Whispers of Expressing

His Life ⁽¹⁾

by Ray and Doris Prinzing

Chapter 13

 LIVING EPISTLES

 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." [2 Corinthians 3:2-3].

             We have in the Bible a book that is titled: "The Acts Of The Apostles," and so it is, for it is a record of many of their doings, persecutions, victories, journeys, etc. But even more correctly, it could be titled:  THE ACTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT in the lives of the apostles." For it is HIS working in and through them, to accomplish His purpose and plan.
            Certainly God is continuing the writing of His message ― with precious revelations to yet be disclosed. The Greek word "epistole", drop the letter "o" and you have our English word "epistle", literally means: a written message. And Paul clearly taught that we are "declared to be the epistle of Christ," which is being written BY THE SPIRIT upon our hearts. He is truly engraving HIS MESSAGE upon our hearts.
            In Revelation 21:27, we read of "They which are written in the Lamb's book of life." The usual thought has always been, He has a book, and our name is written in that book. And this can well be true, if we think of it more in spiritual terms, than of literal books of paper, ink, etc. In fact, the scripture also speaks of those "whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." [Revelation 13:8] And again, "Whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world..." [Revelation 17:8]. The whole implication is that just as Jesus Christ was clearly "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," so also there are those whose names have been in His book of life from that time onward. These would surely be those "Whom He did foreknow," and whom "He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son..." [Romans 8:29]. Known by Him, their names written in His book, and now being duly processed by Him to fulfill all that which was afore-written.
            We can appreciate the sentiment of the hymn: "There's a new name written down in glory, and it's mine, Oh, yes, it's mine..." For the thought is that right now they are accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, to become a new creature in Him, and that He is right then writing their name in His book of life. Be all that as it may, there is another more profound truth before us, and some of our readers will bear witness to it.
            The Psalmist caught a vision of this precious truth, when he exclaimed, "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and IN THY BOOK all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." [Psalm-139:16].
            However, in counter-distinction to those whose names WERE WRITTEN in that Book long ago, there are others whose names were not written in the book, for their time and purpose is yet to come, and HE is, if you please, still preparing the book into which they shall be written. Suffice it for now, just to state, that God has a company of people who shall become the book in which other names shall be written, when people receive the message of that book, believe into its truth, and become one therein. Even as Paul said, "Ye are our epistle WRITTEN IN OUR HEART S ..." For they had received his message, and he took them into his own heart, and then bear record that they were one in the truth.
            Now, while as already stated, the usual thought is that the Lamb has a book, into which our names are written, there is an entirely different way of reading this. When we check to see if this phrase followed the usual Greek syntax, we found it actually to read, "The book of the life of the Lamb." So we ask, could this be the obvious? As one would say, "The book of John's life," or, "The book of Mary's life," etc. It is a legitimate translation. But suddenly, the switch in emphasis is from the "book of life" to the book of "THE LAMB'S LIFE." Thus, to have one's name enrolled in this book would signify participation in the subject of the book, being a member of the Lamb. Then our life becomes as a chapter of the Lamb's life. All that is written now would be an EXTENSION OF HIS LIFE as lived through us. And it would still be a book recording what the Lamb is doing, how He is now working ―a living message, EXPRESSING HIM.
            Psalm 90:9, "We spend our years as a tale that is told."
            If you were to read the life of some people, it is very adventurous, romantic, exciting. Others seem to have a long tale of tragedy. However, it is not just the writing of an autobiography on paper, which others can read. More important, we are a LIVING MESSAGE, and our life is now being written in our character, nature, state of being. Either it is a record of SELF, or a record of HIS LIFE EXPRESSED THROUGH US.
            By way of example, engrained in the tree is the story of its years. For those who have learned to "read the tree" once it was cut down, they could study the stump and tell you of the years of drought, or excessive rainfall, of severe storms that twisted it, etc. for it was all engrained in the very fibers of the wood itself.
            Into our spirit is written the message which we are BECOMING. We become the LIVING RECORD, the epistle. When God uncovers this book, i.e. unveils His sons to the world, they will clearly see what is the working of grace in the outworking of redemption. It will be expressed through all your emotions, actions, responses, thinking, etc. A declaration that cannot be said to be otherwise, for your state of being is that witness.
            "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people." [Hebrews 8:10].
            No more will there be a need for the verbalizing of "thou shalt" or, "thou shalt not," for the very expression of the LIFE among men will be that living message ―"This is the way, walk ye in it." In the calm, cool, royal dignity of divine love, God's sons will manifest the right way to live, and all other men will clearly be seen as the expression of how not to live.
            "Him that overcometh... I WILL WRITE UPON HIM the name of My God... and I WILL WRITE UPON HIM My new name... [Revelation 3:12]. This is more than just being "called by His name." And it is more than just a surface type of tattoo. It is an engraving into their very being of HIS LIFE. It is a message that is ALL ABOUT HIM.
            In so many religious magazines of these days, we find it is a man's name that is most evident. On every page, written several times, often with his picture included, until the whole magazine is stamped with the name and image, the message of that man. And by actual count on one occasion, we found the man's name given more times than that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
            But the message which God is WRITING IN US is not about man, that is, about the earthy, flesh realm, it is a book of the LAMB'S LIFE, with His name, His nature, His character, so clearly engrained in us that when people read this message, it is all about HIM.
            "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads." [Revelation 14:1].
            Again we repeat, this is not just a tattoo stamped upon the forehead, for the name bespeaks of CHARACTER, and the forehead represents the mind, the inner thought. It is GOD'S CHARACTER ENGRAVED IN THE MIND. How we desire to have the mind of Christ, so that all of our thoughts are HIS thoughts. Far too long we have expressed thoughts out of SELF, of the flesh, until we have wearied ourselves with the emptiness of man's carnal reasoning. We desire ANSWERS ―He has them, and He will manifest them through a people that are an expression of His message.
            "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that ye may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry," [Habakkuk 2:2-3].
            Certainly through the years we have examined this verse forwards and backwards, word by word in many details, but there is one special thought we need to yet again hold before us ―for while the vision is constantly referred to here, as "it," ― it shall speak, wait for it, etc. yet when we come to Hebrews 10:37, we find that while the passage is quoted, it is also just slightly changed, for the "it" is personified into a "HE." For yet a little while, and HE that shall come will come, and will not tarry,"
            Write the vision, and when it finally is fulfilled, it is in a HE ― a LIVING MESSAGE, When He came, He was the living declaration of the Father.
            However, this is not the end of writing the vision ―for He is still writing His epistle into our hearts, and we are becoming another chapter of that vision. That is why the world still cannot see the vision, and they must continue to wait for it, not until HE has finished WRITING IN US, will the vision be revealed to the world, and again IN A PERSONIFIED STATE. So creation continues to groan in travail, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, which become the message for them.
            What confusion Christendom has offered to the world for a message, and if someone wandered into one group they heard one thing, and into the next group they heard something else. But when God has written the same message in each of us ― namely His nature and character and revelation of truth, for we are all conformed to His image, then it will not matter which member of His body that you read, it is still all the same message. That is the glory of the oneness which we shall have in Christ. Doesn't matter which page (person) they will read, it is all apart of that ONE BOOK, the book of the LAMB'S LIFE. It will be the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!
            Of Jesus we read, "Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do Thy will, O God," [Hebrews 10:7].
            Thank God, it is being written in that same volume, concerning His people today, that they are finding their delight in doing the will of God. That is why they are becoming one in the same message. They say unto Him, "Lo, I come, ― to do Thy will, O God." And He could answer them, "Right! It is exactly the way it has been written in the book. I foreknew you would come to this surrender, and where your name is written, is the notation that you will find delight in My will." It was written in the book, now it is written in you, so you are a LIVING PART OF THE BOOK. It is still the book of the Lamb's life, and the more we partake of His life, the more we will express what He expresses, and that is a delight to do the will of God.
            "The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to the  ne that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying. Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned." [Isaiah 29:11-12].
            The Hebrew word for "learned" literally means: to know a book. But the Greek word for "learned" means: to be child trained, disciplined, developed. To be educated means more than just the simple fact of being able to read letters, it is to be so trained and developed that you can understand the sense, the whole message involved, and able to rightly apply it.
            There appears to be quite a parallel today with this passage in Isaiah. You ask one who is being taught, trained, disciplined by the Spirit, to tell you about the vision in the book ― and for the most part they will have to rightly answer, "1 am sorry, the book is sealed, I cannot tell you all about it." Certainly, if you meet one "of like precious faith" you can confirm certain aspects of God's dealings with you both, and fragments of truth that He has quickened, but even so, you will sense that there are volumes inside that you still cannot verbalize, it is sealed up within, until you have BECOME IT.
            And obviously, ask a man on the street today, who knows nothing of what God is writing, and he will simply have to tell you,"1 don't know anything about what you are saying, I don't even understand the question, let alone have an answer for it." The learned one knows it is a sealed book, and the unlearned one is hemmed in by his own ignorance.
            But when God has finished WRITING THE BOOK, He will unveil it to the world, and therein shall they read the blessed message of total redemption. It will not always be a sealed book, and it will not always require some extensive learning to be able to read it, but it shall be "known and read of all men." Then men shall HEAR, and LEARN, and COME to the Lord, as we read in John 6:45. What a tremendous working of our God!
            Truly, once again it can be said that in the volume of the book it is BEING WRITTEN, "I delight to do Thy will, O my  God." This is in fulfillment of that prophetic word of Psalm 110:3, "Thy people shall be WILLING in the day of Thy power."
            For this word "willing" the Young's Concordance gives a small footnote explanation: "This is an inexact translation, of a noun by an adjective." An adjective is a descriptive word, but a noun bespeaks of a state of being. The depth of truth therefore is that this verse does more than describe them as a people who are willing to do God's will, but their very STATE OF BEING is that of WILLING. All of their will having been given over to HIS WILL. From every avenue of their being pulsates that living prayer, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." Their whole desire is a STATE OF WILLINGNESS for Him.
            It could well be said, we are the paper, our sufferings and activities are the ink, the inworking of the holy Spirit is HIS PEN, and with it He is writing A LIVING GOSPEL. All the things which we experience, as administered by the holy Spirit, and being used to engrave the message in our life.
            Every letter has its own meaning, and within its tiny shape contain the most profound mysteries. Our God IS TRUTH, and all that He says is truth, and what He is writing in you is truth. What the holy Spirit, the "anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie." [1 John 2:27].
            Not everything that the religious systems of man would teach you is true, much of it is tradition, and a carnal concept. Certainly the world is not going to teach spiritual truth, for it is antichrist. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." And obviously the devil abode not in the truth, but he is a liar, and the father of lies. So, truth does not come from the world, the flesh, or the devil. But GOD IS TRUTH, and HIS WORD IS TRUTH, and by His Spirit HE is WRITING His truth into the hearts and lives of men. He alone knows the thoughts of men, and He alone can form the words to express the verities of His purpose and plan for each one.
            In God's writings, everything is significant, and makes sense. What presently may seem incomprehensible, incoherent, will delight us when the full story is told. A line, a sentence, a specific dealing of God, ends because He wants it to. You expect a long paragraph, and He wraps it all up in a sentence. You expect a short phrase, and He stretches it out into a long discourse. But HE knows what situations and circumstances to use to WRITE IN US of His message, and HE uses all these things to convey a truth which is uniquely to be expressed in each of us.
            I dare say, much of what God is writing IN US is also sealed to our own understanding. The record isn't finished yet, and we cannot comprehend all of His dealings in us. But the day shall come, when we shall see clearly. "Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." [1 Corinthians 13:12]. HE fully knows me now, and knows what He is writing into me. But in that day I shall KNOW MYSELF, and stand in amazement to find that my life is apart of THE LAMB'S LIFE. It is what we now see in Him that is being written in us. What a marvelous working of our God!
            The DIVINE ENGRAVING in His living epistles is producing a message that all the world has been waiting to hear. Out of your deep sorrows and trials shall come a word of compassion and love. Out of your heartache shall come a word of comfort. Out of your experiences of aloneness and loneliness will come that beautiful expression of desire for man's return unto God. These things which we pass through in our times of travail are recording a message of such wonder and love, that when the world shall read it clearly, they will weep for joy, and make haste to seek for the reality of the Writer in their own lives.
            Some would indicate that His wonders are over and done, nothing left to do but "copy the old words" and repeat the utterances of the past. But I assure you that God is not re-writing the saga of the early church, nor in a repetitious cycle repeating over and over again a past message. HE has a fresh message being written for this day, and it is progressive through the ages, continually unfolding the wonders of His grace. Furthermore, He will write a glorious conclusion to the whole purpose and plan of the ages, and it shall bespeak of that jubilee when our God shall be ALL IN ALL.
            Praise God, there is a PRESENT TRUTH being written in this day which will answer the needs of this day. Unfoldings of His grace and power, to be deeply inscribed in the hearts of men ― "They are created now, and not from the beginning,. even before the day when thou heardest them not,. lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them." [Isaiah 48:7]. The creativity of God is progressive, fresh, and "His compassions fail not. They are new every morning." [Lamentations 3:22-23].
            Truly God purposes that there might be made known by the church, by HIS CALLED OUT ONES "the manifold wisdom of God." [Ephesians 3:10]. And through the ages to come He will still be unfolding "the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." [Ephesians 2:7].   Do remember, it is the record of THE LAMB'S LIFE, and there are great details and marvellous expressions of HIS LIFE yet to be written in the lives of men. Every new page, every individual person, becomes a further expression of His grace and wisdom and glory.
            When Jesus came on the scene, they said of Him, "What manner of man is this?" [Matthew 8:27]. For, "Never man spake like this man." [John 7:46]. Certainly we could also state, never read a book like that Book!
            Now, when God has finished writing His message in His first fruits in this day, and then uncovers the book so that the world can see what He has written in them, they shall again stand in amazement at the GOOD NEWS, for it will be a declaration of the LAMB'S LIFE, revealed through these who have become an extension of His nature, character, love, compassion, power, and life. It will carry the same LOVE STORY that He began before the foundations of the earth were laid, but its expression will be new for right now.
            Furthermore, because it is a complete record, no part lacking, there are NEW SUFFERINGS being recorded, just as there are new expressions of His life and victory. Paul spoke of how he would "Fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church." [Colossians 1:24]. All of the sufferings did not end at Calvary, He finished that which God purposed to be fulfilled IN HIM, in His body, but He continues to write the record of the SUFFERING OF THE LAMB "in my flesh," as He would fill up "whatever is still lacking and remains to be completed on our part of Christ's afflictions." [Amplified].
            Phillips translation bears out that this is an opportunity "to complete in my own sufferings of the UNTOLD PAINS which Christ suffers on behalf of His body."
            Dare we suggest that the full story would never be told, if these UNTOLD PAINS were not written today in the LIVING EPISTLES which He is now writing ―even in our heart, and in our body, of His life's story.
            The Moffatt translation bears this out, "I would make up the full sum of all that Christ has to suffer in my person on behalf of the Christ, His Body."
            The thought is twofold: Every individual needs HIS STORY written in them, so that they can become a completed message, a living epistle of the grace of God, and the purpose of God. Also, collectively, it will require ALL MANKIND, as a corporate body, to bring forth the whole written record of redemption. Individually, universally, it is all the BOOK OF THE LAMB'S LIFE. And how precious is the declaration of that message.
            "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." [Philippians 1:29].
            "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." [2 Corinthians 1:5].
            The message is not limited to suffering, pain, travail. Praise God, these are but the birthpangs, to bring forth CONSOLATIONS that abound. And until you have read the message of His comfort and consolation, you have not finished reading the book. Don't get hung up in just one chapter, He will write in you a complete message, and it ends in GLORIOUS VICTORY.
            Ever God has finished the record of the Lamb's life in you, He will "wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ― Behold, I make all things new." [Revelation 21:4-5].
            We have so identified with Job in all his trials. Seems we can read in so many pages of his life a parallel to something in our own moods and feelings. But surely the Lamb's life is revealed in it all, and ever that man's chapter is finished, we find those thrilling, positive words, "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning." The record is climaxed with the bountiful blessings of God upon him.
            "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." [Jeremiah 29:11].
            Amplified: "Thoughts and plans for welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome."
            Not until He has written this part of the message into our being, will we, as living epistles, be fully ready for the world to read us. Far too long Christendom has left them reading a page on some carnal concept of an eternal hell -doom, despair, agony, without hope, without God. Such is not the record of the Lamb's life. When the message has been fully inscribed into every heart, it will conclude with PEACE ― the final outcome of divine completeness. Triumphant shouts of victory, to the glory and praise of God.

 

We spend our years as a tale that is told,
He's writing the script that is clear and bold.

 A message the world is waiting to read,
'Tis a certain word to which they'll give heed.
 
For it is the message of The Lamb's Life,
A triumphant answer to this world's strife.
 
A word of salvation, boundless and free,
Truth that's no longer as a mystery
 
Living epistles of His love and grace,
Yet to be read by each tribe and each race.
 
True, there are suff'rings of which we could tell,
Times when it seemed we were walking through hell.
 
But close not the book till you read that God
Shall be everything in each human clod.
 
The life of the Lamb leads to jubilee,
This is His record for you and for me.