There are two wonders, two signs in the heaven. The Church is a wonder in the heaven. Also, the dragon is a wonder in the heaven.

The dragon always will attempt to destroy Christ the moment He comes forth within the Church.

As soon as the Church passes from its head-knowledge, its theological understanding of Christ, and begins to experience the formation of Christ in itself, the resurrection Life of Christ coming forth in daily wisdom and power in godly living, then the dragon will confront the Church.

Every saint who obeys God and puts his or her hand to the work of restoration will be confronted by a cunning, malicious, deceitful, merciless, treacherous adversary. But Jesus promised us that through Himself we shall be able to tread on all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19).

The "dung port."

. . . and to the dung port, . . . . (Nehemiah 2:13)

The dung port is an important part of the work of restoration. God's people are filled with various sins and rebellions. Strife abounds in the churches. Division, hatred, greed, lust, self-will, pride—all are found among the believers. Bitterness among the Christian people has reached epidemic proportions. This is why there must be a gate for the dung, the refuse, the garbage, in the work of restoration.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)

How does the spiritual counterpart of the "dung port" work in our Christian life?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

When Christ made an atonement for our sins He did not limit His work to forgiveness. He removed our sins from us. Our sins were laid on Him and He removed them from the camp of the saints.

Christ will not receive a bride who merely has been forgiven. Christ will have a bride who is without spot, wrinkle, blemish, or any imperfection of any kind whatever.

There is authority and power in the blood of Christ to remove the presence of our sins and lawlessness. This is the dung port.

"To cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; to remove all sin from us; to destroy all sin out of us; to separate us from all unrighteousness; to place a wall between us and all of the working of the enemy—this is the result of the authority and power of the redemption in Christ the Lord.

The holy city is just that—the holy city. There will be nothing whatever that defiles inside the wall of the new Jerusalem.

But such purity is not the case today. The churches are filled with lust, gossiping, backbiting, spiritual ignorance, self-seeking, anger, willfulness, suspicion, betrayal, greed, cheating, the love of pleasure more than the love of God.

What is the Christian to do who would cleanse himself from the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, who wishes to purge himself from wickedness, who would wash his robes in the blood of the Lamb, who would perfect holiness in the fear of God, who would come out from among the sins of the world and the churches so God will receive him (II Corinthians 6:17)?

The saint who would purify himself must confess his sins. The bitterness, the unforgiveness, the hatred, the laziness, and the remainder of the sin and death that have accumulated in the heart must be confessed to the Lord as sin. Sometimes it helps to confess our sins to another Christian (James 5:16).

To be continued.