Post by WatchmanRay on Nov 8, 2007 23:36:00 GMT -5
:)If we are the elect of God in this hour, there is a call within us, and deep calleth unto deep. I tell you, my beloved, there is something within me, an inner compulsion, and I know that I have set my face as a flint and cannot turn to the right hand or the left from my journey into God’s fullness. I can’t go back to the world — the world has nothing to offer me; it is all vanity and vexation of spirit. I can’t go back to religion — religion holds nothing for me anymore; it is wearisome to my soul and an abomination. I can’t even go back to Pentecost, back to the Holy Place — for the veil has been rent and I have tasted of the powers of the world to come and beheld the glories of the throne realm. There is no turning back because my heart has turned to the Lord! As the apostle says, “When it (the heart) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away…and we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Cor. 3:16-18). For some in this hour the veil has been rent in their consciousness and we have found an entrance to behold the transcendent glories of that promised land that lies before us. By the blood of Jesus we have been granted the opportunity to enter into the kingdom of God!
We must love every man, especially those who are of the household of faith. I do love them. I love them every one! I pray for them all! I care for them all! I yearn after them more deeply and fervently than they could ever imagine! I ask God’s blessing upon them all without partiality! I want only God’s best for every believer in Jesus Christ, irrespective of their level of spiritual development, or what doctrines or religious systems they are involved with. But I cannot walk with many of them. I cannot join myself to them in their childish traditions and carnal institutions. I cannot partake with them at their table of static creeds and man-made doctrines. I cannot participate with them in their empty rituals and ceremonies. I cannot be involved in their grandiose schemes and soulish promotions by which they imagine to save the world. Their insipid vision of waiting to die and fly away to that bright glory-world above has nothing in common with the beautiful hope of sonship to God and the revelation of the kingdom birthed within my ransomed spirit by the quickening breath of my Father in heaven. Their expositions, sermonizings, homilies, meetings, projects, hopes, aspirations, and goals are but dim flickering candles compared to the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!
The ministry all creation is waiting for, longing for, groaning and travailing for, is the ministry of sonship. Only Jesus has demonstrated what it is! But the ministry of Jesus was not in the gift realm of Pentecost, it was not “in part,” it was not “by measure,” but His ministry was the ministry of a MANIFESTED SON OF GOD in all the power and wisdom and glory of the Father! Some tell us that the ministry Jesus demonstrated on earth is not what manifest sonship is. If sonship ministry is not what Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, revealed on earth, then pray tell me, what is it? I never thought I would see what I see today, brethren who received a revelation of sonship now “watering it down” to something far less than what Jesus has shown us. Let me tell you — the great secret of the ministry of Jesus was that it was not in limitation but in fullness. Jesus Himself said that the Father did not give Him the Spirit by measure. He also said that the works the Father did through Him were the proof and evidence of His sonship! Jesus did not receive a “gift” in the church realm, but He was the incarnation, the embodiment, the personification of the FULLNESS OF THE FATHER! That is the realm of sonship. And that is why creation is not groaning for another gift-ministry, another apostle, another prophet, another evangelist, pastor, or teacher, another gospel crusade, or another revival.
Creation is in pain and travail waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God! Oh, yes! Only the sons of God will possess within themselves the fullness of the power of the kingdom of God as did Jesus! They will have all that He had plus the power of His resurrection! Only the sons of God, in the power of Christ’s resurrection, can deliver creation from the bondage of corruption. Jesus is not the firstborn among many Christians, or among many evangelists, or many teachers, or even many apostles and prophets. Oh, no! He is the firstborn among MANY BRETHREN! The brethren are like Him. They are completely like Him! That is what makes them brethren, and that is what makes them sons! He is not bringing many gifted Christians to glory, He is not bringing many musicians to glory, He is not bringing many deacons to glory, He is not bringing many Sunday School teachers to glory, He is not bringing many preachers to glory, He is not bringing many apostles and prophets to glory, but He is bringing many SONS to glory! Aren’t you glad!
Sonship is glorious beyond anything our eyes have seen or ears have heard. Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God. He is what sonship is! And now all His brothers are empowered to follow Him to maturity and into the power of His resurrection. All will follow His steps, becoming what He is. The spiritual life of every son has the same origin as the firstborn, for all are born of God. We are being perfected by the same process, and will ultimately achieve the same result. Jesus Christ was and is the personification of the Father, and so shall we be. The holy and divine nature of Jesus Christ is ours to be raised up within us. The works He did we shall do as well. The authority of Jesus Christ, the power of His throne, even the dominion of the ages and all things, He will share with those who come unto the measure of the stature of His fullness. Jesus possesses the totality of God’s essence and substance, and this is the heritage of every manifest son of God. The present resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus Christ is the portrait of our destiny! Oh, the wonder of it!
The sons of God are destined to inherit all things; they are selected by the Father to become the dispensers of blessing to all created realms. Thus creation groans in sympathetic birth pangs, longing for their arrival! From powerful angels in heaven, to worlds in the farthest galaxy, the universe resonates with anticipation of the glorious unveiling of the sons of God. The sons will share the fullness of the glory of their Father. They will grow up into the attributes of God as a permanent state of being. The sons of God will partake of Godlikeness, and a spiritual inheritance that is incomprehensible to natural men, even religious men, saved men, and Spirit-baptized men! This celestial race of beings shall be endowed with all the authority and capacity of God. Immortal omnipotence will flow from them as the light rays from the sun. In the heaven blest days before us, those who have attained to sonship will be displayed in the blazing glory of immortality. This climatic finale is a fast approaching certainty.
From the difficulties, struggles, testings and processings of this present time the son company will burst into everlasting splendor, streaming glory, wisdom, and power as a shower of stars. With Jesus as the Captain, this reigning government of God shall invade the bastions of darkness and by war, yea, by spiritual warfare shall they take the rule from the kings of the earth. These are celestial kings and priests, trained and tested in conquest. They are invincible in the nature and power of the Father. Nothing shall confound them; all will succumb to their sway. This company of sons is the final world government — it will never be overthrown! They will subdue every enemy, transform every life, renew every mind, and be the fountainhead of every blessing! They are the solution that God has ordained for the travail of earth’s teeming billions. This is the destiny of God’s Christ, Head and body!
God has put His hand to the task; He is ready to grasp the whole world and, through the sonship ministry, switch it on to another track, changing its course and destination. I tell you, dear ones, as sons of God we are laborers together with God in inaugurating the next stage of the kingdom which will impact every living nation of earth. We are now called to “come up hither” to His throne! We shall work and work, minister and minister, reign and reconcile and bless and deliver and transform all nations and all men and all realms and all worlds and all ages until we accomplish the end. “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, until He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:24-26). If it takes a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century, a millennium, a billion years or a trillion years, it matters not one whit — the kingdom of God shall increase and expand and triumph until that blessed day when from pole to pole and from sea to sea and throughout all the vastnesses of infinity everywhere God shall be ALL IN ALL!
Let the mountains reverberate with the sound of the message, let the hills shout aloud for joy, and all the trees of the forest clap their hands! For we now stand on the threshold of a new dimension of the kingdom of God, and we must be prepared to receive HIM in fullness. As we earnestly look for His appearing, we are to receive ALL THAT HE IS, for when He appears in His glory in His manifest sons, all the traditions of yesterday will be swept away and the realms of limitation swallowed up in His surpassing glory. I cannot overemphasize this great and important truth: When Christ appears in the fullness of Himself in His many brethren, we must be prepared to receive Him on a higher plane than we have known Him hitherto. We cannot tell Him what portion of Him we will receive and what portion we will not receive. WE WILL RECEIVE AND MANIFEST HIM IN FULLNESS, and without any reservations or preconceived ideas, or we will not receive Him at all. Either we will walk in the power and glory of His sonship, or we will miss the glory. We will not bring into that new order of life and power the old ways and traditions of the church systems of man. Should we cling to the ministries and methods of the past, we will not be manifest sons. Vast multitudes of Christians will not stand in this new glory because of their tradition — but their time of visitation will come later. But for those who are willing to pay the price, to be thoroughly purged of all that is of the flesh, and disposed to turn loose of the past religious traditions, the old forms and ceremonies, the former means and methods, and the stagnant remains of yesterday’s visitations, there awaits great glory and heavenly wealth, and a world-shaking ministry beyond the comprehension of mortal mind.
Captain James Cook was an English explorer who lived more than two hundred years ago. His adventurous life began when he joined the British navy at the age of 27. He surveyed the St. Lawrence Channel and the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador before he was given his own ship, the Endeavor, to command. He sailed this ship all the way around the world, exploring the coasts of eastern Australia and New Zealand on the way. After returning to England he set out again for the South Pacific with two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure, and explored the icy Antarctic Ocean. He explored the New Hebrides Islands and discovered the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean off Australia. Early in his career Captain Cook made this amazing statement, I don’t remember the precise words, but the thought was this: “It is not my desire to merely go where other men have not gone; I WANT TO GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO GO!” And his wish was granted, for when he was killed in 1779 by natives in the Hawaiian Islands, there were no more frontiers on this planet to explore, and no more coasts to be charted.
Ah, in the spiritual world just such a desire has arisen within a company, those destined to manifest sonship, the desire to not merely press on in God to heights and depths not discovered by those great ones who have blessed this earth with God’s grace, wisdom, and power, but indeed to GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO GO IN GOD! What a vision! We are well acquainted with the “in part” realm, where God anoints men with the Holy Ghost and with power, and their gifts increase and their ministries expand and many are blessed. But then they die, and while others might try to carry on their vision, it is never again the same for those left behind do not possess the same wisdom or have the same anointing from God, so the movement crystallizes around the “part” the ministry possessed, and when men try to perpetuate it, it finally stagnates and dies. For one thing, every generation needs a new vision and not a carry-over of the old, but in this transition of the ages God is birthing a SON COMPANY that desires not merely to rebuild and restore the work of God of yesteryear, be it New Testament Church Order, five-fold ministry, gifts of the Spirit, expressions of worship, methods of evangelism, or whatever; but we are possessed of a heart to become identified with Jesus Christ beyond the veil, in the Holiest of all, after the power of an endless life, to know God not just in a measure, but in His fullness, and receiving that ministry after the order of Melchizedek which can proceed through the ages until a full victory is consummated and God is ALL IN ALL.
The compelling passion of my life is to be filled with all the fullness of God and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That is what sonship is! The deep cry of my heart is for the satisfaction of knowing that my life counts for God. As God knows my heart, it is not a selfish desire. The reason I want to be like Jesus is because I love Him so, and also because it is the only way I can ever be used in the restoration of fallen creation. I see the needs of the world around me, and realize that I am practically powerless to do anything about them. And should I initiate a program it would not even scratch the surface of the need. We thank God for all who are ministering to mankind on whatever level, and they shall receive their reward. Yet, men hold great crusades today and when you listen to their glowing reports you would think the whole world is turning to God. But should you walk the streets of the city they just left, you can barely find a trace of evidence that they were ever there. City-wide life goes on as before. Oh yes, we can pray, believe God, and touch whom we can, and see some people saved, blessed, healed, and delivered. But anyone who says that they have reached the place where their ministry is meeting the needs of the world and changing the order of things is either blind to the realities on this planet, a proud hypocrite, or a liar. But God is not blind to the need of this day, nor is He impotent to move. He has a plan, a wonderful plan! And He is going to move in mighty power just as soon as the time is ripe for it.
God is shaping our lives with a view to the future. What is happening to each son of God today has a bearing on what his role will be in the kingdom of God throughout the ages to come. Our present travail will be easier when we understand this truth. A crown prince cannot live like other people. When the crown prince of Great Britain is born, he is a marked child from the day of his birth. He is different from other children. He cannot go just anywhere or do or be anything he chooses. His education, his way of dress, what he is taught in the home, his associations, his activities, where he goes and when and how, his leisure time — everything about his life is planned to prepare him to be a king. The man or woman called to sonship cannot be like other people or other of God’s children any longer. God has a special plan for this one! The truth is that a son of God marches to a different tune than his contemporaries. He hears the band playing the march of victory! He stays in line with those in-Christed ones who march with him. He keeps in step with his leader, Jesus Christ. He marches to the music of the celestials. He marches in the procession of Christ. His music is the music of the kingdom. Because this is a different kind of marching from that of those in the church systems, he is often out of step with them. They are not all marching to the same place! Most Christians are marching to a place in the sky with golden streets, harps, and palm branches to sing and dance and play and frolic for eternity. Sons do not have time for such frivolity, for they are marching to the throne of the universe, to a position of eminence, power, authority, responsibility, and eternal glory as lords and kings and priests and creators after the likeness of their eternal Father. Their business is not dancing over the hillsides of glory, but bringing the kingdom of God to pass throughout the infinity of God’s universe!
Always men have greeted friends and loved ones at the beginning of a new day with a cheery greeting, “Good morning!” In these words is the story of the night that is gone and the day which beckons. Fled from us are the lurking shades of night; eagerly we rush to greet the rosy countenance of the dawn. It is fitting that the discovery of the resurrection of our Lord should have been realized in the dawning light of a new day. Behind the disciples was the nightmare of the cross and the tomb. “Very early in the morning” they came to the sepulcher to minister to the dead body of Jesus — only to hear the angels’ words, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” It is as if the angels had said, “Good morning!” It was a good morning; there was nothing more to fear. A new day had dawned for mankind! Forget the fears and dreads of the night; rejoice in the wonders of the day!
Out of the deep and sovereign movings of God a prophetic voice has sounded forth in our generation. The church age is over! The old order is done! God is calling a people by revelation of His Spirit to arise and make the transition into the new age of the kingdom of God, into the new day of manifest sonship. We have heard the voice, we have responded to the call of the voice as of a trumpet to “Come up hither!” In the Spirit we have beheld the throne set in the heavens. It is set for us. Aren’t you glad! The throne is our destiny. The kingdom of God is at hand. The manchild is ready to be birthed — to be caught up into the throne. A new order for all mankind is on the horizon. The Day has dawned and the daystar is rising in our hearts. The time of our change has come. Even now a mighty power, a living hope, is working in our lives. “GOOD MORNING SONS OF GOD!”
We must love every man, especially those who are of the household of faith. I do love them. I love them every one! I pray for them all! I care for them all! I yearn after them more deeply and fervently than they could ever imagine! I ask God’s blessing upon them all without partiality! I want only God’s best for every believer in Jesus Christ, irrespective of their level of spiritual development, or what doctrines or religious systems they are involved with. But I cannot walk with many of them. I cannot join myself to them in their childish traditions and carnal institutions. I cannot partake with them at their table of static creeds and man-made doctrines. I cannot participate with them in their empty rituals and ceremonies. I cannot be involved in their grandiose schemes and soulish promotions by which they imagine to save the world. Their insipid vision of waiting to die and fly away to that bright glory-world above has nothing in common with the beautiful hope of sonship to God and the revelation of the kingdom birthed within my ransomed spirit by the quickening breath of my Father in heaven. Their expositions, sermonizings, homilies, meetings, projects, hopes, aspirations, and goals are but dim flickering candles compared to the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!
The ministry all creation is waiting for, longing for, groaning and travailing for, is the ministry of sonship. Only Jesus has demonstrated what it is! But the ministry of Jesus was not in the gift realm of Pentecost, it was not “in part,” it was not “by measure,” but His ministry was the ministry of a MANIFESTED SON OF GOD in all the power and wisdom and glory of the Father! Some tell us that the ministry Jesus demonstrated on earth is not what manifest sonship is. If sonship ministry is not what Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, revealed on earth, then pray tell me, what is it? I never thought I would see what I see today, brethren who received a revelation of sonship now “watering it down” to something far less than what Jesus has shown us. Let me tell you — the great secret of the ministry of Jesus was that it was not in limitation but in fullness. Jesus Himself said that the Father did not give Him the Spirit by measure. He also said that the works the Father did through Him were the proof and evidence of His sonship! Jesus did not receive a “gift” in the church realm, but He was the incarnation, the embodiment, the personification of the FULLNESS OF THE FATHER! That is the realm of sonship. And that is why creation is not groaning for another gift-ministry, another apostle, another prophet, another evangelist, pastor, or teacher, another gospel crusade, or another revival.
Creation is in pain and travail waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God! Oh, yes! Only the sons of God will possess within themselves the fullness of the power of the kingdom of God as did Jesus! They will have all that He had plus the power of His resurrection! Only the sons of God, in the power of Christ’s resurrection, can deliver creation from the bondage of corruption. Jesus is not the firstborn among many Christians, or among many evangelists, or many teachers, or even many apostles and prophets. Oh, no! He is the firstborn among MANY BRETHREN! The brethren are like Him. They are completely like Him! That is what makes them brethren, and that is what makes them sons! He is not bringing many gifted Christians to glory, He is not bringing many musicians to glory, He is not bringing many deacons to glory, He is not bringing many Sunday School teachers to glory, He is not bringing many preachers to glory, He is not bringing many apostles and prophets to glory, but He is bringing many SONS to glory! Aren’t you glad!
Sonship is glorious beyond anything our eyes have seen or ears have heard. Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God. He is what sonship is! And now all His brothers are empowered to follow Him to maturity and into the power of His resurrection. All will follow His steps, becoming what He is. The spiritual life of every son has the same origin as the firstborn, for all are born of God. We are being perfected by the same process, and will ultimately achieve the same result. Jesus Christ was and is the personification of the Father, and so shall we be. The holy and divine nature of Jesus Christ is ours to be raised up within us. The works He did we shall do as well. The authority of Jesus Christ, the power of His throne, even the dominion of the ages and all things, He will share with those who come unto the measure of the stature of His fullness. Jesus possesses the totality of God’s essence and substance, and this is the heritage of every manifest son of God. The present resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus Christ is the portrait of our destiny! Oh, the wonder of it!
The sons of God are destined to inherit all things; they are selected by the Father to become the dispensers of blessing to all created realms. Thus creation groans in sympathetic birth pangs, longing for their arrival! From powerful angels in heaven, to worlds in the farthest galaxy, the universe resonates with anticipation of the glorious unveiling of the sons of God. The sons will share the fullness of the glory of their Father. They will grow up into the attributes of God as a permanent state of being. The sons of God will partake of Godlikeness, and a spiritual inheritance that is incomprehensible to natural men, even religious men, saved men, and Spirit-baptized men! This celestial race of beings shall be endowed with all the authority and capacity of God. Immortal omnipotence will flow from them as the light rays from the sun. In the heaven blest days before us, those who have attained to sonship will be displayed in the blazing glory of immortality. This climatic finale is a fast approaching certainty.
From the difficulties, struggles, testings and processings of this present time the son company will burst into everlasting splendor, streaming glory, wisdom, and power as a shower of stars. With Jesus as the Captain, this reigning government of God shall invade the bastions of darkness and by war, yea, by spiritual warfare shall they take the rule from the kings of the earth. These are celestial kings and priests, trained and tested in conquest. They are invincible in the nature and power of the Father. Nothing shall confound them; all will succumb to their sway. This company of sons is the final world government — it will never be overthrown! They will subdue every enemy, transform every life, renew every mind, and be the fountainhead of every blessing! They are the solution that God has ordained for the travail of earth’s teeming billions. This is the destiny of God’s Christ, Head and body!
God has put His hand to the task; He is ready to grasp the whole world and, through the sonship ministry, switch it on to another track, changing its course and destination. I tell you, dear ones, as sons of God we are laborers together with God in inaugurating the next stage of the kingdom which will impact every living nation of earth. We are now called to “come up hither” to His throne! We shall work and work, minister and minister, reign and reconcile and bless and deliver and transform all nations and all men and all realms and all worlds and all ages until we accomplish the end. “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, until He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:24-26). If it takes a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century, a millennium, a billion years or a trillion years, it matters not one whit — the kingdom of God shall increase and expand and triumph until that blessed day when from pole to pole and from sea to sea and throughout all the vastnesses of infinity everywhere God shall be ALL IN ALL!
Let the mountains reverberate with the sound of the message, let the hills shout aloud for joy, and all the trees of the forest clap their hands! For we now stand on the threshold of a new dimension of the kingdom of God, and we must be prepared to receive HIM in fullness. As we earnestly look for His appearing, we are to receive ALL THAT HE IS, for when He appears in His glory in His manifest sons, all the traditions of yesterday will be swept away and the realms of limitation swallowed up in His surpassing glory. I cannot overemphasize this great and important truth: When Christ appears in the fullness of Himself in His many brethren, we must be prepared to receive Him on a higher plane than we have known Him hitherto. We cannot tell Him what portion of Him we will receive and what portion we will not receive. WE WILL RECEIVE AND MANIFEST HIM IN FULLNESS, and without any reservations or preconceived ideas, or we will not receive Him at all. Either we will walk in the power and glory of His sonship, or we will miss the glory. We will not bring into that new order of life and power the old ways and traditions of the church systems of man. Should we cling to the ministries and methods of the past, we will not be manifest sons. Vast multitudes of Christians will not stand in this new glory because of their tradition — but their time of visitation will come later. But for those who are willing to pay the price, to be thoroughly purged of all that is of the flesh, and disposed to turn loose of the past religious traditions, the old forms and ceremonies, the former means and methods, and the stagnant remains of yesterday’s visitations, there awaits great glory and heavenly wealth, and a world-shaking ministry beyond the comprehension of mortal mind.
Captain James Cook was an English explorer who lived more than two hundred years ago. His adventurous life began when he joined the British navy at the age of 27. He surveyed the St. Lawrence Channel and the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador before he was given his own ship, the Endeavor, to command. He sailed this ship all the way around the world, exploring the coasts of eastern Australia and New Zealand on the way. After returning to England he set out again for the South Pacific with two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure, and explored the icy Antarctic Ocean. He explored the New Hebrides Islands and discovered the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean off Australia. Early in his career Captain Cook made this amazing statement, I don’t remember the precise words, but the thought was this: “It is not my desire to merely go where other men have not gone; I WANT TO GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO GO!” And his wish was granted, for when he was killed in 1779 by natives in the Hawaiian Islands, there were no more frontiers on this planet to explore, and no more coasts to be charted.
Ah, in the spiritual world just such a desire has arisen within a company, those destined to manifest sonship, the desire to not merely press on in God to heights and depths not discovered by those great ones who have blessed this earth with God’s grace, wisdom, and power, but indeed to GO AS FAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO GO IN GOD! What a vision! We are well acquainted with the “in part” realm, where God anoints men with the Holy Ghost and with power, and their gifts increase and their ministries expand and many are blessed. But then they die, and while others might try to carry on their vision, it is never again the same for those left behind do not possess the same wisdom or have the same anointing from God, so the movement crystallizes around the “part” the ministry possessed, and when men try to perpetuate it, it finally stagnates and dies. For one thing, every generation needs a new vision and not a carry-over of the old, but in this transition of the ages God is birthing a SON COMPANY that desires not merely to rebuild and restore the work of God of yesteryear, be it New Testament Church Order, five-fold ministry, gifts of the Spirit, expressions of worship, methods of evangelism, or whatever; but we are possessed of a heart to become identified with Jesus Christ beyond the veil, in the Holiest of all, after the power of an endless life, to know God not just in a measure, but in His fullness, and receiving that ministry after the order of Melchizedek which can proceed through the ages until a full victory is consummated and God is ALL IN ALL.
The compelling passion of my life is to be filled with all the fullness of God and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That is what sonship is! The deep cry of my heart is for the satisfaction of knowing that my life counts for God. As God knows my heart, it is not a selfish desire. The reason I want to be like Jesus is because I love Him so, and also because it is the only way I can ever be used in the restoration of fallen creation. I see the needs of the world around me, and realize that I am practically powerless to do anything about them. And should I initiate a program it would not even scratch the surface of the need. We thank God for all who are ministering to mankind on whatever level, and they shall receive their reward. Yet, men hold great crusades today and when you listen to their glowing reports you would think the whole world is turning to God. But should you walk the streets of the city they just left, you can barely find a trace of evidence that they were ever there. City-wide life goes on as before. Oh yes, we can pray, believe God, and touch whom we can, and see some people saved, blessed, healed, and delivered. But anyone who says that they have reached the place where their ministry is meeting the needs of the world and changing the order of things is either blind to the realities on this planet, a proud hypocrite, or a liar. But God is not blind to the need of this day, nor is He impotent to move. He has a plan, a wonderful plan! And He is going to move in mighty power just as soon as the time is ripe for it.
God is shaping our lives with a view to the future. What is happening to each son of God today has a bearing on what his role will be in the kingdom of God throughout the ages to come. Our present travail will be easier when we understand this truth. A crown prince cannot live like other people. When the crown prince of Great Britain is born, he is a marked child from the day of his birth. He is different from other children. He cannot go just anywhere or do or be anything he chooses. His education, his way of dress, what he is taught in the home, his associations, his activities, where he goes and when and how, his leisure time — everything about his life is planned to prepare him to be a king. The man or woman called to sonship cannot be like other people or other of God’s children any longer. God has a special plan for this one! The truth is that a son of God marches to a different tune than his contemporaries. He hears the band playing the march of victory! He stays in line with those in-Christed ones who march with him. He keeps in step with his leader, Jesus Christ. He marches to the music of the celestials. He marches in the procession of Christ. His music is the music of the kingdom. Because this is a different kind of marching from that of those in the church systems, he is often out of step with them. They are not all marching to the same place! Most Christians are marching to a place in the sky with golden streets, harps, and palm branches to sing and dance and play and frolic for eternity. Sons do not have time for such frivolity, for they are marching to the throne of the universe, to a position of eminence, power, authority, responsibility, and eternal glory as lords and kings and priests and creators after the likeness of their eternal Father. Their business is not dancing over the hillsides of glory, but bringing the kingdom of God to pass throughout the infinity of God’s universe!
Always men have greeted friends and loved ones at the beginning of a new day with a cheery greeting, “Good morning!” In these words is the story of the night that is gone and the day which beckons. Fled from us are the lurking shades of night; eagerly we rush to greet the rosy countenance of the dawn. It is fitting that the discovery of the resurrection of our Lord should have been realized in the dawning light of a new day. Behind the disciples was the nightmare of the cross and the tomb. “Very early in the morning” they came to the sepulcher to minister to the dead body of Jesus — only to hear the angels’ words, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” It is as if the angels had said, “Good morning!” It was a good morning; there was nothing more to fear. A new day had dawned for mankind! Forget the fears and dreads of the night; rejoice in the wonders of the day!
Out of the deep and sovereign movings of God a prophetic voice has sounded forth in our generation. The church age is over! The old order is done! God is calling a people by revelation of His Spirit to arise and make the transition into the new age of the kingdom of God, into the new day of manifest sonship. We have heard the voice, we have responded to the call of the voice as of a trumpet to “Come up hither!” In the Spirit we have beheld the throne set in the heavens. It is set for us. Aren’t you glad! The throne is our destiny. The kingdom of God is at hand. The manchild is ready to be birthed — to be caught up into the throne. A new order for all mankind is on the horizon. The Day has dawned and the daystar is rising in our hearts. The time of our change has come. Even now a mighty power, a living hope, is working in our lives. “GOOD MORNING SONS OF GOD!”