The Kingdom of God!

 

Chapter 75

 

 

In the teachings of Jesus and the early apostles the thought of some future coming of His, looms rather large. On a careful consideration of their words, however, it soon becomes apparent that they do not always speak of His coming in the same sense. The study of the teachings of the New Testament on this point calls for careful and prayerful and reverent discrimination.

Most teachers and believers in the religious systems of today believe that every time the scriptures speak of Christ's "coming" they have one particular and singular future event in mind. This only leads to confusion and error. It should be self-evident that Christ's coming as Bridegroom (Mat. 25:1-10) cannot be to the same people, at the same time, in the same manner, nor for the same purpose as His coming as a Refiner's Fire (Mal. 3:1-3).

He comes as Bridegroom to His prepared, adorned, and expectant bride in a deeply spiritual relationship of intimate love and vital union, whereas He comes to those apprehended to be His Royal Priesthood in a manifestation of severity, purging and purifying. Both are said to be His COMING.

Christ's coming again as the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 14:16-23) and His coming in Flaming Fire of Vengeance (II Thes. 1:7-8) are obviously not the same coming; not to the same people, not at the same time, and not in the same manner, nor for the same purpose. He came as the Spirit of Truth on the day of Pentecost and has continued to come in that precious way to illuminate the mind and heart of every man and woman who seeks Him in sincerity and truth; but He has come and shall yet come in Flaming Fire to deal out retribution, chastisement and vengeance upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God and upon those who ignore and refuse to obey the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both manifestations are described in scripture as the COMING of the Lord. It is useless to try to fit them both into one singular event destined to transpire within a few moments of time at the conclusion of this age. The Word of God is clear in its teaching that the coming of the Lord is a many-faceted experience, including many manifestations. Truly He came; He continued to come; He comes; He continues to come; He shall come; and He shall continue to come!

At the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah's time, it was first necessary to remove heaps of rubbish. Even so in these days, to rightly understand the truth concerning our Lord's return, it is necessary to remove heaps of rubbish. Rubbish of tradition, prejudice, misinformation, and misinterpretation. The church world has become so thoroughly indoctrinated with the simplistic, childish, and crude imaginations of the natural mind that it is practically impossible to get people to consider the Lord's coming as it really is in the scriptures. They are warned to regard with suspicion and reject all teaching on the subject any different from that which they have been taught. In fact, to think of the venerable doctrine of the church on this subject as being FALSE, strikes them as being blasphemous. There is only one sure path in this important hour, there is only one way to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Even now, as in the long ago, our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, stands, saying, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth" (Jn. 16:12-13).

We often miss the truth because too many of us have been relying on our intellect to interpret to us the scriptures, instead of looking to the Teacher sent from God to do His work and perform His ministry. Even many Spirit-filled Christians depend mostly on commentaries and books by the hundreds written by men and often men void of the Holy Spirit. They rely on them as their source of information and understanding of the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit is relegated to a back room in their minds and rarely consulted about anything the scriptures have to say. We need to reinstate Him to His proper position and allow Him to fulfill the ministry He came to do. I am not against books. I have many. If I were opposed to books, I would not be writing this one. But when we read books and especially the bible we need to rely on that inner witness of the great teacher of God.

Many people have been helped by what is written, but far too many Christians think that through bible study, and by searching the scriptures alone, they can come to an understanding of the things of God and acquire a knowledge of the truth. However, apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit, there is no way that we can search out and understand the things of God and His ways. Hear what the scripture itself says: "O the depths of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how UNSEARCHABLE are His judgments and His ways past FINDING OUT" (Rom. 11:33). How can we ever search out the unsearchable, or find that which is past finding out? It is impossible by any human means or methods, but not impossible with God, for with Him nothing is impossible. There is a way to know the things of God. It only comes by the working of the Spirit of Truth.

Throughout the pages of the Bible and the ages of time God has revealed Himself to various men and women in their times. The principles were always the same, but the manifestation of His appearing was different in each case. He appeared to Moses as a burning bush; to Israel as a cloud and pillar of fire; to Gideon as the Angel of the Lord; to Isaiah as the glorious One high and exalted upon a throne; to Ezekiel as a wheel in the middle of a wheel; to His disciples as a mortal Man, the Lamb of God; to Mary as the gardener; to Saul of Tarsus as a blinding Light brighter than the noonday sun; to John the Revelator as One standing in the midst of the candlesticks with hair white like wool, feet like brass burning in a furnace, and a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth.

As God revealed Himself in different ways in the Old Testament times, so in the New Testament times He is still revealing Himself in higher heights and deeper depths through the glorified Christ Jesus. As Luke points out in Acts, chapter one, Jesus BEGAN to minister when He walked in a body of flesh on the earth, until He ascended back to the Father. Then as you continue to read in the book of Acts, you find that He BEGAN to minister through, not just a single body of flesh, but through a corporate body of believers as the Body of Christ came to birth on the earth.

As you read this message, my prayer to God on your behalf is that He might BEGIN to move and work and manifest and appear in YOUR LIFE in a new and fresh unveiling of HIMSELF!

While there is a widespread belief in the nearness of the coming of Christ, it is a fact that so many false teachings have been related to this great truth that it is to be feared. When the event itself takes place, precious few who profess to believe in His coming will be prepared to receive Him because of the false views they hold regarding the manner and purpose of His coming. Just as it was when he was born in Bethlehem the people of that generation did not recognize the day of His visitation. I do not pretend to understand the exact sequence of all things which are soon to come upon the earth, neither do I believe that any man or woman on earth is fully informed of the events that shall mark the end of this present age and the glory of the age to come. But of this we may be sure: the minds of Christians have become so blinded by the traditions they hold as doctrines that they are almost completely immune to truth. They are like the Jews of old who were so set and sure that the Messiah would come and restore the kingdom to Israel that they missed Him when He came and knew Him not. In like manner today millions of Christians are blind to the truth because of their traditions, for while they sit idly by waiting for a rapture which will deliver them from the tribulation and usher them into the glory of God, they will one day awaken to discover to their everlasting consternation that Jesus HAS COME, and they missed Him and knew Him not.

One of the writings of Paul that the Rapture Advocates rely on is found in 1 Thess. 4:16-18, (NIV)

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words."

 

There are countless hundreds of books that have been written on the Second Coming of The Lord or on the coming Rapture of the Church. It's not my intention to go into great detail on this subject but I want to point out to you some things that you should consider on this subject.

 

Basically, the teaching on the Rapture, a word that does not appear in the Bible, says there is coming a day when the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and then go to heaven for a period of time while the world goes to hell and then we will come back with the Lord and reign with Him for a thousand years.

 

Let's first look at what John saw in the book of Revelation. Rev. 21:1-3 John says, (NIV)

 

Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

 

And in verse 9-14 John says, (NIV)

 

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.'

 

I want you to notice that when the angel showed John the Bride of Christ, he showed him the Holy City, Jerusalem. Peter said in 1 Peter 2:4-7, Peter says,

 

'As you come to him, the living Stone,rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him; you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

 

These are of course mostly metaphoric words to explain in worldly terms spiritual events. I do want you to notice that the bride of Christ is seen by John to be coming down from heaven and God's dwelling place is now among the people where He dwells!

 

Now back to 1 Thess. 4:16-18, (NIV). The word 'meet' in the original Greek language means to meet as you would a dignitary and bring them to your city! I have written much about this on my website and you can go there and see what I have written. Go to www.rejoicinglifeministries.com and scroll to the article The Twelve Tribes of Israel. This teaching opened the Old Testament to me, and it came alive. Also read The Twelve Tribes of Israel, The Lost Tribes of Israel and Who is Sarah and Perez?

 

There is so much going on in our nation today and it is challenging to walk by faith and not accept what the corrupt media is saying about everything. If you listen to the media about everything that is happening, you will be filled with fear. The definition of fear is, False Evidence Appearing Real. Just be sure you watch what is happening on a reliable news program. I would suggest that you listen to the news from a Christian's viewpoint on the Victory Channel. You can find it on Facebook or on YouTube.

 

There are so many of our people that are continually watching the fake news that are putting out lies about what is happening in our nation. They are so convinced about their agenda that they will look you in the eye and boldly lie to you. So much that comes out of the mouth of Joe Biden is nothing but lies about what is happening and yet there are millions who accept it as truth. When these things happen, it doesn't take much discernment to recognize that you are being lied to.

 

Paul said in Heb. 5:11-14, (NIV)

 

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

 

Because you no longer try to understand. When you no longer are a seeker of truth your heart becomes harden and you become blind to the truth. I have friends that you cannot talk to them about the truth about what is happening to our nation.

 

As I have told you before, the spirit of Leviathan is very active in our nation today and he has possessed the fake media and caused them to twist the truth into a lie so those who want to believe in the false narratives will buy into what he is saying.

 

The meaning of that word 'Leviathan' means twisted or coiled. In Job 41 the crocodile is meant. This is a very vicious spirit that takes control of people's thoughts and blinds them from the truth. You can discern this spirit in someone who will not listen to the truth, and they will rant against it. It doesn't matter how much evidence you give them to the truth; they will refuse to accept it and will even deny it.

 

This spirit will sneak up on you if you are not careful. The first thing it will do is to convince you that what it is saying is the truth and once convicted you will find yourself unteachable on that subject and will find anger and hatred rising up in you! Along with this spirit is a lying spirit and the spirit of pride. The Lord said in Job 41:34 concerning this spirit,

 

" Nothing on earth is its equal, a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud."

 

 

David said in Psalm 56:5, (NKJV)

 

" All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil."

 

If you listen to the main media sources, they will usually be very sneaky to implant in your mind an untruth over and over again until it becomes a part of you and if you accept the untruth, it will open the door for this Leviathan spirit to come in and make suggestions to you that will lead you into deception and harden your heart.

 

If you try to correct someone who is opened to this spirit it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise. When this spirit gets control of you it moves you into angry conviction. Your mind is locked up and you don't want to hear the truth! This spirit is very allusive! However, if you can catch it in a moment when you are filled with toxic thoughts, anger, wrath, and hatred and a since of violence toward somebody or something, you will know that this is not coming from the Holy Spirit. Knowing that, then you can take authority over that spirit and cast it out of yourself.

 

Listen, you are a child of God and greater is He that is within you than he that is within the world. If you will listen to the greater one within you, you will be able to discern the truth. You have no reason to fear. Fear is not from God. Fear is faith in circumstances and what the world is telling you is the truth rather than in what God is saying. Paul said in 2 Cor. 10:4-5,

 

'For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

 

We must be very careful what we listen to and if it doesn't line up with what the Lord says, we need to ignore it.