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.