A Time Of Trumpets

Part Four

Experiencing The 'Much More' In Christ

By Bob Torango

 

Matt 16:19

 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  KJV

 

            A new trumpet is sounding today that is awakening the First Fruits of Christ to a new dimension of ruling and reigning with Christ. These Early Fruits will be endowed with Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding in all the ways of the Lord. They are being initiated into the Sacred Secrets of the Priest/King ministry that is patterned after the Melchizedek order of Jesus Christ. A great cleansing is happening the hearts of these overcoming sons, for these attributes will not be haphazardly handed out to anyone that is not mature and balanced in their makeup. There are certain requirements that must be met before the power and the glory of such an order and ministry will be put on full display. The childish games that the institutionalized church systems play will not be seen in this company of sons. The greed and lust for fame and fortune that is found in the religious echelons of the Babylonian Church Empire will not have a place in these chosen vessels, as the Lord that is Faithful and True has determined in Himself that He will have an army of God that is fully under His command. For this reason, we must now prepare our hearts for all that the Lord will instruct us concerning this Seventh Trumpet and the voice of the Seventh Angel (Messenger). The trumpet that is now sounding is bringing sons of God to the epi-synagogue (the highest gathering) where a life will be taken and another life given. The individual, self-conscious life that all mankind was born with will be sacrificed in this high place and there will be no quarter given to the corruptible seed of the adamic nature. These dear saints that once was more alive in this world than they were alive in God will now be in a state and condition of the living dead.

 

Rom 6:3-9

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  KJV

 

            These living dead in Christ are to be given the same power and authority as their Elder Brother and Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ. They are baptized with His baptism, which is not a trip to the river to go through a water baptismal ceremony, but this baptism is one given to those that are to be found dead, yet alive in the earth. Even as Christ’s true baptism was unto death at the cross, these will follow Him into that baptism. Then, even as Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected, these will also follow Him through that process, crucified, buried (hid in Christ) and resurrected by the first resurrection, upon whom the second death (the grave) will have no power. They follow the Lamb, whithersoever He leads and He is leading them into the Throne Room of His Father, where they will partake of His Divine Nature. Notice that they are PARTAKING of His Divine Nature. Unlike the common Christian believer, these chosen vessels have a greater requirement on them other than just “believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.” They are PARTAKERS of His Divine Nature and they have APPLIED His blood to their door posts, having become immune to the power of death through His Divine Nature Activated within them. They are more than just containers of the fullness of Christ, they are participators with Him in the administration of that fullness.

            This is why the hand of the Lord is heavy upon them with righteous judgment and correction. They are to rule and reign with the Mighty Christ, bringing heaven and earth under His dominion and Kingship. It is one thing to HAVE Christ in your heart, it is another thing to have Christ ACTIVATED within your heart, standing up within your vessel and moving in and through you. We all have heard the Word of the Lord unto us, but now we are going to BECOME the expression of that Word, the express image of that Word in the world, until we are a living plague of life in the earth. We must know what it is to be CONTAGIOUS with the spirit of Christ, so that it becomes more than just a personal walk of our faith, but it becomes a river of life, flowing out from us and infecting everything around us with its vivifying life. How different this is than just the normal Christian walk of faith! This is what happens when we PARTAKE of the Divine Nature Activated within our being.

Most of those that minister the word of reconciliation only understand the one aspect this foundational Truth of God’s plan of redemption for all mankind. Let me minister to you for a little space here on what reconciliation really is in its proper place in the plan of God. We are not GOING TO BE RECONCILED,  we HAVE BEEN RECONCILED. In all actuality, creation was reconciled in God through Christ before creation was ever formed in the book of Genesis. In fact, BEFORE Adam ever sinned in the garden, Christ had already been crucified in God and redeemed Adam and all of his seed back into right standing with the Father. That is where the true FINISHED WORK is actually found, not 2,000 years ago at the cross. The work of redemption and the sacrifice for sin was accomplished in God before the foundations of the ages and that is something that is irrevocable and immutable. You and the entire human race ARE RECONCILED! Now, understand something here. Just because Christ reconciled the world in God before the foundations of the ages did not mean that there would be no need for a physical sacrifice of the Son 2,000 years ago. This is one of the great secrets of the mysteries of Christ for us to come into. Whatever happens in the heavens must likewise happen in the earth and whatever happens in the earth will happen in the heavens. They are mirror images of each other! Whatever is bound in heaven is bound in earth and whatever is loosed in heaven and loosed in the earth. Even as we have borne the image of the earthly so it is that we will bear the image of the heavenly.

 

1 Cor 15:42-49

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.  KJV

 

            Even so, it is true that everything was finished and complete in Christ, in God before time began, but because God always does everything in a more excellent way, He took that which was within Himself and lowered it into a realm of death and corruption, so that He could then set the heavens and earth into a time frame of eonian stages of restoring that creation back into Himself, but with something added to that creation that could not be brought into reality without first going through death (separation from God). Therein lies the power of RESURRECTION! Without death, there is no resurrection, but once death occurs than there can be a RE-SURRECTION of that dead thing, into a GREATER STATE OF BEING! Wherein we were reconciled by Christ before we were given a soul and a body, we were given God’s guarantee that He would not leave our soul in hell, but we all would have life through that great Sacrifice of the Son of God. That shedding of such precious blood had to have been spilled into the earth, in order that that which was accomplished in the spirit of the Father could have an expression in the earth so that the earth itself could be transfigured and transformed by that Divine Life. Now, just because we have been reconciled does not negate the fact that we must then follow through in our fallen state with being found AS HE IS. God’s intent for mankind is not to have a race of sinners saved by grace living in Him through eternity. His intent is to infuse this fallen creation with His own SELF, filling everything, everywhere with His own Life, God-Life. Oh the wonder of it all! So many that minister the message of reconciliation have only ministered half the truth of how great a salvation that we are given the grace to partake of. In this scripture, we plainly see the two-fold aspects of God’s plan of salvation.

 

Rom 5:7-10

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 MUCH MORE THEN, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  KJV

 

            I cannot overstate to you how important this particular set of scriptures is for us to grab hold of and assimilate into our spirit. I don’t know about you, but I really perk up when I see the words, “MUCH MORE” within these scriptures. It highlights what I just wrote to you concerning how much greater our final outcome will be than our beginnings in God. What Christ accomplished at the cross by giving His earthly life and by the natural shedding of His blood is absolutely worthy of all praise and adoration. By fulfilling His spiritual sacrifice in the Father before the world was made, Jesus then turned the page from the law and prophets and brought all mankind into the next phase of God’s restorative purpose for His creation. However, many had died in the earth before Jesus, glorifying their God with martyrdom for His great cause. The difference is, they stayed dead to this world. In the case of Jesus, (and this is why I love Him so), He died a true death and then went into the belly of the earth (sheol) and preached the Gospel of His Good News to all that went before Him, then brought captive into captivity. After becoming the Savior of all that lived before His sacrifice, He was then raised from the dead by the life of His Father, conquering death, hell and the grave. This is now the beginning of the MUCH MORE! Having BEEN reconciled (past tense) by His death, we shall be (are now being – present future continuum) saved by His life! What was laid to rest in the tomb was a perfect sacrifice, a Savior for all mankind. What came out of that tomb was a KING and a LORD, the First Begotten of the Father, a First Fruit of a New Man, a God-man. Because Jesus partook of the lineage of Adam, then met up with that lineage in the flesh through His mother, Mary, He became one of us, our Brother in the truest sense. Forever identified with us as SONS of God, He then overcame that fleshly life and made a way for us into the Holiest of All, which we are now entering into boldly and with faith in His Word concerning our generation. For 2,000 years, God has parceled out His glory to each generation according to their order and appointment in His plan. Now, a chosen generation is at hand, entering into the 3rd millennium (day) from His death and resurrection. They are a generation of destiny, not as other generations that lived according to freedom of choice concerning reaping and sowing, this generation has been CHOSEN, not CALLED, DRAGGED, not LED, APPREHENDED, not ASKED. They have no choice in their destiny and God is not politely asking them to serve Him. These are those that God has reserved back in Himself until a set and appointed time in His plan. They are SENT, not just BORN, into this world, just as their Pattern was 2,000 years ago.

            This may come as a shock to many of you, but the message of reconciliation is not a message for the 3rd and final Feast of Tabernacles. Reconciliation is nothing more than John 3:16. It is a foundational message that deals with the Feast of Passover. There are many today that are trying to make the truth of reconciliation an end time revelation, something that is just now being allowed to be ministered by the Father for a final generation of sons to minister. Actually, it is nothing more mysterious than "God Is Love." The reason why it seems so deep and mysterious today is because the Church has strayed so far from the foundation of God's unconditional love for all men everywhere. The religious institutions have laid their foundation as God's judgment and wrath toward all that do not believe their message, relegating these abstainers from their hallowed halls of eternal judgment as sinners worthy of eternal torture and banishment from God's presence. As you can see, when a person is raised with these kinds of mindsets and doctrinal dogmas, when the Truth about the love of God is ministered to such brain washed individuals, it becomes mysterious and dangerous to their damaged minds, which illicit a violent, religious reaction of fear and panic. It is enough to break my heart to think of how the religious institutions of Christianity have perverted the true Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ. However, it is not only the Babylonian Church System that is ensnaring people into a prison house of wrong thinking. The fact that so many today are teaching doctrines that are only part-truths is just as hurtful and heartbreaking for me and all of those that have eaten the whole Book and see the Beginning and the End of God's plan and action in the hearts of His children. The message of reconciliation must include more than just the "unconditional love of God." This phrase has found its way into the Kingdom ranks and is even found in Denominational thought and theology. Let us understand what this phrase actually means and what it is speaking about.

            Love without condition is a foundational pillar in the Good News of Jesus Christ, but there are many that use this phrase in a way that has caused believers to miss the mark in rightly dividing the Word of Truth. In Romans 5:8 (see scriptural reference above) it states that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners, exemplifying that our sinful condition was not a deterrent to His redemptive act and was not even considered by Him in His sacrificial death. His love was without conditions upon us. As I have already stated, this was not a singular act 2,000 years ago, at the cross, but this unconditional act of love was accomplished IN THE FATHER BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS (AGES) OF THE WORLD. In other words, before Adam ever partook of the Tree of Good and Evil, the act of reconciliation had already been accomplished! Reconciliation, which entails Reconstitution, Restoration, Renewal, a Reinstatement back into a former estate and condition, is not a conditional, futuristic act to be accomplished upon at the moment of a so-called "sinner's prayer", but is without revocation, abiding even when the object of its love is in as state of denial and refusal. Such is the length, the breadth, the width and the height of God's love for us. Blessed be His Name!

            Even so, we must be able to understand the second phase of Romans 5:9&10, which speaks of a salvation that is not just positional, but experiential. The theologians of the religious institutions of today will only speak in terms of positional truth, what is ours because of God's grace.

 

Eph 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.  KJV

 

Now, let us follow on to know the Lord and to be instructed in all of His ways. Read the next verse.

 

Eph 2:10

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  KJV

 

As you can see, there are 2 works mentioned here, the boastful works of man and the "good works" of those that are the result of a people that are the 'workmanship" of God, created in Christ Jesus UNTO these good works, wherein God has BEFORE ordained that we should WALK IN THEM. Verses 8 and 9 are positional, verse 10 is experiential and involves our participating in such works. So my question is, do these two kinds of works apply to all men everywhere, as reconciliation does, or are they meant to be manifested in 2 different kinds of believers? It is plain to me that we need to start understanding how the scriptures speak to the entire lineage of believers, in all ages and at all times of revealed Truth. It would be silly to think that those believers that served God during the Dark Ages had the same availability and manifestation of Truth in their midst as we do today. In those past ages, reconciliation stood as a beacon in the darkness, giving them hope of a better life in the world to come. Today, we are almost blinded by the amount of light that is emanating from the spirit of the Lord, illuminating us with such revelatory Truth that it leaves us in a state of shock and awe. Surely, we are in a time of Trumpets such as has never been heard before!

            God is forming a Man in the earth! He is a New Man, a New Breed of Man, a God-man that will bring forth a New Day of God's intended purpose for His creation. This is the MUCH MORE that Romans 5:9&10 were speaking about. Along with a New Day and a New Man comes a change of order in the way that God is dealing with these First Fruits of His Life and Glory. God is not dealing with my dear brother in the world that is functioning as a Pastor of a Denominational church in the same way as He is with me. I am not called to be a Pastor, I am called to a king/priest order, which by necessity brings me under a very different discipline than any of the offices of the nominal church order. All of you that have been chosen to come into this First Fruit company are also under a different regimen of faith and dealings than any of your religious friends and loved ones. We are those that the MUCH MORE is speaking to and God is not leaving us under the sanctuary of His grace and reconciliation, where there is only unconditional love and grace bestowed upon us. We are those that are brought under the righteous judgment of Christ, where He corrects us and tests us until we meet those conditions that are required by Him to be One with Him in every facet of our being. We cannot go around telling folks that they can stay just like they are, no matter how lost and undone they are, no matter how badly they behave and how much hurt and destruction they pour out on their victims, for we are those that are destined to be God's Agents of Change!  We are all about CHANGE, as we have been reserved back in God until the age of CHANGE, which is being initiated by a Trumpet of CHANGE that is not for all believers to hear, but only those that "have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church."  We are not destined to live the casual Christian life, where we go to church each Sunday to be preached at and prayed over and then go out to the world and try not to kill anyone until the next Sunday service. We are being groomed and trained to be DEATH-EATERS, REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH, RESTORERS OF PATHS TO DWELL IN, MIGHTY MEN OF VALOR, A ROYAL PRIESTOOD, A CHOSEN GENERATION and MUCH MORE! God isn't going to raise this First Fruit company of over-comers to simply be "preachers", TELLING the world about God's wonderful intent and purpose for them, we are being raised up to be the first generation since Jesus of Nazareth to SHOW THEM what God's plans are for them. When I look into God and catch a glimpse of this order of Messengers that God has reserved for Himself, all I see are "dead people." Dead to this world, dead to the realm of limitations, dead to the temptations of sin, dead to their own will and desires, dead to the cares of this world and the lure of fame and fortune, dead to pride, dead to jealousy, dead to all of the fruits of the flesh. Ah, but at the same time, I see these as alive in God, alive to His love and compassion, alive to His will for them, alive in Him and by Him and for Him! What a blessed Day this is!

            There are moments, such as this, when it strikes me how utterly nonsensical this writing would be to the natural mind. If anyone were to read these words without the understanding of the spirit they would naturally be confused and perhaps even upset at such concepts that are so foreign to the religious pattern of thinking about God and His Church. Even some of us that have been around the Kingdom message for many years may be overwhelmed and intimidated by such a Plan that would involve us as participators and cohorts with the Lord of Glory. Christ appearing IN US? A world stage of ministry that would have dealings with Heads of State, Presidents, Emperors, Dictators and even the King of England? Oh yes, all of that and more. The only thing that can give us peace and assurance on this being possible is to know Who it is that has called us to such a divine appointment. I just read this wonderful, short devotional by our friend, John Gavazzoni, that deals with such concerns, entitled, "Of His Own Will."

Quote:

"The phrase, "of His own will" appears in that exact form at least twice in the KJV version of the New Testament, in Ephesians 1: 11, and James 1: 18. The Ephesian passage confronts us with the grandeur of God's sovereignty, the splendor of divine deliberation which allows for no loopholes that would give opportunity for other wills to mess with, or mess up, God's good pleasure. It leaves no room for any outside input, and certainly does not portray a God anxiously hoping for other wills that might grant Him permission to carry out  His own. An enlightened preacher might even wish for a fanfare before quoting, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." The opening words to the worship chorus penned by brother Jack Hayford come to mind: "Majesty, worship His Majesty." O yes, indeed. There it is, the freedom of God. A God who is free to desire, intend, purpose, and will whatever, and then, unobstructed by any other will or wills, does the thing----perfectly.
 
When writing those words, Paul most certainly must have had in mind God speaking through Isaiah: "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." (Isa: 46: 9--11). It is upon Himself, according as He has spoken of Himself, that He gives us great and wonderful promises of redemption, security and salvation. Such a Father God can be relied upon. Such is the God and Father that drew forth from His Son that faith which Paul in this same epistle calls "the faith OF Christ," and such is the faith that is ours in union with Christ. As the Lord once spoke to me: "Nothing depends upon you; everything depends upon Me, so you can depend upon me."
 

James comes along side Paul and complements his emphatic apostolic declaration of divine effectiveness with the wonderfully sweet, personal assurance: "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." God willed that we be begotten of Him. He willed it, spoke the Word of truth into us, and by that irresistible Word, He "hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1Pet: 1: 3b). He spoke the Word, Jesus, into us in all His resurrection glory. Now that very resurrection life of Christ has begun the process of spreading from our spirit-base to our souls, consummating with this corruption putting on incorruption, and this mortal putting on immortality, that it might be said, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Why and how were you born again unto a lively hope? Because He willed it." end quote.

 

            We are destined for a metamorphosis from what we are now to that which God has designed us to be. There is a New Man inside us, which has been living in a kind of silence throughout our years of this earthly life. This New Man is truly alien to this world of fleshly desires. He finds no witness in the religiosity of Babylonian methodology and divination. He is waiting for the appointed time of the Father to begin sounding a New Sound in the earth, which will call together all those that are hearing the trumpet call into Christ, there to be refined and purified by His holy flames of righteous judgment. Within ourselves there are many changes that need to be made in order to bring us into a WHOLENESS and to make us WHOLLY unto the Lord. There are many today that do not want to hear of God's judgment, nor do they want to hear about a PROCESS of being changed from what we are into that which we must become. They think everything is alright just the way it is, that there is no refinement needed for us. Some even deny that there ever was an issue with sin in mankind, that it is all a man-made concept that crept into the religious minds of men of old. The fact is, this kind of thinking makes it even more clear that there is a need for a change in God's people. The process of change is a necessary action that will bring forth the hidden treasures of God, buried deep within the heart of man, to the surface and put those hidden elements of God's nature and character into full display to the world. I thank God for the process, as it shows forth the enduring patience of God in bringing His sons to glory. Wouldn't it be awful to be staring into the darkness of night and then to have light burst upon the scene suddenly? This is not the case in the real world. In the real world, the earth slowly turns to the sun, allowing the sun to spread its rays of illumination into the earth in a process of dawning that allows us to adjust our vision as those things hidden in the dark come into sight in the appropriate span of time. Yes indeed, this great metamorphosis is happening in the God ordained stages of transformation that will not stop until the designated image and likeness that we were made in comes into full light. The processing of the Lord allows us to learn the ways of the Lord throughout these stages, giving us moments of SELAH, pauses of contemplation upon what the Lord has done. Some have no concept of coming into something greater, something more glorious than where they presently are in their development in Christ. They are stunted in their spiritual growth, children that should be mature adults. Instead, they speak of things they know nothing about, just trying to sound spiritual and mysterious by expounding on delusionary ideas about their own divinity. This is what happens when one removes themselves from the process of change!

            To think that God does not treat full grown sons any differently than He does new born believers is to deny the very order of things in the natural, which are types of what is taking place in the spiritual realm. It can be hilarious to see a new pair of parents with their precious bundle of joy when it is a newborn. I have witnessed firsthand the wondrous amount of grace that is accorded to the newborn babe as it does those natural things that every baby does. Namely, poop and pee. This phenomenon is acted out throughout every culture and nation in the world today. We even go out and prepare for such an event in buying cartons of things called, "diapers." I have sat in a living room and watched as the parent picks the baby up and says something like this. "Oh, Oh! Do I smell something? Did you do a poo poo in your diapy? Did my little baby mess up its diapy? Aww. Let's go do something about that." Then, with a kiss on the cheek, the parent goes to the changing station and puts on a clean diaper. Amazingly, this scenario will be played out many times that day, without a hint of judgment, or wrath, or undue expectations on the baby. The child is living in a time of complete grace and love, is it not? No one could possibly expect more from him/her. But, hold on a minute. Fast forward about 7 years. Have Johnny/Joannie come plop on the lap of one of their parents with a load in their pants and see if grace is at hand! What changed? The babe came into a time of accountability, which dictated that he/she learn the proper way to dispose of such natural occurrences by taking a trip to the toilet. A change of order was instituted, based upon the growth and development of the child. Even so, grace still abides. Believe it or not, some children are born clumsy. Nothing personal, it is just a plain fact. So, before someone started inventing leak proof drinking glasses for children, across this great nation of ours, families would sit down for a nice, peaceful dinner and lo and behold, Johnnie,Joannie, would reach for a glass of their milk and somehow knock it nearly clean off the table, spilling the contents all over the table. After quite a bit of grousing and frustrated comments, the mess would be cleaned up and on with the dinner. Grace. I remember distinctly a time in my childhood when I myself displayed my natural clumsiness at our dinner table. It just so happened that on my dinner plate was a slice of liver, which I truly hated, but was required to eat. It just so happened, that when I reached for my glass, I accidentally spilled the entire contents directly into my plate, covering the slice of liver and the other items. For a brief second, I saw this as an act of providence, whereby now I could plainly see that the plate of food was ruined, hence that liver would never see the inside of my mouth. JOY! Until I saw the look on my father's face, which incredibly saw this act as a deliberate, staged event with the hopes of my not having to eat what I dearly hated. JUDGMENT! As much as I truly detested the taste of liver, I found out it tasted even worse with a glass of milk poured all over it. As I grew older, I learned that I had to be responsible for my actions, no matter how they were perceived, which caused me to hone my skills so that I stayed in right standing with not only my parents, but anyone that was in my presence. PROCESS OF CHANGE! Let us grow up into the stature of a fully grown, mature son of God and know that during this process, God will no longer be winking at our ignorance, but staring at us with expectations of a son indeed.

 

By Bob Torango

 

 

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