Part 3 of 3ADAM TO CHRIST Part 3 - Des Walter
The work of regeneration represented by Noah and his family now reaches a higher plain from which life will continue to evolve. Everything in the Old creation must come to a complete end, but for this to become reality there must be a renewing of the MIND. Through Noah we are shown that what has been conceived before the flood will still carry something of that old creation with it. Many testify to the change made in their lives through a divine encounter with God, but the carnal mind cannot be silenced until it is replaced by the MIND OF CHRIST.
The Apostle Paul says, “If any man be IN CHRIST he is a NEW CREATION, for Old things have passed away and behold all things are become new.” Noah’s sons believed God concerning the flood that was to come and so stepped into the ARK, (Christ.) But the change is never complete until CHRIST DWELLS consciously IN US. The indwelling Christ expresses himself in us, through the CHRIST MIND. Until we touch this reality we will carry the traits of that old creation that we thought was left behind.
The fact that we are in Christ has already been established through creation, and there is nothing we can do ourselves to make this true. However, it would seem many people would rather believes they came from the dust and were born a sinner, as Christendom has taught them. They are like the Caterpillar who has no idea of his true being as a butterfly, until a metamorphosis takes place that makes it capable of living as a butterfly. It is the same for mankind who are living out of an Adamic consciousness or a CARNAL MIND, as a mere mortal being, separated from God. But all that is required is that YOU BELIEVE GOD AND NOT THE TEACHINGS OF MEN! Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
This truth is revealed in Noah whose life was lived in obedience to the voice of God. When God told Noah that it was going to rain for forty days and nights, Noah believed God and so obeyed his direction to build an ark that would be his salvation from such a calamity. Do not doubt beloved, that every man who remains joined to the natural or carnal concept of life, will be caught up in the flood of corruption that is presently sweeping this world. The so called “Christians” are not immune from this “flood” of evil, as is evidenced by the numbers who are suffering all kinds of sickness, depression, marital and youth problems among other things, in this our day. Remember the “flood” of Noah’s day is an ongoing scourge that affects every generation as evil continues to be generated in the carnal minds of mankind. This is not God judging man, but mankind destroying itself as it reaps that which it has sown.
Noah steps out of the confines of the Ark into a new freedom and release from the corruption and confusion of the Old World. This change has been wrought through DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION. We must die to the world of ADAM in which dwells, “Good and Evil, a sense of separation from God, and a fear of judgment.” Then we must be “Buried with Christ,” (in the Ark) if we are to be raised up to walk in newness of Life in Christ. Thus death, burial and resurrection cuts us off from the corruption that is in this world. There is no “Emigration Plan” from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. You will never be released from the one Kingdom until you are DEAD. Only then after dying out to the carnal consciousness, can we be “birthed” into the Kingdom of God, and escape the corruption of this world.
We stand with Noah on this new and higher plain as the Christ Consciousness opens to our view a world in which Jesus Christ is Lord. Our rise to these heavenly heights has been the result of believing God and overcoming the LIE that kept us earthbound. Now we are made to sit together in heavenly places in CHRIST. We are now convinced that it is GOD that works in us both to WILL and to DO of his good pleasure. It is therefore with a grateful heart that we step on to resurrection ground beyond the Adamic grave of death.
However, just because Noah stepped out of the Ark did not mean that he was no longer in Christ. The Ark built of timber is just a type and a shadow of a glorious reality that has no material form in this world of appearance. Noah’s story is recorded for us in parabolic form, only so that we can grasp the invisible out of which all reality flows. Resurrection is a release from the limitations of our mortality that restricts us to being BORN and then we wait to DIE. Having endured the death of our Adamic consciousness, we have now heard the voice of the Son of God and because we have heard, we enter into life. Now we have passed from death unto LIFE breaking the power of death.
Before, we were simply prisoners of hope, believing for a release from the corruption that closed in upon us on every side, but not seeing the reality, nor knowing how to find the way. Job tells us, “There is a path that no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye has not seen. The Lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.” This is the highway prepared for those who will follow on to know the Lord and walk in his ways. But the gentle Dove of peace brings to us the “Olive leaf” assuring us there is a land that is fairer than day. A NEW DAY in which we can walk beyond the limits of death and corruption.
Here is the place where we now can build our altar unto the Lord, and offer our burnt offerings to him. What is it that we can offer to him? Not the fruit of Adamah as Cain did and found it was rejected, but that which has passed through the fire of God. This is the presentation of our BODY as a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy and acceptable unto God being our spiritual worship. This offering has nothing to do with sin, but rather concerns our obedience and acceptance, having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The question of sin has no place on resurrection ground, for as a NEW CREATION we stand in the glory of his divine perfection. Father can now reveal himself to us, as he had not been able to previously, in the world of the old creation.
On resurrection ground the only sacrifice that is acceptable is a LIVING sacrifice. All the sacrifices of Israel were dead, and Hebrews tells us that God did not desire them. David reminds us that the sacrifices that are acceptable to God are “A broken spirit and a contrite heart.” “So that I may be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God.”
From here the pathway leads onward and upward toward the City that has foundations, but we are now more confident of our journey with Christ dwelling within. As we walk he whispers to us, “While earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease,” so life becomes more predictable than it was under the law of sin and death. Now we have discovered, “Thy way O Lord is in the sanctuary, who is so great a God as our God.” Then as we stand by the altar of burnt offering we hear his voice saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” This is the same command given to Adam in the Garden. Just as it was on the third day of creation, when the waters were restrained and the earth became fruitful, so we see ourselves now identified in Noah, the third figure in the development of the New Creation.
We are reminded that, “unless a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone, but if it dies it brings forth much fruit.” In Noah we see how God has cut us off from the evil and corruption in the world about us. For 100 years, Noah was very busy “building an Ark,” an occupation that in itself separated him from the earthly aspirations of the natural man. All his energy and thoughts now are centred in fulfilling the clear direction he has received from God. Nothing in Noah’s life comes out of himself, all is divinely guided and directed. After 100 years of such a “God directed life” he has “Formed” a personal ark, suitable only for himself and those who issue from him. Noah could not provide salvation for anyone except himself and his family.
The idea of evangelising the world comes from both Matthew and Mark’s Gospel, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, baptising them and making disciples of them.” The first three Gospels belong rather to the Old Testament than to the New. The truth of our identity and the revelation of God concerning the Church had not yet been established in the hearts of the disciples. So the Hebrew concept of God and the supremacy of Israel in the Divine economy still controlled their thinking. Israel was the Church in the wilderness and so they considered their task was to proselytise the Gentiles bringing them into covenant relation with God through the Laws of Israel.
Beloved, you and I cannot save the world, for salvation is of the Lord, even though we have been led to believe that it is our responsibility to do so. In fact Christendom has not so much “Evangelised” the world, as it has “Christianised” it. In so many countries this has resulted in the Hindus becoming “Hindu Christians,” and the Moslems becoming “Moslem Christians.” This simply changes one ideology or religion for another, and many times does not bring about any permanent spiritual change. Primitive people have been “Westernised” in this process, confusing culture with the message of the Gospel. The Church has presented the Ark as the “Church,” and spend millions of dollars developing its buildings and religious programs, providing a feverish activity that is designed to save the world, but never achieves its goal.
Listen to Peter’s attitude when God sent him to the Gentile family of Cornelius. He said to them, “You know that it is not lawful for a man that is a Jew to keep company with one of another nation, but God has showed me that I am not to call any man common or unclean.” Acts 10:28. This was after Pentecost and the filling with the Spirit. This exposes the Jewish heart that persisted throughout the book of Acts. In the last chapter of Acts we find Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah chapter 6, “Hearing you shall hear and not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and head with their ears, and understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should hear them. Therefore the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and they will hear it.” Acts 28:26-31.
The “Jewish Church” ceased to exist at that time and the Gospel went out to the Gentiles. The Jews could not accept that the Gentiles could inherit equally with them in Christ. That is why they continued to proselytise, and made Gentiles to conform to the constraints of Judaism in order to be acceptable unto God. Still to this day, the Jewish Church where it has a presence, is a mixture of Grace and the Jewish Law. So now read Matt 28:19 with this understanding and you can see that they considered their responsibility was to go out into all the world, and bring everyone under the covering of Judaism, which included Baptism for the remission of their sins. As a result in Mark 16:16 the emphasis on Baptism was most emphatic for them.
However, under Paul’s Gospel he does not say to the Gentile to go into all the world and preach the Gospel! He says to the saints in Corinth, “You are manifestly declared to be THE EPISTLE OF CHRIST MINISTERED BY US, WRITTEN NOT WITH INK BUT WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, NOT ON TABLES OF STONE, BUT IN THE FLESHY TABLES OF YOUR HEART.” 2 Cor 3:3. Paul even contrasts the glory Moses revealed when he brought those two stones down to Israel on Mount Sinai, with the New Covenant and the “Present glory that excelleth.” Now God is writing his NEW COVENANT not on stone but in the hearts and lives of people, that it may be known and read of all men, for this is the divine method of evangelism today. Of course Christendom still believes like the Jews, that we are bound to go and teach the people doctrines and religious methods, to try and get them “Saved.”
But listen to the Scriptures, “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness (in creation), has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Which TREASURE (Christ) we carry in an earthen vessel (our body), that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Cor 4:4-7.
Out of our death now comes NEW LIFE. Out of the death of the Adam within us accomplished on the cross, a New Life is formed that is the Life of Christ. There is now an increase in the development of the New Man within. Gen 9:2 “And the fear and dread of you will be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea, into your hands are they delivered.” Here we see man being restored to his original “Dominion” over all the works of God’s hands, as it was in the beginning. The animal faculties that were restrained in the Ark are now brought into submission to the man. The man now rules over the animals instead of being subject to them in his life. The authority man lost because he believed a lie, is now being restored to him, like the prodigal son who was given a robe, a ring and shoes for his feet reinstating him to his former glory as a Prince.
If the animals, (drives and emotions) are not subject to the mind of man today, it can only be because the mind of man is not subject to the Lord. It is the “mind of Christ” that submits to his lordship and brings all things under his control. God now makes a new Covenant with Noah, which expresses the new relationship into which we are being brought. God says, “I WILL establish my Covenant with you (personally) and I WILL remember my Covenant, and I WILL look on the bow in the clouds and the waters shall no more destroy.” Peter tells us that we have escaped the corruption that is in the world!
The old relationship based on Law is now replaced by a New Covenant expressing Grace. All of God’s dealings are now grounded in Grace because we have passed from death unto life. It is the Old Creation that had to be dealt with under law, because of the carnal mind that caused them to walk according to the flesh. But where sin abounded now Grace does much more abound. The Law written on tables of stone cannot bring perfection because it is an external thing and so cannot touch the inward part of mankind. Perfection is not something external to us beloved, but is already within us just waiting to be revealed by his grace.
Under the NEW COVENANT God is saying, “I WILL write my laws in their hearts and in their minds, and their sins and iniquities I WILL remember no more. He says, I WILL walk in them, and I WILL be to them a God and they shall be my people. Our hearts respond and say, “Draw me and I will run after thee, for the King has brought me into his chambers, so we will be glad and rejoice in thee.” Our relationship has now changed from one of constraint to that of LOVE, fuelled by the desire to ultimately experience the consummation of that Love in our union with Christ. All this and more is the result of standing with Christ on resurrection ground having entered into the fellowship of his sufferings.
Religious concepts have destroyed the truth displayed in the Cross, with the accent being on the physical sufferings of ONE MAN in order to release all mankind from having to suffer for their sins. The religious crowd sings with great gusto, “The Old Rugged Cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.” But never have they entered into the reality of “the fellowship of his sufferings,” and neither can they be made conformable to his death. Paul tells us, “Don’t you know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ have been baptised into his death?” Of course Christendom knows that, and so they submit to baptism in water, considering this is the reality of the death burial and resurrection of Christ for them. But water baptism is but a shadow and a type of a “spiritual reality” that alone has the power to bring an inward transformation
The reality of our baptism is not simply the experience of getting wet by going under the water and then coming up expecting to walk in a new life. Paul declared, “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.” This indicates a reality in which he was actively involved that day on Golgotha’s Hill, in the death of the cross. He identified with the LAST ADAM who took into death everything of that OLD CREATION MAN thus releasing him from its power and bondage.
The mystery of the INCARNATION has not yet dawned upon the hearts of many of God’s people. They have never understood the Truth revealed in Jesus Christ, that God and man exist as ONE. JESUS was a man of flesh and blood Heb 2:14. The Roman Emperor in A.D. 322 was Constantine and in a meeting of the Church Bishops of his day, he defied the majority ruling and declared that Jesus was the same substance as God. In A.D.325 the Nicene Creed was formulated and registered as Church doctrine, declaring that Jesus was “GOD” the SON. This teaching has not just affected the Catholics, who have venerated both Jesus the man and also Mary his mother, but has been accepted also by the Protestants, including the Pentecostal Church. The false teaching of the “Trinity” denies the “mystery,” of God dwelling in man, together with the truth that can release humanity from the bondage of their mortality. The heathen now despise Christianity, with the Moslem people declaring, “Christians” have THREE GODS, God the FATHER, God the SON, and God the HOLY SPIRIT, whilst they worship ONLY ONE GOD.
I can hear the Trinity teachers rushing to the defence of the Catholic Church, to explain their incomprehensible theory of “Three Gods IN ONE”, or three expressions of the one God, all of which mean the same thing. Why is this an issue? Because if Jesus was GOD, then first of all, his life was totally different to mine and therefore he certainly cannot be THE PATTERN from which ALL MANKIND WAS CREATED. Secondly, would someone mind explaining to me, “If Jesus was GOD, HOW COULD HE DIE?” Such is the confusion that represents so much of Christianity today. God the Father IS SPIRIT Jn 4:24, The Holy Spirit is obviously SPIRIT and the LORD IS SPIRIT, 1 Cor 6:17 and CHRIST IS SPIRIT the invisible anointing.
Obviously it was not GOD who died on the Cross, for he is eternal, but GOD was IN JESUS CHRIST doing all the miracles Jn 14:10 which were the works of God. Paul tells us that “GOD MADE HIM (Jesus) TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor 5:21. What was it that Jesus was made to be? He was not made to be the sin offering as the Catholics have taught the Protestants, for Jesus himself declared, “You did not desire burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, for in them thou hast had no pleasure.” Heb 10:5. BUT God make him to be the “MAN OF SIN” or the “LAST ADAM”. In that capacity Jesus Christ made that tremendous decision in the Garden of Gethsemane, to drink the cup Father gave to him, and so take into death that FALSE CONCEPT of our identity, freeing us from mortality and the law of sin and death.
But beloved, this is OUR BAPTISM for in becoming the LAST ADAM, Jesus assumed my own sense of identity as ADAM, taking ME with him to the cross, where he was lifted up just as he himself prophesied, “As the serpent was raised up in the wilderness.” Jn 3:14. (Compare Num 21:8-9) He was raised up in the very form of that which was killing all of humanity, THE LAST ADAM, providing salvation from the Adamic curse, as we LOOK AND LIVE. So my view of that Cross is not just Jesus Christ dying for my sins, but of Des Walter as represented by the “Last Adam” who hung there until all life from him expired and he bows his head and says, IT IS FINISHED. The passing of time may cause the scene to fade, but so often my eyes return to that scene, overwhelming me with praise and worship. Beloved, this is my BAPTISM into his death. Later that body is taken down as night sets in, and is laid in the tomb. With the eyes of the spirit I enter that dark and cold grave anxious not to miss any minute detail, for this is the identity I had lived out of for so many years that now lies lifeless on that cold rock slab.
The tomb is sealed as the divine mystery of life is played out in secret. The earth-bound “caterpillar” has now descended into the darkness with God, and when the metamorphosis is complete the butterfly will emerge. That transformation is the same for us today, as the mystery of God is being worked in us, in sure and certain hope that as I AWAKE I WILL BE IN HIS LIKENESS. The greatest day in the history of this universe dawned on the third day, so I stand there staring at the now open tomb and look inside, but it is EMPTY. Two angels declare he is not there for he is RISEN. But I MUST SEE HIM for this is MY Baptism. A strange feeling comes over me as I survey the tomb looking for some sign of the “caterpillar” for I would like to know what has happened to it. Surely there must at least be a heap of DUST? But there is nothing there, for that person I believed myself to be, WAS SIMPLY AN ILLUSION HAVING NO REALITY. But my true reality which is CHRIST was not affected by death and so on the third day I stepped out in my real identity into a world that I had never seen before.
On the road to Emmaus a stranger joins us as we walk. There is something very familiar about him, but to identify him I cannot. As we stop for rest and food, suddenly I stand transfixed as this stranger breaks the bread, and at that moment my inner being is exposed and I see in this stranger a reflection of my true self. “OF COURSE, I cry, THAT IS WHO I AM, FOR NOW I AM LOOKING AT A REVELATION OF MY OWN TRUE REALITY. THIS IS CHRIST!”
I am not just forgiven, but released from the grave of my Adamic consciousness, to walk as a LIFEGIVING SPIRIT that is called CHRIST. This is my Baptism INTO HIS DEATH that results in a glorious resurrection, having passed from a condition the Bible calls DEATH, unto life. This has been portrayed through Noah and the Ark bringing him from the Old creation of death and corruption to walk in a NEW LIFE upon higher ground. The details of the lives of Noah and his family from this point provide us with a vivid picture of the off spring of Noah that he birthed on the other side of the flood. Noah whose name means “Rest” is no longer struggling against the corruption that had filled the world. God had put upon him an invisible mark of separation for the “World had been crucified unto him and he unto the world.” However, despite his deliverance failure is soon evidenced in his life. The fruit of the vine, speaking of that spiritual refreshment that comes as a blessing from the Lord, soon became a snare to him.
Even as Noah’s blessings now become the source of his down fall, so have many Christians exposed their nakedness down through the ages. He becomes drunk with the fruit of the vine and exposes himself in an unseemly manner. Paul speaks a strong word about judging one another. He says, ”Therefore thou art inexcusable O man, whoever thou art that judgest, for as you judge another, you condemn your self, because you do the same things.” Rom 2:1 Then he continues, “Thinkest thou this, O man that judgest another and yet you do the same things, that you will escape the judgement of God.” V.3.
Consider how much the testimony of Christ has been hurt, not just by the faults of God’s people, but by the wanton attitude of the saints, judging one another. There seems to be a kind of gloating ever the faults of others, by those who seek to impress others with their own piety. Grace is so rarely in evidence over the failure of others. Public humiliation is the preferred tool of the Church to deal with human failure, rather than love and forgiveness. Ham fostered such an attitude and paid dearly for it, and should be an example to us of that arrogance that seeks to expose the faults of others.
We now come to the three children of Noah from whom we are told, the whole earth would be peopled. So here is revealed in graphic detail the history of those who are brought forth by the spiritual man Noah, conceived in the Old creation and brought through to live in a purer world. Regeneration bears in us more than one form of life and depending on which form has gained the ascendancy in us, that is the form that will become dominant.
Shem, Ham and Japeth reveal the diverse life forms that can develop in a man even after regeneration. In fact, the reality is that from these ultimately, Babylon the Great will proceed. The nature of these three will be revealed in their development as being just as diverse as Peter, Paul and John. The first son mentioned is SHEM, meaning “NAME,” and is derived from the Hebrew “to place or to put” signifying that a name acts as an identification of someone or something. The name Shem in the Hebrew is also closely connected with the word “heavens.” For these heavens are they that “declare the glory of God,” and it can be said for Shem’s family, “God has set a Tabernacle for the sun.” (Psalm 19:I,4.) Shem becomes the link between the line of Seth through Noah to Abraham and so is the progenitor of the Semitic race. Shem represents the contemplative mind that delights itself with things unseen, and absorbs that which is invisible. This is the true spiritual mind.
Ham is the second son of Noah and his name means “Hot or Warm” hence is connected with the South Land. It is also an Egyptian word meaning “Black.” Ham and his offspring settled in the land of Ethiopia and Arabia, and from him comes the primitive Babylonian Empire. Here is the mind that seeks after Godliness but in himself denies the power thereof. He knows the Truth but does not live in it. It is inevitable that he brings forth “Canaan,” who was Israel’s enemy that had to be driven out of the land in which they settled, for it was given to Israel as the “Promised Land.”
Japeth the third son means “Opened or enlargement” coming from a Hebrew word that also means to deceive, to be persuaded or enticed. Japeth does much good but concentrates more on external things. He settles on the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea, spreading into Europe and Asia. Both inwardly as well as outwardly, these three sons of Noah represent all the peoples that inhabit the earth. There will be those, whose mind is stayed on the Lord, and seeking to abide in the secret place of the Most High. Then, some like Japhet will be activated more externally and life will be filled with activity and the distinction between that which is of God and that which is of man, will easily be lost.
Finally there is Ham who represents those who are merely men of doctrine. They are hearers but not doers of the word, formulating their own pathway and doctrine, which they declare to be the TRUTH. These are not only deceived in themselves, but become deceivers of others also. To these three sons we must add the son of Ham called “CANAAN,” whose name means “Lowlands” for they occupied all the fertile plains of what would become the land of Palestine. The main cities of Canaan were Tyre and Sidon, and these were centres of great commercial activity.
I am sure that if we traced the development of each family member from Noah, we would discover that the seed of every religious abomination from heathenism, idolatry, and both Popery and Protestantism would be found there. Even the Holy seed of Shem could produce Asshur from whence came the Assyrians with all their ungodly behaviour and crimes.
Man is a complex being, Spirit, soul and Body, forming a universe that can produce great diversity. Even though we are by creation essentially SPIRIT, we do not necessarily live out of that reality. There is that which is birthed in the soul and also that which proceeds from the body or flesh. Then there are the myriad combinations of all these covering the whole spectrum of Christendom in the world. It would not be profitable to trace each descendant of Noah’s three boys in this study but their Names reveal much concerning their nature and spiritual identity. Ham has left his mark on the world through Babylon the Great, and the rise of humanism as the world’s philosophy. However in spite of all this, God is gathering from every tongue kindred and tribe a people who will walk in their true identity, which is Christ. It is these who are released from the corruption of this world and in whom the likeness and image of God is being revealed to the world.
It is a sobering thought to understand, that even out of what we would consider to be the regenerate heart there can come that which is accursed. There are many Pastors and Church leaders who absolutely reject the Truth that God is revealing today, remaining wedded to the Old Covenant and traditional theology. These are the leaders of thousands of Christians throughout the world who are in bondage to sin and death. There is an inward revelation of God that illuminates the mind destroying our sense of separation from God, producing a life that is divinely controlled and where every dissenting voice to the spirit, is quickly silenced. But there is also an outward form of religion where more attention is paid to the desires of the body and soul, rather than to the voice of God. The “ego” in man can be just as much at home being a Pastor, as it is being a wealthy businessman. Whatever voice we respond to, is that which will rule over us.
NOAH’S FAILURE
In the natural, we are sad to have to read of what the religious world would call the “sin” of this mighty man who was chosen to build the Ark and be transported to that new land that had been cleansed by the flood. However, this “Coming Short” of the glory of God as Paul expressed it, was no disaster that must bring swift “judgment” from God. Noah was learning to walk where he had never walked before, and from this experience he learned the “ways of God” more perfectly, We discover the reason for Noah’s unseemly act was simply an abuse of either God’s Grace or his gifts. The fruit of the vine speaks to us of the Holy Spirit and the gift of Joy that accompanies its expression. But a carnal grasping for the wine of the spirit, will result in “intoxication” and inevitably an exposing of our nakedness. In Noah we see the natural tendency towards “self gratification” even in the use of spiritual things.
The Charismatic movement was without a doubt a visitation from God as life flowed into many barren hearts, crossing the lines of denominations and doctrines. But it was not very long before we saw the rise of “Giants,” or men of renown who were using the gifts of the spirit to boost their egos, and to lift themselves above others so as to dominate and rule over the saints of God. These then in turn established Churches to control this mighty move of God, that were in the first instance carried along on a wave of miracle manifestation. However their drunkenness soon became evident and there was a sad display of nakedness, that destroyed many Churches and the lives of many Pastors and people alike. Really this is no different to what we have expressed here in the life of Noah.
God came in a mighty visitation to Israel at Mount Sinai, but while God was conveying his message to Moses, Israel was dancing around a “Golden Calf.” Then in the midst of the most wonderful demonstration of God’s mighty power in bringing down the walls of the city of Jericho, one man is busy scavenging for a new suit of clothes, and this brought defeat to God’s people at Ai. It would almost seem that when the spirit is most active, it is then that the carnal mind is also aroused. The work of regeneration is not just a matter of believing certain things, but the reality of those things must be birthed in us. As the old creation is brought into death, so the “New Man” must be birthed by the Spirit to express itself as Christ.
In the case of Ham we have a different situation, for he not only sees the nakedness of Noah but he broadcasts it abroad, without a single attempt to provide any sort of covering. This was his father’s nakedness, which surely should have been his priority to cover, because his own shame was being revealed here. Shem and Japeth act differently, not so much as glancing on their father’s nakedness, they walk BACKWARDS (an act of pure grace) and they cover him. The evil in the human heart will always SEE the nakedness in others while the spirit within will never gloat, but will always minister Grace.
Here in this “failure” of Noah we are looking at the result of allowing the flesh to express itself even in matters of the spirit. The wine of blessing, can just as easily be used by the flesh to discover the weakness in man, as to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. Ham’s problem was a complete lack of love and grace to cover such a weakness, finding in its exposure some strange sense of satisfaction. Of course there is “A missing of the Mark” among God’s people today, but Christendom is so focused upon the Hebrew concept of a “God of Judgment” they have never discovered the “God of GRACE.” How we act in such cases of failure will manifest the kind of God we believe him to be. Paul’s admonition to us is “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
In these offspring of Noah, the regenerate man, we find developing every problem that besets the people of God even today. Noah’s failure has exposed the nakedness of many a Pastor and Christian down through the ages. Misuse or abuse of the privileges made available through Christ leads to spiritual intoxication, because the Mind of the Spirit is not in control. In the case of Ham we find the fruit of the spirit no longer evident, and so Hams’ lack of Grace and Love expressed itself in exposing the failure in others, as we see in Christendom today.
But God is revealing to us in these Scriptures the seedbed of every problem that confronts God’s people today, even though they have come through what they believe to be regeneration, into resurrection life. The “seed bed” of evil is exposed as the heart of man. I believe we are reaping in this our day the harvest of souls who have been seduced by the “carnal plan of salvation,” by which Christendom has been seeded. It says, “Give your heart to Jesus, repent of your sins and believe Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and you will be saved, born again, and you will go to heaven when you die.” No where in Scripture can you find such a formula, and Jesus never preached such a Gospel. Such is the sinking foundation of Salvation that so many consider to be TRUTH.
This is the reason why so many who love the Lord and want to walk in his ways become frustrated, finding themselves constantly living in the failure of Romans 7, where they are not free to do what they would like to do. But, Babylon provides false hope to these, thus keeping them shrouded in darkness, declaring, “no one can stop sinning in this life, but you must wait until Jesus “returns” from the sky, when you will be changed as you are “raptured” to the clouds.”
We must be “Saved” from our present state of “mortality,” which declares we are separated from God and under divine condemnation because of our sin. We must also be released from a false sense of identity, believing we came from the dust, and are born as sinners on this earth. We have mistaken the “FORM” for the “REALITY” considering we are simply mortal human beings that are born and are going to die. When people saw Jesus walking down the street, what did they see? All they saw was A M-A-N with a head, two arms, two legs and a body! But we know that is not the REALITY of who he is.
God opened the eyes of Peter who looked beyond the natural physical body and declared, “Thou art the CHRIST the Son of the Living God.” Peter saw Christ within that natural body and this became a reflection to him of his own true identity. Salvation is to be delivered from the “BODY OF THIS DEATH,” just as Paul prayed in Rom 7:24. The answer he declares in verse 25, “I thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. For it is with the “Mind” or the spiritual capacity to know the things of the spirit, that we can identify with Christ and so fulfill the divine purpose, but if I live out of the flesh or the natural man, I will remain subject to the Law of sin and death.” Be assured, “Flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the Kingdom of God.”
It is not possible to live out of Adam the Natural flesh and blood man, and out of Christ at the same time, although we have all tried. For IN ADAM all die, but IN CHRIST all are made alive. However Christendom has majored on “salvation” in the form of “Forgiveness” of our sins, which is all most people are interested in. But they have never been delivered from the power of sin, so that Christianity has become the only recognised “SINNING RELIGION.” Paul says, “Shall we CONTINUE IN SIN that Grace may abound…….GOD FORBID that you should even think about it??”
The release of Israel from Egypt was not by any sacrifice for sin, but through the EATING OF THE PASSOVER LAMB!! This is the pattern of our own release from slavery to sin and corruption. Passover was the appropriating of the LAMB, which is Christ, as the FIRST BORN of all creation. Our “first birth” was as a physical human being from our mother’s womb as we have all believed. This is the Adamic consciousness that has made us slaves to sin and death. Jesus Christ as the LAST ADAM took this identity into death on the cross thus releasing us to our true identity which is CHRIST. The reality is that we were CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS in the beginning. Eph 2:10. We were CHOSEN IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world. Eph 1:4. So to believe our origin is from our natural parents is a LIE and that deception has enslaved us to sin and corruption. Israel was released by EATING THE WHOLE OF THE LAMB that is Christ. Just as Jesus himself said, “ He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood DWELLS IN ME AND I IN HIM.” Jn 6:56.
But to enter into Christ is impossible until the OLD CREATION (Adam) has died so that we can become WHAT HE IS, the beginning of the NEW CREATION MAN. In the Passover analogy Jesus is saying, “ If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU.” Deliverance and release cannot be achieved simply by believing something. Something in you must D-I-E to be replaced by a NEW LIFE that is CHRIST.
Babylon The Great
Now let us look at Ham and that which he produces out of himself. His first offspring is CUSH which means “Black.” He was a Benjamite and they settled in the land known to us as Ethiopia. From Cush there comes also Mizriam known as Egypt, and Phut probably the Libyans, followed by Canaan who were the Phoenicians that occupied the land promised to Israel, and had to be driven out under Joshua. But let us just consider the son of Cush called “Nimrod,” of whom it is said, “He began to be a mighty one in the earth.” His name means “rebellion” and so we can see that his prowess in hunting animals for food, soon found a new direction in subduing “a people” under him over whom he ruled with a rod of iron.
The very foundation of Babylon, is “an established authority and complete submission to that authority.” Jesus commended the Church in Ephesus because they rejected the doctrine of the Nicolaitans who were “Lording it over the saints.” From the days of Nimrod to this present day Babylon has spread its influence as men established their own kingdoms by bringing the people into submission to themselves. Even in what has been called “Kingdom Ministries” the tendency remains to use the message for personal gain, by joining people unto themselves. To do so is proof that Nimrod is alive and well in the year 2000. The true message of the Kingdom is that “JESUS CHRIST IS LORD and UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE BE.”
Out of the Charismatic movement came the discipleship teaching exalting the Pastor over his congregation destroying their ONENESS IN CHRIST. Any man or woman who allows themselves to be exalted by men because of some “position” they hold, is still a part of Babylon. Consider Paul’s mode of operation as he went through the Gentile regions. He ministered the Word of the Lord, to which people responded and a fellowship of people developed. Then Paul moved on leaving the “infant Church” to grow and develop through the Christ within, but to do so today would be considered totally irresponsible. Probably, some other “Pastor” would move in and “SAVE” them from annihilation, claiming the people as his.
But Paul continued to do this having confidence in the Lord that “He that had begun a good work in them would complete it even unto the day of Jesus Christ.” His confidence in God’s ability to save and perfect his people never was shaken through experience. After a while it is recorded that he returned and simply appointed “elders” in each fellowship. This was not done by a majority vote by the people or the “board,” but he simply saw that certain men were already established and functioning in a caring role, which obviously was established by the Lord. There was no ONE MAN MINISTRY in the Church in the beginning. Paul says when you come together, one has a Psalm, one has a tongue or word or prophecy, so that the BODY OF CHRIST edified the BODY OF CHRIST.
Unfortunately, in most Churches, one man leads, he prays, he preaches, he ministers to the people and blesses them and they go home. The “body” has been conditioned to remain still, being taught it does not have the knowledge, or the ability, to know how to help itself. Most of the “Clergy” believe this, and so do the people, and that is how it functions today. But there is a “Body” of people that are feeling the quickening of the Holy Spirit today, and their spiritual muscles and limbs are beginning to move. This is the mighty “MANY MEMBERED CHRIST” who are being energised to set all creation free, and be the instrument in whom God will write HIS MESSAGE OF RELEASE AND FREEDOM TO ALL MANKIND. They are discovering that the “CHRIST” is not the “FIGURE HEAD” of the Church WHICH IS HIS BODY, but the H-E-A-D functioning as the knowledge, wisdom and power of God himself, within every member of that body.
After 2000 years of Christianity in which the organisation has spent billions of dollars on bricks and mortar, THERE ARE MORE HEATHEN IN THE WORLD TODAY, THAN EVER BEFORE. The sub-continent of India with more than a billion people, have had the Gospel since Bible times. Thomas the disciple died in Madras India, where you can visit his grave. Yet today after being evangelised by missionaries from all over the world, less than 2% of this nation are Christian. It is time for someone to ask what is wrong? There are Churches in India with 10,000 people but their impact on society can hardly be measured. Now I am only using India as one example for it is the same story all over the world.
When will the Body of Christ rise up against Babylon that has robbed and plundered the people of God without mercy since the time of Nimrod. Of course it goes by many pseudonyms today that sound so religious we scarcely are aware of its existence, but the blood of the martyrs is on its hands, and it continues to rob God’s people of their inheritance in Christ. In the days of the prophet Samuel, Israel asked him to appoint them a king, as they wanted to be like the other nations. Samuel told them that they already had God as their king. But they persisted, and so God told Samuel to give them a king but to warn them of the consequences. Seven times the prophet told them the king they wanted would persist in TAKING FROM THEM, but they took no notice, and the spirit of Babylon was invited to replace God’s divine authority over Israel.
In Gen 1:26 God gave man the position of authority over all life forms below him, the fish, fowl, cattle and over all the earth, but notice he was never given dominion over mankind itself! But Eve was told, after she transgressed, that HER HUSBAND would have dominion over her. Her “husband” in eating of the forbidden fruit was not ADAM but FLESH. So the only POWER that could dominate the SOUL of man was FLESH expressed through the CARNAL MIND. So we understand that BABYLON’S authority could only gain access to a man through the carnal mind, when the SOUL turns from the one she has been espoused to, (Christ) and marries the FLESH. Now let us look at what the Scriptures have to say on this subject.
“Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, the Lord of Hosts, even though the land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. FLEE OUT OF THE MIDST OF BABYLON and deliver every man his SOUL. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance, and he will render unto her a recompense. BABYLON has been a GOLDEN CUP in the hand of the Lord that made all the earth DRUNK. Because the NATIONS have drunk of her wine, therefore ALL THE NATIONS ARE M-A-D. We would have healed Babylon (if it had been possible) but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country, (and pitch your tent as a pilgrim) for her judgment reaches unto the heavens, and is lifted up even to the skies.” Jer 51:5-9.
Jeremiah is the weeping Prophet who cries over Israel who had allowed themselves to be brought into slavery to the King of Babylon. The whole book is his concern for the people of Israel as he tells them of their impending destruction. Jeremiah 22:25 “And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.” This slavery to Babylon is the only alternative to the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.
Notice that God calls the king of Babylon, “MY SERVANT.” Jer 25:9. Herein lies the dominion of God over everything. Whilst we may be overcome of something or someone, God remains Lord of all. Jeremiah 25:12 “And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans shall become a perpetual desolation.”
Israel denied God his right to be King over them, asking Samuel the prophet to give them a human king and so be like all the other nations. So the nation lost its distinctive “Theocratic” character, and became “Like all the other nations.” BUT, before we pass judgment on Israel, let us consider that the CHURCH the “called out” have done exactly the same thing in most cases. Where is the Church functioning today as a Theocratic Nation? Is it not identical with any club, sporting body or any other nation on the earth that cannot exist without its control being invested in M-A-N. The Church today is controlled by men, elected many times by a democratic process that Christianity considers to be divinely appointed.
Democracy, resulted in the death of almost 15000 people in Israel as Korah challenged God’s sovereign right to choose the instrument through whom he would lead Israel. Num 16. Democracy is simply “the people ruling,” and not God. Of course the Church today use Israel in the wilderness as God’s sanction of the appointment of men to lead God’s people. But today the situation is quite different. Now Christ is in every man so his Lordship is established within the whole household of faith. The presence of the King is no longer external to the people of God but he rules from within. We are a Kingdom of PRIESTS, and not a Kingdom ruled by a few Priests. We are a HOLY NATION and not a nation who must be governed by a few “Holy men.” However while this is truth, the reality expressed by the people generally, is that God appoints MEN to rule over them, a “Moses” who hears from God and then tells the people what God is saying.
These men determine what doctrines are to be taught, and what is the program of the Church. This system has divided and separated God’s people all over the world, and continues to do so. Thus the unique UNITY that links every Child of God to each other through a single FATHER is denied, and the confusion known as BABYLON destroys the authority of the Church in the world. Babylon is not a doctrine, but is a spirit of rebellion that denies God the right to BE GOD within his people, coordinating his will, mind, and purpose so that all expresses the glory of God. We find that everything in nature expresses his glory and shows forth his handiwork, but the only creature to rebel is MANKIND.
The divine ability given to man to think, reason and make decisions endows him with the ability to explore the Knowledge of good and evil, that is not found in God, and which would bring him into death. But EVE believed the lie of the snake and considered that this forbidden knowledge would make MAN AS GODS. This resulted in man usurping God’s right of divine government and becoming King himself in the place of God. From this position it was but a small step for man to establish “Human Government” over the Church, which is HIS BODY. Man ruling over man has produced a domination that was never ordained by God, and has resulted in a stunting of spiritual growth in the people. Just as a child can only come into adulthood through the process of growth and development as a result of actually living life, and overcoming the issues that would try and prevent such maturity, so it is in the Christian life. We must eat the necessary nourishment, and exercise every muscle and sinew, and develop our mental and spiritual powers before we can leave childhood behind, even in the spiritual realm.
No one can do this for us in the natural, and no one can do this for us in the spiritual. Everyone must digest their food themselves, and no one can do that for us. No one can grow our bones or develop our muscles for us, no one can develop our mind or complete our education instead of us. However, the Church has used its trained people to tell us what to believe, and assumed the task of predigesting all food for us. It has detailed our thinking, marking out the place where we are to put each foot, discerning our choices for us and leaving nothing that can develop our own personal faculties. Scripture records, “Man shall not LIVE by bread alone but by EVERY WORD that is proceeding out of the mouth of God.” Unless each of us HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD we cannot follow the LAMB wherever it goes..
Christians are not encouraged to hear the voice of God because this would deplete the authority of the leader. Our spiritual mind fails for it is not allowed to learn the “ways of God,” communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. Our obedience to the Holy Spirit cannot develop for we are told what we ought to do without any options. Beloved, can you not see that the Traditional Church program, designed with the best of intentions is both debilitating and destructive in the development of our personal relationship with God. It assumes that no Christian can grow to maturity under the divine ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is given of God to guide and instruct, without the help of some “Church Program.” The “Church” maintains people’s dependence upon it from the cradle to the grave, which in itself is an indictment against its ability to produce maturity in the people of God.
What Nimrod began, in first of all bringing his brethren into subjection to himself developed very quickly. The people began to journey FROM THE EAST away from the increasing light, to a “plain” or lowlands. They had descended from the heights to which the Ark had lifted them, down to the lowlands of spiritual experience. Now they devised a plan that would prevent them being scattered to fill the earth. They would make bricks that are a man made substitute for stone, and build a tower to reach unto the heavens. The local “Pitch” was used for mortar to lock the bricks together.
They wanted to make for themselves a NAME (Shem). A Name they could establish for themselves, and not supplied by God. But God came down and confounded their language, so they could not understand each other’s speech. Even today the saints have been scattered and have never discovered their unity and oneness in Christ, because of the number of different Denominations all speaking their own language that is not understood by others. In the natural, the peoples of the world have been separated by different languages. Every time man seeks to unite to produce a “Tower” or “City” it has always ended up in splits and confusion. Think of the many unity movements that have tried to unite God’s people, like the World council of Churches, but have never succeeded in sustaining a consensus. Even the Churches themselves continue to split and divide over doctrine, methodology or personality.
Jesus told us and we know, “The letter kills but the spirit gives life.” So while Babylon is restricted by language, because one says a verse means this while another says it means something else, God speaks to his people by the Spirit which is intelligible to all, bringing life. There is only one who has the power to unite the people of this world and that is CHRIST. There is only ONE VOICE that can bring God’s sheep together, and that is the voice of Christ. There is a people in the world today in whom that voice is speaking instead of man’s voice, and these are being united as one glorious family, and all the divisions religion has established, are being torn down. This is the reverse of Nimrod’s attempt to unite and dominate the peoples of the world.
It would be wrong to consider that Babylon is totally evil and wicked, for if such were the case it would be clearly identifiable and all would know her condition. However in her you will find images of God’s truth, even vessels of the sanctuary made of gold carried away with captive Israel. Outwardly she resembles a heavenly Church, with a Priesthood and ministry. Inwardly she is filled with good knowledge, the likeness of conversion, faith, zeal and love towards God and man. You will also see the likeness of meekness, justification, sanctification, peace and joy, for just as the world is filled with “shadows” of the Truth, so is Babylon also, and to the carnal mind it appears spiritual. Just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses by imitating the works of God’s elect, so Babylon has deceived many in the same way.
Babylon has her priesthood and her altars, she has the Cross, the incense, and the discipline. She has every FORM of truth ready, to deceive those who are seeking for reality. So out of Noah on resurrection ground we now discover evil still existing, but now in far more subtle forms. So as we look into the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we discover there, the various horses, earthquakes, blood and the hail, as well as dragons and wild beasts together with BABYLON THE GREAT. All of which must be dealt with, and not just subdued but absolutely removed, for NOTHING THAT DEFILETH can enter into the city of God.
The final standard to be reached, the HIGH CALLING OF GOD in Christ Jesus, and the Righteousness of God, cannot be reached until there is a total destruction of every thought, word or deed, that does not originate in the Mind of Christ. On looking back on my life now I see all of this evil has been a part of my own experience, after I began to walk in resurrection life. I was deceived by Babylon and for years spent my energy trying to establish her until the Spirit opened my eyes to its reality and what it was doing to the saints.
This revelation and release does not produce a “Holier than thou,” attitude as we all have witnessed over the years, but in the spirit it is deeply humbling. I see myself in every man still enmeshed in the myriad tentacles of Babel, and bless God for his Grace that has brought me thus far. No man can rescue another from this deception except the light of God illuminates their heart and mind to see the TRUTH. All the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are hid in Christ, but for many they believe they see at least some of them also in Babel. There are many precious saints who would seek to improve Babylon correcting certain issues that to them seem to be wrong. These are encouraged and applauded for anything that can improve her standing in the world, is to be of great benefit to her. BUT Jeremiah says, “SHE IS NOT HEALED.”
It may surprise you to know that Babylon is “A golden cup in the hand of the Lord.” Jer 51:7. For those who drink from that cup will find their heart exposed and many of the things hidden there will be brought to the light. Babylon has three areas of function, it is Religious, and Economic and political. It is an IMITATION of THE WAY, an imitation of THE TRUTH and an IMITATION of THE LIFE. Its function and operation is not limited to the Church but forms part of a global presence that is slowly seeking to bring all mankind under ONE world wide government. Every Nation on the earth today is under some human government, even Israel which was founded as a Theocracy, but we who have been liberated by the spirit are discovering the reality of the KINGDOM OF GOD where GOD RULES SUPREME and nothing that defiles can enter in. The Kingdom of God is the only THEOCRATIC NATION in the world, and it is a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD and a HOLY NATION.
The thought of a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT brings fear and depression to many people including those who claim to know Christ. However I want you to know I have read the last chapter in the “book” and I can tell you BABYLON is doomed to destruction. It will never achieve its aims, but when it has finished its work of correction as a :Golden Cup” in the hand of the Lord it will be destroyed. Slavery in Babylon was the correction God brought upon Israel for their backsliding. It is fulfilling the same function in the world today enslaving the many whom reject Jesus Christ as L-O-R-D. The spirit of the Lord has been loosed in the world to, “Bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and to proclaim, that this is the time of God’s acceptance.” So beloved, you can see that all the power of Babylon cannot prevent you from walking free from every chain or prison into which Babylon may have put you, for the SONS OF GOD CANNOT BE BOUND.
Babylon will not be destroyed by some nuclear war, but by the LIGHT OF GOD that is spreading throughout the world destroying the darkness behind which Babylon hides, exposing it for the fake that it is. Today we give thanks to the Father, “who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in LIGHT, who HAS delivered us from the POWER OF DARKNESS and has translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”
Even as Babylon seems to increase, above and beyond it all we are confident knowing that God has never deviated from his original plan. Even now he is calling out a people unto himself, through whom all mankind will bow the knee to Christ, and confess that he is LORD to the glory of God the Father. So that even that which “seems” to be set in opposition to God is in fact a tool in his hand to bring us to himself. May you be blessed and encouraged as the Word becomes a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet.
May the Lord give you understanding of these things.
The Apostle Paul says, “If any man be IN CHRIST he is a NEW CREATION, for Old things have passed away and behold all things are become new.” Noah’s sons believed God concerning the flood that was to come and so stepped into the ARK, (Christ.) But the change is never complete until CHRIST DWELLS consciously IN US. The indwelling Christ expresses himself in us, through the CHRIST MIND. Until we touch this reality we will carry the traits of that old creation that we thought was left behind.
The fact that we are in Christ has already been established through creation, and there is nothing we can do ourselves to make this true. However, it would seem many people would rather believes they came from the dust and were born a sinner, as Christendom has taught them. They are like the Caterpillar who has no idea of his true being as a butterfly, until a metamorphosis takes place that makes it capable of living as a butterfly. It is the same for mankind who are living out of an Adamic consciousness or a CARNAL MIND, as a mere mortal being, separated from God. But all that is required is that YOU BELIEVE GOD AND NOT THE TEACHINGS OF MEN! Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
This truth is revealed in Noah whose life was lived in obedience to the voice of God. When God told Noah that it was going to rain for forty days and nights, Noah believed God and so obeyed his direction to build an ark that would be his salvation from such a calamity. Do not doubt beloved, that every man who remains joined to the natural or carnal concept of life, will be caught up in the flood of corruption that is presently sweeping this world. The so called “Christians” are not immune from this “flood” of evil, as is evidenced by the numbers who are suffering all kinds of sickness, depression, marital and youth problems among other things, in this our day. Remember the “flood” of Noah’s day is an ongoing scourge that affects every generation as evil continues to be generated in the carnal minds of mankind. This is not God judging man, but mankind destroying itself as it reaps that which it has sown.
Noah steps out of the confines of the Ark into a new freedom and release from the corruption and confusion of the Old World. This change has been wrought through DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION. We must die to the world of ADAM in which dwells, “Good and Evil, a sense of separation from God, and a fear of judgment.” Then we must be “Buried with Christ,” (in the Ark) if we are to be raised up to walk in newness of Life in Christ. Thus death, burial and resurrection cuts us off from the corruption that is in this world. There is no “Emigration Plan” from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. You will never be released from the one Kingdom until you are DEAD. Only then after dying out to the carnal consciousness, can we be “birthed” into the Kingdom of God, and escape the corruption of this world.
We stand with Noah on this new and higher plain as the Christ Consciousness opens to our view a world in which Jesus Christ is Lord. Our rise to these heavenly heights has been the result of believing God and overcoming the LIE that kept us earthbound. Now we are made to sit together in heavenly places in CHRIST. We are now convinced that it is GOD that works in us both to WILL and to DO of his good pleasure. It is therefore with a grateful heart that we step on to resurrection ground beyond the Adamic grave of death.
However, just because Noah stepped out of the Ark did not mean that he was no longer in Christ. The Ark built of timber is just a type and a shadow of a glorious reality that has no material form in this world of appearance. Noah’s story is recorded for us in parabolic form, only so that we can grasp the invisible out of which all reality flows. Resurrection is a release from the limitations of our mortality that restricts us to being BORN and then we wait to DIE. Having endured the death of our Adamic consciousness, we have now heard the voice of the Son of God and because we have heard, we enter into life. Now we have passed from death unto LIFE breaking the power of death.
Before, we were simply prisoners of hope, believing for a release from the corruption that closed in upon us on every side, but not seeing the reality, nor knowing how to find the way. Job tells us, “There is a path that no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye has not seen. The Lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.” This is the highway prepared for those who will follow on to know the Lord and walk in his ways. But the gentle Dove of peace brings to us the “Olive leaf” assuring us there is a land that is fairer than day. A NEW DAY in which we can walk beyond the limits of death and corruption.
Here is the place where we now can build our altar unto the Lord, and offer our burnt offerings to him. What is it that we can offer to him? Not the fruit of Adamah as Cain did and found it was rejected, but that which has passed through the fire of God. This is the presentation of our BODY as a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy and acceptable unto God being our spiritual worship. This offering has nothing to do with sin, but rather concerns our obedience and acceptance, having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The question of sin has no place on resurrection ground, for as a NEW CREATION we stand in the glory of his divine perfection. Father can now reveal himself to us, as he had not been able to previously, in the world of the old creation.
On resurrection ground the only sacrifice that is acceptable is a LIVING sacrifice. All the sacrifices of Israel were dead, and Hebrews tells us that God did not desire them. David reminds us that the sacrifices that are acceptable to God are “A broken spirit and a contrite heart.” “So that I may be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God.”
From here the pathway leads onward and upward toward the City that has foundations, but we are now more confident of our journey with Christ dwelling within. As we walk he whispers to us, “While earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease,” so life becomes more predictable than it was under the law of sin and death. Now we have discovered, “Thy way O Lord is in the sanctuary, who is so great a God as our God.” Then as we stand by the altar of burnt offering we hear his voice saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” This is the same command given to Adam in the Garden. Just as it was on the third day of creation, when the waters were restrained and the earth became fruitful, so we see ourselves now identified in Noah, the third figure in the development of the New Creation.
We are reminded that, “unless a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone, but if it dies it brings forth much fruit.” In Noah we see how God has cut us off from the evil and corruption in the world about us. For 100 years, Noah was very busy “building an Ark,” an occupation that in itself separated him from the earthly aspirations of the natural man. All his energy and thoughts now are centred in fulfilling the clear direction he has received from God. Nothing in Noah’s life comes out of himself, all is divinely guided and directed. After 100 years of such a “God directed life” he has “Formed” a personal ark, suitable only for himself and those who issue from him. Noah could not provide salvation for anyone except himself and his family.
The idea of evangelising the world comes from both Matthew and Mark’s Gospel, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, baptising them and making disciples of them.” The first three Gospels belong rather to the Old Testament than to the New. The truth of our identity and the revelation of God concerning the Church had not yet been established in the hearts of the disciples. So the Hebrew concept of God and the supremacy of Israel in the Divine economy still controlled their thinking. Israel was the Church in the wilderness and so they considered their task was to proselytise the Gentiles bringing them into covenant relation with God through the Laws of Israel.
Beloved, you and I cannot save the world, for salvation is of the Lord, even though we have been led to believe that it is our responsibility to do so. In fact Christendom has not so much “Evangelised” the world, as it has “Christianised” it. In so many countries this has resulted in the Hindus becoming “Hindu Christians,” and the Moslems becoming “Moslem Christians.” This simply changes one ideology or religion for another, and many times does not bring about any permanent spiritual change. Primitive people have been “Westernised” in this process, confusing culture with the message of the Gospel. The Church has presented the Ark as the “Church,” and spend millions of dollars developing its buildings and religious programs, providing a feverish activity that is designed to save the world, but never achieves its goal.
Listen to Peter’s attitude when God sent him to the Gentile family of Cornelius. He said to them, “You know that it is not lawful for a man that is a Jew to keep company with one of another nation, but God has showed me that I am not to call any man common or unclean.” Acts 10:28. This was after Pentecost and the filling with the Spirit. This exposes the Jewish heart that persisted throughout the book of Acts. In the last chapter of Acts we find Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah chapter 6, “Hearing you shall hear and not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and head with their ears, and understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should hear them. Therefore the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and they will hear it.” Acts 28:26-31.
The “Jewish Church” ceased to exist at that time and the Gospel went out to the Gentiles. The Jews could not accept that the Gentiles could inherit equally with them in Christ. That is why they continued to proselytise, and made Gentiles to conform to the constraints of Judaism in order to be acceptable unto God. Still to this day, the Jewish Church where it has a presence, is a mixture of Grace and the Jewish Law. So now read Matt 28:19 with this understanding and you can see that they considered their responsibility was to go out into all the world, and bring everyone under the covering of Judaism, which included Baptism for the remission of their sins. As a result in Mark 16:16 the emphasis on Baptism was most emphatic for them.
However, under Paul’s Gospel he does not say to the Gentile to go into all the world and preach the Gospel! He says to the saints in Corinth, “You are manifestly declared to be THE EPISTLE OF CHRIST MINISTERED BY US, WRITTEN NOT WITH INK BUT WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, NOT ON TABLES OF STONE, BUT IN THE FLESHY TABLES OF YOUR HEART.” 2 Cor 3:3. Paul even contrasts the glory Moses revealed when he brought those two stones down to Israel on Mount Sinai, with the New Covenant and the “Present glory that excelleth.” Now God is writing his NEW COVENANT not on stone but in the hearts and lives of people, that it may be known and read of all men, for this is the divine method of evangelism today. Of course Christendom still believes like the Jews, that we are bound to go and teach the people doctrines and religious methods, to try and get them “Saved.”
But listen to the Scriptures, “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness (in creation), has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Which TREASURE (Christ) we carry in an earthen vessel (our body), that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Cor 4:4-7.
Out of our death now comes NEW LIFE. Out of the death of the Adam within us accomplished on the cross, a New Life is formed that is the Life of Christ. There is now an increase in the development of the New Man within. Gen 9:2 “And the fear and dread of you will be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea, into your hands are they delivered.” Here we see man being restored to his original “Dominion” over all the works of God’s hands, as it was in the beginning. The animal faculties that were restrained in the Ark are now brought into submission to the man. The man now rules over the animals instead of being subject to them in his life. The authority man lost because he believed a lie, is now being restored to him, like the prodigal son who was given a robe, a ring and shoes for his feet reinstating him to his former glory as a Prince.
If the animals, (drives and emotions) are not subject to the mind of man today, it can only be because the mind of man is not subject to the Lord. It is the “mind of Christ” that submits to his lordship and brings all things under his control. God now makes a new Covenant with Noah, which expresses the new relationship into which we are being brought. God says, “I WILL establish my Covenant with you (personally) and I WILL remember my Covenant, and I WILL look on the bow in the clouds and the waters shall no more destroy.” Peter tells us that we have escaped the corruption that is in the world!
The old relationship based on Law is now replaced by a New Covenant expressing Grace. All of God’s dealings are now grounded in Grace because we have passed from death unto life. It is the Old Creation that had to be dealt with under law, because of the carnal mind that caused them to walk according to the flesh. But where sin abounded now Grace does much more abound. The Law written on tables of stone cannot bring perfection because it is an external thing and so cannot touch the inward part of mankind. Perfection is not something external to us beloved, but is already within us just waiting to be revealed by his grace.
Under the NEW COVENANT God is saying, “I WILL write my laws in their hearts and in their minds, and their sins and iniquities I WILL remember no more. He says, I WILL walk in them, and I WILL be to them a God and they shall be my people. Our hearts respond and say, “Draw me and I will run after thee, for the King has brought me into his chambers, so we will be glad and rejoice in thee.” Our relationship has now changed from one of constraint to that of LOVE, fuelled by the desire to ultimately experience the consummation of that Love in our union with Christ. All this and more is the result of standing with Christ on resurrection ground having entered into the fellowship of his sufferings.
Religious concepts have destroyed the truth displayed in the Cross, with the accent being on the physical sufferings of ONE MAN in order to release all mankind from having to suffer for their sins. The religious crowd sings with great gusto, “The Old Rugged Cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.” But never have they entered into the reality of “the fellowship of his sufferings,” and neither can they be made conformable to his death. Paul tells us, “Don’t you know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ have been baptised into his death?” Of course Christendom knows that, and so they submit to baptism in water, considering this is the reality of the death burial and resurrection of Christ for them. But water baptism is but a shadow and a type of a “spiritual reality” that alone has the power to bring an inward transformation
The reality of our baptism is not simply the experience of getting wet by going under the water and then coming up expecting to walk in a new life. Paul declared, “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.” This indicates a reality in which he was actively involved that day on Golgotha’s Hill, in the death of the cross. He identified with the LAST ADAM who took into death everything of that OLD CREATION MAN thus releasing him from its power and bondage.
The mystery of the INCARNATION has not yet dawned upon the hearts of many of God’s people. They have never understood the Truth revealed in Jesus Christ, that God and man exist as ONE. JESUS was a man of flesh and blood Heb 2:14. The Roman Emperor in A.D. 322 was Constantine and in a meeting of the Church Bishops of his day, he defied the majority ruling and declared that Jesus was the same substance as God. In A.D.325 the Nicene Creed was formulated and registered as Church doctrine, declaring that Jesus was “GOD” the SON. This teaching has not just affected the Catholics, who have venerated both Jesus the man and also Mary his mother, but has been accepted also by the Protestants, including the Pentecostal Church. The false teaching of the “Trinity” denies the “mystery,” of God dwelling in man, together with the truth that can release humanity from the bondage of their mortality. The heathen now despise Christianity, with the Moslem people declaring, “Christians” have THREE GODS, God the FATHER, God the SON, and God the HOLY SPIRIT, whilst they worship ONLY ONE GOD.
I can hear the Trinity teachers rushing to the defence of the Catholic Church, to explain their incomprehensible theory of “Three Gods IN ONE”, or three expressions of the one God, all of which mean the same thing. Why is this an issue? Because if Jesus was GOD, then first of all, his life was totally different to mine and therefore he certainly cannot be THE PATTERN from which ALL MANKIND WAS CREATED. Secondly, would someone mind explaining to me, “If Jesus was GOD, HOW COULD HE DIE?” Such is the confusion that represents so much of Christianity today. God the Father IS SPIRIT Jn 4:24, The Holy Spirit is obviously SPIRIT and the LORD IS SPIRIT, 1 Cor 6:17 and CHRIST IS SPIRIT the invisible anointing.
Obviously it was not GOD who died on the Cross, for he is eternal, but GOD was IN JESUS CHRIST doing all the miracles Jn 14:10 which were the works of God. Paul tells us that “GOD MADE HIM (Jesus) TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor 5:21. What was it that Jesus was made to be? He was not made to be the sin offering as the Catholics have taught the Protestants, for Jesus himself declared, “You did not desire burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, for in them thou hast had no pleasure.” Heb 10:5. BUT God make him to be the “MAN OF SIN” or the “LAST ADAM”. In that capacity Jesus Christ made that tremendous decision in the Garden of Gethsemane, to drink the cup Father gave to him, and so take into death that FALSE CONCEPT of our identity, freeing us from mortality and the law of sin and death.
But beloved, this is OUR BAPTISM for in becoming the LAST ADAM, Jesus assumed my own sense of identity as ADAM, taking ME with him to the cross, where he was lifted up just as he himself prophesied, “As the serpent was raised up in the wilderness.” Jn 3:14. (Compare Num 21:8-9) He was raised up in the very form of that which was killing all of humanity, THE LAST ADAM, providing salvation from the Adamic curse, as we LOOK AND LIVE. So my view of that Cross is not just Jesus Christ dying for my sins, but of Des Walter as represented by the “Last Adam” who hung there until all life from him expired and he bows his head and says, IT IS FINISHED. The passing of time may cause the scene to fade, but so often my eyes return to that scene, overwhelming me with praise and worship. Beloved, this is my BAPTISM into his death. Later that body is taken down as night sets in, and is laid in the tomb. With the eyes of the spirit I enter that dark and cold grave anxious not to miss any minute detail, for this is the identity I had lived out of for so many years that now lies lifeless on that cold rock slab.
The tomb is sealed as the divine mystery of life is played out in secret. The earth-bound “caterpillar” has now descended into the darkness with God, and when the metamorphosis is complete the butterfly will emerge. That transformation is the same for us today, as the mystery of God is being worked in us, in sure and certain hope that as I AWAKE I WILL BE IN HIS LIKENESS. The greatest day in the history of this universe dawned on the third day, so I stand there staring at the now open tomb and look inside, but it is EMPTY. Two angels declare he is not there for he is RISEN. But I MUST SEE HIM for this is MY Baptism. A strange feeling comes over me as I survey the tomb looking for some sign of the “caterpillar” for I would like to know what has happened to it. Surely there must at least be a heap of DUST? But there is nothing there, for that person I believed myself to be, WAS SIMPLY AN ILLUSION HAVING NO REALITY. But my true reality which is CHRIST was not affected by death and so on the third day I stepped out in my real identity into a world that I had never seen before.
On the road to Emmaus a stranger joins us as we walk. There is something very familiar about him, but to identify him I cannot. As we stop for rest and food, suddenly I stand transfixed as this stranger breaks the bread, and at that moment my inner being is exposed and I see in this stranger a reflection of my true self. “OF COURSE, I cry, THAT IS WHO I AM, FOR NOW I AM LOOKING AT A REVELATION OF MY OWN TRUE REALITY. THIS IS CHRIST!”
I am not just forgiven, but released from the grave of my Adamic consciousness, to walk as a LIFEGIVING SPIRIT that is called CHRIST. This is my Baptism INTO HIS DEATH that results in a glorious resurrection, having passed from a condition the Bible calls DEATH, unto life. This has been portrayed through Noah and the Ark bringing him from the Old creation of death and corruption to walk in a NEW LIFE upon higher ground. The details of the lives of Noah and his family from this point provide us with a vivid picture of the off spring of Noah that he birthed on the other side of the flood. Noah whose name means “Rest” is no longer struggling against the corruption that had filled the world. God had put upon him an invisible mark of separation for the “World had been crucified unto him and he unto the world.” However, despite his deliverance failure is soon evidenced in his life. The fruit of the vine, speaking of that spiritual refreshment that comes as a blessing from the Lord, soon became a snare to him.
Even as Noah’s blessings now become the source of his down fall, so have many Christians exposed their nakedness down through the ages. He becomes drunk with the fruit of the vine and exposes himself in an unseemly manner. Paul speaks a strong word about judging one another. He says, ”Therefore thou art inexcusable O man, whoever thou art that judgest, for as you judge another, you condemn your self, because you do the same things.” Rom 2:1 Then he continues, “Thinkest thou this, O man that judgest another and yet you do the same things, that you will escape the judgement of God.” V.3.
Consider how much the testimony of Christ has been hurt, not just by the faults of God’s people, but by the wanton attitude of the saints, judging one another. There seems to be a kind of gloating ever the faults of others, by those who seek to impress others with their own piety. Grace is so rarely in evidence over the failure of others. Public humiliation is the preferred tool of the Church to deal with human failure, rather than love and forgiveness. Ham fostered such an attitude and paid dearly for it, and should be an example to us of that arrogance that seeks to expose the faults of others.
We now come to the three children of Noah from whom we are told, the whole earth would be peopled. So here is revealed in graphic detail the history of those who are brought forth by the spiritual man Noah, conceived in the Old creation and brought through to live in a purer world. Regeneration bears in us more than one form of life and depending on which form has gained the ascendancy in us, that is the form that will become dominant.
Shem, Ham and Japeth reveal the diverse life forms that can develop in a man even after regeneration. In fact, the reality is that from these ultimately, Babylon the Great will proceed. The nature of these three will be revealed in their development as being just as diverse as Peter, Paul and John. The first son mentioned is SHEM, meaning “NAME,” and is derived from the Hebrew “to place or to put” signifying that a name acts as an identification of someone or something. The name Shem in the Hebrew is also closely connected with the word “heavens.” For these heavens are they that “declare the glory of God,” and it can be said for Shem’s family, “God has set a Tabernacle for the sun.” (Psalm 19:I,4.) Shem becomes the link between the line of Seth through Noah to Abraham and so is the progenitor of the Semitic race. Shem represents the contemplative mind that delights itself with things unseen, and absorbs that which is invisible. This is the true spiritual mind.
Ham is the second son of Noah and his name means “Hot or Warm” hence is connected with the South Land. It is also an Egyptian word meaning “Black.” Ham and his offspring settled in the land of Ethiopia and Arabia, and from him comes the primitive Babylonian Empire. Here is the mind that seeks after Godliness but in himself denies the power thereof. He knows the Truth but does not live in it. It is inevitable that he brings forth “Canaan,” who was Israel’s enemy that had to be driven out of the land in which they settled, for it was given to Israel as the “Promised Land.”
Japeth the third son means “Opened or enlargement” coming from a Hebrew word that also means to deceive, to be persuaded or enticed. Japeth does much good but concentrates more on external things. He settles on the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea, spreading into Europe and Asia. Both inwardly as well as outwardly, these three sons of Noah represent all the peoples that inhabit the earth. There will be those, whose mind is stayed on the Lord, and seeking to abide in the secret place of the Most High. Then, some like Japhet will be activated more externally and life will be filled with activity and the distinction between that which is of God and that which is of man, will easily be lost.
Finally there is Ham who represents those who are merely men of doctrine. They are hearers but not doers of the word, formulating their own pathway and doctrine, which they declare to be the TRUTH. These are not only deceived in themselves, but become deceivers of others also. To these three sons we must add the son of Ham called “CANAAN,” whose name means “Lowlands” for they occupied all the fertile plains of what would become the land of Palestine. The main cities of Canaan were Tyre and Sidon, and these were centres of great commercial activity.
I am sure that if we traced the development of each family member from Noah, we would discover that the seed of every religious abomination from heathenism, idolatry, and both Popery and Protestantism would be found there. Even the Holy seed of Shem could produce Asshur from whence came the Assyrians with all their ungodly behaviour and crimes.
Man is a complex being, Spirit, soul and Body, forming a universe that can produce great diversity. Even though we are by creation essentially SPIRIT, we do not necessarily live out of that reality. There is that which is birthed in the soul and also that which proceeds from the body or flesh. Then there are the myriad combinations of all these covering the whole spectrum of Christendom in the world. It would not be profitable to trace each descendant of Noah’s three boys in this study but their Names reveal much concerning their nature and spiritual identity. Ham has left his mark on the world through Babylon the Great, and the rise of humanism as the world’s philosophy. However in spite of all this, God is gathering from every tongue kindred and tribe a people who will walk in their true identity, which is Christ. It is these who are released from the corruption of this world and in whom the likeness and image of God is being revealed to the world.
It is a sobering thought to understand, that even out of what we would consider to be the regenerate heart there can come that which is accursed. There are many Pastors and Church leaders who absolutely reject the Truth that God is revealing today, remaining wedded to the Old Covenant and traditional theology. These are the leaders of thousands of Christians throughout the world who are in bondage to sin and death. There is an inward revelation of God that illuminates the mind destroying our sense of separation from God, producing a life that is divinely controlled and where every dissenting voice to the spirit, is quickly silenced. But there is also an outward form of religion where more attention is paid to the desires of the body and soul, rather than to the voice of God. The “ego” in man can be just as much at home being a Pastor, as it is being a wealthy businessman. Whatever voice we respond to, is that which will rule over us.
NOAH’S FAILURE
In the natural, we are sad to have to read of what the religious world would call the “sin” of this mighty man who was chosen to build the Ark and be transported to that new land that had been cleansed by the flood. However, this “Coming Short” of the glory of God as Paul expressed it, was no disaster that must bring swift “judgment” from God. Noah was learning to walk where he had never walked before, and from this experience he learned the “ways of God” more perfectly, We discover the reason for Noah’s unseemly act was simply an abuse of either God’s Grace or his gifts. The fruit of the vine speaks to us of the Holy Spirit and the gift of Joy that accompanies its expression. But a carnal grasping for the wine of the spirit, will result in “intoxication” and inevitably an exposing of our nakedness. In Noah we see the natural tendency towards “self gratification” even in the use of spiritual things.
The Charismatic movement was without a doubt a visitation from God as life flowed into many barren hearts, crossing the lines of denominations and doctrines. But it was not very long before we saw the rise of “Giants,” or men of renown who were using the gifts of the spirit to boost their egos, and to lift themselves above others so as to dominate and rule over the saints of God. These then in turn established Churches to control this mighty move of God, that were in the first instance carried along on a wave of miracle manifestation. However their drunkenness soon became evident and there was a sad display of nakedness, that destroyed many Churches and the lives of many Pastors and people alike. Really this is no different to what we have expressed here in the life of Noah.
God came in a mighty visitation to Israel at Mount Sinai, but while God was conveying his message to Moses, Israel was dancing around a “Golden Calf.” Then in the midst of the most wonderful demonstration of God’s mighty power in bringing down the walls of the city of Jericho, one man is busy scavenging for a new suit of clothes, and this brought defeat to God’s people at Ai. It would almost seem that when the spirit is most active, it is then that the carnal mind is also aroused. The work of regeneration is not just a matter of believing certain things, but the reality of those things must be birthed in us. As the old creation is brought into death, so the “New Man” must be birthed by the Spirit to express itself as Christ.
In the case of Ham we have a different situation, for he not only sees the nakedness of Noah but he broadcasts it abroad, without a single attempt to provide any sort of covering. This was his father’s nakedness, which surely should have been his priority to cover, because his own shame was being revealed here. Shem and Japeth act differently, not so much as glancing on their father’s nakedness, they walk BACKWARDS (an act of pure grace) and they cover him. The evil in the human heart will always SEE the nakedness in others while the spirit within will never gloat, but will always minister Grace.
Here in this “failure” of Noah we are looking at the result of allowing the flesh to express itself even in matters of the spirit. The wine of blessing, can just as easily be used by the flesh to discover the weakness in man, as to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. Ham’s problem was a complete lack of love and grace to cover such a weakness, finding in its exposure some strange sense of satisfaction. Of course there is “A missing of the Mark” among God’s people today, but Christendom is so focused upon the Hebrew concept of a “God of Judgment” they have never discovered the “God of GRACE.” How we act in such cases of failure will manifest the kind of God we believe him to be. Paul’s admonition to us is “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
In these offspring of Noah, the regenerate man, we find developing every problem that besets the people of God even today. Noah’s failure has exposed the nakedness of many a Pastor and Christian down through the ages. Misuse or abuse of the privileges made available through Christ leads to spiritual intoxication, because the Mind of the Spirit is not in control. In the case of Ham we find the fruit of the spirit no longer evident, and so Hams’ lack of Grace and Love expressed itself in exposing the failure in others, as we see in Christendom today.
But God is revealing to us in these Scriptures the seedbed of every problem that confronts God’s people today, even though they have come through what they believe to be regeneration, into resurrection life. The “seed bed” of evil is exposed as the heart of man. I believe we are reaping in this our day the harvest of souls who have been seduced by the “carnal plan of salvation,” by which Christendom has been seeded. It says, “Give your heart to Jesus, repent of your sins and believe Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and you will be saved, born again, and you will go to heaven when you die.” No where in Scripture can you find such a formula, and Jesus never preached such a Gospel. Such is the sinking foundation of Salvation that so many consider to be TRUTH.
This is the reason why so many who love the Lord and want to walk in his ways become frustrated, finding themselves constantly living in the failure of Romans 7, where they are not free to do what they would like to do. But, Babylon provides false hope to these, thus keeping them shrouded in darkness, declaring, “no one can stop sinning in this life, but you must wait until Jesus “returns” from the sky, when you will be changed as you are “raptured” to the clouds.”
We must be “Saved” from our present state of “mortality,” which declares we are separated from God and under divine condemnation because of our sin. We must also be released from a false sense of identity, believing we came from the dust, and are born as sinners on this earth. We have mistaken the “FORM” for the “REALITY” considering we are simply mortal human beings that are born and are going to die. When people saw Jesus walking down the street, what did they see? All they saw was A M-A-N with a head, two arms, two legs and a body! But we know that is not the REALITY of who he is.
God opened the eyes of Peter who looked beyond the natural physical body and declared, “Thou art the CHRIST the Son of the Living God.” Peter saw Christ within that natural body and this became a reflection to him of his own true identity. Salvation is to be delivered from the “BODY OF THIS DEATH,” just as Paul prayed in Rom 7:24. The answer he declares in verse 25, “I thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. For it is with the “Mind” or the spiritual capacity to know the things of the spirit, that we can identify with Christ and so fulfill the divine purpose, but if I live out of the flesh or the natural man, I will remain subject to the Law of sin and death.” Be assured, “Flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the Kingdom of God.”
It is not possible to live out of Adam the Natural flesh and blood man, and out of Christ at the same time, although we have all tried. For IN ADAM all die, but IN CHRIST all are made alive. However Christendom has majored on “salvation” in the form of “Forgiveness” of our sins, which is all most people are interested in. But they have never been delivered from the power of sin, so that Christianity has become the only recognised “SINNING RELIGION.” Paul says, “Shall we CONTINUE IN SIN that Grace may abound…….GOD FORBID that you should even think about it??”
The release of Israel from Egypt was not by any sacrifice for sin, but through the EATING OF THE PASSOVER LAMB!! This is the pattern of our own release from slavery to sin and corruption. Passover was the appropriating of the LAMB, which is Christ, as the FIRST BORN of all creation. Our “first birth” was as a physical human being from our mother’s womb as we have all believed. This is the Adamic consciousness that has made us slaves to sin and death. Jesus Christ as the LAST ADAM took this identity into death on the cross thus releasing us to our true identity which is CHRIST. The reality is that we were CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS in the beginning. Eph 2:10. We were CHOSEN IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world. Eph 1:4. So to believe our origin is from our natural parents is a LIE and that deception has enslaved us to sin and corruption. Israel was released by EATING THE WHOLE OF THE LAMB that is Christ. Just as Jesus himself said, “ He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood DWELLS IN ME AND I IN HIM.” Jn 6:56.
But to enter into Christ is impossible until the OLD CREATION (Adam) has died so that we can become WHAT HE IS, the beginning of the NEW CREATION MAN. In the Passover analogy Jesus is saying, “ If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU.” Deliverance and release cannot be achieved simply by believing something. Something in you must D-I-E to be replaced by a NEW LIFE that is CHRIST.
Babylon The Great
Now let us look at Ham and that which he produces out of himself. His first offspring is CUSH which means “Black.” He was a Benjamite and they settled in the land known to us as Ethiopia. From Cush there comes also Mizriam known as Egypt, and Phut probably the Libyans, followed by Canaan who were the Phoenicians that occupied the land promised to Israel, and had to be driven out under Joshua. But let us just consider the son of Cush called “Nimrod,” of whom it is said, “He began to be a mighty one in the earth.” His name means “rebellion” and so we can see that his prowess in hunting animals for food, soon found a new direction in subduing “a people” under him over whom he ruled with a rod of iron.
The very foundation of Babylon, is “an established authority and complete submission to that authority.” Jesus commended the Church in Ephesus because they rejected the doctrine of the Nicolaitans who were “Lording it over the saints.” From the days of Nimrod to this present day Babylon has spread its influence as men established their own kingdoms by bringing the people into submission to themselves. Even in what has been called “Kingdom Ministries” the tendency remains to use the message for personal gain, by joining people unto themselves. To do so is proof that Nimrod is alive and well in the year 2000. The true message of the Kingdom is that “JESUS CHRIST IS LORD and UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE BE.”
Out of the Charismatic movement came the discipleship teaching exalting the Pastor over his congregation destroying their ONENESS IN CHRIST. Any man or woman who allows themselves to be exalted by men because of some “position” they hold, is still a part of Babylon. Consider Paul’s mode of operation as he went through the Gentile regions. He ministered the Word of the Lord, to which people responded and a fellowship of people developed. Then Paul moved on leaving the “infant Church” to grow and develop through the Christ within, but to do so today would be considered totally irresponsible. Probably, some other “Pastor” would move in and “SAVE” them from annihilation, claiming the people as his.
But Paul continued to do this having confidence in the Lord that “He that had begun a good work in them would complete it even unto the day of Jesus Christ.” His confidence in God’s ability to save and perfect his people never was shaken through experience. After a while it is recorded that he returned and simply appointed “elders” in each fellowship. This was not done by a majority vote by the people or the “board,” but he simply saw that certain men were already established and functioning in a caring role, which obviously was established by the Lord. There was no ONE MAN MINISTRY in the Church in the beginning. Paul says when you come together, one has a Psalm, one has a tongue or word or prophecy, so that the BODY OF CHRIST edified the BODY OF CHRIST.
Unfortunately, in most Churches, one man leads, he prays, he preaches, he ministers to the people and blesses them and they go home. The “body” has been conditioned to remain still, being taught it does not have the knowledge, or the ability, to know how to help itself. Most of the “Clergy” believe this, and so do the people, and that is how it functions today. But there is a “Body” of people that are feeling the quickening of the Holy Spirit today, and their spiritual muscles and limbs are beginning to move. This is the mighty “MANY MEMBERED CHRIST” who are being energised to set all creation free, and be the instrument in whom God will write HIS MESSAGE OF RELEASE AND FREEDOM TO ALL MANKIND. They are discovering that the “CHRIST” is not the “FIGURE HEAD” of the Church WHICH IS HIS BODY, but the H-E-A-D functioning as the knowledge, wisdom and power of God himself, within every member of that body.
After 2000 years of Christianity in which the organisation has spent billions of dollars on bricks and mortar, THERE ARE MORE HEATHEN IN THE WORLD TODAY, THAN EVER BEFORE. The sub-continent of India with more than a billion people, have had the Gospel since Bible times. Thomas the disciple died in Madras India, where you can visit his grave. Yet today after being evangelised by missionaries from all over the world, less than 2% of this nation are Christian. It is time for someone to ask what is wrong? There are Churches in India with 10,000 people but their impact on society can hardly be measured. Now I am only using India as one example for it is the same story all over the world.
When will the Body of Christ rise up against Babylon that has robbed and plundered the people of God without mercy since the time of Nimrod. Of course it goes by many pseudonyms today that sound so religious we scarcely are aware of its existence, but the blood of the martyrs is on its hands, and it continues to rob God’s people of their inheritance in Christ. In the days of the prophet Samuel, Israel asked him to appoint them a king, as they wanted to be like the other nations. Samuel told them that they already had God as their king. But they persisted, and so God told Samuel to give them a king but to warn them of the consequences. Seven times the prophet told them the king they wanted would persist in TAKING FROM THEM, but they took no notice, and the spirit of Babylon was invited to replace God’s divine authority over Israel.
In Gen 1:26 God gave man the position of authority over all life forms below him, the fish, fowl, cattle and over all the earth, but notice he was never given dominion over mankind itself! But Eve was told, after she transgressed, that HER HUSBAND would have dominion over her. Her “husband” in eating of the forbidden fruit was not ADAM but FLESH. So the only POWER that could dominate the SOUL of man was FLESH expressed through the CARNAL MIND. So we understand that BABYLON’S authority could only gain access to a man through the carnal mind, when the SOUL turns from the one she has been espoused to, (Christ) and marries the FLESH. Now let us look at what the Scriptures have to say on this subject.
“Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, the Lord of Hosts, even though the land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. FLEE OUT OF THE MIDST OF BABYLON and deliver every man his SOUL. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance, and he will render unto her a recompense. BABYLON has been a GOLDEN CUP in the hand of the Lord that made all the earth DRUNK. Because the NATIONS have drunk of her wine, therefore ALL THE NATIONS ARE M-A-D. We would have healed Babylon (if it had been possible) but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country, (and pitch your tent as a pilgrim) for her judgment reaches unto the heavens, and is lifted up even to the skies.” Jer 51:5-9.
Jeremiah is the weeping Prophet who cries over Israel who had allowed themselves to be brought into slavery to the King of Babylon. The whole book is his concern for the people of Israel as he tells them of their impending destruction. Jeremiah 22:25 “And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.” This slavery to Babylon is the only alternative to the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.
Notice that God calls the king of Babylon, “MY SERVANT.” Jer 25:9. Herein lies the dominion of God over everything. Whilst we may be overcome of something or someone, God remains Lord of all. Jeremiah 25:12 “And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans shall become a perpetual desolation.”
Israel denied God his right to be King over them, asking Samuel the prophet to give them a human king and so be like all the other nations. So the nation lost its distinctive “Theocratic” character, and became “Like all the other nations.” BUT, before we pass judgment on Israel, let us consider that the CHURCH the “called out” have done exactly the same thing in most cases. Where is the Church functioning today as a Theocratic Nation? Is it not identical with any club, sporting body or any other nation on the earth that cannot exist without its control being invested in M-A-N. The Church today is controlled by men, elected many times by a democratic process that Christianity considers to be divinely appointed.
Democracy, resulted in the death of almost 15000 people in Israel as Korah challenged God’s sovereign right to choose the instrument through whom he would lead Israel. Num 16. Democracy is simply “the people ruling,” and not God. Of course the Church today use Israel in the wilderness as God’s sanction of the appointment of men to lead God’s people. But today the situation is quite different. Now Christ is in every man so his Lordship is established within the whole household of faith. The presence of the King is no longer external to the people of God but he rules from within. We are a Kingdom of PRIESTS, and not a Kingdom ruled by a few Priests. We are a HOLY NATION and not a nation who must be governed by a few “Holy men.” However while this is truth, the reality expressed by the people generally, is that God appoints MEN to rule over them, a “Moses” who hears from God and then tells the people what God is saying.
These men determine what doctrines are to be taught, and what is the program of the Church. This system has divided and separated God’s people all over the world, and continues to do so. Thus the unique UNITY that links every Child of God to each other through a single FATHER is denied, and the confusion known as BABYLON destroys the authority of the Church in the world. Babylon is not a doctrine, but is a spirit of rebellion that denies God the right to BE GOD within his people, coordinating his will, mind, and purpose so that all expresses the glory of God. We find that everything in nature expresses his glory and shows forth his handiwork, but the only creature to rebel is MANKIND.
The divine ability given to man to think, reason and make decisions endows him with the ability to explore the Knowledge of good and evil, that is not found in God, and which would bring him into death. But EVE believed the lie of the snake and considered that this forbidden knowledge would make MAN AS GODS. This resulted in man usurping God’s right of divine government and becoming King himself in the place of God. From this position it was but a small step for man to establish “Human Government” over the Church, which is HIS BODY. Man ruling over man has produced a domination that was never ordained by God, and has resulted in a stunting of spiritual growth in the people. Just as a child can only come into adulthood through the process of growth and development as a result of actually living life, and overcoming the issues that would try and prevent such maturity, so it is in the Christian life. We must eat the necessary nourishment, and exercise every muscle and sinew, and develop our mental and spiritual powers before we can leave childhood behind, even in the spiritual realm.
No one can do this for us in the natural, and no one can do this for us in the spiritual. Everyone must digest their food themselves, and no one can do that for us. No one can grow our bones or develop our muscles for us, no one can develop our mind or complete our education instead of us. However, the Church has used its trained people to tell us what to believe, and assumed the task of predigesting all food for us. It has detailed our thinking, marking out the place where we are to put each foot, discerning our choices for us and leaving nothing that can develop our own personal faculties. Scripture records, “Man shall not LIVE by bread alone but by EVERY WORD that is proceeding out of the mouth of God.” Unless each of us HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD we cannot follow the LAMB wherever it goes..
Christians are not encouraged to hear the voice of God because this would deplete the authority of the leader. Our spiritual mind fails for it is not allowed to learn the “ways of God,” communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. Our obedience to the Holy Spirit cannot develop for we are told what we ought to do without any options. Beloved, can you not see that the Traditional Church program, designed with the best of intentions is both debilitating and destructive in the development of our personal relationship with God. It assumes that no Christian can grow to maturity under the divine ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is given of God to guide and instruct, without the help of some “Church Program.” The “Church” maintains people’s dependence upon it from the cradle to the grave, which in itself is an indictment against its ability to produce maturity in the people of God.
What Nimrod began, in first of all bringing his brethren into subjection to himself developed very quickly. The people began to journey FROM THE EAST away from the increasing light, to a “plain” or lowlands. They had descended from the heights to which the Ark had lifted them, down to the lowlands of spiritual experience. Now they devised a plan that would prevent them being scattered to fill the earth. They would make bricks that are a man made substitute for stone, and build a tower to reach unto the heavens. The local “Pitch” was used for mortar to lock the bricks together.
They wanted to make for themselves a NAME (Shem). A Name they could establish for themselves, and not supplied by God. But God came down and confounded their language, so they could not understand each other’s speech. Even today the saints have been scattered and have never discovered their unity and oneness in Christ, because of the number of different Denominations all speaking their own language that is not understood by others. In the natural, the peoples of the world have been separated by different languages. Every time man seeks to unite to produce a “Tower” or “City” it has always ended up in splits and confusion. Think of the many unity movements that have tried to unite God’s people, like the World council of Churches, but have never succeeded in sustaining a consensus. Even the Churches themselves continue to split and divide over doctrine, methodology or personality.
Jesus told us and we know, “The letter kills but the spirit gives life.” So while Babylon is restricted by language, because one says a verse means this while another says it means something else, God speaks to his people by the Spirit which is intelligible to all, bringing life. There is only one who has the power to unite the people of this world and that is CHRIST. There is only ONE VOICE that can bring God’s sheep together, and that is the voice of Christ. There is a people in the world today in whom that voice is speaking instead of man’s voice, and these are being united as one glorious family, and all the divisions religion has established, are being torn down. This is the reverse of Nimrod’s attempt to unite and dominate the peoples of the world.
It would be wrong to consider that Babylon is totally evil and wicked, for if such were the case it would be clearly identifiable and all would know her condition. However in her you will find images of God’s truth, even vessels of the sanctuary made of gold carried away with captive Israel. Outwardly she resembles a heavenly Church, with a Priesthood and ministry. Inwardly she is filled with good knowledge, the likeness of conversion, faith, zeal and love towards God and man. You will also see the likeness of meekness, justification, sanctification, peace and joy, for just as the world is filled with “shadows” of the Truth, so is Babylon also, and to the carnal mind it appears spiritual. Just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses by imitating the works of God’s elect, so Babylon has deceived many in the same way.
Babylon has her priesthood and her altars, she has the Cross, the incense, and the discipline. She has every FORM of truth ready, to deceive those who are seeking for reality. So out of Noah on resurrection ground we now discover evil still existing, but now in far more subtle forms. So as we look into the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we discover there, the various horses, earthquakes, blood and the hail, as well as dragons and wild beasts together with BABYLON THE GREAT. All of which must be dealt with, and not just subdued but absolutely removed, for NOTHING THAT DEFILETH can enter into the city of God.
The final standard to be reached, the HIGH CALLING OF GOD in Christ Jesus, and the Righteousness of God, cannot be reached until there is a total destruction of every thought, word or deed, that does not originate in the Mind of Christ. On looking back on my life now I see all of this evil has been a part of my own experience, after I began to walk in resurrection life. I was deceived by Babylon and for years spent my energy trying to establish her until the Spirit opened my eyes to its reality and what it was doing to the saints.
This revelation and release does not produce a “Holier than thou,” attitude as we all have witnessed over the years, but in the spirit it is deeply humbling. I see myself in every man still enmeshed in the myriad tentacles of Babel, and bless God for his Grace that has brought me thus far. No man can rescue another from this deception except the light of God illuminates their heart and mind to see the TRUTH. All the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are hid in Christ, but for many they believe they see at least some of them also in Babel. There are many precious saints who would seek to improve Babylon correcting certain issues that to them seem to be wrong. These are encouraged and applauded for anything that can improve her standing in the world, is to be of great benefit to her. BUT Jeremiah says, “SHE IS NOT HEALED.”
It may surprise you to know that Babylon is “A golden cup in the hand of the Lord.” Jer 51:7. For those who drink from that cup will find their heart exposed and many of the things hidden there will be brought to the light. Babylon has three areas of function, it is Religious, and Economic and political. It is an IMITATION of THE WAY, an imitation of THE TRUTH and an IMITATION of THE LIFE. Its function and operation is not limited to the Church but forms part of a global presence that is slowly seeking to bring all mankind under ONE world wide government. Every Nation on the earth today is under some human government, even Israel which was founded as a Theocracy, but we who have been liberated by the spirit are discovering the reality of the KINGDOM OF GOD where GOD RULES SUPREME and nothing that defiles can enter in. The Kingdom of God is the only THEOCRATIC NATION in the world, and it is a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD and a HOLY NATION.
The thought of a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT brings fear and depression to many people including those who claim to know Christ. However I want you to know I have read the last chapter in the “book” and I can tell you BABYLON is doomed to destruction. It will never achieve its aims, but when it has finished its work of correction as a :Golden Cup” in the hand of the Lord it will be destroyed. Slavery in Babylon was the correction God brought upon Israel for their backsliding. It is fulfilling the same function in the world today enslaving the many whom reject Jesus Christ as L-O-R-D. The spirit of the Lord has been loosed in the world to, “Bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and to proclaim, that this is the time of God’s acceptance.” So beloved, you can see that all the power of Babylon cannot prevent you from walking free from every chain or prison into which Babylon may have put you, for the SONS OF GOD CANNOT BE BOUND.
Babylon will not be destroyed by some nuclear war, but by the LIGHT OF GOD that is spreading throughout the world destroying the darkness behind which Babylon hides, exposing it for the fake that it is. Today we give thanks to the Father, “who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in LIGHT, who HAS delivered us from the POWER OF DARKNESS and has translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”
Even as Babylon seems to increase, above and beyond it all we are confident knowing that God has never deviated from his original plan. Even now he is calling out a people unto himself, through whom all mankind will bow the knee to Christ, and confess that he is LORD to the glory of God the Father. So that even that which “seems” to be set in opposition to God is in fact a tool in his hand to bring us to himself. May you be blessed and encouraged as the Word becomes a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet.
May the Lord give you understanding of these things.
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