SEEKING JESUS

Read my amazing true life story about how the forces of good and evil battle for my life and the vision that God has given me. My book, “Possess the Vision,” communicates my supernatural experiences and as a result, provides insight into the realm of the spiritual warfare that is raging for our souls and our purpose. This is a must read for all Christians. Learn more by following this link: Possess-the-Vision-at-Amazon

The Book Cover

Jesus is Victorious on the Cross

This posting is designed to demonstrate how the life and words of Jesus demonstrate that He is the fulfillment of the Golden Altar of Incense found in the Tabernacles Holy Place. If you have not had the opportunity to review our prior postings you may find it desirable to view the following summary: Jesus-Is-The-Golden-Altar-Of-Incense. With that out of the way we can now dig into the subject of this posting.

The spiritual warfare waged between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day culminated when Jesus freely gave up His life on the cross. While it is difficult to understand, this sacrifice of the sinless Son of God was the spiritual sacrifice required to restore what man had lost with the fall of Adam. For Adam had been deceived by the devil into disobeying God and lost his dominion over the earth and his relationship with God.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

The devil being victorious in spiritual warfare took dominion over the earth and everything in it, including man. The following passage from Paul may help clarify this a bit:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned; (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:6-21)

Jesus on the Cross

In other words, men would no longer have to live under the dominion of Satan because Jesus, our advocate, defeated Satan at the cross. His victory in spiritual warfare came from living without sin and not succumbing to the temptation of evil, even in the face of a cruel and painful death. For one sinned and all fell into bondage to the devil, and one died in righteousness so that all could live free inside the loving grace of God. Even those who died prior to the life of Jesus were saved:

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”; what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? (Ephesians 4:7-9)

That is correct; Jesus went into Hell to set the captives free, as the following passage communicates:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53)

The Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Durer - 1511

Talk about a victory of spiritual warfare! The dead in Hell were raised and appeared to the living. The spiritual victory of Jesus over evil was total. It even included the salvation of the righteous dead. Jesus has all power and authority over the devil, hell and the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. He has power and authority over everything. He is our Golden Altar through which our prayers are transferred to our loving Father in heaven. It is through Jesus and His Holy Spirit that we become empowered for spiritual warfare.

As we have communicated previously, the Golden Altar and all of the other objects inside the Holy Place of the Tabernacle are places of prayer. In our next posting we will look at the prayers of Jesus that enabled this and other victories over evil. Additionally, we will open the subject of how His victory empowers us in ministry.

Until then, may God’s blessings be upon you.

Read my amazing true life story about how the forces of good and evil battle for my life and the vision that God has given me. My book, “Possess the Vision,” communicates my supernatural experiences and as a result, provides insight into the realm of the spiritual warfare that is raging for our souls and our purpose. This is a must read for all Christians. Learn more by following this link: Possess-the-Vision-at-Amazon

The Book Cover

Jesus is Victorious over an Evil Establishment

This posting is designed to demonstrate how the life and words of Jesus demonstrate that He is the fulfillment of the Golden Altar of Incense found in the Tabernacles Holy Place. If you have not had the opportunity to review our prior postings you may find it desirable to view the following summary: Jesus-Is-The-Golden-Altar-Of-Incense. With that out of the way we can now dig into the subject of this posting.

Another example of spiritual warfare was demonstrated when Jesus confronted the scribes and Pharisees.

The Scribes and Pharisees hear Jesus

These leaders of the Jewish faith were more interested in defending their positions of political power and influence that seeking the kingdom of God: The following statement taken from John supports this notion:

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” (John 11:45-48)

So now, let’s take a look at another example of the spiritual warfare of Jesus:

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’  But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.

Jesus Speaks to the Multitude

Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’  Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’  Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” (Matthew 23:1-39)

Jesus Confronting the Scribes and Pharisees

This dissertation by Jesus reflects His unfavorable views of the religious leaders of His time. He instructs the people to follow their commandments because they speak from the scriptures, but he warns them not imitate their evil actions. In speaking the truth that came from the Father (Jesus only spoke of what he saw the Father doing), Jesus battles the forces of evil that live inside of these evil leaders. His repeated conflicts with them culminated in their actions to kill Him. In time, the death of Jesus on the cross would result in the ultimate victory over the stranglehold of evil that had engulfed the world at that time. One again, Jesus is victorious in spiritual warfare.

The spiritual warfare of Jesus threatened the establishment and the status quo. Jesus’ weapons of spiritual warfare were words of truth that came straight from the Father. In the example above His words had the profound effect of de-legitimizing the Scribes and Pharisees as God’s true representatives on earth. After all, why would the Jewish people believe in the Scribes and the Pharisees after they herd the words of Jesus and saw the mighty works performed at His hand? These religious leaders were right; Jesus was a threat to both their position and their authority. Their desire to kill Him was evidence of the evil in their hearts.

Now that we have presented the spiritual warfare between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day, let’s correlate them to Golden Altar and the other object found inside the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. Starting with the Golden Altar we recall that the smoke given off by burning incense was viewed as prayers going up to heaven by the Jewish people. Prayers proved mighty in bringing down the forces of evil. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to say that Jesus is our Golden Altar. His prayers are heard by the Father in heaven.

Jesus in Prayer Geting Direction from the Father

We know this because in the verse above Jesus has been enlightened at the Golden Lamp Stand with the truth about these religious leaders. Furthermore, He knows the purpose of His ministry and the steps that He must take. He has an intimate relationship with the Father that was established at the Table of Show Bread as we discussed in our posting on “Jesus the bread of Life”. Most importantly however, He is the Golden Altar because He extends the sweet aroma that goes up to the Lord, to the words and actions of His life. His rebuke of these leaders is a sweet aroma to the Father in heaven. His actions become the prayer that is effective in bringing down the forces of evil. His actions are His spiritual warfare, which is a great lesson for many of us.

In our next post we will examine yet another example of the spiritual warfare of Jesus, namely His victory obtained by dying on the cross.

Read my book, “Possess the Vision,” in which I tell how I found myself on the Judgment Seat before God. There I experienced what the spiritual reality of making poor choices in this life. I experienced a confrontation with Satan, I walked through Hell and I swam in the Pit of Fire, which is the second death. God had mercy on me however, withheld judgment against me and gave me a second chance.

  If you are interested learning more about the details of this and other spiritual experiences of my life, you can order my book which is entitled, “Posses the Vision”.

 I guarantee that it is not for the faint of heart. But is it the most real experience of my life and when you read it you will know that every word is true. When you read this book you will understand why you must enter into the spiritual warfare of Jesus and fight the forces of evil here on this earth. The book can be purchased at Amazon by clicking on the following link: Amazon.com: Possess the Vision: Books: Joseph, W Gordon. Once there you will also be able to browse through the book as well. As a special bonus, I will send a free electronic copy of the book to anyone who asks for one by way of the comment section below.

That is it for today. Next time we plan to look at some more reasons to enter spiritual warfare.  

May God bless and keep you always, 

Joe