoops is grace.” (D. Barnhouse) (pg 9) “Are you ready for a maverick thought? Once we truly grasp
the freedom grace brings, we can spend lengthy periods of our lives without
sinning or feeling ashamed. Yes we can!” (pg 111) “Few people realize better than non-Christians how guilt
ridden many Christians are.” (pg 155) “Before we will be able to demonstrate sufficient grace
to let others be, we’ll have to get rid of this legalistic tendency to
compare.” (pg 160) “Whatever the method, controlling like comparing, nullifies
grace.” (pg 162) “By the way, I’ve noticed that words like mine and
keep and ours are not heard in ministries of grace.” (pg 228) “Without the grace to let each other be, our marriage
would be stormy and full of struggles.” (pg 246) “The Law clearly stated, ‘Stone
her.’ The grace killers who set her up demanded the same. Yet, He said to the
self-righteous Pharisees, ‘He who is without sin, let him cast the first
stone.’ What grace!” (pg 11) “God does what He does by grace. I am what I am by grace. I
let you be what you are by the grace of God.” (pg 61) “Grace says you have nothing to give, nothing to earn,
nothing to pay. You couldn’t if you tried!” (pg 89) SUMMARY
For who can withstand the everlasting burnings (Isaiah 33:14-15) but He
who walks uprightly. It is Christ in us, Christ Jesus as us, who brings us to
the knowledge that we are one with Him. What a glorious thing He has done for
us! Who can comprehend the manifold grace bestowed on us to be conformed to His
Image? Why were you or I chosen to have this work done in us? What an honor we
have received to allow Him to be formed in us, and this not of our own doing. Who cannot marvel at Him? Who can take any glory from Him? What a blessed calling to be married to Him. What a pleasant relationship to be espoused to Him and none other. The beauty of it all is that we are espoused to Him because we see Him in others (1 John 4:20). We see the work of the cross as a totality that brings all back into the garner. The harvest fields are full, the time of Tabernacles is here. He has sown Himself and others have watered. It is time to gather. |
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