3. Applying John's Vision
Audio OnlyHow do we make use of John’s vision in our present lives? To give some answer to this question, I want to view the vision as a whole so that we might see its most important parts and thus how everything relates together.
The single most important action taking place in John’s vision is the woman who is clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing forth the life of the knowledge of God through great travail and in the face of the accuser intent on destroying that life. – And she brought forth a son, a boy who is about to shepherd all the ethnic groups with a rod of iron, and her child was seized into God and into His throne.
Interpret by the Real. As I am working on the JSV translation of Revelation, I am astonished at how many times the reader is shown that this is a vision, or series of visions, and that the elements in the vision are to be interpreted by the REAL. We do not interpret the real by the vision; we interpret the vision by the real. And that real is Paul’s gospel confirmed by John, a gospel of life and of the knowledge of God.
“Seized into God and into His throne” is the NORMAL Christian life. Knowing that we are is the essence of our salvation.
The Woman. This “woman,” then, represents to us every wondrous and powerful verse from Paul and John describing for us our relationship together as the Church.
Here is one of those verses. – Christ—out from Whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every joint of its supply or provision, according to the energeia inside the sharing from every part, causes growth of the body into the construction of itself inside of love (Ephesians 4:16). And here is another. – And we also are committed to setting forth our souls for our brothers and sisters.
“Cannot Be.” And all Christians today who insist that this woman of Revelation 12 CANNOT be the Church of Jesus Christ now upon this earth are in actuality standing in the presence of God screaming AGAINST every word of the gospel. “Christianity is a failure, God,” they cry. “Your Word cannot be fulfilled in the earth, so get us out of here, for You are True, oh God, only when we are dead or ‘rap(tur)ed.’”
Yet we see these very Christians, so hostile in their unbelief against the Word God speaks, as that very woman enclothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. But Revelation is not about that woman, per se, but rather about those who will cause her to be what she already is.
A Set of Metaphors. Now, because we are interpreting the vision by the mighty declarations of the gospel, we do not see it as a set of chronological events, but rather as a set of metaphors depicting the same wondrous truths. In other words, Revelation 21 and 22 are also in our immediate view regarding the COMPLETION of the gospel, right along with Revelation 11 and 12, and everything else.
For this reason, I place this verse right there inside of Revelation 12. – And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having been prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The Arising of Communities. More than that, I interpret these words, “coming down out of heaven from God” as meaning one thing, and that is Christian Communities arising all across the earth. Look back up at Ephesians 4:16. Is it not saying the same?
And then this. – Towards the preparation of the saints for the work of service, into the building up of the body of Christ, until we all come down to the unity of the faith and acknowledgement of the Son of God, into being a complete or perfect man, into the measurement of the maturity of the fullness or completion of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13). – A Bride prepared, now upon the earth.
Who Are They? Three times in John’s vision there appears a mysterious “THEY.” Each time, I put the pronoun in capital letters. A place that had been prepared for her by God, where THEY will nourish her. – And THEY overcame the accuser. – And I saw thrones and THEY sat upon them and judgment was given to THEM.
There is zero indication who “they” are. Who are “they?” – Those who will not be anywhere else. And so, even though the most important part of the Apocalypse is the Bride bringing forth Life, the vision is really about “they” and what “they” do for her.
What Do You Want? For this reason, we read between the lines, one might say, and in doing so, we find “THEM” in every aspect of John’s vision, moving behind the scenes for the sake of the Church. But who are they? We could say “whosoever will” in this way. “Whoever wants to be THEY will be.”
It was God, I know now, who offered to my understanding THEY and their role towards His people, and whether I wanted to be one of THEM. I was just a boy, 21 years old, but all I could say was, “Yes, Lord.”
Being one of THEM will cost you everything. What do you want?
Jesus’ Passion. I am writing this entire series on the assumption that you want to be one of THEM, inside of the Lord Jesus and towards His Church, more than life itself.
Here is Jesus’ passion towards us. – Feed My people with My Words; prepare a place for them. Protect My people from all accusation, even at the cost of your own souls. Judge My people into Life. Be the Mercy Seat of God towards them. – Here’s the deal; everything in this passion of Jesus towards us is found inside of one little gospel verse – And we also are committed – for the sake of our brothers and sisters.
What They Are and Do. My intention, then, in every session of this study and on every Jesus Secret page, is to bring to bear on every topic the entirety of what THEY are and do. In the remainder of this lesson, I want to set out those primary things that THEY are and do.
We will group all of these things into the three primary categories. Protect My people. Provide for My people. Be the Mercy Seat for My people. Or, we could say it this way, - Protect, by the Blood of the Lamb. Provide, by the Word of your testimony. Be the Mercy Seat, loving not your souls even to death.
From They to We. There is nothing elite about THEY. Rather, THEY are those who give their all for the sake of ALL Christians on earth. Christ Jesus is proven faithful and true as Christians on this earth become every gospel Word fulfilled, as Christians everywhere love one another with pure hearts fervently.
With the full knowledge of the costliness of our “Yes, Lord,” I intend, now, to turn the THEY into WE. This is who WE are; this is what WE do. Yet I will leave it in capital letters to indicate that those who pretend, in order to hide their expressions of contempt for others, have no place inside of “WE.”
Protect the Church. Our first task is – WE protect the Church. (In actuality, we do not see these tasks as consecutive, but rather, as all three always working together. Only in the classroom do we look at them each in turn.)
Protect the Church is at the heart of – WE are the Apocalypse –, for she is in trouble because we are exposing and casting down everything false. Some of the overcoming's are for our being prepared to protect the Church, while others are for our providing for her, and the last is our entrance into the place of judgment. Always, the Mercy Seat is at the center.
We Weep over the Church. The Lamb seated upon the throne lives inside of our hearts through faith. We speak His Words, homologia; He speaks through us, prophéteia. For this reason, WE weep over the Church. And out from our great sorrow, we engage and have engaged in a deliverance service for our brethren, breaking off the seven demon seals preventing Christians from reading Christ inside their hearts.
WE defeat the beast – even as we protect the Church. And in our defeat of the beast over the next several years, we may well experience some pretty “hairy” things, we might say, as all demons and all humans come against us.
The Blood. “By the Blood of the Lamb” is the absolute authority in which WE move. It is “one unlimited sacrifice for sins.” It is “upon firm we stand.” It is “God always leads us.” “By the Blood of the Lamb” is the sickle with which WE reap; it is the judgment by which WE judge.
Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come (Isaiah 63:2-4).
Provide for the Church. The Mercy Seat is our hearts. Protect the Church is one step forward; provide for the Church is the next step forward. This is how WE walk.
We never discount the FURY that grips the One who fills us with all of Himself, for His passion over His Church knows no bounds. Woe to all who would prevent Him. Isaiah continues in Chapter 63, “Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me.” – So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them. – He carried them. Providing for the Church begins with the word “angel.”
Sent with a Message. The Greek word angellos means, technically, a “messenger.” As such, it is similar to apostolen, one who is sent, with “carrying a message” as part of the sending.
And so the word translated “angel” does not have to mean a spiritual creature of the heavens; it can also mean anyone sent with a message, in particular the ministry of Christ to His Church. We do not discount the role of angels; rather, we understand that angels are servants only, that they are directed by the heirs of salvation. “Angel” can signify the role of Christ through us.
Golden Oil. The most important picture for us of providing for the Church is tucked away inside a most unlikely place, and you have to go from John’s vision to Zechariah’s vision to discover it. (Revelation 11 & Zechariah 4)
I will give to My two witnesses and they will prophesy… These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands, standing firm in the presence of the Lord of the earth. – Two olive trees are by [the lampstand – the Church]… – What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? – (Then, from The Message) These are the two who… supply golden lamp oil world wide.
A Pure Word. I love the meaning of the words “golden oil,” for it is to me that flow of pure, Personal Living Spirit Word flowing now through us, the Lord Jesus as the All-Speaking of God, flowing through us now in a way that, by God’s grace will light the Church on fire, enclothed with Jesus.
This is not elitism. Every minister of the gospel ought to long for and ask God for a Pure word flowing through them to the Church. And this flow of golden oil into the Church is 99% of God’s meaning for the second witness of Christ; anything else is simply to enable that oil to flow, partly by removing the “wax-in-the-ear” part of the pipes.
By the Word of Our Testimony. WE nourish the Church. WE provide a place for her. – These are the testimony of THEY. This place provided is the Age of Tabernacles, flowing now out from our shared life with God and with one another; thus WE are Tabernacles, and WE measure Christ Community. WE are the Word of God, and Rivers flow out from US.
“By the word of our testimony” is the ministry of Christ through us to His people. It is the flow of a PURE Word through us to His beloved Church. WE are the Covenant, the only quality of our hearts.
Be the Mercy Seat. And at the center of that heart is – Be the Mercy Seat for My people. – Share with Me in My sufferings, that the Church of Jesus Christ might walk free. This is the throne of God, the Lamb sharing that throne with us. It is the seat of Mercy; it is our hearts.
This is the Lamb through US. WE marry the Bride, drawing her out from the place of prostitution – no one left in [the harlot]. – By this we have known love, in that He set forth His soul for us, AND WE ALSO are committed to setting forth our souls for our brothers and sisters.
Faithful and True. The sanctuary of God inside of heaven was opened, and the ark of His Covenant was seen inside of His sanctuary. For the Church, for the sake of the Church. Why? – Because if the Word that is Jesus does not come to all Completion in the lives of humans inside this present realm of folly, then God never did tell the truth.
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. – The “Let it be so; it is so,” the faithful and True witness. – He who sat on him was called faithful and True. – Write, for these words are True and faithful. – These words are faithful and True. Jesus proven TRUE eliminates all that is false.
They – unto Death. “THEY loved not their souls unto death” is not referencing any physical death, but rather, our willingness to be the Love of Jesus through us. It is the meaning of “Yes, Lord.”
God has sent us to call forth and to marry a harlot. We receive her just as Jesus receives us; we love her just as Jesus loves us. This is a costly love. “THEY loved not their souls unto death” is – WE inside of God. It is WE are seized into God and into His throne. It is – WE sit in judgment.
We Are Part of Her. Now, I also want to point out something critical to our seeing. At no point are WE “separate” from the Church. You and I are in as much need of protection, provision, and mercy as any Christian on earth.
WE are members of that woman clothed with the sun, even as WE cast down the accuser for her sake. WE are members of that arising Jerusalem, even as WE prepare a place for her. And WE KNOW God our Father as all the meaning of our own Salvation even as WE judge that same Salvation upon all our brothers and sisters.
She Is the Job. Watch the first 56 seconds of this trailer for “The Crown.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPOGijPiukU – “That’s why it’s so important to have the right person by your side.” “You understand, the titles, they are not the job. She is the job. Loving her. Protecting her. She is the essence of your duty.”
– The Church of Jesus Christ now upon the earth. A woman clothed with the sun, screaming to bring forth LIFE.
What a Man Can Do. So, let’s go back to our original question. – How do we make use of John’s vision in the task given to us by God?
God has given to us two things we can do. We can believe that He is telling us the truth, demonstrated by the speaking of our testimony. And we can pray for our fellow believers. If we had any other abilities, then God might have had something else for us “to do.” But not having other abilities, we will do what we are able. We CAN speak for the sake of the Church. We CAN refuse contempt for her sake. We CAN expect God to arise.
By My Spirit. “‘Not by outward strength nor by inward fortitude, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of [Abundance]. You will [complete Christ Community] to shouts of ‘God bless it with all FAVOR!’” (Zechariah 4:6-7 – modified).
It is the Spirit alone who accomplishes all things out from God and us together. What does the Spirit need from us? The Devoted Spirit needs our active TRUST. The Spirit needs our devotion. “God BLESS the fulfillment of Christ in His Church, right here on this earth, right now in this age.” We believe for all; we TRUST for all.
Tabernacles & Joy. I want to leave this topic, as we enter into the Apocalypse, with one more way of seeing. In every step we take, in every thought we think and word we speak, the Age of Tabernacles has begun and we are directing its outflow as it spreads itself across the whole earth, unnoticed by most at first.
Then, we keep one thing before our eyes, just as Jesus did. – Looking with purpose into Jesus, the source and the completion of our faith, who, looking instead at the joy and delight set before Him [the Church] endured the cross, thinking nothing of the shame, and sat down inside of the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
Our Jerusalem. WE have our eyes set on Joy and Delight, our New Jerusalem, thousands of Christian Communities arising among all lands on earth. This is where my eyes have been set since I was 21 years old. I will not be turned aside.
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. – For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns (Isaiah 62).
– Let’s light the Church on FIRE!
A Vision of Purity. Today, as we are sharing this word in the Zoom fellowship, is December 18, right at the beginning of the Feast of Dedication. I am convinced that God is fulfilling these things now throughout His Church, and that He is moving by our prayers. We do not imagine that we are the only ones through whom God is moving; we simply place ourselves in God with all our hearts.
I want to share the Annie vision that I have quoted most often, even though this is extra. This vision is talking about us. The Wave of Pure Light: Annie Schissler (reduced to save space.)
While being just dedicated to love and worship Him again, He snatched me towards the spheres of light. When He receives me in His presence, He invariably does it with those ineffable words that bring such peace and so deep security; He tells me: “DO NOT BE AFRAID.”
With tremendous strength and demonstration of purpose, The Lord talked to me about a great “now” when He would be gathering multitudes of souls. In contrast with His chosen in whom He had been performing a profound work, this new operation would be carried out in a completely exposed way and with great clarity.
God showed me a new and extraordinary wave of heavenly pure light and life that He is accumulating to prepare the manifestation of the Great Harvest that will develop underneath the storm of evil which is forming. He told me that He would not wait or retain this wave anymore, but that He would proceed to manifest it because His great “now” had come. While being released by Him, it would flow over the earth, returning multitudes of souls to the fold.
This new wave, full of powers and forces of light and life, was His instrument and had a double function: one opened as the incision of a sharp sword, and the other penetrated and went through beyond all defense and accomplished what God had proposed.
More about the wave of light in this new occasion the Lord told me: “you will see now”, and immediately I looked and I saw a new and mighty pure wave of power that had begun to work under that terrible storm of darkness of evil and persecution. While the storm of darkness still followed its course, this new wave of so pure light and life that had been prepared for this hour, suddenly started to expand in an explosive and magnificent way.
He showed me how this new wave operated: there were like gigantic arms that collected in an increasing scale countless multitudes of souls for Christ. In amazing operations of God, in great power and strength, thousands and millions were taken for Him.
However, there were differences between the levels and conditions of these souls that the wave of light had reaped regarding the elect ones who walked above the storm. The elect ones were obviously superior in development and light, but despite their inferior condition, the souls that gathered under the storm were more numerous and were equally precious to the Lord and He was especially interested in the harvest of this multitude. With great joy and power He was intensively working to fulfill this.
The inferior condition of the new ones was detectable not by their appearance, but by their relationship with God. Those who walked above the storm had a very intimate relationship with Him, characterized by a great intensity, as if they were linked with the same fires and torrents of the divine nature. When the new ones took abundant blessings from God, it was due to the fact that they rebounded from His chosen ones. The blessing of one had an impact as a blessing for another one.
Clearly the operation of God in this wave of light developed in the chosen ones through the purity and the holiness. This wave of pure light was working in the midst of great darkness underneath the storm. He showed me an especially terrible and gloomy area that offered no promise, where the wave had not reached yet.
Then He made me see that this light would expand in places where it had never been before and where the darkness had reigned without opposition. These places were many and were awaiting the manifestation of this work.
He said that He would take this marvelous wave of light and life to a certain state of development – up to the same threshold of its explosion. Although He desired this wave to burst in this explosive force of purity, something was still missing for this to happen. The moment of the explosion would be precipitated and lit by the elect ones who were above the storm.
Each one of them individually had to open as if it were a door inside them, and they also had to enter an even higher place of communication with Christ, which at the same time, would open their inner doors to the manifestation in great power of this force of light.
While opening these doors, that great wave of light would pass through them and would start to accomplish its purposes and works over the land of the final harvest. Although this wave, full of extreme power and force to the reaping, would gather multitudes, it would however gradually and progressively advance, taking its territory as long as the chosen ones moved forward and opened the doors to the new ones.
The ones who were under the storm, though they received great provision of light and life that God shed, nonetheless they were allowed to be moved, shaken and buffeted. However, through this, it would be provided the way in which the Lord would mold, transform and develop them. On the contrary, those who were above the storm of darkness, that is, the elect ones could not be shaken as they were rooted and asserted in their relationship with Christ
He told me that these sons that would give way to this new wave, must be extremely purified. This purification is of fundamental importance, not only for themselves, but also for these new ones that will be gathered. This high, complete purification of the elect ones is equivalent to the opening of the doors inside them that will rebound in a force of great life and light to those thousands that are still in darkness.
Rooted and Asserted. “These sons… must be extremely purified.” “Extreme” purification is one thing only. That one thing is that we give ourselves to God, on a regular basis, in all that we find ourselves to be, but ESPECIALLY all that we might consider to be “wrong.” And in so doing, we receive all that is God into all our human selves, that He shares our lives with us. – Rooted and asserted into Christ.
Having crafted through Himself the full cleansing away of all falling short (Hebrews 1:3). – No sufficiency in ourselves. We place all our anything ONLY upon God, and we give ourselves to Him – for the sake of His Church.
Reading for Next Time. In our next lesson, we return to a completion of Studies in John’s Letters, Lesson 15 “Definitions for John’s Vision.” If you feel ambitious, read all of 1, 2, and 3 John for the next Zoom meeting. That’s only seven pages in my regular Bible. But as you read, think about things we need to know before entering a study of Revelation.
For all who have been conceived out from God overcome the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who then is the one who overcomes the world, if not the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Let’s Pray Together. Right at this moment, the Feast of Dedication begins. This is the moment of the lighting of the fires that are the Church inside the determination of God.
“God, our Father, we stand upon FIRM, here, inside of You. God, inside the Covenant You have made with us, and inside the oath which You have sworn, we stand rooted and asserted into all the passion of Jesus in us for His Church.
“God, our Father, look upon Your Church, our Jerusalem, Your people scattered all across the earth, all whom You have given to Jesus, millions of believers in every place. God, she is Yours.”
“God, we give You no rest, we will not be silent, until You have made the Church of Jesus Christ upon this earth to be a praise among all nations, the very revelation of Christ. Father, this is Your hour. This very moment the Feast of Dedication begins, the lighting of the Lampstand inside Your presence.
“Father, You dwell in our hearts; You have placed Your Word into our mouths. We speak for You, Oh God. Use the authority You have given to us to become seen and known. God, LIGHT YOUR CHURCH ON FIRE. God, enclothe Your Church, millions of believers in Jesus across the planet, with the Lord Jesus Christ, and light her on fire as the sun shining in its strength.
“Father, let a pure Word, the Lord Jesus, flow out from our hearts, through our mouths, into all who call upon Your Name. Let that flow of golden oil be utterly pure. God, You have made us pure, for we have placed ourselves utterly in all our humanity into the Lord Jesus, into Your Presence, and we are seated now upon Your Mercy Seat.
“God, Your people are sleep-walking into death. They have polluted themselves with this world, a world that burns with their destruction. They have refused to enter into Your Salvation, preferring to clothe themselves with accusation. God, our Father, just as Jesus loves us, so we love them. Just as Jesus gave Himself to You that You might join together with us, so we also do the same for them.
“God, our Father, arise, together with us, that we might go together among our people breaking off all the accusation and all the death-deceit of a false gospel that prevents them from seeing Christ written upon their hearts.
“God, our Father, be through us that flow of pure and Personal, Living Spirit Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, flowing as golden oil into the knowledge of all whom You have given to Jesus. Let there be an abundance of oil for all, Your Devoted Spirit poured out, and in every vessel regardless, causing all Your people to know that Jesus alone is their life, that Christ is all that they are.
“God, LIGHT YOUR CHURCH ON FIRE.”