Is that good news or is that good news!
Is that good news or is that good news!
The Day of Atonement covers both forgiveness and deliverance. The blood of a slain goat expressed the forgiveness, the reconciliation to God.
The removing of the living goat from the camp also expressed reconciliation to God, doing away with all worldliness, the sins of the flesh, and disobedience to God.
The spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement is at work now in the Christian churches as the Holy Spirit makes us aware of our sins and strengthens us so we can cast them out; drive them out; throw them out; force them out; put them to death; and by every other means rid ourselves of these messengers of death that prevent righteousness, love, peace, and joy in our personality.
We are being reconciled to God, first by forgiveness; then by deliverance.
Stop and think. Isn't it true that we picture Heaven as being filled with righteousness, love, joy, and peace? Actually it is the Kingdom of God that has these characteristics. They are present in Heaven only as long as the Kingdom is there. So our goal it to enter the Kingdom of God, which begins when we are born again of the Spirit of God.
"Heaven" as a place would never satisfy us unless it is filled with the righteousness, love, joy, and peace of the Kingdom of God. Would it? We see, therefore, that until sin and self-will are forced out of people, there can be no "heaven" on earth or in the spirit world. Does that make sense to you?
We have just discussed the festival of the Blowing of Trumpets, and the solemn Day of Atonement. These two observances are sub-feasts of the festival of Tabernacles.
Now we come to the sub-feast of Tabernacles, the third observance of the greater gathering of the Festival of Tabernacles.
So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. (Leviticus 23:39)
The sub-feast of Tabernacles portrays the settling down to rest of God in people. God finds in man a home, a place of rest, and a location for His Throne.
Such is the goal of our redemption. We are created in the image of God. We rest in the very center of His Person and will. And the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live in the Throne Room of our personality.
Some will reap this blessing to a hundredfold extent. Some to a sixtyfold extent. Some to a thirtyfold extent.
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." (John 14:23)
There is no other experience in the entire universe that begins to compare in significance, in value, in splendor, in desirability, with that of being the dwelling place of God for eternity.
Yet, such an incomprehensible destiny is offered to all who will obey the Word of the Lord Jesus.
Talk about a pearl of great price! Anyone who does not rush to take advantage of the Divine promise must be lacking in wisdom.
To be filled with God is the opportunity presented by the third day of redemption.
The expression "the third day" appears 57 times in the King James Version. Can you imagine?
The three temptations of Christ portray the three divisions of sin: finding our survival, security, and pleasure in the world; the opportunities for sin found in the capitals of the world; the willingness to lead our own life apart from God. I believe it is that final area that is at issue today with many Christians.
When God permits us to be placed in a prison of futility, such as in the case of the Lord on the roof of the Temple, there is a real temptation to take matters into our own hands and break out. This is especially complicated if our release is in some manner involved with the Bible.
It is at this point that self-will must die. We must be obedient to the point of death.
Picture Abraham leading Isaac to the place at which God said he must offer his son as a burnt offering.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. (Genesis 22:4)
Have you seen your Mount Moriah as yet? You will, if you are to bear the fruit of Christ one hundredfold. But do not worry. There will be special grace given to you when you get there.
To overcome the accuser we must love not our life to the point of death.
To bear Christ one hundredfold we must overcome our trust in the world for security, survival, and pleasure, and find these in Christ.
To bear Christ one hundred fold we must drive out, force out, throw out, with the help of the Spirit of God, the sin that lives in the members of our body.
Finally, to bear Christ one hundred fold we must obey God though He demands we give up that which is most dear to us. There must be no hesitation. We are to obey our creator promptly, completely, and as cheerfully as we can, no matter what He demands.
God is our Creator, you know. He loves us very much, but He demands strict obedience to every aspect of His will. God always helps us when we choose to obey Him in a difficult decision.
We are to experience three deaths and three resurrections.
The first death is to the world. The first resurrection is to the Kingdom of God.
The second death is to sin. The second resurrection is to eternal life.
The third resurrection is death to our soul. The third resurrection is attainment to the state of the life-giving spirit and to the inheritance which is God and all that is of God.
I have been sick with the flu. As I lay in bed resting, the entire picture of God's plan came into my mind.
For many years I have been preaching that eternal residence in Heaven is not our goal. This is not scriptural. I could not see how the idea we are saved to go to Heaven ever gained the popularity it did, when the belief is not based in the Scriptures.
John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles of the Lamb preached that the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, is coming to the earth one day. There is no parable spoken by the Lord Jesus about our residing in Heaven, only about the rule of Heaven; that our treasures are in Heaven; and the growth of the Kingdom of Heaven is within us.
The Heaven we imagine we desire, with its parks and beautiful cities, is not set forth in the Old or New Testaments. I think what we actually are picturing is the Garden of Eden, where we were created, although there were no cities there.
The Lord Jesus will appear soon, we hope. But when He does He is not going to return to Heaven. He and His saints and angels are going to govern the earth for a thousand years. This is believed commonly among us and is what the Bible says. The Bible states also that we will be with Him.
We would not want to be lounging around in Heaven when Christ was ruling the nations, would we?
After the thousand years, what do we see? A new sky and a new earth. A new earth ? Yes, and one much larger than the present earth, because it supports a city many hundreds of miles high.
The description of the new Jerusalem and the new city of righteousness is largely symbolic. Here is what I believe it means.
The citizens that live on the new earth are taken from the nations of the earth. They are the "sheep" from the nations, as set forth in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Matthew. Surprisingly, they have not been made perfect as yet. We know they have not been made perfect, from the verse in Chapter Twenty-two of Revelation that warns them that while they are sinning they cannot enter the holy city.
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Revelation 22:14,15)
They will be just like people today. They will have a portion of Christ in them, if they have partaken of the Tree of Life, but will have need to wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb if they are to have repeated access to the Tree of Life, and renew themselves in eternal life.
There are many born-again believers who have Christ in them, and yet they love and practice falsehood. Have you encountered that as yet?
This tells me that the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement will continue for eternity, as new people who are born must be taught until they are reconciled to God completely.
What will the citizens of the new earth do?
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. (Isaiah 64:22)
According to Matthew 25, the Kingdom was created for these people , the "sheep" that took care of the saints.
If the sheep are the citizens of the new earth, what is the new Jerusalem? The new Jerusalem is the glorified Christian Church, God's elect from the nations to serve Him as the Royal Priesthood. They are the eternal Tabernacle, the dwelling place of God and the Lamb.
As promised in the twelfth chapter of Isaiah, the Holy Spirit flows from them as a River.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)
The Water of eternal Life always flows from the Throne of God. This means the Throne of God has been established in their personality.
They are life-giving spirits growing from the one Tree of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ. When the citizens of the new earth purify themselves by washing by faith in the blood of the Lamb and turning away from sin, just as we do today, they may enter through the gates into the city and eat from the body and blood of the Lamb. They also may receive healing from the "leaves" of the tree, just as we do today.
The Throne of God is in the city, and His servants see His Face. This is a privilege so exalted it is almost sacrilegious to even think about it.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:1-4)
We, the elect of today, are being made life-giving spirits so we can serve the nations of saved people. We are being made a Kingdom to install and maintain the Paradise in which God desires that saved people live.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand [the sheep], Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:34)
We of the elect, the Church are the Kingdom prepared for the people of the nations who have assisted us during our travails. They are a great part of our inheritance.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [life-giving] spirit. (I Corinthians 15:45)
Now we have the complete picture. The reason the unscriptural idea that we are saved to make our eternal home in Heaven became prominent was that people did not realize deliverance from worldliness, sin, and self-will would be part of God's redemption.
They imagined forgiveness was as far as God could or would go, and so they hoped when they died they would go to Heaven and thus be free from sin and the effects of sin.
The following passage is what people hope Heaven will be like. However, it is written concerning life on the new earth.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
Man's eternal home is the earth, or a similar planet, but the life and guidance of man always are to come from the Lord Jesus. Man has been created to enjoy all the good things that God has placed in the material world. But first, through Christ, man must drive out the evil.
We did not know that God had a better plan than removing us to Heaven. We did not know that God planned to deliver people from all forms of sin and death. Now they would not have to flee to the spirit world to live in Paradise. The earth once again would be Paradise, blessed and governed by the Royal Priesthood.
The Royal Priesthood is to be divided into two parts: the Firstfruits; and then the balance of the Priesthood.
The Firstfruits will be joined to the Lord Jesus when He next comes. They will descend with Him and govern the nations with an iron rod of righteousness for 1,000 years., the Kingdom Age.
The reason for the Kingdom Age is to give the remainder of the Priesthood an opportunity to be brought to maturity. The remainder of the Priesthood will be kept in Mount Zion in the spirit world, being ministered to, while the Firstfruits of the Priesthood are governing the people of the present world during the Kingdom Age. This is my belief.
In facts, we already are in Mount Zion, in Christ at the right hand of God, although our eyes are not open to our surroundings.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)
As soon as the remainder of the Priesthood have been brought to the desired maturity, the entire Royal Priesthood, now including the Firstfruits, will descend from Heaven as the new Jerusalem.
The spiritual fulfillments of the festivals of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement have begun to operate in our day. The Holy Spirit is ready to assist each Christian person to force from their personality all worldliness, the sins dwelling their members, and their self-willed disobedience to the Lord Jesus.
As we are willing to do this, God will find His home, His rest, and His Throne in us.
The Father will be All-in-all to us. The Lord Jesus is the Administrator of the Kingdom. Christ is being formed in us. The Spirit of God is the Messenger. We thus become the revelation of God to all people as they need help, just as our Lord Jesus is.
Such is the destiny of every person whom God calls out of the world to be a part of the kingdom of priests, the benefactors of mankind.
After two days we Christians shall be restored and live in God's sight. Our Lord Jesus shall force out devils and heal people for two days. On the third day He shall complete the work of redemption, the restoration of God's creation.
Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:21)
It is as simple as that. Let each one of us obey Christ promptly, completely, and cheerfully. so we can do our part in bringing righteousness, love, peace, and joy to all saved people.
Where does "grace" fit in the above program? The entire program of redemption is Divine grace, isn't it?
Should the reader wish to pursue further the concept of the three aspects of God's plan of redemption, the following book may be helpful.