A Voice for the Gathering Saints
Duane Stewart
www.avoiceforthegatheringsaints.org
From Preparation to Fulfillment
Part two of two
Rev. 10:3-4, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roared: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Rev. 10:7, But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
John, while on the isle of Patmos, was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. He, caught up into a heavenly realm begins to behold the things of God that speak of things concerning our present day. After seeing the opening of the first six seals, what was it that John then began to see?
Rev. 7:1, And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree?
Again, what was it that John was being shown? With the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, we should recognize that the natural earth we live on does not have four corners. However, upon this earth God has placed His created earthman. This man is earth’s highest form of creation and this man has a soul with four parts or corners. With man created as a spiritual creation, a living soul, and these angels standing upon the spiritual earth (man), this man finds that the four areas of his soul are receiving four messengers that hold back the winds of destruction that is to come upon humanity. Rebellion in man causes the need for judgment, but judgment held back until God messengers complete the sealing of the servants of God in the forehead, that is a putting on the mind of Christ. Is this the time for preparation to be finished in man?
God creating the earth and the earthman spoken of here, He is speaking of spiritual things. When pointing to the sea and the trees He is also speaking of other spiritual things. Thus, John is beholding things within the man on a spiritual level that reveals the areas of needed redemption. The earth spoken of here speaks of the need, as it exists within the carnal man who yields himself to the things of the flesh and its appetites. This man may know about God but does not maintain a changing relationship with Him. The sea, speaking of the carnal nations, the heart of the carnal church, tongues and people of the world are the nations and peoples who, by establishing their own carnal governments, reject the government of God to have rulership over them. Trees bring into focus the Christian community, which because of carnality ruling over their minds, has through religious activities, allowed the enemy of God to plant tares among them. Thus, judgment begins at the house of the Lord that brings forth the needed separation of the harvest field. The Christian community shall know its day of separation as the results of receiving or rejecting Christ.
In Rev. 7:2-3 God continues to reveal the events and man’s need for this our season in God. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. From these scriptures, revelation for our understanding comes concerning the events of our season. With these four angels held back for a time, the work of the ministry of God is to disciple a people as they learn of Christ and put on the mind of Christ. God uses the number four as His number for tribulation and these four angels speak of His messengers of destruction. These four angels, held back for a time, until the fifth angel completes his work. Five is God’s number for the ministry of grace ministering the life of God through Christ and the cross.
Eph. 4:11-13, And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Thus, Gods anointed ministries, restored into activity and sent forth with a word of restoration and reconciliation unto God’s creation. This ministry withholds this time of destruction until their ministry is complete, the ministry of sealing the men of God in their forehead. The receiving of the mind of Christ is speaking of the changing of the soul of man; it is God’s people receiving the nature of God into their souls to become the manifested nature of Christ through His people. Herein we receive oil for our vessels (our souls), beyond just our lamps (the spirit), to lighten up this world of darkness. Preparation time is here but knows that destruction is destined to come. Therefore, humble yourselves before God and become that new creation man, manifesting God’s nature in spirit and soul, to know the changing of the body.
God has purposed to have for Himself a church, a bride without spot or wrinkle.
Eph. 5:27, 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.
As we look at the church, the Christian community of today, we see a great need. The carnal religious minds of today have established many forms of rebellion within her to find itself facing judgment. Jerusalem, a type of the church that is now facing the judgments of God because of the needed cleansing that is now beginning to come forth.
Ezekiel 9:1, He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Destroying weapon speaks of judgment, with judgment beginning at the house of the Lord, which we are. Therefore, God has purposed to cleanse His house (which a repentant people are), a clean house in which He is to dwell in that His glory may come forth to affect all the nations.
In Ezekiel’s vision, he saw that six men come forth with purpose, which is to slay all within the house that is the product, the mind-set of the abominable carnal man.
Ezekiel 9:2, And behold, six men come from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north (carnal mind), and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side; they went in and stood beside the brazen altar.
With six being God’s number for man, we are shown that man with a slaughter weapon in his hand speaks to us of man with his fallen mind-set, a carnal life-style, and he has within himself that which brings forth death. This man of carnal statue comes into the fullness of himself when he puts on the mind-set of 666, the antichrist spirit. Where does this destruction come from? As written, destruction comes from the way of the higher gate toward the north. North likewise speaks of the cold bitter north wind that proceeds from the carnal mind. This reveals a need for cleansing from all the cruel doctrines of religion that formulate from the carnal mind of rebellious men.
However, take note; there is a seventh man who appears before this destruction is complete. This seventh man, God’s number for perfection and completeness, is a man clothed in linen or clothed with the righteousness of Christ who is to bring forth salvation, deliverance and the manifested kingdom of God. Note that this ministry of completion stands by the brazen altar, the altar of sacrifice, the place of death and deliverance. This altar, in the outer court realm of death speaks, that all that is the product of the carnal man must die. In experiencing this death of the cross, man comes into the reality of the spiritual life of God as manifested through Christ Jesus.
In continuing with God’s progressive work of judgment and perfection.
Ezekiel 9:3-4 states, And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem (type of the church) and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
We understand that the Shekinah glory dwells between the two cherubim’s over the mercy seat, but this glory began to move even as we see the same need in the church of today. This glory of God moved to the threshold of the house, a leaving from the mercy seat to go to the outer court, bringing forth judgment. God’s glory, upon the seventh man of completeness and perfection is resulting in the needed separation that becomes evident between the carnal man and the spiritual man of fullness.
The true church is to now separate unto God, with the results being a mark upon the foreheads, meaning those who receive the mind of Christ because of true repentance and a changing of the whole man. Here the man-child of God, birthed from the holy place church is to ascend into the nature of God, the Holy of Holies that they might minister to those judged for a time of repentance and deliverance. What about those carnal Christians, the church that refuses to receive the discipline needed to slay carnality? These enter tribulation such as the world has never seen, for God’s kingdom of fullness is coming as God’s people mature into a mind-set of spirituality versus the carnal corrupt mind. Thus, judgment in a full measure comes because of the carnality that matures in the rebellious men as they receive the mark of 666.
Ezekiel 9:5-6, And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city (church), and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: But come not near any man upon whom is the mark (mind of Christ); and began at my sanctuary.
Thus, the question asked by many is, what is this mark given by the inkhorn rider upon the forehead? Jeremiah 31:31-33 explains that the mark is that which takes place within the soul of the repentant vessel. God is renovating the soul from a dead fallen soul or nature to a living soul, the nature of God.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (spiritual house or true church), and with the house of Judah (a new song church of praise and worship): Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt (dark narrow land of bondage); which my covenant they brake (law makes nothing perfect), although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord (same relationship God has desired for the church). But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel (spiritual church); after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people (same nature as Christ).
This handwriting speaks of more than an outward law in trying to live up to something that is not a part of fallen man’s nature. Therefore, the heart, representing the soul of man, shall receive, at the dying of the old nature, the inscribed nature of God. Therefore, no longer fighting the battle of the two natures because we are dying to the old carnal fallen nature that would mature into 666, and we are alive unto God by receiving a new nature in Him. For this cause, here in the holy place anointing a people are being spiritually matured and birthed from the realm of hope (holy place) to the full measure of God’s original purpose, a family of God in His likeness and image, being birthed to manifest the fullness of the Father (the Holy of Holies). Unto those who refuse His nature, they continue to rebel and mature into the nature of those becoming the 666 of the antichrist seed.
Friends, let us understand that we are in a particular season in God when a movement is taking place, a people being birthed from one dimension of God to another. Ascending from the Holy place order to the order of the Holy of Holies, this speaks of a coming into right standing with God in His throne-room authority. Note, that these ascended one’s, with their feet on the ground, they live totally after the order and authority of the throne-room.
Rev. 14:1-5, And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Fathers name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beast (from the four parts of the soul the mind, will, emotions and desires), and the elders (priesthood order): and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth (carnal realm). These are those which were not defiled with women (fleshly soul realm and religious orders); for they are virgins. These are they, which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God.
With the name, the nature of Christ written in their foreheads, we see here a people who have submitted to the nature change as God writes His nature within their soul, that is, the mind, the will, the emotions and the desires of God, which is to be manifested from these overcomers. This God-like nature overcomes all other powers. It delivers the receiver from the destruction coming upon rebellious men that stands in need of God’s judgment. Could the 144,000 who follow the Lamb Whithersoever He goeth be a number used by God to reveal to the earth a people who have come into God’s completed divine government in a full measure with Christ and is not speaking of an amount in quantity? The number twelve is God’s number for divine government, which when being multiplied by another twelve (tribes or orders) it equals the number 144. Then with the number zero being God’s number for seed and being used these three times (000), it declares that the seed is to come to completeness and perfection. This is speaking of God manifesting and revealing a people who are now completed and matured into God’s likeness and image.
This brings us to another question. When shall these things be? (Please read Matt. 25:1-13). Here we have the declaration of the ten virgins. Jesus states that the kingdom of God is like ten virgins, waiting for the bridegroom to come. The number ten is another number used by God that reveals His divine order and rulership for the destruction, the judgment of the sin nature. This signifies for us that these virgins are those appointed rulers with an authority to carry on God’s business. However, in the reading of these scriptures, a great needed truth is uncovered that we might know the greatest of need in becoming God’s Kings and Priest. Even though the difference is but one seemingly small point, it is one of great significant. Note that all ten virgins were dressed alike, which declares they were clothed properly because all were virgins. They all had oil in their lamps and each one had lighted lamps This speaks of having oil or the spirit of God in their spirits with forgiveness of sins forgiven in a continuous manner.
Proverbs 20:27, the spirit of man is the lamp (candle) of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. This also speaks of the spirit of God within man that seeks to bring change to the fallen soul that it might become a living soul even as the first Adam was before his fall. Herein, the spirit brings change to the soul and fills it with the nature of God.
Note here that the difference between the five and five was that only the five wise had oil in their vessel. It is the vessel (soul) that God desires to fill with oil. Understanding tells us that the vessel, the soul, is the person. Each persons (vessels) makeup is a mind, will, emotions and desires. A fallen dead soul manifests the nature of fallen man, likened unto a beast. However, the living soul is one that receives oil from God in his vessel to manifest God’s nature, to enlighten the world, and come into an intimate relationship with the bridegroom. Without oil in the vessel, the soul, God declares, I know you not. Speaking of a relationship that produces oneness with the bridegroom, a seed that is bringing forth after its own kind, for it is oil in the soul that really matters in becoming a people likened into His nature. How then is it that man receives oil in the soul? The altar of incense with the sacrifice given on this altar types the soul. This is where the fallen soul, with its four parts is being sacrificed, that the entering from the Holy Place hope order of Pentecost into God’s divine presence in the Holy of Holies, His place of fullness. This indwelling divine presence of God, made possible as the results of the Day of Atonement. This is the day when this altar of incense moves from the Holy place to beyond the veil with the purified High Priest offering up the sprinkling of blood and the burning incense before the Lord.
It is this movement from the Holy place into the presence of God where all lost, in the fall of Adam (as it resides in all men), is renewed. No more captivity and lost inheritance, no more bondage, but freedom to stand in God’s Holy presence with a full measure. In addition, as written in Rev. 7:1, that after these things the soul of man is changed through sacrifice to inherent the inheritance. This is becoming the Priest/King Company to establish, under God, in the earth the order of God’s throne-room authority. We see now a people who are waiting upon the Father even as Jesus declared concerning the works and ministry He fulfilled. This first-born son declared,
I only do those things I see my Father do; I only say those things that I hear my Father say.
This obedience and unity of being is a becoming so at one with the Father, which is the results of their natures becoming the same. Therefore, through a nature change to become one with Him, we shall likewise be of one mind with our Father. Rom. 12:1-2 states,
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (soul) that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Now appearing in the earth is God’s new created man, living according to the new covenant, a man now walking in union with his creator. This new created man, as Jesus Christ the first-born son, becomes the expression of God in the flesh, living on the earth doing only what they see their Father do, saying only what they hear their Father say. This creation does only the works of the Father that sends them, as the fullness of Christ, manifesting in all the earth. This is God’s completed perfect man moving in the Spirit without measure. This is moving from preparation to become the fullness of God manifested.