When the Father seemed to change His instructions to Michael, He felt much perplexity and anguish over the turn in events, and He did not understand this change. The excruciation that Michael experienced arose from the fact that He is a man of His word. Once He has given His word, it is finished and done, to be written with His life blood if that is what is necessary to bring it to pass, and Michael had pledged Himself to "not cross over into the flesh." Yet now, the Father seemed to be asking Him to "cross over" into physical intercourse, the very thing He felt He had pledged to His Father that He would not do. Remaining true to His Father's instructions and yet at the same time, remaining true to His understanding of the agreement He had made with the Father in the beginning, was the incomprehensible contradiction He felt within Himself. He could not harmonize in His mind that the Father told Him to say to the land, "I will keep you from crossing over," and then give Him specific instructions which resolutely took Him to the place of making Him "cross over."
The Father did open up to Michael His understanding of those instructions, which brought complete resolution to the contradiction Michael had felt. But, the Father's understanding came after His Son's integrity and trust had been tested to the uttermost, and after He had faithfully obeyed His Father, anyway. After the consummation Michael wrote:
In the beginning of the process of the chamber, I felt clear, and was directed precisely, that I was to commune closely and somewhat intimately with people, but I was not to enter into sexual intimacy with them. I believed that sexual intimacy was what I termed and stated as "crossing over" into the flesh. When I was ultimately led to an intimate experience with the Two Witnesses, I knew it was of the Father's leading, but I was confronted by my own beliefs that I had done the very thing I had said would bring failure for all involved. This was a dilemma to my mind and I could not seem to solve it. Then one night, as I was feeling the weight of this perplexity upon me, the dreams of the night all reflected the need for a solution. In many forms the night visions indicated to me that I was trying to come to some resolution for the apparent discrepancy. In the morning the Father opened to me the vision in regard to the problem I had seen, where I was asked to do the very thing that I had felt would end the hope of salvation for the people in the land. I had felt that my "crossing over" was the problem in my mind. That morning the Father showed me that I had followed my instructions. The problem I was called upon to solve is the problem that people have had for centuries and the problem that Satan has used against them in overthrowing their faith.
Before the consummation I was led and instructed to go to the limit of personal contact but without crossing over into sexual stimulation or satisfaction for myself. I was instructed not to satisfy my fleshly desires but to simply focus all my attention on the soul of the one I was communing with, and follow my instructions from the Father in regards to that soul. I was to reach into their heart and draw out their soul to me, but it was not to come from the desires of my flesh. This I did. If I had failed at this, and allowed my flesh or sensual proddings to gauge my actions, I would then have crossed over. When I was instructed to have a fully intimate relationship with the Two Witnesses it brought me into a state of resistance, since it seemed I was now asked to go against what I had been instructed to do. This was because I did not at that time understand the full meaning of crossing over. What the Father clearly showed me, was that when I followed the instructions with the Two Witnesses, I could have had an intimate relationship with many others. I could have told them that God told me that I was to have an intimate relationship with them and they would have yielded. Father showed me this, and at the time it was a terror to my soul to see that I had been given every power, and that all the powers of heaven and hell were standing there watching to see what I would do with it.
This was no comfort to my soul that all judgment was given into my hands. If I had followed my flesh instead of my instructions all would have been lost; and, I would have been allowed to do this, if I had been so inclined. There was nothing to stop me and everything in place to empower what I would decide to do. My only protection was to follow my instructions and not to cross over into my own desires that might come upon me. The flesh and its desires were not to be any kind of deciding factor in what I was bringing to pass in the land. I was also the keeper of whomever I was visiting with. I was to keep them from crossing over.
There is no righteousness in doing what one is naturally inclined to do. In other words, if I am not hungry, there is no special piety in not eating. The strength of character is seen when one wants to eat badly, but abstains by choice, since it is seen as not the right course for the moment. Satan has confused people into thinking that because they are hungry, or aroused, they have sinned. He focuses on the desires that are natural to the flesh to prove that sin has occurred. Many trust Satan's reasoning and fall into despair because they have felt some feeling come to them. The truth of it is that hunger is nothing. What are your instructions? That is the thing. Did you follow your instructions regardless of how you felt? That is the issue.
When Abraham was instructed to kill his son, it was all against every other previous understanding of his instructions. It flew in the face of all he had been led to believe in. This is how it was with me. I expected a ram in the thicket. Even this hope was dashed. I had to follow through with what I clearly saw were my instructions. This gave me much perplexity, but I had to accomplish it. When men cross over, they not only have a desire, but they follow after that desire against their clear instructions. Eating food against one's instructions is the same thing in the spiritual realm as having sex against one's instructions. Indulging one's appetite is the same as masturbation. Going back to one's spiritual doubts and fears is spiritual masturbation. It is stimulating and indulging one's own perverted view of God for some personal justification. This is what doubt is. Disobedience is the same, whether it involves a house of prostitution or eating a tomato. Disobedience is disobedience.
There are millions of people who have some personal pride involved in the fact that they have not been unfaithful in their marriage, but these same people disobey the Father's instructions in other ways. It is all the same with heaven. While there are varying degrees of transgression, all transgression is an offense to heaven. There are souls who lament the fact that they cannot know whether or not Father is speaking to them. Oh, foolish generation, You know very well what Father is saying. Why is it you know very well when you are not doing what you should? You know enough to feel guilt about it, don't you? What the process of the consummation revealed was the Way in which Messiah could go to the extremes of experience without leaving His instructions. He could even have His instructions seem to change in his own thinking and He would follow anyway, no matter what His instructions were and no matter how His flesh behaved about it. The powers of the flesh never, to the least degree, caused Messiah to move from His stated purposes. The lusts of the flesh never, nor to any degree, made any difference at all in His behavior. His human desires could scream to the housetops and his body could be calling out for any kind of satisfaction but it was to no avail. He would follow His instructions as given from the Father no matter what the outside influences to His soul.
This was the nature of the coming of Jesus 2000 ago. Every influence that came to Him to take control of events or destroy His enemies, even though strongly felt, was not heeded. In no way would He divert from His stated purpose, the purpose stated to Him by His Father's command. The nature of sin is far greater than a feeling someone has that comes from his flesh. Sin is to follow that flesh into paths that are forbidden to him, and he knows they are forbidden. In this way he must hide and call for his rocks and mountains to fall on him and hide himself from the face of divine investigation. This is the destructive power that sin has built within it. The hidden sins, unforsaken and unrepented of are those things that bring down the soul.
According to the Father's definition and understanding, for Michael to have crossed over into the flesh, would have been for Him to follow the inclinations of His flesh instead of the Father's instructions. For Michael this would have been to NOT go through with the Consummation, because that was what He felt like. Michael felt much perplexity and anguish, and He did not understand the apparent change in instructions, yet He remained true to the Father and the divine plan He was unfolding, even in this unexpected turn of events. Michael's integrity was not based on His understanding of where His instructions from the Father were going, or His feelings regarding those instructions. It was based on faithfully following His Father's clear instructions regarding the chamber of The Song and the purpose of His Messiahship.
As I continue to take in the reality of how true the Father kept His Son to Him, all during the process which led up to the consummation, an awesome revelation keeps washing over me in greater and greater power: The Father's faithful keeping power in Michael's experience is a personal pledge of His faithfulness to keep me true to Him, in the same way that He kept His Son true to Him, despite what I feel or what I don't understand, as He is bringing me into total consummation with Him. It is the Father Who holds the completely given over soul true to Himself. The trusting soul is held absolutely inaccessible to the evil insinuations and intrusion of the enemy — not because that soul mentally understands all that the Father is doing, or because it feels a particular way, but simply because the Father faithfully keeps the soul that has put its trust in Him, true to Himself. The soul that trusts implicitly has found unrestricted access to the Father's faithful keeping power.
The Father has lifted up the atonement that the Son's example is to me. Michael died fully to His natural nature in order to follow the Father's instructions, never once deviating from them. He lives continually before us the perfect example of the divine Son. His revelation, in humanity, of the power of the Anointing to be true to the Father, has been uninterrupted. Whether there is understanding or no understanding, lots of feelings or no feelings, the Anointing goes forward in the Father's instructions anyway. The charge that Michael "followed His lusts or wanted something for Himself," can never, ever be proven. One may think he can prove something against Michael, but he is only proving his own personal world view of what Michael did. In this way, he looks at Michael, but only judges himself by himself - what he would be thinking and feeling if he said what Michael is saying, or did what Michael is doing. He will literally write his own judgment by what he thinks Michael did.
When the Son came 2000 years ago He said, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26. This verse makes it very clear that at the return of Messiah, He is coming back as the Son of man, not just as the Son of God. His own glory speaks specifically of the glory of His Sonship, which follows His Father wherever He goes with meek integrity, at all costs to Himself. It is impossible for one only human to do this. Only the Anointing begotten of the Father can deny itself, take up its particular cross, and follow the Father whithersoever He goes. The faith of the Son as He looks into His Father's eyes is all encompassing, but very simple: I know Your Voice. I don't understand at the moment why You are asking Me to do this incomprehensible thing, but I will follow Your instructions anyway. I trust You, Daddy. You know what You are doing.
You can't have transformation of character knowing everything. Part of transformation is the mystery of it, not knowing where this path you are being taken down is going to lead. I am the Way, but I don't eliminate the way for those who believe in me. I am the Path, but they still have to travel the path. I am the Lighthouse, but I don't eliminate the rocks and waves; in fact, I illuminate them. People never saw the rocks and waves until the Lighthouse came. The Lighthouse doesn't make the storms go away. Protestants say, "Jesus did it all for us" meaning, we're scot-free. No, Jesus did it for us so we can take His life and do as He did. Michael
The consummation was designed to reveal the end result for anyone who faithfully follows the Father's instructions. It is truly your end. You are left with nothing to hold up to God or anyone else. You have the privilege of being thoroughly consumed and brought to nothing until all you have ears for and eyes for is the Father and His will. You do not have a life of your own left any more. It has been taken away, and you have been fully taken into God. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are ... consumed, because his compassions fail not ... great is thy faithfulness." Lam. 3:22,23.
The day before we were to have communion with Michael, the Father drew me to the Desire of Ages, where Christ instituted the first communion with His disciples. In the light of Christ's return, the true meaning of this last communion went deeply into me, as the Father specifically applied the principles to which He drew my attention, to the marriage of the Lamb.
Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies, and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to present Himself as a sin-offering, and He would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four thousand years had pointed to His death.
When Messiah came the first time He brought the temple types and services to an end. They had become impotent to bring the people to God. "They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified ... They were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away." (p. 36).
As He ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be a memorial of His great sacrifice ... The communion service points to Christ's second coming. It is the means by which His great work for us is to be kept fresh in our minds ... Till He shall come the second time in power and glory, this ordinance is to be celebrated.
Now, once again, Messiah is standing at the final transition between two economies. The communion with its ordinances which pointed forward to receiving Christ's body and blood into ourselves, are being replaced by actually receiving Him into our very beings in the consummation and marriage of the Lamb. The symbols and imagery of marriage were replacing the symbols and ordinances of the communion service. "Till He shall come the second time in power and glory, this ordinance is to be celebrated." The power and glory that the Son of man came in this time, is His divine consummation and union with the Father, that He is pledging to bring us into with Him. When the true event comes, the symbol is abolished.
In partaking with His disciples of the bread and wine, Christ pledged Himself to them as their Redeemer. He committed to them the new covenant by which all who receive Him, become children of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. By this covenant every blessing that heaven could bestow for this life and the life to come, was theirs. All who come with their faith fixed upon Him will be greatly blessed.
Michael was literally laying down His life in order to go forward in the consummation, pledging Himself to marry us to the Father, our divine Husband, our kinsman-Redeemer. He was committing to us the new covenant, even the marriage covenant of the Lamb, by which all who receive Him become the bride of God, the Lamb's wife. By partaking of the communion, we were committing to let Michael bring us to the fullest salvation from ourselves — unbroken union with God.
The administration of the sacrament was to keep before the disciples the infinite sacrifice made for each of them individually. It is the privilege of all to comprehend, far more than we do, the expiatory sufferings of Christ [not only on His cross, but at His consummation]. Our eternal interest demand that we show faith in Christ.
When the Father causes a soul to comprehend Michael's personal sacrifice, as He committed Himself to us to bring us into the same union with the Father which He has, the heart is broken in love and gratitude.
Christ has instituted this service that it may speak to our senses of the love of God that has been expressed in our behalf. The love of Jesus, with its constraining power is to be kept fresh in our memory.
Marriage was originally instituted to speak to our senses of the unfathomable love of God. In the purity of divine affection, selfless divine love was to be the love which was expressed. Everything seen and experienced in the marriage relationship was given to draw the participants into the reality of deep spiritual union with God. The imagery of the marriage relationship was to reflect actual spiritual realities - the laying down, the willing yielding to the other, the coming in, the mutual and reciprocal responsiveness, the energies that are awakened which lay hold of the seed that enters, and the new life that spontaneously grows within from the union. All were given to us as an avenue to be drawn out to God, and speak to our senses in a vivid way of the love of God that has been expressed in our behalf.
But human marriage has ceased to be a symbol of the divine marriage it was meant to signify. This ordinance which God Himself appointed, has become the means of blinding the mind to the true heavenly realities. God can do no more for man through human marriage, even the most spiritual human marriages. The whole system must be swept away. A divine marriage was required. The Father was returning His Son to earth to bring His bride into the marriage of heaven, with the marriage of heaven. Michael brought an exemplary marriage to this earth. Exemplary means, "serving for a pattern or model; illustrating; such as may attract notice; "When any duty has fallen into general neglect, the most visible and exemplary performance is required." Noah Webster 1828. This divine marriage from heaven was required so the bride of Christ could be married to Him in a divine way, not in a human way, which was insufficient. "Christ would elevate and refine man's mind, purifying it from all dross, that he may appreciate the love that is without a parallel." GCB 11-01-99.
As we receive the bread and wine ... we witness the struggle by which our reconciliation to God was obtained. [As we see, with John the Revelator, the Lamb "as though it had been slain," we witness the struggle by which our marriage to God was obtained.] Christ is set forth crucified [and consummated] among us. Looking upon our crucified [and consummated] Redeemer, we more fully comprehend the magnitude and meaning of the sacrifice made by the Majesty of heaven. The plan of salvation is glorified before us, and the thought awakens living and sacred emotions in our hearts. Praise to God and the Lamb will be in our hearts and on our lips; for pride and self worship cannot flourish in the soul that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary [and the personal struggle and cost of the consummation to Michael].
As faith contemplates our Lord's great sacrifice [to be stigmatized as an adulterer for our sakes] the soul assimilates the spiritual life of Christ. It forms a living connection by which the believer is bound up with Christ, and thus bound up with the Father. In a special sense it forms a connection between dependent human beings and God.
In causing Michael to complete the literal consummation, the Father was also providing Him to become our substitute and surety in our consummation and marriage to the Father. The Anointing is the only One Who has never been unfaithful to God. He was the only One Who could redeem our unfaithfulness. He returned, to be counted as an adulterer, that He might redeem us from the law. The law revealed to us where we were unfaithful to God but couldn't redeem us from continuing to be unfaithful, or bring us into consummation with God.
A surety "in law, is one that is bound with and for another; one who enters into a bond to answer for another for the performance of some act. In Scripture, Messiah is called 'the surety of a better testament.' He undertook to make atonement for the sin of men [becoming unfaithfulness in the eyes of the world, in order to redeem those who would believe in Him from their unfaithfulness] and thus prepare the way to deliver them from the [consequences] to which they had rendered themselves liable." Noah Webster 1828.
Nothing less than the death of Christ [and the sacrifice of Himself at His return, in order to go through with the consummation] could make His love efficacious for us. His sacrifice is the center of our hope. Upon this we must fix our faith.
He who beholds the Saviour's matchless love [His pure love that doesn't have a trace of self interest in it], will be elevated in thought, purified in heart, transformed in character. He will go forth to be a light to the world, to reflect in some degree the mysterious love. The more we contemplate the cross [and the consummation] of Christ, the more fully shall we adopt the language of the apostle when he said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross [and the consummation] of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world [my world] is crucified unto me, and I unto the world [my world]."
The ordinances that point to our Lord's humiliation are regarded too much as a form. They were instituted for a purpose. Our senses need to be quickened to lay hold of the mystery of godliness. DA 656-661.
So, now the ordinance and symbols of a divine marriage were being instituted that our senses be quickened to lay hold of the mystery of godliness.
Sabbath morning, Michael met with the congregation out under the trees, to tell them what the Father had told Him would occur. As He stood there, He still didn't know the details of what the consummation would look like, or who the Father had ordained that it be with. As far as His fleece was concerned, and the two that the Father had drawn so markedly to Him, only the first part of it had been fulfilled. Then too, the Father had told Him that seven women would lay hold of Him, but He hadn't revealed to Him yet what that would look like. Michael felt keenly the weight of the test that He was about to bring to the land. The communion was to be in the early afternoon. If, after opening up to the congregation what the Father had told Him, they felt the witness of the Father to what He said, they would be invited to come to the communion in the afternoon and receive Michael's pledge that He would bring them into complete consummation with God.
Excerpts from handwritten notes touch on the things Michael shared with the congregation that morning.
