“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”
And with that He [Jesus] breathed on them and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven;
if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”[1]
If you had run with the Father’s command: “Listen to Jesus,” without delay, you would have realised that what was written in Chapter Two about the Father speaking only three times in the four Gospels is technically not correct.
The Father only spoke directly three times, but in truth, He spoke continuously in the gospels through Jesus. Through Jesus, the Father is at His work to this very day because no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him.[2] Even after our salvation, our Father continues to draw us closer to Jesus. And the Word of God, as the Son of God, is always working.[3] The Son testified that He can do nothing by Himself. Jesus could only do what He saw His Father doing and He followed His Father, because the Father showed His Son all that He did.[4] Jesus said, “These words you hear are not My own, they belong to the Father who sent Me[5] … Whatever I say is just as the Father has told Me to say.”[6]
Jesus also said, “All that belongs to the Father is Mine. This is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.”[7] All that belongs in the kingdom of the Father is the Son’s. Jesus’ is the kingdom of abundance, glory and majesty, which He has conferred on those who have stood by Him in His trials.[8] And the Holy Spirit brings glory to Jesus by taking what is His and makes it known to us.[9] Jesus said and did everything for His God and our God, for His Father and our Father; and whatever He said is just what the Father told Him to say.
The Lord, the Holy Spirit, was given to us to be our Counsellor on Earth for a season, so that we are not left alone as orphans but are given the privilege to grow under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth. So that we may mature as sons and daughters of our Father in the stature and likeness of the One who is the Firstborn over all Creation, to then be entrusted with true riches of the kingdom to bring gladness to our Father’s heart.
We come to Jesus as children, as it was the Father’s good pleasure to draw us to His Son and reveal the things of Jesus to the little children.[10] Jesus said that unless we change and become like little children, we would never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.[11] Jesus also said that no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again, and no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.[12] Once we enter, we are to grow and develop in the stature of Christ and in favour with God, whilst preserving our child-like humility and innocence in our relationship with Them, as we outgrow our orphan stage under the care of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Sonship.[13] We grow by adding knowledge and understanding to faith, and seeking to have a complete testimony of Jesus as we continuously put His words into practice.
Those who have received Jesus and believe in His Name are given the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.[14] As is God’s will, the little children are purposed to grow up to be kings and lords in a manner worthy of the Name of Jesus Christ by standing with Him in His trials. Jesus confers on them a kingdom, as the Father conferred one on Him.[15] The Lord said, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children,” and “Wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”[16]
The Spirit of Sonship is the Spirit of Wisdom.[17] And God’s wisdom will be proved right and vindicated by the lives of the sons and daughters the Holy Spirit raises up for God in Christ. Our growth and development is part of the work of the Holy Spirit. He wants to entrust the church with His full power to bring justice to Jesus, together with the complete understanding of what is justice to Jesus. The Father wants sons and daughters who can serve in His household and kingdom as lords and kings. Sons and daughters who are humble, loyal and focused on seeking glory for God, just as the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always humble and loyal in seeking glory for One Another.
On the heights where we climb the mountain of God, as we walk along the way to meet with Christ Jesus - at the place where we make our choices as the broad road that leads to destruction intersects with the narrow road of Jesus who is the W/way that leads to the Father - and from the gates of salvation, Wisdom, the Word of God, calls out to all mankind:
“To you, O men, I call out;
I raise My voice to all mankind.
You who are simple, gain prudence;
You who are foolish, gain understanding
Listen, for I have worthy things to say;
I open My lips to speak what is right.
My mouth speaks what is true,
for My lips detest wickedness.
All the words of My mouth are just;
None of them is crooked or perverse.
To the discerning all of them are right;
They are faultless to those who have knowledge.
Choose My instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare to her.”
“I, Wisdom, dwell together with Prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behaviour and perverse speech.
Counsel and sound judgment are Mine;
I have understanding and power.
By Me kings reign
and rulers make laws that are just;
by Me princes govern,
and all nobles who rule on Earth.
I love those who love Me,
and those who seek Me find Me.
With Me are riches and honour,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than fine gold;
what I yield surpasses choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
bestowing wealth on those who love Me
and making their treasuries full.”[18]
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Power, Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord.[19] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.[20] He is the Spirit of Truth, Holiness, Life, Grace, Wisdom and Revelation, and Glory[21] - the Spirit of God in whom we manifest the effect of righteousness, which is quietness and confidence forever.[22] He is the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of Fire[23] who convicts the world in regards to sin, righteousness and judgment,[24] and purifies and refines us like silver, causing the spirit of those who receive Him to be born again. We are no longer sons and daughters born of women as we shed the mark of the beast, which is lack by powerlessness. But we take on the official mark of Sonship and Daughtership with God as sons and daughters born of the Spirit, which is loving mercy to our Father, so that we may serve the living God not only as faithful servants, but as mature son or daughters who love and honour Him just like His beloved Jesus Christ.
For we did not receive a spirit that makes us slaves again to fear - a fear of the world and its ways of wickedness and rebellion against God. We received the Spirit of Sonship (and Daughtership)[25] in the abundant majesty of the Most High God, so that we would return to Him thousands upon thousands of the hundred-fold of who He has sown into us - His Son Jesus, the Overcomer and Author of our salvation who was perfected through suffering.[26] God sowed His Jesus Christ into His eternity, into the world, into our hearts, flesh, soul and mind. He who is the Way and the Truth and the Life,[27] the Resurrection and the Life,[28] the True Bread of Life from Heaven,[29] the Good Shepherd,[30] the Light of the World,[31] the True Vine,[32] the Bright Morning Star,[33] the Alpha and the Omega,[34] the Almighty[35] and the Amen,[36] the Son of David,[37] the Son of Man and the Son of God.
But our Father did not only sow His Son into us. He also sowed Himself through Jesus because He is in the Son, and the Son is in Him. The Father sowed the Image and Likeness of God into us and He poured out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh. His Image and Likeness pertain not just to appearance or height, for the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.[38] So how much more should we stop judging God by mere appearances,[39] and look into ourselves to see God’s Image and Likeness in us?
God’s Image and Likeness are both His appearance and His tendencies. This includes His truth, His eternity, His grace, His creativity, His righteousness and justice, His beauty and splendour, His glory and majesty, His kindness and peace, His humility and patience, His perfection and mercy in His love for us while we were still His enemies, and all of the generous abundance of the sovereign God who is the Beginning and the End of the great “I AM.” How can we not make every effort to enter through the narrow door to come to know someone as wonderful and amazing and perfect and eternal as God our Father, Brother and Lord? How can we hold back on the Lord who loved us first, so that we may love Him beyond reason, instead of hating Him without reason?
We have received the Spirit of Sonship and Daughtership so that we may, with open arms and receptive hearts, return the perfect harvest of His dreams to our Father. A harvest of sons and daughters in whom is the Image and Likeness of God, who are each unique and special in every way, yet are like Jesus Christ with whom the Father loves and is so well-pleased. They each bear fruits everlasting as sweet and fragrant as the ones found in Jesus, the Tree of Life. They are like Jesus in the stature and likeness of His grace, truth, justice, love, strength, courage, faithfulness, wisdom, understanding, and mercy to the Father and the Holy Spirit; and all that He was, is, and is to come, in perfection. So how important is it for us to listen to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit, and put all of Jesus’ words into practice?
Listen to Jesus in the parable of the vineyard owner in Luke 13.6-9: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, cut it down.’” It is time to stop testing our Father’s patience. Therefore, we must be in continuous repentance and forgiveness before the Lord, and ask the Holy Spirit to show us our faults. Because even if we claim to do many great and mighty things in the Name of Jesus, we may still have in mind the things of men, and not of God. We may only have in heart the courage of men, and not the courage of Jesus. And we may have in us the strength of men, but not the strength of the Holy Spirit, which is His full power.
All fruits have ripened, whether they are good fruits of righteousness or rotting fruits of corruption, because Jesus told us to open our eyes and look at the fields. The fields are ripe for harvest.[40] God has allowed the good trees and bad trees to grow together so as to not disturb His harvest. But the time is coming and has now come when the harvesters, who are the angels, will collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then they will gather the wheat, from one end of the Earth to the other, and bring them into God’s barn.[41] The barn is God’s house with many rooms, where Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us.[42]
Jesus came and paid full price for the sins of the world in fulfilment of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins between the Father and Himself. We are each led to our place of repentance so that we may accept Their gift of salvation when we believe in the One God sent. Jesus showed us the way to the Father, then went back to the Father to prepare a place for us, and He is returning to reign on Earth for a thousand years. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Do you understand why it is so important to remain alive to prepare the Earth for Jesus and His saints’ arrival for His millennial reign? If so, do you know what you need to survive the coming days of distress? Because the sequence in Jesus’ words to His disciples is clear, “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”[43] We remain on Earth. He comes back to Earth to reign for a thousand years. Then we go with Him after the Millennium because this present Earth will pass away. If we do not strive to remain alive on Earth but pray to be taken away before the coming disasters, how will the correct sequence of Jesus’ words be fulfilled? If your prayers involve you being “raptured” and taken out of the way to then return with Him, you are clearly not a disciple in whom God has purposed for this word to be fulfilled.
Therefore, how important is it to now learn the secrets of staying behind, which are not really secrets, as they are plainly written in the word for us to practise? How important is it for us to be guided into ALL truth by the Spirit of Revelation, so that we are able to survive the disasters that will come upon the whole Earth in the fury of God’s wrath against all its inhabitants, starting with God’s household? We must not only survive, but overcome in the strength, courage, boldness, power and authority of Jesus the Overcomer. We need to bear all twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit,[44] so that we may qualify to run for the first resurrection, and not wimp out and make an escape to Heaven when the days of distress come upon the Earth.
The fruits of unfailing love our Father delights in and desires are the fruits of holiness that Jesus bears - fruits of holiness, which blossom in our hearts and spirits out of our separation unto the Holy Spirit. Separation unto the Lord, which is holiness, is not about food or long prayers, rules or outward appearances. The fruits we bear out of self-righteousness and ignorance of the W/word of God are of no value to Him. They are perishable and are detestable in God’s sight. Separation unto the Holy Spirit begins with who you lend your ears to, and it must be first and foremost to Jesus if He is where your loyalty lies.
It is from the initial conviction of the Holy Spirit, which takes root in our hearts that we confess with our mouths that we need a Saviour. We are but sinners saved by grace through faith who have believed that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son to save the world. We do not even have the ability to say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Spirit of Truth.[45] We have no good thing apart from the Lord. Apart from Jesus we have no truth, love or righteousness that is everlasting. Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing.[46] Our fruitfulness comes from Jesus alone when we remain in Him and He remains in us by having His words remain in us as we listen to Him and Him alone and by our eating His flesh and drinking His blood.[47] And only by the Spirit of Sonship and Daughtership do we cry, “Abba, Father,” as the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.[48] The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus. And we are called to be witnesses of Jesus the Son and partakers of the New Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. For whoever Christ forgives is forgiven, and whoever He does not forgive, is not forgiven. By His word, we are made co-heirs of this New Covenant, even in the forgiveness of sins.
So let us all use this time wisely and productively to seek the counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The power of love that comes from recognising the depth of God’s enjoyment in forgiving sins, which in turn encourages a humble unselfish love for our Father and Brother, is the most potent power in this age. For the one who has been forgiven much, loves much.[49] When this power of love is poured out onto the enemies of Jesus in forgiveness and into loving our fellow disciples as Christ has loved us, therein lies and manifests the perfection of the Father. Forgiveness is our weapon against the ranks of enemies who have risen up against the Holy One of God, because forgiveness is something that the devil and his sons would never submit themselves to. It is the very power of the cross of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man.
Mercy to the Father
Mercy to the Father can neither be taught nor lectured. It is to be lived because mercy to the Father is the fullness of sacrificial love by a son or daughter. But God did send His Son to lead us by example and He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into ALL truth. Mercy to the Father is following Jesus’ footsteps in the temple that lead us into the Holy of Holies. It is the footsteps of mercy and sacrificial love. It is a narrow path and few find it. Even fewer would persevere to stay on it. It is only made possible by the strict adherence of the basic, primary law of the temple, which is “Absolute holiness!”[50] through the diligent, strict practice of these words of God: “Listen to Him,”[51] and “Follow Me.”[52] We are to listen to and follow the One who is the Truth and the Way and the Life, for no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, the Great High Priest forever.
The design of the temple is intricate and private and calls for loving, humble, obedient submissiveness to the Holy Spirit, who takes from what is Jesus’ and makes it known to us. He takes the Lord’s footsteps in the temple and makes it clear to us. It calls for the complete dying of ourselves and a holy reverence for the sanctuary of God so that we may abandon rewards, rank or attention for ourselves, but focus on the other sons and daughters of God, and even God’s enemies, so that Jesus may be glorified in all. For mercy to the Father requires sacrifice of self. God sacrificed justice for Himself to show us mercy in the forgiveness of our sins. And sacrifice must come from a love that is not selfish or self-seeking. For the Father sacrificed His Son for the world, and the Son sacrificed His flesh and blood for His Father. Have you considered what the Holy Spirit sacrificed for Jesus and the Father?
This is neither a philosophy nor an airy-fairy theory, because mercy to the Father is a seed of desire in your spirit and heart before full understanding comes to light. Wisdom is given by the Lord to apply the knowledge acquired. Mercy to the Father requires strict adherence to the footsteps of Jesus in the temple into the Holy of Holies so that your sole desire is to glorify the Father and see Jesus glorified in the fulfilment of the Father’s will, at the expense of yourself and in total abandonment of your own will. It is your daily cross, and it is the same cross of mercy to the Father that Jesus had submitted Himself to without a single word of complaint or outburst of bitterness. If this yoke seems tough and the burden heavy, then consider the yoke and burden that was upon our Lord and what He achieved to be the Overcomer.
Every step Jesus took while on Earth as He was finishing the task of His Father was the Son’s act of love to His Father. Jesus did the things commanded by the Father that only He could do. And He spoke the words given to Him by His Father that only He could speak. Each step towards the cross, even with the detours His apostles had caused to His walk, was the precise and calculated execution of mercy as He listened to the Holy Spirit and the Father. Jesus came from the Father, but His walk on Earth ended on a cross, the place where the Son of Man released these words: “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?”[53] How would you like Jesus’ second walk on Earth to end? How do you see it?
From whom do we seek such guidance if not the Holy Spirit? Who grows us and develops our God-given gifts if not the Holy Spirit? Who makes known to us what is Jesus’ Likeness - likeness in His zeal for His Father’s house, His love, His enjoyment of forgiving and more, so that we may rise up to His stature to glorify the true purpose of why man was created and what exactly Jesus was sent to save? Who is man in God? We speak of the passion of the Christ, but do we truly understand that the passion of Jesus was His suffering?[54] His passion was to give increase to God’s perfection and the only way was by His suffering and submission to God’s will. The writer of the book of Hebrews testified that although Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.[55]
Who reveals the Word of God to us as we eat of His words and feel them burning in our hearts, if not the Holy Spirit? Who else but the Holy Spirit opens up the Scripture to us so that we may fathom what God has done from beginning to end? How can our brains wrap around the concepts of “eternity” or “God” or “Man” if not for the Spirit of Revelation who speaks to us in visions and dreams, and expands our understanding as we delight in seeking truth in the words of Jesus? It is the Spirit of God who sees past the filthy garments of the world in which we proudly dress. He sees the diamonds in the rough that we truly are in our Father’s eyes. Not because of any righteousness of our own but because of God’s righteousness, and because God made man in Their Image and Likeness.
Now do you begin to see what God has lost when we forsook Him? Now do you begin to see the height, depth and width of the gift of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus’ Name? Now do you see how far the church has fallen in its failure to honour the Lord of the Sabbath by obeying the commands of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins? For the true spirit of the law of the Sabbath is not refraining from work. The true spirit of the law of the Sabbath is to give God rest and peace. This is what makes the seventh day blessed and holy: God at rest. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath because He came to do the will of God to give God rest and peace. But the church does neither, and has become even more depraved and hypocritical than the world itself. For the Spirit of God, who is holy, was poured out upon all flesh – upon a human cesspool of the clean and the unclean, the defiled and the sanctified. Do you think it was and is a pleasant experience for Him?
Who picks up the pieces of an unattended vineyard when we say to God we will do something for Them, yet do not do it, either because we get distracted or shift our focus onto our own agendas? It is the Holy Spirit who fills in all the gaps that we leave wide open when we do not fulfil our duty at the standard to which we are called. It is the Holy Spirit who executes damage control when we are lazy and wicked servants, and delay the second coming of Christ. The churches should not say, “If the Master wants to come back, He will do so at His own accord. I do not know the day and hour anyway. What part do I have to play in it? God can do it.” Neither should we make a two-way bet between our plans in this world and the soon coming return of Jesus, for they are not one and cannot be reconciled without compromising our faithfulness to our King.
Do not be a wicked and lazy servant who does not have it in your heart to watch out for Jesus’ return daily, nor care to know the signs of His imminent return so that you may make the necessary preparations in the prescribed way. Do not be a wicked and lazy servant who engages in foreplay with the world and commits adultery with the ways of the world. For though you appear to be doing the work of the Lord in the eyes of the world and the ignorant, the Lord can see that you are actually aligned with the enemies of God when what you are doing has nothing to do with the urgency of bringing Jesus back. The reign of Jesus Christ on Earth is on God’s mind. What is on your mind?
The Holy Spirit works overtime to compensate for the height from which the church has fallen in its line of duty in our preaching of the Gospel in its fullness, and testifying for Jesus and the word of God. The Holy Spirit makes sure that we do not further disgrace the Name of Jesus and bring the kingdom into further disrepute. Yet He is the One who is shut out of our churches and our hearts. Do the churches say, “God forbid if we should let the Holy Spirit have His way in the churches. It doesn’t look right to the world, does it? Then how would we get numbers on seats and jingle in the tithe bag? Better to stick with our endless programmes of entertainment”? When the churches say, “The Holy Spirit has left,” or “Miracles are not for this time,” aren’t we accusing Jesus of being a liar when He said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever - the Spirit of Truth,” and “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”?[56] If we believe Jesus’ words, we must put them into practice to prove them true. This is justice for Jesus.
Would the world perceive Jesus as “irrelevant” if His churches were healing every sick person, driving out every demon, opening the eyes of all the blind, healing the lame, mute and deaf, and multiplying the bread as they practise and preach the words of Jesus? Instead of healing the sick, we send them to hospitals. Instead of raising the dead, we send them to the morgue. Instead of giving dead mothers back to the children, we build orphanages. And instead of driving out demons, we send them to psychiatrists. It is time to wake up and grow up, take responsibility for the mess of this world and be in continuous repentance and forgiveness every time you feel even the slightest conviction of the Holy Spirit in all areas of your life and ministry before God.
Do you think you have command of the word of God, know the Father and Jesus, and understand Their relationship with One Another just because you are a teacher, pastor, evangelist or apostle? Do you think that your office in the house of God automatically means that you understand Them? Or do you perceive that you know Them just because you are in full-time ministry or spare 20 minutes listening to sermons at church each week? Do you consider yourself an expert in the words of Jesus on the basis that you have heard it preached on a number of occasions? Do not think that it is the years of “being a Christian” or “going to church” that count. Not now, not ever. Especially not as we approach the last days before Jesus arrives. It is not about the duration of time, but what you have done with the time given you to come to know the Father and Jesus. And how would you come to know the Father if you do not listen to His Son?
Have you filled yourself with the word of God that you are solid truth like Jesus - pure Word like the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb? Or have you been drinking water muddied by the feet trampling the courts of God? Have you followed the pure Word of God firstly and lastly - or do you run here and there to increase knowledge?[57] Have you learnt to tell the difference between the holy and the common? Have you acquired the exquisite taste and desire for the words of Jesus? Do you care to? Or do you perceive it to be good in the eyes of God, who has endured the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, to worship Him from a distance? Can you even see your Father from where you are standing, complacent in your lukewarm love and lack of understanding?
Do you honestly think that listening to men can replace reading the word of God in the delicious solitary times you spend with the Holy Spirit, just you, the Lord and the word with no distractions, even television, so that you may actually hear His quiet voice when He speaks to you?
Don’t you care that you do not know the words of Jesus as well as you should? What does Jesus hate? Who does He honour? What does He seek? What were His last words on the cross?
Don’t you find it wrong that there are many believers who have read books on reading the Bible, but have not read the Bible itself from cover to cover, again and again? Doesn’t it infuriate you that we have not been taught by our shepherds to follow the Father’s command, “Listen to Jesus,” as individuals, and to follow Jesus’ command to listen to the Holy Spirit as a church? Doesn’t it bother you that we cannot heal the sick and drive out a demon with a word as Jesus does, yet He said in John 14.12 that we would do the same things He has been doing and even greater things also? So then, how can we blame the world for its depravity when we do not testify about Jesus with authority and power? Jesus testified about the Father with authority and power, and we have been given authority and power to likewise testify about Jesus. Do you consider that the church has fulfilled this duty? If not, then be earnest and repent, for any injustice committed against the Word of God must be corrected by your taking the plank out of your eye, lest the Lord calls you a hypocrite.
Do you diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life, but yet refuse to come to Jesus to have life?[58] Do you prefer the verbose counselling of men, rather than the power of the ministry of the Counsellor sent in Jesus’ Name? Do you prefer human theories and church doctrines that have nothing to do with listening to Jesus, rather than a clear demonstration of the power of God coming from your hands as surely as Moses parted the Red Sea with a raised staff and an outstretched hand?[59]
Do you think that your Father’s priority is your prosperity, which is evident in your job, car and house? Rather, don’t you think that Jesus Christ is the first Person on His mind? The Father is focused on His Son’s return, His Kingship, His millennial reign, His bride, New Jerusalem and His eternal victory over all His enemies, the final enemy being Death. It is all about your Father, Brother and Lord - and no one else. Do not be deluded with visions of grandeur of your position in your Father’s heart or the place of the church in the kingdom. The church is the means, not the ends. The church is not the bride and the Lord is not “rapturing” the church to usher in the wedding of the Lamb. Read Revelation 21-22 carefully. The wedding of the Lamb will occur after Jesus’ reign for a thousand years on Earth, not before or during.
The church was formed to be His body[60] to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the testimony of Jesus and the word of God from Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world,[61] so that the end will come and Jesus can return to reign on Earth for a thousand years, and then the time of New Earth may begin. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News of the kingdom: God is a Father who has an only begotten Son named Jesus, who is coming soon. The Holy Spirit was sent so that the church may fulfil this purpose. We receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us to testify for Jesus and the word of God. The church age will conclude to make way for the kingdom age upon the return of the King. It was never about the relevance of the church in modern times, its popularity or longevity, but how soon we were to get Jesus back on Earth to reign.
This Earth needs its King. The church needs our King. Our complete salvation hinges on Jesus’ return. Unless Jesus returns, His resurrection in the flesh and our salvation remains only a theory. A hopeful theory based on faith in Him - but a theory nonetheless. You know that, right? Jesus is our ‘Proof of Life’. He is the Resurrection and He is the Life.
The writer of Hebrews wrote: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”[62] Or better yet, listen to Jesus in Revelation 22.12, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” The first resurrection is one of the rewards for His overcomers.
Jesus instructed His apostles as early as Matthew 10, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”[63] However, did the apostles listen? Apparently not, because Acts 8.1 testifies, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
It has been said that the failure to listen to Jesus is an apostolic tradition, so why put the apostles on a pedestal? They are fellow servants and brothers in Christ. It was not the Father’s original plan for Jesus to stay away so long. It is the church’s disbelief and disobedience against Jesus, beginning with the alpha apostles, that delayed the Father in setting an appropriate date for His Son’s return. The obedience of His disciples has not been made complete. Doesn’t being a “Christian” mean that you must believe in everything Jesus said? Doesn’t it also mean that you must receive the Holy Spirit? In the first place, we have to know His words before we believe them.
In Jesus’ absence on Earth the church has deceived itself. She should never sit as queen and boast in her heart that she would never mourn.[64] Do you have an ear to hear this parable spoken against her: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”[65]
The church is not the bride of the Lamb. She is the wedding guest who thinks she is the bride! The source of this misunderstanding comes from the lack of knowledge of the words of Jesus and misreading the words of Paul by taking his verses out of context. Paul’s writing to the Ephesian church in Chapter 5 is an analogy of the relationship between Christ and the church. He compared the love of Christ, which is the ultimate sacrificial love, and likened it to a husband’s love for his wife. And the love of the church for Jesus, which is nurturing and faithful, is like a wife’s love for her husband. For male and female play different roles in Creation. We have different weaknesses in which the power of God is made perfect.[66] Male and female live differently, and they love differently.
It is in this same context of faithfulness and monogamy that God the Father expressed Himself as a Husband to Israel, even though He is her Maker.[67] Israel’s rebellion against God is like the betrayal of a promiscuous and faithless wife. The Lord enriches our understanding of His relationship with us by showing us the different facets of His love for us. Though He is our Father, our faithfulness to Him must include the passion and loyalty that is between husband and wife. The law of jealousy is encoded in the relationship of husband and wife, and it should be held in high regard. Read Numbers 5.11-31 and let the Holy Spirit show you the Father’s intentions in the test for an unfaithful wife. Do not judge by mere appearances. God is not being odd or sexist. He is showing us how sacred and special faithfulness is between a husband and wife, because they alone live in exclusion of all others and become one, just as we can live with God in exclusion of all else to be one with Them as They are One.
So let us set free the words of Paul with the correction of our understanding of the revelations that he received from the Holy Spirit. Open your heart. The Lord does not live in a box. Neither should you.
Amen Holy Spirit
It is not when you profess that you know and understand God that you do. It is only when the Father says you do and unveils you as He unveiled Jesus, “This is My son (daughter) whom I also love. With him (her) I am well pleased. Listen to him (her) also,” that you have begun to step into your shoes as an avid listener and son or daughter of God. It is when you desperately cry out for understanding to come to know God as your Father, Brother and Lord, that your heart will begin to open up and discard worldly wisdom and the pursuit of perishable desires. For out of your desperation to know God does shine the beauty of a child who is content to sit cross-legged at her Father’s feet, hand under chin, listening to Him and watching Him with delight all the days of your eternal life.
We are not to speak on our own, but speak what is given to us by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This is our present training until we have developed and perfected the art and skills of speaking and listening to the Lord. If we are constantly speaking, we would not stop to listen. We are called to listen in stillness with dedication and self-control, which is the way the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father listen to Each Other. And we are to speak in the same manner as Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father speak to Each Other. How much insight and understanding of God do you think this requires? Imagine the absolute delight of sitting in on Their agreement meetings!
For disciples of Jesus, it is about the refinement and perfection of listening to Jesus, not as we would, but as Jesus listens to the Father, as the Holy Spirit listens to Jesus, and as the Father and Jesus listen to the Holy Spirit. This is an important lesson, for as a church, we must listen to the Holy Spirit who has worthy things to say and speaks what is right, true, just and faultless.[68] We should be perfect listeners of the Holy Spirit - just like He is the perfect Listener of the Father and Jesus. And when we open our mouths to speak, we should speak exactly like Jesus who is the Truth. It is not until we have learnt to listen acutely like the Holy Spirit, and speak the truth as Jesus does, that our words would cast off the foul odour of crooked and perverse speech, evil behaviour and prideful intentions. Only then can we give back unto our Father the perfection of the Word He sowed into us from the beginning to the end when He set eternity into the hearts of men.[69]
Jesus told us to consider carefully and pay close attention to what we hear.[70] And it will be from those who have been given much ears to listen, that much more will be demanded to deliver results, reap returns and develop growth[71] to blossom all twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. The standard and quality of hearing and speaking that the Lord requires is not a careless or complacent standard. We must learn to listen and speak and practise with the same zeal as Jesus does. It is our Brother’s standard we aspire to. It is indeed the standard where faithfulness meets precision. It is also the standard of perfection coming into its increase.
If your heart and spirit are set to go the extra miles with Jesus to glorify the Father, then you must not only follow Jesus, but you must also learn to agree with the Holy Spirit by saying, “Amen Holy Spirit!”
The apostle Paul has a valid point. In our present imperfect and incoherent state of oneness with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we do not know what is beneficial to pray for. Even when we think we have a clever idea for what the Father wants for Jesus, especially when it come to His will for Jesus’ return, or when we think we are hearing from the Lord accurately, we have yet to come to a level where we know the fullness of God’s will to consistently pray in the right words and speak in the Lord’s prescribed way. The Holy Spirit comes to our rescue as He intercedes for us in perfection with groans that words cannot express,[72] and moves us to speak in a language that this world cannot decipher without His gift of interpretation.
Since the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will,[73] shouldn’t we agree with everything the Holy Spirit speaks purposefully through our mouths in His languages? When you receive someone, you do not oppose them. You honour and respect them by your agreement and co-operation. We are called to pray in agreement with the Holy Spirit so that He may achieve all that He has to do within the strict time schedule appointed by the Father.
Should we further delay and hinder the work of the Holy Spirit by our babbling lengthy prayers and words without knowledge that darken the counsel of our Counsellor? Isn’t it time we stop building subsidiary empires in the Name of the Lord by our own strength and knowledge? We cannot live in panelled houses when God’s house remains a ruin. For it is in your desire to have a resolute attitude of willing, loving, humble, obedient submissiveness to the Holy Spirit to be in close fellowship with Him, not craving the counterfeit spotlight of the world, and not setting up idols in your heart - that the Lord may reveal to you the most intricate details of the plans and will of God. What are the words that are still unspoken, unwritten and unsung, the plans that reflect His heart’s desires and the highest mountains of God’s ambitions for His future?
It is your relationship with the Holy Spirit that guides you to desire the things that are not only possible, but beneficial to the Lord, to help solve God’s problems. As you desire them and listen to the Holy Spirit, you will speak the right words in the prescribed way to advance the Lord’s interests. As you grow in oneness with the Lord, your personal interests will progressively and flawlessly melt into His so that you are truly one in spirit, heart and mind. It is the Spirit of Sonship that makes the difference in you that will echo on into eternity. Not just your eternity, but your Father and Jesus’ eternity. Or will He merely be a Master or Employer to you?
God is not a puppeteer controlling an empty vessel of hollow thoughts and mindless actions. He gave you the gift of freewill. It is entirely your choice. A drop of an ocean of sonship or daughtership has been deposited in each of us. But if you do not treasure that drop, or you despise its smallness, you will never go the extra miles to reach behind the shielding curtain to take hold of the greater things of the Lord, for the Lord. You will be blind to the true value of the treasure. And since you cannot see it because your heart is hard, you will not know to desire more of God. If you do not desire, it will not be given to you because, even if it was given you, you will probably not treasure it for its worth. The invaluable worth always is that each treasure comes from your Father’s heart.
The Holy Spirit knows what is best in God’s perspective. We say, “Amen” to the Holy Spirit for the glory of God, so that all He must complete will proceed smoothly without further interruptions and disturbances that test His patience and abuse His grace. Praise God for the moment when the Holy Spirit can say, “It is done!”[74] as Jesus did on the cross. For the Holy Spirit has much work to do in us after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour in repentance of our sins and Jesus baptises Him into us. These are the seven tasks allocated to the Spirit of God:
1. The Holy Spirit lives with us and is in those of us who have been baptised with Him.[75]
2. The Holy Spirit teaches us ALL things and reminds us of everything Jesus said to us.[76]
3. The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus - which we must also do with Him.[77]
4. The Holy Spirit convicts the world in regards to sin, righteousness and judgment and will expose the guilt of the world.[78]
5. The Holy Spirit guides us into ALL truth.[79]
6. The Holy Spirit tells us what is to come and what He hears.[80]
7. The Holy Spirit brings Jesus glory by taking what is Jesus’ and makes it known to us.[81]
Therefore, learn to say “Amen Holy Spirit” in your daily fellowship with Him. Practise it in your daily worship of God. Say it and mean it until it is an automatic response from your heart. And then see the difference in your life with the Holy Spirit. Adjust your mind accordingly, because it is not your lengthy prayers that He needs. He may just need you to agree with Him by saying “Amen Holy Spirit.” Practise speaking in tongues at any given time of the day. Let Him speak through you in His native language and say “Amen Holy Spirit” when He is finished. If you have nothing worthy or beneficial to say, say “Amen Holy Spirit.”
If you are tired and weary, say “Amen Holy Spirit.” If it is too early in the morning and you can’t think straight, say “Amen Holy Spirit.” If you feel lost and disoriented, say “Amen Holy Spirit.” If events have you disappointed, even in the Lord, and you feel despondent, just trust in Him and say “Amen Holy Spirit.” Your agreement is your alliance with the Holy Spirit. And that alliance begins as a desire in your heart, which then overflows from your heart to your lips.
If you watch the news and hear of wars and rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes in various places, do not panic but listen to the Holy Spirit. He will remind you that Jesus said, “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”[82] Do not pray against them, because in so doing, you are sending prayers up to the throne that may delay our Father’s plans to bring Jesus back to reign on the Earth. If you do not understand or are afraid, say “Amen Holy Spirit,” and let the Spirit guide you and give you peace through His understanding.
If you pray against the disasters out of human compassion or social consciousness, you have gone against Jesus’ words. Do not be like king Hezekiah and ask for peace and security in your lifetime in these last days. [83] Do not pray that the disasters would be postponed, because you are selfishly asking the Lord to delay the fulfilment of His Word and the release of His jealous anger in judgment of the church and the world, just so you can accomplish the minor plans you have made for yourself. That is not righteous. And if this is the case, the Lord may come and say to you, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”[84]
Understand that God’s judgment is not an act of cruelty. It is to bring the church and the world to correction through repentance. The Father has been reluctant to execute judgment because He loves the world. But He will do so in justice and righteousness in His perfect timing when the obedience of one or ones of Jesus’ disciples is made complete. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.[85] Sin must be dealt with righteously because God cannot live with sin for eternity. Praise be to God for the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins.
Therefore, be in full and perfect agreement with the Holy Spirit at all times and feel the difference in your closeness to Him. Feel the peace and the quiet confidence that comes with the understanding, because that which Jesus and His holy angels have declared must happen. And then feel the seriousness of the coming days of distress and the urgency of preparing for Jesus’ return. The Scripture cannot be broken.[86] The Son of Man went just as it was written about Him,[87] and He will return as it is written. Our focus must be on carrying out God’s plans and making an alliance with His Holy Spirit, because it is the Holy Spirit who guides us into ALL truth, including the truth about God’s will and strategies.
An “Amen Holy Spirit” whispered or shouted from the top of the mountain shows the Father where your heart is - with His Holy Spirit who gives revelation and witness to Jesus Christ His beloved Son. There are no boundaries to where we wish to go with the Holy Spirit in the physical and in the spirit if we remain true and faithful to Him. For Jesus said that the wind blows wherever it pleases, and if we are ones truly born of the Spirit, we will hear His sound and be able tell where He comes from or where He is going.[88]
So it is and so it shall be that to all which the Holy Spirit will unleash in the fury of God’s judgment, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” To all that the Holy Spirit is doing so that the man of lawlessness will be revealed at the proper time,[89] we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” To all that He is doing in refining and training His elect whom He has chosen, and for whom the days of unequalled distress will be shortened,[90] we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.”
To all that the Holy Spirit is doing to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment and to expose the guilt of the world so that the enemies of Jesus will be brought to a place of repentance, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” To all His plans to prepare the world and the church for the return of the King, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” To all His counsel to the disciples of Jesus Christ, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” To the silence of the Holy Spirit, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” Whether we are asleep or awake, staying still or travelling in the S/spirit, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.” All that the Holy Spirit must finish before He is taken out of the way, we say, “Amen Holy Spirit.”
Lord, do all that You have in mind to do, for we are with You heart and soul. Please give us the understanding as we cry out to You so that we may know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent. We testify for Jesus and the word of God with you. Amen Holy Spirit.
Be blessed forever with the unity of our everlasting agreement with You, Lord.
So now, let’s talk about the New Covenant.
[1] John 20.21-23
[2] John 6.43
[3] John 5.17
[4] John 5.19
[5] John 14.24
[6] John 12.50
[7] John 16.15
[8] Luke 22.28
[9] John 16.14
[10] Matthew 11.25-26
[11] Matthew 18.2
[12] John 3.3, 5
[13] Romans 8.15
[14] John 1.12-13
[15] Luke 22.29
[16] Luke 7.35 NIV / NLT
[17] Ephesians 1.17; Isaiah 11.2
[18] Proverbs 8
[19] Isaiah 11.2
[20] Proverbs 9.10
[21] John 14.17; Romans 1.4; 8.2; Hebrews 10.29; Ephesians 1.17; 1 Peter 4.14
[22] Isaiah 32.17
[23] Isaiah 4.4
[24] John 16.8
[25] Romans 8.15
[26] Hebrews 2.10
[27] John 14.6
[28] John 11.25
[29] John 6.32, 35
[30] John 10.11
[31] John 8.12
[32] John 15.1
[33] Revelation 22.16
[34] Revelation 22.13
[35] Revelation 1.8
[36] Revelation 3.14
[37] Matthew 1:1
[38] 1 Samuel 16.7
[39] John 7.24
[40] John 4.35
[41] Matthew 13.30
[42] John 14.2
[43] John 14.2-4
[44] Galatians 5.22: The 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Ephesians 5.9: The 10th and 11th fruits are righteousness and truth. Hebrews 13.15: The 12th fruit is sacrifice of praise.
[45] 1 Corinthians 12.3
[46] John 15.5
[47] John 15.5, 7; 6.56
[48] Romans 8.15-16
[49] Luke 7.47
[50] Ezekiel 43.12 NLT
[51] Matthew 17.5
[52] Matthew 4.19; 8.22; 9.9; 16.24; 19.21, 28
[53] Matthew 27.46; Mark 15.34
[54] Acts 1.3. Compare NIV with the King James Version.
[55] Hebrews 5.8-9
[56] John 14.16; Act 1.8 NLT
[57] Daniel 12.4
[58] John 5.39
[59] Exodus 14.16
[60] 1 Corinthians 12.27; Romans 12.5; Ephesians 1.22-23
[61] Acts 1.8
[62] Hebrews 9.27-28
[63] Matthew 10.23
[64] Revelation 18.7
[65] Luke 14.8-11
[66] 2 Corinthians 12.9
[67] Jeremiah 3.14
[68] Proverbs 8.6-9
[69] Ecclesiastes 3.11
[70] Mark 4.24 NIV / NLT
[71] Luke 12.48
[72] Romans 8.26
[73] Romans 8.27
[74] Revelation 16.17
[75] John 14.17
[76] John 14.26
[77] John 15.26; Acts 1.8
[78] John 16.8 and footnote c
[79] John 16.13
[80] John 16.13
[81] John 16.14
[82] Matthew 24.6-8
[83] 2 Kings 20.19
[84] Matthew 16.23
[85] 2 Peter 3.9
[86] John 10.35
[87] Mark 14.21
[88] John 3.8
[89] 2 Thessalonians 2.3-8
[90] Mark 13.20