Five-Fold Today - Glorious Body of Christ - When God's Will Hurts - Godly headship - Missing the J Stones
The Glorious Body of Christ
Thirteen men walked slowly down from the Judean hills into the dusty valley of the Samaritans.
They walked slowly because of the heat of the noon-day sun, and because they were in deep
conversation. Their clothing varied from the simple garb of the fisherman and the laboring man
to the finer textured robes of the merchant and teacher. They were in three groups... four of
the younger men out in front, arguing fervently, occasionally beating a fist into the palm of
their hand to emphasize a point. Three of the older men wearily brought up the rear, conversing
softly. The middle group walked in a sort of sem-circle around two men, a black-bearded
muscular man who was obviously asking questions, and a tall young man of about 30 years of age
who answered him in a clear, quiet voice.
At first glance this young man appeared to be no different from any of the rest, his simple
robe much like the others, and no outstanding physical characteristic. Until he turned around.
And when be looked at you, and spoke to you... then you knew this was no ordinary man. This was
not man seeking after God, but this was God manifested in human flesh, seeking after lost man.
This was the human body that the divine Creator of the universe was using to reveal Himself to
His own. This was the Body of the Christ, this was the Son of God.
The group came to a well at the edge of the city of Sychar, and there was a short discussion.
The twelve then went on into the city to buy food, while Jesus sat down on the well to rest.
Soon there came a woman out of the city, a woman experienced in the ways of men. When the
stranger began to talk to her, she first thought of him as just another man. Suddenly with a
shock she realized that she was talking to a prophet of God... her carnal mind never dreamed
that within this body of flesh there dwelled the creator of her very life. She was too carnal,
she never really recognized the body of Christ, until He finally told her plainly that He was
the one she was speaking about.
For more than 30 years the Body of Christ was that robe of human flesh that came from the womb
of Mary. From the infant in his mother's arms, to the child in the Temple, on through the
growing up years, finally to a full grown matured man, God lived in that body. And finally,
through the mature life and ministry of Jesus, God revealed His true nature and character to
the world of lost men and women. This then, was His purpose and plan... to manifest Himself in
all His compassion and love, all His power and authority, all His wisdom and knowledge, through
a body of flesh. Through a man. And this He did in Jesus. For Jesus was all man as well as all
God, but this was not the ultimate. For the purpose of Christ was to redeem all men, to make a
way for all those who receive Him to become like Him, that they too might manifest the life of
God in their mortal bodies. So until Calvary his body was the Body of Christ, the house that
God lived in, but that body went to the Cross and died. He suffered as a propitiation
He then was a Pattern, a Sign. We are the fulfillment of that Sign, made in the image of that
Pattern. He was the Seed, the Word, planted in death... we are the harvest, the precious fruit
of the earth, bringing forth His life, perpetuating Him in this world. He is the "Everlasting
Father" (Isaiah 9:6), and we are,
"the children whom the Lord hath given me" (Isaiah 8:18; Hebrews 2:13).
As we manifest Him and bear His life,
"He shall see his seed, He shall prolong his days" (Isaiah 53:10).
Jesus says:
"To the overcomer I will be his God and he shall be my Son" (Revelation 21:7).
Yes, the Body of Christ, which was once, just one body, has become a great multitude of
victorious overcomers. This was the blinding revelation God gave Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus when He revealed to Saul that in persecuting the true followers of Jesus, he was
actually persecuting Jesus Himself, God of Israel. Because, though just in infancy, yet they
were now His Body in the earth. Saul became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, and his writings
abound with this revelation.
But not all men, could receive this revelation, nor see Paul's message. Even the dear Apostle
Peter wrote that in the epistles of Paul there were "Some things hard to be understood" (2
Peter 3:16). For this is a "mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints; to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27).
Now please don't misunderstand. This is not a mystery that can only be understood by some
elite, holier-than-thou, pedestal saints. No, this great truth can be understood by babes in
Christ. For He is hiding it "from the wise and prudent, and revealing it unto babes". But
revelation comes through the Holy Spirit by the grace of God. Seeing and, understanding
something of the truth of the Body of Christ does not make one feel proud and lifted up and
exalted, but rather grateful to God, and humble.
There are stations, or grades of membership in that Body. Yes, we are to be "one" in Him, there
in "one" body, the harvest is one... but Jesus taught that there will be "thirty-fold,
sixty-fold, and hundred-fold" in the harvest, according to their fruit-bearing. God's promised
land, Canaan, flows with milk and honey... but there is a special, place in the land known as
Jerusalem, the City of God... the Bride of Christ. The city is one city, but there are many
mansions, many structures, including one known as the Temple of God where the Shekinah Glory
dwells. This temple is one temple, but there is the outer court, the sanctuary, and the Holiest
Place. Yes, there is a higher calling in God than what His people have desired or dared to
believe for. As a forerunner (Hebrews 6:20), Jesus entered into the Holiest Place, and now
beckons us to follow Him and share His glory with Him. Can you believe this? Do you hunger for
this? Then prepare your hearts, for I'm going to show you a mystery.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:3, also 11:8, 9, 11, 12. Especially verse 12. Let us read it in the
Amplified New Testament:
"For as woman was made from man, even so man is also born of woman."
Yes, all mankind began from the womb of Eve, the mother of all living, but she herself was
brought forth from the side of Adam, her beloved, who had the breath of God. Now look at Jesus.
From His side pierced there at Calvary with blood and water flowing out, from this came the
Church, His Bride. Yet, from this Church, His Bride, there must be born a Man who is to rule
the nations with a rod of Iron. Who is this Man? It is the Overcomer (Revelation 21:7)!
This man who is to come forth from the Church, the virgin Bride, is a body of people who walk
this earth in great victory over sin, sickness, and Satan. Though he is right now a part of the
Bride, being in her womb, yet he is always spoken in the male gender, never as a female. This
has nothing at all to do with whether you are a man or woman in the natural. There will be men
in the Bride group, and women in the Manchild or Son group. But in the Spirit, the Bride is
always referred to as female, and the Manchild as male. It is "he" that overcometh, never she.
The overcomer is that body of people who overcome and make up the Son.
In 1 Corinthians 11:3 we saw that the head of Christ is God, that Christ is the head of that
body which makes up the Man, and that the Man is the head of the woman, the Church. This is a
principle that God emphasizes all through the Bible, God was in Christ, reconciling the world
to Himself, Christ is in the saints (Colossians 1:27) the hope of glory, and, the manchild is
in the Church, which is His body by His grace and through His divine promises, but she is no
yet prepared for the marriage which shall make her "bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh,"
thus part of His body. In eternity, where God lives this thing is already done... He sees her
complete in Christ, perfect, glorious, without spot or wrinkle. But in time, where we earth
dwellers are, we see her yet imperfect, being ministered unto by apostles, prophets,
evangelists, etc. to bring her to perfection. That body Jesus used here on this earth was not
left to decay in the tomb. It was, and is, glorified and in the presence of God. Don't let anyo
Now, what about the Bride; the Church... the Virgin who makes herself ready for a wedding? Just
as Mary's wedding and union with her bridegroom Joseph came after the birth of her manchild
(Jesus), plus a period of purifying (Leviticus 12:4) before she was fully cleansed and prepared
to come into union with her bridegroom, just so shall the church go through a period of
cleansing in a wilderness place prepared of God (Revelation 12:6) after having brought forth
the Manchild during a time of great travail. There in the wilderness the Sons of God, the
Manchild, the Overcomer, feed her and nourish her with the Word of God... imparting divine
revelation unto the Church while hell rages about them. Why are they doing this? The Manchild
group, as the Body of Christ with Jesus the Head continually with them, is her bridegroom, and
as her bridegroom he is washing her:
"with the washing of water by the Word that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or, wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish"
(Ephesians 5:26-27).
Now, beloved, these things are given in the Bible in symbolic pictures and types, so the carnal
mind will not understand nor defile them but they are going to be enacted right here on this
earth, in reality. People who have been in His Church, yet having been defiled as a harlot by
submitting to rulership by man-made organizations and sectarian denominations, instead of true
to the leadership of the Holy Ghost as a virgin bride of Christ, these shall hear the Word of
God divinely anointed through the lips of clay, and by hearing and believing they shall be
cleansed and prepared for the wedding of the Lamb. Many of you will see this with your own
eyes.
This is not a tyranny, or dictatorship over God's people. Just as Jesus, who is head of the
Man, rules His body with love and tenderness... just so shall the Manchild lead and guide the
Church with a love and compassion beyond our comprehension. For the Man is the head of the
Woman, yet it is by love that he rules and she obeys as a good wife should because of his
anointing and wisdom in the Word. Thus, through union with the bridegroom the bride becomes
bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, and now we see the complete and mature and perfect
Body of Christ... Christ Jesus our Lord with the prints of the nails in His hands; with the
Overcomer group who (being His Body) are set down with Him in His throne; and the glorious and
beautiful Bride also ruling and reigning with her Bridegroom for time and eternity. Glory to
God! What a picture! What a wonderful future for all of God's people who are washed in His
precious blood! For beloved, if you are hearing the voice of the Spirit today, it is because
you are.
"The Church In Action"
When God's Will Hurts
Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23-24).
Each of us has a cross to carry. Though the Lord bears our burdens (Psalm
68:19) our crosses still seem overwhelming to us. Sometimes we add to our
burden by envying others who seem to have a smaller cross. Even Peter was
envious. When Jesus told Peter how he would die, Peter asked 'what about
John' and Jesus replied ". What's it to you? Follow me!" (John 21:22)
"Follow me!" means focus on Christ who leads the way. When we focus on
our cross and compare our cross to others, we often become resentful
toward God for our cross.
Nothing increases the pain of the cross like resentment and the anger it
breeds. I know - I've resented God for my cross. Moving away from my 3
daughters who remain in Washington state, and giving up my regular visits
with them is painful. My parents, brother and sister, and many friends
remain in Washington, where I had lived all my life. If not for the people
I've met through the church who have helped me bear my cross, my grief
would have overwhelmed me. It is their prayers, love and friendship that
are helping me through this difficult transition.
But what right do I have to be resentful of God for my cross? God is
perfect in every way, and in His sovereignty He has the right to do with
me as He pleases. God owns me.
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who
live in it" (Psalm 24:1).
Have you ever looked at your cross and asked God "Why me?"
If ever anyone had a good reason to be angry and resentful toward God, it
was Job. Though Job was said to be "God-fearing", "blameless and upright",
he was severely tested, and having lost everything, his wife suggested
that he "curse God and die". Afflicted with open sores from head to foot
Job replied "shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10).
Though Job lamented his loss and terrible suffering as undeserved, he did
not curse God.
Like Job, I didn't consider anything I had done to be deserving of such a
cross. In my self-pity, I had not reckoned that God, in His sovereignty,
had given me a cross just big enough to crucify my flesh, teach me trust
and patience, and mold me in the image of Christ.
Mostly, God wants to show me His heart, by letting me feel just a little
of what He felt when His children were torn from Him by sin, and the depth
of His love for us in sacrificing Jesus to win us back from hell.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Whatever our ideas about the kind of cross we deserve are nonsense. Our
sin warrants death. Thankfully, God gave us His only Son Jesus, who
selflessly died in our place.
In the end, I took my anger and resentment to the Lord in prayer and He
said "wash my feet". There I found cleansing for my anger and resentment.
Though He had not wronged me, it was an act I needed to perform to restore
a right relationship with Him. Washing His feet was for my benefit, and I
was blessed for it (John 13:17).
And my cross? How can I lament the size of my little cross when the cross
of Christ is large enough to crucify the whole world?
Jack Helser
Regarding godly "headship" one brother asked the following:
"The only clarification I would ask is...just what does the phrase "head of the house" mean? (please
do not say 'the man makes the final decision when there is a disagreement between the husband and
wife') Whatever "head of the house" means... it can't mean that."
Because this issue is often times misunderstood and/or applied incorrectly, I will attempt with my limited understanding to
provide additional insight. The Bible says:
"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head
of Christ is God." (1 Cor. 11:3) (see also Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19; Gen. 3:16; Eph. 5:23; John
14:28)
In the phrase, "the head of the woman is man," head is not used to indicate control or supremacy, but rather, "the source of."
Because man was created first, the woman derives her existence from man, as man does from Christ and Christ from God.
Evidently Paul was correcting some excesses in worship that the emancipated Corinthian women were engaging in.
Submission is a key element in the smooth functioning of any business, government, or family. God ordained submission in
certain relationships to prevent chaos. It is essential to understand that submission is not surrender, withdrawal, or apathy. It
does not mean inferiority, because God created all people in his image and because all have equal value. Submission is mutual
commitment and cooperation.
As a result, God calls for submission among equals. He did not make the man superior; He made a way for the man and
woman to work together. Jesus Christ, although equal with God the Father, submitted to Him to carry out the plan for
salvation. Likewise, although equal to man under God, the wife should submit to her husband for the sake of their marriage
and family. Submission between equals is submission by choice, not by force. We serve God in these relationships by willingly
submitting to others in our church, to our spouses, and to our government leaders.
In effect, submitting is taking the divinely ordered place in a relationship. Submission can never be required by one person of
another; it can only be given on the basis of trust...to believe God's Word and to be willing to learn to grow in relationships.
I would also recommend clicking on the following link for an even deeper look at this subject matter:
http://www.christianoutfitters.com/husbands.html
I hope this in some way brings more understanding and truth to your journey.
doug
MISSING THE "J' STONES -- A VISION FROM THE MINISTRY OF EMBRACE ISRAEL
Reuven Doron
THE ONE-ROOM CHURCH BEGAN TO DETERIORATE
I would like to submit a word (vision) I received from the Lord last
year while praying for a Passover Seder we were doing at our church in
Toronto.
PRAYING FOR THE PASSOVER
As I began praying for the upcoming Passover Seder at our church, I
began to have a vision of a small stone one-room church. As I looked
closer at this building I began to see the deterioration and weakness
in the structure, at the far rear of the building the foundations were
disintegrating and the building was leaning to one side. I also
noticed that through out the structure there was many stones missing,
and the integrity of the building was very weak as a result of these
missing stones. I also noticed that the parking lot was in bad shape
and that, most of the asphalt had given way to weeds and crabgrass.
SPEAKING TO THE STONES
As I began to consider what I was seeing, a man walked on the scene.
He was dressed in work clothes and had a white hard hat on, he
proceeded to walk around the building and survey the condition of the
building. After he had circled the building he stopped, and facing
the building he began speaking to the stones: explaining to the
building the reason for it s condition, He said you are structurally
and foundationally weak because you are missing the "J" stones. At
this point I began to realize that the man in the white hard hat was
Yeshua (Jesus), and that the stones were alive and listening to what
he was saying to them. I immediately understood then that the "J"
stones that Jesus was referring to, represented the Jewish people, and
that all the holes in the walls and foundations were there because of
the absence of the Jewish people in the body of Messiah (the church).
COMFORT MY PEOPLE
At this point the stones, realizing the pain of heart this condition
caused the Lord, cried out: "Lord forgive us for not pursuing and
asking you to share your love and burden for the Jewish people, how
can we begin to rebuild and correct this void in our midst?" And I
heard the Lord answer with these words, spoken in such awesome passion
with tears in His eyes; "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service
has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has
received from the Lord s hand double for all her sins." Isaiah 40:1-2
Such a Holy silence fell upon the stones, as the Glory of God began to
come. And I understood that the Lord was about to begin a season in
the midst of His children, showing and teaching them His unconditional
love for the Jewish people. I understood this not to be a soulish
kind of love based on temporal visible elements but rather based on
the Lord s love and covenant that He made with the Patriarchs. This
was not because of their goodness but because of His unfailing love.
THE ONE NEW MAN
At this the vision ended, and further understanding began to come into
my heart and spirit. As the Holy Spirit began to direct me to the
book of Ephesians 2:11-22 which speaks so clearly of the "One New
Man." This one new man is made up of both Jew and gentile as in verse
15b where it says "His purpose was to create in himself one new man
out of the two (the two being Jew and gentile), thus making peace,"
and again in verse 19 where it says "Consequently you (meaning the
gentiles) are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens
with God's people (meaning Israel)." And in verse 21 He confirmed to
me why He used the picture of the weak structured building; "In him
(Yeshua) the whole building is joined together and rises to become a
holy temple in the Lord." And then again in 1Peter 2:5 where Peter
talks about the believers being living stones.
My prayer since that vision has been, Lord bring revelation to
your church about the "One New Man," Lord show the church your love
for the Jewish people, and how their redemption will lead to the
greatest revival in all the earth. Romans 11:15 "For if their (the
Jewish people) rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will
their acceptance be but life from the dead?"
TO MAKE THE JEWISH PEOPLE ENVIOUS
The church has missed so much blessing and opportunity because of
their misunderstanding of their need to "make the Jewish people
envious", but I believe the Lord is restoring and bringing about deep
revelation and understanding of "The One New Man" in Yeshua.
I have, since this vision last year, had such a beautiful vision of
this church fully restored and standing upright and there was no more
missing stones, and all the stones were just sparkling in the glory of
God.
Church, rise up, and begin to sparkle the glory of the Lord.
Reuven Doron
April 19, 2000
by Bill Britton
Email Becky Britton-Volz: Harness707@aol.com
P.O. Box 707
Springfield, MO 65801-0707
USA
by Jack Helser
Jack@LordYouAre.com
http://www.LordYouAre.com
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