Sanctified in the Womb

The last two services laid a foundation for what we are going to do this morning. We have been talking about the Body of Christ. While it appears that Babylon is just growing by leaps and bounds because that is mostly what we see, yet the Lord is creating a many-membered Body of Christ. If you really study the Scriptures concerning the Body of Christ, it would stir your heart knowing what it is becoming. When Christ came as Jesus the Nazarene, He wasn’t very popular except when He fed the multitude or healed some people. Then they all wanted to be in on it. But He did not have many real disciples.

It was the same with the Early Church. Many Jews had accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah but still held to the teachings of Moses. They hated Paul without a cause, just like the Pharisees and scribes had hated Jesus. They hated him; they sought to kill him at every opportunity. Religion has always sought to stamp out or to kill the Christ that is coming forth. At the beginning of Matthew 2 when Jesus was born, Herod was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him. There is a troubling that is taking place in the earth today because there is something of Christ that is coming forth in the earth. He is a disrupter. He disrupts man’s thinking. He disrupts man’s kingdoms. The Lord is coming forth again. This time, though, He is coming forth within His chosen ones; the many-membered Christ is being created (II Thessalonians 1:10).

Let’s go to Ephesians 5. This is a very good chapter. This is where Paul talks about wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church. Then in verse 32 he says, This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church. If we are going to really hear what the Lord is speaking, we must tune-in to the mystical because that is where He is. Christ is a mystery. We are beginning to understand what that means. As long as we keep God in the realm of our human thinking, we will miss what He is really saying.

Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.

We are members of His body. Who is this “we”? “We” refers to all those who are members of His body. That does not mean that all Christians are members of His Body. It is not a blanket statement. All Christians can become members of the Body of Christ, but whether they do or not will depend on them. A lot of nature change must take place to be a functional member of the Body of Christ.

Here Paul says, For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. This is speaking of Christ’s life. Now turn to Psalms 22. Let’s continue this “bones” concept. You know the framework of a body is the skeleton. This psalm is quite interesting because there is a lot in it that has to do with things that happened when Jesus was crucified. The psalmist David wrote this psalm but nevertheless it is Christ speaking through him. David could not say that he was “poured out like water and all his bones were out of joint,” but Christ could.

Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

All my bones are out of joint. That describes the Body of Christ as it is presently – all disjointed. All my bones are out of joint – all the members of My body are out of joint. So there needs to be a great coming together of the members of His Body and we find that prophesied in Ezekiel 37.

Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.

This is mystically speaking of the Body of Christ. Verse 11 says that these bones are the house of Israel. And so they are; that is, spiritual Israel.

Ezekiel 37:2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

That is a lot of bones and they are very dry, meaning there is no life in them.

Ezekiel 37:3-4 And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.
4 Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.

Do you think maybe this would be a good time to start prophesying to the Body of Christ? “Come alive! Be filled with the Spirit of the Lord! Be connected! We prophesy oneness to the members of the Body of Christ. The bones shall no longer be separated and scattered”

Ezekiel 37:5-6 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath (Ruach, the same Hebrew word is used for breath, wind, and spirit) to enter into you, and ye shall live.
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

And you shall know that I am the Lord. The creation of the many-membered Christ will remove all doubts about Him being Lord. Out of the dry will come Life.

Ezekiel 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

If you really want to see some action, start prophesying according to the will of God. Start prophesying to the Body of Christ – “Live! Come together bones! Spirit, enter into these bones!”

Ezekiel 37:8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them (no spirit).

Somewhere in this process we can find the Body of Christ today. It is coming together; bones are being connected but they still lack the Spirit that is needed.

Ezekiel 37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind (spirit), Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

It would be good to look to the Lord and say, “Lord, where is Your Body of Christ?” I think if you prophesied to any of these stages you wouldn’t miss because the Body of Christ is changing. All members are not at the same stage. There is some being covered with sinews and skin on them but yet no breath. Others are still just dry bones lying on the ground. The important thing is that you prophesy. It is the Word that God speaks through you that brings the change. We must speak the creative Word!

Ezekiel 37:10-11 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

The prophetic Word is the channel by which divine life is injected into the People of the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:12-13 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord ....

This is resurrection life coming forth in His people ... and you shall know that I am the Lord. The fact that we do not see the Body of Christ in its mature state does not mean it is nonexistent. God is doing an undercover work. He is doing a hidden work in us. You can say, “Well, why isn’t the Body of Christ out there doing miracles? We could have a lot of exploits.” God wants something more than a miraculous show. That kind of stuff is on hold a little bit. It does not mean that God hasn’t done it or won’t do it, but it is on hold because what He is creating in us is more important right now. The miracles must first take place in us. For now what we become is more important than what we do. So it is a hidden work.

Psalm 139:13-14 For You have possessed my reins: You have covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Your works; and that my soul knows right well.

This is a prophecy of Christ and also of the Body of Christ.

Psalm 139:15 My substance was not hid from You, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Christ is coming forth in us. Now this verse 15 connects to Ephesians 4:9 if you want to trace that sometime. My substance was not hid from You, when I was made in secret. In Colossians Paul talks about not letting anybody judge you when it comes to meats or holy days, sabbaths, or religious observances. He said that all of those things are a shadow but the reality is Christ.

Psalm 139:15-16 My substance was not hid from You, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfected; and in Your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Nothing manifested in the natural yet, but we were not hid from God as He is doing a perfect work. It is a prophecy we can relate to. This is what is happening to us. This reminds me of the story of when the Philistines were taunting the armies of Saul (I Samuel 17). They did not have anyone to come up against Goliath. Here comes little David. “Who is that uncircumcised Philistine that is taunting the armies of God?” Here is a type of the Body of Christ. David is little, a young man. He cannot even put on the armor, but he is one whom God has chosen taken from among the sheep. David was tending the sheep. That is kind of the way the Body of Christ is now. The false church, the church world, Babylon, whatever you want to call it – it is big. It is an army, but it is not really doing anything. It cannot come against the enemies of God. But God is raising up a shepherd boy and He is doing a hidden work. We are in God’s womb and we have not come to complete birth yet. We are being formed. The process has begun like the seed that has been planted. Life is beginning to form, bone coming to bone and the skin and sinews coming upon them. While we are in the womb of God is a very, very important time because things are happening. Let’s look at it in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 1:1-2 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the Lord came ...

Now, don’t look at this as just some information coming to him from God. No, that is not the way it was. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1. When it talks about the Word, what is it talking about? It’s talking about the Lord Himself.

Jeremiah 1:2 To whom the word of the Lord came (There was a coming of the Lord that took place right here in Jeremiah 1) in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It is said again in verse 4: Then the word of the Lord came unto me. But I want you to look first at verse 3: It came also in the days of Jehoiakim .... In Hebrew the pronoun takes the gender of the antecedent, which is the word “word” which is also masculine. In the Hebrew, then, the pronoun should be “He” but because the translators do not personalize “word” of the word of the Lord they use the pronoun “it.” Therefore, it is “He came” rather than it came.

Jeremiah 1:3-4 [He] came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah ...
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying ...

Now what he is saying is very important. Let’s look at it.

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ...

Don’t see this just as Jeremiah being born and God saying, “Jeremiah, I knew you before you were born.” Jeremiah is a type of the Body of Christ here, a prophetic company.

Jeremiah 1:5 ...and before you came forth out of the womb ... (Here are some things God did while you were in the womb or while the Body of Christ is in the womb)... I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

There is a setting apart unto God that is taking place. The process has begun. We are being born and becoming the Body of Christ, but it is not complete yet. We are still in the womb. But while we are in that womb, we are being sanctified. We are being set apart unto God as a prophet to the nations.

Simply put, this is where we are. Paul says, “We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bone” (Ephesians 5:30). Jesus said, “All My bones are out of joint.” Then we see in Ezekiel 37, the prophetic Word of Lord is coming, a living Word that is bringing those bones together and forming the Body of Christ. All this forming is taking place, so to speak, in God’s womb. Then we have the prophecy of Jesus in Psalm 139: My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in secret. Here in Jeremiah, he is telling us what is happening while we are in the womb. We are being sanctified; we are being set apart. We are being created as a prophetic voice.

Jeremiah 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

Listen – yes, we know our shortcomings. We know what we are in our flesh. However, do not say, “I am a child.”

Jeremiah 1:7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

You are going to be like Christ when He said, “I can do nothing of Myself, but what I hear the Father speak, I speak” (John 8:28). This is the kind of many-membered Body that is being created.

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