"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). In each case above, the word letteth or will let is a Greek word meaning "restrainer."

The Biblical picture of the Holy Ghost clearly identifies Him as the restrainer of evil, as that divine member of the Godhead that pushes back the darkness, raises up God’s standard and holds evil at bay. He brooded upon the chaos of uncreated nothingness in Genesis One. He anointed King Saul who was transformed into another man in the beginning of the era of kings. Isaiah stated, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19).

In the church the Holy Ghost is the Vicar, the personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Spirit of anointing, manifesting the absolute victory of Jesus Christ in His church. When Jesus promised that the Father would send the Holy Ghost whom He called another comforter, He used very specific words. Let’s read them carefully. "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:15-18).

When the Lord Jesus stated clearly that He was "another comforter" He then preceded to confirm that "His" coming to you would be "My" coming to you. No, He was not eliminating the sense of two personalities, but clearly affirming that the Holy Ghost would not represent Himself, but the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost never, and we must understand that this word never means never, represents or glorifies Himself. Throughout the Scripture the Holy Ghost is that obscure member of the Godhead that always finds His pleasure in being the Spirit of "God" or the Spirit of the "Lord." He never comes as the Spirit of Himself.

The Anointing Upon the Church
No wonder Jesus could say, ". . . upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18). The only times that the gates of hell have beat down what was called the church was when the foundation had shifted off the "Rock". That’s the picture we see with most of the church world today. It is sad, but it is not hopeless. I believe that the Lord is looking for a fresh generation of Bible-believing saints that will be His vessels to reclaim the high ground of Divine truth. The "Restrainer" is still in His church and is ready to anoint those Christ-crucified believers for fresh service in His kingdom.

The Anointing
We do not seek this anointing as some extra power or beyond Calvary experience that comes upon us as an emotional impartation. We seek this anointing of the Holy Ghost as the fullness of Calvary; as the very victory that Jesus accomplished by His death on the cross. The Holy Ghost anointing is none other than the Vicar of the Lord Jesus manifesting everything that His death and resurrection has made available to the church. The Holy Ghost does not take us beyond Calvary, but into the heart and substance of the finished work of that gruesome death. How different Pentecost appears when we see it in the shadow of the cross.

It is no wonder that the extremes of the Charismatic and Pentecostal fringe have produced a hyper Pentecostal movement that is more noise than substance, more emotions than maturity, and just more religion, instead of Christ-centered Christianity. When you research the beginning of the twentieth century Pentecostal movement, you will see that is not how it began. Pentecost at the beginning of the twentieth century was born primarily out of second work sanctification that mostly represented Methodism. These were Christ-centered, flesh crucifying believers who desired above all else to live a Christ-centered life. These people were holiness people before they were Pentecostal people. The holiness they reflected was not forced or contrived by legalism, but reflective of living in the Word of God and walking after its precepts. These early Pentecostals were literalists who took every Word of God as absolute truth that was to be obeyed as given in its proper context. Wild fire, undisciplined emotions, and any expression of the unsanctified flesh was utterly rejected and not tolerated when expressed in the worship services.
Much of what is considered "Pentecostal" today is represented by the fringe crowd that gets the media attention. It is unfair to the multitude of devoted pastors and laity spread across the landscape of Pentecost to put us in the same perspective as TBN, Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, or Toronto/Pensacola. There is literally no Biblical kinship.

His Holy Anointing Does Not Rest on Flesh
One of the absolute principles of Scripture is that the Holy Anointing cannot rest on flesh. The "spirit" of man from the very breath of God is the seat of all spiritual expression in man. The Apostle Paul stated this clearly with these words. "The Spirit (Holy Ghost) itself beareth witness with our spirit (spirit of man), that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:16). Paul also stated, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." (1 Corinthians 2:13-15).

Every expression of the Spirit of Christ to or in man must be discerned and known in the spirit of man, or spiritually; not in his flesh or in his soul, the natural man. Please look carefully at those words, "the natural (soulish) man receiveth not . . . they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually (with the spirit) discerned." Then he triumphantly stated, "But he that is spiritual (taught by the Spirit) judgeth all things." There is absolutely no vehicle in our flesh life to make even one correct discernment.

Do not ever trust your flesh. Paul stated that we are those who have no confidence in the flesh. Again, I state that the anointing of the Holy Ghost does not rest on flesh. The first Biblical type of the Holy anointing which we call Pentecost was foreshadowed in Exodus. Moses was given the formula and principles of the holy anointing oil for the priests and the temple. This is the perfect foreshadowing of the New Testament outpouring and the present anointing in the church. The Lord stated to Moses, "Take thou also unto thee principal spices . . ." "And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil." "And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." "And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make [any other] like it, after the composition of it: it [is] holy, [and] it shall be holy unto you." (Exodus 30:23a, 25, 29, 31-32).

Please read this entire passage, but most importantly read verse 32. "Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured . . ." The priests were carefully anointed, so that the oil ran down from their head, even upon their beard and onto their garments, but not upon their flesh. In the First Testament, the flesh was to be circumcised and in the Second Testament, it is to be sanctified or crucified. It is not to be trusted, exalted, glorified, or in any way depended upon. Remember, Apostle Paul said, "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3).

This powerful First Testament type has within it every truth (Remember the theological law called the law of first mention.) that relates to God’s anointing on man. There can be no light treatment or carnal use of this anointing (verse 33). It is established in unchanging truth (verse 31) and cannot be altered. He cannot be received by the world, unholy persons, or manifest in the flesh (verse 32). And, an extremely important fact is that those who know this anointing are holy and are commanded to be clean and untouched by the filth of this world (verse 29).

This is a generation that has trivialized every spiritual and Biblical reality. The House of God is entered in the same casual fashion that men enter their own houses or even their barns. In fact, the world of commerce typified by the Biblical barn (place of commerce) is more sacred and treated with greater professionalism than God’s House. The laws of banking and trade are adhered to with great respect, while the laws of God are treated with impunity. The result is that most sacred institutions, ministries, and houses of worship are "Ichabod, the glory is departed." (1Samuel 4:21). Because the glory has departed, there is no anointing that sets men free. The world’s answers of psychology, entertainment, personality, and multiple fun things, have replaced the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

The worldly church gets giddy over the emotions of entertainment and television type church services and call it the Holy Spirit’s presence. It is blasphemous. The anointing does not rest on flesh under any circumstance.

The Meal and the Oil
Every great truth of Scripture saturates the Holy Bible, but there are two truths that stand at the top of the list. The Word of God and the Anointing of God are those two central truths. The miracle that Elijah performed for the widow of Zarephath is one of those high watermarks of this revelation. The meal (bread) is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the oil (anointing) is a type of the Holy Spirit. The text reads, "And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch [it], he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go [and] do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring [it] unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day [that] the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat [many] days. [And] the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah." (1 Kings 17:8-16). The life of this miracle was in the meal and the oil together. The meal by itself could not sustain her life, neither could the oil. It was the proper blending of those two substances that guaranteed her needs and victory. The Word of God is never promoted in Scripture in the absence of the anointing, but neither is the anointing represented without the presence of the Word.

For God to reveal His Word and His anointing, He needs a tabernacle or a temple where this glory can manifest. This widow had a barrel and a cruse, not a golden vessel of exquisite value. There was absolutely no glory in the containers that held this miracle. The barrel and the cruse could not produce one minute increase in the amount of meal or oil. The miracle was utterly above and apart from the containers that held the supply.

What a picture of the individual that God always chooses to use for His glory. The Lord Jesus said, ". . . there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." (Matthew 11:11). Yet, John the Baptist wore a leather girdle and ate locust and wild honey. He would likely appear to our sophisticated church world like a wild man. Can you imagine him being invited to be the senior pastor of one of the great mega churches in America? There was no miracle in the barrel or the cruse, but in the meal and the oil. So, also, are His miracles today, not in our flesh or its personality (soul), but in the anointing manifest by the simple yielding of all to His abundant supply. No glory at all is due the barrel or the cruse. They were simply clean vessels being used for no other cause; and neither the barrel, nor the cruse felt slighted that no one praised them for the miracle.

The Bible is full of this great truth of His Word and His Spirit. The Ark (the Word) built at God’s command by Noah could not be opened until the Dove (the Spirit) had found a resting place. The tabernacle of worship had to have its offering of sacrifices (the Word) as well as its lamps of fire (the anointing). The seven feasts of Israel has as its first or foundational feast, the Passover death of a lamb and as its central or fourth feast, the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of the Anointed Ingathering of Harvest. The entire typology of the First Testament is built on the two themes of the meal of the Word and the oil of the anointing. Even Abraham, when he met Melchisedek after returning from the slaughter of the kings, was served by this pre-incarnate personality, "the bread and the wine". If you will receive it, Abraham was the first saint to take the Lord’s Supper, pre-Calvary, if you please. But, remember, Jesus Christ was "slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8).

The Restrainer is in His Church
The Holy Ghost, acting as the Spirit of Christ, is in Christ’s church to manifest every victory of His death and resurrection. The Bread of Life has been broken, the Oil of Anointing has been poured forth, and the enemy must retreat. If we will allow the Holy Ghost to do the works of the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst, then we will not need our own schemes and plans. He is the restrainer of evil and the standard bearer and no enemy formed against us can prosper.

The Flesh Must be Crucified
The idea of "death to the flesh" has been soundly rejected by much of today’s church. The consequence is a false anointing being poured out on unsanctified flesh and then called "revival." It is absolutely impossible for our Father to pour out His anointing on flesh. Every principle in the Holy Scripture demands Biblical order and that order prescribes how the sovereign work of God always occurs. Flesh must die.

The Apostle Paul dealt forcibly with this. Let’s read together, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God." (Romans 6:1-13).

In that state of death that the apostle reveals above is absolute triumph in Jesus Christ. All the Holy Ghost needs for a miracle of Bread and Wine or Meal and Oil is a yielded vessel, unpretentious and utterly surrendered. You will not need to go on a spiritual mecca or seek an impartation by a super saint. God is sovereign and without respect of persons. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9a). He is searching the earth for the man or woman who will allow the finished work of Calvary total victory in their life.

The Flesh Must be Willing to be Silenced
The anointing of the Holy Ghost is not an anointing upon your flesh. If it were, you could use it at your will. You could walk through a hospital and command life at every bed. You could prophesy when you got ready and create your own miracles with your words. There would be nothing impossible standing before your flesh. To even dream of such an idea is to play the same game Lucifer played before the Father cast him from His presence. The flesh is hopelessly depraved and must be cast off as useless. We must die that He might live. The moment we become willing to die, He is ready to live.

The flesh is a barrier to the spirit in men. When we become willing for that flesh to be crucified with Christ, then the Spirit of Christ is free to refresh the spirit in man and to renew that spirit with the life of God. This happened immediately to a lesser degree when we were born again, but we await our total surrender for the full tide flow of power and spiritual victory.

Paul, the great apostle, testified of this experience as a growing process. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." (Philippians 3:7-10).

As babes in Christ we receive this guarantee the very moment the Holy Ghost brings us out of darkness unto this marvelous light. Then we must proceed to walk in that light as it shines upon our pathway. To the Corinthians, Paul stated, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18). Notice that this apostle stated that this beautiful process is "by the Spirit of the Lord." As you behold Him in His Word and by faith cling to His promises, the Spirit of Christ (Holy Ghost) perfects Himself in us and we are changed into the image or reflection of Him.

Biblical Power in the Church
The Biblical order for Christ’s church is that His saints be His authority in their world. We are not compromisers, but world transformers. We do not beg or politic the world to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, but we go forth in His anointing. Such a church will be hated, but feared, "persecuted, but triumphant". Here is a picture of His perfect church. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. [We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:7-11).

Please notice that He said, "that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body (or flesh)." When we are willing to die, then His life is made manifest in our mortal (not immortal) body. The Restrainer (Holy Ghost/Spirit of Christ) is in His church and our victory was settled at Calvary. Start today living your life from the victory of the cross, instead of trying to live it unto a victory of your own making. Calvary has already won and the Holy Ghost is present to affect that victory in us.

One of the most breathtaking truths in the Holy Scripture is related to the "born again" experience and the witness of the Holy Ghost in the believer’s heart and spirit. Salvation by the cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is much more than some positional state that we accept only in our heads. Too much of today’s evangelical religion is nothing but religion. It does not have an experience side. It has no witness, but only some kind of perceived mental idea and, more importantly, does not affect people to truly surrender their lives to live only for the Lord. In other words, there is no inner supernatural testimony that the life of God has been imputed into the life of the individual. That is not New Testament Christianity.

The Apostle Paul certainly experienced a very different encounter with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Apart from the visions and voices, his life was dramatically changed and a deep abiding witness of the Spirit possessed him. The Scriptures Paul wrote affirms that this inward testimony never diminished right up to his martyrdom. He concluded the book of II Corinthians by stating, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." (II Corinthians 13:14). Note that statement, "…the communion of the Holy Ghost…" This Apostle said to the Romans in his book to Rome, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Romans 8:11). Paul knew that this Holy Ghost witness in the spirit of a believer was awesome and life changing. There is no way that an individual can experience this inward union between the Holy Ghost and their own spirit and not be totally transformed. This is the missing element in much of today’s church world.

The more emotional charismatics are satisfied with a bodily witness of some ecstatic feeling, such as cold chills or a display of a joyous state. The intellectual evangelicals are willing to accept someone’s word that the whole matter is positional and without feeling. They are told just to affirm their acceptance of Jesus and settle for head knowledge. Both completely miss the real experience of a witness in the spirit of the believer by the supernatural work of adoption and redemption. It’s too deep to be just a display of emotions and too supernatural just to occur in the realm of reason. It is reality on a transforming scale.

The Romans Road
The Holy Ghost spoke about this matter with undeniable terms in Romans chapter eight. Let’s read some remarkable words, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:14-17).

It is very clear that this activity by the Holy Spirit is occurring in the believer’s personal spirit. Heaven and earth are meeting in the person’s heart and something is occurring that cannot be just a blind fact. They have been made into a new person. The Holy Spirit has found a dwelling place and He immediately becomes the source of all decisions. This person is no longer a slave to sin, but led by the Spirit.

In each verse of the above text, the individual that has received the Lord Jesus is seen in a new state of spirit and consciousness. He did not receive the "spirit of bondage again to fear" or a return to fear, but the "Spirit of adoption." You must remember that the Holy Ghost represents the greatest adoption agency in the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the legal document by which every repentant sinner that surrenders wholly is translated from lost to found, from pagan to saint. It is stated best in Ephesians. "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6).

This witness of the Holy Ghost is a supernatural testimony in the believer’s spirit that eliminates the fear which sin had produced. Eternal judgment for sin is now a thing of the past. Fear of Satan and his consequences are over and this individual is a child of God. His or her new Master is none other than the Heavenly Father and he is invited to live by the cry, "Abba (My) Father." The Holy Ghost, who is indeed the "Spirit of the Father," is fully able to create this new assurance, called "witness" in the unshakeable recesses of the "born again" person’s inner spirit. Remember, Satan can operate in the human soul, where the adamic nature resides, but he cannot touch the human spirit. It is the very life of God, given by the Creator and cannot be invaded by our enemies. You can allow your spirit to wither and dry up if you fail to feed on spiritual food, but Satan has no entrance.

As "new born" sainst, we are part of His family and heirs of every promise in the Scripture. The Scripture states our new position as "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." This position is not an endless trip down blind alleys, knowing God only in our imagination. It is reality, we are His sons and daughters, and the kingdom that the Father gave the Son is ours, also. We are a kingdom of priests, having fellowship and communion with the Father and His Son. The Holy Ghost is the communion link between us and the Father and Son. This kind of relationship and reality will turn the world upside down just as it did in the Book of Acts.

The Firstfruits of the Spirit
The "Romans Road" plainly presents this Christian life as experiencing the "Firstfruits of the Spirit." It is clearly presented as far above this unredeemed world, but less than our future hope. Look at this breathtaking passage that immediately follows the earlier passage previously discussed. It is really a continuation of this subject. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:18-23).

While we enjoy the "firstfruits" of this redemption experience, it is not free from the pains of this present world. There are sufferings, as seen in verse eighteen, but they are minor compared to our future glory. The emphasis on prosperity, wealth, and the life of pleasure, which our world has gone crazy about, is clearly unscriptural and even unimportant when we live for the Biblical future. Our hope is in the redeemed tomorrow and we willingly confess ourselves pilgrims and strangers as the champions of faith did in Hebrews chapter eleven. This world’s system has no foundation and we refuse to live by its false concepts.

Please notice what was said about Abraham in the chapter of champions mentioned above, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:9-10). "He looked for a city which hath foundations" because, even in his wealth, he saw the futility of it all. This present world and all of its wealth is built on sinking sand. Naked we came and naked we leave. Abraham was wealthy, but he had no prosperity concept. It was all going to pass away, because it had no lasting foundation. His vision was the eternal city that has an eternal foundation and will last forever.

In verse nineteen we begin to see what this Holy Ghost witness creates in the saint’s life. The Holy Ghost calls the results of His witness in us, "earnest expectation." Listen again, "The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." What a statement about what is happening in the inner resources of the child of God. We could care less about this world’s pleasures and gold because the testimony in us gives absolute assurance of what our future will entail. There is going to be a "manifestation," an "unveiling," a "revealing" of all that befits the sons of God. Kings in this world will look like paupers in the world to come. Gold will be the pavement of streets, so whatever the value that wealth is measured by will be far greater than gold.

The Holy Spirit then speaks of the "glorious liberty of the children of God" as a future fullness that we shall experience. Words are hard to find that fully express what our future will represent. We shall be like our Lord in His glorious resurrection and experience an unlimited state of bliss and glory. No wonder the Scripture states the "whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." This life, where sin has invaded every domain of the world, even the atmospheric heavens, cannot rest fully until all is redeemed. But, we that are saints of God are experiencing the firstfruits of that redemption as we abide in Christ and walk in the Spirit.

The Saints "Groan Within" as we Wait
The last verse of the second main passage is breathtaking truth. There are two phases to our adoption. We are adopted into His family at redemption, but we will be adopted into an eternal state when our body is redeemed. That’s what the Scripture is suggesting when it states that we "have the firstfruits." The same Holy Ghost that effects our adoption when we are born again will effect the total supernatural change when we are made incorruptible. Please remember it is the same Holy Ghost that floods us with the "firstfruits" that will totally transform us at the "main fruit." It cannot be less than supernatural at either moment. To suggest that a person is saved when there has been nothing but a mental decision is a cheap treatment of truth. That is why we have an inferior and empty state of spirituality in most churches.

It is important that we do not reduce our experience below the Bible level, but it is also important that we do not create illusions about our spiritual life. We are not in heaven ye,t and our world is hostile to any level of genuine spirituality. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33b). We are called to be pilgrims and strangers because He wants us to live for the world to come. Let’s read this special verse again, "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:23).

Regardless of our present life, whether we have plenty or suffer want, we are not overly moved in either circumstance. Our "firstfruits" of His Holy Ghost has made this world as of little worth to us and we "groan" within anticipating the fullness of that which we have tasted. Once someone has tasted the "firstfruits," there is no way to ever be satisfied with this world. This is why we must return to the reality of being truly "born again." Our altars have got to become more than a quick fix of shaking the preacher’s hand. We must encourage men and women to stay before the Lord in prayer until they are utterly transformed and made new.

Our flesh cannot please God. The Spirit stated in this same chapter this very fact. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans 8:8-9).

The word, "flesh," as used in this verse does not mean the body, but the carnal passions that control the self-life. When self is perfectly willing to die that the Spirit of life might take full control, then this "Witness of the Spirit" is sure to manifest. Putting all of yourself on His altar in total surrender will open the windows of heaven for a "blessed life in Christ."

Conclusion
"The Witness Of The Holy Ghost" in the believer’s heart is a supernatural reality. If you have never had the assurance of salvation that the "witness of the Holy Ghost" is ordained of God for you, then do not cease to pray and wait before God. This is your "firstfruit" of eternal redemption. If you do not have the "firstfruits," how can you be certain of your eternal salvation? This is your guarantee. This is God’s way of manifesting Himself in your redeemed soul. He wants you to know that you know that you know that you are saved and a "new creature in Christ."

Salvation is not something of the mind only. Salvation is a radical transformation. The "sinner" is made into a saint. The moment you are saved, you are made as holy as you will ever be. You will grow in your own surrender and you will clean up the external temple (your body) so that it reflects holiness to the world. No one will have to force "pure living" on you when the inward man is transformed. You will delight in the "holiness of God" because your character has been transformed to express the nature of God.

The Holy Spirit waits at the door of your heart. Open to the Lord Jesus today and that sweet Spirit of Jesus will come rushing in to testify of His saving presence.

The person of the Holy Spirit is the third dynamic and divine member of our Eternal Godhead. To rightly recognize His offices in the Trinity is to trust God with a fresh vibrancy. Most Christians have heard numerous sermons on the Father and the Son but few on the Holy Spirit. Yet, everything the Father and the Son present in life or redemption is manifest in the church and to the saints by the Spirit. God the Father is on His throne and God the Son is seated at His right hand. The Spirit dwells in the church and in the temple of believers and fills the Universe.

Jesus Christ was most enthusiastic about returning to Heaven and promised that the Teacher and Comforter would be sent in His place. The Holy Spirit never exalts Himself but exalts the Father and the Son as Jesus promised. He must be honored by the Saints and given the mastery of our lives. Our total dependency on the Holy Ghost has one purpose and that is to allow Him to fulfill His offices assigned by the Father and the Son. We are warned not to quench Him, despise Him, grieve Him, or blaspheme Him. The ultimate sin is to blaspheme the Spirit and to do so is to be lost forever.

How can the saints be careful not to quench or grieve Him unless they understand His many wonderful expressions in our midst? A visitation of the Holy Ghost in todayÂ’s church gets scant attention from most in attendance. I remember when everyone honored a very whisper of His presence. The Antichrist has succeeded in providing a false anointing so cheap and giddy that it is laughable. This has resulted in a loss of the sense of the sacred. We need a shattering visitation that breaks the strongholds of religion without the fear of God. The Holy Spirit and His every inspiration must be held in the highest regard.

The shattering phrase, “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,” is the Holy Bible’s most breathtaking description of the Holy Ghost. The complete sentence reads with a clear picture of the many offices of God’s Spirit. “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 4:5).

The Holy Spirit is eternal, unlimited in power, and Holy in exactly the same degree as the Father and the Son. The most wonderful office of the Spirit is His omnipresence. He adds omnipresence to the Godhead just as Jesus adds grace and forgiveness. The Father is the eternal mind, the Son of God is the eternal word, and the Holy Spirit is the eternal manifestation. Nothing can ever escape GodÂ’s thoughts, nothing can escape the Son of GodÂ’s redemption, and nothing can escape the SpiritÂ’s presence.

There are six other offices manifested by the Father and the SonÂ’s Spirit. The first is His office of omnipresence and the following six are now listed in what I perceive as their order. The Spirit of Restraint is that great limitation on evil, which keeps Satan, and all darkness on a leash. He is both the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Revelation. He is the Spirit of Conviction of all sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. He is the Spirit of Grace that converts and frees man of sin and evil control. He is the Spirit of Preservation that seals the soul that He has converted to righteousness and sustains them until the glorious hour of perfection. To search those offices of the Holy Spirit and to recognize the divine intent of each is to walk in the meadows of majesty.

The early church was deeply rooted in the meat of the Word. Because of such depth, they turned their world upside down. The awakening that followed on the heels of Pentecost has never been matched. The Holy Ghost created a church world that touched millions without one modern means of communication. They were possessed of the Spirit and needed nothing else. The office of ChristÂ’s Spirit, which came to be called the Holy Ghost, was the vicar of Jesus Christ in His every expression. When Jesus Christ is glorified as the Spirit glorified Him in the early church, nothing can stop the saints, not even the gates of hell.

The Spirit of Omnipresence
We must understand the incredible office of the Holy Spirit that we call the “Spirit of Omnipresence.” The trinity of God cannot be divided; neither can they be greater than one. These three distinct persons each add incredible dimension to the whole. The one office they hold in common is the perfect Holiness of their character. The Holiness of God must never be considered as acquired but intrinsic. Our God is also eternal, but that is not an office but a fact. The Godhead is also unlimited in power; that is also not an office but is their shared nature.

The Holy Spirit is the all-encompassing part of the Godhead and brings all that God is into the whole of the entire universe. There is not a place where God is not present, and the Spirit makes that so. It matters not how a devoted Christian feels on a given day, God is just as near on the bad days as on the best of days. Life in the plants that line the path we walk would fade in a flash if God were not. All life from the lowest to the highest is upheld by the life principles that fill all space by GodÂ’s Divine Spirit.

God’s Old Testament songwriter explained this the best of all. “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psalm 139:7-12).

Our natural world must deal in shadows, but such possibilities do not exist with God. Even our thoughts are known of Him and He tries our reins in all of our ways. The loss of this understanding of His Spirit creates carelessness that robs man of the fear of God.

Even Hell and the Lake of Fire are eternal because the eternal Spirit of Omnipresence is present. Unless the Spirit inhabits this dark place of judgment, it would burn itself up and cease to be. The universe must never be without the witness of the cost of sin and rebellion. The eternal Lake of Fire will give inspiration to the things of the cross and to the redemption offered to every soul. The Omnipresence of the Divine Spirit can know no boundaries in the total expanse of the FatherÂ’s Universe.

While the “Seven Lamps of Fire” are seen before the throne in Revelation four and seven, He is also seen in Chapter 5 verse six. The last action representing the Spirit is in Chapter 14. After that, the Holy Spirit is seen as going forth from God’s throne and New Jerusalem manifesting the Life and Light to the New Heaven and New Earth. He will be the Omnipresence of the Eternal Father and His Eternal Son. We see His reflection in the following words, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:23). “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). The Glory of the Father and the Son will forever be made manifest by the reflection of the Spirit.

The Spirit of Restraints
The Spirit of Restraints is an incredible office held and manifest by the Holy Spirit. This Divine person is indeed the proper person to restrain evil. Being Omnipresent, there is no possibility of the devil or one of his fallen angels acting in secret. We see this marvelous truth as the Father spoke by the Word in Genesis. “…The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:2-3). The Divine Spirit had moved upon the chaotic emptiness to manifest light. He has always been the restrainer of darkness and evil. Isaiah spoke of Him, “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).

This is an awesome truth. GodÂ’s entire universe would descend into an irreversible catastrophe if not for this Divine restrainer. Satan has turned many nations and lives into a wilderness. Often, when hope was quickly vanishing, the Spirit of God has moved. Every revival I have studied occurred on the edge of total despair.

Even today the world appears to be heading for collapse. It will not happen because the Spirit of Restraints will act supernaturally on schedule. I am truly expecting a sovereign revival among the remnant of faithful believers. Chaos can never pass the limits that our Creator has designed. The Holy Spirit will act and evil will be put to flight. Jesus stated, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

The Spirit of Truth
God’s Eternal truths cannot fail because the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth. Every truth of the Bible is both intellectual and spiritual. So-called scholars that think themselves capable of reinventing the Bible are playing with fire. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Timothy 3:16-17). The Word of God is so powerful that no power can stop one word from being fulfilled.

Apostle Peter gave the Word of God one of its most potent defenses. He stated by the Spirit Himself, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:20-21).

Understanding that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth adds a powerful dimension to both truth and to the Spirit Himself. Truth declares that this Bible is the “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). There is no other tool in the ministry of the Spirit but truth. He does not use other ideas, imaginations, or schemes. The Word of God is His single instrument and that is all He needs. The Spirit watches over the Word to perform it. The Son of God declares, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

ItÂ’s one thing to know that the Bible is an infallible book, but it is even greater to know that the Spirit of Christ keeps watch over every word that it cannot fail. If our faith can grasp this fact, we will become Saints in the spiritual realm.

The Spirit of Revelation
The depth of Scripture is impossible for our minds to comprehend. Hidden in this Holy Word are treasures of wisdom. The Spirit that gives truth must be also the Spirit of Revelation of the truth of those hidden treasures. We shall never discover them without His inspiration. Jesus Christ alluded to this as He taught His disciples and all of us about His Kingdom. He said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44).

Then, He spoke of the scribes that copied the Word, “Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52). There is no possibility of one man exploring all of the treasures in the Holy Bible, but each saint can certainly claim their share. The Holy Ghost’s transcribed revelations are like dynamite held in your hands. It is ready to explode in your life if you will delight in its abundance.

The Book of St. John has been labeled as the book that reveals Christ’s divinity and it is indeed. But, it is much more. It is the most Pentecostal gospel of the four gospels. John writes much about the importance of the Spirit’s coming after Jesus is glorified. These quotes are from Christ Himself. The highlights of His words concerning the Holy Spirit are beautiful. He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (St. John 16:12-15).

The Spirit of Conviction
The spirit in man is the only door by which God can enter into the human life. This spirit of man is kin to God, was imparted by God, and is ordained as a place of Divine activity by the Spirit of Conviction. The Holy Spirit will seize the first opening that the spirit of man allows. The Holy Ghost is never slack to convict of sin. This is His office work. No man can come to God; neither can God go to man except at this level. A multitude will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire because they closed their spiritÂ’s door to the Holy Spirit.

This is one of the key teachings of Christ in St. JohnÂ’s gospel. Jesus made it plain that it was expedient that He return to His Father and send back the convictor of sin. ItÂ’s beautiful to see how aware of the Spirit of Conviction Jesus was. He knew this was the SpiritÂ’s role. He is grace manifested, but the Spirit takes that grace into the human spirit and marks the desperate need on manÂ’s conscience. The emphasis that our Lord placed on this subject gives great credit to this office that He and His Father have given to the Holy Ghost.

His words to the disciples are powerful. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (St. John 16:7-11). There is no “born again” life without conviction of sin in that life.

The Spirit of Conversion
The Spirit that convicts man of His lost condition is fully ready to transform and convert the same life to Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus, “ye must be born again.” When Nicodemus did not understand, Jesus explained it to Him. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (St. John 3:5). Without question, the Lord Himself identified this office of conversion as the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord adds, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (St. John 3:16).

The greatest need in Christ’s church is a new emphasis on the miracle of “being born again.” Our church world is full of unconverted men and women that are convinced that a little religious persuasion is sufficient. The whole spirit, soul, and body becomes a new creature when the power of the Holy Ghost can be turned loose to do His work of regeneration. Anything less is not Bible Christianity.

Apostle Paul described what happens in the powerful work of God’s Holy Spirit and the redemptive experience. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:1-6). The Holy Spirit does a supernatural work in the New Birth.

The Spirit of Preservation
The final expression of the “Seven Lamps of Fire” or the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s offices is this marvelous preservation of the Saints. I’m so close to being a “once saved, always saved” believer that it scares my friends. Someone of the Calvinistic persuasion asked me recently, “Can a man lose his salvation?” My answer was, “absolutely not.” Of course, after a pause I said, “But he can leave it.” Even to “leave it” is not easy. This whole argument is the most fruitless argument of the church world.

When a soul is truly “born again,” they are sealed by the Holy Ghost and identified for the world and the devil to see as God’s property. It is impossible for them to backslide unless that seal is broken. The only power that can break that seal is a willful return to sin and a willful rejection of the pleading, persevering power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul gave us a picture of this pathway to backsliding. Here is his powerful expression, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

The preserving ministry of the Spirit is one of the Bible’s most breathtaking pictures. Peter said “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Later in II Peter, this apostle said some powerful words concerning that soul that willfully turns back to sin. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire “ (II Peter 2:20-22).

It takes a stubborn soul to reject this marvelous salvation once they have experienced the heart of an utterly transformed life. The Holy Spirit is our best friend and He abides in our very temple to preserve us for righteousness. We must not “quench Him,” “grieve Him,” or “resist Him.” Romans say, ”Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9b).

Conclusion
The Seven Lamps of the Fire before the throne of God shows us clearly the great breath of the Person of the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ alone is the Lord of the church and of every saint of God; but, His Spirit is present to be our Pope or Vicar for Christ. Every saint and every local church must develop a Biblical sensitivity to this Divine Person abiding in our midst. Our spirits can be so tuned to Him that we hear His whisper and yield immediately to His presence.

Jerusalem is so central in all of Holy Scripture that the Father has named four entities by that name. Three cities are named Jerusalem. He calls His called-out church “Heavenly Jerusalem.” All four of His Jerusalems are presently and swiftly becoming the focus of all revelations. It is the time of the end and the restitution of all things is at hand.

As the end approaches, Satan will be busy planning and scheming attacks on everything dear to the heart of God. The city of earthly Jerusalem will be attacked by the armies of the world. Misguided “Christians” will cast insult after insult at the Jewish nation and their capitol. The Islamic world will continuously claim Jerusalem as their capitol and seek to lay claim by their false satanic design. War is also gathering in the Heavens as the fallen angels follow Satan to accuse us before the throne of our God in heavenly Jerusalem. The true church, His spiritual Jerusalem, has never been more despised by the dark forces gathering to destroy. But, win He will! Satan hates anything connected to the four entities that are named Jerusalem.

The Four Jerusalems are Beautiful to Consider

The Heavenly Jerusalem (The church is also called “Heavenly Jerusalem")
Our God is seated on His majestic throne framed with a rainbow on the sides of the North. Listen to David as he writes a song of praise about the heavenly city. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” (Psalm 48:1-3). Earthly events and His divine plans are all patterned after His will in Heaven. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10) The closer you get to Heaven, the more you will understand His plans on earth.

The statement, “in the mountain of His holiness,” sets this city apart as the place of His perfection. Apparently, Paul the Apostle was caught up to this indescribable realm. He returned with bated voice almost incapable of expressing his experience. “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.” (II Corinthians 12:1-5)

Satan sacrificed this realm of glory in his pride and rebellion, and it is until today a focus of his hatred. Revelation chapter twelve records Satan’s last effort to hinder the activities proceeding from the throne in this realm of exceeding glory. The Father has allowed Satan to continue in defense of his claims until this future moment. All of Heaven’s actions are judicially perfect and Satan’s temporary parole is swiftly ending. Soon, the realm that separates the earth from the Heavenly city and seat will be cleansed of all evil activities. Satan and his angels will be cast out and his right as “prince of the power of the air” will end. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10)

The raptured saints will be caught up into Heavenly Jerusalem where they will appear before His throne. Never have you seen a picture of earthly saints, since the fall of Adam, uncovered by some form of grace until the fourth chapter of Revelation. God had to slay an animal in the Garden of Eden for a covering before Adam and Eve could step from behind their hiding place. Moses had to be placed in a cleft of the rock (a picture of the smitten Savior) on the Mountain of Horeb before He could view the Father’s glory even from His back parts. “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:21-23)

But, finally redemption has prevailed and the raptured saints have entered into their long desired haven. The Heavenly Jerusalem, God’s Zion, becomes the place of their celebration. We will enter with our glorified body unashamed, uncovered, and unshackled from the past into the realm of His immediate presence. Listen as John the Revelator describes this event. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” (Revelation 4:1-5)

All the events in Revelation chapters four and five occur within and without of the Heavenly Jerusalem. In chapter five we see the grand scene of the seven-sealed book and the preparation to unseal this redemption plan. The Son of God Himself does not appear in chapter four and only appears in chapter five as “a lamb as it had been (past tense) slain.” The saints are present and have clearly been raptured and received their new bodies. No human creature could stand in the presence of such glory. They are clearly a multitude and now with unfettered voices, they proceed to sing the song of redemption. Listen, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” (Revelation 5:9-12)

Other scenes in Scripture take us into this Heavenly Jerusalem. Isaiah “… saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:1-3) In Revelation as the seven-sealed book is unleashed in all its transactions, suddenly the temple is open in heaven. “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” (Revelation 11:19) “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” (Revelation 15:8)

Heavenly Jerusalem is the example of all perfection and holiness. “The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” (Psalm 50:1-2) Even the temple in Heavenly Jerusalem is the exact pattern from which Moses built the tabernacle and Solomon built the temple. The entire universe will soon reflect the excellent beauty of His Jerusalem “on the sides of the North.” You should begin to sing with all His saints this song written by King David.

The Earthly Jerusalem
The second Jerusalem in the great scheme of our God is His chosen city on earth. Jerusalem has been the center of almost every revelation given to man. It is as clearly His chosen city as the Bible can make it. Remember, as you view today’s Jerusalem that it is still in bondage with her children and must be seen Biblically and prophetically. “Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (Galatians 4:24-26)

Our Heavenly Father said, “But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there.” (II Chronicles 6:6a) That may be hard to grasp today in the natural. When you walk the streets of today’s Jerusalem, you cannot help but see the fatal expressions of that bondage to which the Apostle spoke. Unbelief, political maneuvering, hedonism, and outright rebellion against the laws of God is apparent everywhere. The Orthodox Jews are the only light from Israel’s past, but their light is steeped in traditions. Yet, these are good men and women and may well be the 144,000 Jews sealed with the seal of God in Revelation chapter seven.

But, a Bible believer does not view the city with natural eyes but by the lens of prophecy. The city will be trodden down until the fullness of the Gentiles arrives. Jesus Christ Himself wept over the city which He saw in His day and declared, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

The Jerusalem He loved and wept over is very little different than today. They did have a temple that He called a “den of thieves.” This city did not have a government, but was a vassal of Rome.

Recently, one of the extreme right-wingers from the anti-Semitic fold called Jerusalem “the most wicked city on earth.” This statement reflects the growing attitude towards Jerusalem that will characterize the Antichrist’s hatred for this city. Satan hates Jerusalem because it replaced his capitol of Babel (Babylon) in the day starting with Abraham and finding fullness when David brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem. The city has been a battlefield with the forces of darkness and light from that day.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem will suffer their darkest night just before the “Light of the World” returns to fulfill His final plan for this chosen city. By divine anointing the prophet, Zechariah, stated, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:1-3) It is still night spiritually in Jerusalem, but “Daystar” is coming. The Son of man shall come in His glory at the end of the seven darkest years of human history and judge every nation by how they treated Israel and Earthly Jerusalem.

Spiritual Jerusalem
The third Jerusalem is His holy saints chosen out of the nations and united together in one great company, called the “Church.” The church was never meant to be denominations or some monolithic political force. The church’s power is found in her devotion to Jesus Christ and the mighty anointing provided by her Holy Ghost Baptism. Every great awakening has transcended the church walls and her organized barriers. When God the Father comes down to answer unwavering prayer and faith, the nations tremble at His presence. No denomination has ever made a meaningful difference until something supernatural happened that washed away her religious systems.

It is extremely significant that the church is called Mount Zion. The Heavenly Father never departs from His eternal plans. From Jerusalem on the sides of the North, where His glory dwells, to Jerusalem, His chosen city, to Jerusalem, His heavenly company of saints, He reveals Himself to the nations. Apostle Paul worded it carefully in teaching the Hebrews about the New Zion. “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

Why does He call His church Heavenly Jerusalem or Mount Zion? The answer is simple. We are not an earthly organization. We are a heavenly company. Our Pope is the Holy Scripture, our Overseer is the Lord of the church, and our authority is the anointing of the Holy Ghost. When the church is reduced to an earthly organization, it quickly resorts to earthly plans and powers and loses it uniqueness.

You must notice that the church was ordained to sin in heavenly places. The letter to the Ephesians stated, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6-7)

The writer had already stated that Jesus was seated in heavenly places. “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 1:20) Our fellowship is not to be limited by earthly confines. We have a fellowship of the mysteries of God that makes us an otherworldly company. The church demise today is her worldliness and hunger for worldly wisdom. Our fellowship is best described in this same letter from the Apostle Paul. “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” (Ephesians 3:9-10)

Indeed, the church of Jesus Christ is a Heavenly Jerusalem free from the entanglement of the world. Our closest kinship is with Jesus Christ, who sits on the right hand of God. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9).

New Jerusalem
The fourth Jerusalem is yet in our future. Jesus said to His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” (John 14:1-4)

I know it is finished because John saw what he had heard Jesus explain and what he had reported in his gospel. Apostle Paul saw the City of Heavenly Jerusalem, but Apostle John saw the City of New Jerusalem.

John stated, as given to him by the Lord Jesus, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:1-3)

I love the way John said it, “And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem.” For me, this establishes that John alone among the living has seen this city. From John’s inspired revelation, we must conclude that the city will not come into view until the millennium is over and the wicked have been judged. Even Hell will be in view of the earth’s inhabitants during the thousand years according to Isaiah. “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:23-24)

But, when that city, New Jerusalem, descends down to this earth, it will follow “a New Heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The wicked will have been cast far away in the Lake of Fire. Nothing that offends shall be in sight or in hearing distance. It’s all been forever redeemed of that which defiles.

Those that are saved shall live in the light of this city, but the Bride of Christ shall live within the city. The city was prepared “as a bride adorned for her husband.” Saints of the ages have sacrificed all that they are for the joy of being in the Bride of Christ. Some will be saved as by fire, but lose their reward. “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (I Corinthians 3:15) Those will live outside the city. The Scripture states, “… others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.” (Hebrews 11:35b) Apostle Paul said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

Conclusion
Jerusalem is a name to love with great emotion or to hate with equal passion. It best describes the beauty of God’s sinless past before sin marred His creation or our sinless future when once again the Eden of God will be manifest in the new city. While we await the glory of New Jerusalem, we must contend with an earthly city, which is creating a cup of trembling for the entire catalog of nations. The entire universe will soon be the paradise of God. The pattern of Heavenly Jerusalem will shape the kingdom of this earth. As you study the Scripture, let the holiness of God become your joy and allow the Redeemer to prepare you for the heavenly culture that will fill His world. No sin will enter there. Remember, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Everything that God did or revealed in the First Testament was given as a shadow or an example of His finished plan of redemption. Nothing in the Bible is an afterthought or a new thing, but all of His actions or words was the acting our of a preordained drama. It can best be called the "Drama of Redemption." Seven major feasts are the prophetic picture of Jesus Christ and His redemption accomplished. The actual feasts are the simple rehearsal of that accomplishment and were used to allow Israel to receive the benefit of the Father’s eternal plan.

Our God does nothing for its dramatic effect, but if He did, these "Seven Feasts" would transcend the greatest masterpieces of human existence. They are breathtaking in both design and message. Each feast foreshadows a unique part of God’s redemption story. Each feast is a complete message in itself, yet fits into the total picture in such a way that it would be incomplete to let it stand alone. Indeed the seven feasts together are God’s redemption drama and the world will be His kingdom when the last curtain of the Feast of Tabernacles is lifted.

The Feasts of Jehovah
These seven feasts must not be called the Feasts of Israel, but the Feasts of Jehovah. Moses stated clearly what these feasts were to represent. "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." (Leviticus 23:2-4).

When Jesus was present in the flesh to be the Messiah, the Jewish nation had changed the Feast of Jehovah to the Feast of the Jews. Instead of a Feast of Revelation, they had become the Feast of the People and tied to the nation, instead of the promises of God. Listen to the Apostle John speak of these feasts in the Jewish terminology of his time. "And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." (John 2:13). "Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand." (John 7:2).

No wonder Isaiah had said the following when he noted the backslidden state of Israel. "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward." (Isaiah 1:4).

The First Testament Foretold God’s Plan
The New Testament writers were ordained by the Holy Spirit to simply unveil what was contained in the First Testament. Nothing in the New Testament was new. The First Testament was their tutor to enable them to see all that Jesus Christ represented. All the things of God are higher than the wisdom of the wisest. Yet, God had chosen to teach by shadows, types, and simple events so that the New Testament writer or believer could grasp the depth of His wonderful works.

Let’s look at several New Testament Scriptures that show plainly what we are saying. Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20).

Often the word fulfilled is misunderstood in the way Jesus used it. It means complete. Jesus did not fulfill to eliminate but to complete. The First Testament was the shadow and Jesus came to show that which was only dimly visible before. He eliminated nothing but the shadow and then established the finished product.

The Apostle Paul adds a beautiful dimension to this same truth. He said, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4).
Remember, the only Scripture that the apostle could refer to was the First Testament. The Second or New Testament was in the process of being written, but was not canonized or accepted yet as an official document. The Old (First) Testament was their only approved Scriptures. The total message preached by the early church was based on the lessons and inspiration of the Law, the Torah or prophets and writings of the Jewish Scripture. Consequently, everything in the New Testament is Jewish and based on the anointed truths of their Scripture.

The Law Was a Tutor (School Master or Teacher)
It’s amazing to see the rebellion in today’s church against the laws of God. When you begin to see that the Law was God’s ordained schoolmaster and that it was the exclusive route by which the Father would bring us to His Son, then the Law becomes beautiful rather than restrictive. Rebellion against anything is always in the mind of the rebellious. What one man rebels against is the protection of another.

Look at Apostle Paul’s description of this breathtaking truth. "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:21-26).

We are not to become lawless because the tutor finished its job. We are to move up to the higher level of the Lawgiver Himself that now abides in our life to effect the Law by grace instead of works. The Law is our teacher to bring us to Christ. The feasts were his object lessons to show us the dramatic effect of His Law. Every truth in the Law was to manifest itself in the feasts so that the Jewish people would have a witness of the fulfillment when it occurred.

The Jewish leaders and people allowed the feasts to become rituals instead of revelations and because of that they rejected the fulfillment or completion of the first four feasts. How did they miss seeing Jesus as their Passover Lamb? Everything that the Passover Lamb suggested or typified, He fulfilled. As we look at the life of Jesus Christ and His death and the numerous perfect expressions of the Passover Feast, we are amazed at such precision. But, remember they missed it because of ritualism and we see it because of revelation. This is a spiritual fact in all truth that never fails.

The Apostle Paul adds a kind of finished expression to the thought of the First Testament shadows becoming their light to the brighter day of Christ’s coming. Paul said, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17).

It would appear that the Jews were certainly free to continue their feasts days as a remembrance of God’s lessons. It is also clear that there is absolutely no spiritual life in those feasts because Christ has come. To place confidence in a communication of grace by any shadow of the First Testament is to revert back to the Law and its powerlessness to save. The glory of the shadow was only in its hope of the promise. Once the promise is completed, it is futile to trust in a shadow. The church must study the values of revelations afforded the First Testament worshipper and then quickly move into the glory of revelations fulfilled.

If the ritualism of the Jews so clouded their vision that Jesus Christ was totally rejected then for the church to return to those rituals suggest the same blindness all over again. All of us have probably heard the clear expression of how the two testaments relate to each other. I repeat it for all our benefits. The New Testament is in the First Testament concealed, while the First Testament is in the New Testament revealed.

The Calendar and Its Importance
The scheme of events in the Seven Feasts of Israel demands some understanding of our present calendar as well as ancient calendars. Each of the Seven Feasts occur on a specific day of the month in the Jewish calendar. The three months out of the regular twelve that these feasts occur are Nissan, Sevan, and Tishri. The first three feasts are in the first month, Nissan, the middle or fourth feast is in Sevan, and the last three are in Tishri, the seventh month. The Jewish calendar has twelve months, plus a strange sequel of a leap year of thirteen months. The leap years are the third, sixth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth. Then, they start over again.

All ancient calendars were made up of 360 days until 701 BC. At that time something happened in the universe that started the process of change until the 365 1/4 day calendar was finalized in 1582 AD by Pope Gregory XIII. The Jewish day also begins at sunset and ends at sunset according to the account in Genesis. "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:5). The Jewish calendar is set annually by determining the full moon. This keeps the feast days at their precise location in the pattern set by Holy Scripture.

Feast Days Set by God Himself
The Father Himself set the feast days in the pre-ordained scheme as they will be finally acted out in the divine drama of completed redemption. Please notice the Biblical design given to Moses. "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." (Leviticus 23:1-2, 4).

These seven feasts are His holy convocations. They are designed to proclaim His glory to Israel and to set God’s appointments for the future. The word feast comes from a Hebrew word mowar that suggests to "keep an appointment." In other words these were God’s appointments or God’s plan and they were to keep them in obedience to His redemptive purpose. They could not have understood how they would be finally fulfilled. A few godly men that sought the face of God did receive some revelation. Isaiah, in his great book, laid out the passover lamb’s death and possibly saw it as a completion of the passover sacrifice.

Another wording used for the word feast in our English translation is the words "holy convocation." These words, holy convocation, is one word, migraw, in Hebrew. It means "rehearsal." Again, the plan of God was beautiful. God’s chosen people by whom Christ would be born were actually rehearsing the drama of redemption. They were acting out in their feast what God would perform in His Son. Nothing was by accident. The whole scheme must be perfectly prefigured in the preparation of a people by whom He would be born of the "Seed of Woman." The Jewish people were actually redeemed by their strict obedience to God’s feast. It was redemption in the process as well as redemption in the future.

The Pattern of the Seven Feasts
Even the pattern of these feasts was prophetic and designed to accurately rehearse what was to be accomplished. From the first coming of Christ as the Passover Lamb, until He would return in His glory to establish His kingdom is all prefigured in the Seven Feasts and in exact order. A seven curtain drama could be enacted to manifest the plan and in reality that is what occurred in the actual feast. The many present day departures from Biblical eschatology could be avoided if the order of these feasts was clearly understood. I want to name the seven feasts in this introduction.

• Passover - This feast occurred on Nissan 14 and is a perfect foreshadow of Christ’s death and the redemptive values of His sacrificial blood. It establishes God’s perfect plan that nothing can be redeemed but by sinless blood.
   
• Feast of Unleavened Bread - The Feast Of Unleavened Bread begins the next day after passover (Nissan 15) and prefigures the unique idea of a spiritual diet on the Word of God. Redemption is more than a spiritual experience. It is a totally new lifestyle. For seven days the worshipper partook of unleavened bread. A secondary name for this feast could be the Feast of Sanctification.
   
• Feast of Firstfruits - This feast is within the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Whatever day in the seven in which the normal Sabbath occurred, the next day was the Feast of Firstfruits. It was actually an eighth day feast always falling on the first day of the week. The shadow of this feast is cast toward the resurrected life of Jesus Christ and His victory over death. It also establishes a New Testament covenant day of worship, called the Lord’s Day. Christ’s first and second appearance to His disciples were both on the first day of the week.
   
• Feast of Weeks (Pentecost or Harvest) - This feast was the shadow of Pentecost or the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It also occurred on the first day of the week fifty days after the regular Sabbath, which occurred after Passover.
   
• Feast of Trumpets - The sounding of the trumpet was one of the most frequent and compelling events in the life of Israel. The Feast of Trumpets suggested a time of hope and deliverance. This feast prefigures the glorious day when the trumpet shall blast and the Rapture occur. This fifth feast, as well as the sixth and seventh are the three feasts that have not yet seen their New Testament glory.
   
• Feast of Atonement - On this feast the children of Israel were to solemnly seek cleansing and purification. The broken laws had to be propitiated by shed blood. The future fulfillment foreshadows the coming seven years of tribulation, called Jacob’s Trouble. It is literally the time of atonement in preparation for the King of Kings to return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
   
• Feast of Tabernacle - This seventh feast was a time of rejoicing. Solomon dedicated the temple on the Feast of Tabernacles. The prophetic picture is the 1,000 years of the millennium on earth. Consider that the seventh feast could actually begin in the early years of the seventh millennium from creation. It would certainly be a perfect finishing of the Drama of Redemption.

The Seven Tier Menorah
The menorah is a beautiful picture of the Seven Feasts Of Jehovah. There are three Spring feasts on the left, a center feast, which constitutes the break between Spring and Fall, and three Fall feasts on the right. The Spring feasts were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the center feast provides the glorious span of Jehovah’s Bride (church) and her years of preparation. It also prefigures Israel’s years of being cut off. The Fall feast is both the time of hope of the church and Israel. The Drama of Redemption is clearly visible in this seven tier menorah.
The First Testament Comes Alive

The Old (First) Testament is a breathtaking book. It is easy to see how Israel became so engrossed and satisfied with their Bible that they forgot to watch for its completion. They allowed the dramas of this book to take on a ritualistic presence and, because of its tantalizing effect, did not see the Messiah in His revelation. They rejected Him and missed their glory of presenting Jesus Christ to the world of the unsaved. Soon, they will see Him whom they pierced and rejoice in His revelation. It will be one of the brightest days in human experiences.

Zechariah prophesied of the glory of their coming vision of the returning Christ.

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10).

They will ask Him about His wound and will hear His answer of forgiveness. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." (Zechariah 13:6).

His answer reveals His words on the cross. "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." (Luke 23:34).

After years of being a part of conservative churches and conservative friendships, I have noticed a Bible study dilemma. Almost all discussions of new and old ideas seem to be derived from the Book of Acts or some of the writings from the Apostles. Church rules and regulations are mostly patterned after the Epistles. Church government is often more of a priority than church effectiveness. It seems that the Gospels have been relegated to a historical mode more than an actual guide for living the Christian life. I hear much more quoting of scriptures from Acts through Revelation than I do the Words in RED. Most church lobby discussions and arguments are along the lines of the epistles and their quotations.

On the other hand, some church groups want to ignore Paul’s teachings about hair, tongues, modesty, and more; and replace that with a supposed Christ-like lifestyle. These types call Pauline regulations "legalism" while they spend their efforts feeding the poor (often just street bums), having church club meetings, and doing social based service without power from God. Both sides are missing a greater call to true righteousness that is clearly defined in the gospels.

The Lord recently spoke to my heart to emphasize the Words of Christ this year. As I began to concentrate on the sayings of Christ, I began to understand why the modern church tends to skip around many of these words. Jesus gets straight to the heart of man with His call to service. He leaves no room for argument. While a liberal may explain away an epistle concept and a conservative may over-apply the same concept; the way Christ spoke did not leave room for eliminating His call to discipleship. What do you do with a verse that states: "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." How can you argue tithing or giving; or make less than a full conversion to Christ after these words? Shallow conversions don’t fit here! Church government seems a mundane subject when this decision reaches a man’s heart! Holiness standards are not a problem to a man who has left all!

I have watched both conservative and nominal church folk completely bypass the golden rule. Luke 6:31 says, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise". How different would your life be if you ACTUALLY treated others like this? Copyright laws would all of a sudden affect churches and supposed Christians. Business dealings would be very "above board" and clearly defined. Can you imagine facing eternity after copying the cassette of a Southern Gospel group on a blank tape? What if it was your group? I have been told that church choirs often copy material from one book instead of purchasing a book for each member. What if you put together the book? After a car wreck, on the job, selling a used car, and other life scenarios can put your real desire to follow this saying to a tough test! Wouldn’t insurance companies and many others love for everyone to follow the golden rule?

Maybe you think my emphasis on Christ’s Words is a little extreme. Is your life able to withstand the floods and storms of life intact? Jesus said, "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." The ruin of the house (man), that did not follow His sayings, was a great catastrophe!

Do you depend on the Holy Spirit to guide you? Jesus said that when the Spirit came, He would bring to your memory all that Jesus had said. John 14:26 says, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The early church had only the Old Testament and the memory of what Christ said. Yet, they were turning the world upside down.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." His words are eternal and you will be eternally responsible for those words. "And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power." His words should be quoted since they have power in their effect on men. "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." Even in Revelation, Christ reminds the church of keeping His Word. "…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." Whoa! Being a disciple requires that we continue to hear and obey His Word. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." "…the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me." You can see how important Christ’s Words are!

I feel many Christians have accidentally put too little emphasis on the Words in Red! It is easy to think more about church government, holiness standards and lifestyles. But we should be careful to remember that the Words in Red will judge us at the last day. WHY DON’T YOU TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT THE WORDS IN RED? It will cause you to search your heart in a new way.

Please realize I mean no disregarding of the remainder of the New Testament. Just to prove it, let me quote Paul. "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings." Even Paul was careful to say that we must follow and teach the words of Christ. There is a reason those words are in red! Give them a brand new special place in your heart and memory!

The great God Jehovah, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is calling His “preachers”, chosen by Himself, back to the trumpet. The preaching of the Word of God is ordained of God to be like a trumpet – powerful, soul searching and dynamic. Under Biblical preaching anointed by the Holy Ghost, sinners will shake and break, while religious people will either get mad or get converted. Most preaching today is religious pabulum and church people that feed on baby food will automatically be religious babies. There are very few pulpits in America with fire in the preacherÂ’s soul. Intellectual preaching produces religious junkies, but anointed preaching will disturb hell, drive out demons, and bring revival to the community.

God’s infallible Bible is plain. A chosen preacher is ordained by God to be “a flaming fire.” Let’s allow God Himself, by His truth, to say it like it is: “Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire.” (Psalm 104:4) Apostle Paul never failed to maintain the unity of the two Testaments. He quoted David the psalmist to the Hebrew Christians to whom he addressed the Book of Hebrews, “And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.” (Hebrews 1:7) This description of a God-called, and God-anointed preacher is the Biblical model. The very word “preacher” in classical English carries this powerful model. Here is the exact meaning of God’s chosen characteristics and description of a Biblical preacher: “Preaching: to give advice in an offensive, tedious or obtrusive manner; an assiduous, (constant and unwavering) inculcator (frequent and persistent, admonition); given to tedious moralizing.”

It is important with this kind of definition of preaching to not misunderstand the total truth. This could sound mean and clamorous, but thatÂ’s not GodÂ’s purpose. Apostle Paul was an apostle to preachers and never failed to inform them mightily. “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-5) “A flame of fire” with a broken heart has never wounded one soul. “A flame of fire” that has a servantÂ’s passion will heal the wounds caused by the “two edged” sword of the Word.

God’s “preacher” is not his own; he belongs to the Master. God’s “preacher” does not preach his own ideas, nor does he claim some new revelation. Apostle Peter’s instruction to the preachers was equal to Apostle Paul’s. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11) The words Peter used are a revelation in itself. “As the oracles of God” is instruction that puts the man of God on a spiritual plane that is utterly otherworldly. The word “oracles” that Peter used comes from a Greek word “logion” [log-ee-on]. It is a rendering of the word for the Son of God used by John called “logos”. Jesus was the “Logos”, the supernatural living Word of God. He was the “Logos” of God, the perfect revelation of God. He was “the way, the truth and the life.” (St. John 14:6) There is no truth apart from Him. Any revelation of theology or religious jargon apart from the eternal “Logos” is error, and he that preaches that error is a blasphemer of truth.

Apostle Peter left us no room for diversion. “If any man speak let him speak as the ‘logion [log-ee-on]’ of God.” The truth that flames from the anointed “preacher” is straight from the “Logos.” An anointed “preacher” will never vary from the words of God and the anointing will give “unction” to magnify God’s infallible Book. The Bible is the broadest book of all literature. The truth is ever revealing but never changing. It gets bigger without being enlarged. It is so glorious that a preacher can never exhaust its revelations and he has no need for some new fancy.

One of the greatest instructions of the Holy Ghost to His church was “COVET TO PROPHESY.” The context of this charge was beautiful. Apostle Paul had given very detailed instructions concerning the gifts of the Holy Ghost and their Biblical order. The church is not a place for confusion or for showmanship. The apostle gave precious details of his own spiritual life and elevated living in the Holy Ghost to a beautiful, orderly life. Then he ended the instructions with these words, “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:39-40) Prophecy is clearly identified as the foremost action of the supernatural works of the Spirit. God has so ordained that a genuine expression of prophecy breaks forth into the human spirit and lays bare sins, disobedience, rebellion, or any characteristic in that life that mars the image of God. It also comforts and provides great encouragement.

When preaching is geared only as education of the Scripture, or as entertainment by religious ideas of morality and Christian philosophy, it completely fails. The human soul will never be redeemed until the voice of God can reach the spirit of man; and GodÂ’s ordained plan, clear and simple, is that preaching the glorious Gospel is His method. There is not a back-up plan. When church only educates people, it produces nothing but religious people. Anointed preaching communicates to the spirit in man and revives the hunger for God lost in human depravity. The works of sin are made ugly and damning when the spirit of anointing breaks upon the heart.

Apostle Paul was careful to show the excellent purposes of the great gift of prophecy. Sadly, most of todayÂ’s church does not understand that preaching is not preaching until the anointing is manifest and that anointed preaching is prophecy. Preaching without the anointing is teaching, not preaching. Teaching is an office in the church, but it is not one of the nine gifts. Teaching is academic, but preaching is prophetic. Teaching is group study and has a wonderful place in ChristÂ’s church, but when teaching replaces preaching, the church becomes education and not salvation. The church world is almost exclusively religious today and most good people can see the difference.

Prophecy has three marvelous benefits: Prophecy EDIFIES, EXHORTS and COMFORTS. “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” (1 Corinthians 14:3) These three benefits are on a Divine level and are clearly supernatural. First, anointed preaching EDIFIES the listener. The soul of man cannot maintain a proper spiritual level without the spiritual life God has ordained in preaching. Preaching, anointed by the Holy Ghost, lifts the soul up and gives fire to the spirit in man. The very meaning of the word “edification” is “architecture” or “a structure; confirmation; building”, and carries the whole idea of building up the saints to maturity and spiritual manhood. Without prophecy or anointed preaching, the church remains a “nursery” instead of a “battle ground”.

EXHORTATION is the next great activity of anointed preaching. When GodÂ’s man stands in that pulpit under the anointing, he calls the saints to the presence of the Lord. The background of the word “exhort” is to call someone “near to you.” It includes warning of failure or sin, but that is the sub-work not the main work. Whatever hinders your nearness to Him will find correction in genuine exhortation. Nothing – not music, nor testimony, nor even worship – can do for you what prophecy does. All the others prepare the way for GodÂ’s servant, called to preach, to bring you into the very realm of Divine activity on a special level.

The third purpose in anointed preaching is to COMFORT. The soul of man was created to give expression to God’s wonderful creation. We were rendered by Adam’s sin, according to Paul, creatures of vanity, constantly in need of solace, strength, and encouragement. The Apostle Paul said, “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)

The anointed Word of God is God’s plan for reviving man spiritually on a regular basis. While every believer should have their own time to feed on spiritual things, the powerful Word of God delivered by a “flaming preacher” is dynamite for the soul. Our church world is desperate for a return to this gift. The preachers must learn that the anointing breaks the yoke, not our correction, chastisement, or rebukes. We may sometimes need to correct or chasten, but is less likely to be needed when the mighty Spirit has an anointed man.

The anointed preacher is a steward of the mysteries of God. “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1) The Bible is filled with great truths, and no man will ever master every great mystery, but our duty is to constantly wait before God for inspiration. Nothing is new, and woe to the soul that is intrigued with imaginations of some new theology. At the same time, God’s preacher should live in the Word until its mysteries of truth are enlarged and revealed.

The breadth or width of the Bible is overwhelming. The same truth of last month or last year can speak with new joys and fresh “bread” almost every time a soul prays, until the anointing falls, fresh and enlarging. The congregation will know when the preacher has had a fresh inspiration from the Living Book. The Bible, along with Jesus Christ, is the Living Bread. It never gets stale unless it becomes academic. Very few ministers have mastered the Book of Revelation for this very reason. The Word “mystery” in the Biblical context is “that which cannot be known except by Divine inspiration.”

Anointing is not emotions; a sermon may be delivered with emotions, or it may be delivered with great calm, but the anointing will bridge the difference. Often undiscerning souls will mistake emotions for anointing and drink up the poison. Emotion without anointing is misleading and can cause souls to live by feelings instead of faith. Our passion must be for truth instead of feeling. Neither should we discount feelings, for we are emotional creatures, and those emotions must not be reserved just for secondary matters of life.

God needs able ministers for His Kingdom’s victories. If we are willing to die to everything else and become totally His servants, He is ready to do the work by His Spirit. Paul said, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:6-8) When we consider the glory of the Spirit at work in the wilderness, and understand that the New Testament excels that glory beyond description, we ought to bow our heads in disgust. We have been far less than God ever intended, and I am filled with shame. But I shall not remain in this shame. I’m moving toward the New Testament “Sinai.” Our Sinai is not a physical mountain, but a glorious Pentecost.

In the beginning God created [spoke into existence] the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and the Word was made flesh . . . and we beheld His glory (John 1:1, 14).

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full (I John 1:1-4).

The word communication is high-tech today. Most Americans spend their time creating, processing, or distributing information. An estimated 60 to 70 percent of us work in the field of information in some form. That has increased from 17 percent in 1950!

Communication, according to the best-selling author, John Naisbitt, is the number one Megatrend for society as a whole.

Businesses are spending fortunes teaching their people how to tap into the information revolution. The world of education seems obsessed with the ability to communicate.

And in the high-touch areas of life, marriage counselors keep insisting that communication is no longer a luxury (it never has been), but is absolutely imperative to a healthy marriage. In our churches and civic organizations, there are seminars and lectures on speaking and writing effectively.

In every area of human existence, there is an overwhelming emphasis on communication, and there should be. Communication is one of the highest levels of man’s ability. It is one of the key physical capacities which sets us apart from animals, at least to the sophisticated degree we are able to achieve.

His Voice
In such an atmosphere of hearing, sharing, and talking, have we forgotten to listen to the greatest Communicator of all? Has the explosion in communication robbed us of hearing the voice of the eternal God? Has the sensing capacity of our inner person become too dull to see, hear, and believe?

We must not be so overwhelmed with the information glut that we do not hear the voice of God. The miraculous beauty of His communications to us is breathtaking. Creation is a voice from God that penetrates the darkest corner of the universe. The atheist of Russia or China cannot keep this voice out. His personal communication, the Word or logos, transcends all human logic. That is, the Voice became Flesh so that His message would be in reach of the dullest mind. Yet, His most intimate communication is His personal presence in the human heart. We can know Him as our individual Savior and Lord. This intimate communication involves a two-way conversation. Our God yearns to be involved in the most intimate way possible in our life.

Now we are dealing with high-tech communication; as high as heaven itself.

And God Said!
In the beginning, God created. It was His personal communication. God spoke the world into existence. The energy of His words became substance and material. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light! There would never be a need for argument or proof. It was a communication of power and might unlike anything the universe has known since. It is hard to imagine! Our sun, a mere glint in the entire cosmos, was instantly created into a gaseous globe almost 900,000 miles in diameter, with its temperature increasing from 10,000° F at its lowest visible level to many, many million degrees at the center. And almost 93 million miles beyond that sun, another globe, 7,900 miles in diameter, appeared from nowhere to join that intergalactic display.

On this globe today, six billion-plus inhabitants of the earth are still able to view God’s miraculous communication through creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is not speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Their line (or direction)is gone out through all the arth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun (Psalm 19:1-4).

God has communicated His glory through all of creation. No one is completely hidden from it. The Lord wove His design into every fabric of the universe, from the invisible electrons to the mammoth planets and far-flung galaxies.

How can a person look at the incredibly complex design of the heavens and not believe in the God of creation? Or how can a person be an atheist or agnostic when he contemplates the intricacies of the human hand or eye? To disbelieve defies design.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

Man can understand the Designer from the results of His design. No, one cannot experience the new birth without accepting Jesus, but the created world is a most explicit testimony of the great Creator.

A Goya or a Wyeth captures some part of creation on the canvas–the graceful figure of an athlete or the rich hue of a forest–and the people exclaim, "What an expressive, talented, artistic genius!" Those paintings may even sell for thousands of dollars.

But those same people may completely ignore the Creator who first formed that human figure, who set in motion the chemical miracle which makes the leaves change from green to red.

Our Father has spoken through creation. The grandeur of the mountains and the beauty of the sky all point to a God who desires the best for His children. He can be seen wherever you look.

All humans agree that there was a beginning. The problem, especially during this century, has been that few scientists agree how it all got started. One theory is this: "In the beginning, nothing, and nothing plus nothing became everything." This does not make sense. It takes a lot more raw faith to believe that the world started with nothing and became everything, than just to believe that God plus nothing equals everything.

God made the world from nothing to communicate the universal fact of His design and love for creation. Everything fits together too well not to believe. The balance of nature is much too specialized to be a cosmic accident.

Creation Also Involves Consciousness
Beyond that, man is driven to seek God. The great anthropological studies all point to cultures and civilizations longing to know the Creator. There are many bizarre attempts to serve Him, to make contact with the One True God, to have a relationship with Him. Even Karl Marxx wrote, "Man is incurably religious." Where did that drive come from?

It is incredible to read about the Inca civilization of South America. Not one ounce of evidence seems to suggest that they knew anything about the God of the Bible or Jesus Christ, His Son. At the same time, there is much proof that the central motivation of their cultural development was a belief in some form of a higher power.

The secular media suggests that their great architectural achievements, built high in the Andes Mountains, were expressions of their desperate desires to reach the gods. Some of these mountains are 20,000 feet above sea level.

There has never been a human yearning greater than the conscious effort to find God. Man’s moral nature is too well defined, too similarly formed, for him to be anything but a descendant of Adam, the original image of God. Granted, the centuries of rebellion have taken a tremendous toll, and unregenerated man hardly seems related to the Creator, but the moral nature (conscience) remains intact, although often perverted.

Forced to face the facts, no one can effectively argue against the claim that God has spoken plainly to mankind through His creative design.

Dr. Arthur Compton, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, stunned many of his colleagues when he wrote the following:

For myself as a scientist, faith begins with the realization that a Supreme Intelligence brought into being and created man. It is not difficult for me as a scientist to have this faith. Why? For it is incontrovertible that where there is a plan, there is intelligence. An orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered–"In the beginning God created."

God’s Personal Communication
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word [Christ] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).

Far beyond the spectacular creation of the universe, the greatest event which ever happened on the earth was that God sent His Son to live among men. This was the most miraculous communication of all the ages. God sent His own Son to descend from the supernatural and to invade the natural. He cared enough to send His very best. It was His personal communication or message to His creation. What a way to say, "I love you, and I want your fellowship."

Man has lived in a three-dimensional world. He has been limited by space, time, and matter. But Jesus Christ came from the region beyond all human limitation, from the spirit world of the heavens, from an unlimited sphere–"In the beginning was the Word."

Yet He came to earth.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient utno death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

This kind of human love is beyond comprehension. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was certainly no esoteric reincarnation. It was more than just moving from one human sphere to another, as the reincarnationists believe. Jesus was God–eternal, unlimited in presence–yet He became a man with natural limitations. Still He broke the bonds of death with His victory over hell and the grave. He took upon Himself all human guilt and sin, and He opened the holiest communication between God and man.

No wonder He can forgive a sinner! No wonder He can perform miracles! Everything about God is miraculous, supernatural, and He is God. Why do we want to separate all His attributes? Why do we try to make Him a mere stained-glass effigy? He is God! He has no limitations. Miracles are no problem for Him.

Everything about God’s creation was good; He said so. And everything about Jesus’ coming was good. Christ didn’t miss one nuance in His obedience to God’s plan. He said, " I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do" (John 17:4).

His work continues to unfold through His followers.

God’s Intimate Communication
According to First John, the purpose of all communication from God is that He might have fellowship with His children. This boggles the mind!

How is it possible that the God who created the universe could actually be interested in speaking to us today? Would He really desire to listen to us?

It is true. Everything He has done has been to reveal Himself to us. We can know Him personally. We can have an intimate relationship with Him.

I will never forget when Jesus Christ became more to me than just my Savior. Without a doubt I was born again. I was a new creature and had been for ten years. Yet I did not have a close, personal, and intimate relationship. I was reading the Book of John on my knees, carefully and with deep hunger. I wanted to now Him as I had never known Him. Before the experience was over, Jesus Christ communicated Himself to me until I actually stood in His presence, wept over His nearness, and was changed forever.

E.W. Kenyon, in his book, The Father and His Family, explored this incredible truth:

The whole plan of Redemption is:

1. The Father God’s dream for a family.
2. Redemption from a sin catastrophe.
3. The Dream coming true.
4. The Family Home, the new heaven and the new earth.

The entire plan of redemption is a revelation of the heart-hunger and loneliness of the great Father God; the first step in this stupendous drama of creation was God’s dream and His blueprints of man’s beautiful home.

No prospective husband-father ever dreamed more ardently of the home-nest than did the Father God over the contemplated home of His child–the human; so He took ages on ages to build an earth-home, to store it with treasures that only His mind could conceive and His power create.

After He had perfected an earth, He placed the stars and sun and moon and wonderful constellations throughout space, and to each of these, as well as unseen worlds, He fastened the earth by the invisible cords of gravitation.
Each star and constellation is held in its place by the word of His power, and each one has a regular course marked out over which it travels.

Each star and planet, each constellation, and group has its own office work to perform for the earth, God’s wonderful home for His human, His child, His family.

This book is a story of Love’s processes to save man from himself and to present him a faultless, happy family in the presence of the living Father God.

God’s intimate communication is, to quote the great songwriter Gordon Jensen, "as close as the mention of His name." No one can open the lines but the owner of the heart. And no one can close those lines, but that owner.

God wants to speak the supernatural to each of us. He wants to bring peace where chaos now exists. He wants to release blessed assurance of His control. He wants to come in and have an intimate, loving, personal communication with each of His 4 billion creations.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).

The Father’s desire is this miracle of communication. The supernatural lines are open to those who listen and obey.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not (1 John 3:1).

But just as the potter, however talented and skillful, cannot fashion a beautiful vessel from a lump of clay which is never placed in his hands, neither can God make that person into a vessel honoring to Him unless he puts himself into the Lord’s hands. He waits to sit centerstage in your life.

The Mighty Power of Prayer
Very few believers have truly experienced the power of prayer. I think maybe I am close to becoming such a man, but I must confess I am not there yet.

I had an experience that opened my heart to what the Holy Spirit prayer is all about. For four years we had wrestled our way out of an impossible financial situation. Just before the recession of 1980-82, we had finished a building and were in debt over half a million dollars. Interest on this loan moved to over 20 percent with a payment of over $8,000 per month. In those years, we struggled to continue all our ministries while slowly paying our way out.

As we faced another $25,000 bond requirement, plus a $36,000 monthly payroll, and at least $30,000 in monthly expenditures, it was simply impossible. I had come home from the office to rest. Lying on our sofa, my heart almost exploding, the Holy Spirit moved into the room like a whirlwind. It was overwhelming!

The Holy Spirit inspired an experience of prayer like I had never known. I began to bind the devil for his curse against our finances, and immediately followed by releasing a miracle from God on the financial situation. I stood, as God’s man, with the authority He means for us to have and use at His discretion and for His glory. Peace flooded by heart and the gloom has not returned.

The following month, when all the above was due, we broke all records. Our average daily receipts were $2,600, with total receipts for the month of $79,982.12. Incredible!

Communication is indeed one of the highest capacities of man. To commune with one another, either in a simple conversation, on the level of literary genius, or in some form of technological mastery, is indeed a fantastic capacity. I’m grateful for such God-given abilities. Yet to talk with the Creator, hear His voice, or experience His personal whisper in our heart, is the ultimate joy. Once the human heart has heard His voice, no other message will suffice. He wants each one of us to know the miracle of His communication. Such miracles are the Father’s delight!

The most breathtaking book in the world is the infallible Word of God. Not one nuance was missed as God revealed His revelation to His prophets. Our Heavenly Father was so satisfied with His revelation and its perfection that He promised to preserve it for every generation. Not only did He promise to preserve it, but He warned men not to corrupt it and leveled a serious judgment upon any man that tampers with His truth. In God’s design, He apparently first settled His Word in Heaven and then progressively poured it into holy vessels to be written down for His church. “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)

Truth Begins and Ends with Jesus Christ
He is the eternal Word (logos). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:1-5)

The truth as written in Heaven and revealed by His prophets in the Bible is centered in and totally identical to Jesus Christ as revealed in His flesh. In fact, Apostle John said, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:4) Imagine a Bible (the Word of God) that is not only a book, but is also a person, the Son of God. The Bible and Jesus Christ are identical in essence. Both the “Word” written and the “Living Word” are God’s perfect revelation.

Pilate, in speaking with Jesus, asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) He asked this question of Jesus because the Son of man had said, “And for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37) Jesus had said earlier to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) Jesus Christ is the truth in exactly the same fashion that the Bible is truth. They are inseparable. One is the Person and the other is the perfect revelation of that Person.

The First Testament and Jesus Christ
The Book of Genesis is filled with the person of Jesus Christ. In the very first chapter of Genesis, Jesus Christ is revealed at least seven times. John the Revelator clearly established that Jesus is the first and the last. John stated, as Jesus had revealed to him, “Saying I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” (Revelation 1:11) The words, alpha and omega, are Greek words or letter meanings, and their Hebrew counterparts are aleph and tau. Seven times in Genesis, chapter one, as the Scripture deals with creation the aleph and tau are found in the Hebrew text without being translated.

Here is a literal rendering of one verse showing where the aleph and tau appear. Remember alpha and omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet, while the aleph and tau are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Notice this verse, “In the beginning created God (at) the Heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, The Interlinear Bible) John clearly stated that the Word created all things and that same Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. Here, we see that “Word” as the Creator in the perfect picture of the creation story itself. This kind of Biblical perfection is found throughout Genesis and the whole Bible.

The Gospel in Genesis
In Genesis chapter five we have the Gospel message clearly presented. When the average person reads this chapter they are bored because it appears to be no more than the genealogies of the first ten generations of families. LetÂ’s take a closer look by defining the name of each generation leader and then uniting those names in the text.

Adam means man, the first man, and Seth, his son, means appointed. SethÂ’s son, Enos, means mortal; while his son, Cainan, means sorrow; and his son, Mahalaleel means the blessed of God. Jared was the son of Mahalaleel, which means shall come down; and JaredÂ’s son, Enoch, means teaching. Enoch named his son Methusaleh because God had apparently warned that at his death the great flood would come. Methusaleh means his death shall bring. Lamech was the name of his son, whose name means despairing, clearly describing the condition of the world at that time. LamechÂ’s son, Noah, was named comfort and rest, because God was going to reveal Himself and comfort mankind.

When you see God’s revelation in this genealogy, the message is overwhelming. “Man, appointed to mortal sorrow, the great God shall come down, teaching, His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest.” The divine revelations of the “Word” were never wasted. Each word and every verse was placed in Scripture to reveal a perfect manifestation of truth. No wonder Jesus quoted Moses by saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by ‘every’ word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3) The Bible is a perfect whole.

The Torah or Pentateuch
The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah. It’s amazing to look at this significant word. To the Jews the Torah are the most sacred books of the Bible. Remember, Torah in English is spelled with five letters, but in the Hebrew language it consists of only four Hebrew characters. The four Hebrew letters spelling Torah were Resh (Reysh), Vau, Tau, and Hey. When they were written, each letter had an original meaning. The four letters mean the following: Resh – Head, Vaul – Nail, Tau – Cross, and He – Reveals. Every time a Jewish person names or writes the name of his sacred text, he is declaring that the Head of that text was nailed to a cross and revealed the mercy and truth of that sacred revelation.

The Torah Contains Incredible Mysteries
A recent article appeared in the Bible Review publication entitled, “Divine Authorship?” This article was a review of the work of Jewish scholars, Doran Witztum, Eliyahu Rips and Yoav Rosenberg, of the Jerusalem College of Technology and the Hebrew University. The title of their work, which was printed in the eminent Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society, was “Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis.”

These authors, who are mathematical statisticians, have discovered words encoded in the Hebrew text that cannot be accidental. Their work was from the Textus Receptus or Masoretic text. The author of this review, Jeffrey B. Satinover, explained the results as following:

“This in effect is what the researchers have found embedded in the Hebrew text of the Torah – a whole series of meaningful word-pairs in close proximity, something that they demonstrate cannot have happened by chance. These words they found in close proximity are not simply the words of the text (as would be the case in the analogy above of an unknown potential language). They were rather words composed of letters selected at various equal skip distances, for example, every second or third or fourth letter. It was as though “behind” the surface meaning of the Hebrew there was a second, hidden level of embedded meaning.” (“Divine Authorship?”, Bible Review, October 1995, p. 29)

Mr. Satinover then explained how they used a combination of words related in life or history to show that the Biblical text revealed a prior consciousness of every human event. I will let him describe it.

“…the researchers…found the pair Zedekiah (a sixth century B.C.E. king of Judah), and Matanya, Zedekiah’s original name (see 2 Kings 24:17); and the pair Hanukkah (the Jewish festival that commemorates the re-dedication of the Temple after it was recaptured from the Assyrians in the second century B.C.E.) and Hasmoneans (the family name of the leaders of the Jewish forces that managed to wrest the Temple from the Assyrian monarch Antiochus IV Epiphanes). Note that these names and events found encoded in the text of the Torah involved people who lived, and events that occurred, long after the Torah was composed, whether by a divine or human hand.

“In their 1988 paper, the researchers selected, at random, 300 such Hebrew word-pairs with obviously related meanings, and looked for the words embedded in the text by treating the entire book of Genesis as a long cryptographic string. They would start at the beginning until they came to the first letter, then look to see if a second letter could be found two letters away. If so, they then looked for the third letter two letters away; if not, they stopped and searched for the next appearance of the first letter and repeated the process. They continued until they found an occurrence of the entire word spelled out at every second letter. If not, they performed the same procedure looking at every third letter instead.

“In this fashion they searched first every other letter, then every third, and so on (including reverse order). When they found the first instance (that is, at the minimum skip distance, and measured its proximity within the text-string to the first. They did this for all 300 word-pairs.” (Ibid, pp.30-31)

According to information in this review, the possibility of this happening by chance was less than 1 in 50 quadrillion. In fact, a public statement was offered by eminent scholars here in America as reported,

“Following publication of this paper, a public statement was issued, signed by five mathematical scholars – two from Harvard, two from Hebrew University and one from Yale. ‘The present work,’ they said, ‘represents serious research carried out by serious investigators.’” (Ibid, p.31)

Great Jewish scholars have contended that the Torah contains all knowledge. One such gentleman, Rabbi Gaon of the 18th century, stated,

“All that was, is, and will be unto the end of time is included in the Torah…and not merely in a general sense, but including the details of every species and of each person individually, and the most minute details of everything that happened to him from the day of his birth until his death.” (Ibid.)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said it even plainer, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

Revival is Absolutely Dependent on a Revival of the Scripture
The Holy Bible is the most incredible book in the world. It is literally a God-breathed book and is so powerful that it must be destroyed or diminished before the devil can accomplish one dark deed in his activities. The opposite is true if we want a revival in the church. There can be no victory or revival until the Word of God is returned to its rightful glory.

All of our attention in this article so far has been in the First Testament. The Second or New Testament would be impossible without the first. When you grasp the absolute perfection of the thirty-seven books in this first portion of GodÂ’s Holy Word, then the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the New Testament message has even greater authority and meaning to you.

The Perfect Harmony of the Two Testaments
God chose Hebrew as the language of the First Testament and Greek as the language of the Second Testament. These two languages have tremendous similarities. There are identical numbers of characters (counting the one added to perfect each alphabet) in each language, and the two languages carry the exact same numerical values for the characters or letters. The only two languages that have this perfect identity and the exact numerical pattern are Hebrew and Greek. Remember, God distributed the languages Himself and carefully prepared these two vehicles for conveying His revelations.

First, let’s show the perfect harmony in these two books by looking at God’s fingerprints from Genesis to Revelation. The number thirty-seven has been called the fingerprint of God. Throughout the entire Bible this number and the multiple representatives identify the many expressions of the person of God. The number for “Jesus” in Greek is 888 or 37 x 24. While thirty-seven signifies the Word of God or His fingerprint, twenty-four is the number of priesthood. Jesus is the unity of both God and the priesthood, and the numerical value perfectly supports the same and unites the First and Second Testaments into one Holy Bible.

“In the beginning God,” the first four words of the Bible, is Brayshith Elohim in Hebrew with a multiple numerical value of 999 or 37 x 27. Bethlehem, the place of birth for the Son of God is mentioned thirty-seven times in the First Testament, but only eight times in the New Testament. Of course, God’s purpose for eight times in the Second Testament is because eight is the number of New Beginning, New Birth or the New Creation.

Let me list a few expressions of the Lord Jesus and show the numerical values in multiples of thirty-seven.

• 2 Cor. 4:4 – Christ, who is the image of God = 37 x 105
• 2 Cor. 4:4 – Image of God = 37 x 37
• 2 Cor. 4:4 – God = 37 x 15
• 2 Thess. 2:1 – Lord = 37 x 37
• Mark 12:29 – The Lord God is one Lord = 37 x 72
• Col. 3:24 – The Lord Jesus Christ = 37 x 120
• Rev. 22:20 – Lord Jesus = 37 x 33
• Phil. 2:9 – And gave Him a name which is above every name = 37 x 108
• 2 Pet. 1:17 – This is My beloved Son = 37 x 111
• Luke 20:13 – My beloved Son = 37 x 42
• 1 John 4:9 – God sent His only begotten Son into the world = 37 x 120
• 1 John 4:9 – His only begotten Son = 37 x 54
• Gal. 2:20 – The Son of God = 37 x 66
• John 10: 36 – I am the Son of God = 37 x 54
  (A Scientific Approach to Biblical Mysteries, Dr. Robert W. Faid, pp. 28-29)

Dr. Robert Faid, a nuclear scientist and a consultant to nuclear power industries said,
“As you can see, this theomatic number 37 seems to appear whenever God wants to point out something very special, and this happens throughout the Bible, both in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament. Could this be a mere coincidence? I’ll let you decide. I computed the probability of only the eighteen features of 37 we have examined. The probability of just these eighteen multiples of the number 37 appearing by chance is: 1 in 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.” (Ibid. p. 29)

He further stated:

“Even with our most powerful computers of today it would be utterly impossible to formulate one language whose alphabet could be used to write a single typewritten page containing the type of mathematical design we find in two languages and alphabets running through our entire Bible. The significance of this is awesome!” (Ibid. p.32)

The New Beginning in Jesus
In the section above I noted that thirty-seven is the fingerprint of God in the entire Bible. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ the Son of man, was named thirty-seven times in the First Testament, but eight times in the Second Testament. Eight is the Biblical numeric of new beginning, a new era and a regeneration of all things. It was Noah, the eighth person, (2 Peter 2:5), who led eight individuals from the ark to begin the repopulation of the earth. Circumcision was the foreshadow of the new regeneration in Jesus Christ and was performed on the eighth day after birth.

The name Jesus divisible by thirty-seven (37 x 24 = 888), represents GodÂ’s fingerprint on the entire Bible, but is also divisible by eight (8 x 111 = 888) representing the new beginning of His sacrifice at Calvary. His resurrection was on the eighth day and now His bride, the church, worships Him on the eighth day. The eighth day is a confirmation of His covenant with the New Testament church and our covenant to glory in Jesus Christ and His cross alone.

Greek numbers are shown to absolutely harmonize with Hebrew numbers to prove the Bible is the infallible Word of God. Jesus is spelled IHEOYE in Greek. The following chart is represented from Messiah, a book by Grant R. Jeffreys, (page 79):

Numeric Value of Names of Jesus
JESUS = IHEOYE = 888
I = 10
H = 8
E = 200
O = 70
Y = 400
E = 200
Jesus = 888

Other Names of Jesus
Christ = 1480 (8 x 185)
Emmanuel = 25600 (8 x 3200)
Lord = 800 (8 x 100)
Messiah = 656 (8 x 85)
Saviour = 1408 (8 x 176)

The Lord Jesus and His Resurrection
The Lord Jesus Christ was God’s Passover Lamb in perfect fulfillment of the Passover Feast held in Egypt on Nisan 14th. To the Egyptians it was Nisan 13th because the heathen calendar did not change until midnight, but the Jewish calendar changed at sundown (typically 6:00 pm). (This is the origination of Friday the 13th being an unholy day. To the Bible believer there is no such thing as luck or being unlucky.) The heathen’s Friday the 13th was the Jewish Friday the 14th. The next day began this Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days. During these seven days of the feast of Unleavened Bread, a regular seventh day Sabbath occurred. On the day after the regular Jewish Sabbath they were to offer a “he” lamb as a Feast of the Firstfruits unto the Lord. Originally in Egypt, the dates were Passover, Nisan 14th; the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was Nisan 15th and the regular Sabbath or the Eighty day was Nisan 17th. The Jewish multitudes, led by Moses, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground on Nisan 17th. As God gave them a new beginning, He also slew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea on that same day of Nisan 17th.

As we move forward to Jerusalem and the death of Jesus Christ, He was the perfect fulfillment to the very day. He was crucified on Nisan 14th and resurrected on Nisan 17th, the first day of the week or the eighth day by Jewish reckoning. Every jot and tittle of the prophets was fulfilled in His birth, life, death and resurrection. The two testaments became one book by this finished act of redemption. The Word of God is by this death signed in holy blood and covenanted to those who by faith receive His promises. Only God could have perfected the promised sacrifice of the kinsman Redeemer in this absolute fulfillment to the day.

The Book of John confirms the perfection of these dates of fulfillment. “Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.” “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour; and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!” “ The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” “There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” (John 12:1; 19:14, 31, 42)

Please remember, that this Sabbath that they so quickly removed His body to observe was the special Sabbath that began the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15th) and not the regular Sabbath.

The Easter (Ishtar) Confusion
An incredible documentation of Holy Scripture is found in the Book of Acts. Often critical reviews have used this Scripture to question the infallibility of the Received Text. Rather than create a question, it supports the precision of the Holy Spirit of truth. The Scripture says, “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4)

Some people argue that this was an error in translation. This word, Easter, they say, should have been translated Passover. If you will notice verse three (3), it says that PeterÂ’s arrest was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover occurs the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins so that PeterÂ’s arrest was after the Passover. Herod is said to have intended to slay him after Easter, which was a completely different celebration than Passover. It was a heathen event that would have been important to Herod and his court of Roman soldiers and leaders.

This pagan festival is appropriately described by Dr. Samuel C. Gipp, Th.D. He stated,

“Easter, as we know it, comes from the ancient pagan festival of Astarte. Also known as Ishtar (pronounced ‘Easter’). This festival has always been held late in the month of April. It was, in its original form, a celebration of the earth ‘regenerating’ itself after the winter season. The festival involved a celebration of reproduction. For this reason the common symbols of Easter festivities were the rabbit (the same symbol as ‘Playboy’ magazine), and egg. Both are known for their reproductive abilities. At the center of attention was Astarte, the female deity. She is known in the Bible as the “queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25). She is the mother of Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14) who was also her husband! These perverted rituals would take place at sunrise on Easter morning. (Ezekiel 8:13-16) From the references in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we can see that the true Easter has never had any association with Jesus Christ.” (The Answer Book, Dr.Samuel C. Gipp, Th.D., pp.3-4)

The Word of God stands untouched and undefiled after all the foray by her enemies.

Conclusion
Every individual that accepts the Holy Scripture as the infallible Word of God and actually submits his total person to its authority will be transformed by its powers. This Word is God-speech. It is God-breathed and God-preserved. The power of the Holy Spirit is shut up in its revelations and is unleashed every time you allow it to become the absolute authority in your life. When the God-called preacher man lives in this Book until his sermons reflect the oracles of God instead of the opinions of men, his preaching will be dynamic.

The laymen of our churches will be transformed when our preachers get back to the Book. Laymen and laywomen, don’t wait! If the preacher fails to act, you get into this Book, accepting its absolute message and revelation. God is no respecter of persons. Any man and/or woman that dares to believe and act on this infallible revelation will be used of God to bring revival. Your life and family will be brought back to God and your community will see a display of truth. The only hope of the church in its search for meaning is the God-given revelation of Scripture. Jesus will not be revealed on church walls in esoteric emotions and flamboyant displays. He certainly does not manifest Himself in icons and idols. Isaiah said, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8) He is the Word and His Written Word is His language. If you refuse His Words from the Holy Book, He has no other method of speech. The Holy Spirit confirms His Word, but never replaces it.

The seven feasts of Israel are all prophetic and anticipatory of the Messiah and His kingdom. The kingdom has two stages: it’s invisible during the church age and then visible during the coming kingdom age. Moses said, “These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons” (Leviticus 23:4). "Convocations" means “to keep an appointment (with Jehovah).” It also means “a rehearsal.” It was both a time of spiritual fellowship with the Lord Jehovah in His pre-incarnate revelations as well as a rehearsing for what would be prophetically fulfilled in the future.

Jesus spoke of this very fulfillment in Matthew’s Gospel. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). A jot or a tittle is a part of a letter.

Please notice carefully that Jesus said that He came to complete the Torah (first five books of Moses) and the prophets, not to destroy what they had written by the Holy Ghost. The First and Second Testaments are an integrated whole. As has been beautifully said, “The New (Second) Testament is concealed in the Old (First) Testament and the Old (First) Testament is revealed in the New (Second) Testament.”

Everything concealed in the first four feasts of Israel has been revealed in the gospels of Jesus Christ and other Second Testament books. The first feast was the “Feast of Passover” and is now manifest to us in the finished work of the cross. The second feast was the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” and we experience this revelation every time we feed on the Word of God and receive communion at the Lord’s Table. The third feast, which is the subject of this article, was the “Feast of Firstfruits.” It found perfection or completion in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and our new life resulting from that resurrection. The fourth is the “Feast of Weeks” or “Pentecost” and it is being fulfilled in the church, the body of Jesus Christ. I will deal with the last three feasts in the next edition of the End Times. It’s breathtaking to research and learn of these Seven Feasts of Israel.

The Feast of Firstfruits

First, let’s look at the actual event as experienced in the First Testament. This feast called Firstfruits, unlike the first two which were celebrated beginning in Egypt on the Passover night and continuing for seven days after the Passover as they left Egypt, could not be kept until they entered the Promise Land. This third feast was to be celebrated after the first harvest in their new home. It was a “feast of new beginnings.”

The Scripture text says, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Leviticus 23:9-14).

Let’s make sure we understand the harmony of these first three feasts. The Feast of Passover was to be observed on Nisan 14th, which often varies as to the day of the week. The next day after the Feast of Passover began the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It lasted for seven days with the first and seventh day of the seven being special Sabbaths. Within those seven days came a regular Sabbath. On the next day after the regular Sabbath was the Feast of Firstfruits. This feast was always celebrated on the 8th day or the next day following the Sabbath (7th day). Coming in the Spring of the year (March/April) as these feasts did and still do, this included a rejoicing of the firstfruits of their fields as God had blessed them. Remember that these feasts were not just for Israel, but were a rehearsal of the prophetic future in the Messiah’s life and kingdom. God was establishing in this feast event the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So often the church world and present day believers pay no attention to the First Testament truths. Paul said, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Paul addressed the Colossian church concerning this important matter. They were busy condemning those who did not keep these past feast days in the ritualistic celebrations. Paul said to them, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). In other words the feasts were a shadow, but now we have the real experience in Christ, which the shadow foretold. We are privileged to live in the fulfillment of these exciting prophecies. Let’s not take them lightly.

Noah and the “New Beginning”

Throughout Scripture God is constantly establishing the whole truth of this infallible book. When men became wicked beyond God’s threshold of mercy, judgment was executed. One man found grace in the eyes of the Lord and God spoke for him to build an ark. He labored tirelessly until he and his family were called into the ark. God then shut the door. (Genesis 7:16).

The flood covered the earth, judgment touched the very structure of this created planet, everything was affected. But, God the Father is best understood for His holiness. His holiness is just, pure, and impartial. When His wrath was satisfied, He remembered His servant and his family in the ark. The rain ceased and the earth became calm again. The Scripture stated, “And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4).

It was God’s time for a New Beginning. When did this New Beginning occur? On the very day hundreds of years in advance that Israel would celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits in the Promise Land and the very day that Jesus would step out of the tomb in resurrected life.

Moses and the Crossing of the Red Sea

The Israelites, under Moses’ leadership, kept the Passover feast on the 14th of Nisan in the evening. On the morning of the 14th they were thrust out of Egypt and started their journey toward the Land of Promise. The people of Egypt loaded them down with gold, silver and the riches of this wealthy nation. The wealth made off the backs of these Israelite slaves was now given to them just to get them to leave. On the 15th they began the seven day celebration of the second feast named Feast of Unleavened Bread. Also, they were rushing to leave Egypt; but, obedience to this command would have been paramount. They traveled the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth day of Nisan to reach the proper place chosen by God for crossing the Red Sea. This was the afternoon of their regular Sabbath. They then realized that the armies of Egypt were approaching from the rear. They were terrified, but God came between the two great companies as a cloud by the day and a pillar of fire by night. God spoke to Moses, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

On the morning of Nisan 17, the same day the ark came to rest and a New Beginning started for Noah and his family, Israel awoke to the Red Sea standing on edge. They marched at God’s command right through the midst of the sea into their New Beginning on the other shore. It was as though they had been resurrected out of bondage on the very day they would celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits once they reached their new home. God was acting in the perfect order of His sovereign control over every detail of His cosmos. Nothing ever happens by chance, fate, or luck. Those words are not part of God’s vocabulary.

Celebrating the Feast of Firstfruits

The primary word in this third feast is the word Firstfruits. The attention is immediately focused on the harvest and the first gathering of the ripe fruit, grain or other blessings from the fields. Throughout Scripture the field is a type of the world in the sense of God’s creation, so this is certainly embodied in this celebration. While they were celebrating the simple harvest as a blessing of God’s promises, they were rehearsing the future spiritual harvest which was prophetically set in the Father’s heart. This would all be fulfilled in the fullness of time.

The first act on this special occasion was the presentation of a sheaf of barley. Apparently, this was offered as a large bundle bound together so it could be waved before the Lord. It was the first of the ripe grain and nothing could be ground and eaten, no freshly baked bread, until this was brought to their God as a praise offering to Him. It included a meat offering mixed with two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil. This was offered by fire as a sweet savor unto the Lord. One additional element was a fourth part of a hin of wine; fresh vintage from the grape.

The Lord’s Supper, as we now celebrate his death, is prophetically evident in this feast. The two basic elements were bread — both before it was ground and after it was ground — and wine. Please note the picture here of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, before He was broken and after He was broken. Also, the fruit of the vine was offered, even as we drink, to show His death until He comes. Offered with these elements was a he lamb without blemish of the first year (under twelve months of age). This was to be slain and offered as a burnt offering unto the Lord. This clearly placed the death of Christ already seen in the Feast of Passover as the center of this act of worship and consecration before God. The Feast of Firstfruits would be impossible without the Feast of Passover.

Please remember that this feast always occurs in the process of the second feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a feast of consecration and remembrance. When you see the first three feasts together, you have the entire finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in the resurrection. Nothing is lacking for a man’s redemption from sin and his victory over sinful flesh. Remember the words of Jesus to the unbelieving Jews were, “Search the scriptures (The First Testament was those Scripture to which He referred.); for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

These feasts of Israel become totally meaningless until you view the supernatural picture of redemption in Jesus Christ.

The Feast of Pentecost

The Feast of Pentecost also occurs on Sunday or the first day of the week. Now we have a picture of the “New Beginning” as Noah’s ark came to rest on Mount Ararat reaching all the way to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in Acts, chapter two. This feast called “the Fiftieth” came 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. Counting from the 8th day, Nisan 17, or our Lord’s Day, the day of Christ’s resurrection, and going forward seven weeks (49 days), Pentecost was the next day or the eighth Lord’s Day. The church was established on this day, on this eighth Lord’s Day, seven weeks after His resurrection. In reality we have a combination of two eighths coming together on the Day of Pentecost (Biblical number for “New Beginning”). A New Beginning is certainly what Pentecost represented.

The Lord’s Day

After the disciples of Jesus Christ were convinced of His resurrection, they presented themselves in a fresh devotion to Him. For 40 days He was seen of them and the power of His resurrected life saturated their lives. After 10 more days, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday and exploded out of the Upper Room. As long as they were allowed, they continued to share the synagogue on the Sabbath, but also met together on the first day of the week to worship Jesus Christ.

The first appearance that Jesus made to His disciples was on the “first day of the week” as clearly stated by Scripture. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and smith unto them, Peace be unto you” (John 20:19).

This was the same day as His resurrection. The Scripture shows this to have been a time of great joy, worship, and incredible instruction. It was not a casual occasion as clearly shown in the text. “And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace is unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send me you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and smith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:20-23).

The Scripture states that He appeared again after eight days. If the day of His resurrection and this first appearance were counted, then His second appearance was also on the first day of the week or the eighth day. “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you” (John 20:26). A clear pattern appeared to be emerging.

Later, in the Acts of the Apostles we see the precedence being set by the apostolic leaders. It is stated that Paul and the church at Troas met together on the first day of the week to break bread and preach the Word. The text stated, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Etches, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted” (Acts 20:7-12).

This is both a natural and spiritual indication that the day of His resurrection became a day of worship and instruction. The body of believers was forced out of the synagogue and the covenant of the Jewish Sabbath. They were experiencing a new beginning and the resurrection was absolute proof that the Lord of the church was indeed in their midst.

Apostle Paul solidified this pattern when he wrote to the churches of Galatia. Here are his words, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Their gifts were brought to the church fellowship on this day of Christ-centered worship, communion, and instruction.

John the Revelator on the Lord’s Day

By the time John was exiled to Patmos, this fact of the Lord’s Day was clearly the conviction of the church. John is a prisoner on a bleak, rock island; but his soul is without despair. He testified, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10). This is the one and only time that the Resurrection Sunday was called “The Lord’s Day.” It is unthinkable that he made reference to the Jewish Sabbath. Nothing about the Jewish Sabbath could be called the Lord’s Day. Jesus was probably crucified on Wednesday and was not resurrected until 3 days later or the first day of the week. There is no connection to the Feast of Israel or any other event for the Sabbath being “The Lord’s Day.” The resurrection day is clearly the one and only possibility. Otherwise, some truth in Scripture would suggest differently.

A New Covenant Fulfilling the Feast of Firstfruits

The resurrection presents the Lord Jesus Christ as our celebration of the firstfruits. He is the “He Lamb” presented prophetically in this very feast in Leviticus 23. The bread and wine that characterized that feast is the very essence of His sacrifice of a broken body and shed blood. Paul stated, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

What a celebration of Him we should experience every Lord’s Day. Our hope is not in the dead letter, but the living Word. It is a covenant of eternal glory, not of a passing system serving only as a tutor until the Messiah should come. Again, Paul confirms this very fact by quoting Jesus Christ Himself. “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5-7).

Christ came to exchange sacrifices and offerings for a “body” prepared by the Holy Ghost. Then He stated, “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:9-10).

He took away one covenant to establish a better and enduring one. Paul then testified that this covenant was the witness which the Baptism of the Holy Ghost gave testimony. “And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” (Hebrews 10:15-16)

Let’s Return to the Reality of Christ’s Resurrection

There is no room for ritualism in the Christian experience. It is life, joy, power, and hope. We are to live in a fresh relationship. Every time we go the House of the Lord it should be sheer delight. The resurrection life lifts man out of discouragement, doubt, and drudgery. This life is power to free us from every bondage of the devil and all the allurements of the world.

The Lord’s Day should be set aside to honor Him only. The common should be replaced with the uncommon. Commerce, entertainment, and earthly responsibilities should be rested for that day to give time for soul refreshment. The body was created with a seven day cycle. This design is God’s pattern built into the human soul and body. If we violate it, we do injustice to our own lives.

Children will learn more about reverence before God when raised in a home and family honoring the “Lord’s Day” than any other possible source. It’s the covenant we have received on that Resurrection Day and our souls will be refreshed if we return to His Rest.