The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Manifestation of Christ, #9

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (Matthew 3:11)

The baptism with fire that prepares us for the entrance of the Father and the Son, in the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, is an important part of the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is the will of Jesus that we be tested and purged with fire in advance so when the time of manifestation, the marriage of the Lamb, has arrived, we shall be prepared fully to be revealed together with Him. Our judgment has been completed. Our warfare has been accomplished. Our iniquity has been pardoned. Now it is time for us to put on immortality and to be revealed together with Christ as an integral part of His manifestation, His coming.

Jesus is here with us now. He is here with us when we are alone and also when we are gathered together with fervent saints. He has not left it to the ambitions and creative ideas of men to build His Church. Christ Himself will build His own Church on the rock that is Himself, on the chief Cornerstone of the Temple of God.

All of the kingdoms of religious men will be torn down. The Lord alone will be exalted in the Day of the revelation of the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles in the saints. The world desires to see Jesus, not the efforts of religious people no matter how well intentioned.

The second coming of the Lord will be the manifestation of that which has been wrought throughout two thousand years of travail. Of special importance will be the manifestation of the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. Through her the nations will be able to approach Christ and receive the blessings of God.

God has not assigned any aspect of the perfecting of the Wife of the Lamb to the imaginations and abilities of men. All of the works of religious Babylon (man-directed Christianity) will be cast down. Jesus alone will perfect His Wife, His Church, His inner kingdom. He will not allow the world to understand her relationship to God until He is certain of her love and has proved that she cannot be corrupted by people or spirits.

Jesus alone is our religion, our salvation. We understand that the hour of His manifestation will come. We look forward to it with the greatest joy. Meanwhile every moment of our days and nights is filled with communications and experiences. We are pressing, with Christ's inspiration and guidance, into the fullness of the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord. There are many opponents and obstacles but through Christ we will overcome them all—every one of them. We will achieve our inheritance in the Lord. We will please God and become His son. We are determined to do this.

The first aspect of the coming of the Lord that is not given enough emphasis today is the direct, thorough involvement of Christ in every detail of our spiritual growth and ministry.

The second aspect of the coming of the Lord that is not stressed sufficiently, we believe, is the increase of the inner coming of the Lord. We understand that the Scriptures point toward an increase in the inner coming as the outward Day of Christ approaches.

To be continued.