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Notes for Rumors 10/10/19 Start Recording
10 Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown.
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth
There is a clear shift between the message to Smyrna which came previously and this message to Philadelphia, meaning brotherly love. The testing in the first message is on God's children while the testing Jesus says is coming will come on the whole world, i.e., all those who dwell on the earth. In fact Jesus says they will be kept from this test, which I find interesting and in need of further explanation. What are some parallel passages that might shed light on this shift? And who are those who dwell on the earth?
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God. (John 3:19-21)
Here we see a parallel description of what Jesus says will take place. Testing is the same as judgment. Judgment is not like worldly version of judgment where a judge artificially determines someone else's fate and sentences them to be rewarded or punished according to artificial law based on principles of commerce. True judgment is simply how a person reacts to exposure to truth, especially the truth about who God is and what He is really like. Those who dwell on the earth are all who cling to the dark lies of Satan about God, while those who do the truth are all who dwell under the shadow of the Almighty and rest in His love for them no matter how bad things get around them.
Light sooner or later comes to everyone. There is no escaping being exposed by the light of God's truth, and the essence of that light is not severe confrontation by an offended deity as many suppose but is the truth that God is love and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). This is the true light that Jesus brings into the world that He calls judgment. That means that what we believe in our heart about God's love will determine who we relate to the light when it approaches us, which it inevitably will. Will we hate the light, be afraid of the light and love darkness – the lies Satan has conditioned us to believe – instead of embracing the light as revealed to us by Jesus? If so, we will resist coming to the light because we know it contradicts what we have invested our lives in as our identity. So long as we put our trust in any other source of value and identity other than the truth that we are loved by God simply because we are His children, the light will be seen as a threat to us and we will hate it.
Jesus says that those who do the truth come to the light that their works may be revealed or exposed. Being exposed can be terrifying, which is why so many people are loathe to allow the light to come too close to them. Like Adam and Eve after embracing the lies of Satan in the Garden, running to hide behind the fig leaves of the tree they had adopted as their new standard of reality, all who love the darkness that hides their condition from being exposed are destined for a judgment they perceive as terrifying. They refuse to believe that the light coming to expose them has healing power to save them. They only see the truth as a threat, and this is because they cling to the lies of Satan that God is double-minded just as they are and thus is coming to punish them for disobeying His rules. This is all darkness and is what is threatened to be exposed by the light that comes from Jesus' revelation of God's heart.
So, what makes the difference for those choosing to come to the light anyway, even though they know they will be exposed? Does this mean they are good enough to be exposed, that their condition is favorable and they have no problems or sin in their lives? Not at all! What it means is that they trust that God is love and that love is what they need to be rescued from all the dysfunction in their lives.
Notice what Jesus says about those who come to the light willingly. What to they know and trust about the exposure that is inevitable by coming to the light rathe than waiting and hiding until the light comes to expose them. What is revealed by the light is not merely their works, but the reality that everything they have done has been in God.
This has enormous implications and repercussions for our way of thinking. Is this suggesting that all their works have been perfect, pure, honest and completely loving at all times? Hardly. What Jesus is saying is that no matter what we have done, we are already in God and have been all along. Being in God or in Christ as the New Testament puts it, is not something we achieve by being good enough, contrary to what religion has asserted. All humanity was created in God originally, and all humanity has been put into Christ by merit of what Jesus achieved at the cross. This means that all those who are hiding from the light and who hate the truth, are just as much in Christ and in God as those who come to the light to be exposed. The difference is not in whether or not they are in God but whether or not they will use their will to believe it and act on it by coming to Him just as they are to embrace His love for them. This is the issue that the testing is all about we are looking at in the messages to Smyrna and Philadelphia.
This testing is what happens in relation to when we chose to be exposed by the light that God is love. If we choose to believe that His love means we are already loved and longed for by Him, and that He has no ill intent towards us but only wants to heal, save and transform us back into reflecting His image of pure love again, the testing acts as motivation to draw us to cling to this light tenaciously despite all the oppression and threats and violence used against us to convince us otherwise by those choosing to believe the darkness. Thus the testing becomes the very means by which we may be sealed into trust of God's love for us and we become so settled into that truth that not even the threat of death can move us. We fasten our hearts and our identity alone on the hope and belief that Jesus' love is stronger than death and that He has the keys to spring us from that prison should the enemy throw us into it. But we will come to the light no matter what and cling to the truth that everything we have and and continue to do is within the circle of the love of the Godhead, not outside of God separate and distant from Him.
We may choose to come to the light of truth that we are loved and live our lives within the context of God's presence with us at all times, and that choice will result in the transformation of our being from the inside out. This involves resistance against the powerful squeeze of the world to force fit us into its mold of value based on performance or achievements or identity based on good or bad behavior. We embrace our identity as rooted only in the love Jesus has expressed for us and refuse to believe or rely on any other source no matter how compelling. Thus the truth sets us free from the confusion and darkness of Babylonian intoxication of double-minded beliefs about God's character of love that we reflect. We choose to enter into judgment willingly and early so as to be exempt from the judgment that comes to test all who dwell on the earth who have chosen to hide from the light and hate it.
The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. (1 Timothy 5:24 NAS95)
It is the choice of each person as to when they will be sealed by the testing truth of God's love in judgment. They can choose to be exposed now while their characters can still be transformed by the light, or they can avoid the light until it becomes impossible to hide any longer and it becomes a terror.
I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more
What is this about? Obviously it is a metaphor of something very important to us.
What does it mean to be a pillar in the temple of God?
What is important about not going out from there anymore?
What is the temple of God? All who allow the Spirit of God to dwell in them, guide them and synchronize them with heaven's activities and perspective compose the true temple of God, the body of Christ. So what might it mean to be a pillar?
A pillar is not only a permanent fixture of a building but a supporting column that holds up the structure in a vital way. What are the implications of this?
Why might it be desirable to not go out from the temple anymore? What does going out mean?
By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)
Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)
Name/Identity
He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death (Smyrna message)
I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. (Pergamum message)
I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, and my own new name
At the very core of the war being fought is the truth about identity, both God's identity and ours. We are created to reflect God's identity, so it will be impossible to discern the truth about any human's identity without knowing the real truth about God's identity which is revealed alone in Christ His Son.
What we see in Revelation is the story of this war over who correctly defines God's identity, the Lamb or the Dragon. And while it may be clear to the reader that the Dragon is not the truth about God, that is only because the symbols used make that clear. However, in 'real life' as we call it, the truth is not nearly so clear. This is because we don't actually see dragons and terrifying beasts and harlots riding on them like we find in Revelation. What we see are well-hidden deceptions masquerading as religious ideas and political organizations all claiming to be the answer to the world's problems. And because they rely on power and fear or deception and corruption to achieve their goals, their true nature is impossible to discern without something clear to reference that actually knows the truth of reality.
What we find all around us in this world are clamoring attempts to define our value and to assign our identity in society or religion. Because our sense of identity and worth are the core motivations for everything we do and affect every relationship we have, this is what must be addressed most clearly.
Why does Jesus go to such great lengths about what name we should identify with in this passage? Notice there are three different names Jesus lists here and all of them He promises will be written on those who overcome. That raises the question of what it means to overcome, which is closely connected to our sense of identity. As long as we remain in the dark about our true identity there is no way we can overcome the evil that lies entrenched deep in our subconscious heart. What we must overcome is not some enemy outside of us, but rather the enemy, the sin within (Romans 7:15-18) that was implanted there by God's enemy to deface the image of God in our soul.
1 I will write on him the name of my God
2 the name of the city of my God,
3 my own new name
I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)
Name of my God
For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Name of the city
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride." He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:9-10)
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:25-26)
My own new name
To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name. (Isaiah 62:1-2)
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)
In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness. (Jeremiah 33:16)
This is how we embrace our true identity – by absorbing the true identity of the God we are to reflect.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another. (John 13:34)
Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. (2 Corinthians 5:16)
Why do I suggest that the city of our God corresponds to the Holy Spirit as our Mother? Because as I connect the dots it all falls into place, and it also fits the family paradigm that permeates all of the teachings of Scripture about how God designed for us to live and interact with Them.
God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion...." (Genesis 1:26)
The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)
The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. (1 John 3:1-2)
So what do we see here? Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit when She came upon Mary's body with the power of the Almighty, impregnating her with the very seed of Father God. Thus in a mysterious way, the Spirit was co-mother with Mary.
In turn, Jesus tells Nicodemus that it is necessary for anyone desiring to even see or enter into His kingdom, that a person must be born of the Spirit. In other words, we must experience a new birth to identify with Jesus by allowing His divine Mother, the Holy Spirit, to birth Him through Mary. The outcome of all this is that everyone who allows their hearts to have a divine conception take place inside of them are also born again themselves in the process and are led by their true Mother, God's Spirit, each moment of their lives. This Mother who is part of the Holy Family of the Godhead then forms and holds together the entire body of Christ, guiding them, mentoring them, inspiring and empowering them to reflect the same glory of the Father that Christ reflected. And the way Christ reflected the truth of God's heart was the same way we are to reflect it, by allowing the Spirit to motivate His every move, word, thought and relationship. He models for us how to be a child. Then when fully matured, He plans to marry us as His bride to share deepest intimacy with the Godhead.
What I see Jesus saying here to those who overcome, is that they need to lock in their personal identity by identifying with each one of the Godhead – the Father God, the Holy Spirit who is our true Mother and who binds us together into composing the City of our God, and a new perception of Jesus.
It should be clear by now what it is we need to overcome. It is related to our identity which is directly tied to who we identify with and allow to define who we are and our true value. This is what the battle over our name is all about.
I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now is come the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life, even to death. (Revelation 12:10-11)
What needs to be overcome? What is coming from the accuser. What we must overcome, rise above, is all the slander against God regarding His true character and identity that is supposed to be reflected by human beings created on earth. The infection of these lies are what distort our reflection and deface the image of God in our soul.
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
It is becoming ever more clear that the stark contrast being battled out is over whose version of God we will embrace and reflect, who we will identify with and absorb their identity which we will inevitably act out in our life as a result.
Here are contrasted the only two options in the war over identity. We will either allow the beast or his image to mark us, either internally or merely externally, with an identity that involves a view of God similar to how the beast and false imitations portray Him, or we will overcome all false portrayals of God by embracing the revelation of God's heart as evidenced by the Lamb's blood who demonstrated so clearly how God acts when mistreated, exploited and humiliated.
Those who overcome the lies of the accuser about God align their own testimony with the testimony of the True Witness who is the hero of this book and the hero of the universe. Overcomers receive their identity from rejecting every false idea about God's heart and ejecting it from their psyche to have it replaced with a view of God who is exactly like the Lamb reflects. Thus, because the Lamb is the perfect reflection of God, and those who allow the Lamb to transform them into that same image/reflection, by beholding the reflection of God in the life and spirit of the Lamb, they become ready to participate as a composite body called the Bride of the Lamb who is fit to share His sentiments, perspectives and emotions which are all relatively new compared to what they imagined previously.
Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. (1 John 3:1-2)
http://www.pmchurch.org/service/2019/09/21/beautiful-and-believable-900
