May, 2000 

Resurrection and walking in its power manifest tangibly. That became apparent to me during the time of our mission into Brazil. As we stood to clothe a naked child, who had never had anything to wear and had no shoes, I was reminded of Matthew 25.

Jesus had been speaking to the multitudes and then to His disciples, delivering a blistering rebuke to the Pharisees directed at hypocritical self-righteousness. The outward form of godliness without an inward power and spiritual reality belies the truth and neutralizes teaching. Anything can turn religious and ritualistic when truth is refused and relationship ignored.

Jesus describes the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs. We are to be temples, not tombs. Judgment, He said, would come to Jerusalem and to its temple. As wars, tribulation, betrayal, hatred, deceptions, lawlessness, and lack of love come, true followers of Christ will await the coming of the Son of Man. In a time of indifference and carelessness, in a time of ordinary circumstances, Jesus will appear with startling suddenness. For those who desire Him and who love truth, the exhortation is to "watch and pray." When the Bridegroom comes, be ready.

During this time of watching and making ready, the wise disciple invests what has been entrusted to him. And with that, Jesus says something astounding:

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…(Matthew 25.31-34 NKJV)

When Jesus comes in His glory, the nations will be separated and judged. His coming in glory will usher in a judgment which will divide people. Jesus is the Judge of what is living and what is dead. Jesus knows who the true temples of the Holy Spirit are. Jesus knows that good works do not produce holiness within. The Holy Spirit does that. The Holy Spirit produces the character of the Christ. Good character produces works that are good in truth. Good works are those wrought in God. Good works are born in the thought and intent of a holy heart. Good works display a love coming from God. For the end of the commandment is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. What does Jesus say?

For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. (Matthew 25.35, 36)

All that we do is for His glory and by His grace. We carry His Name and fame everywhere. As we do unto others, we do as unto the Lord. Jesus is the object of our faith, our worship and our love. Love manifests tangibly, but its source is God.

Resurrection follows death, a death to which we are to yield completely and definitely. We put away not only our past lives but also our "selves." Aside a consciousness of perfect nothingness, emptiness and helplessness, the Holy Spirit comes to supply the power that is resurrection. A "dead" person has nothing else but the grace of God, the Spirit of Grace, the God of all Grace, for any hope. Colossians 3 holds the key:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in Glory. (Colossians 3.1-4 NKJV)

Let Jesus speak to you of the mysteries of resurrection, for Jesus is He who lived and who died and who rose again, and behold, Jesus is He who lives forevermore. Jesus lives and reigns in you that you might reign in life.

Some of you will come to the waters to be tested. It is a testing of the Holy Spirit. What is the river of life in you? How pure is that river? Be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to purify your soul and cleanse you of all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Then, through you will flow pure water, the water of life from the River of life, streams of living water, life-giving water by the Spirit of the Lord.

Purity. Jesus is seeking purity in the vessel. The Holy Spirit is preparing the Bride for greater glory—His glory. As you purify yourself in Christ Jesus you will attain to the resurrection out from among the dead.

Love is the goal. Love overcomes death. Love is life for love has no fear, no hate, no murder, nothing in it that destroys life. Love only destroys by annulment those things that hinder life—things like disease, devils, and death.

Love manifests in tangible ways. It is a tangible anointing. It manifests in bringing life to the creation.

Make way for the love of God to be shed abroad in your heart. With the spirit of faith, love will permeate your being, the love of Christ, which will compel you as it does Him.

Love is the "glue" of oneness. Love bonds you to Christ as Christ’s love bonds you to Him and to the Father. Love is the seal of the Spirit upon you. Love ushers you into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

Open yourself to the Spirit of the Lord, for to open yourself to the Spirit is to open your self to Love, to be loved by God that you might love others with no mixture, without hypocrisy.

Satan masquerades love. His works hide evil intent and malice in a cloak of good deeds. These apparent or seemingly works of righteousness are false at the core.

Resurrection exposes the core of one’s being, to judge what is living—what is love—and what is dead, i.e., what is a lie.

Satan cloaks. He wears a mask. He parades. He needs to be seen, not as he is, but as he wants others to think of him. Lies, murder, stealing. He robs joy and murders peace, and his righteousness is a sham of pretense.

Resurrection is a life of love walking in truth by grace in the energy of the Holy Spirit because of the "kratos," the dominion of Christ. Nothing can kill it, for love is the fulfillment of the Law. There is no sin in it when it is of God: pure, holy, good.

Envy, hate, murder, malice—these characterize the spirit in Cain. The seed of the serpent produces fruit, too. As the serpent is choked off, choking on the Blood of the Lamb, it loses its place of rule, its "kratos." It must yield the land, the territory, to the Stronger. It seeks to devour by eating and choking the Word, but the Word stands forever.

Unbelief does not want to swallow the Word, but belief will eat the Word, and the Word will destroy the wormwood and the gall of bitterness, destroy the Serpent within, even Leviathan. The Spirit of the Lord draws out Leviathan, giving you the neck of your enemy, pride.

Jesus is of Judah, and Judah rules with a scepter of righteousness, the true righteousness which manifests in the good works of love.

What is the glory of Christ? It is the power of His love, a love that raises the dead by freeing them from the strongholds of the serpent. When the weights of gravity and the grave are removed, the captives are set free. The shackles of sin leading to death are broken, and then they can rise.

The Serpent sends out lies, which he hopes will be swallowed so he can continue being energized. As truth is swallowed, he starves. He is drawn out to seek a new home by his hunger as the person hungers and thirsts for righteousness.

The body is a temple, not a tomb. In the third day, the temple of the Holy Spirit will be built, the third temple. He is building this temple in the sons of glory. They are the third temple.

Purify yourselves, for the nations are being called to resurrection. Jesus is judging the nations and drawing out His elect from many waters that His might flow and live in the Water of Life. His people will be led into His glory that the glory He has may be theirs. He will draw His people into one. He will build His temple. He will restore Israel, His glory. He will war against anti-Christ and He will prevail, for He is the Lamb who was slain, the Lion of Judah, and the Lion will lie with the Lamb.

Many do not want Jesus, for Jesus is not coming for a "church," i.e., buildings and programs and such. He is coming for a People, called out ones drawn to Him out of the dead.

If you are mourning over your sin, if you desire to be pure in heart that you may see Jesus, then be comforted. Jesus is purifying, purging out the old leaven. He is coming for a holy Bride. Minister to Jesus. Wait upon Jesus. Minister to Jesus in your worship, in your offerings, in your works wrought in God. Be comforted, and walk in peace.

Thank you to everyone who prays for this ministry and who participates in its calling to bring healing and restoration to the Body of Christ, to prepare the Bride for His return, and to call the nations to repentance and resurrection.

Calling the nations to resurrection,

Mary Craig

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then death works in us, but life in you.
And since we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke,"
we also believe and therefore speak,
knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus,
and will present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many,
may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4.11-15) 

© 2000 Mary Craig Ministries, Inc.

mary@marycraig.org