ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: September 2015

Friday, September 25, 2015

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: A REVELATION OF THE GLORY OF GOD, Part 6

Another Coffee Break:

A Revelation of God's Glory, Part 6

September 18, 2015

So far in the past week, we've laid the foundation for understanding a fundamental principle of our relationship with the Lord in the picture of being literally created for him. Just as Eve was taken out of Adam's side -- and Jesus is referred to as "the Last Adam" -- we also have been literally taken out of Jesus' side. We will get into this picture more, possibly today, and maybe not until next week, but let's return to the prophetic cry of the Lord as it was given by Jeremiah.

We wrapped up last week by saying that when Jeremiah delivered his prophetic Word to Israel, the Lord was literally crying out because of the search that was going on for His people, desiring to be joined once again to that special people He had chosen for Himself. They were the reciprocal of the Lord in the earth -- and they had gone astray, seeking after other gods.

Consider, then, the prophetic parable that Jesus shares in the 25th Chapter of Matthew as he talks about the ten virgins. In this parable, the ten virgins are supposed to be a picture of a people prepared as a bride-to-be and betrothed to the Lord.

Matthew 25:1-12: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Before we get too far into this parable, let's define some terms used here in the KJV as "wise" and "foolish" from the Greek words used in the original text.

The word used to describe the "wise" virgins is the Greek, phronimos, and it comes from a root word, phren, which means: to rein in, to curb, to discipline one's minds and feelings. The word, phronimos, by extension, means: to be thoughtful, discreet, cautious and practical. There's a whole lot here in this description of the "wise" virgins, and we'll break this out momentarily.

In contrast to "wise," the Greek uses the term, moros. We get our English word, "moron," from this term, but its true definition is: thoughtless, imprudent, without forethought or wisdom; empty, useless. J. H. Thayer adds to this definition, one who thinks he can operate outside of God's wisdom; one who neglects and/or despises the sozo offered.

OK, so far? Good! Then, let's put these terms in the context of Jesus' parable.

What was it that defined the "wise virgins?" Let's see if we can enumerate what the Bridegroom was looking for in His betrothed.

(1) They had their lamps lit, and an ample supply of oil. Throughout the Word, the lamps have been a picture of passion and pursuit of relationship. In Psalm 119:105, David makes the statement, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." That passion with God tells you where you are with Him, and it lets you know (by revelation) where you are going with Him.

The oil is a picture of the anointing that comes by and through Holy Spirit. One does not come by that anointing carelessly and heedlessly. It comes by being in His presence -- NOT occasionally, NOT when one just feels like it, NOT because you want something from Him -- because you love Him. You WANT to be with Him. You desire to KNOW Him. You crave what He wants. Your purpose is to know His very heartbeat, to feel what He feels. Your aim is to be everything that fulfills Him, everything that completes Him.

(2) The ample supply of oil -- the extra beyond what was needed for the moment -- indicates that the "wise virgins" were prepared for the possibility that the Bridegroom might not come when they expected Him, and that they could not allow their passion and pursuit of His presence to wane during any potential delay.

(3) There is an extraordinary aspect of this extra oil that often gets missed in the reading of Jesus' parable. That oil cost them dearly! It cost them -- in many instances -- their reputation, their occupations, their friends, their resources ..... all that might have been dear to them in the natural! One thing they absolutely had been required to set aside was their plans, their reasoning, their thoughts, their doctrines and ideas. They had come to the place where it just didn't matter what it cost them; having the Bridegroom's heart, having His best wasn't just important: it surpassed every other consideration!

(4) When the announcing cry sounded, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him," the Greek text uses the term, kosmeo, to describe the virgins "trimming" their lamps. In fact, this term, kosmeo, literally means: to put in proper order, to decorate (both literally and figuratively), to garnish, to adorn. [We get our modern English word, cosmetics, from this Greek word.]

Again we get a picture of the "wise virgins" who put their lamps and the burning flame "in proper order," who "adorned and garnished" themselves with their passion for the Bridegroom. You see, they were ready for Him! They may have nodded off in the delay incurred before His coming but they knew He was glorious; every fiber and cell of their existence and preparation for Him was that they would be an adornment for that Glory.

I've probably just scratched the surface of this so far, but let's consider the "foolish virgins." Remember the Greek term that describes them? Moros. Thoughtless, imprudent, without forethought or wisdom.

(1) The sad commentary on these virgins is that they were virgins. They started off right! They had been seen by the Bridegroom as someone desirable, someone with potential, someone with a destiny who could be a part of His destiny, someone in whom there was passion and desire.

The problem was not in how they started, but the fact that they were so sidetracked by their preconceived notions of when and how He would return for them that they failed to spend the requisite time in His presence to really get to KNOW Him, His heart, His desires, His plans, His purposes.

(2) These five "foolish virgins" actually started off with oil. Their lamps were lit. They displayed a passionate love for the Bridegroom. [Let me draw an analogy here that some folks may take issue with.] As we have noted, the oil is a picture of the anointing that comes through and by Holy Spirit. It comes by being in His presence.

The five "foolish virgins" yielded themselves to what we have come to know as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit." They experienced the initial flow as Holy Spirit took their yielded tongues and began to speak through them with the tongues and languages of men and of angels. The problem was that they stopped there. They treated the experience as a goal or an objective to be reached in their preparatory walk with the Lord instead of a gateway to intimacy. They received enough oil in their lamps to have a flame burning with passionate love.

(3) Ephesians 5:17-20: Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reading the above passage in Greek can be a hilarious experience, but let me focus on the express verbiage in the second half of verse 18, but be filled with the Spirit! The Greek text looks like this: Plerousqe en Pneumati. Literally translated, it becomes, Be being (continually) filled and furnished in and by (Holy) Spirit. I'll continue with this translation and amplification momentarily, but there's no such thing as a one-time experience of being filled with Holy Spirit. This is a continuing daily, moment-by-moment, hour-by-hour experience.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an initial immersion which takes place when we yield our tongues over to His control. He begins speaking through us with words and languages that go far beyond our learning and natural reasoning. He shuts down our minds so that we are not partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and causes us to begin eating of the Tree of Life and drinking from the River of Life. Our minds may be going a hundred miles a minute, but what is coming out of our mouths has absolutely nothing whatever to do with whatever is going through our minds. It becomes a gateway to being continually filled and experiencing a dimension of intimacy with the Lord that is not available any other way.

I've said all of that to say this: the "foolish virgins" failed to keep filling their vessels with the oil of the Spirit. They never really got to KNOW the Bridegroom. He was a figurehead in their life, a goal to be achieved, a future provider and source of provision, but not someone to know and be known by at the level of the Spirit. The concept of what it would cost them to be in that place of continually being filled was foreign.

Let me take just a bit more of Ephesians 5 before we move on.

Where our English translations render the word lalountes (lalountes -- from laleo) as "speaking," in fact the proper word in the Greek to use if we want to render this as "articulate, reasoned, thought-out speaking" should have been legountes (legountes -- from lego). The difference here is that the word lego is articulate speech, whereas the actual word used, laleo, means: to utter a sound, to use the tongue or the faculty of speech.

If you're looking at me cross-eyed, thinking, what difference does this make, let's be clear! If I articulate words to you, I'm speaking out of forethought. My words are planned. I have reasoned out what needs to be said.

On the other hand, if I'm just making sounds, what comes out is what Episcopal Rector, Dennis Bennett, referred to in his book, NINE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, as glossolalia, describing his experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are words, all right, but they are words NOT formed from my forethought or reasoning: they are words in languages that I know nothing about.

What Paul is saying, therefore, is this: "speaking (or singing) to yourselves in Psalms (the praise or worship or intercession) written (mostly) by David, [that which has already been set forth as music with words], hymns (NOT what we have referred to as "hymns" from the hymnal) -- repetitive, celebratory short songs or phrases, and spiritual songs [supernatural, spirit-driven, divine utterances], singing and making melody (the Greek term is, psallo, which means to pluck or strum on a stringed instrument) in your heart (the Greek phraseology here is to agree in your mind with what is coming forth by the Spirit) to the Lord.

Let's see if we can assemble all of this in a cohesive sentence:

Don't be intoxicated with wine, but intoxicate yourself with the Spirit, being continually filled and furnished [saturated and satiated] in and with Holy Spirit, freely allowing your tongue to become His vessel in speaking and singing to yourself the Psalms, celebratory, repetitive short songs and phrases, and supernaturally given, Spirit-driven, divine utterances, singing and playing upon an instrument, agreeing in your mind with what Holy Spirit is uttering [beyond your natural abilities or learning]. (Ephesians 5:17-18, RAC Translation & Amplification)

THAT, folks, is how the five wise virgins kept their passionate and fiery love alive for the Bridegroom. THAT is how they had an ample supply of the oil of the Spirit.

There's one other factor that I will touch on briefly, here, but we will dig into it more next week. The oil that was used in the lamps, as well as the oil in the Golden Candlestick in the Tabernacle of Moses, was an oil which came from a crushing process. It is a picture of the crushing that takes place in those who have the oil of the Spirit. That crushing is necessary in us to get rid of all of our carnality so that the Glory of the Lord can be revealed.

This picture has a lot to it, and it is germane to the cry of the Lord as revealed in Jeremiah's prophecy, so let's stop here and pick it up next week.

More next week.

I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call takes place on Mondays at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific). As of Monday, September 14th, our call-in number has changed to (712) 775-7035. The new Access Code is: 323859#. Our previous conference line experienced drop-outs and periodic audio quality issues, so this was a needed upgrade!

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That conference number is (605) 562-3140, and the access code is 308640#. We hope to make these gatherings available by Skype or Talk Fusion before long. If you miss the live call, you can dial (605) 562-3149, enter the same access code and listen in later.

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org

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Monday, September 21, 2015

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: A REVELATION OF GOD'S GLORY, Part 5

Another Coffee Break:

A Revelation of God's Glory, Part 5

September 11, 2015

The Glory of the Lord is a promise in the Word, first seen in Abraham, promised to Moses and the children of Israel, and prophesied by David, Isaiah and Jeremiah. When Jesus came as the personification of that Glory, He both prayed and promised that His Glory would be revealed in a people who were intimate with Him. In today's Coffee Break, and possibly the next one or two, I'd like to deal with the preparation in us for the revealing of His Glory as Jesus laid it out, Paul described it, and John was given the demonstration in Revelation.

The picture I'm about to draw for you begins in the Garden. It flows throughout the Word, often concealed in "hidden manna" -- Hebrew metaphors with literally extravagant depths -- in the Song of Solomon, and Jeremiah's prophecy. It is revealed in Jesus' parables, demonstrated in Paul's epistles, and wept over in the seventh of the seven letters to the Ekklesia in Revelation.

Watch!

Genesis 1:26-28: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The very beginning for all of us was that we were first created in the image and likeness of the Lord God! Get it? His image! His likeness! Understand, too, that when we read, "And God said," the Hebrew word used for God is Elohim. This is the plural of Eloah. The plural usage here designates Father, Son & Holy Spirit, all working together in harmony, in complete agreement with each other. Hence, the DNA is the combined DNA of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That may seem like a stretch to put it that way, but consider that Father has His overriding dominion, His authority, His character and nature. Jesus, on the other hand, has the nature, the character, the very essence of the relationship between Father and Son. Holy Spirit has the makeup, the personality, the very nature which imparts, which teaches, which broods and meditates and infuses the nature and character and essence of Father and Son combined.

It takes a revelation from Holy Spirit to get this picture, but it is a critical picture. We were created in the image, the likeness, the character, the makeup, the authority, the very essence of all THREE IN ONE!!! Therein lies the mystery of the Glory!

Notice the very first declaration God makes over man: "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

There's a word for you -- dominion! It comes from the Hebrew word, radah, which means: to rule over, to tread down, to subjugate; metaphorically: to take possession of, to possess oneself of; and in lesser usage: to teach, to bring correction to, to discipline and bring under subjection.

We know without hesitation that absolute authority and dominion resides in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The authority and dominion that resided in Adam and Eve was nothing shy of stupendous. Think about it for a minute. Adam was given the responsibility to imbue every single one of some 50,000 species of animals, birds, reptiles, etc., with their character, their nature and their personality. And he did it simply by speaking and declaring over them. "And it was so!"

But that's only a tiny part of the picture. Adam was first created. For some unspecified period of time, he was alone. Here's where it gets really interesting. Adam had no counterpart, no "other self" with whom he could share all that he was. Yet completeness is in Father God, completeness is in Jesus -- OOPS, almost (but that's where we're going with this series) -- and completeness is in Holy Spirit.

You see, here's the catch. Adam was complete, but in his completeness, he was incomplete. This brings us to the whole purpose of Creation....mmmm....just hold steady, folks! You'll see it as things unfold. Watch what happens next!

Genesis 2:18: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

It is really important for us to make a distinction here. God did not say, I will make him an helpmeet. He said -- and I'm phrasing this for you from the Hebrew text -- I will make someone who will surround him, protect him, provide assistance and nurture him -- one who will be his counterpart, his other self, one who parallels him, who is appropriate to his character, his nature and makeup. (RAC Translation & Amplification)

Now, God puts Adam into a deep sleep. The Greek Septuagint uses the word, ecstasis, meaning: a state of ecstasy! Adam wasn't simply knocked out or put into some kind of coma, the Lord places him into an ecstatic dream state. Then he opens Adam up, takes out a rib -- the rib closest to his heart -- closes him back up and creates Eve.

NOW, Adam is complete! With Eve, Adam now has full expression. Consider this: They are a picture of unity. Yes, Eve is different than Adam -- in the way she thinks, in the way she talks, in the way she arrives at conclusions -- and yet, no two people could be more alike. They share the same existence. They are a part of each other. Without Eve, Adam is incomplete. Without Adam, Eve is incomplete. They share the same purpose. They are best friends. Yet they are spiritual beings, created to have fellowship with the Lord, our Bridegroom, without whom they would be even more incomplete.

Consider Eve. She is the perfection of Adam. No woman could more compliment and finish a man. Yes, she is beautiful -- stunningly so -- but, that is not our focus. She has been given an independent mind with which to think. She has been given the independence to choose. Were a thousand other men arrayed before her, she would still choose Adam.

Why? Because she was literally taken from him. She was extracted from his side. Before she was, he was. Before she was, he saw her -- if only in his spirit. Before she was, they were one -- but incomplete. Adam had no separate feminine expression of his onoma. He was forever bound to exist in only one dimension as a masculine expression. There was no independent expression of love and commitment towards him from a like being who could share his thoughts, his desires, his hopes, his purposes.

Though Adam was ruler over the earth, though he had been given power over every living species, though he had been given the wisdom and revelation to identify the onoma of every living creature, he had no one with whom to identify his onoma.

Eve is like him. Yet, she is different. Full of grace and beauty, Eve is the expression of all that Adam could not be. Her onoma is his onoma because she was taken from his side. His onoma is her onoma because he is in her as she is in him. Without Adam, Eve is terribly incomplete. Without Eve, Adam is incomplete, lonely, unable to fully express that onoma which was bred into his genetic structure when the Lord breathed those first breaths into his being. Together, they make one whole being.

Even though the Adam walking here in the Garden is a picture of masculine greatness, authority and power, he is only that way because Eve is here to complete him. Remove Eve from the equation and you have a man unable to be whom the Lord created him to be. Remove Eve, and his destiny will never be fulfilled. Remove Eve, and you will have a partial man.

Eve, for all her stunning beauty, is incomplete without Adam. Remove Adam from this picture and you have grace, form, stature, loveliness, compassion, love, emotional expression and tenderness that will never be fully expressed. There will be no counterpart with whom to express those facets; there will be no recipient of her love; there will be no complete demonstration of the power, authority and greatness incorporated into her onoma.

With Adam, Eve is the personification of greatness. With Adam, Eve is the complete expression of love. With Adam, Eve is the visible manifestation of grace and power. With Adam, Eve is complete. With Adam, Eve is Eve!

With Eve, Adam has greatness. With Eve, Adam's authority can come forth. With Eve, Adam can rule the dominion he has been given. With Eve, love will go forth in the land. With Eve, Adam is Adam!

Together, there will be a full expression and demonstration of the onoma that is Adam. Adam is not Adam without Eve. Eve is not Eve without Adam. Adam pours out his being to Eve. She reciprocates of her own free will and choice. They are Adam.

And now we are beginning to understand the mystery of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. OK. Wait a minute. I'm getting ahead of myself. Can't go there yet.

We all know what happened when Eve first ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then Adam ate of it. There's a story here that I don't have time to go into today. We see Adam displaying the very redemptive nature and character of the Lord Jesus Christ as he knowingly partakes of the fruit. Eve got tricked by Satan, deceived and seduced into eating the fruit. Adam wasn't seduced. He wasn't tricked. He knew exactly what he was doing -- and that's a fabulous story we'll look at some other time. The point of this is that because Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in disobedience to God's command and warning, it set the stage for Satan to bring division between man and woman, husband and wife, and to pervert the very plan of God in the union between husband and wife.

There is a stupendous Hebrew metaphor revealed in the Song of Solomon, and repeated in Jeremiah's prophecy. The metaphor occurs in the Song of Solomon, Chapter 1, verse 5, and it is revealed in the statement, "I am black." This statement is actually rooted in the understanding of how God extracted Eve from Adam, how she was specifically designed for him, how the two of them were incomplete without each other, and how the two of them completed each other. Following is an amplification of the Hebrew text of this verse, along with an amplification of the metaphor. As a point of context, it is important to understand that this is the Shulamite speaking.

(Without hesitation, she responds.) "Although I am beautiful and desirable for him to look upon, the real answer goes much deeper. There is a "search" that goes on in the heart of every person -- a seeking after one's counterpart -- for their "other self." I have spent my life searching for the man who would be my "other self," knowing deep inside that when I found him, an inner joining would occur, a linking up to form a whole person rather than two partial beings. That inner joining occurred when we met and came to know one another." (Song of Solomon 1:5, RAC Translation & Amplification)

What most folks don't realize is that the Shulamite (the Hebrew is Shulammiyth, which is the feminine form of Solomon) was referring to the fact that Solomon had chosen her above every other woman. (Everyone knows of the very extreme search that went on in Solomon for his counterpart, his other self. I Kings 11:3 tells us that he wound up with 700 wives and 300 concubines.) In this passage, the Shulamite was expressing her completeness in Solomon. As you read through the Song of Solomon, it becomes clear that Solomon was likewise expressing his completeness in the Shulamite. Her name comes from the Hebrew, shalam, and literally translates to the following: to be at peace, to be safe, to be completed, to reciprocate (and, by extension, to be the reciprocal of). See the picture of Eve? See the picture of the joining between Adam and Eve and how they completed each other?

Then consider Jeremiah's prophecy where the Lord is crying out.

Jeremiah 8:21-22: For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Get it? We have the same exact metaphor occurring here. The Lord had chosen Israel as His people in all the earth. He extracted them from Egypt in the midst of a great deliverance from the most powerful army on the planet at that time, gave them incredible wealth and provision, provided for them supernaturally during the 40 years they were in the wilderness and gave them spectacular victories as they entered the land He had promised to give them as their perpetual inheritance in the earth.

He chose them, not because they were the greatest and mightiest nation on earth -- and in fact they were the least of all nations when chosen -- but because it provided the opportunity for God to demonstrate once again in the earth what other nations could have, with a people who were His people, joined in a marriage covenant to Him, designed and destined to be His counterpart, His other self in the earth!

When Jeremiah delivered his prophetic Word to Israel, the Lord was literally crying out because of the search that was going on for His people, desiring to be joined once again to that special people He had chosen for Himself. They were the reciprocal of the Lord in the earth -- and they had gone astray, seeking after other gods.

We still have a considerable ways to go with this picture, so let's stop here and pick it up next week.