THE TRUE WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION

By J W Luman

We will be dealing with the Resurrection in the light that it is truly presented in the scriptures. We are looking at the Resurrection as it is connected with the end of the world and the last days and what is called the second coming of Christ. We know that the Resurrection is personified in Christ, and in considering Him Who is The Resurrection we come to the first chapter of the book of Revelation because this whole book is with regard to the Resurrected Christ. Here He is seen in the very beginning of the book as The Resurrection; He is seen in the midst of The Church. So we’ll be looking at The Resurrection as it is summed up and personified in Him, and we’re at verse 5 in Chapter 1, dealing with the three titles of The Resurrected Lord, or three titles of Christ in and as The Resurrection. And I want to emphasize that: these are three titles: the faithful witness; the first begotten of the dead; the prince of the kings of the earth. He was manifestly none of those things until He manifestly fulfilled The Resurrection. In other words, through His death, burial and resurrection, coming forth in The Resurrection, He is the faithful and true witness. So I emphasize again, these titles are exclusive to Christ in The Resurrection.

For instance, in the three and a half years of His earthly ministry it could not be said of Him except in a prophetic way that He is the faithful and true witness. That could only be said of Him when He sealed the testimony in His death and brought forth the witness in His Resurrection. Now He is The Faithful and True Witness! That could only be a title He took upon Himself only in The Resurrection. Consequently, the Witness is The Resurrection itself - Life is The Witness! The Resurrection is The Witness. Christ living in you, and our living in union with Him - that’s the Witness that the Holy Spirit gives, and it is aside and something other than The Testimony, although it is the fulfillment of The Testimony. Now you can have the Testimony; that is, you can have all of the scripture and believe all the scripture whether you understand what it means or not. "I believe the Bible teaches holiness, I believe the Bible teaches resurrection. And the prophets said, so we believe... we believe." You can believe all the Testimony and you can preach the Testimony and still not be a Witness of it, still not be qualified as Witness. And what disturbs me is that this is about all that is being done today. The Testimony is being preached over and over and over - not as a completed thing, but as something that needs to be done. We preach something either needs to be done by us, or needs to be done by God or needs to be done by Christ - or needs to be done by somebody!

Somebody needs to come! If the Lord doesn’t come, then sons of God need to come - somebody needs to come, something needs to happen. That’s what is being preached. Everybody is waiting on something: the traditionalists are waiting on the rapture, the kingdom people are waiting on a kingdom, the sonship people and their various branches are waiting on the day that the sons of God are made manifest. To me if you’re going to be waiting on anything, you might as well be waiting on everything; I don’t see any difference. I don’t see any difference in waiting on a rapture and waiting on a manifestation of the sons of God or waiting on a kingdom. I don’t see any difference on "when we all get to heaven" and "when we all are like Jesus." If those things are not a reality NOW, then they are never going to be a reality any way. Now I realize they are not comprehended by people; I realize we don’t see the reality of that manifested, but that’s not because it isn’t done, not because it isn’t established in Him, not because of something that’s lacking in Him. "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him." Now whether we have a thorough understanding of that - that’s the question. But the point is people are always mixing things up that are not manifest with things that are not done. THE WORK IS DONE! If we ever decide that it is done, then we are put upon to manifest it. That’s not a super explosion or something; that’s simply to openly show it as being done, to openly live, to openly show ourselves to be this. That’s manifestation - to openly show oneself.

So we’re seeing that you can preach the testimony forever - just on and on and on. But at some point in time the whole Testimony has to be realized as being fulfilled in Christ. And when it is, then there can be Witness. Now the Witness side is the Resurrection side, and everything is proven, everything points to and everything is summed up and fulfilled in The Resurrection. Many writers have said there is nothing beyond The Resurrection: everything that you would put beyond The Resurrection is simply part of it. The New Jerusalem - part of it; the New Creation - part of it; ages to come - part of it; the glory of God - it is all part of The Resurrection. It is all part of what we are raised up into in the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is all part of being "where I am, there ye shall be also." It’s all part of The Resurrection. So we give witness of that. The Resurrection is the summation and the fulfillment of all that is testified. In order to be Witness then it must be in that order. So what I’m saying is you can’t preach the Testimony and claim that you are a Witness for Jesus, because that’s not what it’s all about. In fact, when you do that, you are opposing the Witness, you are saying in effect that this hasn’t taken place yet, but maybe one day it’s going to happen.

So He is The Faithful and True Witness, and we find that He is not going to be, HE IS The Faithful and True Witness. Then when He is revealed in us, what is revealed in us is The Faithful and The True Witness. And when He is revealed in us, what is revealed in us is The Faithful and The True Witness. And He is revealed in us as The Resurrected Lord. So He’s not revealed in us to come and tell us what He’s going to do; He is revealed in us showing what He has done - all that is summed up in Him. Again, The Faithful and True Witness is a title given to Him in The Resurrection and as The Resurrection.

Let’s look at the "TRUE WITNESS". There are four things in knowing Him, in facing Him Who is The Truth. He is The True Witness, and one Bible commentary says this simply means He is The Witness of The Truth; He Himself being The Truth. So we might say, The Truth concerning what? Obviously The Truth stands on itself, and doesn’t have to be concerning anything, but The Truth is revealed in The Witness. Everything comes to The Cross and The Witness comes out from that. He is The Truth with regard to many things, but we’re going to look at these four things: He’s The Truth with regard 1) to man; He’s The Truth with regard 2) to God; he’s The Truth with regard 3) to Israel; He’s The Truth with regard 4) to Satan. All of these are manifested at The Cross. When He comes forth in The Resurrection and stands as The Resurrection, there is a Truth, and that Truth - particularly and uniquely relates to these four areas: to man, to God, to Israel and to Satan.

Turn to the gospel of John. HE IS THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE TRUE CONDITION OF MAN. James calls Him the mirror, the looking glass, that some just run and glance into, and don’t remain, and they end up just seeing an apparition of themselves and they run out deceiving themselves, because they don’t remain to see the perfect image, the perfect man, the most excellent. To face Christ in The Cross, in His death, burial and resurrection is rather like standing in front of a perfect mirror in perfect light - and you are naked! That’s about as true of an example as I can think of. There you are! Now I realize we’re only there looking at the truth regarding our physical condition, but there we are. The light is as such that every flaw, every speck, every blemish, every gray hair is fully seen. The mirror is so flawless and so perfect as to be most exact. It is like stepping outside of yourself in a perfect light and seeing yourself. There’s nothing hidden, nothing shaded in dim light. Now very few people like to see pictures of themselves unless they are thoroughly made up or the picture has been air brushed. They don’t like the pictures because the pictures look like them! They don’t look like what they want to look like or what they even image themselves to look like. We say it’s a bad picture. Yes, because it looks just like you! Even beautiful models don’t have pictures taken when they’ve just stepped out of a shower. They may look like they’ve just stepped out of a shower, but they’ve just stepped out of a make up booth. They are not going to have a picture unless they look good - they would sue the photographer.

We want pictures to make us look good; we don’t want pictures to make us look like we look. You see, a picture freezes everything - we smile and we do that in stages, but a picture captures one of those stages. We say it doesn’t look like me at all, but yes it does. What I’m saying is we don’t like to face the Truth - under any circumstances the Truth upsets us. We want Truth to be shaded or colored according to our concept of it. This is in the natural way, but think about when you face Him Who is The Truth. About what? About everything! The Truth - He’s not The Truth about man or about mankind; He’s just The Truth! But when mankind is brought up before Him, The Truth is seen about mankind. We see the Truth about ourselves in Him. And most people are just not ready for that Truth because it does not fit their imagination; it doesn’t fit their concept, even of a Christian - it’s just The Truth. That’s what we’re talking about: that’s Who He is, that’s what He is, and He is that in the Resurrection. Death - burial - resurrection.

I’ve often said that The Resurrection is the most awesome judgment of all the judgments. In the Tabernacle there was a three fold judgment. The brazen altar is the judgment of His death and also the judgment of grace. In the Holy Place the golden altar is the judgment of truth. In the Holy of Holies however, in the Mercy Seat is the judgment of the resurrection. It’s all a three fold judgment, and they are all summed up in Him - death, burial, resurrection, but we see it in the Resurrection. And to cut down to the fine line, here is the judgment. I know we may not agree with this, but we’re all set to bear it, and that judgment finally comes to be in the Resurrection as it is pictured in the Ark of the Covenant. I’m speaking of a judgment that will determine our values, our motivations, our relationships, our ambitions, our decisions - this is a judgment that we bear. That judgment finally comes in the Resurrection and it is just this: NONE LIVES BUT HIM. That’s easy to say, but that’s finally what has to grip our hearts: that here I sit, but none lives but Him - Not I, Christ liveth! It’s so easy to say, but I’m talking about it coming in a comprehensive judgment. And that’s part of the judgment of The Truth. Grace - Truth - Mercy. That’s part of the judgment that comes forth when we face The Truth.

Paul says we thus judge, when one died, all died with Him. And he goes on with this judgment. Therefore there’s no way that any of us can live unto ourselves, or say that we have a life unto ourselves, but rather unto Him who died for us and rose again. It’s all coming to that. If it’s true that He did that, well then He is The Resurrection! We sound like idiots because we’re just understanding this thing. So He’s The Resurrection. Well then He lives in me, He’s The Spirit of life! Then I have no life but Christ! What is that doing? Now all kinds of conclusions come out of that. Why? Because that judgment is taking place in you, and realization is taking place in you; that comprehension. You are never again going to look at yourself the same, you are never again going to look at anything the same. What’s happened? You’ve faced The Truth! Maybe not completely, but you’ve faced Truth. Every time we face Him we face Truth, but we’re always facing Him. You have faced Truth, you have faced Him in The Resurrection. That’s really the only way we can see Him. When we see Him in The Resurrection we realize we are dead! I’ve often taught that you must see Him in His death, but in fact, you see Him in the Resurrection and He shows you His death. That’s what happened to Thomas. Thomas saw Him in the Resurrection and couldn’t receive it, so He showed Thomas His death. "Come and stick your hand in my side." It’s interesting to me that He showed him His death. Thomas fell on his face and said, "My Lord and God!" So The Resurrection shows us His death and His death is us, and these judgments.

So The Truth in regard to man. John 2:23, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." He knew what was in man. Now Hebrews 2:5-9. "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." But WE SEE JESUS.

The condition of man as seen in the light of The Truth is that man, mankind has fallen short of the expectations of God. In Romans 7:13-25 Paul is a man faced with Truth. And faced with Truth He ends up saying, "O wretched man that I am!" Faced with Truth he ends up saying every time I try to do good, the good that I do ends up being evil. The Truth concerning man is that man fell short of the glory of God. The actual Truth concerning man is that man is a lie, and all that he conceives is conceived as a lie, no matter how great, how noble the intentions - the Truth is not in man. See, man had the option at a point in time to eat Truth or eat lie; either believe God and abide in Truth or not believe God and partake of a lie. And regardless of whether we blame it on Adam or blame it on Eve, mankind together partook of the lie. A lie came in, and from that point in time, man and his whole existence has been a lie, and based on a lie - waiting for The Truth to come. And The Truth finally comes in Christ and we see in Him the only Man that has ever pleased God. We see that in Him, all of God’s thoughts and intentions concerning man came to be seen and fulfilled in Jesus. BUT WE SEE JESUS. How do we see Him? We see Him, yes for a little while made lower, but we see Him raised in power and in glory. Therefore we see man as God intended him to be. The only place you see man as God intended him to be is in seeing Christ.

So when you face The Truth that here is man as God intended him to be, and then here we stand in contrast to That Man, the first thing we do is fall on our face and say, "My God, I’m not that man! God in heaven!" Isaiah said "my lips are unclean." Paul said "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? Thank God. I am crucified with Christ!" This is the result of seeing Truth because we see The True Man. We see everything that God has desired concerning man fulfilled in Christ. We see Jesus - we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. The real rendering of verse 9 is this way, "But we see Jesus (who for a little while was made lower than angels) in that He by the grace of God tasted death for every man." In other words, He’s crowned with glory and honor because He tasted death for every man.

He tasted death for every man, therefore God raised Him up. And it’s hard to see this the way King James has it, but if you look at enough translations you can see that. But we see Jesus who was for a little while made lower, and that was for the suffering of death. But the thought is, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. It comes out from verse 8, "But now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, in that He was willing by the grace of God to taste death for every man." It doesn’t mean we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor by dying, but it means we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, who was willing to be made lower, who did die for all. How do we see Him? We see Him crowned with glory and honor, we see Him as The Man God desired, we see Him triumphant. But we see Jesus - Man as God intended him to be; and seeing man as man compared with God’s intention for him is a dismal failure. But we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor in that He was willing to die for every man.

Verse 10, "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." We see This Man of God’s heart, This Man of God’s intention in Christ. So this is The Truth not only concerning man, but Christ is The Truth concerning God’s intention for man. In view of The Truth man is seen as being a poor substitute, man is seen as being a lie, man outside of Christ is a lie. I didn’t say a liar - he’s a lie, he’s the result of a lie. Outside of Christ he’s a lie, he’s not real, his whole concept is a lie. Man says we’re this or that, we’re great - it’s all a lie! And the Church has picked that up, but it’s all a lie. The only Truth concerning man is seen in Christ - He is the Truth concerning man. He is what God intended man to be; not Christ before death - Christ by death, by burial, by resurrection - Christ, The New Man in union with His brethren. He is The Man God intended man to be - Christ in Resurrection is The Man God intended man to be, The Man God saw from the beginning. So when mankind is compared to Christ, mankind is seen to be what Paul saw himself to be. "I am most wretched! I am the chief of sinners! Woe unto me! I am worthy of death! I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but not I, Christ liveth in me!"

The world teaches self image; God teaches Christ image. I’m telling you it’s better to have Christ image than it is to have a good self image. A good self image is a lie. The Christ image is what we need. Psychology will tell you to have a good self image, and you want to say that’s true; but when you see that in comparison to Christ you know that is not true, because in the end that will not help. You need to have a good Christ image. The image of yourself needs to be - it is not I, but Christ. The image of yourself needs to be - my life is Christ. I am a son of God, God is my Father. See, that’s not self image, that is Christ image. So He’s The Truth concerning man, mankind.

Secondly, He is The Truth concerning God. Let’s read in the gospel of John. There is a realization of God that we see in The Resurrection: Christ being The Resurrection. There is a realization of God that we see there that is impossible to see anywhere else. It’s the knowing of God, that we come to know in Him Who is The Resurrection, that is impossible to know any other place, any other way, any other time. It can only be known in Him Who is The Truth. John 1:1-18, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." It goes on. Verse 11, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Verse 16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." All this is leading up to something.

John 5:19-29, "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works that these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son: That all men should honour the son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself; so hath he given to the son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Verse 36-39, "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Then John 6:38-58, but we’ll just look at part of that. Verse 38, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." And that comes to its conclusion in verse 54-57. "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." Then John 14:1-3,"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Verse 6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Verse 20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me, and I in you." Verse 23, " Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Very briefly: The Truth concerning God that we see in Him Who is The Faithful and True Witness is that God is not far off, but a God who desires to dwell in His creation. We come to be faced with The Truth that GOD IS FATHER! That seems real simple, but when you come back and look at that in the light of all the verses that were read, then it is not so simple. In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, but it came to be manifested in the flesh. Why? You have not seen God, you have not heard God. I’ve come to show you God. I must be about My Father’s business, I must do the works that He sent Me to do, I have greater witness than that of John, the witness of My Father. All of that work points to The Cross, it points to what He continues on to say : you’ll eat my flesh and drink my blood. As the Father gave Me life, so I will give you life. He is showing us something of the Father that we could never see except as it relates to Himself. So He is bringing us into a relationship with Himself that He indeed has with The Father - the very same relationship, not a different one. As I live by the living Father, so he that eateth Me shall live by Me. As I am in the Father, so you are in me and I am in you. He is showing us a relationship that eye could never see, ear could never hear, the natural heart could never know, but He shows us that. And when we see Him, Who is the Resurrection, He is able to show us.

Why? Because He brings us into that relationship with Himself that He is come to show of the Father. He becomes the mediator between God and man. He becomes that central point: He becomes that One, that place of meeting where God meets man, and man meets God. It is through His death, burial and resurrection; we are given to understand that in all these scriptures. But the point is He brings us into a Truth concerning God that we could never imagine, and that most believers don’t imagine today. They imagine that God is off somewhere. They don’t have a real relationship with The Father because they have no relationship with The Son. But when we see The Truth as it is in Him, we see immediately: God, you are my Father! And there is no way that words can describe the reality of that relationship, the reality of that understanding, the reality of that comprehension. There are not words to describe knowing God that way, because here’s the miracle of it: we come to know The Father as He is known by The Son. That’s what it’s all about. He does not bring us into a relationship less than that, but the same relationship. He does not bring us into a fellowship less than that, but the same fellowship. To show us The Father is the purpose of His death, burial and resurrection.

NO MAN COMETH TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME. When it gets down to it, you can throw the rest of your theology away. The reason He died, was buried and resurrected is that we could come to The Father. That’s what it’s all about. All the rest of this stuff is just frosting on the cake, and we get all excited about it. "We’re a New Creation, we’re a Priesthood, we’re a this or a that..." Those are just terms to describe different relationships. The whole essence of The Cross is that we may have "door" to God; is that we may have Way by Truth into Life. That’s it. It’s that where I am there ye may be also - that’s it. And really that’s the center of it all. If we miss that we just miss it all. So He is The Truth concerning God, and until we see Him in this way, in this revealing, we don’t really know The Truth concerning God. We imagine God to be all kinds of things and we don’t really have Truth concerning God. We know there is a God, or at least we believe there is a God, but believing there is a God and believing in God is not the same as knowing God. That’s not the same as understanding relationship with The Father. It is not the same. I’m not impressed by people who say, I believe in God. Well okay, but what does that make you, other than not a fool; because a fool would say there is no God? We hear a politician say that and we are impressed. All of a sudden - he’s a Christian, he’s born again, he’s the second coming of Jesus. No, he’s not, he’s probably a liar! See, that means nothing, but we think it does. It’s not the same as knowing God. He isn’t come so that we may believe there is a God. The Truth is not that there is a God, that’s not The Truth He is, that’s not The Truth that He represents in The Resurrection. The Resurrection is: you can be One with God, you can dwell in God, God dwells in you! That’s The Truth! That’s the True Witness of The Resurrection - God dwelling in His people, God is not far off, but He is in you. This is it!

This is summed up in Revelation 21. This is the end of The Witness, it is the end of that book. Verses 1-3, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men..." What does that mean? It means behold, God is tabernacling Himself in man. It doesn’t mean God has a tabernacle in man and He visits it sometimes. No, it’s not like I’ve got a house in the Caribbean. No, it means behold, the tabernacle of God is in man; behold, the dwelling of God is in man. This is a realization: the whole book of Revelation is a revelation of The Cross being made manifest in the earth. It is everything that is fully established, done in The Cross being realized either in a people or upon a people. It is the manifest realization of it. And here comes this realization: BEHOLD, GOD IS DWELLING IN HIS PEOPLE! "...and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Now there is that creation, that world, that realization wherein none of these things exist. Unfortunately most of us don’t live there. But by Him we can, and we should! Because these are not things that shall be. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. This fulfillment comes right out of Ezekiel chapter 37.

Beginning at verse 26, "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." And the fulfillment of that prophecy is recorded in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is realized in a people in whom God dwells. And Jesus said, by Me, by Me The Way, The Truth and The Life, you shall be where I am. Where are you? I am in the Father, you are in Me, I am in you. We shall make our abode in you. King James uses the word "with", the Greek uses the word "in". When is this going to be? IT ALREADY IS! The question is when is this going to be realized, when is this going to be accepted? All of these things are fulfilled in Christ already! So He is The Truth concerning God.

Now let’s look at He is The Truth concerning Israel. Matthew 23:37-39. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Chapter 24, 1 and 2, " And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

If there is ever a verse that is a sad epitaph and such a statement of judgment it is this one. Jesus went out and departed from the temple. I don’t want to be part of anything about which that is said. All these descriptions: Jesus went out. It doesn’t mean it was time for Him to leave. No, with purpose He went out and with purpose He departed. You can write ICHABOD on the door of that place - The Lord is gone out of it. He has departed from it, the glory of God has gone away. We see this in the Old Testament when the glory departed out of the temple. This is a fulfillment of that. In Ezekiel the glory departed out of the temple. Who is the glory of God? Christ in you! See, Israel had an expectation, a hope of glory. Paul is simply saying that Israel’s hope of glory is Christ in you! For God’s sake, He’s not our hope, He’s Israel’s hope. He’s our fulfillment, He’s our assurance - Christ in you, the hope of glory. Not your hope of glory: Christ in you, the glory that Israel is expecting. The hope of Israel is in you! That’s what he is saying.

But we come along and say there’s a hope one day; we have a hope of glory. No, no, no! Israel was the one that had the hope, Israel was the one that had the expectation. HE IS COME! Israel’s hope is in you! You are the hope of Israel because you are the truth of God concerning Israel. You are the Israel of God. You are the New Jerusalem, you are the City of God, you are the hope of every Jew on the face of the earth if they would open their eyes. You are the hope of every Gentile, for he has never had a city to begin with! You are the answer. You are, in that it is in you - Christ in you is the reason you are the answer; Christ in you is the reason. That is what Paul is declaring. That is what Hebrews 11:35-40 is saying; they without us could not be made complete. No, because their hope is resident in you. The city they looked for is resident in you - in you - the Salvation, the Redemption, the Restoration is in you. This is the truth of the whole thing.

So Jesus went out of the temple. He departed from, the glory left Shiloh, the temple. In Ezekiel the glory left the temple. Now the glory never did come back to that temple; it came back to a temple in Chapter 40 that was a heavenly temple, a view of the temple that you are. "Shew the house to the house. Shew the measurement..." But that’s a different temple. The glory came to that temple. It came from the way of the east and entered into that temple; which temple you are. Here Jesus literally performs that; here Jesus enters into this temple and then He departs from it - goes out from it. The glory of God leaves it, and in leaving it, predicts its destruction, showing that it will never have glory and that He will not come back into it. And the only association He has with it now is in His death; that in His death it shall be destroyed. This indicates that He will be the glory of a greater Temple that He raises up. This is about the Resurrection because he says in John 2:19, "...Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body." It’s in the Resurrection. Here, having to do with that temple, in Matthew 24:1, "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple; and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?..."

Now this term, "These things". You can follow all the way through at least the nineteenth chapter of Revelation and its always the same: this term, "these things". Look at Revelation 19:1, "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God." What things? After these things; because something has been done here, and it is all in connection with the destruction of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the city, and the ushering in of the realization of a New Jerusalem, a New City, a new heaven and a new earth. The book of the Revelation is about the passing out of the old and the coming in of the New - that is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. What is involved in the Revelation of Jesus Christ? The putting off of the old and the putting on of the New. What is all of this destruction and this whore, Babylon, and all this stuff? It is all related to Matthew 24; it is all related to the destruction of "these things". It is all related to the destruction of the Jewish system, Jewish Temple, Jewish priesthood, the Jews as a Kingdom, Jerusalem as The City of God. It is all exposed, it is all stripped, it is all naked and opened up to destruction and judgment. At the same time a New Jerusalem is being seen in a people, it is being vindicated and it is coming forth - coming forth - coming forth in the earth. Life coming forth out of death. One is being done away according to The Finished Work of The Cross; the one is being taken out and the other is coming in. It’s going on at the same time, simultaneously. It is the last day that is being talked about, that the Christians are being talked about that is soon to come, soon to come. It did come as predicted in Daniel, as predicted by Jesus; "in this very generation it shall happen." "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matthew 24:34. (These things) "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

Now I didn’t guess that heaven and earth is speaking of Jerusalem; the Old Testament references Israel as God’s heaven and God’s earth, and the stars etc. So He says heaven and earth shall pass away, but you have to understand the heaven and earth that He’s talking about. Just like you have to understand the world that is being talked about is the age, not the dirt we walk on, but the age that was then was recognized as the world, which was the age of the Old Covenant. So all of these things, He says. How is He able to say all this? I’m asking kind of like the Pharisees now - what do you think you’re doing? Who told you that you could do this? What do you think you are doing here? Where do you get this authority? Where does He have the right? THE CROSS! The Cross is His right. It’s all going to be done at The Cross. At The Cross the temple is going to be destroyed, at The Cross the priesthood is destroyed in that He did what it could never do! He didn’t simply fulfil what it cumulatively did, He did what it could not cumulatively do. The priesthood in all of its cumulative powers could not make man perfect, could not offer a perfect sacrifice. He did! So He didn’t simply fulfil the priesthood - He destroyed it! He didn’t simply fulfil the law, but He absolutely did away with it, in that He exceeded its demands and commandments. He exceeded it all - At The Cross!

This is not some sinner dying: this is God dying as man! This is a tremendous thing; that’s why He’s got the right, that’s why He says these things shall pass away but My Word shall never pass away - that’s why. Isn’t that said in the book of Revelation? Who is worthy? Who is worthy? The Lamb, the Lamb is worthy. Why? Because you have redeemed us out of all the nations of the earth, because you have held not back your life. The Lamb is worthy, the Lamb is worthy. The whole power of the book of Revelation is The Cross. Everything is determined at The Cross. That’s the reason He can say Jerusalem will fall, this temple will not stand. Why? Because He’s going to do it at The Cross. The whole thing is going to be laid bear at The Cross. It shall then be manifested in the earth, but the power of it all is at The Cross. That’s the power of it. The power of the Resurrection is what we’re looking at here - the power of the Resurrection on behalf of the Church, the power of the Resurrection over and against Jerusalem. Do you realize that the same power that destroyed Jerusalem is the power that raised The Church to glory? It’s the same power - the power of The Resurrection. The same flood that raised up the Ark wiped out the earth. This is not some new thing or new principle. The same coming that is terrible in judgment is glorious in His appearance to the saints. It’s the same coming, but it depends on your condition. Had Jerusalem received Him with open arms, Jesus’ coming would have been glorious instead of awesome. Jerusalem denied Him, but they could not stop His coming; because He came forth in The Resurrection. He’s not coming - HE IS COME! He is come! Too late - He’s already come! Now it’s set, now what are you going to do? It’s the power of His Resurrection now - how are you going to face it?

You are going to face it as an individual. You’re going to face it as a system. You are going to face it as a religion - you are going to face it. You’ll face it unto death, you’ll face it unto life, but you will face it! That’s what it’s all about. That’s what the book of Revelation is all about. It’s about the revelation of Jesus Christ; it’s about the taking away of the old and the establishing of the New - at the exact same time both happen. And primarily all of this is done in the destruction literally of Jerusalem, and the establishing literally of The Church in the earth. So that the one that said it was the kingdom of God was destroyed, and the True Kingdom of God was literally established. Those who said they were sons of God were destroyed, and the true sons of God were made manifest - the manifestation of the sons of God literally took place. Those who were His true sons, His true Seed were shown as being The Church. Isn’t it dumb that the Church is still waiting on that? We’ve made a whole new doctrine out of it - manifested sons; and the whole thing was speaking of what took place then. God Himself did it - the destroying of one and the raising of the other in the power of the Resurrection.

So many of these scriptures: Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4, 2 Corinthians 5, the book of the Revelation - they are all referring primarily to that destruction of Israel and all of those things, and the establishing of the Church; taking away the first, that He might establish the second. The book of Revelation is about that. He is The Truth concerning God, because in the book of Revelation He is the Resurrected Lord and He is showing The Truth concerning God and the Truth concerning Israel.

Let’s just sum up now. So we see that everything Israel stood for: the nation, creation of God, my firstborn, the law, the tabernacle, the priesthood, sacrifices, priests, kingdom - all has come to find its place and fulfillment in Christ. It is all transferred over to Him. Jerusalem, the temple - all of it. Their hope for resurrection, their hope for restoration, their hope of glory - all of it transferred over to Him, and found only in Him. He’s the Truth concerning Israel. Israel was but a type and a shadow. It stood for Him. When He came, it must either receive Him or cease to stand, because if it doesn’t receive Him and continues to stand, it becomes a pollution in the earth and an Antichrist. And the Antichrist system of the book of the Revelation was that system, because it was the system that still maintained "we’re sons of God, God is our Father, we’re the children of God." They said He is not the Christ, This One that came is not the Christ - that’s Antichrist. John was writing directly to them when he said that spirit that denies that The Son has come in the flesh. Well, who was denying that The Son had come in the flesh? Who was denying that Christ had come in the flesh? The Jews were: not just individually, that whole system said no He’s not, it’s not Him, He didn’t come, the Messiah did not come. That’s Antichrist. That’s the Antichrist John was talking about. That’s the Antichrist system that John the revelator was talking about. We may see the same spirit of that in our day and time, but primarily Jerusalem was being talked about. The mystery of Babylon, the great whore, the harlot - Jerusalem, Jerusalem that now is, gendering her children unto bondage. There she is, the city where our Lord was crucified, the city that has leagued herself with the nations, of the beasts, and eventually destroyed her. It’s that very system. But the Jerusalem that remains is above. See, that’s the mother of us all.

That’s what Revelation is showing. It is showing the passing out of the old and the coming in of the New. It isn’t talking about anything different than what Paul talked about, nothing different than Peter talked about. It’s bringing it into perhaps a more thorough view, but it’s talking about the same things; same new heaven, same new earth that Paul talked about; same temple and tabernacle of God that Paul talked about; same last day that Peter talked about; same destruction that Jesus talked about. The writer of Hebrews even said, ye are come to the HEAVENLY city, the city of God, the New Jerusalem. So these writers are not writing about different things or different times; they are writing about the same things. May the Lord open our eyes to The Truth that He is! Amen.