61. The Witness of Christ

Covering Revelation Chapter 7:9 through 11:

The ministry of Christ given for the sake of the Church is growing very large by the Flow of Gospel Word through John’s Vision. This is the metaphor of a crystal, that the Church can become only out from and in line with a ministry of Christ who live and walk just like Jesus, giving themselves to the Father for her sake.

Now that I am working with the Flow of Gospel Word through John’s vision, I see the patterns more clearly. I would now place Revelation 8:1 as the ending of the “spiral” regarding the opening of the Scroll, and then Revelation 8:2 through 11:19 as another “spiral,” this time as the meaning of the call. “Witness” and “Caller,” “prophesy” and “call forth,” these are interchangeable terms.

Concentric Visions. I am finding that to know the Flow of Gospel Word, it is important for us to know how each writer thinks. When considering the series of topics that make up John’s vision, or set of visions, it is Ezekiel’s vision of wheels inside of wheels that comes to mind, a series of concentric visions.

In other words, we are seeing the same topics, just in differing ways. Yet these concentric circles are not “neatly divided,” just as they also exist in John’s gospel and letters. John writes in truths overlapping truths, Life coming out from Life. Thus, we could see the trumpets as a smaller spiral inside the opening of the Scroll, that is, the opening of what is written upon the Church, that the blowing of the trumpets are not for calling forth evil, but rather, calling forth the Church out from death.

Placing the Call. Evil is certainly the setting into which the call is spoken, but the Call is to Life. Thus the seven calls to “Come – out of her, My people,” are the same as the blowing of the trumpets.

But Chapter 7 comes in-between, because God wants us to KNOW the full meaning of the firstfruits of Christ sealed into the ministry of Christ to the Church, and that wondrous Church, beyond count, that comes out from great Travail. The two parts of Chapter 7, then, firstfruits sealed and a great multitude, are together in the same way that the woman clothed with Jesus and THEY are together in Chapter 12. Thus we also take everything from Revelation 8:2 to 11:19 as pointing towards and preparing for the greatest expression of Life and Love, Revelation 12, the Church bringing forth Life and that ministry who loves her and calls her into Joy.

Out of Great Travail. (Chapter 7) 13 One of the elders said to me, “These who have been enclothed with white robes, who are they and from where have they come?” 14 And I said to him, “My Lord, you know.” And he said to me, • “These are those who are coming out of great travail [pressures within and without]. They have washed their robes and made them white inside the blood of the Lamb. 15 Because they have done this, they are inside the presence of the throne of God and serve him day and night inside His temple. The One who sits upon the throne will tabernacle, will pitch His tent over them, and dwell among them.

This is a description of the Church as she is now; it is not what happens someday when we go to a “place” wrongly called “heaven.” You know what, it now dawns on me that the entirety of these three verses is just another way to say Ruling Verse 6, Hebrews 10:19-22, inside of God, now devoted to His Desire.

Inside of God. Consider also that “the great travail” and “screaming to give birth,” in Chapter 12, are the same thing. And both clearly reference 2 Corinthians 1, etc., our suffering for others.

13-15 Ruling Verse 6: Revelation 7:13-15 is NOT a description of a “place” called “heaven” to which we “go” someday. It is clearly a visionary expression, in full, of Hebrews 10:19-22, that is, the Gospel. We have entered into God already through Jesus as the Way consecrated by Blood. Now, here inside of God, sharing all things with God is the normal Christian life.

14 Definition: The travail of the Spirit through the Church as the means of bringing forth Life into creation, although it fills the Scriptures, is unknown among Christians. The Gospel does not predict a “great tribulation”; rather, it assumes travail, pressures within and without, as God with us for others.

Father at Home. • 17 The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and He will guide them to living fountains of waters. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Again, this is not “someday.” This is a visionary expression of John 4 & 20, springs of living water bubbling up from Father at Home in our hearts. Why are the tears wiped away? Because knowing Father at Home in our hearts is all we ever wanted.

17 Ruling Verses 2 & 3: “Christ lives in our hearts through faith” and “the Lamb in the midst of the throne” are the same thing. “He will guide them to living fountains of waters,” and “the water that I will give him will become inside of him a spring of water bubbling up” (John 4:14) are the same. Only one thing removes our sorrow, Father at home in our hearts (see John 14:23). This is NOW, the normal Christian life.

Hand on Mouth. (Chapter 8) • 1 Then, when the Lamb removed the seventh seal, there was silence inside of heaven for about half an hour.

Hand on mouth – hold your peace – shut up – be silent before Me. Let the cacophony of your fake story of self, screaming always against the good-speaking of Jesus sustaining you, CEASE. This is the final removal, the removal of that great devil who first accused God of knowing evil, the belly of hades vomiting forth every screaming accusation of pain against our Father, that His Word is not True, that God LIES!

This silence, then, corresponds with Jesus “going silent upon the cross,” as the first creation ceasing because it is no longer spoken. And the half-hour signifies a “brief space” ere the Resurrection, which is the speaking of the New Creation forever.

Silencing Accusation. I need to restart my computer every few days because the RAM gets “buggy,” that is, the code gets confused. I learned that “restart” is better than off-on, because off-on doesn’t really turn it off, whereas “restart” gives a momentary (half hour) hard stop before sending the code back in anew. In August of 1996, I closed my mouth, refusing all accusation against others, against God, and against myself. In August of 2006, the flow of True word out from God began. Those ten years are, to me now, a brief time, even a “half-hour.”

8:1 Definition: For six thousand years, humans and angels have been screaming accusation against God that He lies, that His Word, the Lord Jesus, is neither faithful nor True. This accusation is personal and against the good-speaking of Jesus sustaining each. The accusation of the serpent, that “God knows evil,” is the underlying foundation of Nicene theology.

Healing God’s Pain. In the last lesson, I mentioned that when I hear lies being spoken out from the Bible by those who pretend to be “Bible teachers,” it still frightens me to the core. This is but a dim shadow of the great pain borne by God, now shared with me. You see, to lie against the Truth, as the serpent first did in the garden, is to bring horrific ruin into everything God has spoken out from Himself, everything He loves. “Father, forgive them” heals God’s pain; it is the Song of the Lamb.

1 Ruling Verse 4: God alone removes contempt from our hearts through teaching us to give thanks inside of and for the sake of all things. Our thanksgiving, extended as forgiveness to all who offend us, heals God’s pain. Jesus brought the old creation to silence upon the cross, yet the cacophony continues. It is only silence (see Romans 3:19) that allows anyone to hear the New Creation alone (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

The Setting of the Call. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand firm and established in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them. • 3 Another angel came and stood at the golden altar, having a censer, and much incense was given to him, which he will offer with the prayers of all the devoted ones upon the golden altar before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God with the prayers of the devoted ones, out of the hand of the angel. • 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it out from the fire of the altar and cast it into the earth; and there were thunders, noises, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Verses 3-4 are clearly Hebrews 10, which makes Verse 5 to be the going forth out from the throne, or Ruling Verse 7. This is the setting for the seven angels, the ministry of Christ, who stand upon FIRM, and their CALL into the Church.

Our Prayers Right Now. I now see through these verses that the elements of the heavenly tabernacle are as it is with the Veil gone; that is, the presence of the throne, the Mercy Seat, extends itself out over the entire Church gathered near. Notice that these devoted ones are UPON, not UNDER, the altar of incense. The smoke of the incense does not “enter” through the veil, for there is no veil. Everything is turned around. These are our prayers for the Church right now, and they are impacting the entirety of heaven-earth.

3-4 Ruling Verses 5 & 6: Verses 3-4 are a depiction of the real Tabernacle in the Spirit. The Veil is “not there” from the human perspective, for it has become the flesh of Christ including us into Himself. Thus everything is “turned around,” and our prayers now synergeo with God.

Compel Them to Come. This visionary picture of the Gospel being given to John ties Ruling Verses 6 & 7, receiving from God and going forth into every place, with Ruling Verse 9, our ministry, calling forth the many to run into God. This is a visionary expression of Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast, “Compel them to come in.” Our prayers right now are setting the stage for the sounding of the trumpets calling God’s people into Tabernacles.

5 Ruling Verse 7: The fire from the altar cast into the earth is the impact of our faith, refined by fire (see 1 Peter 1:6-7), upon Christians. This is the power of the Gospel going forth.

2-5 Ruling Verse 9: This visionary picture of the calling of the trumpets with the impact of our prayers inside the heavens entering the Church is our ministry, as Jesus said, “Compel them to come in,” into the Feast of Tabernacles.

To War and to Journey. • 6 And the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound their trumpets.

Okay, the Flow of Gospel Word has simplified all these things with clarity. The meaning of the trumpet is clear in Scripture. The trumpet is a loud call that can be heard clearly by all. There are two purposes for the trumpet call, first is the call to war and second is the call to journey. This fits exactly. The call to war is the action of the overcomers to obtain victory for God’s people, and the call to journey is “Come out of (Egypt) and run into (the Promised Land).”

Clearly, the trumpets are a further expansion of the meaning of removing the seals. Then we add what we first saw in The Apocalypse Now, that destruction is NOT what is called; rather, the destruction is the prostitute, out from which we call God’s people.

Called into Life. Now, the Gospel meaning of the Trumpet Call is proven by two references. The first is the direct connection between the seventh trumpet being sounded in Chapter 11, its definition in Chapter 10 as “the mystery fulfilled,” and its description by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Look and see, I tell you a mystery. We will not all die; we all, however, will be changed – in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised unable to decay, and we will be changed.

The second reference is John 5:25. The hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. And John 11:43-44, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” …The one who had been dead came out… Jesus said to them, “Release him and allow him to go.”

The Trumpet Call. Also consider this. Somehow, God’s people have to see their “comfort zone” destroyed before they will realize they are living in a bad place, inside the harlot, before they will run out from their false story into a Call they are just now hearing. 

6 Definition & Ruling Verse 4: Trumpets in Scripture were the call sounded, sometimes to war, and sometimes to journey. The Gospel Comments for Revelation 11:15, the sounding of the seventh trumpet, must then apply to every one of these first six trumpet calls. All seven trumpet calls are the ministry of Christ to the Church, breaking accusation, calling God’s people out from the deceit of the prostitute, that they might run into Jesus, that they might be clothed only with Him.

6 Ruling Verse 9: As the “comfort zone” in which our brethren remain, not knowing the Gospel, is shattered, so we give ourselves to God for their sake, that they might run into Joy.

No More Delay. (Chapter 10) 6 And swore inside of the One who lives into the unfolding of the ages, who created heaven with the things inside of it, earth with the things inside of it, and the sea with the things inside of it, “There will be no more delay! • 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be completed as He Himself declared to His servants, the prophets.”

We have already delineated the meaning of 10:7 in the explanation of the sounding of the trumpets. Here we want the completion of the mystery of God, the Jesus Secret. I cannot add a comment on “the seven thunders” because I have not been given a “thus saith the Lord.” My earlier suggestion that those are the seven principles of completion is strengthened, however, by the Flow of Gospel Word.

Every Word Fulfilled. The first principle of completion is the most important overall, which is “Every Word Fulfilled.” I do want to fit that into my comment on the meaning of the completion.

7 Definition: The Completion of the mystery of God is the fulfillment of the Gospel, Christ inside of us, written as every Word God speaks. It is the Completion of the Jesus Secret, Christ having become our own speaking. Central to this Completion is every Word of the Gospel fulfilled in our lives on this earth. This Completion comes out from Jesus’ great ability inside of us and shows itself as Love in the Church.

7 Kingdom: This seventh Call is defined clearly by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. The first part of the Kingdom made visible is our physical bodies being swallowed up by Life – the resurrection, the first day of the Age of Tabernacles.

Placing Revelation 11. Now, consider that last verse of Chapter 10. “It is necessary for you to prophesy again concerning peoples, ethnic groups, and languages, and many kings.”

I have no way of knowing the entirety of what this might mean, but the following paraphrase can rightly be seen as part of the meaning. – “You need to go through another spiral in this vision, John, because you have a lot more to say from a different point of view.” On the one hand, Revelation 11 is the culmination of the preparation of God’s ministry from Revelation 1 on. But on the other hand, Revelation 11 is the required background for THEY in Revelation 12:11. In this lesson, I am first tying it into that preparation until now, but after I do that, I must also set it as the introduction to Revelation 12.

The Measurement. (Chapter 11) • 1 Then a measuring rod was given to me, like a scepter or staff of authority, saying, “Rise and measure the sanctuary, and measure the altar and those worshipping inside of it. 2 But do not measure the court outside, because it has been given to the ethnic families and they will tread upon it forty-two months.

Verses 1-2 actually give the strongest picture of the meaning of “Come out of her, My people,” even stronger than in Revelation 18. This “measurement” in these two verses is expressed clearly and strongly in Ruling Verses 3, 6, and 7, the Spirit in the Way as the jeopardy of the Gospel. The dividing line in the Church is not whether one receives the Spirit into their souls or not. Rather, it is between the Spirit and the Fire, that is, Hebrews 10:26-39, those who draw back.

Draw Near or Draw Back. Rather than trying to fit all that together in the Ruling Verses, however, I think it would be better to place this into “Definition,” and make it a direct interpretation of the vision. You see, the Fire of Incense and the Travail are the same thing, our response to pain, whether it be self reacting for self, bringing forth opposition, or God through us for others.

11:1-2 Definition: A vision is given for interpretation by the Spirit inside of the Gospel. The measurement is always Christ Jesus, that we would know Him. Those in the outer court, who refuse the Spirit flooding their souls, cannot know Jesus as He is. But the dividing line, the place of jeopardy, is between the in-filling of the Spirit, those who rejoice over word and anointing, and the Fire of the Altar, through which we enter into God, between those who draw near and those who draw back.

The Dividing Line. There is NO conflict between good and evil, none whatsoever. There is, and has been since the beginning, a choice presented to every human between LIFE and death. In the present moment, inside the fulness of times, when all things are brought to full visibility towards all humans alive, we see death as God means it, no longer wearing a mask.

I watched a podcast yesterday of the only interview that Gilad Atzmon has given in some time. He expressed great distress over the embodiment in present-day Israel of “the great evil” presented in the Old Testament. And I have understood since early on that the Old Testament, void of the Spirit of Christ, is, in fact, a manual for fascism. Here is the dividing line. Perceive the Word by the Spirit of Life inside of Christ Jesus – or – perceive it by argument into curse.

Spirit versus Argument. This measurement, this dividing line, is found all through Revelation, and will be developed further in discussing the false caller and the false church. This dividing line begins with “Let there be light,” that is, “Know God by the Spirit,” versus “Did God indeed say,” that is, “Let’s argue about the Bible.” This is the same warning John gives against putting death upon the Word. And to my utter astonishment, I see this same thing as the whole meaning of Revelation 13, contradiction and false speaking.

1-2 Ruling Verse 7: The jeopardy of the gospel is the response of each individual to Word, whether we receive it by the Spirit and through faith, that we might bring forth its life through travail, or whether we turn it into mental arguments into curse, as first suggested by the serpent. This jeopardy, and the opposing callers of word, defines much of John’s vision.

Problem and Solution. • 3 And I will give to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, enclothed with sackcloth. • 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing established in the presence of the Lord of the earth.

Verse 3 presents a problem that is then solved by the meaning of verse 4. The problem is that everyone wants to divorce these “two witnesses” from the Gospel, from normal Christian ministry, and the solution is the Flow of pure Gospel Word that redefines everything as it really is out from God. There is no elitism inside of Christ, no “super-power,” no grandstanding. Paul defines Christ – GOD was inside of Christ reconciling the world to Himself. – He humbled Himself. God is now inside of us, the same.

Witnesses of Christ. I’m just going to go for it, contending for the Gospel.

3 Definition: Revelation 11:3-4 is the Gospel fulfilled, and ONLY the Gospel. Jesus gives us all that He is through His Spirit in power flooding our souls that we might be His witnesses (see Acts 1:8). God gives us all things freely through Jesus (see Romans 8:32). All believers already possess all victory over death (see 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). There are no elites inside of Jesus, no “super saints,” for God sends forth the weak and the foolish to shame the wise (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-29). We prophesy Christ into ourselves and into all who call upon His name. We are the unveiling of Jesus Christ; we humble ourselves with the Father for the sake of our brethren (see Philippians 2:5 and 1 John 3:16). We are sent by Jesus into the second witness, the second portion of the ministry of Christ, just as Jesus was sent (see John 20:21). These “two witnesses” are the normal Christian ministry.

The Flow of Gospel Word. 4 Definition: Revelation 12:4 references Zechariah 4, which includes “by My Spirit, says the Lord,” and “Shout grace, grace, unto it.” The primary reference is the Golden Oil flowing into the lampstand, that is, into the Churches. That flow of Golden Oil is the Flow of a pure Gospel Word out from the throne of God, a Personal Spirit Word that swallows up all that is death and restores the universe to LIFE, to the knowledge of God in every place.

3-4 Ruling Verse 9: The “two witnesses” represent the completion of the seven-year ministry of Jesus, as prophesied by Daniel. The death and resurrection of Christ altered that ministry from the old covenant to the New. Our ministry now to the Church is that continuation as Jesus out from the Resurrection, “greater things,” as Jesus said (see John 14:12).

The Real Battle. • 5 If anyone wants to commit injustice against them, fire goes forth out from their mouths and eats up their enemies. And if anyone wants to commit injustice against them, it is inevitable for them to be consumed. 6 These possess the authority to the heavens, that no rain should fall in the days of their prophecy. And they possess authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every wound or affliction as often as they want.

Again, there is NO SUCH THING as a “battle” of good versus evil in outward appearance. If verse 3 is Gospel only, then so are verses 5-6. And the GOSPEL is the power of LIFE, the power of God, eating up death for the sake of all. Yes, there is battle, but that is a battle in the realms of the heavens, for it is all heavenly evil that we cast down.

Contending for the Devoted Ones. We now understand that “Come out of her, My people” is the meaning and purpose of all contention in John’s vision. What the people of this world do, wickedly or justly, for others or against others, is not the point of Revelation. The point is a Church made ready for the Unveiling of Jesus Christ. The “earth” is nominal Christianity, about 2.5 billion people. We are contending for the devoted ones. We are shaking the heavens over all, so that those who are part of the woman clothed with Jesus might SEE the True against the false and run.

5-6 Ruling Verse 4 & 9: There is no war “between good and evil.” Neither Jesus nor His ministry are concerned about the unregenerate, but about those whom God has called into His Church (see Revelation 12:1-6). This contention in the heavens is that those who belong to Jesus might hear, “Come out of her,” and run from all falseness into all of Jesus now.  

Into the Gospel We Know. • 11 Then, after the three and a half days, the Spirit of life out from God came inside of them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those who saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice out from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended into heaven inside of the cloud, even as their enemies beheld them.

We don’t know what this means, for we have not yet experienced it. But we do know the Gospel, and so we must place these visionary pictures into the Gospel we know. The Unveiling of Jesus Christ means that people start seeing what is real, by the Spirit, no longer “seeing” by psychotic delusions out from misunderstanding outward appearances. In fact, this is the right place to at least introduce substance versus appearance in the Gospel Comments.

The Substance of Life and Love. 11:1-19 Definition: Substance versus appearance is a primary principle in knowing God and the prophetic Word of Christ. All Word that is God inside Himself is the substance of all things. All creation is the appearance of that Word. Yet there are three kinds of appearances. First is that which is, as God understands His created forms to be. Second is that which is not yet called into goodness, a creation longing to be free. But third is that “appearance” that is not real, but entirely the delusions of those whose minds are ruled by good versus evil, those who misunderstand everything (see Romans 1:21).

11-12 Ruling Verse 3: The Spirit of Life out from God has entered into us (see Romans 5:5 & 8:11). Jesus calls into LIFE (see John 5:21-30).

11-12 Ruling Verse 8: God is Love by substance. Yet the demonstration of that Love MUST appear inside the darkness of this world. That appearance of Love is the ministry of Christ who give their souls to the Father for the sake of the Church.

Now Is Come the Kingdom. • 15 Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet and there were great voices inside of heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world-cosmos has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign into the unfolding of the ages.

I want to build this a bit at a time, for this verse is significant. In fact, the blowing of the trumpets and the two witnesses prophesying Christ are the same thing. Both metaphors signify the ministry of Christ to every local church. This is clearly the first part of Ruling Verse 4, “Now is come the Kingdom.” Yet it is also defined specifically by Paul as the resurrection, our physics being swallowed up by LIFE. I am now seeing how MUCH the Call fills John’s vision and is the action of the witness and ministry of Christ. Only those who speak the same word with Jesus can speak such a Call.

The Meaning of the Call. The “voices inside of heaven” can only be those who dwell inside of Jesus, inside of John 14:20 and inside of John 6:63. The Gospel RULES the vision.

15 Definition: The sounding of the seventh trumpet is the call to LIFE, the death yet in our dying bodies swallowed up by the Life of Resurrection.

15 Ruling Verses 10 & 3: The Gospel RULES the vision. The “voices inside of heaven” can only be those who dwell inside of Jesus, inside of John 14:20 and inside of John 6:63, inside the speaking of Spirit and Life.

15 Speak Christ: Speaking Christ goes in two directions. We speak Christ concerning ourselves that we might know the Covenant. And we speak Christ into others, that we might call forth the Kingdom. We call our brethren, the Church, out from death and into all the Life of Christ.

Resurrection and Kingdom. I am now seeing that just as speaking Christ is part of Covenant inside ourselves, so calling forth Christ is the same regarding Kingdom, calling forth Christ in others. The false caller prophesies curse; the True caller prophesies the Gospel.

15 Life: The resurrection of our physical bodies is the birthing of Life into the visibility of creation. It is the immediate and necessary end result of being conceived of God by a living and abiding Word, unable to die (see 1 Peter 1:23).

15 Ruling Verses 4 & 8: This call of the Kingdom is the same as Revelation 12:10, “Now have come the salvation, the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.” It is the result of the greatest demonstration of Love inside of creation through those who KNOW the same Love of Jesus for them. This is a Love for God’s people like no other.

Father Being Himself. 17 …saying, “We speak good grace and give thanks to you, Lord God, the All-Carrying, All-Sustaining One, the One who is, who always is, and who is continuously and actively coming, • for You have taken your great power and have reigned. 18 Then the peoples were enraged, and Your anger came and the time for the dead to be judged, and for You to give reward to Your servants the prophets and to the devoted ones, and to those fearing Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth.”

When I say that the Kingdom is Father just being Himself, verse 17 is actually a significant part of what I mean. God manifest in the flesh, meek and lowly of heart, is what enrages the peoples, and calling Jesus as every Word God speaks to be a lie is what makes God angry. This is the fulness of times, everything seen as what it really is.

The Fulness of Times. There are a number of principles critical to understanding the Unveiling of Jesus Christ mentioned in Scripture, but not defined clearly. Revelation 11 is the right place to introduce them.

17 Kingdom: The Kingdom is God our Father, showing Himself as He is through us, the All-Sustaining One.

18 Definition: Inside the principle of substance and appearance, Word inside of God, unseen and unknown, but always is, and Word spoken as the visible creation, is another principle called “the fulness of times.” Regardless of all human fakery, God requires all things to be made visible, the meaning of the Apocalypse. God made visible in the flesh, meek and lowly of heart, is what enrages the peoples, and calling Jesus as every Word God speaks to be a lie is what makes God angry. This is the fulness of times, everything seen as what it really is, including our own response to Word.

The Sanctuary of God. • 19 Then the sanctuary of God inside of heaven was opened and the Ark of His Covenant was seen inside of His sanctuary, the place of His dwelling. There were flashes of lightning, voices, and thunders, and an earthquake and great hail.

This critical verse is going in two directions at the same time, back to what is seen with the opening of the Scroll and forward to the woman clothed with the sun, in the next verse.

The Most High does not dwell in temples made of stone (Acts 7:48). We already possess a house out from God, a house not made by hands, a house age-unfolding inside of the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1). Christ, however, having arrived now with us as High Priest of the good things [of Christ] that have come, through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made by hands [not of this creation] (Hebrews 9:11).

The Showdown. If the sect of the Pharisees in today’s world actually build a house made of stone claiming that it is, in fact, “God’s dwelling place,” that stone building will be the most anti-God structure ever built. And if they actually sacrifice animals in that place as if they are making an “offering to God,” that will be the single most rebellious action in human history.

Revelation 11:19 is speaking entirely and only of the Church, the fulness of Jesus the Messiah, who fills all inside of all. It is speaking only of Ephesians 2:19-22, Jesus building us together as God’s House inside Himself, inside the Spirit. These two realities set against each other are part of the great showdown over the inheritance now, during the fulness of times. The hatred against lowly believers in Jesus being the Ark of the Covenant is beyond immense.

The Ark of the Covenant. What actually happened to the physical ark of the covenant, the one “made by hands?” Some say that it is hidden in the rock under the temple site. Some say that Jeremiah took it to England. Some say that Titus carried it to Rome, for it is inscribed on his arch of triumph, and that the Vatican has it. And what if it showed up today in the hands of the Pharisees? If that actually happened, it would bring such a spirit of anti-Christ upon most Christians that our faith in God would be the only thing that BREAKS it.

19 Ruling Verses 10 & 1: The Ark, human vessels of flesh overlaid on the inside and on the outside with God, containing every Word God speaks fulfilled now written upon our hearts of flesh, is the ONLY Ark of the Covenant inside the heavens of God. Revelation 11:19 is also the Unveiling, Christ Jesus seen inside of His Church, the image of the Father.  

The Unveiling of Jesus Christ. The Unveiling of Jesus Christ is a showdown of faith, a contention between two sets of callers made visible. The clash of these two calls fills Revelation, and indeed, is the cause of all the thunder and lightning, the cause of all the “earthquakes,” the shattering of heaven and earth. Let us be ready to call forth Christ in all our Christian brethren, with Jesus in this Today of His power. Our prayers for them have gone before us for that purpose.

19 The Form for God through Jesus: The Sanctuary of God inside of heaven is the Church of Jesus Christ in her glory, the very next topic in Revelation 12. This is Ephesians 2:10-22 and 3:17-19 fulfilled, God filling His House prepared for Him. Yet this is the great showdown in the war for the inheritance, for that which is natural boasts against the Lamb.

We Speak Only the New. When I wrote Through Eyes of Fire, I was first discovering that Revelation is the Gospel fulfilled, not a “prediction of future events.” Then, when I wrote “The Apocalypse Now,” which I am placing into Writing the Jesus Secret, I was making the many connections between simple but powerful Gospel Truths and the elements of the vision that I once knew in a carnal and outward way.

But now, in writing The Flow of Gospel Word, I see only the Gospel, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, now made complete, is the only thing there ever was in John’s vision. It is in this lesson, then, “The Witness of Christ,” that the break from that death way of “interpreting Revelation,” always at war against the Lamb, is made complete. The old is gone; we speak only the NEW.