40. We Nourish the Church

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The primary opposition to how I am teaching Revelation comes from the rejection of a critical part of Paul’s gospel. Paul taught that former Judeans and former Gentiles are one new man inside of Christ, that they are one body together, with all that was former removed by the cross.

Many Christians today claim that this is not true, but that the inheritance belongs to the natural Jew accompanied by a “Jesus” on the outside of them. Yet when I inserted that claim into my list of seven deadly attachments in the last lesson, “Refusing the Inheritance,” I realized that the larger issue is far more important.

Who Cares about the Church? Here is the sign of one who is sent of God. – Besides these outer things, the tumult coming on me every day, my care for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28).

People want to be “manifest sons of God.” They aspire to a “manchild experience” that raises them into spiritual superiority. They look for outward signs of demonstration. But who cares about the Church? People will tell you how much they “care about Africa,” but who cares about Christians as one body together? Who will give their hearts and their lives to God for the sake of “all those Christians out there?”

Faithful in Little. Yet it does not begin with “all those Christians out there.” Jesus is very clear – He who is faithful in little will be given responsibility over much. A pastor who faithfully cares for those whom God has given him inside of what he knows is beloved of God.

But God did not give me the skills or abilities to shepherd; He gave me a care over His Word. And He has thus far kept me in an isolated place, against my desire, partly that I might keep the Word joined to the entire Church of Christ. Only those who carry responsibility for Church and Kingdom inside their hearts, sharing the Heart of Jesus with Father, will then care enough to set creation free.

Caring for the Church. “Caring for the lost” instead of caring for other Christians is a false responsibility designed by those who pretend (except for those few who have been given that anointing). All who belong to Jesus will come to Him. And – God has composed the body… that the members might have the same anxious care for one another (1 Corinthians 12).

This lesson is about caring for the Church, that is, allowing Jesus to share His Heart with us, that we might assume responsibility over the entire inheritance. Inside of the Kingdom this has nothing to do with “taking power,” but everything to do with sharing Hheart with God.

Our Text. Here are our lines for this lesson, merged and expanded.

Having brought forth the manchild, the woman was given two wings of a great eagle so that she could fly, and she escaped [from the dragon] into a desolate wilderness where she found her place, a place prepared for her by God, where THEY, her sons, will nourish her for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, for a time, times, and half a time, away from the face and presence of the serpent. – [Even] the earth quickly rescued the woman…

– THEY will nourish her. – The ministry of Christ will give all that is needed for the sustenance of a Church clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Page. I want to go through our lines point by point, followed by our speaking LIFE into a Church that has not known life. Thus we will have three definitional boxes on our Jesus Secret page, first “Who Are THEY,” then “A Place Prepared,” and “Desolate & to Nourish.” Our final box, “Speaking Life into the Church” will be a bit larger.

As I have begun to write this lesson, the Lord has arisen three times inside of me with understanding. I now know that the missionary call I heard when I was 21, to nourish her there, God has fulfilled in a way I never knew. Thus, I have just added another lesson for Revelation 12, otherwise I would have had too much for this lesson.

Those Who Trust. Everything in John’s vision until now, everything we have studied, has been to enable us to know who THEY are. And yet, God has turned my understanding into a direction I had not considered, thus we must have the next lesson, “Sacrifice, Wood, and Lamb,” for Abraham offering Isaac on Mt. Moriah must be found at the center of any Completion that is God’s.

We will draw from prior lessons to write the box, “Who Are THEY,” but we will turn it in this direction. THEY are those who first trust in God. THEY are those who give God all, living only inside of Him.

Who Are THEY? They are those who cast down the accuser for the sake of the Church and who provide for her during her hour of greatest need. Through faith and through desire, we are THEY. We trust utterly in the Father, that we live only inside of Him and that God shares all with us. We rejoice in our human weakness, knowing that the ability of Jesus rests upon us. We share with Jesus a Hheart given to Father for the sake of all Christians. We see all by the Blood; we speak Christ into all; we set forth our souls for the sake of our brethren.

The Wilderness. Sam Fife believed and taught that “the wilderness” in which a place would be prepared was a literal wilderness, hence the remote locations where the move communities were planted. Our purpose was to be a place prepared in the wilderness for God’s people in their hour of need. This is what we believed and that for which we gave our lives. Sadly, this view faded into the background when we turned to “defeat sin first, know life someday.” But the essence of our lives in the wilderness communities was to learn how to live from the land that we might teach it to others. Our impediment was the expectation that “they” would “submit to the covering” first. “They” never came.

The Source of Supply. Our reasoning was the same as what I hold today, that in her hour of travail, the Church will need a source of supply that is not from the beast system of this world. And our expectation was that this source of supply would need to be both physical from the earth and spiritual from the opening of the windows of heaven. Miracles and the expectation of miracles, God with us, were as normal in that fellowship as eating together.

I believe that Sam Fife was right, except for his directive to make the communities as remote as possible. There is no longer any point in that; modern surveillance sees all.

God’s Goal. The harsh reality of being cut off from buying and selling has arisen in the present time and is increasing. How will you eat when you can no longer buy your food from the grocery store? This is real, and it is upon us. Yet if Christians had to suddenly get their food from their own land instead of the grocery store, most would starve.

And so we expect supernatural provision as well, as the manna in the wilderness, and as the multiplying of the fish and loaves. God’s goal is Christian Communities in rural settings, however, and so the land is as important as the heavens.

Placing Sacrifice. She found her place, a place prepared for her by God.

The mission in the move of God to be a place prepared has faded away and has little relevance for the Church today. That does not mean to say that God will not use many of those remaining today in the wilderness communities for specific purposes. He most certainly will. Jesus lives as all, and guides all into His proving of Himself. He does what He wills with His own, and He asks no man’s pleasure. Jesus does all things well.

But Sam Fife – and God – placed the sacrifice of Abraham to God at the heart of our mission in that fellowship. And God has now shown me why.

The Real Place to Live. She found her place, a place prepared for her by God.

There are many rooms in which to dwell inside My Father’s house; if not, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, then I am already coming and will receive you towards Myself, that where I AM, you also might be. –  In that day you will know that I AM inside of My Father.

The best expression of this “place” in the Old Testament is Psalm 91 – converted to speaking Christ. “I dwell in the secret place of the Most High; I abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The Lord is my refuge and fortress; I trust in my God. – I have made the Most High my dwelling place.”

God Is Sacrifice. This place prepared, a place where Christians have refused to enter, is to dwell inside of God our Father – absolutely. “Going to” heaven someday, drawing near to the holiest, these things are the refusal to dwell now inside of God.

God is Sacrifice. – For God loves the world-cosmos such that He gave His Son, His Only-Seed. To dwell in God is to dwell in Sacrifice, as Abraham did. To share Hheart with God is to give all for the sake of our Christian brethren. This shared Hheart is the place prepared. – If anyone should see his brother… he will ask, and God will give him life for [him] (1 John 5:16).

All Practicality. The smallness of the room into which Jesus has carried me is that it is all-Sacrifice. The vastness of the room into which Jesus has carried me is that it is all-God. I now know Psalm 91, not as hope, but as my only dwelling place. For the first time in my life, I trust in God.

This is the heart of that place Jesus prepares for His people, but out from that heart comes all practicality. God’s people NEED to return to the land in Community; we take them there. God’s people need bread and fish multiplied; we give them all that they need. God’s people need LIFE; we give Life to them.

Mighty Things. I have suggested that we will alter circumstances on this earth and among human affairs that will draw a mighty wall between the dragon/beast and God’s people. I thought that I might write about such scenarios, but now faced with doing that, I realize that I would be crossing a line into science fiction and not into Life. We are led always by the Spirit, and such mighty things will come in specific moments and for specific circumstances out from that Spirit in whom we dwell. As we will see in the next lesson, our seeing in every step we take with God comes out from and is backed by the absolute vastness of the Blood of the Lamb.

A Place Prepared. The place Jesus has prepared for His Church is to live inside of the Father, and inside His "secret place," that is, His Heart. As we share Hheart with God, so our hearts, filled with Jesus, are that same place. Yet this is a place of provision as well, to meet the needs of our brethren free from the dragon and the beast. Out from our expectation of God, we give to our brethren all that is needed, both material things and the life of God through us. Our sacrifice inside of God enables them to know Christ living as them as well. 

No Sufficiency in Self. The word translated “wilderness” means also, a desolation, that is, a place with no life. Then we see that in this place with no life comes all provision and nourishment. And, in fact, Israel’s journey through the wilderness gives us that very picture. One of the prophets used the picture of the two wings of an eagle as how God brought His people out of Egypt.

What God is doing and is about to do towards His Church in our day is far greater and far more important. He gave us the Exodus so that we might know God through us today. “Wilderness” means no sufficiency in self, but only Christ. “Provision” means all that is Christ, including Community.

Desolate. Desolate (noun – Webster’s 1926): 1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited. 2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; in a condition of neglect. 3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.

It is the absolute acceptance that “I” CANNOT, that Jesus must, that is, as we are learning, the open Door for God. I cannot say, “Yes, Lord,” to His directive, but I can say, “Jesus, You must carry me through.” I cannot say, “No,” to what I want in this world, but I can say, “Jesus, You must save me.” I cannot be towards God what I must be, but I can say, “Jesus, You are my all.”

No sufficiency or ability in self.

Provision - Prepared. Let me just summarize Webster’s. Provision is primarily food or anything needed for sustenance and survival, prepared beforehand and ready for the need. Then, to prepare, or preparation, is to make everything ready, to have everything in place, whether equipment or supplies, or to be ready mentally; to fit or adapt, to make usable; to put things in order.

It is evident that we have nothing outward or material for millions of Christians. What they need outwardly must come from garden soil and an open heavens. But we are prepared inside of the expectation of God, for God has made us so.

To Nourish. Nourish (Webster’s 1926): 1. To bring up; to rear; nurture; cherish; also, to nurse or suckle. 3. To furnish or sustain with nutriment, or with means of support and increase; to supply with whatever promotes growth, development, etc., or keeps in good health; to feed; foster; maintain; support; sustain.

As you can see, these are Paul words used to speak of Christians together. This is the heart of the Church. – 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).

A Word Stored Up. These definitions confirm that God does not mean for us to be “the providers.” Everything God’s people need must come through Jesus inside of them and through their relationship together as the Body of Christ. Yet what God has given to us is to know His Word by the Spirit and as the Lord Jesus, a Word fulfilled in the Church. And thus, the picture of Joseph storing up grain for the time of famine, Joseph tried by the Word until his time came, also came with the calling “to nourish her there.”

I will know YOU, my Father, and I will walk with a people who KNOW you.

Desolate – To Nourish (From Websters 1926). The wilderness means a desolate place containing no life. Yet in this place of desolation comes God's provision and nourishment for His people. We have no sufficiency in ourselves; Jesus alone is our all. Out from this “lack” comes all the provision of God. That provision is prepared beforehand, ready for the hour of need. God's people gain their sustenance from the garden soil and from the open heavens; it is the expectation of God that we give. The Church lives and grows by the sharing of every part. We show them what that means. Yet it is the abundance of Word above all, pure, Personal, and ready, which we give.

Speaking Life into Death. In a dream, I was speaking life into the Church. When I awoke, I knew that the Spirit was directing this lesson, and I saw Ezekiel 37, speaking life into a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel 37 is too long to include all here, so I will give only the essential part. The whole picture is critical for us, however, so I would suggest that you study the chapter.

I was told once by a Christian Jew that this story was for the natural Jews and not for the Church. It’s amazing how desperate some are to split apart what Jesus joined together. Nonetheless, with that argument in mind, shortly after, I was reading Paul bringing this very verse into HIS GOSPEL and directing it towards the Church!!!

From Ezekiel 37. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived… – ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land” ’ (Ezekiel 37:9-14).

The Gathering Together. In Ezekiel’s vision, this speaking of life had two parts. Ezekiel spoke first, and the dry bones gathered together. But they were not yet filled with life. Then he spoke again towards the same breath of God that formed mankind, and life came into the Body now standing upon the earth. We speak the gathering together into Christian Community first, and then we speak LIFE into that gathering.

Notice also that this gathering is “upon the land,” and that “the earth” eagerly helps the woman clothed with Jesus. I now see this as two things together, spirit and physic, our authority entering into the creation and the earth itself, bringing forth a garden of provision in community.

A Real Exodus. I am searching for an outline to guide our speaking of life into the Church. I want it to be fresh to the present, and not just a repeat of much good-speaking thus far.

I am convinced we are looking at a real Exodus of the Church out from Babylon and into Christ Community under the covering of a corporate ministry, a real gathering together and a real coming alive. Consider that the Exodus, from Moses’ entrance into Egypt, to the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army, was less than eight weeks’ time. Consider how dramatically God got everyone’s attention.

A Dim Shadow. I am seeing more and more just how much “die and go to heaven” has ripped the guts right out of God’s reality and placed Christians into a fog of nothingness regarding a real fulfilment of the gospel on this planet.

To speak LIFE into the Church is to break the covenant Christians have made with death and to remove it entirely from their minds. To speak LIFE into the Church is to bring millions of Christians into Gospel reality, into Christ Community, into the Kingdom of God already NOW.

The Exodus was a dim shadow of what is about to break now upon this planet.

Speaking Life into the Church. Come out from Her, My People: We speak to all who love Jesus and His appearing as His Church. You are in this world because the earth belongs to you, but you do not belong to the world. You belong to Jesus alone and to the unfolding of His Kingdom. Come out from not knowing Jesus as He is; come out from your dependence on the system. The staff of this world is broken, and all who trust in human government will perish.

Be Gathered Together Unto Christ: Christ is a many-membered body; Christ is the gathering together. You know Jesus as you know one another; you are the Salvation of God together. Together, you are the Father's House, the place Jesus has prepared for you. All the provision that you need is found in the effective sharing from each member of your local fellowship. The Church is God's order and God's supply. Christ Community is where you belong.

Live with All the Life of God: We have asked God for Life that we might give Life to our brothers and sisters. Be filled with Jesus, for Jesus is your life; you have no other life. And Jesus makes you just like Himself towards God and towards your brethren. You are filled with all the fulness of God and rivers of Spirit flow out from you. You dwell inside of God and God dwells inside of your togetherness, right here on this earth, right now in this age. The covenant you have made with death is broken. Jesus is not found "in heaven," but in the Spirit inside His Church. Life, the Life of God Himself fills you to overflowing. Jesus proves Himself true through your love for one another.

The Remainder of Our Study. The remainder of our study, now, is about this great Exodus, and the planting of the New Jerusalem across the whole earth, the formation of the Age of Tabernacles. The negative parts are very much part of this picture, the blocking and cutting away of all that destroys and is false. – These things cannot enter here. – You shall not pass. – Come out of her, My people. –

Before we can enter the remainder of our study, however, we must return once again to our ruling verse, for I now see something so wondrous, so beyond all, in our three actions of faith. I see the very ENTRANCE of God.

Reading for Next Time. I find that the Spirit is not finished with Revelation 12:11, for this is the hour of its completion, and we must know its depths inside of us inside of God. The next lesson is now titled, “Sacrifice, Wood, and Lamb.” To prepare for it, I would suggest that you read back through two recent lessons, “We Defeat the Accuser,” and this one, “We Nourish the Church.”

Notice first that wood is a metaphor of the Word made flesh and second, the altered layout of our three actions of faith. Let’s re-word our verse to fit. – And they gave themselves to the Father as a living sacrifice, as the Word made flesh, and as the Lamb through them, and the accuser fled away.

Let’s Pray Together. “Father, we know that You hear our prayers for Your Church and that You have answered us. We know that our Words of Life are spoken into the heavens, and that they are filled with the Life of Your Spirit towards Your people.

“Father, You have given Yourself to us inside of the Lord Jesus, and we give ourselves to You inside of Him as well. Father, our every next step flows out from the Life we share together, enveloping all things inside of Your Love.

“Father, we have no love for a separated self in this world, hostile against You. Rather, our souls are Christ Jesus, whom we give to You as a living sacrifice for the sake of others. God, the Door is open; we see You coming through.”