God's Servant Installs the Kingdom of God

The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. (Isaiah 42:13,14)

It is difficult for us to picture God in travail. Why would God cry like a woman in labor? What is the Lord bringing forth?

God is laboring to bring forth the Life and image of His Son, Christ, in the heavens and on the earth.

God is readying Himself to put an end to sin and rebellion and to bring forth a new creation that reveals His Person, will, and ways.

Notice that the context of Isaiah 42:14 includes the announcement of the Servant of the Lord and a statement concerning the overcoming of the enemies of God.

The Kingdom of God is about to be born. The Kingdom of God is Christ. The way of Christ is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Servant of the Lord, Head and Body, holds the keys of the Kingdom of God. The Servant of the Lord possesses the authority and power to forgive sins, to retain sins, to loose the captives, to bind the wicked. The Servant of the Lord has been commissioned by the Father to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth.

The "Lord's Prayer" reveals the burden of the Holy Spirit. First of all we are to ascribe holiness to God the Father ("Hallowed be thy name"). Then follows immediately the burden on the heart of God: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

God is in travail today to bring forth His Kingdom - the doing of His will in the earth as it is performed in Heaven.

For many thousands of years, for spiritual ages that reach back into eternity past, God has allowed His sentence upon the devil and the rebellious angels to remain unexecuted. That sentence is eternal confinement in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. Some of the evil angels are ruling in the heavenlies although they are bound in the chains of sin and rebellion. They are awaiting the Day of Judgment. The Day of Judgment, of Vengeance, is at hand!

Why has God the Father permitted such a long period of time to pass before putting an end to sin? Why has He permitted a once-pure earth to become horribly defiled by sins too filthy, too hideous, to mention? Christians cannot contemplate or talk about the deeds being practiced in the earth today without themselves being defiled.

Why does God permit this state of affairs to continue?

So more people can be saved?

It is possible more people are being born today than are being saved.

Does God know what He is doing?

The reason for the delay is found in the Scriptures. The Servant of the Lord is being created. It is the task of the Servant of the Lord to destroy wickedness out of the earth. The Body of Christ, under the authority and direction of the Head, shall crush Satan. It is the Seed of the woman who will crush and tread under foot the head of the devil (Genesis 3:15).

And the God of peace shall bruise {crush} Satan under your feet shortly. . . . (Romans 16:20)

The authority, power, and wisdom flowing from the Head, Christ, will enable the Body of Christ, the saints, finally to tear down the spiritual lords of darkness from their thrones in the heavenlies and in the hearts of men.

Jesus is waiting patiently until the Father makes His enemies His footstool. The authority of the enemy was taken from him on the cross of Calvary. Now the full expression of that victory is upon us. It is time for Christ, working with and through His Church, to bring an end to all sin and rebellion.

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (I Corinthians 6:2,3)

Every creature and every thing in the entire universe is waiting for the Church, the Body of Christ, the fullness of the Servant of the Lord, to come to maturity and unity. As soon as the Church has been made ready by the Holy Spirit of God, the Head, Christ, will return. This time Christ will not be born as a baby in a manger. This time Christ will appear as the avenging Lamb of God.

Christ will roar out of Zion (the Church) against His enemies. He will go forth in thunderous majesty, treading the grapes of the wrath of God Almighty. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful will ride with Christ in that Day.

Christ's faithful have gone outside the camp with Him, bearing His reproach. They have suffered abuse, the loss of their possessions in some instances, the humiliation that always falls on the righteous, on those who choose to walk in the ways of the Lord and do His will.

The true disciples have relinquished their right to justice in the world. They have committed their judgment to God alone, looking to Him to settle their affairs in His own way and time. They have become the garbage of the world, a weak, despised segment of the earth's population.

But in the Day of the Lord, the people who have been following the Lord Jesus patiently and faithfully will discover to their eternal delight that they finally are coming into their inheritance. This time the shoe will be on the other foot; the tables will be turned. Instead of being the victims of persecution they will be the judges of those who persecuted them. Instead of being the weak they will be the powerful, the rulers, the kings and priests of the most high God.

The Church will appear with Christ bringing destruction upon all the enemies of God, both spiritual and physical; and bringing deliverance and teaching to those of earth's peoples who fear God and are meek before Him.

The earth will tremble before Christ and His holy brothers. It is the Day of the Lord, and Christ will ride at the head of His army. There never before has been an army such as this. "The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining" (Joel 2:10).

The whole creation shall bow in travail along with the Lord God, for the Day of visitation has come to the heavens and the earth (I Peter 2:12).

The Kingdom of God is the supreme authority and power in the heavens and on the earth. The rule of wickedness will be overthrown by the force of the Holy Spirit acting on the basis of the blood of Calvary. Christ and His victorious saints, His mighty men, those in whom the Substance and Nature of Christ have been created, are to shepherd all nations with an iron rod.

Because of their oneness with Christ the saints will possess the authority and power to command righteousness in the earth, to enforce the keeping of the laws of the Kingdom, such as the principles given in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, Chapters Five through Seven). Those who resist the rule of Christ and His saints will be destroyed (Malachi 4:3). The meek of the earth who choose to follow the righteous ways of the Lord will prosper and enjoy all the blessings of God's creation (Isaiah 11:4-9).

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalms 2:10-12)

The coming of the Kingdom of God is at hand. It will be a day of refreshing and glory for the faithful saints, an hour of chastisement for the Lord's people who have been unfaithful, and a time of judgment and torment for the wicked and rebellious.

The Servant of the Lord - Head and Body - will be given control of the creation of God. For one thousand years (literally or figuratively) the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on this earth as King of His saints and Lord of His righteous kings and priests, the nobility of the Kingdom. Christ is King and Lord over the princes whom He has chosen to govern the nations of the earth (Isaiah 32:1).

It is useless for Christ to return to the earth until His Church, His Body, has been made ready for the work of installing the Kingdom of God on the earth. If Christ intended to accomplish the task by Himself He would have done so two thousand years ago, preventing the centuries of anguish that have ensued since His first appearing.

But in order for the Kingdom of God to come to the earth the Body of Christ must be created, the Body of the Servant of the Lord.

Let us, therefore, hasten the coming of Christ by growing personally in all godliness and holy behavior.

The Judge stands at the door. Let us prepare our heart to receive Him.

Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brothers shall return unto the children of Israel. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up on thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. (Micah 5:3,8,9)

Our Lord Jesus Christ is meek and lowly of heart, not striving, not forcing. He strengthens the bruised reed and stirs into flame the dimly burning wick. He does not justify Himself but commits His way to His Father. Truly, He is the "Good Shepherd."

But in the Day of the Lord, Christ will appear in such frightful wrath that the strongest of men will cry out for the mountains and rocks to fall on them in order to hide them from that furious Countenance.

We Christians also are to be meek and lowly of heart, neither striving nor forcing, apt to teach, meekly instructing those who oppose themselves. The Lord God is our Avenger. He justifies us in all matters and brings forth our righteousness as the light and our judgment as the noonday.

But one day we too will appear as the judges and lords of the earth. We too will ride in thunderous majesty and fury against the enemies of God, both spiritual and physical. The Bride of the Lamb is "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (Song of Solomon 6:4,10).

The Servant of the Lord is as meek and lowly in heart as a gentle lamb. Yet He is destined to break and shepherd the nations of the earth with an iron rod, an irresistible rod of the iron of the strength of the Holy Spirit of God.

The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. (Joel 3:16)