The Daily Word of Righteousness

I Will Come to You, #10

Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [mansion] with him. (John 14:22,23)

It seems reasonable to conclude from the preceding passage that Christ will come to the faithful disciple, bringing the Father with Him, and will put the finishing touches on this new room in the Father's house.

It stands clearly in the Scriptures that Christ and the Father will come to the disciples in a manner not observed by the world. It is our belief that this coming will take place just before the visible coming announced in Revelation 1:7; and that the visible coming will be the climax, the concluding act of the work of tabernacling and coming that commenced with the born-again experience and has proceeded through many subsequent guidances and impartations of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the coming of Christ and the Father, as described in John 14:22,23, will take place in increasingly greater increments before Christ returns in the clouds of glory, for four reasons:

It is reasonable that this is a prior coming.

The pattern of fulfillment of the three major Levitical feasts suggests an inner coming prior to the outer coming.

The concept of the day star points toward a prior inner coming.

The visions of the Hebrew prophets, notably Isaiah and Joel, speak of an inner work taking place before the worldwide appearing of the Lord.

First of all, it seems reasonable that the coming of the Father and the Son mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of John will take place before the Lord Jesus returns to earth in visible power and glory. It hardly makes sense that Christ would come in a personal manifestation to His disciples after His return in worldwide glory.

Second, it is our opinion that the pattern of fulfillment of the three major feasts of the Lord suggests that the tabernacling of God in Christ in the saints will take place before the Lord returns in the clouds of heaven.

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: (Deuteronomy 16:16)

The feast of Unleavened Bread; the feast of Weeks; the feast of Tabernacles.

The feast of Unleavened Bread typifies the experience of basic salvation. We receive the blood of atonement by faith; we repent of our life of sin; we are baptized in water; we are born again of Christ. The experience of basic salvation brings us out from the authority of Satan and places us in the family of God.

The feast of Weeks (Pentecost) typifies the life lived in the Spirit of God. We receive the Holy Spirit. He enables us to bear witness of Christ, to minister in the Body of Christ, and to overcome the lusts of our flesh and human mind. The experience of Pentecost results in the beginning of the change of our life processes from the wisdom and energy of the flesh to the wisdom and energy of resurrection life.

To be continued.