Restoration'
Restoration
The story of the prodigal son is the basic story of human life.
The story of the prodigal son is the story of God's Israel, the story of Samson, of the Christian Church, of man himself. We are given a fabulous inheritance, we lose it because of lack of appreciation and experience, and we gain it back to an even more glorious extent by hard work.
God has promised that all the locust has eaten will be restored. The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former. The latter rain, the greatest revival to date, is on the horizon. The glorifying of the Church that will take place at the Lord's return is greater still. The new heaven and earth reign of the Lord will be many times more marvelous yet.
God gave man Paradise on earth. Man forfeited his right to the tree of life, to immortality. Now we have to gain back the Presence of God by centuries of agony and patience. But God will return in far greater glory than was true of Eden. God has kept the good wine until now.
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21)
The Resurrection. The resurrection into the new world of righteousness, the central hope of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, has been so twisted and obscured by the unscriptural, destructive stress on the catching up of the saints (termed the "rapture") that not one believer in a thousand has a clear understanding of the resurrection to eternal life—this most important act of redemption.
The Scriptures do not emphasize the ascension of the saints. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of the resurrection. It is the resurrection that is the goal of redemption, the overcoming of the last enemy.
As Paul declared, the first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood, must be attained to. The first resurrection, the resurrection that will take place at the Lord's return, can be attained only as we press through to life lived in the power of Christ's resurrection.
The first resurrection, the resurrection out from among the dead, will occur at the beginning of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, the historical Year of Jubilee.
Every human being who has ever lived will be raised from his or her place of decease at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, with the exception of the blessed and holy members of the royal priesthood. Those who have practiced righteousness will be brought forward to the new world of righteousness. Those who have practiced wickedness will be cast into the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, where the wicked will be confined for eternity.
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29)
The Royal Priesthood. The Church, the Bride of the Lamb, is a royal priesthood destined to govern the saved people of the nations of the earth. It can be seen today that self-seeking government has caused the moral and sometimes physical destruction of the inhabitants of the earth. Many people are plagued with overweight while multitudes of others are starving to death. There is no greater need than that of righteous kings and priests who through Christ will bring the Person, Word, will, compassion, wisdom, justice, and eternal purpose of God to the nations.
The physical nation of Israel was set apart by the Lord to be a holy priesthood—His representatives to the other nations of the world. It appears that the nation of Israel often has rejected this role, striving instead to make peace with other nations and dwell among them in the customary pursuits of life. Because many Jews have not obeyed the Lord's will they have suffered throughout the centuries.
Meanwhile, God has gone to the Gentiles and purchased a people for His name. A few of them are willing to serve God as a separate, holy people whose chief purpose in life is to worship and serve God, while the majority merely are church-attenders.
In the last days the true saints will turn to the physical people and land of Israel and bring the Presence and blessing of the Lord to them.
But ye {are} a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (I Peter 2:9)
The Second Death. The Lake of Fire is referred to as the "second death." It appears that the second death is eternal separation from God in an area of torment.
Revelation 21:8 describes the kinds of people that will have their part in the second death—people who refused to be separated from the behaviors over which the Lake of Fire has authority.
He who overcomes the world, Satan, and his own lusts and self-will shall not be injured by the second death. As long as we practice the behaviors over which the second death has jurisdiction, the second death retains authority over that part of our personality. This is true whether or not we believe in Christ.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
Shattering the Power of the Saints. The books of Daniel and Revelation inform us that the end will not come until first the witnessing power of the saints has been overcome by Antichrist. Antichrist will wage war against the Spirit-filled witnesses of the last day. God will permit Antichrist to prevail until the Christian testimony has been destroyed from the cities of the earth.
Then, when people are speaking of peace and safety, the Lord will appear and the glory of His appearing will destroy Antichrist and all the wicked of the earth.
We notice today in the United States of America that the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ has been destroyed by the viewing of the new covenant as an unconditional forgiveness of the sins of the believers, with a minimum emphasis placed on righteous, holy behavior. Thus the power of the saints already is being shattered by the skillful deceptions of the adversary.
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which {was} upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that {it shall be} for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these {things} shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7)
Suffering and Glory. Because of the rise of the humanistic spirit, the "rights of people," it has become fashionable to ignore the large role suffering plays in the redemption of God's people. The emphasis today is on "positive" preaching, on preaching and teaching that appeal to the self-love of the listeners. Ours is the age of the ear-ticklers.
However, it remains true that God's people have been and will continue to be "sheep for the slaughter" until the Lord comes and establishes His Kingdom on the earth.
Suffering in the flesh produces the strength of holiness in us, if it is accepted in faith and trust in the Lord and not in unbelief and bitterness. It is especially important that the chosen rulers suffer with Christ because suffering is the tool God uses to remove self-will and rebellion from us.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with {him}: if we deny {him}, he also will deny us: (II Timothy 2:12)
Survival and Security, Worship, and Achievement. These are the three pursuits of mankind on the earth. They are the three areas in which every son of God is tested.
Physical life includes eating, playing, working, sleeping, and reproducing. We can seek to obtain survival and security for our physical life by trusting in the world spirit, or by looking to the Lord for all things.
We do not as yet understand all the wonderful aspects of spiritual life that will be true of the world that is to come.
Worship is that to which we cleave in order to find joy. We can seek to obtain joy by obeying the lusts and passions of our flesh, or we can look to the Lord for joy.
Man was made to be fruitful and to have dominion. The healthy human being seeks to expand himself and to govern his circumstances. This is the realm of achievement. We can seek to be fruitful and have dominion, to achieve something of significance, by trusting in our own understanding and strength; or we can trust in the Lord that our life is worthwhile.
We are in the rest of God when our total life, our total worship, and our total desire for fruitfulness and dominion are found only in Christ.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. (Luke 4:3)
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. (Luke 4:6)
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: (Luke 4:9)
The Temple of God. God is building a living house for Himself. The Christian Church is the eternal habitation of God. This is the reason for the existence of the Church. Through the Church the God of Heaven will be able to minister to the needs of all His creatures.
The holy blood of the cross gives us the authority to be children of God. The Holy Spirit of God gives us the power to overcome unclean spirits and also to bear witness of God.
The authority of the blood and the power of the Spirit have been given to us that we may become the living temple of the Lord. It is as the Lord Jesus Christ comes with the Father and takes His place on the throne of our personality that our destiny is fulfilled.
The Father and the Son dwelling in the fullness of the Spirit in the saint constitute the Kingdom of God. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles—the omega of salvation.
There are two aspects to our becoming the eternal temple of God. The first aspect is that of Christ being conceived and then brought to maturity in us. Christ formed in us is the eternal temple of God.
The second aspect is that of the Father and the Son coming to make their abode in the temple that has been formed in us, making it Their eternal dwelling place.
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21,22)
The Thousand-year Kingdom Age. The thousand-year Kingdom Age is for the purpose of perfecting God's Israel. During the Kingdom Age the saved nations will be governed in righteousness. But the main purpose for the age, as we understand it, is to serve as an opportunity for growth from the present stage of development of the Church to the incredibly glorious state of the Church during the new heaven and earth reign of Christ.
The immature saints of the heavenly Jerusalem will be brought to the fullness God has for them, so they will be able to serve as members of the Royal Priesthood when the holy city descends to be installed on the new earth. This is the principal purpose for the thousand-year Kingdom Age.
We believers are far too crude, in the present hour, to experience the Divine Glory that will fill the new Jerusalem. The thousand-year period of fellowship with the Lord Jesus will help prepare us for the Glory that will be given to the elect of God.
Blessed and holy {is} he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
The Three Stages of Redemption. Three deaths and three resurrections are included in the Divine salvation: death to the world and resurrection to citizenship in God's Kingdom; death to sin and resurrection to eternal life; death to self and resurrection to fruitfulness and dominion.
Salvation takes place in three broad stages. The first stage, the blood of atonement for sin, gives us authority to participate in the Divine salvation. The second stage, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, gives us the power to participate in the plan of salvation.
It is the third stage, the entrance of the Father and the Son into the believer. This is the purpose of salvation. It will result in the rest and Kingdom of God.
Self-will is the most virulent poison in the human personality. God uses suffering to slay our self-will and to establish Christ on the throne of our personality. Religious pride and envy, the desire for prominence and exaltation, always is at the door of God's Church.
Some people whom God has not chosen, observe carefully God's elect with the intention of usurping, if they can, the glory and honor assigned to the saints. For this reason the elect must be on their guard constantly or they stand in danger of having their crowns of authority stolen from them.
If each of us will remain on his guard, looking to Jesus at all times, the Lord will protect us from Korah, Absalom, and their fellow conspirators.
The third death, death to self-seeking and to the lust for preeminence, is the only route to the throne. But death to self-seeking is gained through the prolonged deferral of our most intense desires and prolonged immersion in distasteful circumstances.
Next Part Patience, and the Kingdom of God!