We must begin to understand that just because we are saved, does not mean we will automatically enter into His Kingdom during His Millennial reign, or experience His Kingdom in our hearts here and now. There is more than one salvation. Salvation in our spirit is unconditional and only requires us to believe in our hearts that Jesus is our Savior and confess it with our mouth. Romans 10:9-10. Salvation of our soul is a working out process, is conditional, and requires us to be willing to die to self. (1 Peter 1:9 & Phil. 2:12 )None of us receive the benefits of the cross without the excercising of our faith. Although Jesus paid for the sins of the entire world, only those who appropriate His sacrifice by faith, will be justified by Christ. In a like manner, we must exercise faith to receive all other benefits from Christ. (Heb. 4:1-6 ) Obedience is not necessary in order to be born again but it is required in order to enter and receive the benefits of His Kingdom. ( James 2:12-26 Amplified ) Judicially, Jesus bought and paid for virtually everything we need from Him in order to be saved, healed, delivered, live a godly life, become and overcomer as His Bride and rule and reign with Him in the Millennial Kingdom. To experience all that was purchased by His precious blood, requires us to walk by faith and to be willing to daily pick up our cross, lay down our own self life and follow Jesus. All Christians will be judged for their works at the time of the 1st resurrection at the 2nd coming of the Lord. ( Matt. 10:38, 2nd Cor. 5:10 ).
If we will rise up with Christ into a higher realm of a cooperative relationship with Him, we will be able to experience His manifest presence and develop a personal intimate relationship with Him. The key is mutual “cooperation”. He is calling us to come up with Him but we must respond. (S.of S. 7:11-12). In S. of S. 2:10-12, the Bride has made a major breakthrough. The winter is past and flowers are beginning to appear. A “spiritual” winter is a time in which the Lord is seemingly absent and we feel little or no quickening presence. The primary purpose of a winter season is to cause us to seek something further, rather than remaining content with our past spiritual accomplishments. During this time of winter, we may not be aware that the Lord is patiently waiting without, but actively working within.
Mature spiritual growth depends upon our receiving from the Lord and impartattion of Himself in our innermost being as a quickening Spirit. As we experience His manifest presence and glory, we will be lifted from having only judicial knowledge into an experiential relationship in which the Lord will become personally real to us. The process of His coming “within” is depicted here as flowers appearing, the singing birds and the voice of the turtle being heard. The flowers appearing speaks of fruit that results from our growth into spiritual maturity. The singing of the birds speaks of the expression of “worship” that flows up to the Lord from deep within us. The voice of the turtle speaks of our becoming prophetic in order to give anointed expression to a present Word.
These spiritual qualities cannot be developed through intellectual comprehension. We must invite the Lord to come within and and be willing to give Him complete control of the totality of our being. ( mind, body and soul ). He already has our spirit if we are born again. At this point we are now willing to allow Him to deal with the surface soul life and go through the sufferings that accompany death to the self life. It will be painful. It will cost us something but His burden is light and His yoke is easy. (Matt. 11:29-30). As we allow ourselves to go through the process off death to self, He will lead us further and further up the stairs, step by step and ever closer and deeper to His bedroom chamber in communion with Him.
It is one thing to observe what the Lord is doing but quite another to actively be involved with Him personally and to understand the process of the outworking of all He intends for us. We must be like Paul and desire the “fellowship of His sufferings”. (Phil. 3:10). As we respond to His call to rise up and come away, the Lord will lead us into these realms of experiential identification with Him. Here, within His chambers, as we are united with Him as His Bride, we will be enabled to express our love to Him in bringing redemption to the nations. NOTHING THAT WE COULD EVER OBTAIN APART FROM HIM CAN COMPARE WITH THIS. S.of S.7:11-12. Come, My beloved, let us go forth into the field…there will I give you My loves.
So on one hand, our salvation of our spirit is appropriated by faith, but moving on deeper and higher with the Lord will require both faith and obedience, even unto death to our self, surface, soul life. (John 12:24, Matt. 7:21, Luke 9:62, Luke 13:28.) Then we begin to experience the abundant life that was promised to us, in every way. Amen!
