Text: Revelation 1: 1; Luke 22:19-20; Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:24
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the new testament. The new testament is the entire work of Christ; it is the covenant that God made in Jesus' blood (Luke 22:19-20). The cup that Jesus initiated the apostles into was not the full content of His blood. Luke referred to the blood as the cup, while Matthew referred to the same cup as the blood (Matthew 26:28). The cup is actually blood and it is not an empty cup. Whenever it is introduced as a cup, it is its content that is being referred to.
Jesus referred to the cup as the blood which is shed for the remission of sins. Jesus did not fetch all of the cup (blood) of the new testament for the remission of sins, but only a part of it. This only introduced the disciples to the testament, thereby giving them a portion of the Kingdom (Luke 22:19; Matthew 26:29). There remains another portion which the rest of the blood stands for.
Jesus referred to a day wherein He would be drinking the cup anew (Matthew 26:29). The day in question is the day of God's kingdom. In His Father's kingdom, Jesus would drink the cup anew. That day is not the day wherein all Christians would assemble in heaven. Sadly, not many would enter the Father's kingdom, much less partake of the cup with Jesus. Jesus' Father has His own Kingdom. Jesus, at the time of initiating the disciples into the blood of the new testament, was done with the curriculum of Christ’s Kingdom and began to speak of the Father's Kingdom wherein He would drink the cup anew.
The blood is the testament, while the bread is the meat offering of the testament. The bread is like a sac of flesh in which blood is kept. Flesh speaks of the external dimension of the blood; its covering. The life of the flesh is in the blood; when the blood has not been reached, one has not yet laid hold on the full cycle of life. The flesh and the blood are a couple which work together and can not be taken independently.
Testimony is the instruction concerning life. The blood speaks and would continue to speak until life is fully attained. The flesh refers to the manifestation of the blood. The flesh gives the blood a medium to demonstrate itself. Flesh is required in order to carry out the function of the blood. It would take the flesh to fully bring all the intent of the blood into manifestation.
When we eat the flesh, we have a sense of the interpretation of the life that is in the blood. Life has power to appear in the body. Both flesh and blood are important. What tailors the blood is the flesh and the blood would not have functionality until it gets into the body. The body gives the blood room for expression. When eating the flesh, we are partaking of a sense of judgement that would make the life appear.
The blood was shed for many, not all (Matthew 26:28). Many (not all) would partake of the blood which is for the remission of sins. The blood is going to work only among those who are sanctified. Although the blood is available for all, only many would be able to come in to take it.
The word ‘shed’ connotes that it was tendered for the souls of many who believe in Jesus. One does not get born again before believing; believing is what makes one born again. The believer’s spirit was given the life of the remission of sins at the point where his soul believed. The life of the remission of sins is responsible for the recreation of his spirit in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24).
Every soul that believes is purchased to be remitted afterwards. The word ‘redemption’ means to buy back or to purchase. What makes a man a believer is that his soul believed what was spoken/preached and his spirit was quickened by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). The New Birth is God's gift of grace to man. Believing does not require effort; it is purely a work of grace.
Our believing made us accept the Lord, who will afterwards perform a work within us. Our souls were purchased to be saved and cleansed. Many men are ‘blood-bought’ but have not been ‘blood-remitted’. It is not enough to be bought by the blood; the sin within the soul must be remitted. When a soul believes it becomes a purchased possession, having received the Holy Ghost who is the earnest - down payment - of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). The inheritance is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and that fades not away (1Peter 1:4). There are other inheritances - the inheritance of the faith that is in Him (Acts 26:18); the inheritance that is amongst the sanctified (Acts 20:32); and the inheritance of Christ in us being the hope of glory.
When a soul believes and is purchased, he accepts the price and crosses over to the side of the one who paid the price (Acts. 20:28). Many souls, despite the sacrifice of the blood, refuse to accept it, despising and refusing the work of grace. Many dishonor the name of Jesus because they do not receive the consequence of their action quickly and because Jesus forgives. Men are more afraid of demons than they are of the Lord Jesus. Jesus has terror and the world would soon know His wrath; the world is preparing for His wrath.
Jesus is higher than man's intellect and cannot be discerned by the limited carnal sense of man. Many think Jesus is only sweet and kind; yes, He is merciful but He can also be tough. Therefore, we should be careful not to come to the point where His wrath would be shown.
Redemption means being bought over; it also means being cleansed (1 Peter 1:17-19). There are two sides to redemption. The first level of redemption requires breaking a man free from the power that keeps him in bondage by purchasing him and bringing him to the side of the one who bought him. The second level of redemption is the conversion of the purchased soul to the nature of his new owner.
The greatest legal tender in the realm of the spirit is the blood of the Lamb. Jesus used His very blood to make the purchase for our souls. No one can purchase anything in the spirit with carnal substances. For God to release spiritual things and all things, the blood of Jesus had to be shed. Heaven values the blood of Jesus; therefore, no inferior temple in the realm of the spirit can refuse it. The blood of Jesus is the legal tender for purchasing any soul, regardless of how corrupt that soul is.
For blood to be offered there must be a death. The house that produced the blood must be killed. Jesus is the owner of the souls; He used His own blood to buy us back. There would not be an inheritance until the possession has been redeemed (Ephesians 1:14). The blood had a work to carry out in the soul, its work is to fully redeem the soul. What was purchased is what is to be redeemed. The same instrument used in purchasing is the same that would be used to redeem. In Christ we have redemption through the cup of Christ, which is His blood (Ephesians 1:7). God is gracious because He shed the blood of grace for sin to be taken away from the purchased possession. The payment for the redemption is the blood. Therefore, the redemption must perform its work on the possession (i.e. the soul). Redemption has not taken place in many. Redemption is not just about the initial forgiveness/pardon of sin. Although God has forgiven all men even before Jesus’ death on the cross, there still stood a claim in the spirit against men because they still kept their old ways. To destroy that claim, God needed to get through to man by making available the work of repentance.
Man is a perpetual offender who needs to repent and be forgiven. For inheritance sake we need the remission of sins (Ephesians 1:11). For a soul not to be an offender anymore, that soul has to be taught the content of Jesus' blood. The worst of all sinners have all been forgiven; they just need to believe and accept the work of grace so that they would become purchased possession. Therefore, the everlasting company must be patient and large-hearted like Jesus, who can teach even men who were formerly homosexuals to also receive everlasting life.
Jesus poured out His blood in the outer courts, holy place and the most holy place; in different grades, typifying different phases of redemption. Redemption is forgiveness of sins. What Jesus gave as communion was for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). The first testament (i.e. the cup of the new testament in Jesus’ blood) was to remove sin from the soul. There is more than one testament contained in the blood. The testament of Christ is the first testament in His blood, which is for the remission of sins or redemption from sins.
The blood was an atonement that stands for us who might have done something against God’s will; but more so, it is a provision for cleansing from sins. Partaking of the table of the Lord (the communion) does not leave the soul the same way; the soul should partake of the cup till all sin in it is fully remitted. The essence of the things Jesus said while He gave the cup and broke the bread is the purification of the soul. The soul should be purified until that purification begins to find expression in his body, signifying eating the flesh. One must eat and drink until sin is fully dealt with in the soul.
Perfection is possible as we partake of the communion at the table of the Lord. The reason why many have not experienced perfection is because they are not eating and drinking enough. If we stay well on Christ, sins will be dealt with. There can be an end of sins, and iniquity is yet to be reconciled (Daniel 9:24). Before everlasting righteousness will be opened up, reconciliation for iniquity must have occurred.
The teaching of the New Testament is the teaching of the blood and the provisions contained therein. The teacher of the New Testament is a teaching priest who teaches people out of sin; turning them from their iniquity and sins. The ministration of the blood is a teaching that is aimed to combat sin. The teaching of the blood is the teaching of holiness. This teaching awakens the mind, unlike sin which retards the mind. When the blood is taught, the commitment and energy of the soul towards sin is converted towards righteousness. No one learns the new testament and remains dull.
When everlasting righteousness has been established, nothing would hinder the giving of the reward. The testimony cannot be accessed without the help of the Lord. Access into the New Testament is by grace. Satan has perverted the minds of men, making them unable to comprehend the New Testament. Thus, to explain the testament accurately, the light of the Bible is needed. The Bible is the house of light and the mind needs to be cultured to be able to see and apply the New Testament.
The elites of scriptures and the testament are priests. Only priests can see the new testament. When a man is granted sight into the new testament priesthood, he is being raised as a priest. What makes the priest is the testament. The testament is complex; thus, only priests can teach the testament. There are a lot of preachers and teachers who are not priests. Ministry is priesthood because it is dedicated to the New Testament. No true priest departs from the testimony. The priestly initiation is an initiation that does not turn; it sees the futility in teaching other things, all of which are vanity. Thus, the priest teaches only Christ.
The vision and the prophecy must be sealed before the end would come (Daniel 9:24). The most holy place is not a physical temple; rather, it is made up of a people in whom the work of heaven would have been completed. After these people would have finished the transgression, brought sin to its end, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in the everlasting righteousness and sealed up the vision and prophecy, they would afterwards be anointed with the oil of gladness (Daniel 9:24).
The first testament is to make an end of sins. ‘Sins’ is not the same as iniquity in biblical language. A man can be free from ‘sins’ but not yet be free from iniquity. The end of sin is liberty, while freedom from iniquity is perfect liberty. Jesus hated both sin and iniquity before He was granted the right to sit on the throne. Iniquity is wickedness; it is the highest kind of sin. Those in the most holy place hate wickedness. Wickedness is the sin of a cherub - the adversary. The word 'quity' has to do with equation; thus, iniquity means inequality, twistedness, inaccuracy. The sin of beings who are in the holiest of all is inaccuracy - twisting the truth. Such beings can twist the truth because they once had access to the original. They tamper with the truth and sell it to man who cannot decipher it because he does not know the original.
Those who are outside the veil cannot see the workings of the adversary. This is why we need a high priest who is within the veil to teach us and help us to discern between good and evil. This is what the strong meat helps those saint who are of full age to achieve – ability to discern between the good and the evil (Hebrews 5:14).
No one can discern between good and evil while the issue of ‘sins’ has not yet ended within him. Full age is gathered in the holy place where men become full Christs who can receive instructions from the Father for the purpose of discerning between the good and the evil. Discernment is necessary to be able to differentiate between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil has grown out of the most holy place and some men engage it, thinking that they are engaging the Lord.
The new testament answers to all the levels of sin and iniquity. Anyone who is not willing to be schooled would not be cleansed from sins and iniquity. Sin is also a teacher and there are different grades in its learning. It would take the full knowledge of the Kingdom to be totally cleansed from sin and iniquity.
The blood is the cup through which God has ordained that the issue of sin (the nature of the old man in the soul) should be dealt with. This nature runs by a law - the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1); it is also the law of the carnal man. The first cup deals with the totality of carnality, removes sin and makes a man whole, enabling him to move to the next allocation of God in the New Testament. The cup of the New Testament is the first measure in the blood of Jesus which takes care of sin in the soul. Remission is the deletion of sins in the soul. The sins would be forgiven and the soul cleansed so that the soul can move to the next measure in the blood.
The Lord's supper is taken in the night, while there is another measure that is to be taken in the day. In the night, the issue of sins has to be deleted and remitted so that the soul can move into the day of God. The next allocation in the day deals with ‘sin’ (singular) which is also called iniquity or death. Iniquity is different from ‘sins’. A soul must move through different phases of the New Testament for sins and iniquity to be dealt with. The allocation in the day is the measure of the cup in the Father's kingdom. Jesus supping with us is for the removal of sin and iniquity.
What the churches in the Book of Revelation were dealing with was iniquity. The doctrines of Jezebel, Balaam, Nicolaitans are iniquity. Jesus said that He hates the doctrine of Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:15). This implies that the doctrine is iniquity which Jesus hates. It takes the work of a certain testament to hate the doctrine of iniquity. The testament in the Father's Kingdom would teach us how to hate iniquity. We need a certain measure of strength to hate iniquity. The strength in the cup of the first testament is not enough to deal with or hate death.
The blood of sprinkling is shed for reconciliation. Thus, the ministry of reconciliation is what the blood says. It is the blood of reconciliation; thus, it deals with iniquity. Some brethren have been cleansed but still need to be reconciled. The fullness of redemption would make for reconciliation. There is a season of redemption, while there is also a season of full redemption. Sanctified brethren are brethren whose sins have been remitted (Hebrews 2:17).
Sin is what the doer of evil does. The blood teaches us to refuse the evil and choose good (Hebrews 5:14). The good is a product of the holiest of all. Evil is the product of the most unrighteousness or most evil of iniquity. When God sees men of iniquity on earth, it makes Him seek to bring this age to an end. The age should not reach that point until men who are good have arisen.
Our Lord Jesus is a high priest of good things to come. God wants us to do good and hate the evil and to do so, we must have full age. Strong meat teaches us to deny the evil, by hating it and loving the good. The seed of God puts in us the will/strength to love the good and to hate the evil. The cherubims did excel in strength; they had strength to love and to hate (Psalm 103:19).
Satan does evil continually; to do evil continually is to do iniquity (Genesis 6:5). There was a time when men also did evil continually. That state was not sponsored by an ordinary thought; it was iniquity at work. Hence, God had to put an end to that age and save Noah from it. God saved Noah from wickedness; not the flood. Likewise, in our day, there is a plan to save the righteous from wickedness and all that is required is to build an ark. To build an ark is to build divine nature. The divine nature is an ark of safety and of salvation. An ark of safety is one that survives a condition that drowns everything else; the power of the ark is made manifest in the flood. An ark seems foolish to the world because they cannot understand the wisdom of the ark (salvation).
Noah was given everlasting instructions; instructions of the most holy. Noah finished Christ and found grace in the sight of God (Genesis 6:8). So, God gave him further instruction for him to grow up again to build the ark. Noah built the ark and entered it, but it was God who shut the door. God is the one who opens a door that no one can shut (Isaiah 22:22). Shortly, something is coming upon mankind that they would not be able to handle; and it is so designed by God to take out the wicked.
There needs to be baptism of the soul into the teaching of the new testament. Much power is needed to stay in Christ. No portion of the Word should be despised; not even the milk of the Word. The milk of the Word is necessary to give a measure of healing to the babies. The milk of the word gives good childhood to the soul and prepares the soul to move further. It rids the soul of the elementary works of sins. There are different measures of Holiness in the Word.
God can take men who are vile and make them holy and righteous. There are provisions in the Gospel to deal with the various levels of sin and iniquity. The allocation of Christ begins the testimony, which has to do with the blood of remission. There is the blood of remission and there is the blood of reconciliation (Hebrews 2:17). The blood of reconciliation deals with iniquity which Jesus hates. Jesus wants to purge iniquity from those who have been sanctified. He is a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God for the purpose of the work of reconciliation. As a high priest, having purged their sins, Jesus needs to reconcile the people to God. He does so with good things to come. He has access to good things to come.
New things come from the first allocation, while the second allocation contains All Things that are of God by which Jesus reconciles people to God (2 Corinthians 5:17). After reconciling them to God, He gives them the ministry of reconciliation. Paul taught about the ministry of reconciliation in Chapters 3 and 4 of 2 Corinthians. Jesus gives the ministry of reconciliation to the sanctified. Reconciliation is administered to those who have been sanctified.
Before reconciliation of God to His people, the world needs to be reconciled to Him through Christ. The world needs to be purged through the blood of Christ, which is the work of the first cup. The first cup takes care of the world by teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Titus 2:12). The forgiveness of sins is the removal of worldly lusts and ungodliness, so that we can live soberly, righteously and godly. Many men are not sober, they are panting for the world. Anyone who is godly has partaken of the first testament and can move to the next.
The second testament is the appearance of Jesus; the ministry of the High Priest (2 Corinthians 5:19). The word of reconciliation is the word of the High Priest; it is the word of good things to come. The church should be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). To make the reconciliation of iniquity we need the word of reconciliation, which is the strong meat of the Word. The strong meat is the testimony of Jesus - this is more than the testament in His blood.
Jesus knew no sin; that is, sin in all its levels (2 Corinthians 5:21), He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God, in the only begotten Son of God. One must have lived soberly, righteously and godly in this present world to be able to come to this estate; and partake of the everlasting righteousness. The New Testament is made up of everlasting provisions: everlasting righteousness, everlasting holiness, everlasting truth, everlasting hope and everlasting covenant. Everlasting life is the foundation of the New Testament. Until we touch everlasting life, we are yet to encounter the main reason for the New Testament. The Son of God was given for the purpose of everlasting life (John 3:16). Therefore, if everlasting life is not being preached, we have not begun to touch the essence of the New Testament. Everlasting righteousness is a sure foundation. There is the foundation and there is the sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16). A new testament minister must have come to the estate of a sure foundation.
Isaiah 61:1-11; verse 1 speaks of the first allocation. Proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord is Christ allocation. The gifts: beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise, are everlasting provisions. The tree of righteousness are men of everlasting righteousness. It is these men of everlasting righteousness that can do what is stated in verse 4 - build the old wastes, raise up the former desolations, repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. This does not imply carrying out community development projects in the society; rather, it has to do man’s development by dealing with the decadence in men, desolations of many generations. Men who have been spoilt beyond repair will be restored by the activity of trees of righteousness. The average man is a pile of desolation of many generations. They will receive everlasting joy from the men who have attained everlasting righteousness (verse 7).
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). The prophecy is to raise trees of everlasting righteousness in order to take care of the prevalent decadence. Everlasting joy is coming to earth through everlasting Word. The testimony of Jesus would teach us how to overcome iniquity. To overcome iniquity is to overcome the dragon. To achieve this, one must be taught by the testimony. The testimony teaches one how not to love one’s life. The testimony teaches us to love righteousness vehemently and hate iniquity vehemently. Hating iniquity proves our love for God. The Lord requires us to hate iniquity in all its shades because it can hide within our household (Deuteronomy 33:8-9), it does not want to go, it fights to stay. To hate iniquity does not mean to hate sinners; it means to hate what they do, such that one is never found compromising.
We must never compromise with iniquity no matter how close it is to us; even if it is as close as a family member. There is an establishment of iniquity in families which we must hate and never compromise because they are our siblings. Anyone who refuses to compromise will be hated by his family. To keep the covenant, we must hate what they love. Anyone who would carry the word of righteousness and bear the Urim and the Thummim must be separate from iniquity, and keep the covenant (Deuteronomy 33:9). The Lord rebuked the church in Thyatira because they suffered Jezebel to teach God’s servants (Revelation 2:20). Jezebel is a spirit that came upon some brethren at that time. They allowed that spirit, rather than resisting it. We must stand our ground continually in our hatred for iniquity. We must not try to walk in love towards iniquity.
Satan looks for loopholes to bring down saints who are following after everlasting righteousness. Satan seeks to weaken our strength from continuing with righteousness; therefore, at every level we must love not our lives. Satan likes to come in through family; he knows how to use the family line to make man sentimental about continuing righteousness. We must align with the Lord to be separate from iniquity no matter the position where it is rooted. We must hate all forms of iniquity and unrighteousness. Anyone who heeds to sentiments would be unworthy of everlasting righteousness.
We must turn away from iniquity and allow the sword of God to separate us from things that make us turn and hinder our faithfulness (Hebrews 4:12-13). We must not use the sword to kill ourselves, as Levi did. Rather, we must get rid of the hidden things of dishonesty which lurks within us. It takes the ministry of the High Priest through the revealed word, to discern hidden works of dishonesty.
We must not be secret compromisers. Abel might have been telling Cain to depart from his compromise, but Cain did not heed until he yielded fully to the works of wickedness. We must hold fast that which we have to the end.