Chapter Ten
Mercy is the attribute of God which is promoted by His love and is extended to humankind that man might become partakers of His nature. Disobedience caused God to remove His like-kind nature from man as they became the sinful, corruptible, natural minded vessels of this world. Nevertheless, despite fallen man’s condition, through a sacrifice, God desires to write upon the hearts of receiving creation a new nature. For this cause, because of His love, Christ took upon Himself the form of humanity. In this, He, as our High Priest, became a sacrifice for us that He might represent us before God. Herein, He became one with the people of creation by becoming the word made flesh that He might represent them before God. Heb. 2:16-17,
“For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”
With Jesus Christ being a merciful and faithful High Priest, He also became a seed, dwelling within receiving mankind to birth for Himself a many member body. With this many member body being of Him and for Him, which includes Christ in the man, they are also to become a merciful and faithful people. This means much more than receiving some kind of new revelation. It means much more than moving in the gift realm and it means much more than using man’s natural talents. What it does mean is that the body of Christ will spiritually mature even as any seed matures. How, but through a relationship with God, dwelling within His realm of mercy and faithfulness. Psalms 22:22 and verses 30-31 state,
“I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. ….. A seed shall serve Him; it [the fruit of the seed] shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a People that shall be born, that He hath done this.”
In the above scripture, when speaking of “Thy Name”, it denotes the person (Christ) and all His attributes; it is speaking of His nature. Notice that, when speaking of his attributes, His nature, He declares that it is purposed to be manifest through a generation that shall come. This speaks of a latter-day people, a people who shall be spiritually raised up to declare His righteousness throughout the earth. This declaration shall not be accomplished by just speaking about Him, words spoken from the mouth only, but through a people who shall manifest His righteousness through their character, because of a Christ-like nature. These become the generation that shall be spiritually re-born and matured unto His nature. This refers to the new birth as declared by Jesus Christ to Nicodemus in John’s gospel. When the above scripture declares, “He hath done this” it is also speaking of this present tense time. In knowing that it was finished in a legal manner some 2000 years ago, it shall and will be manifest according to God’s purpose in the present tense now.
When Jesus spoke “It is finished,” it was a declaration of completeness. This completeness makes available to humanity of the fallen nature the right to receive that offered seed for the birthing of a new nature, the nature of the risen Christ. This is the Christ nature, which causes the High Praises to ring forth from lives given to God. High Praises are not just a mental assent to God’s greatness, or just a fearful giving of what you think He requires. How and what are these High Praises then? These praises are that which ring forth from the hearts of the people who are overflowing with praises to a gracious and loving Father. These praises are from those who are standing in God’s presence. These praises sound forth from a people who are dwelling in the throne room of God, the third heaven of God’s presence that also dwells within the spirit of the new born repentant man, purposed to manifest from them being within and according to God’s Holy of Holies.
Psalms 149:5-6, “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand”
Human strength without the acknowledging of God’s power and might does not win in spiritual battles. “High praises” speak of being “lifted up or exalted.” This phase also can refer to an exalted place, a high place in the spirit world, and the heavens of God that dwells within receiving man.
Praises from the people expresses an effective weapon in spiritual warfare. Eph. 5:18-19 declares,
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”.
For a man being filled with the Holy Spirit, it makes clear that such a Spirit-filled condition does not stop with a single experience but is maintained by a continual increased filling. The Spirit is to influence all aspects of our lives. Spiritual songs, as mentioned above, are those songs sung by a spiritual people as applied to the divine sphere. Psalms 89:15 declares,
“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound [God’s trumpet’s assembling sound]: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance [face – dwelling in His presence, the throne-room].
These of a joyful sound are those who have learned to worship in the joy that result in their entering into God’s presence and finding happiness, to find eternal life.
These spiritual praises of worship are a singing of spiritual songs unto the Father, which places within a people the desire to see Him because they have come to know Him. This place of dwelling in God takes us from the visible to the invisible, allowing us to know the realities of the heavenlies, the invisible spirit realm. 1 John 3:2 states,
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is”.
This word “appear” as used in this verse has the meaning of “to bring to light, make manifest”. Thus, there remains for us those things that have not yet been brought to light. But, when the Christ is brought forth to be manifest by revelation, we shall see Him as He is. Our home is in the heavenlies and in this place, through worship, praise and spiritual songs we lodge in the presence of our Father to see Him in His manifestations.
“See” as used in the above scripture “has regard to the object presented to the eye, and also to the subject which perceives, at the same time. It denotes, not so much the act of seeing, but the state and condition of the one to whose eye the object is presented that we might truly comprehend.” “Truly comprehend” means for us a change. This means a coming forth into the likeness of that which we comprehend. This means a knowing Him, a walking with Him, fellowshipping with Him and becoming even as He is because we are seeing Him as He is. Is God presenting the Christ to you that in seeing Him you are becoming like Him? Therefore, are you willing to become a member of God’s first-fruits manifestations upon the earth?