SEALED
#270-0104
scottSTANLEY
(All bracketed [ ] words inserted into the following scriptures are the author’s paraphrase.)
Concepts concerning those upon whom the end of the world is come ...
Ephesians 4:4-6
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Revelation 7:2
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: ...
Revelation 14:1
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
May we know who we are and walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called.
TESTIMONY
I want to begin this study by giving a personal testimony concerning where my mind has been since the last video was made. I think we had our last camp meeting in October, 2003, and it was right around that time, I think right before that camp meeting, I finished a study called Of Finished Proportions, Part Two, The Ram of God. I felt like in that study, I had reached a plateau of understanding – I had actually accomplished a goal in my life. That goal was to understand the mechanics of how to reach a completed perfection. That is something I have seen for years, that God’s church could reach a completed perfection, and I’m not saying that I have reached it, but I did see the mechanics of how to get there. The Lord had taken me through the understanding of those seven churches, from "Ephesus" to "Laodicea," knowing that when you come to "Thyatira" – that mindset of understanding – this is when the Lord gives you the Godhead message. To "Sardis," He gives the abiding truth. You then enter into that "Philadelphia" mindset where the Lord says, "I’m opening the door of heaven for you," and information just began to pile in after 1995, when we entered this abiding understanding of letting the Lord lead us through the conscience – and then "Laodicea," where the Lord reveals the sin nature.
I felt like, at that time, that understanding the sin nature was huge; that I realized the Lord had given us something that not a single denomination understands, and we have continued to build on that, until the Lord revealed Mount Zion – how the 144,000 stand on top of the mountain, and He asks the question in Psalms 24 after stating that the world’s foundation is the sea, and He is the one who put them on it, then who shall ascend out of it? You see, if you were to go back and listen to all of these studies, tape after tape after tape, you would see a progression of truth that, if understood, and if applied, is enough to help you reach a completed perfection. I feel like my goal is complete. You see, anytime the Lord would reveal truth to me, I would have to tell people, I would have to express it. I’ve always had a burden that, if I’m a Christian, and you’re a Christian, let’s sit down and discuss what the Lord is giving us – show me from the scripture what you’re talking about, I’ll show you what I’m talking about and then let’s go forward together. But you need to be able to base it on something. If you’re having an experience, show me, because this book we call the Bible is a book of experience and it should be in here – and I’ll share with you what the Lord has given me. I have always wanted to express and find people willing to sit down and discuss it, to not be afraid to challenge what I’m thinking and to not be afraid to say that they are wrong when the Lord begins to reveal to us His truth as it is in Jesus Christ. So my goal had been accomplished in expressing the mechanics of reaching a completed perfection.
When you go back and listen to all of the studies, the information is there so, for me personally, after this last camp meeting in October, I had no motive to make another tape. It was there – the information was out there. And in fact, when I would come down to my office and I could read the Bible, and the Lord – I could sense His presence – but there wasn’t that revelation of truth that had just been pouring in, that I had experienced previously. I knew the Lord was there; I knew that He was leading, but there wasn’t that expression... that rush of water that I had been experiencing. Everything just seemed to be quiet, until a few days ago. A few days ago, the Lord laid it on my heart to come down to my office and pray, and I want you to know something about me – I don’t pray except the Lord move me to do it. I don’t take that time to pray except I know He’s telling me to pray, and I know He was telling me to pray. In prayer the Lord began to reveal to me Ephesians 4:13. This has been one of my favorite verses, because it states the church will reach the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ and, in prayer the Lord began to reveal to me that as Paul wrote Ephesians, the understanding the man possessed concerning God’s love, concerning salvation and what took place at Calvary – the apostle Paul had a handle on that. He had an understanding of that, and he knew the church would reach that place of the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Now, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I want to tell you something concerning these things Paul wrote – in fact, I believe, concerning the whole book. Looking at Ephesians 4, I want you to read with me something that Paul states here – Ephesians 4, verse 4, this is what he writes to Ephesus:
Ephesians 4:4-6
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye [you] are called in one hope of
your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism [or immersion]
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Stop right there – what this man has just stated is huge, it’s major doctrinal statements! Now you’ve got to understand, when he wrote this letter, there was no explanation of what he meant when he says: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. There’s no explanation of it, because Paul had been to Ephesus and had given them the message, the truth of the gospel. You see, the truth of the gospel is not something you and I heard when we began our walk with Christ – we were given a distortion concerning God. Not so with the apostle Paul and the people he would lead to Christ. Two thousand years ago, if Paul led you to Christ, he would have told you there’s one God, the Father; He birthed a Son in eternity past who created all things. He would have told you why Christ died – he wouldn’t have said that Christ died so that He could "pay your penalty." He wouldn’t have said Christ died so "God could forgive you – God demanded a human sacrifice so He could forgive." Paul wouldn’t have told you those things.
Had Paul led us to the Lord, we would have had that understanding from the beginning – the true understanding from the beginning – and what he was writing to Ephesus, he was just reiterating what he’d told them when he was there: There’s one Lord, one faith, one immersion; there’s one God and Father of all. Now think about that – see, when I read the book of Ephesians, I’m reading something that’s written to the last generation church. He didn’t write that to the Church of Christ or the Baptists; he didn’t write that to Pentecostals or Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses... He didn’t write that to people who don’t understand one God. He wrote this to people who understood that there’s one God, the Father; He brought forth a Son. You see, all of my life, as I’ve read this book, there were things in it that didn’t make sense because my understanding was lacking. But as I’ve grown in understanding, I can come back and this makes perfect sense. Now this concept of who he was writing to is key. In a few minutes, I’m going to come back to that concept, and show you something that, for me, was just overwhelming to recognize where that leads and what it means.
IMMERSION
Let’s go back, looking at Ephesians where he says there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, or one immersion and let’s key on this word "immersion." Let me show you in Romans 6 – now reading this in the mindset of present truth – in Romans 6, verse 1:
Romans 6:1-3
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that [God’s] grace may
abound?
2 God forbid [or may it never be]. How shall we, that are dead to sin,
live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized [are immersed] into Jesus
Christ were baptized [are immersed] into his death?
Stop. We weren’t immersed into the death of Christ until just a year, or a few years ago. To be immersed into His death doesn’t mean that you’re told Jesus died for your sins and you say, "Amen, I believe it." If you’re going to be immersed into His death, that means you’re told why He died and that understanding of God’s love penetrates the lie – gets rid of the lie! Remember years ago when we looked at this word "believe" and we took it back to the Old Testament, and saw in Numbers 11 how it was translated "nursing father" and it means to be nourished? Well, what if we were to apply that to John 3:16?
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him [that whosoever is nourished by that] should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Don’t you love that? To be nourished by the Son of God – you see, I wasn’t nourished to the point of allowing the truth to remove the lie until I saw the truth of Calvary, and then the Lord showed me my sin nature. Understanding what my sin nature was, of what had happened to me in the womb, and knowing I could hear God, allowed God to speak His love to me and, when that happened to me, I ascended out of that lie into a heavenly understanding of God’s love, and I now have a new foundation. You see, in Paul’s day, that is where he would lead you from the beginning – that is what he’s talking about. Now notice, let’s read this in this mindset of present truth – now listen to what he says – let’s read verse 2 again:
Romans 6:2-4
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein [in
it]?
3 Know ye not, that so many [as many] of us as were baptized [are immersed] into
Jesus Christ were baptized [are immersed] into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism [immersion] into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead [or out of the dead] by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [should be in newness of life].
Now think about the glory of the Father – "glory" is character – and you see, it is the character of God that raises you from the dead. You see, when you understand the nature of God, His love for you, the character of God, the spirit of God – when that is grasped – you are raised from the death of having no value to God.
Romans 6:5-7
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall
[we’ll] be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man [or our old nature, or that lie that
we lived] is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed
[rendered inactive], that [from] henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed [or made righteous] from sin.
Do you see what Paul is saying? As soon as Calvary is understood, you’re old man, or that lie, dies. Therefore, to literally go through that baptism where you go get in the water and somebody ducks you under, that is what you would be saying. You see, you would be making the statement to the world, a public statement: "I know God’s love and when I go down into this grave, that is that lie. When I come up out of the grave, I now know God’s love. I have an understanding of my heavenly Father I have never possessed before. I know God loves me." That is what that means, to be "immersed into the death of Christ." That is why Paul would make the statement, "Your old man is dead." And see, you come up out of that water having a new understanding, having a new "spirit" – a new foundation that your life is now going to be built upon – this new foundation of God’s love.
BABYLON IS FALLEN
Now, my point: Again, when Paul wrote the book, his letters, he was writing to people who knew those truths. When he talks about the truth of the gospel – when he talks about one Lord, one faith, one immersion, one God and Father of all – that’s who he’s talking about. That’s who he’s talking to – people who know those truths, and that is what the Lord began to reveal to me in prayer that day. That concept drove me back to this book in a new and living way. I realized that I need to read this book in the mindset of present truth. I need to understand, have all of these concepts rolled up, wrapped up in my mind, and come back to these letters. This is where he makes the statement, now let’s read it – Ephesians 4:13 – you see, Paul makes all of these doctrinal statements, and then he says that God has given to us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers... God has given us, put men in our lives that He has revealed truth to, who will pass that to us, and as that truth is being given you, the Lord will confirm in your heart that these things be so – and you can move out in this new mindset, the new spirit He is giving us. You see, after the apostles died, all of these truths were lost, and the Lord allowed Catholicism to encompass the world. That was Christianity – the universal church, and for centuries God’s people have been coming out of Catholicism, until you come to the last day church, reforming out of it. Paul says, Ephesians 4:13:
Ephesians 4:13
13 Till we all come [Or till we all arrive] in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [complete] man [How complete?], unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
God’s whole body will have the understanding Christ possessed concerning God. If you’re going to be in "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," you have to think like Christ. Now notice what he says:
Ephesians 4:14
14 That we henceforth [from now on] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
What has he just said? That God’s church, coming in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, will not be blown around with every wind of doctrine. Their understanding will be square and straight, hence, you could say "Babylon is fallen." See, you’ve reached that place where Babylon falls – again, your emotional mess-up is based on a lie about God. The information given us about God is doctrinal, therefore you have to be healed doctrinally before God can heal you emotionally, and "Babylon" – the city of Babylon – represents that confusion about God. So he makes the statement, insinuating that Babylon is fallen, you see. This is written to the last day church, because we are now, we have reformed out of Catholicism to the point that we can come and read Ephesians and know exactly what he’s talking about, as he begins this chapter. The doctrinal statements he makes – without any explanation – he makes doctrinal statements, and then moves on into this truth.
INTEGRITY
Now verse 17:
Ephesians 4:17-18
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord [You see, if all of these things be true that he has stated above], that ye [you] henceforth [from now on] walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, [If you understand these truths, then what he’s getting ready to say here applies to you, and can only apply to you.]
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated [which alienates them] from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart [that ignorance is there because of the hardness of their heart]:
Let’s put that together: If you understand these truths – if you’re living in this place, waiting to reach the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, if that’s where you are – then Paul is giving you the warning not to walk like the Gentiles walk. Now listen again, because what this sentence applies to in our lives doesn’t concern doctrine, it concerns the straightening out of the crooked places in our heart. Now listen: Having their understanding darkened, that alienates them from the life of God because of the ignorance that’s in them, because of the blindness of their heart. You see, to be alienated from God’s life – that happens because of our ignorance. Why are we ignorant? He says, well, because of the hardness of your heart, you’re not open enough to hear it. Now true, if I were to go look at the Gentiles, the nations, and realize they have an ignorance concerning God, it’s true – it’s doctrinal – they’re not willing to look at doctrinal truth. But not so with you – His warning is to you. If you’ve overcome the doctrinal thing, the doctrinal lies, the truth now needs to be applied to your heart to show you who you really are, and you can be alienated from the life of God because of your ignorance concerning your own heart.
Listen, that ignorance is there because of the hardness of your heart and here’s what he says, next verse – verse 19. King James has put "who being past feeling" – if you look it up, it’s "who has cast off all grief." They cast off the grief or the pain of doing what they need to do, understanding what they need to understand:
Ephesians 4:19
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto [giving themselves
over to their...] lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
In other words, when the Lord wants to reveal a truth to you concerning yourself, you don’t want to go through the grief of doing what you need to do, and you give yourself over to the sin. Let me tell you, there is such a thing as "integrity" – living up to the light that you have. When you look up this word "integrity," it means wholeness. You see, to walk in your integrity, you’re living up to what you understand. If you know that God hates certain things, you want to turn from those things, even though it may be in your heart to do them. You turn from those things until the Lord gives you the information that will set you free from them. You don’t just simply live in sin with the attitude: Well, I’m going to wait until God takes it away – but if you know the Lord would not have you do it, then you walk in your integrity.
There is a reason why Christ sweat blood in the garden. Paul says in Hebrews: He was resisting unto sin – He resisted sin unto blood. There should be that desire in our hearts to resist the temptation. You resist that temptation, living, walking in your integrity, but remember who he’s talking to – people who have a new foundational understanding of God’s love, and they are now in a place that that vacuum can be filled, and these problems can be dealt with. That’s you, if you understand those truths, if you’re now walking in God’s love, if He has said to you, "Ascend up here with Me; ascend up in your understanding," and you now have a new mindset concerning God’s love – you’re in a position to be healed. But you walk in your integrity until you’re healed, and when you sense that temptation, and so on, you seek the Lord to help rid you of it. How does He do it? He gives you understanding of why you think like that, of what has happened in your life to cause this – you seek the Lord until He reveals it to you.
Let’s read this again – verse 19:
Ephesians 4:19-22
19 Who being past feeling [having cast off grief] have given themselves over
unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness [or with craving].
20 But ye [you] have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye [you] have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the
truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye [you] put off concerning the former conversation [your former
conduct, you put off...] the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts;
See, now here we go – what is that "old man"? It’s based on the lie. How do you put it away? By seeing the truth of Calvary, you understand one Lord, one faith – you’ve been immersed into the death of Christ – one baptism. You know there’s one God and Father of all. You know how much He loves you – so he says put off the old man. You see, that can’t be written to someone who says God is a trinity: God killed His Son, sacrificed His Son to pay my penalty. If that is what you think, this verse is an impossibility for you – you can never cast off the lie like that. The people in Ephesus understood the truth.
Ephesians 4:23-24
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye [you] put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness.
A LIVING ORGANISM
Ephesians 4:25
25 Wherefore [Because of that] putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Now I’ve got to say something before we start reading this in Ephesians, before we continue this thought. Understand what he’s saying. You put on the new understanding of God’s love, and what he’s getting ready to say applies to those people who can do that – what he is getting ready to say applies to you. Before I read it, let that sink in. He isn’t talking to lost sinners out here; he’s talking to people who understood the truth of the gospel. That is why he says we’re members one of another. You see, if we have the bread of Christ, the living bread, and all of us are eating that same bread, we become a living organism, nourished by what He is supplying to each one of us. This is what he just stated in verse 16, which I didn’t read. We become a living organism and every one of us is supplying information, is supplying our experience where we are edifying the body in love. The body actually can edify itself in the love of Christ, as He moves through us and we bear testimony of what’s happening – of the experiences in our lives. We are members one of another – when I read this, it was so precious to me because the Lord, again, reminded me that there are only a handful of people who can be on this level with me, understanding the – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one hope with which you’re called – only a handful of people can be with me on this level, and I’m talking about on this entire planet.
We are very precious to God, but we need to be precious to each other. You don’t see a body fighting itself or ripping itself, hitting itself, but the body nourishes and takes care of itself, heals itself. We have one mind, the mind of Christ, and as we feed on that living Bread, we are a living organism – members one of another. Going back to Ephesians 4, he states:
Ephesians 4:26
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Now, I want to give a personal testimony: In past studies I told you how the Lord revealed to me the anger I have been carrying all my life due to my parent’s divorce. It was that anger I was carrying that I used, or it manifested itself in various things in my life, and all of the things I got into, all of the things I did – the sins, the drugs, the alcohol – all of the things, all of the perversions of life. After the Lord revealed to me the anger and why it was there, I discovered I was more comfortable living in that anger and would just automatically allow that anger to be in my life. It was the strangest thing that, once the Lord showed me the root of it and it was gone – I was no longer upset about my parents divorce. I was able to lay that down – and I found myself still being angry. And the Lord showed me: Well Scott, you’ve lived like this for 50 years, and you’re more accustomed to the anger – you’ve learned to live in this anger. So I’m at a point now where the Lord is revealing to me when I’m allowing this anger to happen, so that I can realize I’m not angry – I’m doing this to myself, and begin to re-train my thinking.
Because you see, since He has shown me the root of it, I’m now doing this to myself. Now, from this point forward, when I choose that feeling of anger, I’m doing it to myself, and He is there to show that to me, to help me see what’s happening to me, to straighten me out, so that I can make the choice not to live in this. You see, He works with you – He’s rooted it out of me, but now I do it to myself.
WARNINGS
Let’s go back:
Ephesians 4:26-29
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil [Neither give place to "diablos" –
that inward adversity to God].
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth
[needs].
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Now listen, again, he’s talking to people who know the truth. He’s talking to people who are on the level we are on, and listen to these warnings he’s giving:
Ephesians 4:30-32
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye [you] are sealed unto the
day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be
put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, [King James has put: ]
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath [has] forgiven you.
You go back to the first place this word "forgiven" is used and it’s gave or Christ gave sight. He didn’t forgive sight, He gave sight. The word actually means to do something gracious. If I were to put that meaning in here: Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, being gracious toward each other, even as God was gracious toward you in Christ. This statement: "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking be put away, with all malice" – before I key on that, let’s go ahead and continue reading:
Ephesians 5:1-3
1 Be ye therefore followers [or imitators] of God, as [His] dear children
[as dear children, you imitate God];
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us [like Christ also loved us],
and hath [has] given himself for us [in behalf of us] an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. [I pray that has different meaning
to you now.]
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once
named among you, as becometh saints;
Now listen to what he’s saying: Again, he’s talking to you, the last generation church, who understand "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." You see, you don’t live in sin, waiting on God to just take it from you, but you resist and you seek Him as to why – if you’re whole and you know His love, you have the ultimate answer to every problem that you have. It’s just a matter of letting Him straighten it out, but you don’t live in that sin and expect Him to just fix it.
Ephesians 5:4-17
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are [is] not
convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye [you] know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath [has] any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and
of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh
[comes] the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye [you] were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk
as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for
whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith [That is why he said], Awake thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light [Christ will give you light].
15 See then that ye [you] walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding [understand] what the will of
the Lord is.
You see, walk circumspectly. Let me just kind of wrap this up, sum this up: Because you understand this truth, don’t walk like the Gentiles – in the vanity of their mind, in their ignorance. That alienates them from God’s life – they’re ignorant because of their hard heart. They’ve cast off the grief of doing what they’re supposed to do and they’re walking in lasciviousness. This isn’t how you’ve learned Christ; if you’ve heard Christ, this isn’t what you’ve learned from Him to do. You’re supposed to cast off this old understanding of the lie, be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man. Now that you have the new man, he starts giving the list: be angry, sin not; put away all bitterness, see, don’t live this way. Don’t live in fornication; don’t do these things – come out of that. It’s a shame even to speak of those things that they do, but you’re to be light; you’re to shed light on these things.
One thing I wanted to key on is this thing about "bitterness." He makes the statement: of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, speaking with malice – when people are clinging to what has been done to them in the past, and you have this "look what they did to me" attitude, you’re not going to grow in this message. If you’re clinging to bitterness, or anger, I don’t care toward anything – whether it’s toward your children, your husband, your wife, your parents, or how about the government – and you have this anger and this... you see, you’re not going to grow beyond that. You can’t. You’re supposed to put away that "old man," which is based on the lie that God doesn’t love you. Put that old man away and let the love of God renew you, and let the bitterness be put away. If you continue to live in this anger, if you continue to live in bitterness, let me tell you what that is – that is your pride – that is all that that is. It is this "look what they’ve done to me" attitude, and I don’t care who did it to you; I don’t care what it is. If you continue to hang on to it, you will not progress in this message; progress unto the completed perfection.
SEALED
Now looking at verse 30 of chapter 4, this statement that Paul makes:
Ephesians 4:30
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are [you were] sealed unto the day of redemption.
This is another thing we need to key on and understand. Again, who is he talking to? People who have come out of the lie – people who have a new spirit. The Lord revealed to me just a few days ago – we had gone to Cleveland, and I woke up one morning and I was considering my life, and the Lord began to move on my heart and show me the difference between the way I live now and the way I lived, say, ten years ago. I can remember a time when I wouldn’t get angry so fast, when I had more patience, when I seemed to have a quieter spirit, and I was asking the Lord, "How could this be? Knowing what I know, how could I be losing my patience? I should be growing in patience and in the character of Christ." And the Lord showed me that I have been hiding behind the law.
Now let this sink in – this is huge, what I want to say to you. This letter to Ephesus, written to people who know the truth, he says, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Listen to this statement he makes in Ephesians 1:13 and 14 – now listen to this:
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In whom ye [you] also trusted, after that ye heard [after you heard] the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye [you]
believed, ye [you] were sealed with that [the] holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Now consider this with me: When I came to the Lord, was I told the truth of the gospel? No! I was told a Catholic message – not the Ephesians, you see. Paul led them to the Lord and told them of the one God, brought forth His Son, why He died at Calvary. That isn’t what I was told. Therefore, for me to come along and read this letter and say, "Oh look, I’ve got the Holy Spirit – Paul says when you hear the truth of the gospel," – I never heard the truth of the gospel. Now I can say I’ve heard the truth of the gospel – I know why the man died, and it has slain my old man and I now have a new man to walk in, based on the love of God. Until that time, Scott Stanley was simply manifesting what the book says to do – I was hiding behind the law – I had to be nice, I couldn’t be angry. You see, as I was reading these things, I was simply trying to live the way I defined the book. Listen, I’ve been in homes over the years, I’ve been in places where you walk in and you just get this sense of "holiness" – everything is clean and put in place, and they’ve got the holy book, brother, laying out and they’ll read a verse – a holy bible, and they’ll read these verses and you get this sense ...they’ve got their holy diet, their holy food out on that table. Everyone’s dressed properly, everything is right, see. Do you know why that seems holy to you? Because that’s how you define it too. Listen, you let a Jehovah Witness walk in your house, and he doesn’t feel holy at all, but let him walk in his church – this is holy. Well, because that’s how he defines it... we’re no different. The reason I was the way I was, was because that’s how I read the book and I was making myself do it – I trained myself to do what the book said. That was what "salvation" was to me – a training. Not anymore.
The Lord showed me that when once you make this law spiritual, subconsciously as that works on you, you begin to come out from behind all of these things, and you begin to show who you really are. Let me tell you something: How can a person who thinks God had to have a human sacrifice to pay your penalty before He could forgive you – how could that person possess God’s Holy Spirit? That is impossible! I’m not saying God’s Spirit isn’t leading – I’m saying they don’t possess His Holy Spirit. That is not God’s Holy Spirit; that is their own concoction. When you hear the truth of the gospel, and you put off that old man, you possess His spirit; you possess His character. His character is based on love. It’s true, you don’t have all the input yet that you need, but you now have the foundation of love, and you now can be straightened out inwardly. Again, when He says you’re sealed with the Holy Spirit, this is the earnest, that isn’t written to the Baptist church; they don’t have the spirit of God. They’re manifesting the book; they’re manifesting what they think the book says to do: You’ve got to do this, you’ve got to be that, you can’t talk like that, you can’t go to these places, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t... you see. That’s what they’ve trained themselves to do.
The true spirit of God erases the sin nature and begins to heal you inwardly from all the iniquity.
REVELATION 1-8
Being healed of that iniquity and coming unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ is what the book of Revelation, now, is explaining to us. You see, as the Lord laid on my heart to go back and read these letters that Paul wrote, and read them in present truth, of course it applies to the whole book – the whole book is written for "those upon whom the end of the world is come." But the Lord led me to Revelation, and what I want to do is just give a synopsis of the chapters of this book, of Revelation, and bring you up to where we are at this point. Looking at Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, and you see from Ephesus to Laodicea: You come to the Lord, you lose your "first love," you go through that process of being given the Godhead, the abiding truth, being given the understanding of the sin nature... and you go from Ephesus to Laodicea, and the Lord has shown us how that candlestick was a symbol of that, so that that candlestick can now be lit – you have the entire experience, which is a complete experience.
Then after the churches, after He can light that candlestick, Revelation 4:1... I heard a voice as a trumpet talking with me, it said, Come up hither. That "come up" is ascend up. Revelation 4:1 is that ascension out of the lie. It takes place after the Laodicean experience, and you ascend up out of the lie – and Revelation 4 is that description of how you understand at this point. Without getting into all of these symbols, there is now one God on that throne, one person on the throne. You see the bow above His head – that "everlasting covenant" symbol – this is the understanding you have. You have the "four living creatures," "twenty-four elders," and these are all things that we’ve gotten into in past studies. All of these things represent the understanding, the thoughts that we possess. There is also the "Lamb" standing, that had been slain, and He is able to go to God and take the book – that "book" is your mind, it’s your understanding – and He’s able to open the book; He has "prevailed to open the book," and give you the understanding of you. You come to the "seals": As He opens each seal, He is showing you where you’ve been through this Christian experience. You began on a "white horse," you were given the "great sword," or the book, and you became "red" – literal. And it turned "black," as you went around with your "scale" in your hand, judging everybody, weighing everybody, until it became "pale" – Christ-less – and in that fifth seal, you’re crying out to God for your healing. The sixth seal, the Lord says, "OK, I’m going to heal you – your son, the way you perceive Jesus Christ, is "black." The "moon," this law is "red." In fact, I’m going to just close your heavenly understanding – the way you think God thinks," He says, "I’m going to close that together like a scroll and get rid of it altogether."
He turns your world upside down and, notice after that sixth seal, you come right to Revelation 7, and what is it? There is an angel "ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God" – he seals 144,000. You then – in chapter 14, he seals them in the forehead – and in chapter 14 you see what that "seal" is – it’s the character of God. We’ve just read, that takes place in that immersion into truth – the truth of the death of Christ – you put on the character of God. You see, Revelation 7 is a description of our receiving Holy Spirit, and it is that reception of His Spirit that makes you complete – or you enter into the complete body – His symbol for that is the "144,000." You see, only the 144,000 possess the Holy Spirit of God. When you back up and look at all of those seals, as we pointed out in past studies, those horses are being led of God – He says, "I’m leading you through the wilderness like a horse." You were led of God, but you didn’t possess His Spirit until you heard the truth of the gospel, and you were sealed with that Holy Spirit. You see, once you hear the truth of the gospel, and the love of God is understood, and you have a new mindset – once you come to that place, that cannot be taken away from you – you’re confirmed. That confirms that you’re God’s child; that’s what the "seal" is, it’s confirmation, authentication that you’re His child – only the 144,000 possess it! Yes, people are being "led" of His Spirit – only the 144,000 possess it.
Again, let me say, if you think God killed His Son to pay your penalty, you don’t have His Spirit. That’s insanity! You don’t possess the mind of God when you think that about Him. That isn’t where He is – that isn’t His Spirit – but when you understand the truth and that old nature dies, the result of that is a new spirit, a new man, a new understanding. You’re being made in His image – that’s why in Revelation 7, the 144,000 are "sealed." That’s one of the key things I want you to get out of this study: The 144,000 have His Spirit. That is why they are the ones proclaiming the truth. You can’t give someone something you don’t have. Listen, the churches we’ve been involved with, they couldn’t give you God’s Spirit – they didn’t have it to give – they had distorted lies. But you can possess His Spirit now – do you understand what I’m saying? If you understand that truth, and you have the foundation of His love, you are one of the 144,000 – the complete, inward complete body of Christ – that is who you are! You know, every tape I’ve done – as I’m doing it, that’s the most important one – because it’s building on the truth that the Lord has given me previously. What I have just stated is what makes this study important to me – that you recognize you are the 144,000 if you have the foundation of God’s love.
Right after chapter 7, you enter 8, and the "seventh seal" is opened, and it’s during this time, it says there was "silence in heaven," and the Lord is preparing you to trumpet the effect of the gospel – what it’s having in your life. I believe that "silence in heaven" ... if you back up again, and look at the sixth seal, where the Lord rolls that scroll together – He turns your world upside down, and shows you the way you’ve been looking at Christ is "black"; the way you’ve read the law is "red," and He re-establishes your heavens – there must be quietness, a silence from heaven, while those things ... Listen, to go through that is traumatic – the Lord has turned our world upside down, and it’s traumatic. That "seed" has been planted, He has been watering it, giving you the early and the latter rain, and it’s time now to let that seed grow and bear fruit – that is what that silence in heaven is, as He prepares you to "trumpet" the truth.
REVELATION 10
Now, as I was studying through this, I came again to Revelation 10. Revelation 10, where Christ comes down, "clothed with a cloud, the rainbow over His head, and His feet were pillars of fire." Have you ever considered that at the beginning of Revelation, Christ’s "eyes" are flames of fire, His "feet" are like brass, as if they’ve been burned in a furnace. At the beginning of Revelation, His eyes are fire – in Revelation 10, His feet are fire. And I sought the Lord: "What is the difference? What does it mean?" And the Lord began to reveal to me our feet, and how our "feet" are symbols of the heart but more than that, our "feet" represent our desire. You see, if I have one mind and it is through the mind of Christ that I do my works, if you’ll look at my hands, on my hands and feet are fingers and toes. In the Old Testament, "fingers" and "toes" are the same word – your fingers and toes represent faith – that’s why you have grace on each, "five" on each. It is my fingers that allow my hands to work – if you took away my fingers, I couldn’t do anything. If you took away the understanding God has given me – my faith – my "works" are meaningless. It’s also my faith, my "toes," that keep me balanced. Without my toes, I would fall to the "earth" – my toes keep me balanced. But notice, my mind will say, turn the page of the book, but before I can do it, my" feet" will take me there – see, my desire brings me here, and my "hands" can turn the page. Your feet show the direction of the mind, but they show you the direction of the mind is your desire – what you desire.
Christ’s "feet" are on fire in Revelation 10, and I realized it is His desire. "Fire" represents a consuming spirit. That’s why at the beginning of Revelation, His eyes – the "eyes" represent the understanding or your intellect, your understanding – and that will consume your understanding. The fire of His eyes will consume your understanding and give you His, burn out the stubble, what needs to be taken away. But His desire, His "feet," His desire for you in Revelation 10 is planted on the "earth" and on the "sea." And I had to go to the Lord and ask Him, "What is Christ’s desire?" I want to read a statement concerning Christ, and what was said about the apostle Paul in Acts 26, as Paul gave his testimony of his experience on the road to Damascus:
Acts 26:15-18
15 And I said, Who art thou [Who are you], Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest [whom you’re persecuting].
16 But rise, and stand upon thy [your] feet: for I have appeared unto thee [you]
for this purpose, to make thee [you] a minister and a witness both of these
things which thou hast seen [you have seen], and of those things in the which I
will appear unto thee [you];
17 Delivering thee [you] from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I
send thee [unto whom now I’m sending you],
18 To open their eyes [Now this is why Christ sent Paul – to open their eyes...],
and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power [authority] of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins [a lifting up of sin], and
inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith [by the understanding] that
is in me.
What did He just say? "Paul, I’m sending you. I delivered you from these people, now I’m sending you back, that they might be delivered from the authority of their adversity and be given unto God, which will lift up the sins in their life." Listen, "satan" or that adversity is the "old man" – it’s the lie. When you see the truth of Calvary, the old man dies and you come alive unto God, a new man, with a new spirit – you possess a new spirit. What you possessed before was your definition of the book. Yeah, it was a "new" spirit, but it was your definition of the book – it wasn’t God’s Spirit. He was leading you, but you didn’t possess His thinking. In Revelation 10, Christ comes down with a "little book" – it’s the rest of who you are, it’s what you need to be complete – and He puts His burning desire, which is to deliver you from the authority of your adversity – to complete it. He puts a foot on the earth and one on the sea, and that fire on the earth (fire is going to cleanse the earth) ... His desire will cleanse the "earth," and what will the fire of God do to "water"? It dries it up. Remember Elijah putting the twelve barrels of water, and the fire of God lapped it up.
Listen, in Revelation 6, He gives you a "new heaven." In Revelation 10, He gives you a "new earth" and "dries the sea," hence, there is a new heaven, a new earth, and there is no more sea. And He has the "little book," which is the rest of who you are – see He began opening the book in chapters 4, 5, 6 ... opening those seals – and in chapter 10, He has a little book, and He puts the fire on the earth, the fire on the sea, and He raises His hand and He swears by God. He swears by Him who created the heavens, earth and sea and everything that’s in them; He swears by the Creator of your mind that when that next trumpet sounds, the mystery of God is finished – it’s over. Time is up; time will come to an end.
Consider it: It is that final cleansing, it’s that "day of atonement," and He makes the statement that He swears by the Creator, when that next trumpet sounds – it’s over. And then you have this period of the "two witnesses," now clothed in "sackcloth" – I’m telling you, that is the perfect church. They are complete at that point. You see, we’re in that process of completion, I believe, and we’re back there at Revelation 8, the "silence in heaven" – the Lord is letting that grow up and bear fruit, and we are beginning to sound the trumpet of God’s love and what it has done to us – the effect it has had on our heart.
I beg you, go back to this book – read it in the mindset of present truth. Take the time to read this and let the Lord work on your heart. It’s written to us – the whole book is written to us upon whom the end of the world is come. As we wait to "come in the unity of the faith, unto the perfect man," as we’re waiting for that to take place, there is a whole array of instruction God is trying to give us. Are you sealed with His Spirit? Do you know His love? Are you sure of His love? Are you still clinging to the penalty – that He "paid my penalty"? Let go of that! Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on this new man, which is based on God’s love and go forward, walking in the integrity of your heart and allow the Lord to heal you – being His children, manifesting the character of God!
We possess the character of God. Let that be written on your forehead and let
this resistance to God stop, and live a life that is holy and pleasing unto God,
and manifest to the world the light God has given you – and glorify Him!