LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin. If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7-9)
Ezekiel 1:22-25 is very penetrating and profound. These verses tell us that above the heads of the four living creatures there is a firmament, or an expanse, which we call heaven. The appearance of the heaven is like shining crystal. It is so clear that it seems dreadful. This heaven stretches over the heads of all the beings. Under this heaven, the living creatures stretch out their two straight wings.
In a previous message we saw that two of the wings of each living creature are stretched out and joined to the wings of the others. The other two wings are used to cover their body.
Whenever they move and whenever they act, a voice or sound comes from their wings. This voice is like the sound of many waters and also like “the voice of the Almighty” (v. 24), that is, God the Almighty. It is also like the sound of a tumult, like the noise of an army (the word hosts in v. 24 means “an army”). Moreover, when the living creatures stop, they let down their wings (v. 25).
We need to consider the spiritual meaning and application of all these matters. If we do not understand them, these points may seem meaningless to us.
BASED ON ALL THE PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
These verses are based on the preceding ones. First we must experience the stormy wind that brings the cloud of the Lord’s presence to cover us. As we enjoy His presence, the cloud brings in the burning fire, and we experience the burning. From the burning fire comes the electrum, and then we become living creatures.
As living creatures, we move in coordination with others to express Christ. We have four faces to express the all-inclusive Christ corporately. To have these four faces, we need to be dealt with by the cross. After this, we must experience and appreciate the eagle’s wings—that is, the divine power and the grace of Christ.
We also cover ourselves, hiding under His protecting wings, under the grace and power of Christ. Furthermore, we must learn to work as a man, using human hands, and to walk with straight calf’s feet, having a walk that is straight, frank, honest, sincere, and faithful.
This qualifies us for coordination. Within coordination there is the fire going up and down, the glowing coals and shining torches. When we reach this point, God as a consuming fire will be among us corporately. Then there will be a high and dreadful wheel beside us, indicating God’s move on the earth by us and with us.
Within this wheel there is a wheel, meaning that within our move is the Lord’s move. He is moving within us. By having this wheel, such a move, we are full of eyes and have discernment and understanding.
Now we need to see that when we have all these matters in our experience, we will have a clear heaven and a very particular sound—the sound of many waters, a sound that is the voice of the Almighty.
Ezekiel 1:22 says, “And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, like the sight of awesome crystal, stretched forth over their heads.” This reveals that after experiencing all the things in the first twenty-one verses, the heaven over our heads will be clear like crystal. It will be a great, clear expanse above us.
This means that above us there is an open and clear heaven. The heaven is not only clear vertically, from heaven to earth, but also clear horizontally. This means that the clear heaven is expanding. Our heaven, therefore, must be clear and expanded.
Before we were saved, our heaven was dark and cloudy, even misty. It was also narrow, without any expanse. But one day we repented, confessed our sins, and received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. The more we confess our sins, the clearer our heaven becomes. After a thorough confession, we sense that the heaven above us is clear, that the clouds are gone.
When we were saved, we received not only a clear heaven but also an expanded heaven. Later, however, problems may arise, and immediately our heaven becomes somewhat cloudy again. After we confess and receive God’s forgiveness and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:9, 7), the heaven becomes clear once more. In our experience we should always have a clear, open, and expanded heaven.
The kind of heaven a Christian has depends on his conscience. His conscience is linked to his heaven. If there is no stain in the conscience, the heaven is clear. If the heaven is not clear, there is some offense in the conscience.
To have a clear heaven, we must deal with any offense and condemnation in our conscience. The history of our heaven is the history of our conscience. When we as living creatures reach the point of having a clear, open, and expanding heaven, there will be nothing between us and God and nothing between us and others.
There will be no clouds or mist covering or separating us. All separations will be gone, and we will have a heaven that is completely clear and continually expanding. Our expanse will be like crystal. When others look at our clear heaven, they will be astonished. It is awesome because it is crystal-clear and expanding.
This clear and expanding heaven is also stable. Usually the sky above the earth has some movement—clouds drifting or wind blowing. But the heaven above the living creatures does not move; it is as stable as crystal. There is no fluctuation.
In our experience, however, the heaven often fluctuates. Sometimes it is cloudy; after confession it becomes clear again; later another failure makes it misty once more. There are many fluctuations above our head.
With the living creatures, however, the situation is completely different. The heaven above their heads is perfectly stable, like crystal. There is no fluctuation. It is clear, expanding, and stable. They have deep fellowship with the Lord vertically and clear fellowship among themselves horizontally.
A proper local church should be like this. Unfortunately, in some local churches the heaven seems cloudy and narrow. There is little expanse, and the atmosphere is dark and sensitive.
But where a local church is proper, the heaven over it is clear and broad. It does not mean we try in ourselves to be tolerant. We need to come out of the “well” and come under a clear heaven with a broad horizon.
Once we are under such a heaven, even if we are narrow, we will spontaneously become broad. Under such a heaven we have the proper fellowship with the Lord and with one another.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: “God in Christ Has Chosen the Church”
No comments:
Post a Comment