The Current Move of God

THE CURRENT MOVE OF GOD

It does not please the Lord when we keep going around the traditional mountains and do not follow the Spirit toward the land of promise.

Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him [strive to know the Lord — Holman]. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)

If I am not mistaken, the three verses above apply especially to the day in which we are living.

Come, let us return to the Lord. Many of us are seeing, in our country, the need to return to the Lord. It appears to me that after the Pentecostal revival, which began at the beginning of the twentieth century, we do not know what the next move of God is. There is speculation, and trying this and that, but these efforts appear to be blind to what God actually is doing. There are the “prosperity” and “word of faith” teachings that may be related somehow to Pentecost. But they are not the forward move of God.

People are having visions of Heaven. But these tend to perpetuate the present traditions, and do not appear to lead to righteous behavior. They paint a picture of interesting novelties, but they tend to leave out the war against evil, which is the current pressure and shall be emphasized until the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, if my understanding is correct.

According to the calendar of the Jewish feasts, after the feast of Pentecost comes the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the final feast of Tabernacles.

We understand pretty well the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost. It began at the time of the birth of the Christian Church and has continued to the present day.

Yet, there is a stirring in the spirit world. Many of us can sense it. Perhaps God is now ready to move past Pentecost to the last three feasts of the Lord. Perhaps it is time for the spring rain, sometimes referred to as the “latter rain,” the fall rain being the “former rain.”

He has torn us to pieces. I don’t hear much in today’s preaching concerning the Lord tearing us to pieces. Everything is “nice.” God would never think of harming us. We all are going to fly up tomorrow to a wonderful picnic in Heaven, where there are many splendid novelties to enjoy.

But saints who are pressing forward with Jesus know very well what it is for the Lord to tear us. Maybe this is what Jesus means by pruning the branches of the Vine. In any case, it is unpleasant to have many things, relationships, and circumstances stripped from us. If the tearing has happened to you already, I need not elaborate further.

But he will heal us. When God heals us, it will be as it was with Job. What was taken from us be restored if it will bring righteousness, love, peace, and joy to us. But far more importantly, we will know God to a much greater extent than has been true previously.

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5,6)

What a wonderful day it is when we come to this conclusion for ourselves. One may note in Revelation chapter 11 that the witnesses of God are clothed in sackcloth, meaning they minister from a place of repentance and humility.

He has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. Dear reader, you may be going through a dark place with God. Just keep in mind that if you do not quit, the time will come when God binds up your wounds. Then you will speak with authority: “I have heard about God, but now I have seen Him. I went through a hard place, but now God is more real to me.”

After two days he will revive us. For myself, I view this as meaning after the two thousand years of the Christian Era, during which time the Church has gone from one place of tearing to another, God shall revive us. There shall be a freshness for the true Christians who patiently have borne their cross after the Lord.

I think it is worthy of consideration that the area of the Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was 2,000 cubic cubits. This may suggest to us that we now may be at the place of the Altar of Incense, ready to move past the veil into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was 1,000 cubic cubits, speaking perhaps of the thousand-year Kingdom Age that shall follow the coming of the Lord Jesus to us.

On the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. If our analogy holds true, the “third day” is speaking of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. During this period of time, whether a literal or a symbolic thousand years, two significant events will take place.

First, both the Lord Jesus Christ and His called, chosen, and faithful saints will set up the Kingdom of God on the earth. Christ and His saints will govern the nations of the earth with the iron scepter. The iron scepter of Christ is created in the personalities of the victorious saints. It is iron righteousness of personality and behavior, the force of the saints that will compel obedience on the people whom they govern.

During the Kingdom Age, God’s will shall be done on the earth because it has been accomplished in the spirit world. Satan is in the Bottomless Pit. Antichrist and the False Prophet are in the Lake of Fire. The demons are incarcerated in Hell, as I understand it.

Second, and this probably is the main reason for the thousand-year period, the members of God’s elect who did not attain to the first resurrection that occurred at the coming of the Lord, are in the heavenly Jerusalem. They are the immature sisters of the Bride, so to speak. The immature sisters of the Bride of the Lamb will be ministered to until they attain to maturity as members of the royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9). The new Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, cannot descend to the new earth until every member of the elect is mature and ready for his or her role as a governing priest over the nations of saved people on the new earth.

It is my opinion that those who attained to the first resurrection will not only govern the earth with Christ, as members of the royal priesthood, but also will have access to the heavenly Jerusalem so they may minister to those who reside there and are growing to maturity.

We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar. (Song of Solomon 8:8,9)

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him (strive to know the Lord—Holman). We must strive to know the Lord. Remember how the Apostle Paul made knowing Christ the primary goal of his life? So it is true that we must set knowing Christ as our goal, not religion, not church, not doctrine, not theology, but Christ. As we pursue knowing Christ, He grows from a teacher wearing a white robe to a King larger than the largest of the galaxies in outer space. I suspect that we will be pursuing the knowledge of Christ in the future for billions of years of earth-time.

I do not know about you, but I am tired of hearing what important Christian people are going to do. It is my desire to acknowledge Jesus Christ. There is this plan and that plan, this seminar and that seminar. “We will figure out from our computer where to concentrate our efforts. We will make certain everyone hears the Gospel.” As well meaning as such activities may be, I have no faith in any of them.

I believe it is time to acknowledge the Lord. He can accomplish more in one minute than we can in a year. When will we ever remember that Christ has promised to build His Church!

For two thousand years, people have labored to build the Kingdom of God, often according to their own ideas of what is to be done. I believe personally that a great deal of good has been done. God has been able to gather many souls into His barn.

But I think it is time for us to confess our sins, turn away from them, and acknowledge our utter dependence on the Lord. If I am hearing the Spirit correctly, God is saying He has new and surprising things for us. It will not be the same things and ways we have known. There will be new forms of ministry, and we are to listen carefully to Jesus and be strictly obedient to what we are told.

As surely as the sun rises, he will appear. It is my conviction that the sun of Christ’s Glory now is rising, heralding the Day of the Lord.

He will appear. I believe that Christ will come to His fervent disciples before His worldwide coming. It will not be in a “rapture,” but rather a personal appearing. I will give you two passages that cause me to believe in this pre-advent appearing. First:

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:18-21)

I do not believe the passage above refers to the Pentecostal experience, but to the Tabernacles experience. In terms of the Jewish feasts, the feast of Tabernacles comes after the feast of Pentecost. It is a relationship to Christ that we are to be pressing into today.

Notice that the world will not see Christ, so the above is not speaking of His worldwide appearing.

But we will see Him. This is not speaking of the Holy Spirit, but of the Lord Jesus Christ. There never is to be confusion concerning the members of the Godhead. This is referring to a personal coming, an internal coming if you will. We will be living by His Life. We will think as He is thinking, speak as He is speaking, act as He is acting.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. “That day” is the day when Christ alone is exalted in us.

The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11)

We will realize that Christ is in His Father. Christ is not the Father nor is He a God separate from the Father. He was born of the Father and dwells in the Father just as the Father dwells in Him. We too have been born of the Father, and are to dwell in Christ and Christ in us, just as is true of Christ and the Father.

This relationship with Christ was true of the Apostle Paul. It is being restored today as part of the Protestant Reformation. Apostolic truth is being restored, and we must remain alert that we do not miss the day of our visitation.

Christ did not come to bring us to Heaven but to the Father. He is the Way to the Father. If we will choose live by the Life of Christ, He will teach us about the Father.

All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. We are being taught today that we need not keep the commands of Christ. We are saved by “grace,” it is maintained. If this is not the supreme error of all times, I do not know what it would be! If we subscribe to the teaching of lawless-grace, then we will not obey the commands of Christ. If we do not obey the commands of Christ, then it is impossible for us to move forward to the marvelous opportunities available during the current move of God. The truth is, we do not love Him; we love only what we think we can get from Him.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. The wording above reveals clearly that Christ and the Father are not the same Person. In my opinion, the doctrine of the “Trinity” leads to two errors. The first is that there are three equal Gods. The second is that there is one God in three manifestations. If there are three equal Gods, many passages of the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, do not make sense. They must be reinterpreted in a circuitous manner to fit the doctrine of the teacher.

A person’s will may be the most unique aspect of the individual’s personality. When Christ cried out, “Not My will but Yours be done,” He showed clearly that He is subject to the Father and therefore, in the realm of authority at least, the Father is greater than He. Christ always showed Himself to be subject to the Father. It is true that He came from the Father as the Word through whom the Father created both the spirit and the physical realms. It is true also that the Father has given to Christ all authority in Heaven and on the earth and that Christ is to be worshiped as the Father is worshiped. The Father has made Jesus Christ our Lord. Since it is the Father who has done this, we cannot say there are three separate Gods who have equal authority.

And as for Christ being a manifestation of the one God, this is another way of saying Christ and the Father are the same Person, only in a different form. This would make the cry of Christ in Gethsemane a farce. How could Christ be beseeching Himself to let the cup pass from Him? This is ridiculous, if I may say so.

None of the Apostles spoke of Christ as being a God equal to and separate from the Father, or that Christ and the Father are two manifestations of the same Person. I believe if we would subscribe to the statement of the Apostle Paul, we would be on solid ground. The Apostle Paul speaks of Christ:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

It seems to me that Paul’s statement above reveals clearly that there are not three equal Gods, nor is it true that there is one God in three manifestations.

If we obey the commands of Christ, we show that we love Him. In this case, the Father will love us, and Christ also will love us and reveal Himself to us. This is what the inviolate Scripture declares.

The second passage that tells us there will be a pre-advent appearing of Christ to those who are looking for Him is as follows:

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

This is what is taking place today. Christ is appearing to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. This is not His appearing to the world, but to those who are looking for Him, that is, the fervent Christians.

He is bringing salvation to us. Not the salvation of the forgiveness of sin, but the salvation of the removal of the compulsions of sin. We are to put to death the actions of our sinful nature. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the second goat of the Day of Atonement, the living goat who bore the sins of Israel away into the wilderness.

He will come to us like the winter rains. In the land of Israel, there are the fall rains, the winter rains, and the spring rains. The winter rains are sporadic and not as heavy as the planting and harvesting rains. We had the fall (planting) rains in the days of the Apostles. Since that time, there have been seasons of refreshing. Perhaps since the days of the Protestant Reformers, the spring rains have begun, building up to what soon will be the heaviest outpouring of God’s Spirit in the history of mankind.

Like the spring rains that water the earth. I believe the Spirit is indicating that we are on the verge of a great outpouring of His wisdom and power, and that it will take place in the midst of trouble.

Even now we can see that the Scriptures are unfolding. The original Gospel of the Kingdom is being restored. Also, there is wisdom and power now to enable us to put to death the actions of our sinful nature.

We are beginning to understand that God’s goal is to fill us with the fullness of God, as typified by the Jewish feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is drawing near to us and teaching us how to live by His Life.

No doubt we are in the most dangerous era of earth’s history, as nations are seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction. The Christian who is wise will draw near to Christ so that he may stand, and help others to stand, during the moral and physical chaos that are at hand.

Ours is not a time to sleep, but to be looking to Jesus constantly that we may take advantage of the new and surprising things He has promised.

This is what I intend to do. How about you?

(“The Current Move of God”, 3136-1, proofed 20211025)