"The word of God must pierce us so that we know how to press on from the wilderness of the soul into the heavens and the most holy place of our spirit, where the fullness of Christ dwells! We must know how to bring our body and soul into the most holy place of the spirit so that the whole man may find blessed rest in the incorruptible life of God and in the blazing glory of His fullness. Only God can teach us this, and He does so as we sit at His feet in adoring submission! Flee, my brother, my sister, from the desolate wilderness of your soul as you would flee from a bear in the forest and you shall find blessed refuge in the promised land of the spirit, for there is a realm there, right within you, closer to you than the air you breathe, nearer to you than the heart that beats faithfully within your breast, more continuously available to you even than the blood coursing through your veins, a sacred place within your spirit where the things of earth do not rule or affect in any way, for Christ dwells there as LIFE, LIGHT, AND POWER!"
Much more in the link:
"While men and women remain bound by their church traditions, truth kept secret from the foundation of the world remains hidden to them. They read, but perceive nothing. Eyes they have, but they see not. Ears they have, but they hear not. Hearts they have, but they do not understand. Natural-minded men read of the “kings of the earth” and can only conceive of the outward and the literal. To them it bespeaks the actual kings, prime ministers, and presidents of the visible nations of earth. Though there is on one level a fulfillment in the outer world of appearance, the quickening of the spirit upon the truth so vital for God’s elect bids me look beyond the letter of the word, and receiving of the spirit of the word, and turning inwardly, we find that all that pertains to the kingdoms of this world lies within the heart of man, and there have been so many kings which have ruled within us, and as His kingdom unfurls its banner over our lives, these kings are subdued and brought to nought."
"There have been within all of us many usurping kings, possessed of the bestial spirit of this world, who are so very subtle, very powerful warriors, and very acute disputants. Each of us is like a huge, elaborate palace just full of these kings! Beloved! Examine yourself — do you not find this to be true? What mighty, powerful, persuasive, unwearied rulerships and dominions exercise their authorities within the courts of our souls and bodies, what strange, strong, and subtle reasonings are there? Insomuch that the old Adamic man carries all before him, and these lusts, these desires, these emotions, these imaginations, these reasonings, these habits, these religious inclinations, these compromises, these selfish and self-serving tendencies, these ruling kings of carnality bear away the day of it, and tread down all that stands in their way; by their false logic, their cunning sophistry, their deluding craftiness, and their powerful affection they run rough-shod over the voice of the spirit, over the word of God, over the ways of righteousness, and right over the revealed will of the Lord."
Larger study in the link:
"The ministers of God were not meant to be soothsayers but truth-sayers. We were not called to predict all the changing events in the kingdoms of this world, nor to be the heralds of a future antichrist, but to proclaim the ETERNAL PRESENT CHRIST. The book of Revelation is not primarily intended to teach world events. It is intended to teach the purposes of God and spiritual realities. The principal pictures deal with two churches — the true church and the false church — and the spiritual laws and activities represented by these two. The false church is "Mystery Babylon," the "scarlet-clad woman," who has apostatized from her true husband and is now committing fornication with the world. If she had not one time walked with Christ she would not be known as a "church," nor would her fling with the world constitute "fornication." What is a harlot? The harlot is a woman who sells that which is her characteristic honor and glory and lives in dissipation, a woman without honor, who lives in most intimate relation and intercourse with men outside of the sacred bond of marriage. In union with her many lovers this woman brings forth a vast company of harlot daughters like unto herself, filling the whole world with the filthiness and abominations of her lewdness and fornication. The true church is the "Heavenly Jerusalem," the "sun-clad woman," who brings forth a manchild who is destined to rule all nations with a rod of iron. These two churches are in the world together and the world cannot tell the difference, but the destiny of them is very different. Babylon is utterly destroyed, and the true church becomes a kingdom of priests, reigning with Christ over all things; the nations of them that are saved shall walk in its light and the kings of the whole earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Great is the mystery!"
Much more in the link:
"As we approach chapter seventeen of the Revelation the visions of John move rapidly toward a double climax. We are in the ascending foothills beyond which are the towering twin peaks of the Revelation — the fall of Mystery Babylon and the ascendancy of New Jerusalem. This seventeenth chapter has sometimes been called a "twisted rope" or a "tangled web," for there are many ambiguous, puzzling, and somewhat perplexing and bewildering scenes which seem beyond comprehension or understanding. However, we will not find the chapter too difficult if we proceed with patience and holy waiting upon the Spirit of Truth to quicken our hearts and enlighten our minds with that wisdom which is from above. Let us pray for the spirit of understanding to understand that which is written for our blessing and edification!"
"No word given to a prophet from the Lord by the Holy Spirit can be truthfully understood or interpreted unless the same spiritual understanding is given to the reader by the Holy Spirit that gave it originally to the prophet. God’s elect in this hour is being given the ability to "Hear what the Spirit saith," and it is the same anointing wherein it was spoken and written. The book of Revelation, like any other part of the scriptures and prophecies, must be "spiritually" understood. Understanding came to the disciples of Jesus when He "opened unto them the scriptures." Before that their natural understanding was unfruitful. They didn’t have a clue! They read all the scriptures and never saw Jesus there until He "opened" the scriptures to them. And it wasn’t a doctrine that He shared with them, it was spiritual illumination that burst forth within their hearts!"
"We must remember that what John is writing is prophecy, and prophecy is not merely history written beforehand. The prophet’s distinguishing characteristic is not foresight but insight. He peers behind the appearance of things to the spiritual realities they represent and he announces the things that he sees in the most vivid and arresting ways as they are communicated to him in signs and symbols. This does often involve prediction as to the future yet the vindication of the truth of his message does not lie in the exact correspondence of event with prediction but in the true apprehension of the eternal principles and spiritual realities revealed therein. O that the saints of the Lord might see that the value of any prophecy of scripture does not lie in the ability of the prophet to forecast the future, but in the insight it shows into the purposes of God and the power it has to quicken discernment and understanding in the spiritual realities of the kingdom of God."
Much more in the link:
"The previous bowls have been poured out upon the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains, the sun, the throne of the beast, and the great river Euphrates. This, the last and greatest, is poured into the air; and immediately there is heard a voice out of the temple in heaven, proclaiming, "It is done!" What, then, is symbolized by the plague poured into the air? Of what is the "air" the emblem? In the Revelation the whole of nature is used as a great complex parable or symbol. What does the atmosphere especially signify? And the answer is not difficult. If earth, sea, rivers, fountains, the sun, a throne, etc., denote manifest spiritual realities, the air obviously would symbolize an invisible spiritual realm. And here we are helped by sundry hints of scripture usage."
Much more in the text:
"Our text reveals two significant truths. First, the battle of Armageddon is fought for the destruction of Babylon. Second, in this battle the Lord comes upon Babylon as a thief. He comes in a spiritual visitation of judgment to strip and purge from His people in Babylon the death of the carnal mind; those outer, earthly things they cherish above the spirit and truth and glory of Christ. That is what a thief does -- he plunders the house, carrying off those things treasured by the householder! He appears as a thief in the night, and there have often been times in the lives of all of God's called and chosen elect when He has stolen out of the dark hour of our ignorance some carnal concept, some religious tradition, some perverted doctrine, some Babylonish garment of exquisite design that we have hidden in our tent of experience. Ah, we must stay awake to joyfully receive Him in His coming to us, His appearing in us; if we fail to do so He will come like a thief, He will come into our world uninvited and unannounced, He will overtake us unexpectedly and break up our life style and smash our religious games, exposing our pretense. Those who are awake to reality do not have their houses plundered. These willingly yield up the things they once prized, which now are counted but dung that they might win Christ."
Much more in the text:
"God’s people are still prone to think with carnal minds. When they read in the prophecies of the Bible about the gathering of kings unto battle, and the fighting of great wars, immediately their attention is focused on world events rather than on the things of God. This fallacy-ridden practice has given rise to what has been rightly termed “newspaper eschatology” — studying current events in the arena of “this present evil world” rather than searching the mind of the Spirit for the wisdom and understanding God gives of the true thing He is doing in the earth by His Spirit! The work of God is not currently outside of us, not out there in the world of darkness with all of its plans and efforts and shamefully fleshly activities and wicked schemes. The work of God is within His people! “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Sons of God do not derive their theology from the newspapers nor the television news casts. What you read and hear there is not what God is doing! Nor is it what God is talking about! That is not where God’s work is seen! Nor is that what God is concerned with! The Holy Spirit of God has not come within us to show us what the world system is up to — He has come to “take the things of Christ and show them unto us!”
Much more in the link:
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6)
"You will understand a great mystery when you see that in the book of Revelation we are shown two sets of spirits which are sent forth into the same areas and seek to control the same territory — the “seven spirits of God” and the “three spirits of devils”! Right here lies the cause of the great battle within! The seven spirits of God signify the fullness of the spirit of the Lord raised up within God’s people. This seven-fold spirit is raised up to subdue, reconcile, and redeem the whole man — spirit, soul, and body. Thus we read that the seven spirits are “sent forth into all the earth” — truly into all the earth that we are, as well as into all the earth-realm where the Lord’s people dwell!"
Much more in the link:
"From the greatness of the crisis and the solemnity of the warning, these emissaries must be creatures of awesome power. Yet they seem unaccountably crude, uncouth, and unseemly. They surprise us. “Frogs!” we exclaim, “heralds of battle? Ambassadors to kings? Impossible! Absurd! Ridiculous!” The crisis is the greatest in the annals of war. It is referred to in scripture, as well as in our text, as “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” It is portrayed as a World War, a Universal Conflict. And yet — to assemble the militant nations — three slimy batrachian monsters! What are these “questionable shapes,” these disgusting amphibia, from the swamps and mud of dried-up Euphrates? John describes them as “unclean spirits,” they are “demons,” or dead men. What we see in the vision is three ghostly emissaries, one out of the mouth of each of the confederates, the dragon, the wild beast, and the false prophet — gigantic shadowy frogs, croaking night prowlers, cold-blooded reptiles dwelling in marshes, quagmires, and stagnant waters, with their spotted skin, their sprawling limbs, their agile leap, their dismal croakings filling the night with noise. They are as politicians, these masqueraders, at home in the slimy pool, in the gooey mud, in the air or on solid ground; noisome, repulsive, abhorrent. Of what are these cheap orators, these uncanny imposters the emblem?"
Much more in the text:
"Among the very instructive and deeply significant illustrations given by the Holy Spirit in the visions of John we have the beautiful presentation of the conquest of Babylon by the “kings of the east.” The historical backdrop is, of course, the conquest of ancient Babylon by the two kings from the east, Cyrus of Persia and Darius of Media. In the book of Revelation we first meet these “kings of the east” at the time of their anointing as kings in chapter seven. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal (kingly authority) of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev. 7:2-3)."
"John is still wondering what the four angels holding the four winds can mean when he sees the four mighty sentinels all at once turn their eyes to the east. And behold, another messenger comes ascending out of the east as the morning sun comes, announcing God’s new day. He comes clothed with light as with a garment; the widespread earth shines bright under his glory; and his voice is as the sound of many waters. The ascending messenger holds in his hand the seal of the living God! And, addressing himself to the four mighty sentinels, he speaks to them with a voice that they hear above all the commotions that arise from the earth, and the tempests that rage in the sea, saying to them that they are commanded not to hurt the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until “we” have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
Much more in the link:
Revelation 16:5-7 "And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord…because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments"
"This is the only place in the Revelation where the altar is said to speak, though we have heard before of a voice from the horns of the altar (Rev. 9:13). In Revelation 8:5 we find the altar connected with the prayers of the saints, and as a result of their prayers fire is taken from off the altar and cast into the earth. The fire is a symbol of purging and purification, and the voice from the horns of the altar comes also as a result of the prayers of God’s elect and releases a mighty deliverance in the lives of God’s called and chosen remnant. Here in our text the altar is emphasizing that God’s judgments in the midst of His people are true and righteous, that is, they are just and purposeful. The message is just this — God is doing what He has to do in order to correct what is wrong in His people, and what He does is just and redemptive, bringing deliverance and restoration."
"Another strange statement is that because they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, God is giving them blood to drink: for they are worthy. That last phrase simply means "for they deserve it!" We don’t like to think of God giving people what they deserve, but in this case that is exactly what He is doing. Shed blood signifies death. That is what they deserve to drink, death to themselves. The reference is to the fact that the church systems have slain, both figuratively and literally, the righteous men and prophets sent to speak the words of God to them through the ages. Thousands have been the martyrs slain by the church systems in ages past and even in recent times! They chose to drink from the human sources of this old world. Thus they wickedly rejected the living streams of water flowing out from God’s chosen vessels! So now He is causing them to drink a full dose of the death they have chosen! Let them drink blood! Oh, yes! They deserve it! It is not vindictiveness — it is correction! The Spirit is revealing to them the awful depths of the death that flows in the streams of man! And it is for their good, for their deliverance, and ultimate perfection!"
Much more in the link:
"I received a letter from New York while sojourning in Florida which contained the following: ‘The report has gone around that you died last week. Of course we know it is not true, but how do these things get started?’ I had to reply to this letter somewhat after the following manner, ‘In the language of Mark Twain I must say that the report of my death is greatly exaggerated — and yet somehow or other the same report is true.’ The offices of death are many. According to the apostle Paul, death is one of the most helpful and necessary things that can be performed. He advised the habit of ‘dying daily,’ and this prefaced the glorious possibility of being born daily also! There is something back of the ‘idea’ of death which is replete with substance for meditation."
"When you die to anything you are through with it. Just as in the relative sense of the word when a man dies he is immediately separated from all his possessions; good, bad, or indifferent. His debts are cancelled so far as he is concerned. His estate is disintegrated almost immediately, and no longer is attached to him. Like a cloud of dust in a hurricane, his entire affairs are scattered in all directions. Not understanding Life, the greatest enemy is death. It deprives Life of its manifestation. When Jesus became conscious of Life, He could pass in and out of the shadow called death almost as if passing through a purifying fire. When He arose from physical death, even His disciples did not recognize Him until He allowed Himself to take on enough of the former form, to which He had died, for them to do so. All along the way to Emmaus, they could not distinguish the man with whom they had been for three years. ‘I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again.’ And He took it up on a higher plane!"
"When the eagle is born or hatched, it means death to a thing or state of things called ‘egg’ — and in this new process it is impossible to carry any of the old estate with you. Many are seeking the new birth, but they do not want to go through death to get it. In other words, they want to hold on to old stages of development, and at the same time try to express new capacities. It is quite as impossible for a caterpillar to fly as it is for an egg; both must perform the death upon the thing of which they want to be rid, and re-embody themselves with the new reality, before they can attain the expression they are seeking. When you learn the proper interpretation of the word ‘death’ you will see that it becomes a friend (O death, where is thy sting?), for it is a cleansing, liberating process. It is a letting go completely and ascending to a place where the former things cannot enter in, and have nothing whatsoever to do with the present manifestation. Instead of getting rid of things temporarily, man dies completely to the idea of its manifestation. In the new place he finds himself as incapable of experiencing his former limitations as an eagle flying over the abyss would have in experiencing the cramped quarters of the eggshell from which it evolved."
"A tiny plant starts from its cell and the seed dies. It pushes forth a bud, the flower comes, and the scales or outer leaves die, and the flower is born. The fruit pushes out into manifestation and the flower dies, and so it goes ever onward and upward into the more glorious manifestation of Life here and now. The never-ending merging into new and lovelier states takes place when what you have been and have obtained is ready to die, and when the ‘last enemy’ has become a friend and thus the ‘sting’ has been taken from it. The offices of death are oblivion to that which is outgrown and of no further use. If you have not already died to much of the conscious thinking of yester-years, you are suffering from arrested or retarded mental development. If you have not died to many of your previous stages of development and former states-of-being, then your growth is indeed stunted and you are a spiritual dwarf. And so death, when properly understood, becomes the friendly enemy. It is that which throws a veil of oblivion to outgrown states and cast-off limitations and causes the Magdalene to look about and see that she has no accusers. Suddenly she is dead to the thing called harlot and all that has gone with it, and she is born at the same instant to something that cannot experience or even understand the former state of things. The friendly enemy has released her!"
Much more in the text:
"The Revelation is obviously not a prose composition. It is a drama, a moving picture of the unfolding kingdom of Christ in a world of carnality, sin, and death — a picture taken not with a cinematograph, but with the camera of divine revelation. Again and again throughout the book of Revelation we have noted that the vast majority of the events portrayed in the visions of John takes place in one of three realms — heaven, earth, or sea. These, of course, are not the literal, outer heavens of the universe, nor the physical planet earth, nor the actual seas of water. As we know, these symbolize three realms of life through when we pass on our journey from the depths of the kingdom of darkness unto the heights of the kingdom of life and light in Christ. As the voice from heaven declared, "Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you…" (Rev. 12:12)."
Much more in the text:
"Man has been trying to understand the book of Revelation for two thousand years and the reason so few understood is because they applied the natural, carnal mind to it. They tried by human reasoning to analyze it, work it out, and make it fit some events in the outer world, past, present, or imagined future. Throughout the centuries of history since John penned his words on Patmos men have made the visions of the book “fit” with just about everything there is in the world. Some supposed that it applied to events in Israel and the Roman Empire in the days of the early church, climaxing with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish temple, and the priesthood in A.D. 70, followed by the gospel spreading throughout the earth. Martin Luther made the book fit the events of his day. Emanuel Swedenborg applied the book to events of his day. The Seventh Day Adventists' interpreted the book in the light of events of their early days. Charles T. Russell found the great world-shaking events leading up to and including the First World War in the Revelation. When I was a child, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, the Pope, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan were believed to be, in differing interpretations, the beast, the false prophet, or the image of the beast. In this view the book of Revelation was being fulfilled by these world leaders and the events they precipitated, they were going to take over the world, and if you did not take the mark of the beast which they would impose, you would be killed. And in our day people are literally sitting on the edge of their seats, listening to prophecy teachers, reading news magazines, watching CNN and Fox News, expecting the book of Revelation to fit the dramatic events unfolding before our very own eyes. I am confident in saying, however, that all these prognosticators, prophecy mongers, and eschatological soothsayers will be just as disappointed and disillusioned, when proven wrong, as were all the other commentators throughout the centuries!"
Much more in the link:
"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God…and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever."
"When our spiritual mind comprehends that God has entered into a living covenant with all His people, then we are able to understand clearly why God would send His seven-angels-ministry to pour out the vials of plagues upon His people. We are living in the hour when God has a controversy with His people because they are not keeping the covenant! He is leading, but they are not following! He is speaking, but they are not listening! He is calling, but they are not responding! He has redeemed them for a high and holy purpose, but they have other plans. They expect to be blessed, but they are not obedient. They are living far beneath their privileges as the people of God, they have polluted the sanctuary, they have walked after the flesh instead of the spirit, they have mistaken the soulical for the spiritual, and have preferred religion over reality."
Much more in the link:
"When Israel, standing on the banks of the Red Sea, looked back and saw their old masters dead upon the shore, their hearts thrilled with joy and the sands of the desert vibrated and re-vibrated as Moses led in the song of victory and deliverance. The allusion here is to the Israelites of old who, after having passed through the Red Sea dry shod, thus securing perfect and blessed deliverance from the bestial system of Egypt, stood upon the shore singing the song of Moses, Miriam and the women playing their tumbrels, while their enemies with their chariots and their chosen captains perished in the waters (Exodus 15)."
"Here is another sea — a sea of glass and fire. Here is another company, standing on another shore, that has won the victory over its enemies. Who might this company be? What might be the sea upon whose shore they sing the song of triumph and praise to their Lord and Deliverer? Methinks I have stood upon that very shore. As surely as the raging sea bespeaks multitudes of surging, clamoring, restless, sinning humanity, so does the exquisite sea of glass represent an assembled throng of transformed saints in whose hearts the spirit of the Lamb rules. This great sea of the sons of God is calm, serene, tranquil, and quiet — the bestial nature has been dealt with and these abide in the peace, joy, righteousness, and power of the kingdom of God. Ah, yes, I have stood upon that shore, yea, and do stand with an innumerable company of men and women whose faces are set and whose hearts are fixed to do only and completely the will of the Father. These are they who live and walk in the Spirit, the firstborn-destined who are being delivered from the power of the beast. The glassy sea is here mingled with fire — the fiery trials and processings by which the Father purifies His sons, sharpening their vision, whetting the appetite for things eternal and heavenly, slackening the desire for all that is earthly and worldly."
Much more in the link:
"We are inclined to lightly pass over many profound statements of truth in the word of God. In glorious rapture John beheld the awe-inspiring scene of the sea of glass mingled with fire, and that illustrious company of “them that come off victorious,” or literally in the Greek text, “those conquering away from” the beast...."
Much more in the text:
"All who attain to the heights in God are moved to climb the steep and winding path that leads from the valley of the shadow of death to the everlasting heights of divine life and nature. As we scale the heights of mount Zion we become what we seek! We shall never enter upon the realization of any reality which is external to ourselves. Knowing is being, and apart from being there is no knowing of the things of God! Only those who can stand upon the glassy sea, are those who walk in the spirit and come off victorious in the conflict with the beast of the flesh and the carnal mind. That means waging war with the foul and degrading desires of the flesh and the deceptive illusions of the old Adamic mind — even the "good" religious mind! When the sea waves toss your little ship to and fro in the storms of life, lift up your eyes to the throne in the midst of which is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Understand that that throne is here now — the power and dominion of the Christ within ourselves is strong and mighty enough to cause us to enter into our full heritage in God! To follow Jesus to the heights of victory; to be privileged to gaze upon that infinite crystal sea, the manifested life, light, love, righteousness, and power of Christ in our very own spirits, is the vision John saw and has shared with us. The reality is far greater than the symbol!"
Much more in the link:
"Just as in Revelation 14:8 we read, in connection with Mystery Babylon, of "the wrath of her fornication," the Greek word for "wrath" here, as mentioned previously, is thumos meaning, according to Strong’s Concordance, "breathing hard, passion." That certainly sheds light upon the expression "the wrath of her fornication," for there is no "wrath" suggested in the act of fornication. A man and woman who are having a fling, or a prostitute who has been paid for her services, do not engage in wrath — rage, violence, revenge, vengeance, punishment — while they are fornicating! Oh, no! But they certainly are in the fever heat of passion! Thus, the passage should read, "…she made all nations to drink of the passion of her fornication" rather than "the wrath of her fornication." This fact alone should settle once and for all the real meaning of the Greek word thumos. So it is clear that God’s "wrath." as revealed in the book of Revelation, has to do with His passion, or feeling very strongly about something. It is illuminating that in Revelation 14:10 we find that God’s disobedient children, who ignore the wooing of His Spirit and resist His hand of dealing, are made to drink "the wine of the passion of God." Anyone knows that wine inflames the passions, but does not generally invoke wrath. Can we not see by this that God’s wrath or passion is not that which is vindictive and vengeful, but rather that which is impassioned, fervent, zealous, enlivened, glowing, vigorous, intense, burning, determined, and dynamic!"
Much more in the link:
"This brings us to a statement over which multitudes have stumbled: concerning the blood flowing out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, for a distance of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. This is a scary scene for those who think this is literal or that there is a literal battle of Armageddon with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, horses, and rivers of blood flowing. Men who persist in teaching that this is a literal scene should stop to consider all the facts involved in what the prophet saw. We have a description of the harvest and vintage of the earth. No man can maintain other than that these are a figurative harvest and vintage of the earth, to be followed by the great spiritual feast of Tabernacles. Even the so-called “literalists” are not literal in this respect, for they don’t view it as a natural harvest or vintage of grain and grapes! We also find the reapers with sickles, gathering the clusters of the vine, whose grapes are fully ripe. No man can maintain that these are literal sickles, literal vines, and literal grapes! The grapes were cast into the winepress of the passion of God. However one interprets the scene, that winepress is not a literal winepress. No sane man can dispute these statements. Neither is the treading a literal treading. And yet in view of all these facts unspiritual men maintain that the balance of the prophecy has to be fulfilled literally, they doggedly persist in alleging, against all reason, that the predictions concerning blood, and horses, and bridles, and the sixteen hundred furlongs, must be fulfilled literally! In their folly they refuse to believe that this scripture is fulfilled unless it can be shown that such an impossible event has actually been seen by man!"
Much more on blood and wine in the link:
"sister Dora Van Assen. Many years ago she wrote, “What is the chaff to the wheat? ‘Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire’ (Mat. 3:12). ‘Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn’ (Mat. 13:30)."
"For years I read eternal torment into the foregoing scriptures. I had the wheat as all the saved people taken to heaven, the chaff and tares as all the unsaved people put in hell to be burned with a literal unquenchable fire; until God spoke to my heart saying: ‘You cannot have wheat without chaff, for it takes the chaff to hold the wheat until it is fully matured, and only then can it be threshed, removing the chaff without damaging the seed of life. So this is done at the end of the harvest when the seed is fully grown.’ Thus God gradually began to open my eyes to see that the chaff and the wheat were both in my own self; that my natural Adam nature or human identity was the chaff encasing the wheat, the very life-seed of Christ; that I was being born of an incorruptible seed, and that seed is Christ in me, the hope of glory. These scriptural concepts began to take on new meaning in a most wonderful way!"
“I then began to see that it is first the natural and then the spiritual (I Cor. 15:44-46); that without the natural we could not contain the spiritual. We are an earthen vessel holding a ‘treasure’ which is the very excellency of God (II Cor. 4:7). Be glad, therefore, for this natural creation because out of it God brings forth a NEW CREATION! If the chaff is removed before the wheat is mature, it will do damage to the wheat. It is needed to hold the wheat as it passes from the milk stage into the fully hardened and mature stage, where it can be removed from the chaff without harming the wheat in any way. Then the wheat is placed in the barn and the chaff is burned. Today in this enlightened age, even the chaff has many useful purposes, but in ancient times it was simply disposed of by fire. There is absolutely no waste in the economy of God! The prophet inquired, ‘What is the chaff to the wheat?’ (Jer. 23:28). Praise God, it is the super-structure, scaffolding, or encasement which covers and holds the wheat intact as it grows into the very likeness of the One who planted it within. All seed brings forth after its own kind. So, Christ shall see His seed and be satisfied when it comes into His own image and likeness!"
The entire in the link:
"What is the harvest? The vast majority of Bible commentators say that it is God’s wrath and judgment upon the nations. Generally they refer to the “blood flowing even unto the horses’ bridles” as the portrayal of horrid war and great massacre. I have no hesitation whatever in telling you that the harvest is not a work of judgment! That is proved by its being the same in kind as the firstfruits which have preceded it! Such as the firstfruits are, such is the harvest. Let me explain."
"The picture in the first part of chapter fourteen of the Revelation is that of the Lamb upon mount Zion and the one hundred and forty-four thousand with Him. As John beholds the scene, he is told that the 144,000 upon mount Zion are those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, who have the Father’s name written on their foreheads, and they are redeemed from among men, being the FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb. The term “firstfruits” is drawn from the well-known offering of “firstfruits” under the Old Testament law of Israel, in which the first portion of any harvest was gathered prior to the full harvest and dedicated to God, in token that the whole belonged to Him, and was recognized as His. These firstfruits were chosen because they were the very first of the grain in the field to ripen. Hence it always implies that something of the same kind will follow it. If there was a field of wheat, the firstfruits, the very first of the ripened grain, would be offered up to God, following which the entire field of wheat would eventually come to the same condition of maturity, though not offered up to God in the same special way for His unique purpose. Thus, the 144,000 are the firstfruits of God’s redemption, the very first of all the Lord’s people to enter into full and complete redemption in spirit, soul, and body, and into the full likeness, image, and stature of Jesus Christ as sons of the Father! Many have supposed that the manifest sons of God are to be eternally unique, different from all the rest of God’s people. But such cannot be! The firstfruits are not firstfruits because they are different, nor because they are better; they are firstfruits simply because they are FIRST!"
Much more in the link:
"Earlier in chapter fourteen we met three angels, each bearing a message to the inhabitants of the earth-realm. Another angel now appears, the first of a second series of three, and styled “another,” not by comparison with Him who sits upon the white cloud, but by comparison with the three angels previously spoken of in the sixth, eighth, and ninth verses of the chapter. He is called an “angel” with reference to his mission, not with reference to his nature. He is not a shining personage with wings flying through the atmosphere. The symbol stands for the issuing forth of the word of God. Each messenger represents the coming forth of a powerful proclamation of the Spirit! This angel, or messenger, is said to come out from the temple — that is, out of the naos, out of the innermost shrine of the temple, the most holy place; out from the deepest depths of the divine spirit, and out from the manifest presence of the Lord in the temple of His body — and this truth is important, for it shows that this is a message, a word, a revelation, a proclamation coming forth right out of the heart of God in His called and chosen elect. This word is as a prayer, as a prophecy, as a mighty declaration by the Spirit unto the Lord Jesus Himself, just as one might speak by the Spirit on behalf of a sick man and command, “Lord Jesus, heal him!” Only this command to the Lord is thus: “Send forth Thy sickle and reap… for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” Is not this the very fulfillment of the instructions the Lord Himself has given us — “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: PRAY ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that HE would send forth laborers into His harvest” (Lk. 10:2). "
Much more in the link:
"When our Lord spoke of the Kingdom of God He said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus had just told His disciples where the Kingdom is and how the Kingdom does not come. Before you can ever see the Kingdom you have to know how it’s not coming — because the first thing we try to do is build it by the natural. The spirit of wisdom and understanding from God must deliver us from our confusion about how the Kingdom of God comes. It cannot be established by force. It cannot be established by law. It will never be established by any kind of political action. It is impossible for it to be established by the will, efforts, or programs of men or of governments."
This is a long study here is the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Kingdom16.html
My wife and I have been reading this together, she reads and I listen. Some of the truths in this study are hard to study, unless you've been readied, I believe the Lord has been readying many, enjoy.
"It is when we come to the prophecies concerning the Son of man coming in His kingdom that we see a distinct difference! For suddenly in addition to one cloud we are introduced to a plurality of clouds! Let us see! Christ departed this earth in one cloud. He comes again in many clouds! It was the blessed seer of Patmos who announced: “Behold, He cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7). Daniel in vision beheld Him thus: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like a Son of man came with the clouds of heaven…and there was given unto Him dominion” (Dan. 7:13-14). Jesus Himself prophesied, “And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat. 24:30). And again, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mat. 26:64). Finally, the apostle Paul relates this dramatic experience: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds…and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thes. 4:17). In the CLOUDS! More than one cloud. Many clouds. A great company of clouds!"
"Why are there many clouds attending Christ’s coming in the fullness of His kingdom, and what are these clouds? Let us not forget for one moment that we are dealing with the cloud of God’s glory, presence, and power — the Shekinah — the cloud of His “dwelling.” When the firstborn Son of God was in the world John said of Him, “We beheld His glory” (Jn. 1:14). Peter reveals to us what is really meant by their beholding the glory of the Son. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory (out of the glory cloud), saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount” (II Pet. 1:16-18). Ah, it is clear — the glory cloud that enveloped Jesus and His disciples upon the holy mount was the glory of HIS manifest sonship! “This is my beloved SON.”
Much more in the link: