Spiritual Hierarchy & Authority, Part 27

 

 

April 20, 2018

 

When we first began this series, I had no idea it was going to expand into the study it has become.  It is critical for us a sons and daughters of the Most High God, Heirs and Joint-Heirs with Jesus Christ, to understand fully and to walk in the authority that we have been given.  When we don’t walk in that authority, we demean and we belittle the price that Jesus paid on our behalf on the Cross to redeem us from the curse and to restore that place of Blessing, prosperity and authority we were originally given.

 

As the first-century Ekklesias emerged and grew under the auspices of the Paraklete, the Holy Spirit -- who is One with both the Father and the Son and is likewise timeless -- began to carry out His assignment, functioning both timelessly and in time. In the same way events unfolded for Esther as she was prepared for her king and the throne, the Bride began to go through the fire and be subjected to thlipsis: to pressure, to affliction, to persecution, to trials and tribulation.

 

As the Lord transported John out of time into eternity to see the unfolding of the Bride and her preparation for the Bridegroom, he was able to see past, present and future.

He saw Jesus overcome the flesh, its frailties and diseases, all human emotions, the desires of this world, and the wiles and treachery of Satan "by the blood of the Lamb, and the Word of His testimony." He saw Him overcome in the realm of the Spirit and regain the throne for all those who would follow by the same path.

 

And John saw war in the heavenlies. He was taken into the distant past before time began and saw as Satan rose up to usurp the Throne of God, taking a third of the angels with him. John saw the Archangel, Michael, stand against Satan and defeat him.

He watched the transformation of Lucifer from "angel of light" to the "serpent of old," that old dragon, Satan. He saw him removed from his place in Heaven and thrown down to the earth.

 

Time blurred for an instant as John was transported across centuries and millennia. Then he heard a loud voice in Heaven saying:

 

Revelation 12:10, NASB: "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night."

 

Once again, he was taken forward in time to watch it happen again. This time he saw the Bride overcome the dragon. This time His testimony of the event was,

 

Revelation 12:11: "And they overcame him by and because of the (legal authority in the shed) blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not react in any way to the Fear of, or threat of death." (RAC Translation & Amplification)

 

OK! How was that again?

 

They overcame Satan by (1) the blood of the Lamb, and (2) the word of their testimony."

 

We already know what "the blood of the Lamb" represented, so what was "the word of their testimony?" They testified to the fact that they also overcame in the very same way that Jesus overcame. Not only did they overcome in the same way, but also the very same things: namely,

 

(1) the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,

 

(2) the lust and thirst of their minds to operate on the basis of reason, intellect, and "knowledge,"

 

(3) the cries of their flesh to be satisfied,

 

(4) the instinctive reactions to the Fear of Death, the Fear of Man, and the Fear of Evil,

 

(5) the inclination to cling to the "safety net" of religion,

 

(6) Satan, his seven dominant spirits, and his armies of evil spirits, and

 

(7) the human tendency to let down one's guard after numerous victories, and rest on one's laurels.

 

The Bride, therefore, overcame by testifying to her own experiential walking out of the same path of overcoming Jesus walked. Her testimony was twofold:

 

(1) the blood of the Lamb accomplished the legal basis for her to take authority over the "Tree of Knowledge" and burn it with fire; (Jesus had already laid the axe to the root, and it only remained for the Bride to burn it as chaff with her rejection and invalidation of it as a life force to be reckoned with.) and

 

(2) she had personally encountered each obstacle Jesus had overcome, winning those very same battles in her life.

 

The crowning proof to all this was John's witness that "they did not react in any way to the Fear of, or threat of death." Having overcome the Fear of Death, it no longer affected (or infected) the decision-making processes in walking that path. Jesus had overcome the last enemy of mankind, Death, taking death with Him on the cross and destroying its power.

 

The Bride, therefore, must also have overcome death to such a degree that in the midst of her overcoming and testifying to it, death, the fear of it, and the threat of it would never be a factor. Her testimony would consequently be the mirror image of that to which Jesus testified.

 

(It is of significance that the cross is never mentioned in the Revelation even once. The purpose of the cross had already been fulfilled. It was never designed to be an object of ongoing attention for those who would be joined to Jesus Christ on the Throne. This is not to demean the importance of the Cross, but we MUST move beyond it!

 

Forty times in the record of the Revelation, John sees and speaks of the Throne. No other subject receives as much attention. It outnumbers every other topic except worship by a factor of at least 2:1, and is the central theme of the message John shares. The second most-discussed subject is worship; and the third is overcoming -- often mentioned within the framework of the fourth most-mentioned item: the crown. Seen, therefore, within its proper perspective, the principal message John shares is not thlipsis (or tribulation), nor death, nor doom and gloom, but ruling and reigning.

 

Worship, therefore, is directly interrelated and intertwined with the Crown of the overcomer, and being seated on the Throne with our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. It is apparent that the Throne is established in worship, and that it functions in the midst of worship.

 

Now, lest anyone who hears or reads this draw the conclusion that I am attempting to relegate the Throne strictly to the present day and the overcoming processes of the Bride, be assured that is not so!

 

What I have been driving at is that there can be no Throne in the future of those among God's people who do not overcome even as Christ overcame.

 

There will be no Throne for the majority of those we so glibly refer to as “Christians.” The Throne of the future, the Throne of the thousand-year reign of peace, the Throne of the new heavens and new earth, the Throne of Forever, all are reserved for the Bride of Christ.

 

Those who do not overcome "all things" will not be invited to sit with Christ on the Throne of the future. This is not a legalistic criterion based on "performance." This has nothing to do with being saved, being baptized in water, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, walking in the gifts of the Spirit, etc., etc., etc.

 

This is a place of recognition and authority given to those who learn to exercise that authority in the midst of present day situations, circumstances, temptations, and obstacles. Jesus Christ will seat no one on that Throne who has not first learned rulership as He learned rulership, who has not overcome even as He overcame. The Throne of the future is for those who have learned to rule in the present.

 

The Body of Christ has been through several generations of teaching and learning what I have come to call "escapism." Escapist doctrines are those which permit God's people to "hang on" by the skin of their teeth with salvation and baptism doctrines, waiting for that day when they will be "changed in the twinkling of an eye," and raptured out of here.

 

Escapist doctrines do not teach or recognize the necessity of thlipsis. They present no understanding of the need for overcoming. They encourage looking for that "last trumpet" to blow so Christians can be snatched out of this world, away from the doom and gloom to come. Much, if not all, of this teaching and doctrine comes as a result of men and women who search the Scriptures and study it nonstop.

 

These “escapist” doctrines are foreign to everything Jesus lived and demonstrated before His people.  A “rapture” — at least within the context of contemporary teaching — should never become a goal, a focus of attention or objective in the purposes of the Bride.

 

Being "zapped" and suddenly changed or conformed to the image of Christ is the very antithesis of Jesus' whole onoma.

 

People who live this way wind up being cheated out of the glory that is to come, never mind the glory of His presence in this present age. They also succumb to a deceitful trick of Satan designed to keep Jesus Christ from ever receiving "His inheritance in the saints."

 

What is His inheritance?

 

A Bride who has walked with Him! A Bride who has walked in the same path He walked; who has learned through the things she has likewise suffered; who has overcome every obstacle in her path to become His co-equal Counterpart, His Other Self; who has become One with Him in every aspect of her existence; whose onoma has been changed and molded with His new onoma -- in other words, one whose breath, whose heartbeat, whose every cell and corpuscle, whose very existence brings pleasure, delight to Him, and fellowships with Him at His peer level.

 

In previous discussions, we have talked about the fact that all Creation came into existence for the sole purpose of bringing into being a people who would complement Jesus Christ, a people who would go through all that He went through, and choose Him in the midst of overcoming the world, the desires of the flesh and the obstacles of the spirit.

 

This world has simply served as a working laboratory in order that His heart's desires and objectives could be achieved. The laboratory is not the end of things; it has simply been the domain in which His objectives could be achieved, perfected and completed.

Having overcome all, Jesus inherited the Throne which was His Father's good pleasure to give. Consider now the promise that John heard.

 

Revelation 21:1-7, NASB: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband… ...........

And He who sits upon the throne said, 'Behold I am making all things new.'.........

 

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be My son."

 

Revelation 21:9-26, NASB: “And one of the seven angels........spoke with me, saying, 'Come here, and I shall show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper..............

 

And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it........

 

Its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it......"

 

That is the rulership of the Throne! That is the glory reserved for the Bride. That is the final place of the overcomer. There can be no other destiny for those who overcome, even as Jesus Christ also overcame. But it began (and must begin) in this present day and age, and in our present circumstances.

 

My brethren! My sisters! All those of you to whom the Lord has joined us within the Ekklesia! Allow nothing to stand in your path. There is no obstacle you cannot overcome, because Jesus first overcame! There is no spirit of the Enemy you cannot conquer and dethrone. By the same token, there is no spirit you can ignore, whitewash, or gloss over. There has been no temptation to come your way which is more than you can deal with, that Jesus did not first overcome.

 

The throne awaits! The crown awaits! Being a part of the living, intimate Bride of Christ awaits! But you must take the Throne -- NOW!!! You must overcome -- NOW!!! Although the Throne of the Lord Jesus Christ will cost you everything, there is no price you can pay that you will ever regret!

 

Let us overcome! Let us take the Throne! Let us Rule together with Christ from the heavenlies -- TODAY!!! Let us rule in the midst of worship!

 

For those of you who’ve participated during the past three years in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, this is just a reminder that the calls have resumed on a once-a-month basis, the first Monday of each month.  If you have a need for healing, or you have friends in need of healing, here is the number to call: (712) 775-7035.  The Access Code is: 323859#.  For Canadians who have difficulty getting in to this number, you can call (559) 546-1400.   If someone answers and asks what your original call-in number was, you can give them the 712 number and access code.

 

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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