We are speaking of the direct involvement of Christ in our life and ministry, in every detail of what we are and do. Jesus Himself comes to us through the Spirit and supervises the initial salvation, and then the perfecting, of His Wife, His Body. The inner aspect of the Kingdom of God is being brought to perfection now in preparation for the worldwide manifestation of Christ with—but particularly in —His saints.

One of the greatest errors that the believer can make is to become preoccupied with the things of the world and neglect the development and maturing of the inner kingdom, the inner coming of the Lord. If he falls into this error he will wait in vain for a "rapture," for participation in the outer manifestation of the coming of Christ. The all-important inner work is being performed now, and we must come out of the world and "go to meet the Lord." This is true of the salvation experience, of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and of the "Tabernacles" experience.

The third of the three annual gatherings of Israel, the feast of Tabernacles, included three observances:

The memorial of blowing of Trumpets.

The Day of Atonement.

The feast of Tabernacles.

These three ceremonies were part of the major convocation of Tabernacles. They came several months after the feast of Pentecost.

After the believer is saved and baptized with the Holy Spirit, he is to move forward to the blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles.

The blowing of Trumpets is the coming of Jesus to us according to John 14:3. It is the coming of the King to us in order to wage war against His enemies in our personality and to receive us to Himself so that where He is, there we may be also. During the "Trumpets" phase of salvation the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth is announced and the army of the Lord is formed.

The problem is, we who are saved and baptized with the Spirit are full of the world, sin, and self-will. In order to abide eternally with Jesus where He is, we must first be reconciled to Him.

The coming of Jesus to us in this inner, spiritual sense is the coming of the King to wage war against the enemies that would prevent us from being with Him where He is. Jesus comes to receive us to Himself. This means we must be purified of everything in our personality that is the enemy of God.

This is a personal, individual coming. These three parts of the feast of Tabernacles are not "poured on all flesh" like the Holy Spirit of Pentecost. They are a receiving of the individual believer by the Lord Jesus Christ. Our participation in the three aspects of the feast of Tabernacles results in our knowing the Lord.

The "trumpet" is the trumpet of war. The Lord strong and majestic in battle approaches the "everlasting doors " of our soul. If we open to Him and allow Him to cast out of us all that is displeasing to Him, we begin to enter the rest of God. God then is able, through Christ, to settle down to rest in us.

The King comes to us after we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. The salvation experience and the baptism with the Holy Spirit are preparatory works. They bring us to that which God is seeking.

To be continued.