2 Peter 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we
were with him in the holy mount.
What a moment this must have been for Peter, James and John. Following
Jesus had already brought amazing experiences into their lives but now
they were climbing a mountain apart from the rest of the disciples not
exactly knowing where they were going or what they would see. They fell
asleep from the journey as Jesus began to pray, but awoke to find themselves,
clothed in a glorious cloud of God's presence and power and heard His
voice.
But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when
they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
Luke 9:32
They came away from this "Mountain Top" experience with what
St. Peter declared was a "more sure word of prophecy". They
received insight into God's choice, plan and purpose for their day and
beyond. Years of study from the Torah could not have yielded any of the
things that were shown to them in that one moment of time.
The important thing to understand is that Bible events are not just historical
in nature. The Word of God is Present Truth. That means there is something
hidden in these scriptures for us, whose hope is in the prophetic purpose
of God and the manifestation of the Sons of God.
Living in the Pacific Northwest we are blessed by the beauty of two mountain
ranges, the Olympics and the Cascades. Each has dynamic peaks as high
as fifteen thousand feet. When you have the opportunity to visit I hope
you can take the time for a great ride and see Mount Rainier.
As you travel up the mountain road each turn unveils another amazing panoramic
view of the landscape, which could never be seen from a lower elevation.
All truth is Parallel. There are some things that God wants to show us
that can only be received in a higher place of understanding.
That is why you may be seeking the Lord. Why you earnestly desire to
know His will for your life. It is His way of calling and drawing you
out of your ordinary circumstances of life and at this time, the Holy
Spirit is helping us climb this high mountain apart.
Unlike the physical journey the disciples experienced with Jesus, you
and I are being drawn to a spiritual journey. Not a geographical walk
from one place to another, this journey is a spiritual process where line
upon line and precept upon precept the nature and character of Christ
is formed according to the divine pattern within us. This is symbolized
in climbing up the mountain, so that you are leaving the earth's lower
points and in the language of the Holy Spirit rising to a higher place
of Spirit and consciousness free from the dead works of man made religion.
The inner, hidden and spiritual meaning of God's Word rises into view
and you are able to see the mistaken and misapplied concepts of the scripture.
As we come to these high places of spiritual experience a transformation
occurs and we can see things about ourselves, about the Lord and His plan
we could not see any other way. God was about to speak from the Mountain
Top. A new day was dawning and an old order was passing away.
As we come to know Jesus more intimately we see that in order to grasp
His own destiny He needed to come to this high place apart and pray. He
took counsel in the testimony of the Law and Prophets.
As He did, He was Transfigured and His countenance and form was changed
and the disciples were with him. What was the Lord trying to show them?
What did the disciples themselves take away from this experience?
Mathew 17:9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them,
saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again
from the dead.
And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things
which they had seen. Luke 9:36
This moment on the Holy mount left a mark in Peter's mind because later
on he understood the meaning of the vision. Their Hebrew expectation of
these scriptures went through a metamorphosis just as real as Jesus' form
was changed.
Later on He would speak as an oracle of God and declare a change of order
and a new day dawning. A new creation was being formed and a new heaven
and earth would appear.
2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye
do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
I believe the underlying power and revelation of this event is prophetic
and ready to be fulfilled in our time of life. This booklet is written
with the will of God to encourage those who seek the deeper meaning of
life and Christ's purpose for them. If we carefully examine the Word of
God in light of Present Truth we will hear the voice of "His Most
Excellent Glory" declare from the Mountain Top what is God's perfect
will and good pleasure to be manifested in the earth.
A More Sure Word of Prophecy
And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John,
and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: Mark 9:2
Now, Peter, James and John though unlearned in the schools of prophecy,
following Jesus up the mount were about to experience God's School of
the Spirit and receive instruction in a personal and direct manner.
This experience is recorded in three of the four Gospels only pointing
to its important message. The story is a sacred historical fact having
occurred in that day. However there is something within these verses that
has relevance for you and me if we allow the Holy Spirit to minister these
things to us and apply them according to God's will, the power of revelation
knowledge, the voice and spirit of God's Word will lead us to an inner
place of the heart, a deeper understanding, a higher experience with God,
as St. Paul declared he was:
CAUGHT UP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN.
Mountains are used by the Holy Spirit to designate high and holy experiences
with God. Climbing higher or going upward toward the heavens in the scripture
does not refer to a physical journey but is a symbol of our inward journey
of the Spirit. The Kingdom of God is within you. The vast expanse of space
and the universe only reflects the vast world of the heavens and Christ
in you.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead;… Romans 1:20
As we go higher in our understanding it corresponds with the depth our
soul journeys through faith. The mystery and mystical nature of these
moments ...
The anointing and much more; isbeing restored to the people of God,
so that all God's dear Sons and Daughters may come into a present truth
awareness of the intimate presence we enjoy in God, and with God, through
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Today, I sense that many are being called by the Spirit to journey through
the Spirit to a high mountain apart where God will speak from the Mountain
Top and the clarity of all things will appear.
Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and
high mountain.
MISTAKEN & MISAPPLIED
Allow me to state that as we continue to speak of the High and Holy things
of the Lord, we can only do this with the permission of His Spirit. Sincere,
purified hearts and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.
I ask the reader to hear carefully and tenderly in the fear of God because
there is no desire in my heart whatsoever to cast a negative sense upon
anyone or any institution of God who may believe the things that I see
differently. Rather we must humbly bow our hearts and mind before the
Lord, and ask in faith to be led of His Spirit and direct our path according
to His will.
Exodus 4:27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet
Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
Sometimes the Lord directs us in the exact opposite way the rest of the
world is going. In the verse above, the Lord sent Aaron (Moses brother)
into the wilderness. It states that he met him in the mount of God. Before
we can get to a higher place in the Spirit we may have to go into the
wilderness.
At a recent conference, I defined the problem people have with understanding
the Bible, finding God's liberty to grow in faith by comparing a few of
the many ways Christian theologians have interpreted the Bible.
With so much teaching about the end time, great tribulation, rapture of
the church and the restoration of natural Israel, the people of God are
in a quagmire of dogma mingled together, which creates a tower of confusion
where everyone's voice is fused together with the other, so that no one
can understand what the other is saying. Thus is the meaning of being
in Babylon.
As times pass and prophecies fail all that is left is an ever growing
body of thought that has amounted to nothing but the traditions of men
and have made the Word of God of no effect to the hearer.
There is such a natural, physical presentation of these events that it
stumbles the believer from entering into the dynamics of spiritual metamorphosis.
St. Paul, had to go blind before he could see. Paul realized from his
Damascus road experience that none of His religious upbringing, nor having
studied at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the great teachers of his day,
had ever connected him with the Living God or his purpose, as that day
when all his learning was stripped from his understanding.
Acts 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened,
he saw no man:… 9 And he was three days without sight,
This is important for those who pray for and are seeking deeper experiences
with the Lord. Very often what we have been previously taught has affected
our very soul and personality, the way we think and the way we understand
our walk in God. It goes very deep to the heart of the issue.
Your own mind can either be a door of entry into the mind of Christ in
you, or it can be a place of darkness and death as it is written, "to
be carnally minded is death." (Romans 8:6)
St. Paul wrote later on in his epistle to the Philippians, that this
is what mattered most to him from that time forward.
Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
The prophet Isaiah, who when writing of his own experience with the Lord
said it was "in the year that King Uzziah, died that I saw the Lord."
When the natural King died then his eyes were opened to the real King
of Israel, the Lord, our God.
In the same way revelation knowledge is opening the eyes of our understanding
so that the natural, physical events portrayed in the scriptures, becomes
transformed to be a part of your own spiritual metamorphosis.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed (metamorphoo) into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand
the scriptures
Following His resurrection from the dead Jesus began to show the disciples
the underlying meaning of the scriptures and what the prophets truly meant.
As He did He appeared to their spiritual senses and they knew it was the
Lord.
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished
out of their sight. {vanished...: or, ceased to be seen of them}
That is exactly what happens when you dialogue in the Word of God and
fellowship in the events of the life of Jesus. His spiritual person and
presence begins to appear and as the natural physical aspect of His life
vanishes you begin to understand what the New Covenant mystery is all
about Christ In YOU.
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while
he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
*To order your copy of "Voices from the Mountain Top" simply E-mail
Peter Demetris at:
pastorpeterd@comcast.net
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