By Richard H. Morton
These writing's are a series of articles compiled by me for the purpose of growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The reason I am putting this in print is so that others may read, and when you read you will "perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ." I believe that each member of the Body of Christ has an important part to play and that we all have something to offer and to learn from one another. "And no longer will they be teaching every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Get knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord..." Jeremiah 31:34, BBE. Each one of us is, and have, a piece to the puzzle and we must recognize the Christ within us all and come together in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace, and learn what God has in store for those that love Him. That which is in me...I write it down, for this is one of the ways the Spirit teaches me. I am always learning more and more about God the Father and Christ Jesus His Son, and His purpose for humanity; and the revelation of Christ that God has for His people will grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. I hope that all I write down will be expounded upon, and if there be any error for it to be corrected. I do not have all the answers! Together though, we will find the answers, for the Spirit will lead us into all truth and the Truth is a Person. I may see spiritual things in a certain light one day, and then receive new revelation and information about something and see it all in a fresh new and different light the next. Those who think they have all the mysteries of God figured out are usually the ones unwilling to really learn the deep things of God, and will never move on in their spiritual understanding that God has for those who will seek Him and His purpose. My prayer is that I will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, and that I will have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ; and that my spiritual eyes will be flooded with light from above, that I may know the hope of His calling; and find the Way, the Truth and the Life, and forever be changed into the image of Him. May God richly bless you... Rich Morton.
WHAT A DAY
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8, KJV).
My NKJ says it this way- "....do not forget this one thing....". What is it that we are not to be ignorant of and not to forget? That ONE DAY is as a THOUSAND YEARS, and A THOUSAND YEARS IS AS ONE DAY. Can you see that Peter was saying that a thousand years is a day to the Lord - A THOUSAND YEAR DAY.
With this thought in mind, what day are we living in? Well I would say to you that we are living at the dawn of the seventh day, and the dawn of the third day. We are at the end of six thousand years since Adam walked in the garden; and we are at the end of two thousand years since Christ walked the shores of Galilee. We are about to enter the seventh day of rest, and the third day of resurrection. Now with all the hype of the year 2000 that is rapidly approaching (and may be upon us, depending on when you read this), I think it is time we understand what the Word has to say about the day we are living in.
"For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works." (Hebrews 4:4, KJV).
What did God do on the seventh day of His creation? He rested from His work! What are we to do on the seventh day? We are to rest in the finished work of Christ! We are living in a time when we must put our faith in what Christ has done. So many are preaching gloom and doom, and it is sad to say that many will reap the results of what they are preaching in what I call "self fulfilling prophecies," but the truth is that we are living in the greatest time that the Church has ever known.
I think the future looks bright for those that know who they are in Christ. On the earth right now it is dark in one place and light in another: There are people who are living in darkness and others who live in the light (natural and spiritual); it is the same way in the Church, it is dark and gloomy to some while others are seeing great light.
I am looking forward to what God is doing and is going to do in the earth. I believe that God loves to bless His people and that is what He desires to do. But many do not want to be blessed or be a blessing to others. A whole lot of professing Christians want to be taken out of here and let the rest of the world go to hell. If Jesus had taken that attitude where would we be now? He came to give us life and to give it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10), and He is long-suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). I for one would have to agree with 2 Peter verse 18 of Chapter 3, "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." The object of Christianity is to GROW UP not go up! Growing in the GRACE and KNOWLEDGE of Christ is what we will all need to make it in the coming days and to make it through all the confusion as the new millennium dawns upon us.
Heb. 11:6 "But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] HE IS A REWARDER OF THEM THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM."
Whatever is being preached, whatever is being taught, whatever is being written or spoken in the name of God, one thing is for sure; we must be of those that diligently seek Him. For it is in the seeking of God and His Son Jesus that safety will be found. Many will bring upon themselves grievous suffering and tribulation from their proclamation of despair, but no matter what was going on in the world, God has always had a place of safety for those who were His and had faith in Him!
In the book of Hebrews we find the promise of a seventh day of rest (now I'm not talking about 'Rest In Peace' after we die, I'm talking about living in the Rest of God in the here and now) and I think we need to look at this some. (Read Hebrews chapters 3: & 4: to begin).
Heb. 4:1 "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it."
4:9 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God."
4:10 "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."
The key to understanding this is to notice that it is HIS REST. We must enter HIS REST! It is not a rest that we come up with or a program that we have in the Church, it is not a teaching or a sermon, or a new book on the end times, it is not even any of our good works; it is His Rest and He rests in what He has done. God rests in the finished work of Christ, and this is the only place that we can rest in too. Understanding the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and knowing what that means to you is the only place of rest.
The light is dawning on the seventh day of creation and the new creation man that we are in Christ Jesus is seeing the light of the new day; it is a day of understanding and a day of rest, for you will rest if you will seek Him and understand who you are, and what you have, in the Person of The Son of His Love.
THIRD DAY
"Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But HE SPAKE OF THE TEMPLE OF HIS BODY. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said." (John 2:18-22, KJV).
It has been two days (two thousand years) since Jesus was raised from the dead, and we are at the dawn of the third day. In the passage of scripture above is one of the clandestine mysteries of prophecy that needs to be uncovered. If we will interpret scripture with scripture we can come to a greater understanding and have a lot less confusion as to what day we live in.
Jesus was raised up from the grave on the third day, and our faith is based upon this; but prophetically speaking there is a raising up of the body of Christ that is to happen on the third day we are entering into.
"But he spake of the temple of his body." This is the key to understanding the prophetic view - THE TEMPLE OF HIS BODY. Hello BODY OF CHRIST! This is talking about us. In the third day He raises up the temple of His body. This word "temple" in the Greek is naos and is the reference to the Most Holy Place, the inner sanctuary, and speaks of the spirit of the new man.
It speaks to us today of those who are seeking the Lord in all things and are raised up into a new measure of the Spirit, or a new experience of the LIFE of God in our lives. It is not blasting off from the Florida shore to meet Jesus in the sky; but rather to live out of the heavenly flow of the LIFE and SPIRIT of God right here on this earth. Praise His Holy Name!
An expression of Christ in the earth is what we are talking about: The nature of God in Christ Jesus manifesting Himself through the temple of the body of Christ. The world is just like the Greeks in John 12:21 "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." The world is crying out to see Jesus, they have seen all that we (man) can produce, now they need to see Jesus, or an expression of Him in His people.
Let us take a closer look at what Peter had to say on this matter: In 1 Peter 1:6-7 we see him say, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory AT THE APPEARING OF JESUS CHRIST."
The word appearing is the Greek word apokalupsis meaning unveiling, disclosure, or revelation. He is writing about the unveiling, and disclosure, of the character and nature of Christ in the earth through a people. And again in 1 Pet. 1:13 "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and HOPE TO THE END FOR THE GRACE THAT IS TO BE BROUGHT UNTO YOU AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST." Again the word revelation is the word apokalupsis and my NKJ renders it thus, "...rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation (unveiling) of Jesus Christ." "...expect perfectly the grace which is being brought to you at the unveiling of Jesus Christ." (Concordant Literal). With His unveiling comes perfect grace.
We are to fully rest our hope upon this revelation of Christ. Christ has been veiled to so many for so long, but guess what? The veil is coming off, He is going to be uncovered, first in the WORD and then in temple of His body.
"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, WHEN HIS GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (1 Peter 4:13, KJV).
We will be glad, full of joy (not scared), when His Glory is revealed! Then, what is His glory? "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY: "(Colossians 1:27, KJV). Christ in YOU is the glory that will be revealed, unveiled, to the world. This is the only hope for glory; that is for Christ to be revealed in His people, expressed through His people, manifested to the people.
The hope of the Church is the appearing and manifestation of Christ. Paul in writing to Titus said it this way, "Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." (Titus 1:13 NKJ). "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4, KJV). Christ will appear in and through His saints, and this is what Romans eight is all about, check it out.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with THE GLORY WHICH SHALL BE REVEALED IN US. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." (Romans 8:18,19, NKJ).
The glory of God shall be reveled in a people who are seeking after Him. We must listen to the voice of the Spirit, for there are many voices in the land. The Gospel is a message of RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, and JOY, not of gloom, doom, and dread. I for one am looking forward to the reveling and unveiling of Christ in and through His people. There are many other scriptures that speak of what we are sharing; all we need is a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ to see them. In closing I will share some Old Testament scriptures that are speaking of this, I know this thought may be new to many of you but I pray you will see things by the Spirit and not after the flesh.
"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14, KJV).
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9, KJV).
"And THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED (Christ in you), and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. "(Isaiah 40:5, KJV).
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and HIS GLORY (Christ in YOU) SHALL BE SEEN UPON THEE.' (Isaiah 60:1,2, KJV).
The future looks bright and this is only the beginning of what God has in store for those that love Him. What a day!