Preparing to enter the Emmaus Road

 

Below are a few scriptures listed that introduce the Plan of God, the Reasonings of God, the Message and Work of God in a brief format. This is a simple backdrop to the whole Story of the Amazing Emmaus Road Encounter … It will help greatly to see the goal that God and Jesus are reaching for, before beginning the whole Study of the Blood Covenant of God.

As you will notice Jesus calling to his followers was supernatural in nature:

Matthew 10:7-8 (KJV)
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

If that is not a supernatural, above the natural realm of things message, I don’t know what is. Healing the Sick. Cleansing Lepers. Raising the Dead. Casting out devils is clearly the Work of God, with the Hand of God completing the Work. Yet, this is the job description of the disciples, not just the twelve, not just the 70, not just the 120, or the 500, or the first 3,000 converts, or the 5,000 converts after that, but this is the “Children’s Bread” given to all the children of God.

Mark 7:27-30 (KJV)
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs [gentiles were called dogs in Jesus Day, the gentile woman fully understood this, even as Jesus was testing her faith and resilience]. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. {We may get into this subject a little deeper later.}

This supernatural ministry was fully experienced by His followers, evidenced here:

Luke 10:17 (KJV)
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

And yet, these chosen vessels had still not received the New Wine of the Spirit, which was not to be poured out upon them until the Day of Pentecost, (after the counting of the Omar.) It was the promise to come. Yet, we can see the joy Jesus felt for the first fruits of the Kingdom of God coming to his people:

Luke 10:18-20 (KJV)
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

The Blood Covenant Relationship was soon about to be catapulted to a new level of grace, mercy, power, and influence, and Jesus was rejoicing in the Work of the Spirit happening in the hearts of his children.

Luke 10:21-22 (KJV)
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

It was these babes, that were being prepared to be New Wineskins, to contain the New Wine. Yet, there were many hurdles, obstacles, and blockages that would be needed to overcome. Soon, his children would be threatened with their lives, and would be persecuted, beaten, tortured, and killed for his name. Jesus asked James and John the sons of Zebbedee, the sons of thunder, if they would be able to drink from the Cup that Jesus would drink from. And they both said “Yes.” Which was a part of the Blood Covenant understanding. And Jesus confirmed that they would drink from his cup:

Matthew 20:22-23 (KJV)
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with:

The Baptism of the Blood Covenant was are real hurdle to his disciples in their day, just as it is in our day. Nothing has changed. The same Covenant applies to us today. Being baptized into Jesus name, we are baptized into his death, first. Then, we are also baptized into his resurrection from the Dead. We are to leave our past life of death, selfishness, worldiness, vanity, and pride, and take on a new baptism of Power and Love and Soundness of Mind, which is the Mind of Heaven, the Perspective of Heaven, the Fulfillment of the Blood Covenant of God.

Luke 10:23-24 (KJV)
23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

None of these things were to be taken lightly. None of them were to be ignored or misinterpreted. Jesus made it plain that following him would not be a bed of roses, and a palace of marble and ivory, but one of sacrifice, service, and rejection from the leaders of religions, and leaders of politics, and leaders who planned to use the people of God for their own self made agendas.

And the warnings of Jesus were real, and weighty. Much is at stake here in working in the Kingdom of God. This is just one more reason that we need to fully prepare our Wineskins for the New Wine of the Spirit. For without preparation and without dedication, the wineskins will be broken and the wine will be lost.

Matthew 10:17-22 (KJV)
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Again, we see that we have a supernatural, “beyond the natural,” Covenant with God, one that invokes his power, his love, his wisdom, his honor, his glory, and his Spirit. And only by his grace are we able to perform the Work of His Kingdom, proclaiming his name with authority among the Gentiles and the Jews.  Paul said:

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (KJV)
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

God wanted all His children to have a direct line from Heaven to Earth, so that each child of God could and would communicate with Him directly. That Line and connection was made available through the Holy Spirit of God whom He Promised would come to all who would believe. To all who would receive Him in Spirit and in Truth.

John 14:15-18 (KJV)
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

This is the communication line of the New Wine Skin, the indwelling power and person of the Holy Spirit Living inside, teaching, and guiding each new wineskin, how to follow in the Footsteps of Jesus, and how to do the very works of Jesus, and if possible, to do even Greater Works than Jesus … 

John 14:11-14 (KJV)
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Again, this has all been firmly established in the Blood Covenant of God. Such favor and blessing through the Blood Covenant of God is frankly too good to believe, and yet it is freely available to the faithful. Every person who has a single eye for the things of Heaven, and chooses to become a full fledged obedient follower of Christ, the Messiah, becomes a vessel ready to receive the New Wine of Heaven.

This is the New Game in Town, the New Work, the New Adventure. The New Game Plan includes bringing the Gentiles into the Family of God. It includes the preaching of the Kingdom of God with Power and Authority, and will often be attended by Signs, Wonders, Healings, Miracles, Deliverances, that are a daily part of the Work of God in this New Game. All of this work, is received and performed by Faith in the Son of God, walking in the same Blood Covenant of God that Jesus purchased for his children.

Did you know that the gifts of healing, and the gifts of deliverance from demons spirits is “the Bread of the Children”? It is the children’s bread, and is part of the covenant of God. It is received by faith and experienced by “grace” (grace is faith put into action).

In the Old Testament God touched and chose specific individuals to do great things for him, but what they did and who did them was greatly limited. In the New Testament God throws open the Doors to the Kingdom of God and Proclaims to whosever will come, let him come. There is now no limit, no blockage, no hinderance to receiving the Kingdom of God, only that which is created in the mind and faith and obedience in the life of the individual.

Matthew 12:50 (KJV)
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

If you can see clearly the condition of becoming a disciple of Christ, is not about church membership or any other man-guided, man-initiated institution. These actually get in the way, and often do more harm than good, when it comes to producing true and capable followers of Christ. God’s Kingdom disciples need a direct connection to God himself, not through a bishop, a cardinal, a pope, or any man made hierarchy that would block one on one communication between the disciple and his own and only True Master.

Matthew 20:25-28 (KJV) 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto [not to be served], but to minister [to serve], and to give his life a ransom for many.

Again, this is all getting ahead of the Story, which begins in Genesis, but it is good to have a taste of where God is taking us, to see the End from the Beginning, so that we can clearly see Both the Big Picture of God, and what it is, that He has always wanted to be accomplished among his people.

So, in summary, everything that is happening on the Emmaus Road is fitting into a plan of perfection. It is not just a random thing but is a perfectly timed and perfectly executed design that puts another foundation stone into the Work of the Kingdom of God. 

I believe if we pay careful attention to this Emmaus Road of Redemption Experience, we will be greatly benefitted in our faith to become vessels of honor in the Kingdom of God, vessels of the New Wine of the Spirit, and of the Work that has been handed down to us by the Son of God.

Now having some of this background information under your belt, it is time to start traveling along the Emmaus Road.