Review: The Holy Spirit and the Lampstand

At this point in our book we are describing the process of sanctification, which is the second area of redemption. Sanctification is death to the fleshly impulses of our flesh and mind, death to everything in us that is not of the Lord.

Sanctification is resurrection to the eternal life of righteous and holy personality and conduct that flow from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is especially active in sanctifying the members of the Body of Christ. The Spirit is active also throughout the other two areas of redemption. All the virtue of God has been assigned to us in order to accomplish our restoration to God's Person, will, ways, and eternal purpose.

The Holy Place of the Tabernacle portrays in symbolic form the second area of redemption (sanctification) of which we are speaking. We discussed first the Table of Showbread. The Table of Showbread represents the body and blood of Christ, the Divine Substance that is given us to eat and drink.

Next we came to the golden Lampstand. The Lampstand symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who is the principal Agent of the Holy Place. The Holy Place of the Tabernacle speaks of the Church, the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the One who is to dominate everything that the Church becomes and does.

The Holy Spirit, having accomplished His work in us, leads us to the fullness of the Glory of Christ. Christ, in turn, leads us to the Father. Our entrance into the fullness of Christ in God is represented by the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

We have stated that there are at least five major operations of the Holy Spirit: the assigning, directing, and empowering of gifts and ministries; the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin that binds us; the creating of the Nature of Christ in us; the giving of comfort, guidance, and strength in every detail of discipleship; and the inspiring of us to keep on pressing toward Christ.

We have stated also that there are at least five end products of the five operations of the Holy Spirit: our ability to impart Christ to people at all levels of spiritual maturity; the establishment of the testimony of God as the basis for His judgment of His creatures; the creation of the Wife of the Lamb; the creation of the Temple of God; and the imposition of Christ's rule on the peoples of the earth through judgment.

The accomplishment of the last three end products, in particular, depends on our coming to maturity in Christ. Our coming to maturity in Christ is the result of the operations of sanctification.

When Christ has been formed in the members of the Body of Christ, His rule can then be imposed on the peoples of the earth by the authority of judgment and the power of deliverance administered by the anointed Servant of the Lord, who is Christ—Head and Body (Isaiah, Chapter 42; Ephesians 4:11-16).

The first area of redemption is that of salvation. The second area of redemption is that of sanctification—that which we are discussing currently. The third area of redemption is that of conquest.

Conquest has to do with the development in us of absolute obedience to the will of God, just as Christ, while on the earth, learned obedience at the deepest levels of His Person.

Even after the operations of sanctification have brought us a long distance along the path toward our ability to impart Christ, toward giving a clear testimony, toward union with God, toward fitness as the house of God, and toward ability to rule under God, there still are some difficult lessons to be learned concerning obedience to the Father.

The realm of conquest, which is that of obedience to the Father, contributes toward bringing to perfection the five end products of sanctification. Absolute obedience will be discussed under the heading: "Conquest: The Third Area of Redemption." Absolute obedience to the Father is the third death and resurrection of redemption.

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