TRANSITION is the state of change from one condition to another. Frankly, the whole Body of Christ is in a state of transition, however, we are not all in, or at, the same place. Perhaps this can be likened to someone marching in the army. The cadence count is “Left, Right, Left, Right” and so on. Until the left foot moves forward, the right remains in its place and so on forth.
We have all seen a parade or one kind or another. Most parades have several marching bands, and those who follow behind each band, are “marching to the beat of a different drummer.”Yet, ALL are moving forward to the end destination. This can be likened to God’s ongoing processing of the various members of the Body of Christ. We may be hearing a word that is a bit different from what the next member is hearing, but it is what we need in the place we are at.
There is a process of transition that continues onward toward the ultimate high calling [upper calling] in Christ. Some may feel that to be in the “sonship company” is the highest goal. Being “in” and functioning in fullness, are hardly the same thing. The truth is we can be very comfortable at the oasis stops along the way, and like the three disciples who were on the Mount with Jesus we tend to want to build a temple or two to celebrate our achievement, our special revelations. Then the trumpet sounds and the call comes - “March Forward! ”
Through the years of ministry, I have spoken about Jeremiah 48:11-12 in the sense of personal development. However, now I would like to use it as a picture of what God is continually doing, not just in the personal sense, but in the “corporate” sense. During the few years that we were blessed to be joined to “The Move” [North Battleford Sask.], we learned a chorus that began like this, “God is moving us on, He is leading the way, It’s a way we have never gone before.” Unless we move onward, we stagnate and we have the stink of death upon us, both personally and corporately.
Jeremiah addresses ancient Moab, but I will substitute the word “church” in its place, and use “She” rather than “he.” By doing this, it will mean wherever God has placed you in “God’s called out people,” it is not the end but a part of the process of transition.
“The Church has been at ease since Her youth; She has also been undisturbed, {like wine} on its dregs, and She has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore She retains Her flavour, and Her aroma has not changed. Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to Her those who tip {vessels} and they will tip Her over, and they will empty Her vessels and shatter Her jars.
This can be likened to the progression, or failure to advance, of the church from it’s earlier immature state, as it is urged by the Spirit to move forward. It is a fact of history that it is very easy to settle for less that what we should. Perhaps we are happy where God has brought us to, or, the cost of moving forward is more than what we are prepared to pay. “Zion is at rest,” but not the rest of God. We have been blest. We have received truth. It is attacked by those thought to be spiritual leaders. We must defend it at all costs, for what it not given of the Lord? Soon we build a monument to it and camp around it as we look down our spiritual noises at those who have not receive our revelation. And, we die spiritually with our blessings and revelation, as the River of God’s Spirit moves onward.
Jeremiah 48:11-12 describes the ancient method of making wine. Each time the wine is poured from one vessel to the next the sediment sink to the bottom. This process of pouring from vessel to vessel continues until it results in a wine that is clear of all impurities. Spiritually it has become as the “river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
The process of being poured from vessel to vessel is ordered of the Lord. It matters not how much we believe that we, or our special group, doesn’t need it. Hey, we believe, “Christ in you,” isn’t that enough? It this not the zenith of spiritual attainment? Yes, in part. Now it becomes the inward working of the indwelling Anointed One that is produces the change until we are fully conformed to His glorious image. Those who resist this processing, having arrived at some point along the way, will be subjected to the “tipping over” as described in Verse Twelve.
God has set in the church the ministry gifts of Christ for a purpose as Ephesians 4:10-16 tells us. For some this is brand-new revelation, and for some, it is time to move on beyond this. In any case, these are “functions” and not “positions.” The goal of these ministry gifts is given in Verse Ten, which gives the ultimate goal, “so that He might fill all things.” That is, “might fill to the full,” of Himself. Then, “the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” 1 Cor. 15:28.
The functional purpose of the ministry gifts (Verse 12), is to built the saints up spiritually for the work of service/the ministry. This service/ministry has the goal of bringing us past our spiritual childhood until we function as life giving members of Christ. We “minister His life,” as His ambassadors so that “He might fill all things,” and our Father will be “all in all.” Then, like the scaffolding around a building under construction, is removed, the purpose of these ministries will have been fulfilled.
Part of Revelation 3:8 reads, “Behold I have put before you an open door which no man can shut.” There is a sovereignty to the moving of the Spirit in revivals or restoration that has nothing to do with the religious works of man to produce them. The Spirit does not move based upon how long we have prayed, or how long we have fasted, otherwise it would be based upon man’s works, and I have heard my share of braggarts. Without a doubt there has been some times when some saints have been moved by the Spirit to do such things, but it has been Spirit led, not man led.
The process of being “changed from glory to glory,” continues as we behold HIM who is the Lord of Glory. For many years I have looked past the root Greek word ‘doxos” that is translated “glory,” as it seemed unrelated to me. Let me share what I read in a study by Norene Nichols.
The word GLORY in the Greek is DOXOS #1391, and it comes from the word DOKEO #1380 which means to THINK. As you are being led to glory, it literally means you are being led to true thinking where the mind is fully taken over by the mind of the Most High. Then and only then will you be able to righteously rule and reign. Rulership depends upon a mind that is fully renewed and controlled by the Spirit, a mind that has become the mind of the infinite One.
We are so used to thinking with our natural minds, that we attribute all thinking to the natural realm. There is a higher way as 1 Corinthians 2:16 reminds us. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” The Williams NT puts it. “For who has ever known the Lord’s thought, so that he can instruct Him? But we now possess Christ’s thoughts.” Moffatt says: “Well, our thoughts are Christ’s thoughts.”
There is an ongoing TRANSITION that is moving us from that which we read in what is called “holy writ,” to the place where it is becomes “holy reality.” His glorious reality The SONS are moving forward from our place of “relationship” to the place of “rulership.”
Can you hear the Spirit’s voice? “Arise my people, and come up into the place that I have called you. This is not the time now to linger and long for the days of the past. Behold I shall do that which shall be called “a new thing,” for surely I have a way prepared that will bring forth glory, My glory, in My sons and daughters whom I have called to a place of relationship, of maturity and of rulership. For you have gone through the fires, and gone through pressure upon pressure, and I have been forming that which is of Me within you. Zion awake! Awake my chosen ones, for the Lord your God is mighty! The Lord your God shall do wondrous things, even all that has been declared.”
Revelation 5:9-14 “And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood {men} from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them {to be} a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, {be} blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen! And the elders fell down and worshipped.”