Chapter 1
________________
The Three Realms
“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come” (Mark 4:26-29 ).
The Holy Scripture has given us several pictures, in types and shadows, of three glorious realms of experiences which prepare us for entering into the fullness of God. In this triad is hidden the secret of the fullness of the work of God in His people.
This three-fold plan was designed from the beginning by the Creator who made man a triune being. Man was made a spirit being; he has a soul; and inhabits a body. Paul, the Apostle alluded to this fact when he prayed for us in the Epistle to the Thessalonians saying:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23).
When a man is born again, his spirit becomes a new creature in Christ. His spirit now possesses “zoe”, eternal life, the life of God. His soul is unchanged at the instance of his new birth neither is his body. There are three realms available to him to walk in: the body or flesh realm, the soul or mind realm, and the spirit or zoe realm. The desire of God is for this new baby to grow to a level where he walks totally in the realm of the Spirit, the realm of his regenerated spirit which is the realm of eternal life.
We find, in the Holy Scriptures, several pictures of these three realms. A few of these that reveal to us the dealings of God with His people include: the three compartments in the Tabernacle of Witness; the three annual feasts of the God of Israel; the three baptisms in the Wilderness; the three realms of growth described by John the Beloved in his epistle; and the tripartite nature of man.
To clearly illustrate all these as a progression through which we grow, the Lord Jesus Christ gave us the parables of the kingdom. He spoke about the seeds which are sown in good ground and which bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold and some a hundredfold. This also is one of the triad.
In the same vein with the seed parable is the main Scriptural passage of this book quoted above which summarizes the three stages which prepares us for the fullness of God, “First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”
Israel experienced three baptisms between coming out of Egypt and Canaan. Each one of these relates to a definite experience that a believer must pass through on his way to the fullness of God. Apostle Paul tells us of the first two of these baptisms in his first Epistle to the Corinthians.
Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea: and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea (I Corinthians 10:1-2).
This passage tells us that the Israelites experienced a baptism unto Moses. This baptism through the Red Sea brought them out of Egypt, out of bondage and slavery unto freedom. It was at this time they celebrated the first Feast of Passover. This speaks of our experience of salvation, our emancipation from the evil one.
The Apostle said that they were under the cloud and were baptized unto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea. We know from Scriptures that Jehovah God was with Israel in the Wilderness. He led them, going before them as the Pillar of the Cloud by day, and the Pillar of Fire by night. He protected them from the onslaught of Pharaoh by the Pillar of Fire. They were baptized in the Cloud. This Cloud represents the Holy Spirit. He was their Guide through the wilderness journey. The Cloud was their Comforter and Guide through the journey in the heat of the desert sun and the Pillar of fire gave them light in the darkness. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church today. Being baptized in the cloud is a picture of our being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The fact that the Pillar of Cloud led them through their entire wilderness journey also means the Holy Ghost is going to be with us through our journey until we cross over to our promised land. Blessed be God for evermore, Amen.
Now, you will ask: What is the third baptism? Let’s go back to the Holy Scriptures and consult with Joshua. In Moses, the Children of God passed through the Red Sea on dry ground. They were guided and protected by the Cloud and the Fire. The baptism unto Moses in the Sea is the first baptism which is a type of our baptism into the body of Christ at new birth. The Scripture says that by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Co 12:13).
The baptism unto Moses in the Cloud speaks of the second baptism, the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Here the Holy Ghost takes control of our lives, becomes our Teacher, Comforter and Guide.
A new baptism is ahead of us, Dear Saint of the Most High; this coming baptism is going to be unto Yeshua, the Commander in Chief of God’s Army, the Rider on the White Horse, who will lead us across Jordan into the Promised Land during the time of greatest harvest this world has ever seen.
Not only was this a new baptism, it was also experienced by a new people–a new generation under a new leadership. All the rebellious and unbelieving generation had been buried in the wilderness. Yes, God is at work in us dealing with unbelief, idolatry, and rebellion until we are ready to get rid of self entirely and pass through Jordan, the dying to self, and cross over to Canaan on dry ground.
This third experience, as we noted above, took place during the time of harvest. In the third chapter of the book of Joshua we see the account of how they prepared to cross Jordan.
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest) (Joshua 3:15).
At this time the River Jordan was full and overflowing its banks. It was not the best time, humanly speaking, to try to cross the river. But this experience has nothing to do with the natural. “It is not by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” At the Jordan River, the self-life, the carnal man has to die. The operation here must entirely be by the Spirit. As the first two baptisms are entirely the operation of the Spirit, so is the third.
Just as the first two baptisms, salvation and Holy Ghost baptism, are distinct and definite, so is this third experience. At the appointed time, the Church of Jesus Christ will cross Jordan at the time of harvest scheduled by Jehovah at the conclusion of the latter rain. We will cross on dry ground into the land of promise, the place of our inheritance.
The Holiest of All
Let’s turn out attention to the Tabernacle of the Congregation. When Moses requested the presence of Jehovah God to be with them throughout the Wilderness journey, God agreed and instructed him to build a Tabernacle. He also instructed him to build an Ark which was to be placed in this Tabernacle. This Tabernacle, also called the Tabernacle of Witness or the Tabernacle of the Congregation, was to have three compartments: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holiest of All. The Ark was to be placed in its innermost compartment. This, as it were, was the Ark of His Presence. Jehovah God was with Israel in the Tabernacle located in the midst of the Camp. His Presence was upon the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim of Glory on top of the Ark in the Holiest of All.
The Tabernacle had three gates or veils. The first veil, which is the main gate into the whole Tabernacle complex, is an outermost Door facing the East, hence called the East Gate. This is the only entrance into the complex and leads directly into the Outer Court of the Tabernacle.
There is only one Door into the Kingdom of God. This one and only Door is JESUS CHRIST the blessed Savior and Lord. We enter through this Door at new birth when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. He is the way the truth and the Life and no one can come unto the Father but by Him. Entering through the Gate into the Outer Court we encounter the big Brazen Altar where our Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us. Here we received forgiveness and remission for sin through the Blood of the Lamb of God, the Lamb without blemish. John the Baptist introduced the Lord Jesus to us as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
Apostle John the beloved, therefore, wrote to us in his Epistle saying: “I write unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake” (I John 2:12).
We all start by entering through this one Door by the way of salvation bringing us into the Kingdom of God. We start here as children in the outer court. But God wants us to press on and move pass this Altar and proceed to the Brazen Laver where there lies the water of separation, of consecration, and of sanctification and where we can be cleansed by the washing of the water by the word.
Here, at the Brazen Laver, we see ourselves in the mirror of God’s word and we wash with its water before moving on through the five Pillars into the Holy place.
As mentioned above, there is only one way to get into the Holy Place; this is from the Outer Court through the five pillars of grace. This is the way into the Holy Place called the Holy Sanctuary. The “priests of the Most High” must go through these five pillars into the Holy Place, the place of ministry and ministry gifts. These five pillars stand for each of the ministry gifts, apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers that “He that ascended on High” gave to His Body.
Here is the second realm of our experience in God, which is parallel to the second baptism. It is the realm of ministry. To get here, however, you must have been born again. Here we receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost; we partake in the manifestations of spiritual gifts and signs and wonders. We receive illumination from the candlesticks on the golden Lampstand, eat at the Table of Shewbread, and minister at the Altar right before the second veil. But behind the veil sits our High Priest who is waiting for us and constantly beckoning to us to, “Come on inside.”
Notice that there is no back-door into the Holy Place or the Holiest of All and no short-cut. We must grow from faith to faith, from glory to glory until we enter into that place where the Shekinah Glory of God resides. The Holy Place in the Tabernacle was designed by God to be a place of transition for going into the “Holiest of ALL”. The real goal, the final destination, is not the Holy Place but the “Holiest of All” where Jehovah, our Covenant God is waiting for His people.
The Holy place in the Tabernacle is transitory, designed to get the Saints of the Most High ready to go into the fullness of God. However, we the people of God seem to settle for the place of transition. We erect our camps at this half-way-house and dance around our achievements while the Spirit of God keeps calling us to press on, telling us to, “Arise, move on; this is not your rest”
God’s desire is for us to move on to maturity. He wants us to press on towards the high calling of God in Christ. He does not want us to settle for the outer court experience or to camp in the holy place, but desires that we press on into the holiest of all. He wants us to go all the way into the innermost court where He is waiting for us.
In the dealings of God with man, in order to help us and make it possible for us to walk with Him, God normally starts where we are. He starts with the natural in the Outer Court, then moves us on to the spiritual realm and His final goal is to finally move us into His Fullness.
And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (I Cor 15:45-49).
This second realm of growth, therefore, is the purpose for the first. The reason for the Outer Court is to prepare a people to enter into the Holy place. The reason or purpose for the natural is to prepare a people to enter into the spiritual realm. The reason for the Holy Place is to prepare a people to enter into the Holiest of All. Ultimately, therefore, the purpose of the spiritual realm is to prepare a people to enter into the Fullness of God.
My prayer, Dear Ones, as you read these lines, is that the Anointing WHO resides permanently in you will burn this message into your heart, that He will shine the Light of His illumination and revelation into your heart.
I pray that the Anointing that teaches will begin to expand the length, and the breadth, and the height, and the depth of this revelation in your inner man, beyond what anyone can imagine and that this might profit you mixing with faith in you and give you an everlasting inheritance among them that are sanctified. May this create an unquenchable fire in you making you earnestly press forward for the High calling of God in Christ Jesus.