The Ladder of Ascension

*"There are characteristics and marks whereby the pure Virgin Church shall be known and distinguished from all others and whereby the unction and true sound of the Holy Spirit shall be discerned from all others that are low, false and counterfeit. There must be a manifestation of the Spirit whereby to edify and raise up this Church, whereby bringing heaven down upon the earth and representing here the New Jerusalem state in order to which spirits are thus begotten and born of God, ascend to New Jerusalem above where their Head in majesty doth reign. None but those who have so ascended and received of His glory can condescend and communicate the same, being thereby His representative on the earth and subordinate priests under Him now. He that has ascended and glorified has made Himself, as it were, our Debtor. Consequently, He will not be wanting in qualifying and furnishing certain high and principal instruments who shall be most humble and as little regarded as David was, who He will dignify with honor and priestly sovereignty for drawing to them the scattered flocks and gathering them into one fold out of all nations."

    There are certain marks and characteristics by which the true Virgin Church will be known from all others that are, if I may say so, counterfeit. Among these attributes is the unique voice and operation of the Holy Spirit. In her, the Virgin Church, He is recognized as the only and true Vicar. The meetings are His, the order of service is His, whatever is said or not said, is for Him to decide.

    She, having tasted of the good word of God fresh from His own provision, has no time for the teachings of men, nor appetite for their doctrines. Because the Holy Spirit is in charge, no man in her midst, not even the elders, stands head and shoulders above another. Here there is no hierarchy, jostling with another for position and advantage. All are ever seeking a lower place, knowing that His Spirit, like water, always seeks and fills the lowest places first.

    Thus, the message comes not from the professional (no professional preacher would last long here). It might come from the man or woman sitting on the back row. It might come from the little old man or woman who just walked in. The Holy Spirit is the preacher and so whoever He gives the message to is responsible to give it. In fact, everyone has the opportunity to put their little into the common pot that everyone might be enriched by that which every joint supplieth.

    The elders in her midst are those men who are older in the Lord and who have been found faithful in the things of God. They have been appointed by the Holy Spirit through an apostle, not by the local pastor, who could then rule them. I have been told that this is idealistic and will not work in practicality because one man always seems to rise above the others and takes the rein of leadership.

    My answer is that it certainly will not work, nor is it meant to work, in any instance where the Holy Spirit is not in very real and full control. The fact that it hasn't worked in so many cases is not proof that it won't work; it is proof that the conditions for it to work have not been met.

    The gifts of the Spirit are openly manifested, everyone being given equal opportunity to allow the Spirit to use them. All prophecy is judged, but no one is castigated for an error. Correction is done in mercy and compassion by the elders, who know that they have also made mistakes and probably will again.

    There is a sweet all-encompassing spirit of love and unity and blessing in the midst of this Virgin Church. One cannot enter into her midst without very quickly admitting that God is in her of a truth. In this kind of atmosphere, men either break for the altar or run for the door. They cannot long remain unaffected, for God is in His holy temple.

    This is surely, as Jacob said at Bethel, the gate of heaven. This is what may also be referred to as Jane Leade refers to it, The Ascension Ladder. (I hope to write another booklet on one of her papers touching that subject, the Lord willing it.) This is the body of Christ which Jacob saw as a ladder whose feet (members) were on earth, and whose Head (Jesus) was in heaven, and upon whom the angels of God ascended and descended.

    This is an operation of the mighty, faithful and precious Holy Spirit of God, without which men often labor, after the Lord has departed, as unmindful as was Samson. How many churches today have "Ichabod" (the glory has departed) written over their doors and yet, pastor and people carry on as if nothing was wrong. They still speak in tongues, they still sing and dance.

    In fact, many have ceased dancing in the Spirit and have begun to dance to choreographed arrangements in specially made, flowing chiffon garments, carrying little banners and tambourines. This only satisfies those who have an appetite for husks rather than the corn, and it is equivalent to Israel feeding upon asses' heads and dove's dung. Asses' heads speak of the carnal mind and dove's dung represents the residue after the Spirit has departed.

    It is a spiritual house that Christ is building. Remember, He said, "I will build my house." He has been doing just that through the use of spiritual gifts, including the five ministerial gifts found in Ephesians. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 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:" --Ephesians 4:11-15.

    This is what God is after, that we grow up; that we come to maturity, unto the perfect man. Did He not say, "I will make a man more precious than gold."? That has more than one meaning. The gifts of the Spirit will find true exercise among those virgin spirits of the called-out number.

    I think we will all pretty much agree that in order for one to communicate effectively, one must have been a partaker of that which he attempts to share. In other words, the man who would share the glory of salvation with another, must of necessity be a partaker of it himself. Where this has been the case, he has no trouble communicating the glory of that experience.

    But let him begin to attempt to enlarge upon the further glory of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which he has not yet experienced, and you will find the same man at a loss. Only those who have so ascended and received of His glory, in whatever degree, can in turn condescend and communicate that degree of His glory to others.

    I have to admit, as will others, I'm sure, that one of the reasons we have had such a terribly hard time articulating and explaining what we have seen by the Spirit concerning the subject at hand, is owing to the fact that we have not as yet ascended and moved experientially into that still further glory.

    We are able by the Spirit to see it dimly, to know that it is there, and to grasp it in the measure that we have been enabled to see it, but to share it with others (which is what the biblical meaning of "communicate" means), we are finding it extremely difficult. But it is there before us.

    Enoch, Abraham, David and all the prophets saw things before their time and spoke of them, but to communicate them, to share them and impart them to others, they could not. Nor could the disciples who had walked with Jesus communicate that life, that nature to others...until after Pentecost! But we can see it yet future, though near, and by faith embrace it, and declare it.

    Jane Leade, in another of her writings (Ascension Angels) explains it thus. "There meets me one objection which I am to give answer to, which is this: You have here discoursed of a high and wonderful state of ascension and descension for visible glorification. How come you to understand the way of it without you were actually ascended by a cloud of glory coming down to receive you out of all mortal sight, after the manner of Christ? We answer to this: You are given to know, there is an ascension in Spirit which beats a track (makes way) for the soul with its resurrection body (there is a spiritual body) to follow after. Thus it is given to some to be taken up in Spirit, to make discovery of what lies concealed in superior regions, as not yet understood." A kind of heavenly spy, as it were, sent ahead in spirit in order to bring back a report upon which an entrance into such things is to be gained.

    Those in whom Christ appears at the sounding of the seventh trump will move into that greater glory. This is the time of the first resurrection, and what most have mis-labeled the rapture. They will "ascend" into a higher place, in fact, into the very place symbolized throughout scripture as Mt. Zion, the holy hill of God, the place of His abiding presence.

    Once they have ascended (not necessarily physically), and have moved into this experience of "no more I, but Christ," they will then be able to condescend and communicate, or impart, or share the same with others.

    When I say, impart, I do not mean to imply that any will receive this experience simply by the laying on of hands and impartation. It will not happen that way. I mean that their ministry will be in such power and grace that where there is a hungry, receptive heart willing to bear the cross, willing to die to self, willing to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, there will be divine enablement to enter into that which is held out to them by the Lord.

    One of the reasons the world today is so turned off by religious things is that it has never seen a true representation of what God is really like. The Church is supposed to be the light of the world and if the world is in darkness, is it the world's fault?

    It is inconceivable to me, absolutely inconceivable, that ANYONE, can see Christ as He is and not be changed! It might be for the worse, but changed, he will surely be. When the sons have been manifested they will become Christ's representatives on earth. That is, their lives will be a clear representation of what Christ, and therefore, God, is.

    The Lord Himself will be as faithful to supply such instruments during this time as He has been to supply all else in Christ up to this time. These instruments or persons, will not be like those we have admired in the past; men of degree, station, ability, charisma, etc..

    They will be as little regarded as was David and I'm sure you remember the story of David when Samuel came to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to become king. David wasn't even included in the first round of nominations. He wasn't even acknowledged as being a possible candidate for a throne. The reason for this? Because David didn't look the part. The first man Samuel had anointed king (Saul) surely fit the part. He stood head and shoulders above all others. Not David, and not those who will have part in this exalted ministry and rule. "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; ... for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" --1 Samuel 16:7.

    These vessels of the Lord will be most humble, but the Lord will dignify them with honor and priestly sovereignty so that those seeking a living word will be drawn to them, or rather, to the undeniable overflowing measure of Christ in them. As we look about us today we see the flock of the Lord scattered upon the hills and mountains of religion.

    They are divided and in many cases isolated one from another because of the doctrinal fences that men have built in order to secure their own kingdoms and further their own personal agendas. But God will, through His sons, gather them out of all nations, out of all denomi-nations, under one Head and into one fold.

    Seeing therefore that these things must shortly come to pass, what manner of men (and women) ought we to be in all manner of conversation? Seeing that God will soon bring forth that for which all of creation now groans, and for which liberty, all long, we ought to desire to be among that number of the firstfruits unto Him that is risen from the dead that we might be one of those who will be His principal agents and representatives on earth.

    Let me say here that this is NOT beyond the reach of the least of us. Because all that is needed for any to attain to this high calling of God in Christ, He has already supplied in Christ Jesus. He has not made these things ready for giraffes only, but for the lambs. And our inability to understand all these things will not hinder His giving them to us.

    These are heart matters, not matters of the head. It is ours to apprehend that for which we have been apprehended of Christ. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, remember, He giveth more grace.