The Church Within the Churches.

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I had a clear burden this morning, but it involved more than one passage of Scripture. We started off with the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John. This prayer of Jesus’ reveals clearly the difference between the elect, the only true Church, and then the people of the world.

The thirteenth chapter of the Book of Matthew tells us that at the end of the age the Lord will send messengers who will remove all sin and sinners from His Kingdom. I seem to feel in my spirit that this removal has begun.

(11/25/2007) There are several errors in today’s Christian preaching, such as the idea that "grace" is a new way in which God relates to man, and the notion that our goal is to live forever in Heaven.

Another profound error is our concept of the role of the Church, the Body of Christ—its relationship to the remainder of mankind.

Our preaching of today is so "democratic" one would suppose that the Gospel call goes forth, and then whoever responds is the Church. The remainder of mankind are doomed to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

It is true and scriptural that whoever chooses to believe and be baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shall be saved. It is true also that many passages, both Old Testament and New, point out that the Church consists of people called out from the world. The Church began as physical Israel and continues as spiritual Israel, turning again to physical Israel at the end of the Church Age.

True Israel is God’s priesthood. chosen from the beginning of the world. This hardly indicates that the remainder of mankind is assigned to the Lake of Fire. Rather, it is the role of Israel to reveal God’s Person, will, and way to the remainder of mankind; to be the light of mankind, revealing God’s Person, will, and ways.

The Church is the Kingdom of God, the ruler over mankind for eternity. The Church in its final form is the new Jerusalem. The members of the new Jerusalem will rule the nations of the earth forever and ever, according to the last chapter of the Book of Revelation.

When the Lord Jesus came, He did not minister to the world or pray for the world. He ministered to those whom God has given to Him. He gave, and yet gives, eternal life to those whom God has given Him.

We read in the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Matthew that at the closing of the age, that is, the Church Age, the messengers will go forth and remove sin from God’s Kingdom. Most Christians believe we are living in the end of the Church Age, and the Kingdom Age is about to commence with the appearing of our Lord. Therefore it is time for the removal of sin to take place.

I personally believe the time for removing all sin from the Kingdom has begun.

There are thousands of competing Christians denominations. None of these is the Church. But in almost all Christian churches there are true members of the Church. From the present time forward, November 25, 2007, if I am correct, the believers are going to be subject to every kind of testing. God will remove our idols from us, sometimes by painful procedures. All of our idols, those things, relationships and experiences we are grasping—all must be relinquished. Our treasures must be placed in Heaven.

There may be one, two, five, ten genuine Christians in your church. The remainder may be excellent people. But they have been drawn to the earthly institution, not to Christ. They will not understand what the genuine Christians are going through. It will make no sense to them, just as Job’s boils made no sense to Job’s friends.

The Church is the eternal light of the world. But the Christian institutions of today are not serving as the moral light of the world, except in a few instances. We are a long way from being a Church without blemish, a living proof God has sent Jesus Christ; has given His Glory to His Church; and that God loves His Church as He does His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of the magnitude of the work that must be performed before the world will believe in God because of what it sees in the Church, I cannot see how it is possible for Christ to return within fifty years. So much Scripture remains to be fulfilled. And the Church is not yet close to being one in the Father and the Son.

As we consider the moral abominations taking place in the United States, as we see the rejection of Christ in our nation, we understand that Matthew Thirteen is coming to pass. The "sons of the evil one" are coming to maturity. Satan is coming to maturity in his people.

But the promise is that in the same hour the "sons of the Kingdom" will come to maturity. Christ will come to maturity in His people, and sin will be removed from them by God’s power, as we cooperate with the guidance of the Spirit of God.

It always has been true that the mystery of the Gospel is Christ in us. Up to the present hour the emphasis during the Church Age has been on the Christ of history, or Christ with us. But there are passages of Scripture that indicate Christ suddenly will come to maturity in His people at the end of the age. We will become much more conscious that the Kingdom of God is Christ in us, not Christ with us or the Christ of history.

I have written all this to say that from this point forward God will act to remove all sin from His Kingdom. There is to be no sin whatever in the Kingdom of God. Christian people have been taught for so long that it is impossible to be delivered from sin while we are in this present world, but when we get to Heaven we will be delivered from sin. Yet, sin began in Heaven, not on the earth. So our hope is neither scriptural nor logical.

Sin is nothing but a collection of nasty little bondages. Our main problem is our will. Christian people have a difficult time accepting the will of God. They maintain their own will. They attempt to live the Christian life according to their own understanding. They do not always look to Christ for each decision of life. They make up their mind what they think may be God’s will, then set forth according to their own plans and ask God to bless them. This is why they do not gain freedom from sin.

If we are willing to give over every aspect of our life to the will of Christ, holding nothing back, God will deliver us from sin. We do not owe it to our flesh to continue to sin. This is a lie that has come from Satan and which people have chosen to believe.

Is the Lord Jesus Christ so lacking in power that He is unable to deliver us from sin? As I said, the problem is not that Christ does not have the power or authority to deliver us from sin, rather the problem is our self-will, our ignorance of God’s Word and power, and our unbelief.

If the Father has chosen to bring you to Christ as a member of the true Church, you are going to be tested, tested, tested. Things will take place in your circumstances that you used to believe would never take place. Do not be amazed. This is the Lord. This is the dust of His feet. Just do not fall away in unbelief. You started off believing in Christ. Do not be unfaithful now as God is preparing you to be a part of the new Jerusalem.

As I said, we are going to rule the works of God’s hands forever. Of the increase of His Kingdom and of peace there shall be no end—no, not forever.

We now are at the very beginning of what God has planned for mankind. The all important work of developing rulers and judges is taking place now—right now!

So do not give up. He who has begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. In due time the emptiness and corruption of institutional Christianity, Babylon, will be revealed. In that day the Bride will no longer be a part of Babylon. That day is not yet. Today is the hour for the individual members to be purged from self-will and sin.

Nothing can hold you back from Christ’s fullness except your own disobedience and unbelief. He will fill you with God’s fullness by applying the riches of His Glory to your personality and circumstances.

You will gain all if you do not turn away from the work of the Spirit of God in your life.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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