The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Manifestation of Christ, #3

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3)

"I will come again, and receive you unto myself."

Let us consider three aspects of the inner kingdom, of the inner nature of the coming of the Lord, that we believe must be stressed now if we are to prepare ourselves properly for the tribulation period, and for the great Day of Christ itself.

The direct involvement of Christ in our life and ministry.

The increase of the personal coming of the Lord.

The extent to which the appearing of the Lord will be through his saints.

The Direct Involvement of Christ in Our Life and Ministry

The coming mentioned above may be referring to the Day of Christ, to the appearing of the Lord Jesus with His saints in the clouds of glory.

But the teaching of the fourteenth chapter of John suggests that the coming mentioned in the third verse is the same inner coming of Christ described in the eighteenth through the twenty-third verses of the same chapter.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal House of the Father. We Christians are the many abodes of that eternal House because we are members of the Body of Christ.

Christ went to the cross, was raised again, ascended to Heaven, and then gave His body and blood through the Holy Spirit in order that He might prepare a place for us in the House of the Father, that is, in Himself. He Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life by which we gain eternal rest in the Father and the Father in us.

The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John speaks of the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34). Jesus and the Father come to us as we, with the Holy Spirit's help, keep the words of Christ. They enter us and make Their eternal abode with us. This is a true coming of the Lord.

It is an inner, spiritual coming to the individual saint. It is the inner kingdom of God. It will take place in increasing power and revelation as we approach the coming of Christ in the outward Kingdom. We must receive the inner kingdom in order to participate in the worldwide manifestation of the outer Kingdom (John 14:23; II Thessalonians 1:10).

The three stages of grace through which the victorious saint passes are portrayed by the three annual gatherings of the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 16:16).

The feast of Passover.

The feast of Weeks (Pentecost).

The feast of Tabernacles.

Passover typifies our salvation experience. The feast of Weeks portrays the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The feast of Tabernacles speaks of the Father and Son entering us through the Holy Spirit, our being filled with "all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

The three stages of grace are as follows:

We are saved.

We are baptized with the Holy Spirit.

We become the eternal abode of the Father and the Son.

To be continued.