CHAPTER 11
THE MERCY SEAT
xodus 25:17-22 "And
thou shalt make a Mercy Seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a
half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the
two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of
the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their
wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the
Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the Ark; and in the
Ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with
thee from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the testimony, of all
things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."
The Mercy Seat is the only piece of furniture made of pure gold, without any other substance as a complement. The
Candlestick is made of pure gold, but it has a wick, and contains oil to make it operable. The Mercy Seat, therefore,
with the two angels, signifies the overshadowing of the Spirit, rather than that of any human being. This will
be dealt with later.
THE THIRD VEIL
On the day of atonement, once every year, the priest goes into the Holy of Holies. This is a division of the
tabernacle separated from the Holy Place by the third veil, which is a woven cloth of blue, purple, scarlet and
linen, with cherubim woven all over it. At the entrance between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, there are
FOUR pillars of wood overlaid with gold, four speaking of the tribulation through which we must enter this heavenly
realm. The veil represents FLESH. This flesh, however, is marked and engraved with the engravings of God, yet the
removing or the BREAKING THROUGH OF THE VEIL represents the re-entry of man into the Garden of Eden. Man is man's
own enemy, and his chief barrier to entering into life in God.
Man's own carnal nature or beast nature keeps him from entering into the place with God which is called Eden, and
yet God has ordained us to go BEYOND EDEN, even into immortality. Man was excluded from the Garden of God by cherubims
with a flaming sword which turned every way.
Genesis 3:24, "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and
a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
THE SWORD OF FIRE
We cannot re-enter into life and partake of immortality until we have passed through that sword of fire. Jesus,
speaking to His disciples as recorded in Luke 12:49-50 said,
"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to
be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"
Fire is tribulation. It is contrary to the carnal nature. When brought into contact with the physical, it changes
the consistency of the physical. Therefore, this in the above quotation, is the instrument of change. John the
Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, said,
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose
shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand,
and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:11-12.
THE FOUR CHERUBIMS
The four pillars at the entrance of the Holy of Holies is a type of the four cherubims of Ezekiel 1 and 10,
Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. These represent a picture of man's soul, which in Revelation 4 is mentioned as "four
beasts," and in Revelation 7:1 as four angels of death and destruction standing on the four corners of the
earth (soul).
To re-enter Eden, we must go through fire. The flaming sword is the word of God, and the baptism of fire through
which man must go to come into perfection. Note that the angel with the sword was at the east of the garden, and
the angel of Revelation 7:2, the fifth angel, was rising from the east to seal the saints. The east represents
the mind of Christ.
The picture of man's soul is as follows.
We could re-enter into this Eden realm, and eventually partake of the tree of life which is Christ, which would
re-cycle our nature to the nature of Christ, BUT for these four beasts which occupy our soul realm. Man has the
nature of the eagle in his mind, which makes him soar in his thoughts away from God. In his emotions, he is like
a lion, a wild savage beast that thrives upon the death of others. In his will, he is stubborn as an ox. In his
desires, he is a man. No other creature desires as much as man. He will desire heaven and hell at the same time.
He is a creature of desire.
The breaking through the veil, therefore, speaks of man breaking through his own flesh nature. Paul writing to
the Hebrew Christians, spoke of the veil being the flesh of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 10:20,
"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh."
Jesus prepared the way for us by breaking through His own flesh, thus He established the "how" of it,
so that we too might break through and be OVERCOMERS.
THE FIRE IS TRIBULATION
This fire is identified in the teaching of Paul in Acts 14:22,
"Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
The nature of man needs to be purged by harassments and tribulations of all types, so that he might have the incentive
to inculcate the nature of God, which is in Christ Jesus, within himself. The veil, therefore, with the cherubim,
is the same as entering into the Garden of Eden, where there is the tree of life. We have already overcome the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, thus have no more danger of falling.
Armed with the basin of blood from the Outer Court, the fire on the Altar of Incense from the Holy Place, and the
altar of incense with the censer hanging by his side, the priest takes both the essence of the Outer Court and
the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies THROUGH THE VEIL of the cherubim. The veil is the last barrier between man
and immortality.
WITHIN THE VEIL
Leviticus 16:12-13, "And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before
the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the
incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the Mercy Seat that is upon the
testimony, that he die not."
The Mercy Seat is the point of contact between God and man, therefore, man must be careful that he does everything
according to the rules, lest the great power of God's radiance hurt his flesh.
This picture of the Mercy Seat with the two cherubims speak of a realm in God, where God is His own witness (two
being the number of witness). The Ark, with the Mercy Seat as its cover, is the perfection of God's grace in the
human realm. The overshadowing, therefore, is ABSOLUTELY OF GOD.
SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY
The overshadowing here is a cherubim of PURE BEATEN GOLD. This gold signifies that it is the pure nature of
God Himself, without the human element which will now bring forth the last and final act of perfection within us.
This is not a theory, but an absolute fact, and this fact has its precedence in God's order. Let us read Luke 1,
verses 26-38,
"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. To
a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the
angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou
among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born
of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her
old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from
her."
The seed of God was not entrusted to an angel, although his name was Gabriel. Not even the mighty Gabriel was worthy
to take the seed of God to plant into the womb of Mary. Man is entrusted with the seed of the WORD, but the precious
seed of the MANCHILD (the Christ) to be planted in the womb of the church, which is the soul of man, is the prerogative
of the Holy Ghost Himself.
Jeremiah 31:22, "A woman shall compass a man."
This phrase, spoken by the prophet to backsliding Israel, of the coming of Jesus Christ, now speaks to us of the
spiritual woman, the church, compassing the manchild, which shall come forth out of the travail of the souls of
God's people. This picture, therefore, represents the overshadowing of the Spirit of God over the church or the
body of Christ, in which is being formed the FIRST FRUITS of God unto immortality in the earth.
IN THE REALM OF THE CHURCH
In the realm of the church, this church is called the sixth church, or the church of the overshadowing. We do
believe at this time, we are in this church, and that we are now being overshadowed by the direct ministration
of the Spirit of God to produce in the earth that which all the saints and prophets of old prophesied about. This
church is depicted in scripture as the woman in Revelation 12:1-2,
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered."
The scripture shows that every woman who was used of God to bring forth deliverance in Israel was barren. Sarah,
the wife of Abraham, was one of the foremost, who brought forth Isaac, the son of promise. Hannah, the mother of
Samuel, was also a barren woman who prayed, and God opened her womb to bring a man who never failed God, and who
saved Israel in his day. Manoah's wife was another example who was the mother of Samson, the greatest one-man army
that never lost a battle when anointed of God. The greatest of all these barren women is the "woman who is
the church." The church system has never brought forth life, but always brought forth something less than
the seed she received. God is still waiting for her to bring forth a manchild instead of a woman-congregation.
The word "masculine" is being used here as that which gives forth life, and "feminine" as that
which receives life from the masculine. The full discussion of the manchild will come in the next chapter.
It is very important to note the cherubims on the Mercy Seat were not like the four-winged cherubims of Ezekiel
1, or the six-winged ones of Revelation 4. These cherubims represent the human soul, and every piece of furniture
in the tabernacle except this one, the Mercy Seat, has some humanity symbolized in them. The cherubims however,
which were on the Mercy Seat, were different. These were angelic images with two wings each, and these had in them
no implication of beast nature, as those of Revelation 4 and Ezekiel 1. In Revelation 4, they were called the "four
beasts," and in Ezekiel, they were called "living creatures" or beasts. From the following scripture,
the description of these cherubims can be seen.
"And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching
to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub."
2nd Chronicles 3:11.
From this scripture, it is conclusive that the cherubims of the Mercy Seat had only two wings, thus were different
from those mentioned elsewhere in the scripture, thus different in their symbolic meaning. This point has become
important because of those who claim that the ministry is the covering of the body of Christ, which will bring
forth the manchild church in the world. The covering or overshadowing is the HOLY GHOST and not the ministry, and
this fact cannot be too much emphasized.
THE OVERSHADOWING
In order to be filled with the "divine nature," we must be overshadowed by the divine. The effigy
of the two cherubim on the Mercy Seat is a type of the divine overshadowing. The Song of Solomon speaks of the
love between Christ and the church, and the final act of planting the seed of life within the soul, the womb of
the church. This is God's divine order of bringing forth life.
Isaiah 51:16, "And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand,
that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people."
Since the heavens are of old, and the earth is already founded, we can only conclude from this scripture that it
speaks of the heaven, or abiding place of God within the soul of man, and the earth, to mean the physical man which
as the scripture says, will be made immortal. The covering here is one of protection, an overshadowing that does
not only change man's nature, but protects him while the change is being made. This idea is carried out by the
scripture as shown below.
"And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and
will cover thee with my hand while I pass by." Exodus 33:22.
It is absolutely amazing that God had to cover Moses to protect him from Himself. In simple terms, the power of
radiation of God was too much for Moses' eyes, so God simply hid him in a rock. The overshadowing always brings
protection along with the main purpose for which God gives it.
"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee; yea, in the shadow of thy
wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." Psalm 57:1.
"For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the
storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." Isaiah
25:4.
'Here again, we see the double purpose of overshadowing. Not only is it a place of hiding, but in this scripture,
it created strength to the poor.
"And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee
again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
Genesis 28:15.
In 1st Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul writes in the Holy Ghost,
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
With every age, there is an overshadowing, and this must come forth within those overshadowed by the will of God
for their time. We, therefore, in this time have an overshadowing, and this is the greatest of all the overshadowings
of the past. They were only a type of that which God is bringing forth within us for our time and for all mankind.
"And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked
toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared."
Numbers 16:42.
Along with the cloud went the glory of the Lord. This brings us to the picture of the woman in Revelation 12, clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet.
THE WOMAN AND THE GLORY
God's smile, His good will, and His permissive will are all that the church seems to have been enjoying until
now. But now is the time of the overshadowing, when the manchild church is being brought forth within the woman
church. We are moving into a time when nothing but the perfect will of God will be acceptable.
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Revelation 12:1.
This is not Mary, the mother of Jesus. This chapter was written of the future and not of the past. Mary was overshadowed
by the Holy Ghost and brought forth Jesus Christ, the son of God. The church is being overshadowed by the Holy
Ghost again to bring forth the Christ in us, not in a physical sense, as with Mary who had a natural child, but
in the spiritual sense, where we shall bring forth the fruit of the soul and not the fruit of the womb. "Clothed
with the sun" signifies an elect and called-out people of God, who at last will attain to the glory of God
as their covering. Covering is not only for protection, but clothes which they wear daily - the righteousness of
God being a part of our habit. The sun represents Christ, just as the moon represents the church. This woman was
clothed with the sun, and her footstool was the moon. The meaning is clear. It brings out the scripture of Jesus'
prayer in John 17:5 and 22,
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the
world was. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.
We do not need ecumenism. The glory of God in us is making us one without reservation or fear of separation.
This glory which Jesus prayed about is the picture we see in Revelation 12. It is the same glory which hung over
the tabernacle in the wilderness. The same glory Ezekiel saw at the river Chebar, and which Isaiah saw in Isaiah
1 and 6. All the prophets saw it, and Paul saw it when he was knocked down on the road to Damascus. I believe this
is the same glory which I also saw in a vision in Greenwich Farm in western Kingston, when I saw the shadow of
a man, cast by a great light in the sky, resting on the sea and on the land, and the voice of God speaking to me,
saying, "The glory of God dwelleth in His people." The glory is already given, and the church needs to
appropriate it. The people of God is the only temple on earth now recognized by the Lord as His temple. In Haggai
2:7 and 9, there is a prophecy which is yet to come to pass, and it cannot be speaking of a natural temple, as
there is none now standing which would have the approval of God. This temple, of course, must be the temple of
the human body which God desires to dwell in, "not made with hands."
"And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with
glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord
of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."
This scripture speaks of Revelation 12:1, which is the fulfillment of Haggai's prophecy. The woman, the church,
will be clothed at last, not in her own righteousness, but with the GLORY OF GOD.
"Upon her head a crown of twelve stars."
Jesus declares in Revelation 22:16b,
"I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
This is in conformity with the thought that God is light. The son of God is THE STAR, and all the other sons of
God are lights of varying brightness. In Revelation 2:26-28 we read,
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as
I received of my Father. AND I WlLL GIVE HIM THE MORNING STAR."
We see here the word "morning star" having a specific meaning in this verse. "Give him the morning
star" signifies some great position of honor with the Father.
Not only does it imply a position with the Father, it shows the very nature of the Father, which is the nature
of LIGHT.
"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1st John 1:5b.
The outward signs of light upon the woman of Revelation 12 show her to be a part of the SONS OF LIGHT (sons of
God).
SHE IS INDEED AND IN FACT, THE VERY WIFE OF THE CHRIST. This is the reason she bears the TWELVE STARS upon her
head as her crown, clothed with the sun as her garment, and the moon under her feet, as her footstool or foundation.
Everything about her is of light.
TWELVE STARS
The crown of twelve stars represents the very completion of authority, and power, and life of the church. A
crown represents ROYALTY. This, more than any other symbol, makes a woman a QUEEN, or a man a KING. It is the symbol
of coming into the order of light, but being in the very highest position of such an order - THE WIFE OF THE KING
OF LIGHT. No church has ever reached to this position. This position in scripture is also described in Matthew
25 as the FIVE WISE VIRGINS, who were permitted to be the wife of the BRIDEGROOM. In the Song of Solomon 6:13,
she is described as the Shulamite.
'Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite?
As it were the company of two armies."
The picture of the woman of light is here again given.
"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners?" Song of Solomon 6:10.
This verse takes it out of the realm of the natural. No one could read of one making love to natural woman and
telling her she is like two armies, and still consider it natural. The church is surely like two armies, since
there is a spiritual army fighting alongside, aiding and abetting her.
Jesus preached that He is the LIGHT.
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the LIGHT of the world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." John 8:12.
Jesus speaks of the church as the light.
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle,
and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew
5:14-16.
The record shows that light came out of darkness.
Genesis 1:3, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
The parallel of this is that out of the darkness of man, God is creating light, even Himself within us. The darkness
is being separated from the light. darkness first, then light; evening then morning. Morning must come forth in
the end. Wherever there is darkness, this in itself is the promise of the dawn. Let all men HOPE IN THIS. God's
divine order brings forth light out of darkness. To the sons of LIGHT, darkness does not bring despair, but the
promise that it will be superseded by light. In the same way, every negative thing which works against us must
give way to that which glorifies God. Tribulation must be the forerunner of victory.
THE MOON UNDER FOOT
The moon always represents the church, which takes its light from the sun and reflects it. The woman with the
moon under her feet suggests that the order of reflecting light, as an imitator of the true, will pass away in
this new relationship. The woman, the church, will be in a position above that of reflecting light, as she will
be clothed with the sun. This speaks of the final act of God to reproduce Himself in the earth.
Being overshadowed by the sun (her husband), she is naturally pregnant. The analogy continues. She brings forth
a manchild, no longer another woman church system which represents soulishness, and the inability to give forth
the seed of life, BUT a masculine church which will give forth LIGHT and life to the world. This will be dealt
with in the next chapter.
THE MARRIAGE
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife
hath made herself ready." Verse 9, "And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." Revelation
19:7, 9.
The marriage supper of the Lamb will not be in heaven in some far off galaxy, but right here and NOW. This thought
is scriptural, and we will prove it presently.
Matthew 22:1-14, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent
forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings
are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one
to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and
slew them. But when the king heard thereof he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers
and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were
not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding
was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness;
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."
This parable speaks of a man in the wedding feast who was an impostor. IF THIS WEDDING FEAST WAS IN HEAVEN (the
invisible realms of God), then this man could not have gotten in at all. This wedding feast, we see, was depicted
in the parable as being right here. God is at present calling out His people to become the bride of Christ. It
takes male and female to bring forth life. CHRIST THE MALE and the church the female are necessary for the bringing
forth of seed. God is bringing forth seed in the earth like Jesus Christ Himself. To carry out the whole analogy,
the man must marry the woman, which is the relationship between us and Christ, and the issue of such a marriage
will be the perfect man which must come forth as the sons of God. The wedding feast, therefore, is the new thing
which God is doing in the earth at this time, in which He, the Spirit of God, is overshadowing the elect (called
out of the called out) and INSEMINATING their souls with His own DIVINE NATURE, which is the promise of God. 2nd
Peter 1:4. This man who was cast out of the wedding feast represents those who have been given the Word, the Holy
Ghost, and everything the others received, without producing the righteous nature which they should have produced.
The wedding feast, as depicted in the above passage, was one where those who came through the door were given a
wedding garment, and it was absolutely free. A man inside of the feast chamber without a garment proved that he
did not come through the door, but as a thief, probably through a window.
The door is Christ and as shown before, in order to enter into Christ, one has to be dead to sin and dead to self,
which are the two messages of the Outer Court. When this is done, the servants of the King (the Holy Ghost) baptizes
one into the body of Christ. The question here will be asked, how could anyone enter into the experiences of the
Holy Place or the body of Christ without being baptized by the Spirit? The answer is simple and clear. One does
enter into the experiences of the Holy Place before entering into the Holy Place. For instance, many of us were
baptized into the Holy Spirit before we even knew what He was, and we do partake of the glory of God in realms
where we do not belong. How else could we be lifted to a glory we know nothing of? Because of this, however, most
Christians think of themselves more highly than they really are.
Some of us have been given gifts of the Spirit, and we mistake it for our righteousness. This is a fallacy among
the people of God. A man or woman will be manifesting a gift, and people laud them as being great.
THE TEN VIRGINS
This thought coincides with the picture of the ten virgins given in Matthew 25:1-12. We will now deal with this
matter more fully than was mentioned in a previous chapter.
Matthew 25:1-12, "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps,
and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish
took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the
bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be
not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy,
the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I
know you not."
The five wise virgins represent the prudent ministries, and their congregations who receive the Word and the Spirit
of God within their spirits, and the Christ within their souls.
The five foolish virgins represent those who minister and receive the Word and the Spirit in a partial measure,
YET REJECT the final work which completes the cycle of God's will in their lives.
The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins, at a casual glance would seem small. Both were well dressed
which represents the righteousness of the saints. Both were called to the marriage supper; but whereas in the case
of a guest to the marriage supper, the dress was all important, in the case of the bride it has to be something
within. There has to be OIL in the VESSEL. Please note here that there was oil in the lamps, but the oil which
made the difference, qualifying some and disqualifying others, was the oil in the vessel. In this parable, WHAT
IS THE LAMP and WHAT IS THE VESSEL? We can see that they both refer to INWARD work, just as the dress refers to
outward work.
THE LAMP
The lamp is the spirit of man.
Proverbs 20:27, "The spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of the Lord, searching all the inward parts
of the belly (soul)."
Matthew 5:15, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth
light unto all that are in the house."
THE VESSEL
The vessel is the soul of man.
Psalms 31:12, "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel."
The psalmist spoke of his soul, since he was not at the time sick in body, and did not complain of bodily ailment.
Acts 9:15, "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel."
Paul here is described by God to be "a chosen vessel."
This parable is saying that even as the spirit of man is incorporated by the Spirit of God when he is filled with
the Holy Ghost, so the soul of man needs to be filled with the Spirit of Christ.
In Matthew 6:10, Jesus speaking to his disciples, instructing them how to pray, says,
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN."
In metaphorical language, earth
means soul, and heaven means spirit. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done" in my soul, as it is
in my spirit. When the spirit of man is filled with the Holy Spirit of God, man's spirit becomes a perfect realm,
which strives to bring the same perfection to the soul realm. The picture would be shown in the illustration at
right.
In some scriptures, man's soul is described as an imperfect heaven. In Revelation 12:7 and 8, we read,
"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and
his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven."
Satan had been cast out of heaven (the invisible realm of God) from before man was, therefore, he has no more access
to THAT heaven, but he still has access to other heavens. Consequently the heaven, or God's dwelling place within
man, has become a battlefield. In Revelahon 12:7-8, the heaven that is mentioned is man's SOUL, God's dwelling
place which is being prepared. The theologians who believe that Job 2 (which gives the story of Satan coming to
God when the sons of God came together) speaks of heaven, are in error. The scene in this chapter was a convention
with Job and the other sons of God, where Satan was present as he always is when we gather together.
That the reader may be affirmed that this is not a wild theory, but the direct word of the Lord, we will return
to Revelation 12:1 for a moment.
"And there appeared a great wonder in HEAVEN; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."
The woman was in heaven in this verse, and in verse 3, the great red dragon was also in heaven. YET in verse 5,
she brought forth a son who was to rule the earth, and her child was caught up to "God and to His throne."
In simple comprehension, this would mean EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS. He was caught up from God's abiding place on earth,
where there is war and victory, to a place above this realm in the Spirit where there is no war, for He has overcome
all things. This situation will be dealt with more completely in the next chapter.
Returning to the main point, we see that the five wise virgins had oil, which is the Spirit of God in their spirits.
Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of God, enlightening the soul. Lamps need oil,
and this is the exact situation which struck the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25. They had no oil at MIDNIGHT.
Midnight on earth is that period of time described by Matthew 24:21,
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no,
nor ever shall be."
In the Dark Ages, human suffering was terrible, and for a long while in the dark history of human existence, humanity
had borne the brunt of demonic wrath, in torture chambers and dungeons of indescribable inhumanity; man to man.
BUT in this verse 21, it would appear that Jesus spoke of something worse yet to come.
Since Jesus spoke, it is the first time in human history that it would be possible for horror to exceed the horror
of the Dark Ages, for hell to conceive another devices to torture the human soul. We have seen Hitler in our time
and the torture chambers of Germany when Jews cried for their Messiah, and died with His name on their lips, as
it were, without hope.
When, however, we think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the towns where the first atom bombs fell), we can see that
human experience has entered into a new era of horror. Nobody has ever fully described the horror of an atomic
bomb falling upon an open city with women and children, blotting out the midday sun, and in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, turning an earthly paradise into unimaginable hell. Skin fell off living people. Eyes melted out of
the sockets while they yet lived. One rescuer lifted a woman by her hands out of a pit, and came up with only her
skin while the body fell backwards in hopeless pain. Today after almost FIFTY YEARS they still suffer, not from
any disease, but from unknown radiation related maladies which the doctors themselves do not even understand.
This was just a baby bomb when compared to the hydrogen monsters quietly resting in the arsenals of this fair land.
There is a nerve gas horror that could be suppressed in a hand carrying case, carried into a city, and without
smell or color silently kill millions.
Many years ago, I visited the Planetarium in New York City and unwittingly stood beside a Polaris missile. Immediately,
I was overshadowed by the angel of death. It frightened me when I understood what was happening; that death would
hover over this instrument of destruction, even in a showplace.
I must here mention the FOUR ANGELS in Revelation 7, who stand on the four corners of EARTH (here the carnal man's
soul is called earth). These four angels of destruction occupy the four areas of man's soul: the mind, the emotions,
the will and the desires.
Out of the mind of man has come forth the greatest horror of all times, and as Jesus said, nothing like that will
have happened before, nor will happen after. Mattthew 24:21.
Man's emotions are described as a lion, a wild savage beast, and they will lead him into using these horror weapons.
His will and his desires will force him to destroy his fellowman, BUT...
Psalm 91:1, 5 and 6, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow (missiles) that flieth by day; Nor for
the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday."
THERE IS PROTECTION IN CHRIST
At midnight, therefore, men must not only have oil in their lamps, which is the Holy Ghost in their spirits, but their very nature must be changed. They must have the Christ in their souls.
CHRIST IN THE SOUL
When we accepted Jesus Christ, we received life. The blood of Jesus Christ is the life of God which we received
in our souls, which were dead in trespasses and sins. This life had to help us die to the alien life of sin which
had occupied the soul. Then we had the self life, also, which had to die. So we see that when we accepted Christ
as our Saviour, it was a matter of submitting to death in order to receive life. When that process is completed,
then we begin to enter into Christ. Paul speaking to the Corinthian Christians in 1st Corinthians 12:13 declares,
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body."
We are not baptized into the body of Christ until the body of sin and self is given a death blow. If sin is still
reigning in our members, then it was not fully dealt with. The grain of corn cannot bring forth a new life until
it has given up its own life. We must die to live, and that life does not begin until that death is complete. This
is all done by faith. We cannot deal with this subject fully in this book, because there would not be enough space.
The divine order of the entering into Christ is shown in the tabernacle by the three veils. The first veil is called
the Gate. The second is called the Door, and the third is called the Veil. The door is Christ, and the entering
in is preceded by the washing at the Laver, which is death to self and a complete surrender to Christ. Self cannot
be on the throne, and Christ be crowned as King at the same time. One King must depose the other, and even more
than being deposed, ONE KING MUST SLAY THE OTHER, so that there is no further possibility of a coup to regain the
throne.
THE ENTERING IN OF CHRIST INTO THE SOUL of man is a conscious act of man's will, which is preceded by the three
BAPTISMS of death.
There must be a death before there can be a resurrection. The three baptisms are:
1) Baptism in water, the baptizer being human
2) Baptism in the Holy Ghost, the baptizer being Jesus Christ
3) Baptism into Christ, the baptizer being the Holy Ghost
Christ enters into us, then we begin to enter into Christ. Just as the Holy Ghost enters into us, then we begin
to live in the Spirit.
When Christ enters the soul as King, He begins His rule on earth within the individual. HE MUST REIGN TILL ALL
ENEMIES ARE PUT UNDER HIS FEET, even death. We see, therefore, that He brings life and immortality to light by
the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10.
The beast nature of man, therefore. is being changed to the nature of the Christ.
From the illustration, we can see that the five wise virgins had oil in their lamps, which is the Holy Spirit which
occupies our spirits, and not our souls. This stands to reason why, although we receive the Holy Spirit, we still
have the power to reject His counsel and have our own way. It also is the reason why we still fall into sin, though
having the Holy Spirit of God within us. The process of the Kingdom of God gently seeps into every area of our
lives with our own free will consent, just as the leaven that leavens the whole three lumps of the woman's meal
in Matthew 13:33.
This, therefore, is the work of the overshadowing. The work is done in:
- The individual temples (individual lives)
- The elect church (called out of the called out)
- The time of the restitution of all things, the dispensation of the fulsness of times, IN OUR TIME
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