“But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.”(2corinthians 3v15-16)

 

“ I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlestick.  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength (Revelation 1v10-16)

God's  voice, speaks to all of His creation even the fallen adamic creation, either through nature, circumstances , dreams, visions, scriptures , human vessels etc yet because many do not turn to see the voice of the one speaking they passed away this life without knowing God . “

“Unto you o men I call and my voice is to the sons of men “ (proverbs 8v4). We can be misunderstood , but the truth is no man has ever live this world that has never heard the voice of God . “He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew Him not “(John1v10).

It is one thing to hear the voice of Christ, have some of his gifts, yet it another thing to know Him which is the person of the voice. This must take a turning from who we are, to who He is. The purpose of the voice of Christ, is to turn us from ourselves, to the nature of His person.  Many are hearing His voice in scriptures, nature, books, preachers etc, but not many are turning to the person of the voice, and so we have a lot who can speak about Him but few are those that know Him , because  He manifest  His personality in them. It is His personality in us that shows that we know Him, because it is here we partake in his nature. The person is greater than the voice, gifts, for all these are a means to bring us into the person (Christ). Until we get the person (Christ) in us the purpose of the gifts or voice is still not yet fulfill in us.

In revelation 2v10 John as a type of a man in need of a person (Christ ) heard the voice but until he turned to the person of the voice, He never saw the prescription of his nature.  Of course we should know that the book of revelation is full of types, of inward spiritual working of God kingdom within. All that John saw in His turning, is what we must find in the person (Christ) when we turn unto Him.

     When John turned he found that the person (Christ):

a.       Was cloth with a garment down to the foot: The garment spears of His righteousness and holiness. We can hear His voice , and have his gifts, without the garment. No wander he warned the disciple to not rejoice because the devils are subject to them, but because there name are written in heaven.  It is not possible to partake in his nature, without Him producing in us the WEDDING Garment of His righteousness and holiness in us.

b.      His head and hair was white like wool: The head speaks of authority, and the white color signifies Peace. Christ manifest His personality in us, to bring peace as He war against those inward enemies of our selfish nature ,which steals  our true peace in Him. In the presence of peace, there is no enemy (self) of Christ ; and our turning into Him is to bring His peace in us. That peace will not tolerate self in us but we must be tried, afflicted to the end of our works that Christ might work in us to establish His kingdom of His peace in us. When there is resistance, complaining, murmuring  , on our part in any situation he allows us to face, there is still not yet His peace in us in that situation. And if we are going to continue with Him, He must see that His peace be establish in us by our final surrendering to His dealing in stillness and allowing Him to have His way.

c.       His eyes flame of fire and His feet like unto a fine brass as if they burn in a furnace: The fire in the eye speaks of the baptism that needs to purify us before we see Him. In the case of Job for example, He was hearing of God by the hearing of the ear, but it took a baptism of trials and affliction to see Him with the eye in His turning unto Him.

“I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear but : but now mine eye seeth thee (Job42v5, These was at the end of His trials ).

“Blessed are the pure in Heart: for they shall see God “ (Matthew5v8).

 This seeing is not a natural seeing but a practical knowledge of His abiding in us as he manifest His strength in us , in our trials and afflictions because we waited for His salvation . His feet speaks of the cost we are to pay in walking or following our Lord as brass speaks of Judgment.

D.          The Seven Golden Candle Sticks

The purpose of a candle is to give light , and here it speaks of searching that which is dark in us. Seven is a number of perfection,  meaning a complete searching of self and darkness in our turning into Christ, that He might produce His personality in us. The seven Golden candle sticks typify the seven churches as we are told in revelation 2v 20. The church is the group of those that are turning unto Christ and yet not all are turning unto the same degree , and so there is the first church , second on and on unto the seven , a number of completion.  The Church is also the house or temple of God and we are that Temple.

Christ use His Light to reveal us who we are, without which we cannot know who we are, not to say who He is. In turning to Christ we turn away from ourselves, that He might turn to us .In turning we are taught to live for Him , and not for ourselves. And yet this teaching only comes through experience and not by gain say. We human by nature are only incline to live for ourselves in the things that give us ease, joy and happiness. To live for another man (Christ) can never be possible for us when in our own strength, we even find it difficult to do some good to our neighbors. And we cannot live for Christ until He lives in us.

To live for another man (Christ) , we should not think it strange when He begins to touch little by little in trials,  against the things which give us joy , peace and happiness as we turn to Him. He is not seeking our peace, joy or happiness but He is working to give us His eternal peace, joy and happiness because He is of a different personality. He seeks to manifest nothing in us, but His personality. He is not getting harsh or unloving to us but He is building us to live for him and not for ourselves, as we ask him to live in us. He is faithful, not unfaithful as we feel tempted to think in the clouds of trials and adversity.

When He sees we stop living for our selves, then that trial will end whether He restore  those dear things of ours to us or not , knowing nothing mean anything to us again, but to live for Him because He lives in us. When Christ Live in us it is His joy, happiness and peace that will satisfy us, because the Christ in us, is the same one everywhere in His personality.

Christ wants us to live for Him yet not by our strength for our strength can only live for the things we love. So He uses trial adversity, temptation to reveal the end of our strength that we might know to live for Him is only possible as He live in us. When He allows the enemy to try, tempt and afflict us in diverse ways, he expects us to overcome yet not by ourselves but by His strength.  He will manifest Himself in us when we seek him with all out strength, mind, and soul and without reservation. We must seek Him in violence through  prayer ,fasting, and taking heed over the place we go, what we watch and listen,  for the flesh will oppose us but when we seek him like blind Bathemaus refusing to yield to the oppositions we will find in seeking Him ,  who our soul seeks.

 

“ By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.(Song of Solomon 3v1-4).

In the quotation above the seeker never found His beloved , until He passed away from every created things, this must be an inward reality in us. To seek Christ personality, is to fully surrender all of our personality that He might manifest His personality in us from glory to glory and faith to faith.

 When the seeker found Him,  he was able to bring Him to His mother’s house. The mother speaks of the church and the house is our individual being where He should abide. As He live in us, then and only can we become a blessing to the household of faith and the world because He that blesses is in us. We will become a blessing to men not seekers of blessings from men. When we hear men in the name of Christ pursuing blessing from men, it should be clear to us this men received not the free blessing from Christ, and so must seek the blessing of men. These blessings could be money, honor from men, acceptance, wining men favor by compromising to the spirit of the world etc.

The candle will reveal our darkness (self in us ) and the light (Christ personality in us ) when we are turning from self to His Life. Oh that men will turn unto to the Lord , yet we must go farther all earthly inclination to see the person of the voice speaking to us, through His abiding in us.  It is time to Turn, Turn, Turn to the Lord. Amen.