The Daily Word of Righteousness

That Which Is Perfect, #7

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)

A study of the entire fourteenth chapter of John suggests that the coming referred to here is not the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of glory but rather a coming to the members of His Body in order to bring to them that which is perfect.

Notice the following:

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)

The above verse obviously is not referring to the return of the Lord in the clouds of glory with the saints and holy angels.

We see, then, that our progression from Pentecost to the fullness of God is governed by the Presence of the Lord who will manifest Himself to us.

The emphasis in John 14:3 is not on our going anywhere with the Lord but on our being received unto Himself. We do not perceive this emphasis until we begin to partake of the Divine love. It is only then that we understand the Lord Jesus is not declaring we are to go anywhere but that we are to be with Him where He is. It is being with Him where He is that is so totally important!

Where is the Lord? The Lord is in the bosom of the Father. The Lord is dwelling in the midst of the Divine Fire.

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Isaiah 33:14)

The Lord Jesus desires that we abide with Him in the Divine Fire. But radical changes must be made in our personality before we are able to live, move, and have our being in the center of God's very Person.

When we receive the Lord Jesus we are spiritually resurrected and we spiritually ascend to that place in the Father where the Lord abides.

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 2:6)

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

It can be seen that our reborn spiritual nature already is dwelling in and with Christ in the very center of God's Person.

We already are with Him where He is.

However, the bulk of our personality, our body and soul, are wrestling with sin as we fight our way through the wilderness of the world. The task is to reconcile our body and soul with our reborn nature so our entire personality is abiding forever in the bosom of the Father.

It appears that when the believer dies his or her soul goes to the spirit Paradise. However, the reborn inner nature may still be as separate from the soul and body as it is today. The reborn inner nature is not in the spirit Paradise, it is in the throne of God. What will be required to bring our entire personality to the state where it is with Jesus where He is, remains to be seen.

To be continued.