August 17, 2014

When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part is done away with. 1 Corinthians 13.10

Abraham was waiting for a city whose builder and maker, or fabrication and anatomy is God. This place of our inheritance being eternal is God. The gift of eternal life that we are receiving is not something being made as though it had not been. If it had once not been it could not be eternal.

The word talks about the buildings and structures Â of Jerusalem. But the buildings and structures and Jerusalem had their invisible counterpart. Meaning that they teach of and represent eternal realities. Not that the buildings on earth had any other significance then to build the kingdom within you. God establishes those realities in you.

This is why Jesus is the way, and that He came preaching “The Kingdom of God is at hand” or at your finger tips. He is speaking of His anatomy. Not a thing to be made, but something He is. It is “In Him”. This is why the Jewish leaders were befuddled when He said “destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in 3 days. He is the temple, He is the city and He is the Holy Land.

This too then is our rebuilding. We walk in His promises. This is the Promised land. This is why there is no mention of a promised land in the new testament as though that is outstanding to be fulfilled for “all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ”. If you are “In Christ” then you are in the place where the promises are fulfilled. They are in Him, they are Him.

All the Old Testament tools of teaching, be it the Sabbath, the Land, the city or a feast, these are all for ourÂ instructionÂ and understanding ofÂ things invisible and eternal. “But when that which is perfect has come then that which is in part will be done away with. The end meaning of all those things are “in Christ” All the old testament teaching tools have a trade in value.Â Temporary for the eternal. This is a redemption and a cross over point is that in the renewed mind this is the new and living way, the new creation. This is the “when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part is done away with”

This takes place not as a single event called the 2nd coming, but by His assorted comings to us He presents Himself now by His word and He shows us how these things are fulfilled “in Christ” by His Holy Spirit. That which is in part that is done away with are things of the 6 days of creation. This is also called “the shaking” from Hebrews 12.27. That which can be shaken will be shaken so that the eternal remains. He is speaking and shaking even now. Â

And this does not have to happen visibly but by faith. You do not see it with your eyes for “no man (of the Adamic nature) shall see God and live”. You must be born again of His composition of spirit not that of time and matter. You must be renewed, tried and transfigured. And again, this is not done at a singular event called a 2nd coming, but by a lifestyle of walking with Him.

If this transition takes place at a 2nd coming then many scriptural concepts are un-necessary and lost. How can you become holy? “Be ye Holy as I am Holy”. Peter quotes this as a continualÂ occurring reality. The gospel of Jesus Christ is according to godliness, meaning god-like-ness. This is not a religious concept of piety and self righteousness. “Be ye holy as I am Holy” is become His Holiness, by faith. He has given us everything that pertains to life and god-like-ness.

Titus 2.11Â For the grace of God that bringeth salvation (which is not the 2nd coming) hath appeared to all men,

12Â Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,Â weÂ shouldÂ live soberly, righteously, and godly (god-like), in this present world; 13Â Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing(s) of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Â Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify (by the transformation of putting Him on) unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

15Â These things speak,Â

And this we do. We look to Him now and and He appears as He truly is now in His Glory and this is what we become. This is our transformation now. This is “the prophetic word more sure”. Put this on, put Him on. You cannot put Him on now if you are waiting to see Him at a 2nd coming. You are deprived of the truth of transformation and have traded it for something else. You have lost your reward. Are you not called “saints”? What do you think that means? Do you accept this? Do youÂ receiveÂ this? This god-like-ness in this age? You mean it is later? Do you see what happens to your thinking? That means salvation is later and Christ died in vain to have to redeem you at a 2nd coming.

If we learn to receive this then this too becomes us. As He said “He who has seen me has seen the Father” Most don’t understand this. When people interact with us they see something they don’t understand. They see the invisible light and the truth that resides in each one of us, being Gods Holy Spirit. Some admire this, some are jealous and try to squelch this. This is sharing His persecution. On our part he is glorified.

This is not done by calling people to a 2nd coming for even Islam, andÂ BuddhistsÂ and other religionsÂ believeÂ in a coming MessiahÂ and aÂ renewed earth later. It is the gospel that brings salvation in the here and now that is an offence. The work from the cross is our point in faith, not His return. And we love His appearing but this appearing is continual, not a 2nd coming

We become holy now in this age and “we have this treasure in earthen vessels so the excellency and the power may be of God not ourselves for we do not preach ourselves but ChristÂ crucified”. That is the power of transformation. Look to that for change.We are like a light on a hill that cannot be hid, a bushel of lightÂ underÂ a bed.

Doesn’t Paul say that we are living epistles written not on stone but on the heart by the Holy Spirit? That we are read by all men? And if we reject our calling for holy living now, for god-like-ness now, and live for a hope only to be realized at a 2nd coming then we are of all men most pitiable. What a shame and what a sham, for the good news of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation “Today” not tomorrow or 2000 years later. If we are not saved we have nothing. If we are saved then we have the redemption, the adoption, the justification, the reconciliation and the at-one-ment now. Today!

The price has been paid and the only thing that stands in your way is that you want to have a visible confirmation of these truths. So you lump together what you cannot receive by faith and say it is coming later at a 2nd coming and associate yourself with doubters of Gods Holy word. Hath God really said?

If we live only in the hope of a change at a 2nd coming we are of most men to beÂ pitied. What a shame. What a sham. For isn’t the gospel the power of God unto Salvation for today? Now? Or are we in limbo for a 2nd coming?Â

This is where our cultural Christianity stops short of His fullness. We do become holy and grow in god-like-ness even now or why would the word say “As He is so are we in this world”? This is not just the same as the man Jesus was because Jesus said “Greater works shall you do for I go to the Father.” And if we can only be like the man Jesus who walked the earth we could not become greater. But as we see Him as He truly is through the gospel we become like Him. This is our mirror to put Him on. Him who is with the father is He who displays a greater reality of the Father. And this is Him in His transfigured, eternal state. This is what we behold. “Tell the disciples that I have ascended to My God and your God, to My Father and your Father. Cling to this.Â perceiveÂ this. Look upon this and become transfigured from the glory to the glory. (2 Corinthians 3.18)

It is enough for a student to become like his teacher and allÂ studentsÂ perfectly trained do so. So if we see Him as He truly is, it is enough to be like Him as He is. Not a man on earth but raised incorruptible. He is the last Adam who has become a life giving spirit. So too this becomes us. This becomes our greater works. “Good master what must I do to do the works of God?Â BelieveÂ in Him who was sent.” This one who was sent returned and it is there we behold Him, that we are seated with Him, “In Him”. And if we see Him any less we see Him in part. But when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part is done away. This is His gift to us. Eternal life and life is in the Son where He is with the Father. If it is any less then He has not given us of His fullness, but He has. John 1.16. Either He has or He hasn’t, black and white. The gray exists only in a wavering mind.

So do you want to do the greater works? Then believe in Him who was sent from where He came from and where He returned. It is He who calls us to Himself that we may “behold the glory given to Him from the foundations of the world”

There is not muchÂ transformation in a man named Jesus. And there is even less in a Jesus who must come back to work salvation. But there is all we need in Him who said it is done, and sat down to prove it.Â Â

The Lords Supper

Matthew 26.26Â And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

27Â And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28Â For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

29Â But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Here we have at the Lord’s supper Him saying that He would not drink from it again until He drinks it new in the Kingdom. It is the bread and the wine that become new first. Simply put it is us who put off our old nature symbolized at baptism that become new to drink it with Him, for it is the bread and the wine of the new covenant which is in effect now that His blood has been shed. (Hebrews 9.15)

It is in this way that we drink it new. He nourishes the spirit not the man. It is our spirit that is new that allows us to drink it new in the Kingdom. His words are spirit and they are life and this is what we partake. This is the Lords Supper. It does not refer to a future coming kingdom that does not exist yet like those who suppose it to be at a 2nd coming of something yet to be fulfilled. It is filled full now. The Kingdom is preached and men are pressing their way into it. Luke 16.16

This is how we are filled now that we are new. We partake of His word and His spirit. It is not like meat on a BBQ to be cooked that you see but His holy word that is perceived so you can receive it by your new person. It is not His Kingdom that is being made new to have a grand opening at a second coming for it already is or Jesus could not have already said “The Kingdom of God is at hand”.

It is us eating this new in the spirit of our mind that makes it new. But it is the silly Adamic nature that postpones the spiritual nourishment until a 2nd coming for a coming Kingdom that does not exist yet waiting to be finished that it may be revealed. Yet the Kingdom never was Â not yet as though it still needs to be but only in our minds, this is where He builds it. You see then to drink it new in the Kingdom is not for a future kingdom. The newness has to do with us. It is us who are changeable and are changing. God and His Kingdom are not. So when we come together to eat the Lords supper, it is to eat it new in the Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 5.7 Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may become a new loaf since in truth you are unleavened.

This “drinking it new in the Kingdom”, the eternal kingdom is not as though it must be something later is not already. Â It is as eternal as He is for it is His home and cannot change. Or where would He be King until His kingdom is finished. You think He is subject to time as though He is ringing His hands in heaven just hoping for His kingdom to be built. Everything about Him is timeless, hence “enter the Kingdom prepared for you from (b4) the foundations of the world (ages). So it is us that becomes new not Him.

And how do we do this? By partaking of Him any day and every day. To us who “love His appearing” not as something future but daily and continual. We “eagerly await His appearing”. We look to the author and finisher of our faith”. Not of a 1st and 2nd coming but to Him who delays not His coming. We do not forsake the assembling and so much more as we see the coming day. Till the dawn of the old and morning star of the eternal day that needs not a jump start except in our thinking and understanding.

This is “the Kingdom that comes not with carnal observation” as the 2nd coming seekers are stuck on. It appears not to the eyes in your head but the eyes of your understanding (Eph 1.18) He appears to our perception and this way we are renewed, we recieve, we become what we receive. This is our spiritual growth. Not like food for the carnal man that nourishes the human but a new nutrition for the new man who is raised incorruptible. For He says “My words are spirit and they are life”. So if we believe His words, we ingest them, and we keep them. We become what we eat. We put this on. We put Him on. We put on Christ. This is putting on the new man. We perceive Him as He is and we become like Him. Today!

And we do this before a 2nd coming as is taught by others for if you do not do this now you will be found naked. If you have washed off the old man by baptism what is it that you wear now if you expect your new garments at a 2nd coming?

This is why the 2nd coming seeker churches are “poor blind and naked”. They think a 2nd coming is the fulfillment but now we can be filled full. Till we become a perfect man” (Eph 4.13?) They are poor because they reject the true riches of which we speak. They are blind because they do not see the “Kingdom of God” which is “at hand”. And they are obviously naked because they cannot put anything on they perceive to be later. In this they condemn themselves.

1 Tim 4 the spirit speaks expressly that in the later days men will depart from the faith giving head to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.” And again “after my departure you will be devoured by savage wolves. They have and they did. We are that.

They think to “drink it new in the Kingdom” is when they see it with human eyes, and this scoffs at the faith that pleases God. It is anti-faith and anti-Christ to ignore Him who speaks from Heaven now as though He must come in bodily form to appease our carnality and stand where we can see Him to believe.

But it is He who even now says, He who has been saying. Him whom you ignore “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door.” This is whom we ingest at the Lords Supper. “I will come into them and dine with them and them with Me.” This is drinking the fruit of the vine new in the Kingdom with Him. The new covenant is in full force, “the Kingdom is preached and men are pressing their way in” This is that which was from the beginning. Let that abide in you. Not a silly 2nd coming man you can see with the eyes in your head. What a powerless gospel with no transformation that leaves many disappointed and unchanged while they wait for something that is at their fingertips.

“For him who has ears to hear, hear what the spirit says to the churches” The words of this prophesy are not sealed for a 2nd coming. What I say to you I say to all watch. For if you do not watch, if you think I have delayed my coming, I will come upon you as a thief and take even that which you think you have. But to those who anticipate My coming, and love My appearing, I come quickly (unnoticeable to the carnal senses in the wink of an eye) and My reward is with me to give to each one according to their work. Blessed are they who do My commands for they have the right to the tree of life and enter through the gates into the City in the Kingdom. Yes, press into this. But outside are sorcerers, adulterers and whoever loves and keeps lies”

Where are you?

When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part is done away with

The Lords Supper 8/17