“Pathway to the Heavenlies”

Man in his fallen state, like the earth in the beginning, is without form (order) and void. While darkness covers the mind of fallen man, the Holy Spirit hovers over him to bring order out [...] No related posts.]]> “A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart

“Pathway to the Heavenlies”

Man in his fallen state, like the earth in the beginning, is without form (order) and void. While darkness covers the mind of fallen man, the Holy Spirit hovers over him to bring order out of his chaos. When creation became disorderly because of the adversaries fall, God’s first divine command began the process of transforming the chaos. Gen. 1:3, “Then God said, let there be light; and there was light”. Light is the presence of illumination in general, so as the light of God enters the spirit of man, man’s spirit is illuminated to progressively begin the restoration of man’s soul and his body. In the process of man’s restoration, God planted a garden wherein He put the man. Within the garden God also planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as well as the tree of life. While the tree of life associates with experiencing the life of God, including immortality, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents self rule and assumes independence from God in all areas of life. Gen. 2:9, “And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.

The appetite, the God given part of man’s makeup which provides the eater with the nourishment needed to continue in the life cycle of his existence. As the world of science has told us, we are what we eat. This principle is that which was established by God in His desire for mankind to mature into the type of vessel which God purposed for each man to become. According to that part of the environment of this world we partake of, it is what we become. As we eat or consume the mind-set, the knowledge that is propagated by this fallen world, we become the manifestation of that fallen world. But, by eating and consuming that which is of Christ Jesus’ world, we become the manifestation of His world. Proverbs 23:7a declares, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”. What is in our hearts? That which we assimilate into our minds, knowledge received, usually becomes the desires of our hearts. For this cause Jesus declares unto the disciples. John 6:53-54, “Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”. (Read John 6:48-58). To eat the flesh of Jesus and to drink His blood are to be understood spiritually. These point to the necessity of believers partaking in the benefits of His death by coming to Him and believing in Him. But, this is also speaking of the need to go beyond the initial coming to Him for forgiveness of sins. It speaks of being joined to God and receiving of the benefits of His life. Christ is the covenant sacrifice and is God’s provision for our sustenance. When we feed on Him through faith, we become partakers of the divine nature, which is life eternal. Through the Holy Spirit’s work, we receive His life and partake of His promises. Those who share in the mystery of relationship with Christ are assured of being raised up by that same Holy Spirit.

God, the great I Am, is the master chef. He has prepared a diet for His people that not only places them upon a heavenly pathway, but sustains them throughout the entire journey. Matt. 4:4, “But He answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Temptation, which could cause us to partake of this fallen world’s mind-set or its diet, can be overcome by the supernatural strength that is received through using God’s word. God’s word sustains our place of victory as we continue to walk upon this pathway to the heavenlies. Death, the pathway of this fallen world is overcome as the whole man becomes a vessel full of light. What does this mean? It means that darkness; unable to comprehend the light must flee before the light. It means that darkness does not gain control of the light. Thus, receiving the Christ, the light of God into our spirit enlightens us to know Christ Jesus spirit to spirit. But God’s purpose is to know the whole man. Therefore as we eat of the diet God set before us, from the spirit of man, to his soul (mind, will, emotion and desires) and from the soul, through out the entire body, light and life consumes the whole man. Matt. 6:22 declares, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye be single, you whole body will be full of light”. Being full of light gives one a life of meaning and purpose while darkness gives one a life without true meaning. A life that is selfish, covetous, and miserly.

It is the Fathers good will that we, His people, abide in His love. While He not only places us upon the pathway to the heavenlies, He also supplies all the supplements needed to enable us to walk this path. He gives light and life; He makes available His revealed word and by eating of the tree of life, we are enabled to mature in His love. John 5:20, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel”. Remember that Jesus prayed for us that we might be one in Him even as He and the Father are one. Thus, the requirement in walking the pathway to the heavenlies is; that Jesus did not act independently of the Father. Jesus understood that, because He and the Father are one, He did only what His Father showed Him. It is in the Father to always show His obedient ones a more excellent way. This excellent way or path is the pathway of love, for love is the ultimate issue behind all things of God.

Herein, because of love, we can walk this pathway to the heavenlies. Its basic principle is interdependence, a knowing that I cannot do it alone, but knowing that we need God the Father in all things. The goal of interdependence is to reflect the unity of the body of Christ in the midst of its diversity. God has gifted different parts of the body to build up the whole. As the body functions in the way God intends, He uses it to draw alienated people to Jesus Christ. While interdependence is difficult to develop in a culture that insist on its own way and rights, we, Gods people, have been called to minister reconciliation. The ministry of reconciliation is the results of a people who forsake the ways of a fallen world and pursue the ways of the heavenlies. What world do your feet walk upon? By consuming the things of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we manifest a life-style that reveals corruption and mortality in all we do and are. By consuming the fruits of the tree of life, we manifest a life-style that reveals life and immortality. With Paul the apostle, we declare that the pathway to the heavenlies is a walk, an exercising of the proper diet to fulfill Philippians 3:10-11, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead”. We must want Christ for Christ’s sake, not our own. We are to become lovers of God, not users of God. Our pursuit is to know Christ, fulfilling our journey in truly knowing God. (Read I Cor. Chapter thirteen).

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“A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart
“Overcomers – Reign”

The remnant of God, called to establish the kingdom of God, in the earth, are now feeling the affects of being moved into that new level, another order or realm, as they are being [...] No related posts.]]>

“A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart
“Overcomers – Reign”

The remnant of God, called to establish the kingdom of God, in the earth, are now feeling the affects of being moved into that new level, another order or realm, as they are being anointed for this new place. This anointing is equipping them to become that which God purposed in them before the world was. Jesus, Himself, prayed that these called ones might receive the glory needed so that they might glorify the Son, which in turn, glorifies the Father. This type of glory is the results of a oneness that takes place as we join ourselves with the Son who became our redemption, our atonement. Jesus prayed for this oneness which brings forth a sharing of the same purpose, plan and power. This people, just as Jesus Christ, realize that they come not to do their own will but to do the Father’s will. In this, their unity is dependant on sharing the priority of seeking and doing God’s perfect will. In this oneness, Jesus prayed that He might glorify the Father. Jesus’ expressed purpose was to live and die that He might glorify God, His Father. Our desire should likewise be that we become consumed with a passion to know God and then give all the glory to Him. Our very being is to manifest the glory of His person, His power and His presence. The Holy Spirit’s intent is that, through His workings in a people, churches, cities and nations, the glory will be given back to the Father. (Read John 17th chap.)

As Jesus prayed for this glory, His purpose was to make known and to leave a favorable impression in glorifying God unto mankind. This Jesus did with the extended desire that His people would do the same. That is, to display here on the earth the splendor of a wonderful Father. When humankind saw Jesus, they saw the Father. How does humankind see you? Jesus also explained how He glorified God by “finishing the work” that the Father gave Him to do. To glorify God, then, is to complete our assignment. Our assignment is to likewise do those things God has called, chosen, appointed and anointed us to do.

The promises of God are steadfast and as good today as when they were given. Luke 1:55, “As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever”. Gal. 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”. With those in Christ being Abraham’s seed and heirs to the promises, we, those in Christ, can rest assured, and stand upon that which was given as a blessing from God through the Priest/King Melchizedek in Gen. 14:19, “And he (Melchizedek) blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth”. What does this mean for us today? Are we likewise, those in Christ, blessed as Abrahams seed? If so, then the blessings given to Abraham, and that God was possessor of heaven and earth also applies to us who are in Christ. What does this mean? That those who remain in Christ shall likewise receive and walk in these blessings. All that God is, is now available for distribution, from God, as He delights in bringing forth offspring after His own kind and blessing them with all things both in heaven and earth.

God is calling forth the overcomers and is imparting, from Himself, the nature needed to manifest that which He is, unto those who are willing to take their place as the called ones of God. These are called to establish God’s kingdom on the earth and are called to rule and reign with Him as Priest and Kings. These chosen ones are called to make up the government that constitutes God’s kingdom. Fulfilling this call requires but one law, the law of love for God above all else. This love opens the heavens that we might see and become that which we see. To see and become means a people that overcome to take their place in God. Overcomers are those who are swallowed up in life, the life of God which puts death to flight. The quickening of the whole man, spirit, soul and body, puts death under foot. To become overcomers we must also have the knowing that death robs us of the opportunity to overcome. At death we are what we are, but while living we have opportunity to become overcomers of all things. Rev. 22:11, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still”.

The importance of knowing the full impact of what living “in Christ” means to the believer, it must be acknowledged in the heart. According to John 11:26, we have a statement and a question concerning the fact of our believing completely in the all encompassing work of Christ in our lives? “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” With a knowing that Christ Jesus came to redeem mankind, He did not die and resurrect for Himself. He fulfilled His ministry that mankind might live and to live is what He asks of us to believe. But meanwhile the enemy of God has his own purpose, so he comes in like a flood, to blind mankind by deception. Through this deception, he makes prisoners of mankind until death destroys them. But, our Savior has come; He comes to give life and that life more abundantly. John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”. This word “abundantly” has the meaning of “superabundance, excessive, overflowing, surplus, over and above, more than enough, profuse, extraordinary, above the ordinary, more than sufficient”. God’s covenant with us is a covenant for abundant life. From the very beginning, scripture shows us that God wanted us to be happy and prosperous. God’s plan was for man to be enriched and have an abundant life. Thus, Jesus declares His intention to recover and restore to man the Father’s intent. Jesus intended to break and block the intention of the enemy to hinder our receiving God’s plan from the Father.

There is an awakening going on during this season. A people are more and more becoming spiritually aware that the deceptive method used by mans doctrines to always put God off into the future is no longer holding them as prisoners. These one’s are awakening to the fact that God’s purpose is for us now and just like the man healed at the pool of Bethesda by Jesus, the Christ is in our midst to restore us to life. We are no longer waiting for something to happen, but the Christ, the Holy Spirit is here to restore now. Our response is to be healed and sin no more. (THE SIN – refusing to accept what God has already done). John 5:14, “… See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you”. The worst thing is not accepting the new birth that God has declared was ours. This is a birthing that not only speaks of the spirit of man, not only speaking of the soul of man (mind, will, emotions and desires), but it also includes the birthing of a new body. This is the whole man which flows with the spirit of God in all things. A re-born man complete in Christ to come and go as the wind. John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. Through this New Birth we literally enter into a new realm, where God’s new kingdom order can be realized. New Birth is more than simply being “saved”. It is a requalifying experience, opening up the possibilities of our whole being to the supernatural dimension of life and fitting us to move in God’s kingdom order. II Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

Let us remember, that God has purposed for a people to rule and reign with Him. For this cause, He has sent forth His Word, not only written, but as the Word made flesh. This Word, through believing it, will likewise be manifest through us. Unto those who receive and believe, we are told that God’s Word will not return unto Him void, but will fulfill, unto complete manifestation, through the believer. God’s Word contradicts much of the mind-sets established in Christians today which continue to put God at a distance, putting Him a-far off. So, the necessity of believing that which God speaks and reveals will be accomplish, according to that which is revealed. Isa. 55:11, “So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it”. When received, God’s Word of promise will never be barren. The power in His Word will always fulfill the promise of that Word. Faith in God’s Word is the bearing of fruit in the likeness and fullness of Christ. Therefore, let us seek to know Him that we might become like Him. Let us allow God’s love to consume us that we likewise might love Him above all things. Love, the open door into all that is of God. Eph. 3:17-19, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”.

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The majesty of God speaks to us of His glory, honor, beauty, grandeur and excellence in form and appearance. In this He request of His people, with a willing heart to impart, that we might [...] No related posts.]]> “A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart
“Our God is Majestic”

The majesty of God speaks to us of His glory, honor, beauty, grandeur and excellence in form and appearance. In this He request of His people, with a willing heart to impart, that we might adorn ourselves in such a manner. Job 40:10 states, “Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty”. Are there a people who are willing to become such a people? A people who become His glory because they are a people whose desire is after God’s own heart and have a desire to be arrayed in this manner. Are there a people, who like King David, one’s that are willing to place God’s will above all else? Acts 13:22 describes such a life-style being manifested, “And when He (God) had removed him (King Saul), He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will”. “Will”, the word “THELEMA” being used objectively of that which is willed, designed, or desired and subjectively of the emotion of being desirous. Thus, David, even as a remnant people in our day, have been willed and designed by God to be put upon with God’s glory and splendor, His beauty and majesty.

In the beginning, God’s purpose and promise was that man would have dominion over God’s creation. In this place of dominion, man, in the majesty and glory of God was to rule. But, in man’s fall, such a place of splendor fell asleep and man became a vessel who could not remember who he really is. In falling asleep, a spiritual death, man became lost in himself and his own desires, which pushed God aside. But, even as God had promised, He approached Abraham with this promise. Gen. 12:1-3, “Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”. Is this same request not valid to a chosen people of today, to separate that we might become? From the time Abraham left his father’s house God began the wakening process to enlighten him and his offspring, even until today that they might know who they are in God. Gal. 3:13-14, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. This awakening, our inheritance begins with our being born again, becoming new creatures in Christ Jesus. Being arrayed in God’s beauty and glory speaks of prospering spiritually, emotionally and physically. (Read Rom. 4:1-25).

This awakening is man’s reinstatement through redemption to a relationship with God by faith. But also God’s reinstatement is to recover man’s reign in life, to walk the pathway of faith unto the nature of God. Rom. 5:17, “For if by, the one man’s offence death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ”. Thus, through Abraham and his offspring God would eventually reestablish His kingdom’s rule in all the earth, the result of His covenant. This reestablished kingdom becomes the results of faith, not by religious works. Rom. 4:13, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith”.

Faith walkers are those who have been crucified with Christ, but yet live because of the Christ that is within. In this place the sovereign power of God is at work according to His will and purpose. There is no one else liken to God, for His glory fills the universe. In knowing this truth that the kingdom is God’s, yet He gives the resources. Resources that are given to man that he might administrate. Let us know that everything that exists is from God, and we can only administrate it righteously from God’s hand. It is God who is the fountain head of all life and power, but it is man whom God appoints heir for its management. Psalms 8:6 makes this declaration, “You (God) have made him (man and the son of man) to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet”. Thus, while the universe and the heavens are God’s, He has delegated the stewardship of Earth’s affairs to mankind. Psalms 115:16, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men”.

With man being the keepers of the earth, the invitation stands, to rule as God’s designated keepers, we must adorn ourselves with majesty and splendor, we must array ourselves with God’s glory and beauty. Psalms 8:5, For you (God) have made him (man and son of man) a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor”. “Honor” meaning “splendor, honor, glory, adornment, magnificence, and beauty”. This verb speaks of the splendor that belongs to God, to His creation, to His kingdom, and to man made in God’s image. In God’s image, man has a responsibility that the rest of creation does not have and therefore holds a critical role in the affairs of the Earth. Man should never be satisfied to dwell on a mere lower level of creaturely existence, but should strive to live continually at the highest and fullest level of God’s divine purpose. God designed for man a nobler destiny than creation itself could ever bestow upon him. In this, man should know that the world stands or falls based on the actions and stewardship of humanity. What has man done with the part of creation God has placed in his hands?

Because of this responsibility and accountability, God is even now raising up a company of first-fruits, a remnant of called ones, to administer God’s kingdom. But, the pre-requisite to establishing this kingdom is repentance. Let us consider the condition of this world. Darkness abounds on ever side with this question, Why? Where is the light of God’s glory which dispels the darkness? The Christian community, like Job, stands in a place wherein change is necessary and required. This Christian community has related to God in much the same way as Job, with the hearing of the ears as others speak as to what they think God might do and say. In this they follow traditions and man made rules instead of truly knowing God, a God that desires intimacy with His offspring. In this position they are in a place of not really knowing God, but only about Him. Meanwhile God’s call to a people is going forth, with the invitation, to come to the top of the mountain and get to know Him. In this place of intimacy, God’s people began to see Him as He is, even as Job confesses; now my eyes see Him. Thus, according to the previously mentioned prerequisite (repentance), we see a need for a people to enter into repentance that they may know Him in complete restoration. This is a restoration that adorns this people with God’s majesty. Job 42:1-6, “Then Job answered the Lord and said: I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things to wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, I will question you, and you shall answer Me. I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”. Can we not recognize that a simple hearing about God is not enough. Intimacy and a personal encounter with God enables men to perceive and get to know Him for themselves. Herein we began to know who we are in Him and become those white robed saints that dress accordingly, a dressing of God’s splendor, beauty, glory and majesty.

In this we can see the need. A community of people who have drifted afar from the glorious covering God imparted to the early church is evident. In this the accuser of God’s people stands to accuse them, but, God has stood up in this time and season to rebuke the accuser as God births forth a remnant of people to become purified and stand upon their feet before God and creation. These are standing firm; knowing that the blood of Jesus cleanses them as He set’s each vessel free. Thus, God’s Priest/King company is coming forth, the kingdom of God is even now being established and being manifest before the eyes of the creation God has placed within the hands of man. Zechariah 3:1-5, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and the Accuser standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the Accuser, the Lord rebuke you, Accuser! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And to him He said, See I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban of his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by”. Thus a priest company coming forth dressed in glory and beauty, majesty and splendor, having placed upon them the mind of Christ. Is this not a people dressed before the Lord to be presented before the nations? Thus, a people arrayed with the majesty of God.

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“A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart

“My Family Rights”

God’s family which is called the Children of Israel in the Old Testament was the results of a covenant God had made with their father Abraham. This covenant, requiring them to remain faithful, [...] No related posts.]]>

“A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart

“My Family Rights”

God’s family which is called the Children of Israel in the Old Testament was the results of a covenant God had made with their father Abraham. This covenant, requiring them to remain faithful, became the arena of God’s provision and protection. But history reveals that unfaithfulness, the breaking of the covenant, removed God’s promised provision and protection for long period’s of time. However, God, being ever loving and faithful continued to care for His family. This love moved God to establish guidelines and laws in which, when obeyed, He would again be obligated to supply their needs and protect them. This God did, in many forms and fashions, as He remained faithful to the covenant He had willingly made. God, in His wisdom and knowledge, foresaw the day when Joshua would be raised up to led God’s people into the land that had been promised. In his place of leadership, Joshua was promised (Read Joshua 1:1-9) that God would never leave nor forsake him. God also encouraged Joshua to be strong and of good courage for He would be with him wherever he went, and God was faithful to fulfill His word of promise. In all this, Joshua was not able to lead them into the rest that was promised, so there yet remains a promised rest for God’s people, His family.

Israel’s failure to enter the promised land of rest becomes a solemn warning, lest professing Christians fail also to enter the rest that God has promised. This rest, promised by God, is not an entrance into Canaan, but as an historical event, it is a type of a rest to be enjoyed by God’s family. This rest can be a present day experience for the believer’s who fully surrender to the Lordship of Christ and who are totally controlled by the Holy Spirit. But know this, the mere hearing of the gospel is not enough, it must be believed and acted upon by faith. Heb. 4:1-2, “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it”. Yes, there yet remains a promise that some must enter into, a place of fulfillment and rest. Heb. 4:9-10, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His”. Likewise, just as God rested from His work of creation, the ones who trust in Christ are resting in what God has done for them. They have ceased their striving to achieve salvation by their own efforts, and in daily life have learned a dependence upon the Holy Spirit’s help.

How and why? Because God purposed a better covenant when Christ Jesus fulfilled and replaced the old covenant law written upon the tablets of stone. The first covenant was entirely external. While it set the standard, it provided no power to keep it (Read Heb. 8:7-13). Jesus’ ministry is performed under this covenant of God’s grace and is written within the minds and hearts of believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this, God established a new personal covenant relationship with His people. This new covenant is not based on a compelling force from without, but on an impelling power from within. While the old covenant was limited and an impersonal revelation, the new covenant is one of complete, universal, and immediate knowledge of God.

This new covenant speaks of an adoption that removes one from being without a holy family, to becoming a part of the family of God. Being a part of God’s family puts us in the position of inheriting the rights and privileges of God, even as it exists in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing left out, all being made available. We become heirs and co-heirs with Christ. Rom. 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father”. Thus, this same Holy Spirit which dwells in Jesus gives us the assurance that we are children of God, the children of God who have been called to be glorified with Him, as we suffer with Him. Rom. 8:17, “and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”. This gives us the assurance that our present status as children of God guarantees participation in the present and future joy of God’s kingdom. This assurance is not withheld from us, waiting for a time in the future, but, we, as His children await only maturity that we might know the full adoptive power of that which Christ is. Our present tense groaning, our maturing processes are determined by our willingness to overcome that we might inherit. Rom. 8:23, “Not only that, but we also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body”. Just as the first-fruits of a harvest are the pledge of the full crop to come, the Holy Spirit is the pledge of our full adoption when our bodies are redeemed. The time for groaning is over and our bodies, subject to pain and sin, are being resurrected and made free from physical frailty and indwelling sin.

The theology being promoted among most of Christianity today is one that continues to put the fulfillment of God’s purposes off into some time in the future. This theology establishes a mind-set that excuses a people from becoming His resurrected expression in the now. But does this mind-set line up with the word of God? Has not the risen savior been seated on the right hand of the Father? Has not the Holy Spirit been given that He might teach us all things concerning God? Being under the old covenant keeps us as children, while the new covenant brings forth the adoption. This adoption makes us sons with all the rights of the family. When? Now, as we are able to believe. Gal. 4:4-7, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”. Thus, the assurance that according to the good pleasure of God’s will an appointed plan and guaranteed destiny has come. Eph. 1:5, “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will”.

This place in God changes a people, no longer a “woe is me”, but a people who manifest a life style that reveals the Father in our daily lives. When God speaks to His family to “be filled” with the Spirit, the tense of this Greek word makes clear that such a Spirit-filled condition does not stop with a single experience, but is maintained by continually being filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is to influence all aspects of our lives, overflowing in transforming relationships, dynamic ministry and enhanced worship. Eph. 5:18-20, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Religious platitudes, rituals and doctrinal traditions are not “the order of the day” in Christ. As He ascended back unto the Father, He changed the “order of the day” from the law to His grace, a grace that would impart the promise of the Father, a promise that would endow the believers and receivers with power from on high. This power is the enabler that brings all that Christ is to this earthly realm. The power of His grace will take the invisibleness of God and cause it to become His visible expression. Luke 24:49, “Behold I send the promise of My Father upon you; but terry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high”. This power is the filling of the Holy Spirit, Who takes up residence within the vessel and empowers them for their mission. This is the supernatural power that Jesus uses to fulfill His purpose unto the world through His family. Has not this power been available, these past 2000 years, for us to become?

God’s requirement, come through Him. Through Christ and His death we have the power and freedom to choose not to sin. We are to live in holiness because we have been made holy, by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. Thus He requires, James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded”. A double-minded man is a person drawn in two opposite directions. His allegiance is divided and because of his lack of sincerity he vacillates between belief and disbelief, sometimes thinking that God will help him and at other times giving up all hope in Him. Such a person is unstable in all his ways. The lack of consistency in his exercise of faith betrays his general character. Thus, a double-minded person attempts to hold to God and the world at the same time.

Meanwhile, God is rising up in His family and because we are a part of His family we have all the inherited rights of the family. By exercising these rights we become separated from the world and the world from us. God progressively reveals Himself as obedience matures each one to a place of truth wherein freedom of exercise is imparted to manifest all that truth. John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. Remember, the law, the old covenant made nothing perfect, but the ushering in of a new covenant makes perfection in Him a way of life. To those under a law, if they were truly children of God, they would have reverence for the Son of God. It is not ethnic or family pedigree that makes one acceptable to God, but by honoring God, by believing in and loving Jesus Christ.

What are my family rights? All things that the Father purposed for His creation are mine. When are they available? Now, since the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost and to each one individually, as they receive Him into their lives. God promises that the Spirit will guide each receiver into all truth. The Spirit’s ministry is not only directed to believers, but He also worked in Christ. John 16:13-15, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I said that He will take of mine and declare it to you”. What the Spirit teaches, He draws from and conveys in the authority of Christ, and glorifies Christ in all that He does. True ministry in the Holy Spirit never serves a private agenda. Working in us and through us, the Spirit never exalts Himself, but He continually glorifies Christ who glorifies the Father. As the body of Christ then, what is our purpose? We are to take all of our family rights, to become His glory, that the Father may likewise be glorified. What does this mean and how does it affect the ministry? It affects us by having a righteousness that goes beyond and is deeper than traditional religion. We are to teach the things Jesus taught, in the way He taught them, by always staying in tune with the Father. We are to do the things He did in the manner in which He did them. Jesus treated people with dignity, was motivated by compassion, and never did anything to selfishly draw attention to Himself. Friends, the same Spirit that raised Christ from death dwells in us who have received. Therefore, the same Spirit is saying to the overcoming remnant family of God, go and do likewise, this is our family right.

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 “Misplaced Commitment”

Could it not be that among the populace of the Christian community, there has been an overlooking of certain sins. These are sins that dwell among us to hinder the fulfilling of the promised blessings of our [...] No related posts.]]> “A Voice for the Gathering Saints”
Duane Stewart

 “Misplaced Commitment”

Could it not be that among the populace of the Christian community, there has been an overlooking of certain sins. These are sins that dwell among us to hinder the fulfilling of the promised blessings of our God. In the past, it has been said among those who promoted world wide communism, that the west, those under a democratic government could probably not be destroyed in a face to face conflict. Therefore, the challenge against democracy was changed to become a mind-set of infiltrating democratic governments from within. With these so called sleeper cells and individuals, wicked and unscrupulous men of communistic, socialistic and humanistic beliefs, beliefs that promote evil, which is the evil that calls good – evil and evil – good, have been working from within. Has it not been working? Likewise, a like kind mind-set has also been applied against the blood washed, blood bought family of God, that which is called the church. While God’s power is available to protect each Christian individually, as well as collectively, God has allowed the enemy the right to infiltrate whenever a door is opened to give him entry. This access has been made because mankind, without God’s spirit, is of a natural, fleshly makeup and man’s tendency is to allow the carnal, fleshly mind to dictate when and if the spiritual mind of Christ is not allowed to operate. Mankind’s tendency is to allow carnality to rule because self continues to desire and remain in the place of being his own god, with a desire to build his own kingdom. In this mind-set, man promotes self above all else that self might remain first and foremost over all of man’s make-up, all of man’s desires. These desires, emotions, will and mind of this carnal man encompasses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Therefore these areas of mans make-up is ruling over him, thus, great darkness.

Except for a few, when compared to the whole, the Christian community itself is leaning in the direction of putting aside standard biblical truths and replacing them with the carnal minded concepts of a carnal society. Why? Could it not be that the changing interest of the Christian community, except for a remnant, is lining up with the concept of a one world government, but a one world government ruled over, not by God, but by the carnal mind-set which states, “let us minister a gospel that offends none, and let us minister a gospel that includes all things, regardless of the mind-set and life-style, under the banner of establishing a world of peace among all people”. Is this a workable solution to that which ails the world and its people? Not on your life, it is but a pipe dream that shall go up in smoke. A smoke that shall finally be blown away by the wind of God’s Holy Spirit as the true government of God is established. Because mankind, as a whole, has put their trust in the deceiving lies that promote injustice over the entire globe, judgment is now at the door. The religious world is now standing without God’s leadership because man has rejected God for the sake of his own self. Becoming his own god and directing his own paths. Is this not what Adam chose to do, that which caused his fall? Jeremiah the prophet of God, standing among the people of Israel, with them having a like mind-set as the Christian community (save a few) of today declared, “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord”. (Jer. 7:8-11). In this God is offering proof from past judgments as to His unwillingness to allow sin and corruption to dwell in His house. How then can the church of today expect a reprieve without judgment? Judgment shall come; the religious system shall fall and become desolate as God’s mercy comes to judgment. “But go now to My (God’s) place which was in Shiloh where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh”. (Jer. 7:12-14).

Can we not see, those who are looking for the Christ to come, a system of activities taking place in the world which promotes darkness while calling it light? Can we not see a system that promotes a life-style of permissiveness even while they call it “being saved”. Can we not see that alternate life-styles, while gaining a common ground in declaring and promoting it as having God’s blessing upon it, it is really an abomination? Irregardless of some of the greatest promotional advertising campaigns that are going on, campaigns that society, little by little, is being convinced is permissive and just, God’s word calls these life-styles an abomination in unrighteousness. Woe is unto those who, even from some of the pulpits, are calling evil good, because now judgment is come and the Christ is appearing. A remnant of people shall stand in these last days and in standing, a kingdom of true righteousness shall be manifested in its establishment.

God is even now declaring to a people, awake, awake my people of Zion and observe. Even as these same conditions existed among the children of Israel, there is a like conspiracy going on today. Again Jeremiah is used by God to declare, “And the Lord said to me, a conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers”. (Jer. 11:9-10). At this point the earth is at a time of great change. First, the carnal minded church system shall suddenly find themselves in a place of distress, a distress which is the fruit of their unfaithfulness. Thus, the calamity that comes, comes and in the midst of it there seems to be no help. “Therefore thus says the Lord: behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to who they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble”. (Jer. 11:11-12).

But what about God’s true church, the remnant that are established in God and therein are establishing God’s kingdom? While darkness has been on the increase, for it has come to the point wherein the world is full of darkness and gross darkness is in the minds of the people, but we, God’s people, can willfully praise our God for He is the light. In being the light, He has for Himself a people, a people of light who shall enlighten this world of darkness with the glory of God. These are those who dare to resist the pressures of the world-wide political and religious system which promotes sin, as they stand in God’s righteousness. This righteousness is that which comes from hearing the words of God and standing in obedience to that uncompromising word. Isa. 51:3, “For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody”. (Read Isa. 51:1-16).

The kingdoms which man has built for himself shall come down. Are they not even now crumbling beneath their feet? Their synthetic security is now being uncovered for what it is and their falsehoods are now being shown for what they are – lies – lies that promote falsehoods that have blinded the people. Blinded them in every aspect of Christ because many of the churches have incorporated the worlds systems of what seems to be successful, into their own orders and are calling it good. Down comes their world – up comes the kingdom of God. Rev. 11:15b, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever”. Rev. 15:3b – 4, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall fear You, O Lord, and glorify You name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before you, for Your judgments have been manifested”.

Yes, God has for Himself a people, a people who are becoming His kingdom, a kingdom in which He dwells. In dwelling within this people, all the insecurities of the carnal world are falling as God’s purposes began to exist on the earth in that full measure. Why and how? Because a people have began to see the truth and reality of who and what God is. No longer are they being duped into believing in the shadows of emptiness which the carnal church has promoted because in them the blind are leading the blind. From out of Zion we are seeing a great light. Revelation and understanding is breaking down the walls of deception as truth breaks forth to show us a real God who is in the now and not one that is far off. This is a now God who is actively involved with and is moving among the people who are becoming acquainted with Him personally and intimately. This is a God who saves, delivers, heals and supplies every need. This is a people who are now of the mind-set that God is not just a God of the future while waiting for a certain futuristic date to see and know Him. But, their mind-set is one that puts God here in the now. What does this mean? It’s meaning is clear, which is, that the kingdom of God has come, it is now present-tense. This is a God who now dwells among and is in His people and to this we say, yea and amen.

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The Gospel of Salvation

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A Voice for the Gathering Saints
Duane Stewart

Live the Word – Be Fulfilled”

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The sign of "God with us" is that He sets the ARK of His Presence in our midst.

Interestingly, the word "ark" in English is actually two words in  Hebrew, one meaning a ship, a boat, or a coffin. So when the Israelites passed through the waters of [...] No related posts.]]>

The sign of "God with us" is that He sets the ARK of His Presence in our midst.

Interestingly, the word "ark" in English is actually two words in  Hebrew, one meaning a ship, a boat, or a coffin. So when the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea, they were actually carrying an ark as well – Joseph's coffin. This experience was indicative of the baptism of water (to set aside our flesh for death through the act of washing), in anticipation of the resurrection and the receiving of the promised life in Christ.

A divine transformation happened on Mountain Sinai, a heavenly order or the Law, inscribed by the hand of God on the two tablets of stones hewed out by Moses, was given and sealed in another kind of Ark, a box made of acacia wood and gold. As the author of Hebrews wrote, the two other items held inside were Aaron's rod and the jar of manna from Heaven. This was a sign of the baptism of fire, after which one’s life is resurrected into a spiritual body. Yet the Law was given and administered by angels. Like the manna received in the wilderness or the bread given to Elijah by ravens – which was angel's food, this baptism experience signifies our life at a similar stage, in the spirit –  like that of angels.

Once we have passed through the fire, the flesh of man, body and soul, can truly be put to death (the second death, symbolically speaking) – through burning – from dust we came, unto dust we return; from the breath of God we were given to life, with wind now we are gone. We are now scattered as ashes – the token of a fate of death and sorrow. Yet, if our hope in Christ and we hold unto our faith in the end. Our spirit will not die, rather be received by the Father of all spirits of man.

Our spirit will be reserved for another transformation - into the life of the Son through glorification, or the Anointing in Christ. This was signified by the offering of blood and the burning of incense, which opened the way for the spirit to approach the Ark of Covenant when the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies. The outcome of our spiritual life in heavenly reality is our sonship in God through Christ Jesus – we are no more "slaves" like the angels, but sons of God, – sons of the free woman born as a freeman, free from all other lower forms of life or glory, qualified to claim the birthright and inheritance in God's family found in His Image and His Likeness, or the embodiment of His very glory. Paul puts it this way: if we are sons, then we are heirs, even co-heirs with Christ Jesus, who is the firstborn of many sons. This is what he described as “Christ in us, the hope of glory”. (Col. 1:27)

Just like the ark in Noah's time was but a boat built for the salvation of all flesh (as was the case with Moses) – it preserved the seed of all forms of living things with breath (wind) for the ages to come; although not yet come into the fullness of life by the Spirit (that is having received the 7-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit, or the spirit of Sonship, which is signified by the rainbow, fire or light of God, even the perfection of all creation).

However, this salvation produced a family of a holy people, in the historic pattern of the household of Jacob (Israel). So it is the Ark of His Presence which makes His people a holy army under the command of the King of Kings, to subdue all other kingdoms, in heaven and on earth when the Age of Christ has come, even like all the tribes of the Israelites led by Joshua overtook all the Canaanites in the Promised Land, or David's army conquered all the kingdoms surrounding Israel. Nevertheless, even David was not qualified to build the temple where the Ark of His Presence could truly find a resting place – that was a task reserved for Solomon, the promised son, a king born of peace and blessed with wisdom from above, even though he was seeded as the result of sin – an act of unfaithfulness and wickedness on David's part. 

Notice Solomon was taught by the king himself and given to the care of the priests, so he learned to serve in the Kingdom as a prince and in the House of God as a priest. This prepared him for his future task which could only be accomplished once the two offices became one, as foreseen by Zechariah, a type and shadow of what the sons of God would be called into.  He was the one facing God with others behind him as the acting head of the People of God, to offer prayers to God so that the covenant of all covenants from God, who promised to be a Father to him, could be confirmed on behalf of the chosen people. After the sacrifice was duly offered in burnt offerings at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, standing on a square platform before the glory of God (the ingathering is finished-the four corners of earth coming together) , he was then able to bless them on God's behalf as His covenant people. Now in the order of Melchizedek, kingship and priesthood for the sons of God is in one - this is the essence of the Anointing of the Anointed One, even the fullness of the Spirit of God, who is to teach us all things. 

Let us examine this further: the Ark, where the mercy seat sits, above which the glory of God resides, is still the footstool of our Lord. His body and head, however, is in Heaven, presiding on the throne that is above all thrones. The Lord gives us this way of ascension, so through His Body, hidden in His glory, we can be received into the glory of the Father and given a dwelling place in His house. He is the Pattern Son, but He is also the living way, it is in His Manhood (the Man of Christ, or His Glorified Body with Jesus as the Head) that we enter into Him as members of Him, and are able to be transformed from one position to another, from the feet (outer court) to the heart (inner court or the Holy Place), from the heart to the head (the Holy of Holies), to receive the crown of Glory. 

Now the heart is where we become a living sacrifice unto God, that is the altar; the head is where we possess the mind of Christ as sons who serve the Father in Heaven, that is the Ark. There is a divine order,  thereby a divine ministry, ordained and upheld by the Lord Himself in this, acting as the High Priest of the Heavenly Tabernacle. This service or ministry is not the privilege of angels, but the Church or the Elected Ones, by the Spirit of God (the Father and the Son as one) – just like Moses was drawn out of water to be a faithful servant in the house of God, we are drawn out of the fire as sons who are the living stones, pillars, in the house of God, even being the house itself.   Interestingly and maybe, surprisingly to many, as the Lord wills and the Spirit of God enables, sons who are called and appointed to this service and these positions, are actually the ones who have emptied themselves as their Lord did to serve others in the House of God, around the table of the Father, as priests under the High Priest of the Heavenly Tabernacle, the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be hard for any man of sin and/or unbelief to imagine or believe, not mention to receive this privilege and honor, with them, the provision that can change a sinful man to become part of a ministry that exists in Heaven, while he lives and moves in human flesh, prone to sin, flawed in character and understanding.

Here lies the true meaning of what the Apostle John designated as the anti-Christ spirit, which denies that the Christ or the Anointing comes and rests in the flesh. In giving it further thought, this amounts to denying that the Anointing will rest on any mortal body and choose to indwell it in fullness – this denies more than the ministry of the sent ones who were given a heavenly trust in the midst of man, but also denies that man himself could become a spiritual person as Jesus did, with the fullness of Christ's life as his birthright and inheritance even through the partaking of the life of the Son (the divine nature of God) through such a fellowship or ministry. Actually such thinking would eventually dismiss the Gospel that Jesus preached about eternal life from our Heavenly Father, the life of God given to man through the Son up to the fulness of His nature and glory. This is the kind of unbelief that will eventually result in the rejection of the teaching, power and life of the Spirit of Sonship on our behalf. We will remain sons without exercising our birthright as an equal heir with Christ Jesus in the Kingdom and the Family of God, which is the essence of the Gospel. No wonder, Jesus was called the firstborn among the dead as the seed - but more so, the firstfruits of many sons as the harvest or grain offering. We can easily believe Jesus Christ as the savior of a degraded soul, but it is very hard for most of us to believe that He is the giver of the fullness of the deity of God, even eternal life in bodily forms, destined for the fullness of His nature, His glory, His power, His love and His wisdom as our inheritance, being sons of God, just like the Father Himself. 

For ages past, we have been robbed of this eternal hope – life with its fullness in Christ. So easy has it been for a limited revelation of this to be translated into another pattern of life, often in the name of religion or "New Testament ministry". A strange fire kindled by many in the past few decades actually dared to abduct, if not abuse, the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit to justify and serve the interests of man -  unenlightened souls that still refuse to believe the real Gospel of eternal life in the Son, who are thus not fully able to receive the fulness of the knowledge of God, not to mention the glory due.

But glory to God – this will change in the days ahead, as the light of the Kingdom shines ever brightly to become a noon day for us, who are saved out of this darkness. Indeed the veil that still covers all peoples of the earth will be lifted and all the eyes of man will be able to see. Yes, to SEE, who He really is, as He claimed to be. 

Indeed, how untraceable are the thoughts of God, how mighty His power, how gracious His heart and how profound His ways!

For this love of God the Father unto us as sons, His Only Begotten One, came and died for us, so that we can believe, and receive Him as who He is, even to become as He is. 

Surely He is worthy to be called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and should enjoy a better name than all other names, even ours. Unto this name, the Name of Jesus Christ we give glory and honor and thanks. Amen and Amen!

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