It is one matter to be saved from wrath. It is quite another matter to attain to the resurrection from the dead—the stated goal of the Apostle Paul.

Paul says that the gifts and ministries of the Body of Christ will labor until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Today there is almost total emphasis on "going out and getting people saved." But the need to bring those who have already received Christ to spiritual maturity is left to chance, it seems. Certainly bringing the members of an assembly to full spiritual maturity, to the mark of the resurrection from the dead, is not placed on the same level of importance as "going out and getting souls saved." Is the forming of Christ in the believers stressed in your assembly?

The truth is, God is very concerned about bringing the believers to maturity. It does not solve God's problem of rebellion on the part of His creatures, neither is it true that royal priests are brought into being, when we have assembly after assembly filled with believers who have received Christ, been baptized with the Holy Spirit, and then have not been taught how to grow to maturity in Christ.

Everyone loves babies but babies cannot help carry the burdens of the household.

The Lord has come to His churches in our day to move us past the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Pentecost to the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feasts of the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles.

Those of us who are "in Pentecost," so to speak, understand there was a historical Day of Pentecost in the first century. But that historical event does us no good until we experience it personally any more than the crucifixion of Christ benefits us until we receive it personally.

It is true also that we are approaching the historical Blowing of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and feast of Tabernacles. However these do not profit us until we experience them personally.

The Blowing of Trumpets is fulfilled in us personally when the Lord Jesus comes in the Spirit and declares war on the worldliness, lust, and self-seeking in our personality.

The Day of Atonement is fulfilled in us when every part of our personality is reconciled to the Personality of God; when we can say in every area of life: "Not my will but Yours be done."

The feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled when the Father and the Son settle down to rest in us for eternity.

God wants each believer today to choose to live every moment in the Spirit of God.

As the Spirit reveals to us the sins found in our personality we are to confess them, denounce them, renounce them, resist them, in the Name of Jesus.

We are to come out of the spirit of the present age and draw closer to Jesus than we have ever been.

We are to endure with patience the trials and prisons that are sent to reconcile our will to God's will.

To be continued.