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Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
THE REALM BEYOND "NEITHER"
by Ray Prinzing"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, NAY; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What does my Lord say unto his servant?
And the captain of the Lord's hosts said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Joshua did so." (Joshua 5:13-15).
Joshua encounters a man with a sword, and immediately the question arises, Which side are you on? It is US, and THEM (the adversaries), so which side do you favor? Immediately this reminds us that Joshua lived in the realm of DUALITY-- of division-- of two sides.
In ONENESS there is no division, for one is a number that cannot be divided and still maintain its wholeness, but if there are TWO, then you can have division, with one against another. Just as soon as there were "two wills" in the earth, God's will and Adam's will, then you had the possibility of division. Just as in a marriage-- when both are single they can do things their own way, according to their own will, but as soon as they are united in marriage, then you have two wills which must either blend, becoming one, or else, if they are divided against each other, you have the arena for a conflict. Two is the least number that can be divided, and if the two do not become ONE, then the occasion arises when it is "you or me,"-- or, "US, and THEM," in one form or another. It is IN ONENESS that we have UNITY, and praise God, Christ purposes to bring us into that DIVINE ONENESS which He shares with the Father. "That they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.,, (John 17:23).
Significant that for centuries religious Babylon has tried to fragment and divide Him. Many teach for three Gods, forgetting Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." And then periodically they have their ceremonies of a fragmented body-- as they take the bread, which bespeaks of HIS BODY, and then break it up into small pieces, and when it is fragmented, they pass it around for each to have their own piece, saying, "this is His body." I KNOW the symbol is first and foremost that it was HIS BODY (the body of Jesus) WHICH WAS BROKEN FOR US-- in no way would we minimize His tremendous sacrifice and all that He did for us, but the fact is His body did not remain broken, He came forth in resurrection power with a changed body. Let it be clear, "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Cor. 15:3-4). To teach only of the "BROKEN BODY" is to teach only half of the gospel. HE AROSE WITH A WHOLE BODY-- living promise that all creation shall also BE MADE WHOLE IN HIM.
And when we carry the type even further, Paul states, "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." (1 Cor. 10:17). PARTAKING OF HIM SHOULD BRING US INTO WHOLENESS, not into a fractured, divided state. If we are all partaking of that ONE BREAD, and becoming ONE IN THAT BREAD, it should end all our divisiveness. There is a sense in which, while we keep breaking up the bread, we are also signifying that HIS CORPORATE BODY remains fragmented. We then look at the pieces and say "this is His body." How our heart longs for oneness and wholeness, for a true HEALING OF ALL HIS BODY, endued with His resurrection life.
Truly, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Eph. 4:4-6).
But, until THAT DAY when He shall "gather together in one all things in Christ," (Eph. 1:10), we do have duality, and the conflict between good and evil. So Joshua said, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" It's US, and THEM-- so which is it? Are you for US, or for THEM? And immediately the answer was given, NO! The Amplified translation gives, "NEITHER." But "As captain of the hosts of the Lord, I represent a HIGHER REALM," it is a realm that goes beyond 'us, and them.' This man that appeared before Joshua was of a totally different realm. Don't ask me to be on YOUR SIDE, nor on THEIR SIDE, for I represent another dimension that is higher, greater, more glorious, so let your eye be single to that HIGHER DIMENSION and forget all about the "us, and them," of this lower earth realm. Like the beautiful words of the chorus state it: "So forget about yourselves, and concentrate on Him, and worship Him..." And we could write another line, "So forget about your enemies, and concentrate on Him, and worship Him..."
Praise God!Like Joshua, we need a NEW VISION, an encounter with God, to the extent that we know that we are not the center-- GOD IS! Far too much of religion is centered in man, "in me." Bless ME, save ME, heal ME, prosper ME, serve ME, destroy MY enemies! Forget about the other man, the attention is on "us." And in that mentality we become the center of it all. Dear Lord, just be on MY side, and let all your blessings be focused on me. While we do rejoice in all the mercies of God to us-ward, and truly GOD IS FOR US, not against us, yet there must come a time in our growth/experience when the center focus is not on "me, and mine," what I need, and what God must yet do in me, but HE becomes the Center-- and all our worship is directed toward Him-- to glorify Him! So, in effect, the messenger said to Joshua, "I don't represent your side, I don't represent your adversary's side, but I REPRESENT GOD'S SIDE-- it is time to ascend to the higher realm."
Certainly we have been far too enemy-conscious. We focus in on the doom, darkness, despair, negative, doctrines concerning devils, etc. There is a desperate need for a revelation of the CENTRAL SUPREMACY OF CHRIST, to know that HE is in control of every part of our day.
Now, for sure, you cannot impart to yourself a revelation-- this revelation comes at the will of the Revelator. The man appeared, Joshua looked up and saw him, and immediately had an encounter with him. Had this Divine Agent not appeared, Joshua would not have been able to fake an encounter. It was a God-initiated happening. We love Him because HE FIRST loved us!
"The angel of the Lord appeared unto him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush..." (Ex. 3:2). Then Moses turned aside to see the great sight, and God called to him out of the midst of the bush. There was a responsive action on Moses part, as there must be on our part, but he did not initiate the burning bush, GOD DID! If we are alert to the Spirit, we will find that many times during the day we "TURN ASIDE," to see the Lord in the situations and happenings of our day. HE IS THERE! Just as He came to Joshua, and he "lifted up his eyes, and looked," and SAW-- so we also need only to LIFT UP OUR EYES, turn aside from our earth-consciousness, to see that HE IS THERE-- a dimension that goes BEYOND. So we pray with the Psalmist, "Open mine eyes, that I might behold wondrous things out of Your law."
(Ps. 119:18)."HE is before all things, and by Him all things consist." (Colossians 1:17)
Before-- the Greek word is "pro" meaning: in front of, before. HE IS FRONT AND CENTER, before all things! And "by Him all things consist," literally, unite, bring together, and HOLD TOGETHER. There is no unity without Him, but BY HIM everything shall ultimately be united into righteousness. The end is secure, it will ALL be united IN HIM before He has consummated His plan of the ages. However, praise God, individually He can work in us NOW, to unify, yes, to "UNITE my heart to fear Your name." (Ps. 86:11). We have been so disjointed in ourselves, will, emotions, impulses pulling us in so many different directions, but HE can UNITE OUR HEART until "one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after..." (Psalm 27:4).
Certainly a vital part of being UNITED IN HIM, is to have Him FRONT AND CENTER in our life. And it is amazing how many things, yes, even people, would usurp that position. All religious programs are constructed that way-- we have heard it said so often, "Come on now, look at me, everybody's attention this way, please, front and center," and thus we focus on some man or woman. But now we desire that HE would BE "before all things" in our life, for He is the I AM, the Eternal Center, the FOCAL POINT OF ALL THINGS. This was the sudden challenge that had come into Joshua's life--elevating his thoughts and sight far beyond the "us, and them" realm, to behold the Captain of the hosts of the Lord.
"For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him. To Him be glory for ever." (Romans 11:36, Amplified).
Before all things, originating all things, in the middle of all things, and in the end of all things-- it is GOD ALL THE WAY! When in your life He becomes the Center, then it is easier to acknowledge Him in the circumference and the far edges. But if we only see Him "now and then" in some isolated happenings, then the center of our life will be filled with the turmoil of duality. You will continuously be fighting the "us, and them" syndrome.
When we truly see THE CAPTAIN, we will not see the furthering of a work, or a movement; it will not be the promotion of a teaching, etc. for we see HIM "who is ABOVE ALL, and THROUGH ALL, and IN YOU ALL." We love the truths of sonship and growing up into spiritual maturity, we rejoice in the knowledge that He purposes to save all men, and shall not lose a one, but precious as these teachings are, they are not the issue-- the issue is CHRIST! When He is the CENTER, He will fill all things with Himself. The responsibility is His, and He will accomplish it all to His praise and glory. "He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet." (1 Cor. 15:25).
If we have a work, a movement, a teaching that we must promote, then the same will demand our protection and defense, and the support of the flesh. All the jealous factions in the world today are because something other than Christ has become the central factor. Somebody took a side and said, "it is US, and THEM." The existence of all these many sects, divisions, petty jealousies, simply represent the absence of an ADEQUATE REVELATION OF CHRIST, for as He increases, all these things will decrease. Truth needs no defense, it IS! When HE is the Center of our life, we do not have to "support Him," but He will fully support us. We have no work to defend or support, no organization to maintain-- for all of our life is found IN HIM. As He becomes FRONT AND CENTER, and all is truly focused on Him, then He orders the steps He wants to be taken, He supplies for the work to be done. So we abandon the side issues to have HIM, the Culmination, the Fruition, the Omega of all things.
If we are to bear the image of Christ, it becomes obvious that we have to get rid of all other images. For as Paul declared, "It pleased God... to reveal His Son IN ME, that I might preach HIM..." (Galatians 1:15-16). The purpose of the revelation of the Son INWARD, is that we might then express Him OUTWARD. We cannot preach HIM, if first we have not had Him revealed TO and IN us. When HE IS OUR INNER LIFE, then life can flow out of us to minister the same to others. "He that has the Son HAS..." (1 John 5:12). Has life, yes, but also whatever the SON IS, such is the possession we are to enjoy. The Son is LIFE, and so we have life; the Son is JOY, so we have joy; the Son is PEACE, so we have peace. Thus the pre-requisite is to HAVE THE SON! We cannot reveal Him "of ourselves." HE dwells within, and then HE SHINES OUT-- emanating forth to bless others.
Praise God, you do not have to worry about the "US, and THEM," when you have the CAPTAIN of the divine hosts with you, for HE is BEYOND all of the "us, and them." Are You for us, or them? NO! NEITHER! Find your life in Christ, and He will take care of all the lesser realms. "Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these other things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33).
It is most significant that the first act on Joshua's part, after he was introduced to the REALM BEYOND "NEITHER," was to immediately fall on his face and worship. He got his eyes off his adversaries, he got his eyes off of himself-- and in beholding the Captain, worship became an immediate priority. The first thing was not to equip Joshua to fight better, he was not rallied with a pep talk to start waging some kind of spiritual warfare. There is a realm, where for you personally, Satan ceases to exist-- for you partake of that victory wherein Christ "Destroyed (literally, down-idled) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Heb. 2:14). There is no need to go about ghost-chasing, nor fighting phantoms, when you have the VICTORY OF THE SON. "He that has the Son has..." If the negatives are always before you, front and center in your life, then negativity will color everything you think and do. But when JESUS CHRIST is the Center of your life, then HIS LIFE will be stamped upon all you think and do! You will not see a negative "us, and them." Far too many people still live in this duality-- they have a "religious/us, and a satan/them," so they are engaged in a constant battle. Warfare requires two sides. But when ALL IS ONE IN CHRIST-- even now you receive all things from HIS HAND and recognize no other source, then as your will is surrendered into His will, there is oneness, and warfare ends. "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
(Isaiah 2:4). Hallelujah!Yes, God has a firstfruits of His new creation species in the world today, and they are beating their swords into plowshares-- they have a message for God's people, that "her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned." (Isaiah 40:2). The good news is that CHRIST HAS WON, and now He shares that victory with His people. "Thanks be to God, for He always leads me in His triumphal train, through union with Christ, and everywhere through me keeps spreading the perfume of the knowledge of Him." (2 Cor. 2:14, Williams).
Hear it, beloved friend, it is one of the most important statements of this entire message: ALL FUTURE ACTIVITY IS TO SPRING OUT OF WORSHIP! Whatever you do, it is to be rooted in your worship of Him. All of our life is to be lived as a worship to Him. When HE is living His life through us, then the nitty-gritty of every day living becomes an act of worship to the Lord. The moment Joshua's attention was directed away from the "us, and them," to behold the Captain of the hosts of the Lord, immediately worship was the order of the day. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." (Ps. 100:4). And it is a fact that, while we are actively worshipping Him, we will not take the glory to ourselves for what is happening. I cannot declare "my name," nor "my ministry," if I am worshipping Him. Nor will we "judge Him" with our why? etc. as if He didn't know what He was doing, but there will be that free flowing worship from our heart, to magnify our Lord. When our will and God's will are one-- unified by our worship to Him, then we have gone beyond "us, and them," my will/God's will, and in that higher realm of UNION with Christ, all "neithers" have disappeared.
It is exceedingly noteworthy that the first New Testament record of going beyond "neither," is also in conjunction with worship. O, this is good!
The woman of Samaria said to Him, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour comes, when you shall NEITHER in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. - But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
(John 4:20-21, 23)."Our fathers worshipped in this mountain." It is amazing how much religion is simply a carry-on because "our fathers did it this way." Each generation blindly following on in the form and ceremony that is perpetuated as the blind lead the blind. That it was not satisfying was immediately apparent, for the woman, in quest for satisfaction had gone through five husbands, and was now living with a man she didn't even bother to marry. Jesus then zeroed in on her INNER NEED, for the WATER OF LIFE to flow from within, which would satisfy and end this fruitless search as she had known it. it is also significant that the moment Jesus revealed the fact that He knew of her present status, that she said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet," and it was the woman who then brought up the subject of worship. Worship was supposed to SATISFY THE DEEP INNER DESIRES and had it done its inworking, she would not have needed to try out so many men in her quest for satisfaction. But however her fathers might have worshipped in their mountain it certainly did nothing for her, it did not meet her inner need.
It could become a probing question, every time we meet a deeply troubled person, that finds daily living empty, meaningless, totally unsatisfying-- to ask them, "HOW REAL IS YOUR WORSHIP OF GOD?" And immediately you will hear a long list of excuses, ranging from not being a very religious person, to how devoid of life all the churches are-- that they only offer platitudes and trite phrases, meaningless rituals, or else a lot of hype with little substance, etc. My parents went there, but it didn't do much for me. Besides, how do I know which church is right? Our fathers said to worship in this mountain (denomination), and yet you (the Jews) say that Jerusalem (your denomination) is the place to worship. Everybody thinks they have the right set of rules, ceremonies, doctrines, etc. All of this conflict among churches-- it's so confusing-- so where to worship? But the question is not WHERE, but WHOM do we worship!
Worship-- in this mountain? Or in Jerusalem? NO! NEITHER! It is time to get past all preference for particular places, for there is a realm beyond all geographical locations, a realm beyond all denominational boundaries, it is "IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH," and it brings you into life and reality.
He called God a SPIRIT, that He might distinguish Him from bodies, that is, to take their eyes off of man, and off of man-appointed places. Always man wants to go to a special sacred mountain, a cathedral, a convention, places that cater to the senses of the flesh, or the ascetic sense of the soul. it becomes a matter of location, of surroundings, of ritual and ceremony. And soon it focuses in on some man, a leader, an apostle, a prophet, a favorite teacher, etc. But GOD IS SPIRIT, and we must GO BEYOND humanity, bodies and places, and from our hearts worship arises to Him wherever we might be.
And He named Him THE TRUTH, to distinguish Him from a shadow or an image. Those that worshipped in Jerusalem were in subjection to the shadow, image of heavenly things. They had their laws, their ceremonies, their types and shadows, but they lacked THE REALITY, THE TRUTH. People are so prone to worship a form, a sign, a symbol. "You observe days, and months, and times, and years." (Gal. 4:10). Jerusalem knew every feast day, prophetic of that greater reality to come-- but they never left the realm of shadow and image to embrace the reality of His life-- to receive Him who is THE TRUTH!
A sign is only of value for the message it conveys, pointing you toward the reality. You may fellowship around the sign, extol its message, rejoice in it, have a celebration to honor the sign, sing about it, preach about it, write books about it, and never know the blessed life of its reality. So much of Christendom is wrapped up in images, shadows, signs and symbols, but they will not move on into reality because they are caught in the realm of "us, and them." WE keep the feasts, and THEY don't. We are much more spiritual than they are, for look what we are doing, we have the sign, we have the image. Ah, they are worshipping a day, a form, a sign, but it is a long way from being "in spirit and in truth."
Thus there is a vital word for today-- LEAVE THE REALM OF "US, and THEM," leave the realm of particular places, particular images, particular signs and symbols, all of which have become idolatrous, and cater to the realm of the flesh, encourage self-righteousness, building kingdoms for men, and, as Paul said, "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim. 3:7). If the sign, shadow, does not urge you onward toward the full light of reality, if it becomes an end in itself to be perpetuated in a ceaseless cycle of ritual and ceremony, it has become idolatry.
O to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Spirit lifts us out of the realm places, and humanity-consciousness, and truth lifts you out of the image and shadow, and into the fulfillment of reality. "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view - in terms of natural standards of value. No, even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh." (2 Cor. 5:16, Amplified). Praise God, He is no longer a Babe in the manger, nor the Man on the cross, He is the Living Christ who dwells within us by His Spirit.
There is a realm beyond "US, and THEM," it is beyond humanity, beyond all image and shadow, types and allegories, beyond sacred mountains, beyond a temple in Jerusalem. And while in our humanness and carnality we take our sides, split and divide, He is saying in a loud clear voice, NO! NEITHER! Not these low realms! It is time to focus front and center on CHRIST ALONE that He might have pre-eminence within us, to fill us with Himself. And it will be out of our worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, that we will see the miracles of transformation -- lives that are changed, sorrow turned into joy, and He will be exalted, while all men shall be blessed with His mercy.
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