|
| |||||
|
|
|
| ||
THE END TIME GATHERING
One early morning I was worshipping the Lord. As I continued to sing and play my guitar I had a vision of the Lord standing before me. He was beautifully radiant and He stood there with His hands extended outward at His sides. He was wearing a beautiful white robe and His face was shining in its strength. I understood that He was gathering His people as a father gathers his children unto Himself. He was gathering us as little children unto Himself. As we were looking at His radiant face our faces were radiating the same light of His face. I began to weep as the Lord spoke to my heart saying, “what a beautiful gathering this is.” Then the Lord began to give me more understanding in regards to gathering of His people unto Himself which is an end time movement. It is the Spirit of the Lord that will bring us together. The body of Christ will truly be a family who is united into the Heavenly Triune Circle of Fellowship; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Mathew 12:30
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
The scriptures are very clear on how the children of Israel were scattered abroad the face of the earth because they did not, “know the day of their visitation.” Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and declared one of the deepest longings of His heart; which was and has been to gather His people unto Himself. The Lord declared with great tears of intercession of heart that Israel would suffer such desolation because they would not gather under His Lordship.
Mathew 23:37-39 Luke 13:34, 35
Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks underneath her wings, but you were not willing. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The staunch pride of Israel religion was not permitting them to enter into the inheritance that was laid up for them as a family in Christ. This does not imply that God has totally forsaken Israel. God’s faithfulness will fulfill the promises He made to Moses, David, Abraham and many others. Yet it is a sobering truth that Israel has come under great onslaughts by her enemies and for a season because she has not turned to her promised Messiah; Jesus Christ. It is also noteworthy that God has and will always preserve a remnant people to fulfill His will here on earth even within Israel’s hardening. Interestingly enough history has proven to us that religious traditions may give us a sense of false security yet they reveal the hardening of the heart. The Lord lamented seeing His people captive to the stronghold of familiar religion. This is one demon He could not cast out without the peoples willingness to return to Him with a humbled heart.
The tears of our Lords lamenting heart was a sound of intercession as He was able to see down the corridors of time up until our present church age. God is still calling His people to be gathered unto Himself, not a religion, not a name, not a ministry, etc, but unto Himself. He is the Chief Shepherd; the Chief Cornerstone rejected by its builders.
The vision I mentioned earlier was in itself such a beautiful and yet graceful act to behold that I wept out loud as my heart was being rent from the pure devotion and Grace the Lord exemplified. He is gathering us up into the most beautiful gathering we have ever witnessed. I had a sense that He was gathering us up into His bosom with overwhelming Grace and defined purpose. Truly God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the very center and substance of the Eternal Family as in Heaven. This triune glorious family has been and always will be the very center and nucleus of all we hope to ever become. This is also a part of what Adam and Eve had encountered to some degree and lost in the Garden in Eden; the consciousness of God and family as in Heaven. Unfortunately and for the most part the church life here in America has become a prototype of our western mentality. Corporate America has greatly influenced the church to become a corporate identity that has lost its family roots as birthed in Eden. We are inundated with programs, affiliations and self help ideas that are not in step with the Spirits family as in Heaven. Jesus was and is the greatest example of what a brother is. He walked and lived with the disciples in such close proximity that everything He had was shared with His friends. The Lord laid down His life for us and shared everything He is and all He possessed with us and this through His suffering such a cruel death.
John 10:14-17
I am the good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down m life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is because I lay down my life only to take it up again.
It is true that some churches are experiencing a measure of fellowship. Yet the fellowship the Lord wants to bring to us is His expressions through His body in our midst. A body of believers that are willing to lay down their lives for one another is what the Lord is building. The book of Acts is very clear in regards to the church life the Holy Spirit was bringing about in the hearts of believers everywhere. This in itself is a glimpse of the apostolic church as an act of restoration to the heavenly family that was lost in the Garden in Eden. This is an Act of the Holy Spirit in our midst in which He requires our willingness to, “lay down our lives for one another.”
Acts 4:32-37
All believers were of one heart and one mind (only the Lord can do this). No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all (boy do we need Grace!). There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostle’s feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Joseph, a Levite fro Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (Son of encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet.
Some in modern America may find offense to this lifestyle, others may excuse it altogether. The spiritual reality that we’ve all been called to is that we are to, “make treasures in heaven,” thereby living for eternity is not a Sunday sermon or even a hopeful idea. This will truly be one of the many marks of a last days body of believers whose hearts have been so pierced by their eternal reward and heavenly treasure that they cannot turn a blind eye to the needs of their brothers or sisters. I’m sure that those who are pursuers of the Christian American dream will try to divorce away this truth. The reality is if we are truly living for Christ as a result we are truly living for others and we are our brother’s keeper. The sobering truth of the times we are living in will prove to show how the economies of this world are getting ready to be rocked unlike we have ever seen before. The wealthy who have heaped up treasures in their barns for themselves will be sorely taken unawares when the shaking begins. The Lord is not impressed by Christian millionaires and their desire to declare themselves, “the head and not the tail,” and this by virtue of their own, “faith.” True faith that is tried tested and purified (boy do we need our faith purified!) is a faith that works by love. The highest form of love is sacrificial and selfless. Unless our faith leads us to Christ who calls us to live as though dying then we are still in great part babes who can only think about ourselves. We need a rude awakening to behold the Lord gathering in His sheaves.
The Lords end time gathering is closely associated to the harvest as mentioned in scripture. It is interesting to note that I’ve been walking with the Lord a little over twenty years now. Yet this vision I had of being gathered unto the Lord depicted me and a group of people as children standing before the Lords brilliance. This may indicate that this gathering is in its very infantile stages (at least for us). Jesus put it this way.
Luke 10:21
And Jesus being filled with exceeding great joy in the Holy Spirit said, “I praise you Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned (those who are wise in their own eyes), and revealed them unto your children. Yes, Father this is your good pleasure.
In the near past many have tried to spring up gatherings that have had a form of godliness (teachings of men) but in some ways deny the power of Christ’s coming kingdom. Some have resorted to teaching, teaching and more teaching without the expressions of Gods powerful Holy Spirit moving. This is about to change dramatically. The Lord expressed to me that in the coming seasons the work He will do in our midst will not be counterfeited by the world or its vain empty religions. He is going to pour out the former and latter rain together; He has truly saved the best wine for last. As the Lord told me, “what you see Benny Hinn doing now will seem like child’s play.” This is not to demean this man of God in anyway. We give honor where honor is due.
Mathew has another aspect of the Lords gathering us up together which points to an end time move of God. The following scripture depicts two gatherings; one unto eternal judgment of burning and the other unto the Barn of the Lord.
Mathew 13:24-30
…The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man who sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. When the blade had sprung up, and brought forth fruit, the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the house came and said unto the Master, “Sir, you sowed good seed in your field, where did these tares come from?” He responded unto them, “My enemy has done this.” The servants said, “let us go so that we might gather up the tares.” The Master responded, “No, lest while you are gathering up the tares you might root up the wheat with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest time has come, then I will send the reapers to gather together up the tares (stumbling blocks, goats) and bind them up in bundles and burn them: but gather up also my wheat into my barn (flock of the Lord). Also see Mathew 25:31-46
Mathew 15:13, 14
Jesus replied, “Every plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be plucked up and cast into the fire.”
One important point to see in this passage is that we are not to divide the tares from the wheat or to uproot the plants ourselves. This is the process of angelic beings that are being sent with a mandate by our Father to separate the precious from the vile, the ignoble from the noble, and the sheep from the goats. This is the harvest. Our focus should be that we are giving ourselves to Jesus heart, soul, mind and body and His eternal reward should be our highest priority. There are literally thousands who are lord-ing their positions of title and authority over certain areas of the body of Christ of which has not been given unto them by our Father. This is soon about to change! Ours is to warn those who have presumed upon the Lord Himself and declare what John the Baptist shouted, “Make straight the way of the Lord!” The Lord our God has a heavenly pattern that He is building; that is Christ, His Son and the Holy Spirit will honor the eternal pattern of Christ as seen in eternity past. The word declares no flesh shall glory in His presence and God will not receive the glory of men. It all must be the Glory of Christ even as the Holy Spirit is building. Many have chosen to assume mandates, names, mantles of authority, titles and positions that have not been delegated to them by the Holy Spirit. This is an affront to God the Holy Spirit in our midst and to Christ who died on the Cross to give us this heavenly divine pattern. This is about to change dramatically. The Lord our God is a jealous God over the works of His hands; His Bride. He will not share His glory with another!
Having said all that God is a merciful Lord and if we humble ourselves under His mighty hand (Jesus the right arm of the Lord) then we will be restored to His Spirit working in us and through us even as Christ is formed in us. Satan’s presumption in desiring a prominent place of authority next to God’s throne in heaven is the very thing that got him cast out from Gods Glory. The wicked one is still working his old serpentine schemes through the known church world. I’ll soon be publishing on this website, “The train of His Robe Filled the Temple.” This part will explain in greater detail the heavenly pattern regarding the callings, mandates, and places of authority reserved for those who are willing to, “make straight the way of the Lord.” It is still true to this day even as Jesus said, “let him who desires to be the greatest among you become a servant of all.”
This is what Isaiah beheld as declared in chapte 6, when He saw, "the Lord lifted up and the train of His robe filled the temple." Notice how the word declares this in a past tense, "filled," as being already done. Here is wisdom for those who are called to build what the Holy Spirit is going to honor in these last days. Ephesians 4:7 is tied together with what Isaiah saw. When the train of His robe filled the temple Isaiah was beholding you and and I and all the glorifed saints who make up the train of His robe as in eternity future filling "the house of my Father." Christ said in one of the gospels, "it is necessary that my fathers house be filled, go into the highways and the byways and bring them in." This is also what Ephesians 4:7 declares...
Ephesians 4:7
"To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, "When He ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts unto men."
Do you see that grace has already been apportioned unto each believer as being positioned in Christ? One of Pauls goal was to present every man complete in Christ. Our place is to live a life of such gratitude and thankfulness for the grace we've already been given which leads us to a greater grace which is now being released, so that we might grow up into Christ who is the head over every principality, power and dominion. It is also interesting to note that we are captives of Christ (slaves of righteousness). Our captivity in Him is unto freedom and not bondage for as Paul said, "I am constrained by the Love of Christ." We are captives of the Love of God; who is Christ. Now the other part of this scriptures declares, "in his train." Paul declared in a certain place, "that we might be found in Him." We have been engrafted unto and into the robe of His Righteousness. We have become His glory and He has become our glory. The working out of this salvation in Christ is by, "Grace through Faith and not of ourselves but it is a gift of God that no man should boast." When we begin to understand in our spiritual heart and mind that, "we brought nothing into this world and therefore can take nothing out," we will see what a great salvation God in Christ has wrought and how we've been called into being by God and then called to become partakers of His eternal gift whom is His Son Jesus Christ. For in Him and in Him alone dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It is in Christ that every good and perfect gift comes from above from the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. He has dispersed His gifts among the poor of the which I am the poorest and neediest of men and most wretched of sinners.
Seer, Rick Aramis Almodovar