So it is that we have the guilt of our sin removed when we turn away from the world and receive Christ, believing in Him. But in order to eat of the tree of life, that is, to begin to gain inner resurrection life and the resulting outer resurrection life, we must commence overcoming the world, Satan, and our own lusts and self-will.

We can conquer the basis of death through the wisdom and power of Christ that come to us through the Holy Spirit. It is the conqueror who is given access to the tree of life.

. . . To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

We are to be attaining the resurrection now.

The inner resurrection is the forming and abiding of Christ in us. This is the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles that follows the feast of Pentecost (Deuteronomy 16:16). If we are earnestly seeking Christ today we are finding that the Spirit of God is moving us toward a greater experience of Christ in us than we have known.

The inner resurrection, which was being sought by Paul (Philippians 3:8-12), does not take place when we go to Heaven. It does not take place when Christ returns in the clouds of the heavens.

It takes place today through the travail of the ministries of the Body of Christ.

The writer has read many accounts, some new and some old, that record the experiences of Christians who have had visions of Heaven. It is our opinion that these are true visions from God and that they portray the spirit realm as we will experience it when we die physically.

But one fact is true of every such account: Christ remains external to the believer just as He was external to His apostles when He was on the earth. The saint who is having the vision sees Jesus, talks to Jesus, walks with Jesus, but Jesus remains an external Person. This is not the fulfillment of the new covenant (Colossians 1:27).

The fact that Christ is external to the saints in Heaven leads us to believe that the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles has not been experienced to any great extent by the saints on earth nor by the saints in Heaven. They apart from us cannot be made perfect.

At the time chosen of the Father, Christ will enter the members of the Body of Christ in Heaven and on the earth. It is our point of view that this indwelling will take place before Christ returns to earth in the Day of the Lord.

We think that the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is beginning to take place now. Are you experiencing the resurrection of Christ in yourself? Is He truly beginning to live in you?

We have stated that the inner resurrection consists of the forming of Christ in us and also the abiding of Christ in us.

The forming is the transformation of our personality as the Holy Spirit infuses Christ eternally into every atom of our being. The abiding is the actual coming of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit to abide forever in the transformed personality.

To be continued.