Last week the Lord defined the pre-requisite qualities of those who are fit and suitable for this time – those who sacrifice thank offerings. To these the Lord shows His salvation, which at its fullness, is the Resurrection.
The second requirement is that you are prepared to earnestly consume the Word and learn of His Ways. - For those who will take part in the First Resurrection are raised to judge, and you cannot judge unless you are an expert in the Law – His Law now applied in the Resurrection.
The third qualification is as written in Rev.20: 4 and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded…
That is, those that have lost their head – physically and figuratively. The first of these was none other than Stephen in Acts 7:60 and then first of the Apostles was James the brother of John, Acts 12:2, by Herod – and through the Centuries – millions have likewise been killed because of their testimony of Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ and the Word of God.
As I read last week, the expanded fullness of Rev 20:4- it is those who are beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, for Jesus and of the witnessing of Jesus and to witnessing and because of their witness for the Word of God and for the Word of God and because of the Word of God.
There are seven reasons, for which they may be beheaded, but all of them have this in common – they were beheaded - that is, they lost their head…. And as you can see – neither Stephen nor James the Elder were beheaded physically, for Stephen was stoned and James the brother of John was put to the sword by Herod. - So it is not a physical beheading that we speak of, though for both and indeed for all the martyrs throughout the ages, they were the ones who faced death and they died for Christ but they did not kill for Christ. It is a figurative beheading that must precede the actual physical death. They were all, who from the world’s point of view, had lost their head and was uttering absolutely foolish things – they like Paul had earned the remark – “You are out of your mind, Paul!” Acts 26:24 - And that is the absolute truth of what is required of those who seek to qualify for the First Resurrection – you must be out of your mind, for your mind is too lowly to think the thoughts of God, as it is written in Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
And so to get anywhere near the thoughts of God, you’ve got to get out of your mind and into heaven…. Like one who has been beheaded and quite mad, as far as the world is concerned so that the logic of the world no longer applies, except to show you what not to do if you desire to see the Kingdom of Heaven.
When you apply the logic and view point of the world to the teachings of Christ – you will never see the true reason for His teaching, for the logic of the world is based on total powerlessness in the miraculous realm whereas the logic of God is based on complete absolute unfettered miraculous power of God.
For example, when you apply world logic to the teachings such as Matt 5:38 “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other. And if someone wants to sue and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well...”, you would see that Jesus was teaching Christians to be meek and mild, as the Church has tried to portray us. And the teachings make no sense to the world that is used to defending itself – and makes God out to be defenceless and as you read about what has happened to countless Martyrs – it is as if God has not been able to defend.
When Jesus taught Matt 5:39 He was teaching it as a preparation for the day when He knew the Holy Spirit would be poured out an all flesh, as the Father had said in Joel 2:28 – and the power that would accompany the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – like it accompanied Sampson, Elijah and Elisha. His instructions to turn the other cheek, was so that the power of the Holy Spirit would not kill the assailants, but merely break their fists as they struck.
However, when you begin to speak, act and live in the daily reality of the miraculous power of God, then to those around you as they hear you testify, it sounds as if you have lost your head - you are beheaded. If your testimony of Jesus Christ does not sound like one who has lost their head, you are not eligible for the First Resurrection. Now, note here, it is for the testimony and witness that they were beheaded – that is they were speaking as ones who had seen and heard, touched and tasted and even smelled – not as ones who believed – they were speaking as ones who know.
Mary Magdalene did not say – “since the tomb is empty, I believe He is risen” – No! She went to the disciples in Jn 20:18 “I have seen the Lord!” But what is the comment from Mark? Mk 16:11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen Him, they did not believe it. And Lk 24:11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense..
Now, that is the set standard of testimony that is acceptable – a testimony like Mary’s, of what you have heard and seen – as well as felt, smelled and tasted – for she who kissed the feet when He was alive, would certainly have showered Him with kisses when He was resurrected! That seemed to the disciples and the world like nonsense.
Not through cleverly made-up stories – but simple testimony of what you have seen and heard of the Lord in your life that is so fantastic and extravagant to the world logic that it seems nonsense. When you are speaking like that – you have lost your head… and having lost your head, you are one whose heart now does the thinking for you. As long as your head is sitting squarely on your shoulders; your heart will not be able to do your thinking for you in Christ, and logic will always hold you back from the excessive extravagance of your heart and the Opera of God will never be able to move you, to where God needs you to be, to appreciate Him fully.
Yet, those who have lost their head in this manner are displaying the best of logic if only you would listen; for as long as you keep the logic of the world in your head – you will never see the true nature of God and you will forever be distracted by details that never give you the full picture, and you will acquire a so called full picture that never shows the true details of God, in other words – a delusion. For the logic of the world that fills your head can never make sense of God’s introduction to Moses – when He said “I AM THAT I AM”, but a heavenly logic that is based on God being “I am that I am” – that can begin to make sense of all that has been, is happening and will happen around you…. For in these words “I am that…I am that…I am that…” repeated infinitely, carries all the answers that you would ever ask. When you ask “Why?”. The answer is always – Because God is “I am that I am that I am”.
World logic, and as such Church logic, because the Church has adopted the logic of the world, dictates that God may be worthwhile believing, and perhaps even should be believed and so, according to the logic of the world and the Church that is in the world, we should perhaps – occasionally and perhaps, as an absolute last resort – believe in God…
World logic and Church logic dictates a behaviour pattern that says – ‘Perhaps God is there and perhaps God will help – Who knows?’ And so, we speak and proceed on a logical, self justifying, self comforting ritualistic programme of worship of God and acknowledgement of God that keeps God comfortably at bay and ourselves wonderfully sane.
However, the behaviour of our brothers and sisters that have preceded us did not display such sanity when they were threatened with the finality of organic death. – Rather their response has always been insanely extreme –> laying down their lives for the Name of a Man who died on a roman cross outside of a second rate city in the roman empire 2000 years ago.
What is required as the final step of qualification of the selection process for those who are still alive in this world to join those who are alive in Christ – to return for the Millennium is this ability to be beheaded of all worldly logic and to live as ones who are looking at their lives and the world with the logic of Heaven where God is “I am that I am” in all that He says He is.
World logic is God might be there??? Church logic says God can be believed…. However Heavenly logic does not question the existence of God, nor whether He is worth to be believed. Heavenly logic says He is worthy to receive glory ad honour and power for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come. Rev 4:11,8
Heavenly logic sees God from the viewpoint of the 24 elders who are seated on thrones around the Throne of God – Rev 4:4 and who fall down to worship Him Who lives forever and ever Rev 4:10. These 24 elders are the witnesses of God who witnessed that “you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.” They do not believe God created all things – they know God created all things, otherwise they would be lying and exaggerating when they said, “You created all things.” They are not seated as kings on earth – wondering what God will do or if God would do. – They are Kings seated in Heaven, around the Throne, who sees what God has done and what God is doing and what God will do – as surely as one who is seated in the same room watches another.
To come to this place where as Paul says, Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things..Col 3:1,2, you must now see your being raised with Christ is of the past tense, not present or future tense, and your logic and your heart must be dictated by the things of heaven and not of earth. When you have come to forsake the discipleship of earth’s logic, - you are ready for discipleship with heaven’s logic and you are beheaded – and you are ready for training into the First Resurrection – a training that takes 7 Steps: -
You will be trained
– in the testimony of Jesus
- in the testimony for Jesus
- for the witnessing of Jesus
- and witnessing to Jesus
- for the witness of the Word of God
- for the Word of God
- and to be beheaded because of the Word of God
All this will happen, not as a stepwise process, but as a river process, flowing from the throne of God – starting at ankle deep until it sweeps you over the waterfall of God where the deep things of God roar to the deep things of Man. The flow will be slow and controllable at first, reaching a crescendo that seems maddening – for you will be free falling with God and rising in the Resurrection of God – in such a way that the world, though it calls you mad at first, will wake up to see how dangerous you truly are – for the Resurrection puts to death what was and what is, to bring forth what will be … and so to the world you will be the stench of death and to the martyrs who died to the world – you are the fragrance of life, like the fragrance of blossoms on a tree that carry with it the promise of the fruit that is to come and the promise of the taste of that fruit – the Life of the Resurrection of the Tree of Life.
Those who are worthy to be considered beheaded and considered for beheading are those that seek to train themselves to rely only on Heaven’s logic – seeing all things of God, as an elder seated on a throne that surrounds the Throne of God; in ever constant worship of the Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit Who is the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.
And once more, cast off world ways and now cast off world logic – and take your places in Christ risen – to appreciate the sight, the sound, the touch, the taste and the fragrance of the Resurrection.
For before these was a sound to be heard, a light to see by, earth to touch or fruits to taste in that formless and empty darkness that was over the surface of the deep – the fragrance of God was already there.
Our brother Paul who had indeed lost his mind, as far as the kings of the world was concerned, gave us this revelation – “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”
Now, who knows the fragrance of The Resurrection better than The Resurrection Himself – and in the same darkness of the tomb- they saw no form, nor heard any sound or saw the light they expected – for their worldly logic had denied them the manifestation of Heaven’s logic. – In the beginning, before sound, light, touch and taste – the fragrance of God was there … and once more, the fragrance of Life in His Resurrection filled the tomb but those who entered had missed His presence.
So, let those who have ears hear, the fragrance of The Resurrection in His Word.
AMEN HOLY SPIRIT.
