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Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
I WILL WALK IN THEM
by Ray Prinzing"For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, AND WALK IN THEM; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (2 Corinthians 6:16).
"He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet." (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).
"I will dwell in them, AND WALK IN THEM." Wuest translation gives, "I will dwell in them in fellowship with them as in a home, AND I WILL LIVE MY LIFE IN AND THROUGH THEM."
There is an INDWELLING promised, which goes far beyond our present experience. It bespeaks of when all inner controversy has been resolved, and we are ONE IN HIS WILL, so that HE might be "AT HOME" in us, to freely share communion, unrestricted, unhindered by anything that would be contrary. We have a glimpse of this blessing in Romans 8:11. "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead DWELL IN YOU, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that DWELLS IN YOU." We pray that this becomes a reality in each of us-- that Christ would be so AT HOME in us, that He would permanently PRESENCE Himself in us-- to become the indwelling, controlling factor of our life, TO LIVE HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH US. Bless His wonderful name!
Not only to DWELL within, but also TO WALK IN US. The word "walk" as used here comes from the Greek word "peripateo." We note the two parts, "peri" meaning: through, all over, or around; and "pateo" meaning: to trample, or to tread down or underfoot. This bespeaks of His leaving HIS IMPRINT EVERY WHERE HE WALKS IN US, and thus, the outliving of His life through us.
"And they heard the voice of the Lord God WALKING in the garden in the cool of the day." (Gen. 3:8). He was there to fellowship with them. He would share of HIS LIFE, leaving the imprint of Himself wherever He went. But He did not want to WALK ALONE, He desired to walk with man-- sharing together. Yet Amos 3:3 asks the question, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" So, if God is going to WALK IN US and live His life through us, it means that we have come to an AGREEMENT-- to be one IN and WITH His will and purpose. No more self-will in contradistinction to His will, but there is TOTAL AGREEMENT. Matt, 18:19, "If two of you agree ..." And there the Greek word is "sumphoneo" literally meaning: ONE SOUND. It is the word from which we get our English word "symphony." PERFECT HARMONY, without a discordant note of any kind, for all is blended together into one sound. That is the kind of agreement we need if we are to walk together with Him.
Long ago God spoke to Israel, saying, "If you walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them... I WILL WALK AMONG YOU, and will be your God, and you shall be My people."
(Lev. 26:3,12). He gave them His Word, and if they were in agreement with that Word, to obey it, then they could WALK TOGETHER WITH GOD, in harmony and blessing. However, He went on to state, (verse 21), "And if you walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me... then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins." Self-will rebelling against His Word brings in controversy-- and sets man against God, and God against man. A discordant sound bringing friction and unhappiness, and must be thoroughly dealt with.Deut. 23:14. "For the Lord your God WALKS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR CAMP, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore your camp shall be holy: that He see no unclean thing in you, and turn away from you." The preceding verse gave the instruction on how to keep the camp clean, stating, "You shall have a paddle upon your weapon; and it shall be, when you will ease yourself abroad, you shall dig there, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from you." Illustrative as it might be, there is a tremendous truth set forth. All refuse of self, flesh, is to be COVERED, not flaunted before others. LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SIN. And all of this "airing" of the sins of those who stumble and fall, makes for UNCLEANNESS in the camp, and God cannot walk with us until it is ALL COVERED. May God ever help us to keep our personal camp (heart) clean before Him-- that He might walk in us, to ever deliver us from all evil.
In 2 Samuel 7:6, when David had proposed to build God an house, God sent the prophet Nathan to him, saying, "Since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, I have but walked in a tent and in a tabernacle." It was a temporary arrangement. He moved among them, He blessed them, and He punished them, by turn, but there was no real permanency. It was an off-again, on-again relationship, and most definitely needed a change of order.
Jesus brought to light that NEW ORDER when He said, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that HE MAY ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER; even the Spirit of Truth; - for He dwells with you, and SHALL BE IN YOU." (John 16:16-17).
Herein is the arrangement of the new covenant, wherein God makes promise both for Himself, and for us, saying, "I WILL... and YOU SHALL..." In the old covenant, God gave His promise, and the people gave theirs. There was no problem with God keeping His part, but the people constantly failed to live up to their promise. So in due time God brought forth a BETTER way, established upon BETTER promises-- for He makes the promise for both Himself and for us. Again, we say, there is no problem with God keeping His part of the promise. But then He goes on to state, "Now I will dwell in them, walk in them, live out My life through them, thus I will keep man's part also." That is the wonder and blessing of the new covenant. HE COMES IN, NOT AS A GUEST, BUT AS KING, TO REIGN WITHIN US.
No more will He "pitch His tent among them," and so to have fellowship with God we have to go "visit His house." Even though some of us could say with the Psalmist, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." (Psalm 122:1). But that verse fades into history when YOU BECOME the house of the Lord.
He is to REIGN within us! The Greek word is "basileuo" meaning: to rule, be a king, or to reign; but it goes back to the root "basis" which means: TO WALK. It speaks of the foundation of power on which all else stands.
This gives a whole new meaning to the battle with the serpent, and God's promise, "The Seed shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise HIS HEEL." (Gen. 3:15). The adversary would strike a blow at the kingdom-dominion-rule of Christ. It would bruise His heel. And it did "Please the Lord to bruise Him." (Isaiah 53:10).
"Him, being delivered by the deliberate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." (Acts 2:23).
"For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God." (2 Corinthians 13:4).
"For the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25).
IN HIS HUMANITY He became weary, tired, sad; was spit upon, was beaten, as His HEEL was bruised. The sorrow, the grief, the pain-- it was all there!
But He went on to BRUISE THE SERPENT'S HEAD-- "Having spoiled (to strip off, unclothe) principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (literally, IN HIMSELF)." (Colossians 2:15).
When He finished SPOILING the adversary, He took away all the authority or power or usurped dominion that he had, and NOW CHRIST ALONE "has the keys of hell and of death." (Rev. 1:18). "That through death He might destroy (disannul, render inactive) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Heb. 2:14). Satan did not have power OVER death, but he had a kingdom of darkness, of which death is the realm. Whatever usurped form of dominion he had over the human race, was in the form of death. And now that is broken, and Christ alone has the keys of death and hell. And in His victory, Christ has power OVER death-- and can make ALIVE again. This was something that Satan could never do. The thief comes to kill and destroy, but he can never give life. But CHRIST IS A LIFE-GIVER! amen!
"IN HIMSELF." The entire victory was first wrought IN CHRIST. "The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me." (John 14:30). HE IS LORD, and all other powers are now subject to Him-- and that is why "The Son must reign until all enemies are put under His feet." They are UNDER, IN HIM, but now they must be UNDER HIS FEET IN US. So while we do not yet see all things put under our feet (in union with Him), we do "SEE JESUS ... crowned with glory and honor." (Heb. 2:9). And when He has finished WALKING IN US, He will have "brought many sons unto glory." Bless His name!
"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you," God promises Joshua (1:3). It was a promise of dominion, power, authority, to rule over all that territory wherever he might walk. And now this can be transferred to a greater than Joshua, for it is our Lord Jesus Christ that is WALKING-- REIGNING-- progressively manifesting His authority and His ability, bring all enemies under His feet IN US, and ultimately in all mankind.
One of the early Church fathers, Gregory of Nyssa (380 A.D.) gives the thought: "When it is said that God's enemies shall be subjected to God... this meant that the power of evil shall be taken away, and they who, on account of their disobedience, were called God's enemies, shall by subjection, BE MADE GOD'S FRIENDS. When then all who once were God's enemies, shall have been made His footstool (because they shall receive in themselves the Divine Imprint), when death shall have been destroyed; in the subjection of all, which is not servile humility, but immortality and blessedness ..." then total victory is HIS!
What a victory! All His enemies made His friends, and each to receive in themselves the DIVINE IMPRINT. That is the victory of HIS WALKING!
This brings a new depth of meaning to Song of Solomon 2:8, "The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." The greater the mountain, the harder He stamps, for "Every mountain and hill shall be brought low... And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:5-6). It matters not how high man had built his mountain, when Christ places HIS FOOT upon it, it shall be brought low-- subdued, but it shall also BEAR HIS DIVINE IMPRINT, and come into His life and victory.
The universality of this is awe-inspiring. "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15).
But the subject at hand is not how all "the kingdoms of this world" are to be subdued, but what is happening in us? "I WILL WALK IN THEM." And truly "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: ... first begin at us ...." (1 Pet. 4:17). People are ever looking to see if the judgments are falling upon the world, but that's not where they are to BEGIN. It starts IN US! He is reigning now-- walking in us now. We have been CALLED OUT, separated unto Him-- to be the arena of His walking now!
The question is: what dominions, powers, kingdoms are within us? All the senses of the flesh, all the realms of the soul-- so much that needs to be brought into subjection to Him. Bastions of self-will, fortifications of intellectual reasoning, high towers of imagination, "Bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor. 10:5).
For a beautiful illustration of the "OPERATION OF HIS FOOT," Proverbs 21:1. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turns it where ever He will."
Note the phrase, "rivers of water." The Hebrew is: palgey mayim. Mayim is the word for "water", but "palgey" means: divisions of, and the word is used of any small artificial channel. The term is used in reference to the eastern garden which was divided by the little channels which distributed the water to each area. The main channel was filled with water from the spring, fountain, well, or whatever, and then directed through the channels by the simple MOVEMENT OF THE FOOT.
(Personally, for many years I had a garden that I irrigated, using one main channel through which the water flowed, and then with a hoe I opened up every little channel (trench) that ran alongside of each row of vegetables. Had I wanted to use my foot (and get it muddy) I could have actually caused the water to flow into the various rows by the action of my foot.)
Deuteronomy 11:10. God promised Israel, "The land which you go in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from which you came out, where you sow your seed, AND WATERS IT WITH YOUR FOOT, as a garden of herbs."
By the simple movement of the foot the gardener could dam up one little stream, or by a similar movement release the water in another channel. Now the wise man wrote, JUST AS EASILY THE KING'S HEART IS TURNED ABOUT BY THE LORD, "where ever He wills." HIS FOOT RULES! He is walking in us, and with just the slightest movement, He changes the whole course of our life.
In the book of Esther we read of a beautiful example of this. Haman had built some special gallows upon which he had determined to have Mordecai hung, but before it could be carried out, we read, "On that night could not the king sleep..." (Esther 6:1). So next the king must have something to help entertain him through the sleepless night, and he calls for them to bring "the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king." In the process they came to the account of how two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the doors, had conspired to lay hands on the king. Mordecai reported the treacherous scheme, and thus stopped it. Then the king inquired what had been done to honor Mordecai for this, and they said, "nothing." So the next morning Haman, being out in the court, was called in to help advise the king "What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor?" Self-centered as he was, and thinking that the king meant to honor him, Haman described what he would like to have done. Once the plan was all laid out, the king said to Haman, "Make haste... and do so to Mordecai." Thus Haman had to arrange for a special honor for the very man he hated, and was plotting to murder.
"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord..." Just one SLEEPLESS NIGHT, and the king's heart is turned-- changing the whole course of history, and the ultimate outcome of the whole working is that the law of the Medes and Persians is reversed, and Israel is delivered out of the hand of the one that would have destroyed them all.
Again, we read of how Darius set over his kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, to serve over the whole kingdom, and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first. All the princes were jealous, and sought for an occasion against him. Finding no fault, they realized that it would only be "concerning the law of his God." So they persuaded the king to issue a decree that no one could ask a "petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of the king," and the disobedient to be cast into a den of lions. The king did so. Daniel continued praying to his God. The king had to fulfill his own decree and into the lion's den went Daniel. Then what happens to the king? He goes to his palace, passes the night fasting, with no music, no entertainment-- NO SLEEP. God was moving HIS foot-- REIGNING OVER ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES! Daniel was preserved, the accusers were cast into the lion's den, and the king issues a new decree-- "That in every dominion of my kingdom men TREMBLE AND FEAR BEFORE THE GOD OF DANIEL." (Daniel 6:26).
Do you think this is a hard thing for God to do, to move His foot? As the rivers of water, as the little channels turned in their courses by a foot, so is "the king's heart in the hand of the Lord... He turns it where ever He will." The king has one sleepless night, and the whole direction of events is changed. Glorious is the IMPRINT OF HIS FOOT walking in us.
You have your day planned, your week planned, your vacation planned, etc. and you think it is all in order, and God moves HIS FOOT just a wee bit, and everything is changed-- out of your control, and INTO HIS. Hallelujah! Thank God for His inworkings, and may He continue to WALK IN US, until we can cry out, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, bless His holy name." (Psalm 103:1). He walks, He runs, He leaps, HE REIGNS in us, until everything within is under His feet, one in His will, bearing His imprint. Thus, THE SON MUST REIGN UNTIL....
It is most significant that there are three Psalms that begin, "The Lord reigns..." and every one ends up speaking of HOLINESS.
Psalm 93:1, 5. "The Lord reigns... Holiness becomes Your house, O Lord, forever."
Psalm 97:1, 12. "The Lord reigns... Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness."
Psalm 99:1, 9. "The Lord reigns... Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy."
How could it be otherwise? Wherever He reigns, there will be holiness!
Indeed, where God reigns, righteousness abounds. For, "When Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9). Judgments are but one more manifestation of HIS WALKING.
Surely, right now, it is the INSIDE of the cup that He is dealing with. He had some very strong words for the scribes and Pharisees. "For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." (Matthew 23:25). One might be quite adorned with religiosity, and on the outside have all the appearances of being clean, and yet within be filled with all sorts of corruption-- anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy, jealousy, self-centeredness. etc. How we need the Lord to begin HIS WALK through the length and breadth of our "interior" until everything within us can truly cry "HOLY."
The question was asked of Jerusalem, "How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you?" (Jeremiah 4:14). And truly we find God has some amazing ways to tread upon our vain thoughts, to dis-lodge them, remove them, that He might place HIS THOUGHTS within us.
"Righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit," (Rom. 14:17), are the blessings of the KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN US.
Yet Paul also knew the need for HIS RULE to be within. And once wrote of how "our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, WITHIN WERE FEARS." (2 Cor. 7:5). It was the INNER STATE that made the outward so much more difficult to face. When He is ruling within us, and we are filled internally with His joy and peace, and yes, with His righteousness, then we are much more fortified to face the many pressures of the day. But if there are negatives within, they me as traitors to our peace-- and it is so hard to face the outward conflicts.
Surely we have all faced many "inward fears" for our finances, it was fear for our physical health, or that we were losing our mind, or that the family situations would worsen, the kids would divorce, or get into serious trouble, and the list is endless of FEARS WITHIN. You wake up in the middle of the night, and the cold fear gnaws at you. THEN GOD COMES AND TREADS ON THAT FEAR, and turns that very fear into an imprint of hope. What a miracle of conversion! So He gives you songs in the night.
Precious indeed is the drawing of the holy Spirit, to separate us unto Himself, that He might even now, BY HIS SPIRIT, dwell in us, and begin to WALK IN US-- ruling and reigning until all our inner enemies are under His feet. Praise God, "The Lord in the midst of you is mighty." (Zeph. 3:17). He who WALKS WITHIN is greater than all outward circumstances. Therefore, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail; and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION." (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
How can I be so joyful in the midst of such conditions? BECAUSE HE REIGNS! HE IS WALKING WITHIN-- for "You are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My People." He may come leaping, or just skipping, but everywhere He moves it will bring forth the out-living of HIS LIFE. "Thank you, Father, for such love to us-ward. You have begun a good work within, and You will bring it to a successful conclusion, that we might be a people to your praise. WALK-- REIGN WITHIN until we are filled with You, one in your will, and all the inner enemies are as ashes under your feet." Amen!
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