Patience, and the Kingdom of God!
Patience, and the Kingdom of God!
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: (Deuteronomy 16:16)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7)
{This} I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
The Throne of God. What is "man" that God is concerned about him and visits him?
Man has been created to be the eternal throne of God Almighty.
Some of the lords of the spirit realm rebelled against the Father. The creation of man is the Father's response to the rebellion. Through man, God will govern all the works of His hands. Through man, God will prevent all further rebellion against His will.
The victorious saints will rise to meet the Lord in the air when He returns in the clouds of glory. The reason the resurrected saints rise into the air is that they may replace the fallen lords on the thrones that govern the creation.
The wicked rulers of the spirit world will be overcome by the saints who trust in the blood of the cross, who maintain a true testimony of the Person and Word of God, and who love not their own lives, take up their cross, and follow the Lord Jesus.
It is the placing of the victorious saints on the thrones in the air that will cause the chains of futility and corruption of the earth to be broken and the Spirit of God, of righteousness, of peace, of joy to cover the earth in waves of Divine Glory.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and {I saw} the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received {his} mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
The Two Beginnings. The Lord Jesus is the Firstborn, the Beginning of two creations of God. God through the Logos created all of the first creation. The first creation included the angels, the heavens, and the earth—all the spiritual creation and all the physical creation.
The first creation rose in rebellion. The Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary brought to an end the first creation when He said, "It is finished."
When Christ rose from the dead He began a second creation. The second creation is what God has had in mind since before the first creation came into existence. God knows in advance all that will take place—God is that great!
The Lord Jesus is the Firstborn from the dead, the Beginning of the second creation. Every angel and every human who would be saved into the second creation, the eternal righteous creation, must have the Lord Jesus as his Center and Circumference. The Father has been pleased to make Christ the Center and Circumference of the new world.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone and Capstone of the Kingdom of God and of every person who is part of the Kingdom of God.
Our response is to assign the first creation, that is, our first personality, to the cross with the Lord Jesus. Then we are free to be raised with the Lord into the new creation. To be "saved" is to be brought into eternal life in the second, eternal creation, the new world of righteousness.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether {they be} thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:15,16)
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all {things} he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)
Two Kinds of Righteousness. Two types of righteousness are set forth in the New Testament. The first kind, actual righteousness of behavior, such as honesty, truthfulness, kindness, patience, mercy, is the subject of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The second type of righteousness, imputed (assigned) righteousness, has to do with the manner in which the Lord regards us. Imputed righteousness was assigned to Abraham when he believed God's promise. Imputed righteousness is assigned to us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus instead of in our observance of the Law of Moses.
There is no greater misunderstanding in Evangelical thinking than that concerning the proper roles of actual righteousness of behavior and imputed righteousness. Imputed righteousness is given to us because we trust in the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Sin-offering. But imputed righteousness must lead us to actual righteousness of behavior. If it does not it has not served its purpose. If we continue to sin after we have received the Lord Jesus, the Divine righteousness no longer will be imputed to us.
Today's continual—almost exclusive—emphasis on imputed righteousness has destroyed the moral strength, the testimony of the Christian churches.
And account {that} the longsuffering of our Lord {is} salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all {his} epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as {they do} also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. (II Peter 3:15,16)
The Two Witnesses. Just before the Lord returns, the greatest witness of all time will be borne to the nations. The two witnesses, Christ and the Body of Christ, will announce the coming of the Kingdom of God. They will be anointed with the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit, as portrayed by the two lampstands of Revelation, Chapter Eleven.
The present-day ministry of the Spirit of God, including the judgment and deliverance that is cleansing the saints from the works of the flesh and from self-will, is preparing those who will be used of God to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to every nation under Heaven. No doubt the children of today will play a special role in the end-time revival.
Every era of history has had its two witnesses that have spoken in advance of the purpose of the era, and in whom has been demonstrated the purpose of the era and what was to take place during the era. Beginning with Adam and Eve, each of the seven "days" (eras) has contributed and keeps on contributing to the coming world of righteousness, and each day is eternal.
We now are approaching the sixth day, the day of the Kingdom of God. The two witnesses of the day of the Kingdom are Christ and His Body. They will bear witness under an unlimited anointing of the Holy Spirit, as portrayed in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation. Christ and His Body reveal in themselves the righteousness and power of the coming sixth day.
The fourth chapter of the Book of Zechariah announces the symbolism of the golden lampstands: "Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, the Lord says." The eternal temple of God will not be completed by the resources of the flesh of man but by the Spirit of God.
And I will give {power} unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred {and} threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3)
The Wall. If the Paradise of God is to survive it must be protected by a wall against sin and rebellion. Man was unable to keep possession of the garden of God because it was unwalled. The serpent had access to the beauty and wonder of God.
The wall of defense and the rod of iron are being created in the victorious saints in the present hour. The wall is the impenetrable, eternal wall of the new Jerusalem, the overcomer's resistance to sin. The rod of iron is the stern discipline of those who obey God in every circumstance, under every adverse condition, throughout every pain and frustration.
Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we {are} in, how Jerusalem {lieth} waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. (Nehemiah 2:17).
A wall of resistance to sin, and a rod of iron that enforces righteous behavior, must be created in each believer who hopes to be received by the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to gather to Himself those who along with Him will install the Kingdom of God on the earth.
And had a wall great and high, {and} had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are {the names} of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (Revelation 21:12)
War . The Kingdom of God will be established on the earth by violence, by war. To a world weary with wars and rumors of wars this does not come as good news. However, wars will continue on the earth because there is war in the spirit realm.
The first creation of angels and men has risen in rebellion against the Father. The sin must be judged. The wicked must be removed from the creation. The righteous must be delivered and made invincible in righteousness so the will of God may be performed and the peace and harmony of the universe maintained.
The sin was judged, the atonement was made, the justice and wrath of God were appeased, on the cross of Calvary. But Satan and his followers are unwilling to acknowledge this. They are unwilling to surrender the creation to Christ even though He has paid for it with His blood. This is why war is necessary.
There will continue to be wars until the Prince of Peace comes with His armies and removes sin and sinners from the heavens and the earth.
A description of the righteous army that will invade the earth is given several times in the Scriptures. The only manner in which Christ and His saints can gain their inheritance, the land of promise, is by unrelenting war.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him {was} called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. (Isaiah 13:5)
When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. (Habakkuk 3:16)
The Witness of God. There is a difference between ministering and bearing witness. To minister is to bring forgiveness and deliverance to people and to build them up in Christ. To bear witness is to faithfully reveal the Person, Word, will, and eternal purpose of God.
It requires many years of patient suffering to produce an eternal witness of God. Gifts and ministries can be assigned to an immature believer in a moment of time, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit do bear a true witness of God. However, gifts and ministries often are temporary and operate only during the lifetime of the individual. The witness borne by the personality and testimony of the individual who does God's will is eternal, as in the case of the writings of the Apostle Paul.
A faithful witness of God always is eternal. Noah, Job, and Abraham are bearing witness to us today, not only because of their gifts but especially because of God's dealing with them and their response.
There is much Christian ministry throughout the world today, for which we thank God. But the testimony in many instances has been destroyed because of the sinful, self-seeking behavior of God's messengers.
The true testimony of God always is in supernatural power and always is clothed in righteousness, holiness, and stern obedience to God.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
Working Out Our Salvation. One of the major misunderstandings of Evangelical theology is that the Christian salvation is a sovereign work of God; that the believer has little to do but believe. "The just shall live by faith," the cry of the Reformers, has come to mean that the righteous go to Heaven because of their belief in theological facts concerning the atonement, the resurrection, and the lordship of Christ.
However, the Scripture does not support this one-sided position. Such statements as "in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (I Timothy 4:16); and "if the righteous scarcely [with difficulty] be saved" (I Peter 4:18); reveal clearly that the current program of salvation by mere mental assent is not at all what the New Testament teaches.
Let us turn away from the frivolous Christianity of our day and by faithfully serving the Lord save ourselves and those who hear us.
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (I Timothy 4:12-16)