I. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…" 135
II. Commentary regarding The Substance - Which is Christ 147

I. Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

II Commentary regarding The Substance - Which is CHRIST

We are going to be speaking of our Great Salvation: the greatness of which continues to astound me in its unfolding. And the greatness of which, I continue to realize, is so unknown by most believers. This is the Salvation that is HERE and that is NOW present IN CHRIST, The Salvation that is to be possessed, laid hold onto, apprehended in the comprehension of the fulness of The Lord Jesus (1Ptr 1:3-9). In order to search this Great Salvation we must, as Abraham did, lift up our eyes (Gen 13:14, 18:2, 12:1). In Hebrew that means "the elevation of the soul". Paul brings that right over into New Testament terminology concerning God revealing His Son in me (Gal 1:16); I would that you would receive "…the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened…" (Eph 1:17-18). He speaks again in Colossians: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above..." (Col 3:1). The word "above" here is not speaking of the elevation of miles, distance or time, but the greater realm, that realm that is in Christ, the spiritual realm, the eternal realm where we have our Great Salvation. May our eyes be enlightened to see what is above.

References:
1Ptr 1:3-9
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.

Gen 13:14
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

Gen 18:2
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

Gen12:1
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

Gal 1:16
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

You know it's a very unique thing that the Salvation that we possess is in a SPIRITUAL realm, but the place where we are to manifest that Salvation is in a MATERIAL realm. For we who are in these clay vessels have, in Spirit, and by The Spirit, been raised up together (in union of Spirit) with The Person of The Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenly places. We have been quickened together, raised together, seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:4-7). That is where we are going to have to look to find, to realize, to lay hold upon, to make our own this Great Salvation. We find the type of that throughout the Old Testament. We find it in Abraham and Isaac, and we find it in Israel. It is written of Abraham continually that God tells him to lift up now his eyes and "…I will show you..." (Gen 12:1). And that word "show" in the Hebrew even is the word raAEah which means I will reveal unto you, a thing revealed of God. And then with regard to Israel the testimony is that He brought us UP and OUT (Ex 3:8, Is 11:16). The Word there relates to the Greek term "raised up". Jesus says, "I will raise him up..." (John 6:40). And of course that "raised up" refers to The Resurrection (Vines). So Israel is a very strong type of a people in Resurrection Life, who are to manifest that Life in Canaan, express that Life, and fill up that land with the knowledge of the glory of The Lord.

References:
Eph 2:4-7
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Gen 31:12
And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle [are] ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

Strong's Hebrew Lexicon: Gen 12:1, "shew" <7200>
7200. har raÆah raw-aw'; a primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative):- advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, ( e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.

Ex 3:8
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Is 11:16
And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Jn 6:40
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

"Anistemi, [Strong's #] 450, for the various applications of which see ARISE, No. 1, is translated "to raise or raise up," (a) of the resurrection of the dead by Christ, <…John 6:40…>…" Vine's Expository Dictionary of the Biblical Words. Copyright 1985 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

All of these things are in type, but even in type and shadow the spiritual terms are there. And you cannot truly understand the substance of these things by the earthly, but only by the spiritual. And the promise of God was that the spiritual would come (Gen 49:10). Well friend, The Spiritual HAS COME! That spiritual has come in The Person of The Lord Jesus Christ. Look at it in Colossians 2:17, "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." And the term "body" there means SUBSTANCE IS COME! That to which all Old Testament references point - and I mean ALL - is come! In the New Testament you are continually seeing the term "all things": "all things in Him", "all things fulfilled", "all things reconciled". We have to understand that Biblically the term "all things" is referring to all things that are in type, in shadow, in prophecy; ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRITTEN, ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO THE SCRIPTURE, ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO THE TESTIMONY. THESE ARE THE "ALL THINGS" BEING SPOKEN OF.

Reference:
Gen 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

Our salvation is so completely fulfilled in Christ that no part of "The Testimony" fails to find fulfillment in Him. As to the Law, not so much as a jot or a tittle (a period or an exclamation point) is overlooked. As pertaining to Adam, all mankind summed is up. As pertaining to Israel, there is full forgiveness, full restoration, full reconciliation. As pertaining to The Seed, Abraham and Isaac, there is full inheritance. Everything that these types of Salvation speak of Christ is the fulfillment of because He is the substance of it. In this lesson we want to speak of THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR SALVATION. This lesson is designed to bring us to a foundation upon which the Holy Spirit may reveal the very substance of our Salvation, which is The Son Himself. Before we can discuss terms of Salvation or types of Salvation, we must understand the substance of the matter. The substance, of which all these terms speak, and to which all of these types point, is CHRIST. The substance of Salvation is not in terms or in types. The substance of Salvation is in THE PERSON OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

We need to emphasize that because until we come to comprehend HIM as the substance of all things pertaining to Salvation and the substance of all things pertaining to the scripture, then we will forever be lost in an abyss of types and shadows, figures and terms. All of these things must come to the one and self same substance which is Christ Himself! Salvation is the very Person of Christ! Salvation is worked out in relationship with Him. We have not been brought to a religion nor to a religious thought. We have been brought to a Person. We are not the body of religion or a body of religion. We are The Body of a Person. We are a living Body because the living Person, the Person of Life, lives in us (1Cor 3:16, Rom 8:9, 1Jn 5:20). Salvation therefore is Christ! And on our part it is relationship with Christ, not as one person with another person, not as two, but as the Body of One Person, with that very self same Person! This is the mystery that only The Holy Spirit can reveal; the mystery, which is Christ and His Body, Christ and His Church. And the mystery is that they are not two, but rather they are One: One being the substance, the other being partaker of that substance; the express manifestation of that substance in the earth (Jn 17:21).

References:
1Cor 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Rom 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1Jn 5:20
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Jn 17:21-23
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Our Salvation is great, and the measure of it is Christ Himself. So let's look at Hebrews 2:1. Here is where we are introduced to this term "Great Salvation. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Heb 2:1). To let something slip here means to let it fall out of its place, to let it become disassociated with its fulfillment. The things which we have heard to which the Apostle relates here, both in Old Testament writings and New Testament teachings, find their place IN CHRIST. If we let these things slip, fall out from their place, become dislodged, out from Him, then they merely remain as teachings and things. I tell you, the source of most of our questions come from letting what we have heard, what we have been taught, that which is written in the scripture, slip out from its place and become a thing in itself. We have so many questions, but the understanding of SUBSTANCE is the answer to all of these questions. We want an answer to these terms as things in themselves, but there are no answers to these terms. Terms such as restoration, forgiveness, reconciliation, new creature, newness of life, justification, faith relate to Great Salvation, but if they are separated from the substance, which is Christ Himself, and become a thing, in and of themselves, a teaching in and of themselves, then you can go in any direction with them. You can make almost anything out of them that you want to make out of them. And there is no answer to the multitude of questions that will arise (1Cor 1:30)!

Reference:
1Cor 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

That is the reason we have such a multitude of variations of gospels among us, such a multitude of denominations, and a multitude of beliefs. We have so many beliefs concerning faith, justification, and righteousness because these terms have been separated from their reality. They have been separated from their substance. And to these things as terms, there is no sure understanding. There is no sure answer until they are brought into their substance, and then CHRIST becomes the wisdom, the knowledge and the understanding of them. This is The Truth as it is in The Lord Jesus! Oh, that we would all at least set our hearts to become determined to know nothing but Christ and Christ in the fulness of The Cross, Christ and Him crucified; Christ in His death, in His burial, in His resurrection. That is where all of these types and figures, and all of these terms that you find both in the Old and New Testament, are brought into their place. We must not allow them to slip out from their substance. If we do, we're going to be swamped with endless, needless, answerless questions.

"For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape..." (Heb 2:2-3). We are not going to discuss what we are escaping out of, but just briefly it is the wrath that is appointed to those who reject The Cross in its full working. How shall we escape the wrath of The Lamb? How shall we escape the wrath, the judgment that is automatically upon those who reject The Cross and its full work - (His death, His burial, His resurrection? "How shall we escape [sure and complete destruction] if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;" (Heb 2:2-3, emphasis added).

GREAT SALVATION - this is what we are talking about. We must understand that the comparison here "so great" means "much more." You can look at this "much more" in Romans 5, and Christ is that "much more" of Salvation. The comparison here is NOT between what we now have in Christ and what we shall "one day" have in Him. We do not need a greater Christ; WE NEED A GREATER COMPREHENSION OF THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST! We do not need more in Christ; we need to come to comprehend the fulness of God which is in Christ! We must understand that it is not more of Christ that we need, but a greater comprehension of that fulness which is Christ. The comparison is not between Christ and Christ. The comparison is not between a little Christ and a greater Christ. "In Him dwelleth the fulness of the godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him…" (Col 2:9-10). It is our comprehension, our faith, our spiritual understanding that is in such small proportion to the greatness and the fulness of Christ IN WHOM WE HAVE BEEN MADE TO DWELL (Col 1:19). It is our lack of knowing Him who dwells in us, who has in Himself all the fulness of God.

Reference:
Col 1:19
For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell;

This "much more" salvation is a comparison not between Christ and more of Christ; but the comparison is between the Old Covenant comprehension of Him and the New Covenant comprehension of Him. The comparison is between the type, shadow and figure, and the fulfillment of those things in the Lord Jesus. The comparison is between ceremony and spiritual reality. The comparison is between commandments and rituals and concepts, and the substance which Christ truly is. The comparison is between the prophecies of that spiritual which is to come, and that Spiritual itself which this writer is declaring to be NOW COME. It is in this very letter that we find "For ye are not come to that mount…that burned with a fire,… " (Heb 12:18) which is signified by voices and by trumpets (Heb 12:19). All of this is Mount Sinai. It all refers to Israel after the flesh. Wherever you see trumpets, these trumpets are a substitute for The Voice of The One Who lives in you! It is not trumpets that you hear, but The Voice of Him Whose very own Body you are! He does not now speak in trumpets: He speaks in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He doesn't speak in signs and figures and shadows; He speaks in the reality of Himself - God revealing His Son in me (Gal 1:15-16).

References:
Heb 12:18-19
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which [voice] they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:

Gal 1:15-16
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

It isn't God blowing a trumpet in my ear; it is the sound of The Voice of The Eternal Word coming forth in the midst of me. We have come from the trumpets to The Voice! We have come from the mountain where voices are heard, to the mountain wherein is heard The One Voice, The Voice of One which is Christ! We have come from that which Sinai was in type and shadow, to that which Zion is in reality of Christ (Heb 12:22-24). And this whole letter is just that. The comparison is not between what we now have in Christ, and what we one day shall have. We have the fulness NOW! Maybe by the grace of God if we could believe that, one day we would turn our hearts and see that fulness, and one day become a manifestation of that fulness. But that fulness itself is not set off for "one day", the fulness is there NOW!

Reference:
Heb 12:22-24
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.

I tell you that emphatically there is no third system! There is in the Bible the first and the second, not the first, second and the third. There is not what Israel was a type of, and then what Christ fulfilled, and then thirdly what one day shall be. No! There is a first and a second. There is what Israel was a type of, and there is what Christ is the fulfillment of, and ye are that Body of Christ! Don't you think that it's time that you and I turn our hearts to see the substance of our Salvation? So there's where the comparison is.

Let us look at Hebrews 1:1. "God, who at sundry times..." The word "sundry" is a Greek word polumeros meaning "many portions"; it actually means "piecemeal", something that is in parts. It is piecemeal, never coming together in one definite time, such as the fulness of time. But you see in Christ, all of those fragments of time are gathered up. "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son…" (Gal 4:4). Yes, and it is in that Son that God perfectly says all that He imperfectly spoke of through many times and diverse manners, which means many ways. God used many times and many ways. "But at the end (or the fulness) of those times...hath at the end of those days (types and shadows and figures...) hath spoken clearly IN SON" (Heb 1:12)!

References:
Strong's Greek Lexicon: Heb 1:1, "sundry times" <4181>
4181. polumerwv polumeros pol-oo-mer'-oce; adverb from a compound of 4183 and 3313; in many portions, i.e. variously as to time and agency (piecemeal):- at sundry times.

Heb 1:1-2
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Salvation sums up into itself all the terms and truths which relate to life in Christ. So Salvation then is NOT a religion or a religious belief. It is not a good feeling. It is not a change of direction. It is not a feeling good about myself. SALVATION IS THE PERSON OF CHRIST! He becomes the substance of Salvation, consequently He has to be the substance of all times and all manners of speaking. And that just sums up everything that is written from Genesis 1:1 to the very end of the book of Malachi. Everything is summed up, all the times, all the shadows. If you hear what I am saying - that is saying a great deal! "But when the fulness of the times..." What did God really do in the fulness of times? He summed up all the times and all the ways of speaking in His Son. God spake in all these various times, in all these various portions of times, in all these various ways. He sums it up IN SON. God hath spoken. Hebrews 1:2, "Hath at the END OF THOSE DAYS..." You see, in Christ as regarding Salvation, times come to an end, and everything to which time relates has come to an end. As pertaining to our salvation, as pertaining to our life in Christ, as pertaining to Christianity, there is no day yet to come. The Day is come and is fulfilled in Christ! (2Cor 6:2, 1Thes 5:5-9) "That day", so often spoken of in the scripture, comes to an end. Sabbath Day, so often spoken of, comes to an end. Those days, so often related to, come to an end. Times and seasons, around which feasts and offerings related, come to an end. Times end; they are summed up; they find their substance IN THE SON!

References:
2Cor 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)

1Thes 5:5-9
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

All manners of speaking find their fulfillment, find their perfect word IN THE SON. That should thrill our hearts, because it is in that Son that we live, that we move, that we have our being. Does it not simply make sense that we can only understand these things that have spoken of Him; that we can only understand these things that find their meaning and their fulfillment in Him; that we can only understand these things in the understanding, the spiritual realization of Christ Himself? As He is revealed in us, so these things that speak of Him are understood in their proper context and relationship to Him by us. He is the substance of everything ever spoken. He is the substance of every time ever indicated of God. My God! Without the reality of Christ, days, as times and seasons, have no meaning nor any purpose! Sun, moon and stars have no meaning nor purpose. These are all signs of times and seasons and these times and seasons were used of God as a type of a substance that was to be found only in The Son. It is in the Son we find true light; it is in The Son we find true reflective power; it is in The Son we find true brilliance. It is in The Son we find all seasons coming together. We must understand that these things in the Old Testament spoke far beyond themselves, and they find their fulfillment in Christ!

"Hath at the end of those days..." (Heb 1:2) does not mean that "days" as 24 hour periods have ended, but they have ceased to mean anything of spiritual significance. It does not mean that the sun, moon and stars have literally fallen out of the sky, but they have ceased to mean anything of spiritual significance. It does not mean the trees and flowers have disappeared, but they have ceased to be used of God in times and seasons of planting and harvesting. They no longer have spiritual significance. It has all been fulfilled in Christ. It was the way God did speak, in sundry times and diverse manners. But He hath now spoken perfectly with regard to Himself; perfectly with regard to all things pertaining to Salvation. He hath perfectly spoken with regard to His Eternal plan and purpose. He hath perfectly spoken IN SON! We need now but know Christ. And we can only know Him by The Spirit that is given of God for that self same purpose, even The Spirit of Truth, which when He is come, shall lead, shall guide, shall teach, shall glorify. And all of that in relation to the revealing of Jesus Christ.

Reference:
Jn 16:13-14
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." IS COME - and he is not speaking here that someday in the future tense that which is perfect is come. It is the same as in Galatians where he states that we are kept under the law until faith is come and then continues, "…but now that faith is come... " (Gal 3:23-25). This is not something that is future, but a statement of a reality that takes place. In other words, when the perfect is come, when the perfect is in place, when the perfect is understood, when the perfect is in view - then that which we know in part, and which we prophesy in part is done away (1Cor 13:9-10). That is referring to the sundry times and diverse manners of Hebrews 1. It is referring to types and shadows and figures; it is referring to times past.

References:
Gal 3:23-25
But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law is become our tutor [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor.

1Cor 13:9-10
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

"But when that which is perfect is come..." (1Cor 13:10, emphasis added) The term "is come" takes it out of the future and brings it right into the present. And I know most people read this and say, "One day it's going to come", but I'm telling you that everything that is Christ is come NOW! Everything that is Christ is come! All the fulness is in Him! But when it is come (in that it appears, it is made manifest, it is revealed, when our eyes are opened to know Him, when we see the substance of what was in part) that which is in part is no longer needed for we see the substance. When we see the substance of that which was prophesied, we do not need the prophecy any more for we have the substance! He goes on to say, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly, but THEN [that is now, in His presence, in the reality of Him] face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1Cor 13:11-12, emphasis added). Again, he is not speaking of some future time, but a complete comprehending of Christ.

"But then, face to face..." (1Cor 13:12). That is, with an uncovered face. "...Then I shall know even as I am known." (1Cor 13:12). That is, God revealing His Son in me. Paul is talking about coming from the knowledge, the type and shadow, that is set forth under the administration of Moses - coming from that to the realization that is ours in the administration of the Spirit. He is not talking about some future time that is yet to come, but he is talking about coming from the knowing in part, the prophesying in part of that Mosaic administration, the administration of the Old Covenant, the administration of natural Israel, over into the administration of the Spirit which is manifesting and revealing the fulness of God in Christ! He is talking about coming from knowing Christ after the flesh to knowing Him by and after the Spirit. To know Christ after the flesh simply means to know Him by the natural, to know Him according to the Law, to know Him according to the commandments, but not according to the substance that those things speak of. To know Him by the Spirit is to know Him as the Spirit reveals Him to be: to know Him in substance. "…Then, face to face…" (1Cor 13:12). But look in 2Cor 3:18 where he says the same thing. "But we all, with an open face..." That means taking the veil off of our hearts. (The face here is the heart.) We are taking the veil off that we may behold Him face to face. Moses had the veil put upon his face because He could NOT behold Him as face to face. But in Christ the veil is removed! Here in 2 Corinthians 3:14-18 the veil is removed from off of our hearts. It is removed through His death, burial and resurrection. The veil was in fact the types and the shadows. The veil was Old Testament Israel. The veil was that administration of the law and the prophets. But in Christ that veil is done away, that we may heart to heart, that we may face to face, behold "…the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the [very] face of Jesus Christ" (2Cor 4:6). In 2 Corinthians 3:18-4:6, Paul is giving the understanding of what he was saying in the thirteenth chapter of his first letter. There he found them still after the flesh, still after the old administration, and he is bringing them from the one to the other. Here in his second letter the emphasis is upon the latter, not the former. His emphasis is upon beholding Him face to face, beholding Him with the veil taken away, being transformed into that same image, coming from glory to glory; that is, coming from the glory of the old administration unto the glory of the New.

References:
2Cor 3:14-18
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2Cor 3:18-4:6
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The glory of the old administration were those things which spoke of Christ; the glory of the New administration is CHRIST HIMSELF! There is no third administration. There is nothing beyond Him! How dare we who know Christ stand behind our pulpits and tell God's people who are brought into so great a Salvation that there is a greater yet to come, a "better land over there", a "better day just around the corner", a "greater glory just over the mountain." Oh God, that is not just blasphemous, it is absolute insanity! Why will we not declare, as Paul is doing here, the greater glory to be NOW COME IN CHRIST! And for every heart that will turn to see Him, that glory shall be revealed, and shall be literally, virtually changed in the presence and reality of that glory NOW! - not "some glad day"! How can we do this and still call ourselves Christians? How can we do this, and still call ourselves believers? How can we promote a third system that is strictly of the imagination of our own mind? There certainly is no scripture connected with it. You know how we do it? We go back to Old Testament prophets and we read of this glory (WHICH CHRIST IS) and we read of it, and we get up and preach that it is going to come "one day". How can you and I who are standing in Christ, seated in Christ, being made partakers of all the prophets spoke of look at what the prophets speak of then we say, "Yes, one day that glory is going to come!"? Listen - that glory has already come, and we are neglecting it. We are refusing it, and we shall not escape the wrath that comes upon those that do that very thing! That wrath is not far off in some futuristic time either. You will face it every single day. And the pitiful part of it is most who face it do not even recognize it until it is too late.

This is important because the greatest enemy of God is the imagination of the human heart. If you bring religion into it and spirituality into it, then it becomes not spirituality, but virtually spiritualism. It becomes imaginations and idolatry, and it is hated of God! Oh friends, let us wake up to the substance of Salvation, and turn with an open heart to see Him as He is, to know as we are known, to lay hold of by faith, that faith which comes by hearing, and that hearing which comes by The Eternal, Everlasting Word Himself! Let us lay hold on GREAT SALVATION!

So I'm talking to you concerning the substance of Great Salvation. This lesson will become a great part of the foundation upon which we shall build as we allow the Lord to unfold in us, in The Person and through The Person of Christ, the reality of Great Salvation. It all must be based upon the substance that Christ Himself is. So, "…at the end of those days, hath spoken in Son…" (Hebrews 1:2). Also look at Revelation 1:10-13. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. [As of a trumpet, but he heard a great voice.] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle." (emphasis added) And the rest goes on to describe The One Who is in the midst.

Now Ephesians 4:14-15, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

Now there is a sequence here. I read these scriptures to point out a sequence to you. And the sequence relates to just this: the manifestation or expression of Truth depends upon three elements - HEARING, SEEING and SPEAKING; and it is in that exact order. First we hear, then we see, then we speak. Let's consider the development of a baby. In a baby it is hearing sounds, then the eyes begin to focus and seeing comes, and then words are formed based upon hearing and seeing, and speaking comes. It is true in the natural and it is so in the Spirit, because what is in the human race is type and shadow. Full comprehension comes through hearing and seeing, and what we hear and what we see - we speak. Now I know that there are other elements to the senses, but we are not talking about man's sense knowledge; we are talking about the divine order of the Spirit.

So think about this: In time past God spoke. He spoke in diverse ways, many manners, and He spoke at many times - time bytes and word bytes. That is the way God spoke. But what He said could not be fully comprehended, could not be perfectly understood, because it could not be perfectly seen. Now here is where the words of God and the types and shadows that God used to illustrate the words come together. Here is where the times of God speaking and the manner of God speaking come together. He spoke in time bytes and He used different ways and means of illustrating what He said. Those things could not be perfectly understood because they could not perfectly be illustrated. He used picture objects to illustrate His Word.

Reference:
Heb 1:1
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

When God spoke, He would say "glory", and He would point to smoke and to fire. He would say "priest" and would point to Aaron and his son, or the Levites. He would say "land" and He would point to a people. He would say "seed" and point to an Isaac. He would say "My dwelling place" and point to a tent. This is the way God did speak. This is the way, before The Son, God had to speak. But none of these things could make the hearers thereof perfect, because the words were not perfectly illustrated; they had no perfect substance. So God would say the word: He would say "glory", but He would have to point to smoke and fire because His glory had not yet come into a people. Hear me, O Church of God! Surely you and I today will not hear Him say "glory" and look for smoke and fire and clouds! Surely you and I today will not hear Him say "land" and look for real estate, or look to a natural people, or a natural creation. That served its purpose for a time - which is PAST!

He Who is Perfect - that which is perfect - HE IS NOW COME! He is come, and when He is come (that is, when He is revealed, made manifest, present IN YOU) that which spake in part shall be seen in fulness! He would say "holy", "righteous", and He would point to words written in a stone, and say "Keep My commandments!" He would speak and point to types and shadows and figures. Don't we read those very things in the letter to the Hebrews? Look at Hebrews 9:11, "But Christ BEING COME an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building (creation)." Verse 23, " It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things (spoken of in verse 11) in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands..." Now Christ being come. He is come, but He is come in a tabernacle not made with hands, not a building of this creation. He is come in a New Creation. He is come in a people who are not natural but spiritual; not born of the flesh but born of the Spirit. He is not come in the natural body of humanity, but in The Body of The Spirit, Which Body you are! These things may be housed in flesh, but they are not flesh. They may be housed in earthen vessels, but The Body of Christ is not an earthen vessel. It is IN earthen vessels, but it is not an earthen vessel. It is in the flesh, but it is not flesh. There is that natural body; there is that Spiritual Body. It is that Spiritual Body that you are in Christ. It is that Eternal Tabernacle, that Eternal Sanctuary, that Eternal City of God that you are now in Christ! Why? Because HE IS IN YOU! He is the substance of everything promised! Was The City promised? Christ is the substance of it! Was The Tabernacle, The Temple, the dwelling place where He shall spend eternity promised? Christ is the substance of it! "In that day ye shall know that [as] I am in my Father, [saith the Lord] and ye [are] in me, and I [am] in you" (Jn 14:20)!

That which was promised IS COME! He BEING COME... "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb 9:24). Where does He appear? In His own sanctuary. Where does He appear? In His Own Body, saying to those who have ears to hear: "…I am in my Father, and y in me, and I in you" (Jn 14:20). So you see, His Word could not fully be understood because His point of view, His Vision, the vision that He gave, the vision that He showed, was in type and figure. He would speak of glory, speak of a city, and He would point to a natural object. The law and the prophets all were in part until the vision, the seeing of the thing spoken of should come. To understand what God says we must see what God sees when He speaks - not in type, but in reality of substance. It is so with us.

I could be standing here speaking of a horse. A person over here is looking at a cow, another is looking at a pig; and I am describing a horse, and they are not understanding what I am saying. It does not make sense because they are not seeing what I am seeing. So consequently what I am saying simply has to be assimilated in their imaginations. And so they imagine I am talking about a cow or they imagine I am talking about a pig, when I am actually talking about a horse, because they are not seeing what I am seeing. So they look at the cow and hear my words, and they do not understand I am speaking of a horse, and therefore they do not even have proper understanding of a cow! And that is the way we are today. We hear the words of God: God is looking at the substance when He speaks of a City, when He speaks of heaven, when He speaks of The Body. He is looking at the very SUBSTANCE of it, and we are imagining a city and a heaven, imagining something in our own mind. We are hearing His words, but we have not the slightest idea what He is saying. We live in the imagination of our own heart - fortified by the words of God.

Turn to the book of Habakkuk, because at the end of those times, the end of those pictures, GOD HATH SPOKEN IN SON. The Vision spoken of, the seeing spoken of - HAS COME! And it has come in The Person of Christ. "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end [the end of that appointed time, the fulness of times] it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:2-4). Both the Word and the Vision of God is come in The Son. God hath summed up hearing and seeing in His Son. God says "holiness" - and He reveals His Son! Man hears "holiness" and he looks at dress or food, or all the other silly things we look at. God says "holiness" and will reveal His Son. Except Christ be revealed, we have no reference point for the Word of God and so we just imagine things. Don't you see, this is what God revealing His Son in you does. He tears down the high places, the places of our imagination, the places that we have built, our idols, our false images of God. He tears those down in the revealing of His Son. We have made visions; we have made images. God has said a Word, and we have imagined an image.

Oh yes, now we need to talk about the Babylonian image, that big religious image in Babylon. You find it literally built by Nebuchadnezzar, but over in the book of Revelation when that same image is given voice by the false prophets of Old Covenant, natural Israel, it is the same image. It is the image of flesh. It is the image of cause and effect: you do this, and that will happen. It completely destroys the work of grace. It completely destroys the reality of The Finished Work. It is the image of God made by our own hands, the imagination of our own heart; it is the image of cause and effect. But oh, when God brings His Vision into view and says - Look at HIM - He is the understanding of every Word I say because HE IS THE SUBSTANCE of every Word I say! This is the rebuke of Jesus. This is one of the main temptations that came to the Lord Jesus: to substitute for The Living Word. And He answered, "Man shall…live…by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mtt 4:4). He was speaking of The Living Word - every Word that comes out of the mouth of God is summed up in His Word!

Listen. Every Word that God has said, He points to His Son and says, "That is Him; that is The Word! Everything that I have said - that is it! That is the vision of it!" In Revelation 1 we read that John turned to see the voice. What came first? Hearing - hearing always has to come first. I tell you that God is never going to reveal His Son except in a heart who has heard The Word. And I mean hearing beyond the letter. Yes, it is looking at the letter, accepting the letter. Yes, but it is hearing The Word. It is not just reading "holiness", but hearing the Word "Holiness unto the Lord." It is not just reading but hearing, with a hungry heart, to know God. We must turn to see what we hear, or we have no understanding of The Word. John turned TO SEE; not just to see what he heard, he turned to see THE VOICE. He did not turn to see what The Voice said, he turned to see The Voice Himself, because He is the explanation of all that He says. He turned to see WHO he heard, not what, WHO he heard. He is always in the midst of what He says. If He says "holiness" to you, and if He is bringing all of the scripture of "holiness" to your mind, then I am telling you that if you will seek Him, you are not far if you will look there and wait there, hearing The Word. It will not be long before He will appear in the very midst of what He is saying, and you will understand what He is saying. You will understand what Holiness is, Who Holiness is - you will understand.

But you see, what we mostly do is we get a word, we hear a thing, and we know The Lord is speaking. We look at it in the scriptures: we see the Word written in so many scriptures. We see the type and shadow in so many scriptures. We hear it, but we do not wait until HE APPEARS in the midst of it. So we end up giving our own imaginary interpretation to it and we enforce our own imaginations by the scripture and by the Word, because we do not wait for the Vision. This is why Paul placed such great emphasis upon waiting until He revealed His Son in me. "When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me..." (Gal 1:15-16). This is why Paul tells the Church, commending them for all things, and then says that he is praying for them "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know..." (Eph 1:17-18). Know what? Know what you are hearing! You are hearing "life"; oh, that you may see LIFE! You are hearing "church", you are hearing "body"; oh, that you may see the substance of it, that you may see Him Who gives it definition, Who gives it reality! That you may see HIM, that you may understand what you are hearing. In the Son both the hearing and the seeing of God are made perfect, so perfect that when He (the hearing and the seeing) that is perfect appears, we know as we are known! We are transformed by the power of that which is perfect!

And when that happens, I tell you, we will ever be turning our hearts to see Him. We will ever be wanting. We will as Paul, be found saying, "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM…" (Phil 3:10). In Revelation 1 Jesus speaks as being in union with the Church. He is presenting Himself. He is standing while He is speaking there in the midst of the Church. John does not know that; He shows him that. He does not show him where He is going to be; He shows John where He is! And it is only when John sees Him where He is that he understands what the Church is. It's only when you and I see Him where He is that we understand Who and What The Church is. When He speaks of Himself as being the first, the last, the beginning, the ending, the Alpha, the Omega, He is speaking of Himself as in relation to His Church.

Look at Colossians 1:13, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Verse 17, "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col 1:17-18). It is in relationship to The Church, The New Creation, wherein all things are of Him, by Him and through Him that He speaks of Himself as being the beginning, the end, the first, the last, the Alpha, the Omega. You see, John didn't understand that, but he turned, and when he saw Christ standing in the midst of the Church, he understood what the Lord was saying. He is the beginning of that Church, the Head of that Church. He is the first and the last of that Creation. All things there are by Him, of Him, through Him and for Him! He is the Head of it, the beginning of it! You will never understand those words until you see Him, Who gives substance to them. You'll never understand The Church, which is His Body until you see Him, Whose Body we are.

The Spirit says "Church" and reveals The Son in the midst, not buildings, not people, not programs. When the Spirit says "Church" He points to The Son in the midst. Just so, the Spirit says "heaven" and reveals The Son. If you go on in the book of Revelation you'll see it's all that way. Heaven unfolds in The Person of The One that is in the midst. And all of those that are seeing Him as being in the midst start singing songs of Truth. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in our midst we would sing nothing but songs of Truth? The Spirit says 'Kingdom" and He points to The One sitting on the throne. The Spirit says "City" and He points to The One that is in the midst. I tell you dear friends, everything of spiritual life is seen to be in relationship with Him. God hath spoken IN SON! God says "glory", "righteousness", "priest", "kingdom", "dwelling", "land", "seed", "life", on and on. God says this, and HE REVEALS HIS SON!

What we both see and hear, thirdly, we also speak. Peter says we have received a more sure word of prophecy, not another prophecy, not a better prophecy. We have received IN HIM the prophecies made more sure. What God said in time past, what He pointed to in time past has come to be perfectly fulfilled in The Person of Christ. We have seen Him, and in Him all prophecies are made complete and sure. Therefore we preach CHRIST! We do not preach heaven; we preach CHRIST! We do not preach life; we preach CHRIST! We do not preach kingdom; we preach CHRIST! We do not preach sonship; we preach CHRIST! We must understand that when we have heard Him and seen in Him what we have heard, we will speak what we have both heard and seen - for they are one. And when we come to that, we shall all speak the same, and say the same, and be as The Voice of One.

My Lord and My God! This is the SUBSTANCE OF GREAT SALVATION. We must understand that you cannot preach Great Salvation until you have both heard and seen Him. But dear friends, when you have heard and seen HIM, you cannot preach anything else. Amen.