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The Daily Word of Righteousness
"Symptoms of Tabernacles," continued
For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. (II Corinthians 6:2—NIV)
If we are a true disciple we are always working at and out our salvation from the person and actions of Satan.
The same is true of the Holy Spirit. We of Pentecost like to talk of the time when we "received the Spirit." At that time we spoke in tongues. Today many of us are living like the devil. Yet we claim to be Spirit-filled because at some time in the past we spoke in tongues. The tongues we probably speak in now are those of slander and gossip.
God is not interested in whether you were "filled with the Spirit" yesterday. God is looking at whether you are living in the flesh or the Spirit right now!
We have said all this so you will not look at our brief essay as meaning we got saved, we got filled with the Spirit, and now we are going to get "Tabernacles" (whatever that is).
As it is true that salvation is a lifelong quest, and life lived in the Spirit is a choice we make every day of our discipleship, so it is a fact that the "Tabernacles" experience (for want of a better term) begins when we first come to Christ and then grows until we are filled with all the fullness of God.
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19—NIV)
There are many passages in the Scriptures pointing toward the three stages of salvation: justification through the blood atonement, life lived in the Spirit, and finally the coming of the Father and the Son to take up Their eternal abode in us. We have written at length concerning the three platforms of redemption and these books and pamphlets are available.
You probably are acquainted with one outstanding symbol of the three stages. It is the water to the ankles, knees, and hips of the forty-seventh chapter of the Book of Ezekiel.
The ankles represent salvation through the blood atonement. The knees represent life lived in the Spirit. The hips experience points toward "Tabernacles," the fullness of God.
Now, what are some of the symptoms that cause us to know God is moving us from Pentecost toward the spiritual fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles?
First, we notice that God is making much greater demands on us than we thought would ever be the case. It seems He is speaking to the depths of our personality demanding a much greater consecration than required previously.
Let me explain why.
Pentecost speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit of God on all flesh. "This is that spoken by the Prophet Joel." To experience the life of the Spirit, to enjoy the blessing, requires a certain amount of consecration. However if we have been in Pentecost any length of time we know the blessing is real and wonderful but often is accompanied by fleshly behavior.
The Spirit comes down like rain on all flesh and we do prophesy!
To be continued.