Our Father has great purpose in leading His people in this hour to move all of us to the lasting heavens of the New Jerusalem. His Spirit worked in the 1948 Latter Rain outpourings, with multitudes of people receiving miracles, healings, and the baptism of the Spirit by the laying on of hands. Angels appeared in the meetings, and mighty signs and wonders took place. Teaching flowed about sonship, restoration of gifts, and offices for church leaders.
This was the the blowing of trumpets, the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. Then just as suddenly as the miracles began, they ended, healing lines ceased, the river of anointed teaching stopped flowing, and it did not work as before. The rain had passed, and is now gone. What happened? After some time, the voice of a message came clearly:
“Many have usurped the high places, misused My presence, and disgraced My name. Now I will yet be doing a new thing by withdrawing My power for a season that I may call chosen ones aside and speak to them. I will rearrange the deepest parts of their being by dealing with them as sons. As with Moses, David, and Jesus, I will call them into the wilderness of testing and I will deal with them as sons to make them one spirit with Me. I will make them right there. I will purge, purify, instruct, mature, and perfect My overcoming sons for a day of unveiling.
They will be sealed, so as to not to be exalted and use the offices of leadership to glorify themselves, nor build their own ministries like those who abuse My people by not feeding My manna in order to fleece the flock. Overcoming sons do not drag My name down into the mire of Mystery Babylon’s carnality, no more fleshly ideas that are but religious lies, using scripture to hold My people in shameful examples of church traditions. Many knowing the scriptures in head knowledge do miss the keys of the Kingdom. I have chosen and processed faithful ones that are not touched by the corrupting influences of greedy gain, in which earthly success is supposed to be more important than Me.
Overcomers will represent Me before the people as ones cleansed and qualified, therefore I do manifest My power and authority into overcoming brethren to minister wonders in heaven and earth. Even great nations will be moved to righteousness by their guiding counsel, heaven and earth will be transformed by their touch. They shall reap My people, to raise and gather them to My kingdom. I will come in power again, with lasting glory demonstrating the liberating life that is free from sin and death.”
Today a vast company of overcoming sons and daughters of God’s people have come out of the various conditions found in candlestick church heavens. Overcomers in the candlestick churches have been gathering to a higher throne realm by the spirit for two thousand years. They are gathered to the universal convocation of the unseen throne realm of Jesus.
These are dealt with by God as SONS, to be chastised, corrected and prepared through deep, powerful, and effective spiritual growth into conformity with the image of the firstborn son. Extreme testings that result in overcoming falsehoods in our lives have prepared us for this hour of God's manifestation to His sons. The kingdom is now more than at hand! The hour is come for us to join the completed ranks of His inheritance in the saints and be focused on receiving all that He reveals.
There is a difference between learning ABOUT something and learning to DO something. We can hear the Lord's word and not do what is instructed. Americans like learning about football and baseball — why the referee whistles offside or the umpire penalizes a pitcher for a balk. They learn all about curveballs, strikes, stealing bases, home runs, and outs. They enjoy watching it, knowing all the rules, but learning to play the sport, that’s very different.
Players do more than memorize rules and understand strategies. They learn how to play with both MIND and BODY through grueling practice and experience, loving to compete for the prize with muscle reflexes that are tuned and trained to certain coordination. Players go beyond head knowledge to know how to compete to win the game. No player becomes a master of a sport in one or two practice sessions.
So too, God has been instructing potential overcomers in the candlestick heavens of a redemption from other loves, from every kinship, tribe, and tongue that works in our natural families. He changes the way we speak so we speak the TRUTH IN LOVE. We stop speaking religious lies. These people do “put on Christ” to become sealed overcomers in God’s eyes!
“Now you did not thus learn Christ since, surely, Him you hear, and obey Him were taught (according as the truth is in Jesus), to put off from you, as regards your former behavior, the old humanity which is corrupted in accord with its seductive desires, yet to be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new humanity which, in accord with God, is being created in righteousness and benignity of the truth. Wherefore, putting off the false, let each be speaking the truth with his associate, for we are members of one another.” Ephesians 4:20-25 concordant
Nearing closer to the King’s throne, much divine judgment must process us to go beyond knowing the rules, the principle doctrines, and the dead works in church traditions. We learn to practice PATIENCE as Christ forms spiritual substance within us that really enables us to put off falseness. He exposes the earthly promptings that only serve ourselves — our avarice, our appetite, our ambition, and the greedy plans rooted in the leaders of the candlestick orders.
A new provision is given to overcomers. The spirit of the third day is within our spirit, making our inner being alive to His throne realm. It’s been a lifelong process of walking out a redemption that transforms our inner person. We are learning to allow Christ to reign within our lives daily. We are taught through inner secret communion, eating the bread of life daily, renewing our mind daily, to form a spiritual mind that understands God’s wisdom. He has formed us into an army of people who have learned obedience through suffering. I too have been learning obedience as I go through things that cause suffering.
The insights God’s Spirit teaches our inner man will be lasting influences on our existence throughout all time. They now enable us to have confident trust in our relationship with God as our Father. God fathers some very special things! We have practiced and do still follow on to know what pleases Him in every matter of worship.
Overcomers learn how to be crucified with Christ in daily activities. They practice it, exercising godliness in every matter, and thereby qualify to be sealed and made alive in God and placed in God’s Kingdom. In this third day, He raises us up into a spiritual dimension that clearly sees the mysterious truths revealed in the scripture, with a spiritual comprehension that makes us think anew.
Overcoming Christians are written about in Revelation second and third chapters. They are those who STAND UPRIGHT in the Kingdom of God. Standing tall in Zion is great heavenly gain! Putting on the truth revealed to these sons and daughters is priceless in the estimation of God’s KING. Many now stand upright in Zion with Jesus, having put off earthly weights that beset us spiritual pioneers, however light or heavy.
No earthly deception will hold us down or be able to tie us into bondages bending toward earthly glories that men seek so desperately. Christian overcomers COME UP OVER the things found in the candlestick churches in order to meet the required measuring to full growth in Christ. They put into practice the faith of Christ while moving though life facing various earthly trials that weigh men down toward earthly loves, keeping them earthly minded Christians.
Overcoming sons of God have successfully put on Christ within their own lives. They do this under many pressures and problems, facing all the perplexities of life, and the fearful voices that can crowd in with fears of man’s dismay. Overcomers stay centered in Christ, in peace even when brethren would impede their way with strife. Though adversity, calamity, sorrow, tragedy, reversal, and trouble should howl at their heels, none of these conditions can hold them down.
NOTHING can make them agree with discouragements or intimidation, or be upset with frustrations that could in any way adversely affect their oneness with God. Some overcomers go through all kinds of hellish strife. Look to Job for truth on turning to God as he overcame by turning down false council. The enemy shall not prevail in the Day of the Lord! Though every foe and earthly friend should conspire together to hate and crucify us, it all is making us true overcomers, with much stronger experiences of His redemption working in us.
We appropriate His glorious trumpets as our very own messages as God comes to dwell within our spirit. Our surrender is to His guidance in things great and small. Yes, even the LEAST of daily things are surrendered as one given up to a power that has complete mastery over death, darkness, and disease. The spirit of the third day completes an ability to possess our Father’s mind, knowing His good, acceptable, and PERFECT will. We are able to have loving emotions that change us because His power resides within. We gain possession of understanding His true instructions that are held among the honored ranks of overcoming sons who yield obediently to God:
"Yet answering, Peter and the apostles say, One must yield to God rather than to men. Now the God of our fathers rouses Jesus, on Whom you lay hands, hanging Him on a pole. This Inaugurator and Savior God exalts to His right hand, to give repentance to Israel and the pardon of sins. We are witnesses to these declarations, as well as the holy spirit which God gives to those yielding to Him." Acts 5:32 concordant
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14
The second and third chapters of the book of Revelation reveal seven promises that are given to the overcomers among His beloved candlestick church people. These overcomers have been processed during the two thousand years through which Christianity has come. Overcomers grow to full stature by coming out of the candlestick churches.
Each candlestick represents a level of spiritual maturity available to Christian people during that particular time. Each of the seven candlestick churches represent areas of blessing and shortcomings in His people with which He has been dealing. It is only as we overcome certain conditions found within those candlesticks that we apprehend the spiritual homeland, our real promised land.
Rewards are given to those who overcome! Rewards simply speak of possible attainments, rewards for honorable service as we gain great levels of expertise in our experience with God. As Christians, our life is challenged to be overcomers until we are raised to the throne, to be enthroned spiritually with Him.
The sad condition of some of the Lord's people, however, is shown in Laodicea, and fits here in these days:
"Seeing that you are saying that Rich am I! and Rich have I become [in traditions and doctrine], and of nothing have I need! and you are not aware that you are wretched and forlorn and poor and blind and naked, I am advising you to buy of Me gold refined by the fire, that you should be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not be made manifest, and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may be observing.
Whosoever I may be fond of, I am exposing and disciplining. Be zealous, then, and repent! ‘Lo!’ I stand at the door and am knocking. If ever anyone should be hearing My voice and opening the door, I will also be coming in to him and dining with him, and he with Me. The one who is conquering [overcoming], to him will I be granting to be seated with Me on My throne as I, also, conquer, and am seated with My Father on His throne. Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias." Revelation 3:21 concordant
Our spirit must be sealed in the truth of these verses. We have to be exposed to a victorious work of redemption that WORKS. God's resurrection power takes us "out from other kinships," out of the religious thinking that we are so very rich in church heavens, while we are not being clothed with our heavenly garments. It takes time…Jesus was a ministering authority when he was thirty years old, Moses was eighty. Our Father's resurrection power raises us out from the grasp of our own carnal minded death to make us KINGS. Overcomers are readied by principles of His upward call, learning to be quick to let go of carnal thoughts in order to be empowered by Truth within their inner spiritual person.
According to the laws of nature, it is necessary to grow gradually by stages in order to attain maturity. In stages of growth, Christian people may fit certain spiritual destinies for which they have been called. SUDDEN GROWTH OR HURRIED PROGRESS IN OUR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT LEAVES US WEAK AND IMPERFECT! The oats which grow in a few weeks in Texas do not yield the same nourishment as the wheat which takes six months to ripen in South Dakota. Bamboo grows three feet daily in tropical climates and shoots up as high as one hundred and eighty-five feet, but it remains empty and hollow within. It cannot compare in strength and durability to the trees that grow over hundreds of years.
God's people are the same. Slow and gradual progress has been necessary for enduring stature. God has given overcomers a LIFETIME to conform unto the image of His Son. The candlestick church overcomers use their time well, as for them, this life determines them qualified to be kings and priests of the city of God!
Revelation's seven candlestick churches speak to us of different stages and ranks of growth through which Christian people have passed during this last two thousand years. The Greek word for church '‘ecclesia’ means “the out-called” and speaks of God's people coming out of one place to come into another place; coming out of one order to enter another order; a people coming out of one mind to possess another mind. Jesus stated:
"In my Father's house are many mansions." John 14:2
The Christian people found in the conditions of the seven candlestick churches are generally not in a suitable stage of growth to qualify for His full sealing into Kingdom authority. The Lord gave seven promises whereby overcomers can be rewarded by His authority, conquering human guile in processing between a Father and son that abides in us beyond the normal conditions found in each candlestick church rank. Like Abraham, we need to know what these promises are teaching in order to believe God for the power to fulfill them:
"…but he being invigorated by faith [Abraham], giving glory to God, being fully assured also, that, what He has promised, He is able to do also. Wherefore, also, it is reckoned to him [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written because of him only, that it is reckoned to him, but because of us also, to whom it is about to be reckoned, who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus our Lord from among the dead,
Who was given up because of our offenses, and was roused because of our justifying. Being, then, justified by faith, we may be having peace toward God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have the access also, by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and we may be glorying in expectation of the glory of God." Romans 4:20-25, 5:1-2 concordant
God’s promises are found in scripture and through his Spirit. He invigorates us into the process involving the unveiling of Jesus Christ. This occurs first within our inner person, where we have a spiritual mind that sees to understand what He sees. We see His ways are working a hidden work within our hearts that is great at removing the various veils of fleshly thinking and fleshly ways hidden there.
He moves now with messages for our spiritual minds that make us behold an unveiling of Jesus Christ! In the candlestick church orders, a great many of His believing people are still blinded by fleshly images. They are dulled by religious works that have controlled and limited their minds and hearts. The Lord's own people need deliverance!
The PROMISES to the Christian overcomer represent REWARDS for coming out of the earthly mindsets found in blind leaders within the candlestick churches which are still, indeed, in the Lord's hand. The Lord's people have had many abiding places.The Lord is always calling to the mind of His overcoming followers to COME UP HITHER" into the spiritual realms of the throne, the Kingdom of God, the city Abraham looked for. The call is beyond, "into the SPIRIT of the Lord’s Day." The first promise is:
“To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
The final promise is,
“To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21
Thus, a promise of reward for overcomers is key from all seven stages of historical growth, from eating the tree of life to finally being placed in the throne of God. The first great need for overcoming Christians is LEARNING TO EAT FROM THE LORD’S TABLE, His hidden spiritual manna, daily manna of His teaching by the spirit. All the subsequent promises of transformation and attainment will then mark our inner character and upward path to glory. None of them are attainable until we have eaten of the Tree of Life. And none reach the throne until they have passed through all the required successions of growth to full stature in Christ Jesus.
Each attainment of obedience gains greater reward than the preceeding one. Each step in the process of overcoming brings us closer to powerful authority flowing straight from the throne of Jesus Christ. New generations of overcoming pilgrims are now walking these steps of faith to glory. Some people are firstfruits who have been harvested as pilgrims of the Lord's new order. They are made kings where the promises of God are being fulfilled. The church age is over for them as they wait early on the third day. Fantastic steps of God are ordained for generations of overcomers to soon make a grand entrance into the seen realms with the full authority and purpose of the many membered body of Jesus Christ.
Overcomers definitely have powerful opportunity for more realization of Jesus Christ in their lives. The spirit of sonship works to free us from the darkness in candlestick church ways. All candlestick church overcomers are apprehended to diligently walk an ascending pathway, a way of holiness that He is daily applying to our walk. By self-control, we are learning to be guided by His spirit to strength or softness, with power or in quiet weakness.
Knowing oneness with Christ within, we move one step at a time. Our walk ascended to Mount Zion's encampment where we learned to have experiences with God within our spirit that are embraced and embodied. Candlestick overcomers live in an abiding experience of heaven within their inner person, a spiritual union of oneness with His omnipotent authority, seeing the coming of power that actually ACCOMPLISHES His will!
Please do not be despondent if you seem not to be making progress. There are few things on this planet that grow so fast that you can see them grow. GOD is judging how much or how little you and I have grown. Our faith is pressing patiently toward “the mark for the prize” in the high callings of God found in Christ Jesus. Even the lily rising spontaneously from the dust of earth is shaped into beauty by the secret and invisible fingers of God, and the lilies develop we know not how. But we do not doubt it. Every day it is done. It is nature, it is God's handiwork—WE are God’s handiwork:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 NASB
When the mind of Christ rises slowly above the thoughts of our established mindsets, it is pushing pure truth into the teeth of selfish desires. He bursts forth as conqueror through hard clods of our earthly viewpoints to renew our minds, to reshape us into the same image found in Jesus Christ. Men have only imagined that their own efforts and zeal could contribute substantially to God's processing of His sons. A strong will, we think; hours of prayer, days of fasting, faithfulness to the Lord’s work, Bible reading, study, and sheer determination — these account for our growth in church.
Not so in the King’s throne! We confess that the growth of the little lily IS A MIRACLE of God's grace. It is spontaneous, instinctive, uncompelled, yet somehow our untrained carnal minds think we must fret and toil and spin. Instead, we would yield to knowledge until He reigns, using His spiritual POWER to indwell our temple!
Yes, there are activities and “doings,” where, like Jesus, we must be about our Father’s business. These works are the RESULT OF HIS LIFE IN US, not a MEANS to His life. Christ working within us is the cause, a spiritual mind is the effect. It is when Christian men worship dead organizations made of religious works that they surely miss the mark.
God truly is manifesting perfect sonship in Zion in righteous love, mercy, compassion, giving, forgiving, blessing and touching others’ lives as well as the deep places of our hearts. BECOMING STILL, beloved, before the God of all grace, we soon learn that He knows what we need. He knows what we need to learn in order to more fully grow into the full stature gained by Jesus. He is still knocking at the doors of the Laodicean believers — the anointed HAS COME IN SEARCH OF US!
Every child of God in the candlestick churches is not being called to a school of sonship! Many may feel that they have graduated from school long ago, but that is the mistake people make in not being taught by His Spirit, not letting His spirit lead them. Overcomers receive the call to depart from the comfort of our religious church norms, to follow our faith more truly. We really start into oneness as God draws each of us out of the comfortable religious systems that controlled our minds, separating us unto Himself.
The sealed sons of the Revelation are graduates of a spiritual teaching, a process, a schooling not taught by men. They have taken all the several courses, and every one of these sons have been written upon. Godly precepts of the hardest course are mastered in the curriculum coming today. This is a matter of disciplining one’s thoughts, desires, emotions, habits; of subjecting one’s soul and body to truly function in a level of oneness with God's mind, wisdom, and nature.
Christ spells out the great importance of honorable reward, of our success in the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught there are those who are counted great. These have a righteousness that is more than legalistic scribes and Pharisaical characters:
"Whosoever, then, should be annulling one of the least of these precepts, and should be teaching men thus, the least in the kingdom of the heavens shall he be called. Yet whoever should be doing and teaching them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. For I am saying to you that, if ever your righteousness should not be superabounding more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, by no means may you be entering into the kingdom of the heavens." Matthew 5:19 concordant
In order to finish our course of Christian growth, we must be introduced to the New Jerusalem order, now or in the times to come. God in Christ Jesus does not want us to remain “babes in Christ”, nominal Christians deceived by the slight of men in the candlestick churches. He has determined to introduce us to the New Jerusalem order, where now a people on Mt. Zion stand for the ages to come. Some men have been in God’s schooling for a long, long time and have moved through many glorious dealings that IN-worked divine character.
Latter rain people have been passing from glory to glory, from realm to realm, from experience to experience, from discipline to discipline, from rank to rank in God. Here a little, there a little. They taught us that the tabernacle shown to Moses was a pattern of real spiritual order, a pattern shown so we would know His furnishings of the compartments. The temple of God is to be opened up in Kingdom heavens and only the ARK, the presence of God, be seen. It should be so now when sons are opened to worship God in spirit and truth.
The types and shadows of Old Testament feasts help us understand to recognize how He is now bringing us to the third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles. We have arrived at the third thousand year day from the Messiah's coming to Israel. God still has plenty of time to finish His work, for His plan is a plan for the ages. Overcomers of the candlestick churches graduate to pass through the limits set by passing church orders to spiritually grow as taught by John and Paul, being kin to the Lamb even in our brief lifetime. We are seeing that Jesus completes all the Old Testament types and shadows and all of the New Testament promises for today.
It is vital and necessary for overcomers to be LED BY GOD’S SPIRIT, from faith to faith, from one dimension of faith to another, for the salvation we seek is revealed in that manner:
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17
There are steps of faith needed for spiritual progress. Our walk does lead to more fullness of His salvation. With each step, we progress to take what portion of salvation is being bestowed upon us:
“…precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little…” Isaiah 28:10
We see now a great people standing in Zion, complete in Him. GREAT CHANGES ARE TAKING PLACE NOW IN OUR LIVES TO SEAL US ALONG WITH THE LIVES OF GOD’S OVERCOMING SONS. These Christians have not settled down in place to await going to heaven some day after death, thereby avoiding going to hell. These beloved brethren are raised to progressively allow heaven rather hell to DWELL IN THEM NOW!
These ones are more mature and victorious believers whose hope is to be transformed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” The spiritual appearing of Jesus Christ today is shining light to our spiritual eye. Overcomers are taught by His spirit. They get directions in the Word and Spirit that are required steps to comprehend and appropriate the Lord's glorious promises.
This certain stature is given to the overcomers, a people who came out of the seven candlestick churches in His hand. Spiritual stature is necessary for complete and total transformation by a life giving spirit. Each step of our spiritual path in God is indispensable and essential for personally fitting into the “100 fold” ranks who receive the FULL salvation. There are greater ranks than known in the “30 fold (Passover) and 60 fold (Pentecost)” ranks of church heavens!
The promises given to overcomers are vast and varied and they cannot be obtained very easily. That is why many are called and few are chosen to be made into priests and kings in the kingdom of God. Overcomers receive spiritual authority to bless and have power to deliver truth with authority to creation. A kingdom of priests shall reign over their own earthly ways, then rule the nations with a iron rod.
Come up hither where spiritual insights are given about the throne. Here is where we are given eyes to see before us and behind, to see what is working within our own being in order to understand. We are living creatures who through FAITH AND PATIENCE inherit the promises given to the overcoming sons. We take patience in attaining worthy goals. It takes great ENDURANCE too! No man having put his hand to plow into the Kingdom and then be looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.
Godly attainment can be gained by a single bound. Yet we do not qualify to reign with authority in the early stages of our Christian experience. Growth may take a lifetime or more. It is not something you receive one night at an altar. Overcomers are counted worthy to inherit promises to reign over the earth, obtained PROGRESSIVELY BY FAITH, as one patiently walks it out in Him. Thank God, our Father supplies our need:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed) and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign (as kings) over the earth." Revelation 5:9-10 Amplified