The following is a teaching as offered long ago... through my husband Charlie ... for your consideration.

One aspect of the Spiritual Understanding of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ 

I sometimes think folks fail to realize that the book of Revelation is a prophecy sent to seven churches to tell them things which should "shortly come to pass." As natural man sees it, the book of Revelation is about naturally occurring events in the natural time of history, failing to realize that the things of God must be revealed to man by the spirit of God. The things of God are written in a "mystery." "Unto you is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to those without, all these things are done in parables."

I compare understanding the Bible to assembling a jigsaw puzzle. If we do not first have the picture on the box, we are left to assemble the pieces and try to figure out the picture as we go along. At any given point of assembly we arrive at conclusions as to what the picture might be that later pieces prove wrong. Therefore, the picture is in a constant state of change. The best way to assemble the puzzle is to first know what the picture should be.
Natural man's thinking already has a picture produced by natural perspective and point of view. Therefore, natural assembly of the pieces reflects natural thinking, not spiritual thinking. And, the natural picture agrees with what the world sees.

Natural thinking fails to realize that the end of the prophecy points to New Jerusalem as being the assembled picture. We start off as Old Jerusalem and we become New Jerusalem. The book of Revelation is, then a prophecy of transformation. "It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God." The unfolding events in the prophecy tell us of our experience and journey as we are being delivered from our false image of God. "You cannot patch an old garment with a new piece of cloth because the new does not agree with the old." The new patch actually pulls away from the old. "Neither can you store new wine in old wineskins." The old must be destroyed, not added to or improved.

The old here is natural thinking and natural perspective. Mystery Babylon represents the natural perspective. While in Babylon, the Israelites were subjected to the observation of the ordinances of man, as mentioned in the book of Daniel. The Israelites were sent to Babylon in the first place by God because they mixed together natural worship and ordinances with the commands of God. As a result they were not serving God at all any longer by this time, but their own gods and false images. God sent them prophets to tell them this, but they refused to listen to the prophets. It was necessary for the Israelites to experience contrast to see the difference between the two. The king appointed to rule over them did not know God. He was a man of flesh and saw according to the flesh. But God is spirit, not flesh.
If we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds," we are to think differently. This new thinking is called the new wine. The old must be destroyed or else there is a mixture. The book of Revelation then is the process whereby the old is destroyed and the new is made clear.

The language of spirit is in the form of symbols and images. But to know the meaning of these symbols and images requires revelation from God, hence the name of the prophecy. All that can be known of God requires revelation from God. It must be revealed from heaven. Natural man can't know the things of God for they are spiritually discerned.

Churchianity is the result of natural thinking. Flesh attempts to unify a belief system so as to make sense of natural events. If flesh and blood can reveal these things to us, why is it so important for us to have the Holy Spirit?
Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. The words Jesus spoke were spirit, not words of flesh, but religious folks hear flesh, not spirit.

"Blessed are you Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." All that is to be known of God must be revealed from God. This is the foundation of our relationship with God. Upon this foundation the gates of hell are unable to penetrate or overcome.............

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