KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES
"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE

Part 47

THE CHURCH IN THYRATIRA
(continued)

Thyatira is the fourth church, and in her we see the rise of the woman Jezebel. No such lady of that name is known except the wicked wife of Ahab, Israel’s worst king. In the church at Thyatira we find that the spirit of Jezebel was alive and at work in the midst of the Lord’s people! Some of the believers in the church at Thyatira were in the JEZEBEL CONDITION!

The reign of the house of Ahab is typical of the reign of the flesh through carnal men all through the history of Israel and the church. Jezebel is typical of that internal feminine quality of the soul which works in union with the flesh and men who walk after the flesh. Jezebel represents the aggressive, seductive, lustful desire that influences people in a religious sense apart from the mind of the spirit. This soulical Jezebel is the instigator of all religious and spiritual perversions! She is the source of all error and carnal religious activities! The Lord Jesus said of Jezebel in the church at Thyatira, “Which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants.” Jezebel is the carnal and soulish “spirit” or attitude that prophesies and teaches in the church systems of man and seduces many to “commit fornication” with the world and with other false prophets in the church systems! Paul Mueller once commented about Jezebel, saying, “The worst thing about this prophetic witch of evil is that she is married or joined to those who think they are appointed to rule and reign with Christ, as Jezebel was married to wicked Ahab.”

Jezebel calls herself a prophetess (one with the word of the Lord), Jezebel teaches, and Jezebel seduces God’s bondslaves to commit fornication and eat things offered unto idols. She seduces the bondslaves! Her attack is against the seed of Christ within, her assault is upon the sons of God! Remember, my beloved, the real things the overcomer must overcome are not the theater, the dance hall, and the bar — it’s these perverted, corrupted, fleshly, carnal, soulical, and pseudo-spiritual conditions found in the seven churches! To him that overcomes all these are the promises made!

THE JUDGMENT OF JEZEBEL

“Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts…” (Rev. 2:22-23).

The kind of God we have revealed in the holy scriptures is a God of both mercy and judgment — the two sides of love. He is not a nebulous nonentity of sentimentalism. He is a God of character! We thank God today that He is a God of compassion, love, and mercy — and there would not be one of us alive today to breathe His fresh air if it were not for His amazing love toward us. But there is a purpose in judgment, and it is always a purpose of love. There is a deep, clear purpose in everything God does. And His love for us, deep and tender, is the fire burning under that purpose. The character of God must be kept ever in mind. The leading trait of His character is expressed, not by the word “purity,” nor “righteousness,” nor “justice;” but by the word “love.” Though if we knew the real meaning of love we would find it includes these others, and more. The purpose in judgment is two-fold. It is a purpose toward sin, to get rid of it. And God’s attitude here is uncompromising! No exceptions are ever noted. And there is a purpose toward men. Now regarding the purpose toward men, it is disciplinary. The whole thought is to change the man! It is love working, love for the man. It is the same purpose as the surgeon’s. He thrusts his keen-edged blade, not to hurt or destroy life, but to save it! He is driving hard against the disease. The knife that cuts and hurts is held steady by the kindly purpose in his heart.

We must learn this fact early: our Father loves us just as much when He is subjecting us to surgery, as when He sends His blessings and gifts and brings us into the sunshine of His glory. Precious friend of mine, He loves us most when He is dealing severely with us, “for whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (Jn. 15:1-2). Ah, the Father reaches into your life and mine and prunes away that which is not fruitbearing — and it hurts! But, as some Puritan divine said years ago, “The husbandman is never so close to the branch as when he is trimming it.” The Father is never more close to you, my beloved, than when He is reaching in and taking out of your heart and life those things that hinder the development of HIS LIFE and the manifestation of HIS NATURE.

The Lord said of Jezebel, “I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not” (Rev. 2:21). Thank God! He gives us a space to repent! He sees into the depths of our being. He reveals what He sees to us. Like a parent correcting a child, He gives space to repent. He doesn’t just slap us around! If we will not heed His warnings, then come His feet of brass that burn as a furnace! Can we not see? Do we yet understand? He casts her into a bed of trouble rather than pleasure, He throws all who fornicate with her into great tribulation, He kills her children. This is the judgment which comes. This is the judgment which will redeem Zion! This is the judgment which washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion and the blood of Jerusalem! This is a revelation of the Lord which starts at the house of God (I Pet. 4:17) and then flows out from that house to all creation! The sons are the firstfruits — every other man must at God’s appointed time pass through the same dealings, the same revelation and purpose of the Father. When the process is completed God will be ALL IN ALL, everything to everybody, the indwelling and controlling factor of every life (I Cor. 15:28, Amplified).

You may remember the story of the man who was trying to get his mule into the barn. The man was tugging on the rope and pulling with all his might. He got behind the mule and pushed; he put his shoulder to its back but he could not budge the mule who just stood there, stiff-legged, and would not move. He could not get it into the barn! A fellow walked up and watched for quite a while. Finally, he said, “Mister, I’ll get your mule into the barn for you if you like.” The man stopped in astonishment and said, “Can you?” He said, “Of course, it is easy.” The stranger walked over and picked up a two-by-four, came over to the mule, quietly lifted the two-by-four, and whacked him on top of the head, right between the eyes. The mule went a little cross-eyed! Then he hit him behind the ears. Before the mule could quite straighten up again, he struck him underneath the chin. With that he took hold of the rope and with two fingers led the mule into the barn! The owner stood there astonished. The fellow came out again and said, “You see, mister, actually this mule is a very cooperative critter. You just got to get his attention!”

Sometimes God has to GET OUR ATTENTION. And to do that He chooses to use events which are instruments of His judgment. God told Moses that the reason for His judgment upon the Egyptians was to make them know that He is God. Everything God does shows us something about who He is, but in this instance of judgment God particularly expressed that His intent was to show Himself to the Egyptians. And He was successful in this, for in chapter eight of Exodus Moses records the Egyptians telling Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

Taken to the isle of Patmos, John was made to see a “great multitude” of saints which no man could number, from every nation, kindred, people, and tongue, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb. Each was clothed in a white robe and held a palm branch in his hand. The white robe speaks of purity; the palm branch denotes victory. Being made pure by the inwrought righteousness of Christ also brings victory over self! Asked by one of the elders, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, with palms in their hands, and whence have they come?” John answered, “Sir, you know.” And the elder said to him, “These are they which have come out of GREAT TRIBULATION; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Each of these white-robed saints had to experience great tribulation!

Can we not see by this that these are the very people, nominal Christians, who had been followers of Jezebel, the false prophetess, the soulish religious works and worship which were not born of the Spirit of God. And the false soulical ministry of the church systems, which led them to commit spiritual fornication and to eat spiritual food that was defiled by idols — by false images and conceptions of God. Were we not all there at one time? Some of us repented when the Lord corrected us, and we have continued to repent as the Lord has revealed the deception within our hearts. Others of us have been dealt with by the judgments of the Lord in our lives, and then we repented! To Jezebel and her followers the Lord said, “Behold I will cast her into a bed (of trouble), and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”

It is significant to note that the term “great tribulation” appears only twice in the book of Revelation, and in neither case does it apply to the nations or to the world! Both times it has to do with the Lord’s own people! The idea that the book of Revelation is about the “great tribulation” that has come, or is yet to come, upon the nations of earth is a myth, a fable, folklore, and a fairy tale! That is not what the Book says! The Lord Jesus said that He would cast the spiritual fornicators of the church age into great tribulation unless they repented. What do you suppose would be the purpose of the great tribulation? Why, bless your heart, it would be to influence and motivate them to repent! It would be God’s two-by-four hitting them over the head to get their attention!

Then John sees a great multitude that has come out of great tribulation. A wonderful transformation has taken place in them through the process of the great tribulation. They have now “washed their robes” and have “made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” They were already the Lord’s people! This is not sinners coming to wash their robes from the filth of sin and the world they walked in before they were saved. No! These are the very people the Lord had said He would cast into great tribulation except they repented! These were believers in the church of Thyatira! Through this great tribulation they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood (life) of the Lamb. They have washed their robes from the defilement of their own untransformed souls, and from the soulish defilement of religion and religious doctrines, activities, and systems! As a result of the Father’s chastisement by this great tribulation, God’s purpose is accomplished in their lives. Cleansed and purified by the Lamb, they are transformed and brought very near to His throne of love, grace, and power!

Let us understand clearly just who these white-robed saints of God are! They are the redeemed of God who have washed their robes from the defilement of the false doctrines, empty rituals, lifeless ceremonies, fleshly methods, soulish worship, and carnal programs of the church systems of man. White robes in the book of Revelation denote “the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:8). It is the righteousness of Christ with which they are clothed, resulting in righteous, truly spiritual acts manifested out of their lives upon this earth. All of them have endured the strippings, purgings, prunings, threshings, refinings, and purifying dealings of God and have been thoroughly chastened and corrected by the Father!

This great multitude is seen coming out of the great tribulation clothed in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness and waving palm branches of victory and praise to God! This great tribulation is not a seven-year tribulation here at the end of the church age. Not at all! It is the symbol of the Lord’s chastisements upon His people throughout the age, upon all whom He has set His hand to purge and purify unto Himself. Many of these saints were in the great movements and revivals throughout the age when the Lord moved mightily by His Spirit to bring a people out of the existing errors and carnal systems of man, into a closer and purer walk with Him in the Spirit. The Lord led them through the processings of His Spirit, which made them pure and righteous in God’s sight while they walked this earth in the midst of worldly sin and religious corruption.

These are the ones “coming out” of “the great tribulation” having their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb! How many are there? “A great multitude that no man could number.” It is the “great” tribulation because of the “great” multitude! No man can experience more than his own tribulation. This “great tribulation” has lasted throughout the two thousand years since Christ came and began to form His body in the earth. All through the age He has called out people after people, company after company, from the apostate church systems of their day, and now, praise His name, there is a great multitude that no man can number!

It should be obvious to every spiritual mind that the great multitude that no man can number is not the same company as the 144,000 sealed ones that can be numbered. Not that 144,000 is a literal number, but it is the number of divine government ascribed to a select called and chosen company who reign with Christ upon His throne. Both companies are described in the same chapter of the Revelation, chapter seven. But there is a difference! As the spirit of revelation and understanding floods our minds, we are left without question as to the meaning of all this. The difference can be seen in the position of the two companies. God’s kings and priests are always referred to in relation to the throne. Jesus said that to the overcomer it is granted to sit with Him in His throne, even as He overcame and is set down with His Father in His throne (Rev. 3:21; 21:7). Then in chapter twelve the manchild is caught up to God and to His throne and rules the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:5). Later, in chapter fourteen, the 144,000 stand with the Lamb (who is in the midst of the throne) upon mount Zion, again the figure of the throne, for king David ruled Israel from his throne on mount Zion (Rev. 14:1.

The “great multitude,” however, is not “on” the throne — it is “before” the throne of God and the Lamb! Neither do they “rule” or “reign” over anything, but they “serve” God day and night in His temple, and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They are a blessed company indeed! They are very near the throne, and dwell in the light of the throne, and in the presence of Him who sits upon the throne, and receive great and eternal and unspeakable blessings from the throne! They are the vast multitudes of the redeemed out of the age who have walked with God in a pure walk in the Spirit in the measure of light they had. And while they are a redeemed and sanctified and spiritual people, they are not the sons of God who reign with Christ upon His throne. They have not taken the spiritual steps that cause them to fully grow, mature, and progress all the way into God to become kings and priests. They have not attained unto the measure of the stature of the fullness Christ. Yet, they are the Lord’s own people, precious in His eyes! He who sits on the throne of the Lord — Christ and His many brethren — dwells among them; they live in the wonderful, rewarding, sustaining presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more; neither shall the sun (the illumination of the outer court) light on them, nor any heat (processing). For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water (life in the Spirit): and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:15-17).

No saint of God can escape the great tribulation! You will not be raptured out before it comes, for it is already here! It is not some horrible judgment of vindictive wrath and unrestrained vengeance poured out upon the nations, my friend; it is God’s own process of discipline and purification for ALL WHOM HE IS REDEEMING AND TRANSFORMING INTO HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS!

THE REINS AND HEARTS

By the work of this great tribulation and judgment Jezebel is destroyed! It is not the people involved who are destroyed, but the carnal soul in all its assertiveness and fleshly lewdness — the spirit of Jezebel within! How can we know this is a truly inward work, rather than the Lord dealing with people and movements in the outer world? We know this first by revelation of the Holy Spirit, but the truth we know is confirmed in these words: “And all the churches shall know that I am He which searches the reins and hearts” (Rev. 2:23). This refers to the inward life of our being — reins and hearts. That’s where the work is, and when it is finished all the churches will know that God has searched, judged, and cleansed His people in the inward parts!

“Reins” is an old English word derived from the Latin renes, meaning “kidneys.” “Renal failure” is the medical term today for kidney failure. Renal, of course, is the adjective form of the old English “reins” or the Latin renes. The kidneys are the organ which separates many of the toxins out of the blood to prevent the body from becoming poisoned. People who suffer kidney failure have to go on dialysis, a mechanical method of removing the toxins from the blood, which substitutes for the kidneys. The kidneys, in a spiritual sense, speak of that faculty which is able in our spiritual life to separate between flesh and spirit, between soul and spirit, between truth and error, between the precious and the vile. The kidneys are truly our faculty of DISCERNMENT! To lack spiritual discernment is to suffer spiritual kidney failure! Because the vile things of the soul, the flesh, and the spirit of error are not filtered out of our lives, our spiritual life becomes poisoned or polluted. The Lord, the Spirit, is the one who searches the reins and the hearts — He examines our discernment and the source of our life, to determine our true spiritual condition!

Our reins or spiritual kidneys give us the ability to discern and separate the good from the evil and the soulish from the spiritual. Jezebel and her followers were all suffering spiritual renal failure! They had no discernment by the spirit, so they were carried away by every wind of doctrine, soulish emotion, and carnal reasoning. Of all the virtues needed by God’s called and chosen elect in this significant hour, methinks that discernment is among the serious. There are many people in this hour who talk about being overcomers, manifest sons of God, kings and priests after the order of Melchizedek, deliverers of creation. and many other wonderful things, yet they themselves are unable to discern truth from error, the soulical from the spiritual, fleshly manifestations from divine operations of the Spirit of God, or kingdom-building preachers from a true son of God.

I am often appalled at the vast number of saints I find across the land who treasure the beautiful hope of sonship to God, while at the same time ignorantly devouring books published by occult publishing houses, authored by deceivers who deny the Lord who bought us, laced with pagan heresies of eastern philosophies, and many other weird beliefs out of the kingdom of darkness. There are many like that today who cannot discern truth from error! I care not how profuse your knowledge of the doctrines of sonship, reconciliation, and the kingdom of God; if you are lacking in keen spiritual discernment you are still disqualified from the high calling of manifest sonship. You suffer from renal failure and stand in need of a mighty healing! God provides no spiritual dialysis!

There is placed within every true son of God that inward sensitivity to spiritual realities. We are made conscious, by this spiritual sensitivity, to the spiritual atmosphere about us in our own walk with God, in those we meet, and any gatherings we may attend. Perhaps the most important function of our reins has to do with our personal contact with God in the spirit! In this we are made aware of the presence and life of God and convictions are given to us concerning His word, His will, and His ways. So little are we taught about this and so little do we understand, that often we disregard that “still small voice” within. It is soon quenched and the spirit is grieved, and this inner sensitivity is lost. If it is lost, we need to repent and earnestly seek the Lord that there may be a restoration of that which was lost!

By this inner function of the reins we are told of the spiritual quality of a ministry, of prophecy, preaching, teaching, testimony, prayer, and worship. By this same operation of the reins within one is made aware of the motives in ministry. Among the things that are sensed are love, truth, humility, righteousness, gentleness, sincerity, genuineness, and dependence on God. On the negative side we may sense pride, error, self-esteem, deceitfulness, impurity, envy, strife, carnality, or a kingdom-building spirit. This inner spiritual sense is DISCERNMENT! It is a “knowing” not derived from the physical senses, information, observation, soulical intuition, or suspicion. Some have called it “inner witness,” others have called it “inner light,” but it is a quickened ability in the powers of the new creation man which flows out of the mind of Christ enabling one to perceive the spiritual states and motives of men, teachings, manifestations, and spirits, though to the natural man this knowledge may be hidden.

I have found that even among good men there is a tendency to mistake one’s natural perception and soulical intuition and cognition for that of the spirit. What most people know as intuition, including psychic powers, are of the soul, not the spirit. How necessary it is to walk close to the Lord Jesus and take care that we do not confuse that which is soulish with the spiritual! By a careful guarding against critical, suspicious, and uncharitable attitudes, and a concern for God’s glory alone, we will be kept from error in this realm. Many people have a keen sense of natural perceptiveness and soulical intuition by which they detect conditions, but this is not discerning by the Holy Spirit! As a result they may think that which is natural is of God and be mistaken or deceived. Natural discernment fails when it comes to the great mysteries of the spiritual realm and activity. The natural or soulish man receiveth not the things of the spirit, for they are spiritually discerned!

More than forty years ago a preacher and his lovely wife appeared in a Convention we held in Florida. This man possessed a dynamic personality, oozing with charisma, was wonderfully articulate, and had a fantastic testimony. At the invitation of the brethren I was associated with at the time, he spoke to the Convention in one of the evening sessions. The audience sat spellbound and the whole atmosphere was charged with excitement as he related how God had poured out upon him a powerful and supernatural visitation of the Spirit while pastor of a Baptist church in the state of Michigan. Some strange and awesome things transpired in his ministry at that time and in that church. But many rejected the wonderful things that were happening, and even his own family did not understand the unusual manifestations of the Spirit in his life.

Misunderstanding, then opposition, and finally hostility arose, and the battle raged until finally his persecutors were successful in having him committed to the State Mental Hospital. On and on the story went, climaxing with his sensational escape from the asylum on a bicycle, and the dramatic dealings of God which propelled him into a vibrant kingdom ministry. The people were deeply moved and the ministers were ecstatic! But deep within my spirit, as I listened attentively that crisp January night, a bright red flag was hoisted by the Holy Spirit. I knew distinctively by that inner voice that something was wrong — seriously wrong. While he was yet speaking, amidst great rejoicing and praising God, I turned to Lorain and said, “I don’t believe a word that man has said!”

The brethren, however, received him with open arms and opened numerous doors for him across the land. They flew him and his companion to the mission station in Haiti. While there his wife received an astounding vision of the judgment soon to be visited upon America. Another group of brethren took him up and opened many doors for him in various states. He soared to higher and higher heights as the days swiftly passed. Then suddenly — six months later — the lid blew off! A precious prophet of God also discerned that something was amiss. He traveled to the town in Michigan where this man said that he had been the pastor of a Baptist church and began to do an investigation. What he found out was startling. He discovered that this preacher had, indeed, been pastor of a Baptist church there, but he was dismissed, not for any outpouring or unusual manifestations of the Spirit, but for gross immorality. Furthermore, it was true that he had spent time in a mental institution, but again not because of any spiritual experiences! He had a wife and several children back in that town whom he had abandoned, and the woman now traveling with him was not his wife at all — she was his mistress!

The brethren confronted him with the truth and he promptly confessed that his whole testimony was a fabrication, a lie, and his ministry a fraud. When asked why he did it, he replied, “God has raised me up in this hour to see how many of His people can be deceived!” And when the news reached me, the Spirit witnessed within me, “Amen!” Yet — how sobering this is! What an indictment! How terribly awesome! For out of the thousands of saints and ministries exposed to this fraud, only one prophet and myself (as far as I know) discerned him!

God is setting judgment in the midst of His elect today! We are not playing games. God is not playing games. Sonship and the revelation of the holy mysteries of God are not playthings for the entertainment of the immature. There are qualifications for every attainment in God, and the council is set. The Holy Ghost is closely examining candidates for the sonship ministry. The Lord Himself, the One with eyes as a flame of fire, and feet as burnished brass, walks in the midst of His called and chosen people searching the reins and the hearts! The qualifying time is now. Matters not how many great visions and deep revelations you have received, or how many wonderful acts of God you can perform. It is impossible for a person void of discernment to be a manifest son and rule and reign with Christ! There are no manifest sons with spiritual renal failure — you can count on it!

Sadly I confess that the land is filled today with those excitable souls who love the excitement of gifts, prophecies, visions, meetings, conventions, personalities, and new and deeper revelations without number, but have not an ounce of spiritual discernment. These gullible souls swallow every ridiculous absurdity peddled in the name of “deeper revelation.” Tell such starry-eyed super spirituals that not everything they see, read, or hear in the name of the kingdom message is the truth, or of God, and they gaze upon your ignorance with the sympathetic understanding generally reserved for a lunatic.

I shall never forget a “Kingdom Convention” I attended once. It was sad — a monstrous mixture of flesh and spirit, truth and error, of the precious and the vile. Assembled was a great host of people from all parts of the United States and other countries. Some of these people were very spiritual, others exceedingly fleshly. There were true prophets of God there with a word from the Lord, and others who were merely pretenders, prophesying vanities off the tops of their heads. There were profound truths of God ministered, while others consumed the valuable time rambling about in a multitude of meaningless absurdities. The pastor’s wife rose to receive the offering. Among other things, she declared that God had revealed to her that there were twelve persons present who were to give $10.00 each, and seven who were to give $20.00 each. These she instructed to bring their offering to the front where she would lay hands upon them and confer “the deacon’s blessing” on the twelve and “the apostle’s blessing” on the seven! For an hour it dragged on, pleading, coaxing, persuading, appealing, to get the amount she wanted.

Deeply grieved in my spirit I was prepared to rise, walk to the pulpit, and read the scripture, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20), after which I purposed to walk out of the Convention. At that instant the Holy Spirit thundered in my spirit, “No, you don’t!” I sat still. Back in the audience a prophetess arose, weeping, and began to prophesy the word of the Lord, saying, “Yea, my people, it is time that you learn the difference between that which is of God, and that which is of man. It is time that you know the difference between that which is of the flesh, and that which is of the spirit. It is time that you discern the difference between that which is truth, and that which is error.”

As the Spirit travailed through this dear sister, it came to me so powerfully; my eyes were opened to behold by the spirit the wonder and magnitude of what the mighty God was doing in that place that day. HE had assembled His people together from far and near. HE had drawn both the babes and the mature, the tares and the wheat, the men of God and the pretenders, the fleshly and the spiritual, the true and the false. HE had set them side by side, the sons and the bastards, drawing forth a manifestation from each. And by this judgment was set in the midst! How terrible! The Lord would then and there test, try, and prove His people, that it might be manifest who among them could discern between light and darkness, flesh and spirit, and truth and error. Every man was justified or disqualified through the judgment of the Lord! Those justified would press forward into deeper depths and higher heights of glory. Those disqualified went their pitiful ways to sink ever deeper into the bottomless pit of flesh, fruitlessness, delusion, and darkness.

Precious saint of God, have you been asking the Lord to give you discernment? The first step that you must take is to be able to discern yourself! God cannot trust you to discern others or the great powers of the spiritual world, until you can discern between your own soul and spirit. That which prepares you for all discernment, is to draw so near to God that you will see yourself in His light, and then everybody and everything from His viewpoint. You must dwell in His presence and smell His odors until you will instantly detect any strange odor that comes near your life. The story is told of a Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade. He went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentleman put a piece of the stone into the youth’s hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for weeks. The boy became frustrated — when would he be told about jade? But he was too polite to interrupt his venerable teacher. Then one day when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instantly, “That’s not jade!”

Ah, the Lord brings every son into such submission and intimacy with Him, that we discern the least uprising within ourselves, or any temptation thereto when it is afar off. God is teaching us to become so quiet as to our own self-effort and fleshly activities, that our life is like still waters; and any strange sound will alarm and arouse us to prayer and watching. He has drawn us apart from the false odors of the flesh, the strange scents of religious Babylon, and the stench of the spirit of the world, for none can learn discernment in the harlot’s house.
I well remember sitting on the platform of a large meeting many years ago. We were cooperating with this meeting in hope that through fellowship with these people we might be able to reach some of them with the word of reconciliation, sonship, and the kingdom. A well known minister from a large Charismatic church on the west coast was the guest speaker. After giving his testimony, he called those with needs to the platform for prayer. With great flourish he entered into his “word of knowledge” ministry by which he told various ones what their problems were. I had sensed, all through the ministry that night, something strange. Like a lightning bolt from the sky, the Spirit spoke from within myself, “This is not of me — this man is operating in a psychic gift, not by the mind of the Spirit of God!” “This isn’t jade!” Then followed this piercing inquiry, “What are YOU doing here?” At that moment I would have welcomed a trap door to open beneath me, permitting me to just quickly and silently disappear! At that rebuke from the Lord I learned a valuable lesson — we do not make people pure by mingling with their mixture!

KILL HER CHILDREN WITH DEATH

“And I will kill her children with death…” (Rev. 2:23).

The Lord searches the reins and the hearts, deep within the inner life. Yet, there is also an outward dealing for the Lord says, “I will kill her children with death.” The “children” of Jezebel, the offspring of the religious nature of the soul, are all those carnal religious thoughts, attitudes, ideas, concepts, doctrines, works, methods, activities, manifestations, movements, systems, and kingdoms which are born of the flesh. This is not a battle to kill people, or literal flesh! People go around saying that God is going to kill babies. Hogwash! These are symbols, types, and shadows of spiritual realities. God is going to kill the soulish children that are the offspring of the carnal mind of the soul. Every union bears fruit, and the fruit is the children.

It is of utmost importance that all of God’s elect see this great truth, because once we grasp it, we understand the severity of the Father’s dealings with the spirit and works of religion in our lives which are, one and all, the children of Jezebel. The power of the Christ comes with eyes blazing with fire, and feet burning as in an oven, to slay all the religious children in our lives! Oh, yes, He will kill each and every one of them, and He will reduce us to God. This is a spiritual battle that shall end the prophesying of the Jezebel-soul within ourselves, and will bring down the rule and dominion of the self-life. Just as Jezebel of old came to her ignoble end by being trampled to death by the horses of Jehu, so shall all the ways of carnality and soulishness be destroyed from the lives of all God’s called and chosen elect. So also the Four Horses of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1-8) shall trample under foot all the wiles of the Jezebel spirit within every son of God! As soon as these four horses have finished their work in us, we read, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls that were slain because of the word of God” (Rev. 6:9). These are souls that have been brought to death, all their carnal, soulish manifestations ceased. The spirit is now Lord! In this connection Paul Mueller wrote some time ago, “Our feminine souls are being crucified to be renewed and resurrected, then to be married to our masculine spirits, in preparation for our transformation.” Aren’t you glad!

I have a word from the Lord for Jezebel. “All your children shall be killed!” saith the Lord. They cannot live because there is no life in them. Anytime there is in our life, or in the church, the Jezebel spirit, and we do not allow the spirit to move and touch us, but we follow after other lovers that we esteem higher than the Lord Himself, everything we produce out of that attitude and union — dies. It comes to naught. “So whether you repent, or whether you don’t, Jezebel, I’m going to kill every one of your children! They cannot live! They will not live!” If you want to know how the Lord is going to kill your children, I’m going to tell you how He’s going to kill your children. “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones” (Ps. 137:8-9).

Everything that Babylon produces; everything that the soul, apart from the spirit, generates; all that the church systems by self-effort, carnal wisdom, and fleshly zeal bring forth; for all of this God has a man, a corporate man, a new creation man, a man in the image of God, a man in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, full of faith and the Holy Ghost who shall smash the images of Baal and dash the children of Jezebel, and establish the order of the kingdom of the Lord in the midst of God’s people in the earth. This heavenly man refuses to accept anything less than the life and power and wisdom and glory of the Son of God. “And all the churches shall know that I am He that searches the reins and the hearts.” That is the scope of the ministry of GOD’S MAN in this wonderful day of the Lord! Aren’t you glad!

Jehu, by the word and anointing of God, took care of Jezebel without even touching her. It happened by the word of his mouth, by the spirit and authority of a spoken word. With the words of his mouth he looked up on the wall, and there were some brethren standing around, and he said, “Here’s what I want you to do. GRAB HER AND THROW HER DOWN!” A word of authority is coming in the mouth of God’s sons today, and they are commanding concerning Jezebel, “Throw her off the city wall!” This has already happened within all who are entering into this new kingdom Day, for Jezebel has already been cast off the wall of our personal city. But I tell you something else. The most dangerous place you can be in this new Day of the Lord is in the church system. “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord who judgeth her” (Rev. 18:4-8).

It’s a dangerous day to be involved in organized religion! I’m not trying to be rude, crude, or vindictive in any way, but there are a lot of things going on right now in the midst of God’s people that are highly esteemed and getting the attention of the whole world, but it’s just Jezebel raised up upon the city wall. It’s almost a circus atmosphere in the Charismatic and Pentecostal scene, drawing the crowds, catering to soulish excitement, with all kinds of theatrics and showmanship, as men look at the lying signs and wonders going on about them, but pay no attention to the deep and eternal work of God to be wrought within. It’s time for Jezebel to be thrown off the wall! I’d like to grab her right now! But God has a time and a way, and it’s not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord!

Once Jezebel was thrown from the wall and trampled by the horses, the dogs came and ate her flesh and licked up her blood. The dogs love Jezebel. She’s dog food! There are a lot of dog ministries around, trying to lick her blood and eat her flesh — to receive an impartation of the death that is in her. That’s alright, let them eat her, let them devour her — she’s still dead in your life! God has thrown her down from her high place in the lives of all God’s elect. Jezebel can no longer have any influence over those called unto sonship. She can no longer control, she can no longer manipulate, she can no longer deceive, she can no longer seduce the called out of the Lord!

To be continued…

J. PRESTON EBY