The Third Day

 

Chapter Three

 

Coming Into Perfection

 

 

The THIRD DAY has nothing to do with LAW or the Old Covenant. Jesus said, "I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, AND THE THIRD DAY I AM PERFECTED." Sickness is not a REALITY except to those who are still living out of the Adamic mind. For if Christ is my LIFE, HOW CAN I BE SICK? Likewise "demons" have no reality but are the product of the carnal mind. However, because these things have been the plague of mankind through their ignorance of truth God HAS GRACIOUSLY MINISTERED TO THEIR AFFLICTION.

 

NOW as we come to the THIRD DAY we are discovering that there is not very much healing taking place in the Church, as in the days of the Pentecostal revival or the Charismatic renewal. In every Church we find sickness and other problems everywhere. Has God forgotten his people? NO, but he is causing us to GROW UP and not remain as babes. Remember, Jesus said in Luke 13:32,

 

‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will be perfected.’

 

 "On the THIRD DAY he would be PERFECTED."  This day beloved is the day of our PERFECTING. 

 

In the early New Testament Church the saints were told they would lay hands on the sick and they would recover, and they DID. They were told if any body was sick they could call for the elders of the Church who would pray for them and they would be healed. That was the ORDER for the first TWO DAYS, but this is the THIRD day. This is the reason why so many today among God’s people have cancer and heart attacks, and are dying of so many maladies.

 

Many Bible teachers and Church leaders are depriving God’s people of their inheritance in Christ by denying them access to the TRUTH, because it is contrary to their theology which keeps the people totally dependant upon them. The third day is the day of our liberation from all bondage to men, and the issues that are the product of the carnal mind.

 

You may be shocked to know that JESUS NEVER HEALED ANYONE. Healing is counteracting the virus or bacteria that is affecting the human body, causing sickness. In the case of the man with the withered arm tell me what medical intervention took place in his "healing?" What did Jesus DO to the arm or the man? The answer is nothing. Jesus simply SAID something, "STRETCH FORTH YOUR ARM," and immediately he stretched out his arm. Can we honestly call that healing as we understand healing today? NO.

 

A man lay at the pool of Bethesda for 38years, hoping one day to be made whole. Jesus came to him and said, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The man answered, "Sir I have no man when the waters are springing up, to throw me in." Jesus said to him, "RISE, TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK." Jesus never rebuked any bacteria or disease causing germs, but simply said, take up your bed and go home. Can you see what I am trying to say? Jesus never healed anyone, but what he did was to SPEAK A WORD into their SPIRIT that caused the body to respond.

 

If CHRIST is your LIFE and dwells within you, you do not need to find someone to pray for you to be healed. Paul said "if that SAME SPIRIT of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwell IN YOU, he shall quicken or make alive your mortal body by HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLS IN YOU." Rom 8:11. Jesus himself said, "If any man thirst (has a need) let him COME TO ME AND DRINK, (he dwells within you) and out of his INNERMOST BEING (the MOST HOLY PLACE WITHIN YOU) shall flow rivers of L-I-F-E." Jn 7:37-38.

 

On the THIRD DAY I shall be perfected. This word means to be totally complete or WHOLE. Can you imagine any thing that you may have need of that could not be supplied by the indwelling Christ who made all things. In Christ’s ministry healing was simply the voice of authority that spoke into the spirit commanding them to do what they could not believe themselves they were capable of doing. Much of the "healings" we have witnessed in the past I believe were psychosomatic. However as the darkness of the Adamic mind regained its authority the problem often returned in a week or two, or was transferred to another part of the body.

 

The medical profession recognises that a very large proportion of sickness is psychosomatic, or has its basis in the MIND, that in turn produces the affect in the body. This is not confined to those who do not claim to know Christ, but applies equally to those who claim to be Christians. The mind is very powerful and its effect can be either positive or negative. For this reason our transformation under the hand of God requires our MIND to be RENEWED by the Holy Spirit. The carnal mind has no capacity to embrace the reality of our IDENTITY and ORIGIN.

 

For this reason Paul instructs us (that is you and me) to,

 

"Let this MIND be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God thought it not a thing to be grasped at, to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil 2:5-9

 

The renewing of the mind is not simply changing our mind about certain facts. It is not just believing different or new doctrines, but THE MIND OF CHRIST. It is a mind that is birthed in the realm of heaven or Spirit, and is certainly a part of being BORN FROM ABOVE, that Jesus spoke about. It is programmed by SPIRIT and not by mortal humanity. The MIND together with the EMOTIONS and the WILL form the basis not only of what we know as knowledge, but also control the reasoning behind our actions, and the way in which we interpret and live LIFE itself. The difference between the SOULISH MAN and the SPIRITUAL MAN is the difference between the ADAMIC MIND, and the MIND OF CHRIST.

 

In this THIRD DAY the RENEWED MIND rejoices in the fulfilling of the will and purpose of God in the MAN that was created in the beginning. God said, "Let us make MAN IN OUR IMAGE and AFTER OUR LIKENESS, and let them have DOMINION.." The religious mind today mimicks the pharisees of Jesus Day, calling it blasphemy that A MAN ( for that is what JESUS WAS, flesh and blood) could claim that I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE. Many preachers have told me it is heresy to suggest WE ARE GODS! Well beloved if Jesus said that is what we are, then I am going to believe HIM. Jn 10:30-38.

 

The natural mind is so immersed in the LAW of the Old Testament involving S-I-N and its consequences, that GRACE is not allowed to function in reality. What did the Psalmist mean when he said, "I have said YE ARE GODS and all of you are children of the MOST HIGH GOD." Psalm 82 :6 Did he mean what the natural mind THINKS he is saying, that now we do not have ONE GOD, but thousands of Gods? That is childish thinking. GOD IS SPIRIT and the only origin from which all LIFE comes. If that SAME SPIRIT that raised Christ from the dead DWELLS IN ME, then GOD MUST DWELL IN ME. If GOD DWELLS IN ME then the Psalmist was correct when he stated, "I SAID YE ARE GODS." Can you separate my spirit from me? NO a thousand times NO! Then how can anyone argue with me that "I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE." Only the ignorant carnal mind would run the streets shouting, "I AM GOD." Because what people are looking at is simply the BODY and GOD IS NOT A MAN WITH A BODY!! The GOD in me is invisible to all except those who have spiritual vision, and there is no need to tell them God dwells in me.

 

Does this mean that I TAKE THE PLACE OF GOD? Absolutely NOT, for GOD remains GOD in me in you in all of creation and he changes NOT. Tell me, if I was born of a PRINCE would I not be a PRINCE? What did Prince Charles have to do to become a PRINCE? The answer is NOTHING, because he is BORN OF ROYALTY. I AM BORN OF GOD, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS therefore I MUST BE in the reality of my being, (that is SPIRIT) WHAT EVER MY FATHER IS, and that is GOD. However we are predestined to be conformed to the IMAGE OF HIS SON, who was born of a woman. So through the renewing of our mind we also will bear the IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY, in these bodies of ours, and in this we will manifest the Glory of God.

 

Jesus as the pattern son never ONCE told anyone that HE IS GOD!! His only claim before man was that he was a SON OF GOD. Yet IN HIM dwelt all the fullness of the GOD HEAD BODILY. The mind of Christ caused him to make himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Just because there are people with darkened minds that read these truths and make a fool of themselves by telling everyone they are GOD, does not make these things untrue. I believe there are thousands of people today telling everyone they are Christians and been baptised in the Spirit, who have never touched reality in God. Of these, many who have cast out demons and prophesied and done many wonderful works, will hear the LORD say, "I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from me ye workers of iniquity." Matt 7:21-23.

 

Religious people do not get upset with those people, nor do they suggest we do not tell people about salvation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, because it may be dangerous, and they might get the wrong idea. Beloved, Judgement is beginning at the house of God, and we will see many fall by the wayside as the Lord sorts out the MIXED MULTITUDE, who will not be a part of those who are being CALLED OUT from the darkness and death of the carnal mind. It is the TRUTH that will MAKE US FREE. So few of God’s people have ever understood what is the plan and purpose of God for us today. Orthodox theology has devised its own agenda, then attributing it to God. It says we should accept Christ as our Savior and go to Church, read our Bible, and wait for the MAN JESUS to come from the sky and lift us off planet earth, while God pours terrible judgements upon those left behind.

 

No wonder God’s people live with the fear of death and impending doom, being subject to every disaster, sickness, plague or ungodly behavior that besets mankind. Christian marriages are disintegrating, their children often caught up in drugs, alcohol and promiscuous behavior. Society no longer looks to the Church as having the answer to mankind’s need, and so heathen religions are growing even in Australia at an alarming rate.

 

Jesus prayed,

 

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

 

I suggest you read those verses again thoughtfully, for here is the heart of God revealed concerning us today. This is exactly what is happening today in the world. First of all he prayed that we all may be ONE, not just with one another but also with HIMSELF. Christendom has never seen unity in 2000 years of history. Even in the New Testament Church, in Corinth the people were divided following different leaders.

 

It is fair to say the Church is the most divided community on the earth. It is divided by doctrines, methodology and moral stances particularly. Each Church believes it has the Truth which is the reason they have to exist. The world economy has grown rich through the millions of dollars spent on the building of Cathedrals, Temples, Church buildings, and other construction work associated with Church enterprises. Even in third world countries today we can see the Church spending vast amounts of money on buildings that are simply monuments representing the ego of their leaders.

 

Jesus never built a building nor did he ask his disciples to do so. When Jesus was shown the Temple in Jerusalem by the disciples, he said, "There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matt 24:2. When asked by the Jews for his authority to clean out the Temple, he said, "DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, and in three days I will raise it up." However he was not speaking of any material temple, but he spoke of the TEMPLE WHICH IS HIS BODY." John 2:19-21.

 

The Father’s heart for his people is that they be ONE. In the natural this would have to be the impossible dream. I have not yet seen ONENESS even within individual Churches, let alone between Churches. O yes, they do have "combined meetings" at times but this falls far short of the union Jesus spoke about. The big question is, "How can God’s people become O-N-E?" Far from encouraging oneness, the Churches actually divide Christians by making DOCTRINE the basis of fellowship. The Apostle John said the basis of fellowship was the sharing of that which they had HEARD, and SEEN, and their hands had handled of the WORD OF LIFE. Those are the things that we declare unto you, so that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the FATHER and with HIS SON JESUS CHRIST.

 

How rare would such fellowship be today when Christians came together to share with one another the things they had SEEN and HEARD and touched concerning Jesus Christ in their own personal lives. Jesus said, "If two or three are gathered together IN MY NAME, I AM THERE in your midst." Matt 18:20. What a contrast this is to a hundred or a thousand people coming together to follow an order of service and listen to a man preach a sermon. Where is the personal participation of God’s people sharing together their own personal experiences with Christ, and what he has been saying to them in their daily lives. We have lost almost completely the true concept of FELLOWSHIP.

 

The majority have failed to touch reality in God in their daily lives, so they really have nothing from God to share with anyone else. With such a person it is not possible to FELLOWSHIP. Why is it that when you meet a another Christian, so often they will talk about their job their family or the weather, but the conversation usually ends when you mention Christ? My own mother in the latter years of her life asked me why Christian people who called in for a visit, would talk about anything but spiritual things?

 

In this THIRD DAY, CHRIST is calling a people UNTO HIMSELF as Jacob prophesied many years ago, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until SHILOH come, AND UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE BE." Gen 49:10. So here is the first key as we seek for that oneness for which Jesus prayed, that CHRIST must be the center that brings and holds us together, and not doctrines, or formulas. However there is a far more vital issue involved in the unity of Gods people today, and that is not just having CHRIST as a symbol in the center, but that each one must be IN CHRIST. This is the dynamic that makes us O-N-E. CHRIST is not a PERSON or it would be impossible for us to be IN HIM. CHRIST is the ANOINTING, whose task it is to bring the INVISIBLE GOD (Spirit) into this world and make him visible.

 

In Jesus Christ the anointing produced the miracles he did, and displayed the likeness and image of God in flesh and blood. Nicodemus said he knew Jesus had come from God, because of the things he could do. Within the anointing is our identity and sense of origin, which breaks the power of the Adamic consciousness linking us to the earth. Every person IN CHRIST has the SAME SPIRIT and therefore the same FATHER, which makes us all brothers and sisters. Here is the dynamic of the UNITY and ONENESS that Jesus sought for us.

 

We are talking about FAMILY, but not just any family, for this is the FAMILY OF GOD. The BOND that binds us together in God’s family is far greater than any earthly tie for it is SPIRITUAL and cannot be broken. The magnitude of this bond is so great that to enter into it is referred to as a NEW BIRTH. Paul expresses it this way, "As we have borne the IMAGE of the EARTHLY, (through physical birth) we shall also bear the IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY (through a spiritual birth).

 

I can testify that I have had the privilege of meeting many of my brothers and sisters in Christ even in foreign lands where I could not even speak their language but the spiritual bond made us one. I did not have to inquire what doctrines they believed nor were they concerned about mine, for we were ONE IN CHRIST and nothing was more important. The tragedy is that having been in a variety of Churches and fellowships over many years of ministry I meet so many who have not yet been birthed into that household of God. These can only relate of the earthly plane.

 

The family of God is still scattered through the religious world, but there is a trumpet call from Zion that is being heard by those whose ears have been opened. Like the silver trumpet call in Israel, it is calling a people OUT UNTO THE LORD. This is a spiritual gathering, and is happening all over the world. For those who respond there is a glorious oneness that is developing, with a love that surpasses all other love, which is testifying to the world that they are of God. BY THIS, (LOVE) Jesus said, all men would know that you are my disciples.

 

Finally, Jesus prayed that we might be WHERE HE IS to behold his glory. As the light of God fills our hearts and minds, the veil is lifted revealing the MOST HOLY PLACE OF OUR BEING. Seated on the Throne of his glory is the CHRIST OF GOD. These are Paul’s words in 2 Cor 3:18.,

 

“But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being changed into the same image from glory to glory even as be the Spirit of the Lord.”

 

Beloved we are not waiting for the Day of the Lord to arrive, I tell you IT IS HERE NOW. Open your heart now and hear the voice of the Son of God speaking from within your being, calling you unto HIMSELF. What does it mean to be called OUT unto the LORD? Do we have to separate ourselves from everyone who does not believe as we do? The answer is NO. In fact there is really nothing you can do to achieve the kind of separation God has in mind. It all happens from within, as LIGHT and understanding illuminates the CHRIST dwelling within. In a mystical way our perceptions change, and our knowledge becomes aligned with the what the Holy Spirit is saying. Our outlook on life and the future changes, as we begin to see things from God’s point of view. We no longer fear the future or become depressed with world events, as we walk in the LIGHT of a DAY THAT HAS NO NIGHT.

 

Paul speaks about the CROSS, by which we are crucified unto the world and the world is crucified unto us. We find we no longer are a part of the thing the Bible calls the WORLD or COSMOS, and so we find ourselves on the outside, and unable to fit in with the religious world we used to be a part of. Notice I never mentioned doctrines as the basis of the separation. IT IS A SPIRITUAL THING and is not caused by our own intellect. Even in families there can be an estrangement, even though the natural family bond is not broken. People say, "You are different, but cannot explain exactly how."

 

Why was Jesus despised and rejected of men, and a man of sorrows? Because he was ONE WITH THE FATHER. Why did even the disciples not understand some of the things he did and said? For the same reason as many today who have experienced this being CALLED OUT. Paul explained that if any man be IN CHRIST and therefore ONE WITH THE FATHER, they are A NEW CREATION, for the OLD IS PASSING AWAY AND ALL THINGS ARE BECOMING NEW." The NEW CREATION belongs to the realm of HEAVEN or SPIRIT, while the OLD CREATION is at home in the sphere of EARTH.

 

In the closing chapters of the book of the UNVEILING OF JESUS CHRIST, the Apostle John wrote these words as he saw this CALLED OUT PEOPLE, Rev 21:2-5

 

"COMING DOWN FROM GOD out of heaven, prepared as a BRIDE adorned for her husband. And a great VOICE out of Heaven (Spirit realm) saying, Behold the tabernacle of God IS WITH MEN, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be WITH THEM and be their GOD. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more DEATH, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be no more pain, for the former things HAVE PASSED AWAY. And he that sat on the THRONE said, BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW."

 

Beloved, I want you to know we are entering THIS THIRD DAY, which according to Jesus is the DAY OF OUR PERFECTING. We are being adorned as a BRIDE in preparation for the consummation of our UNION with CHRIST. That preparation is separating us from everything else except that which is compatible with our beloved. Even in our marriage service we vow to forsake all others and everything that is not compatible with this union, to cleave unto our beloved. Jesus said, "IN THAT DAY you will know that I AM IN MY FATHER, AND YOU ARE IN ME, AND I AM IN YOU." Jn 14:20. No more will we worship the Christ of God in some ethereal heaven up in the sky, but his glory will be revealed in HIS HOLY TEMPLE which is our body. This TREASURE beloved, we have in these earthen vessels that the excellency of the power MAY BE OF GOD AND NOT OF US. 2 Cor 4:7.

 

May you be blessed as you allow the WORD to become FLESH!