To be the light of the world.
To be the light of the world.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)
The Lord Jesus said people would see our good works and glorify God. We often speak of testifying of Christ. But the greatest testimony is the good works Christ enables us to do.
Some of the promises found in the New Testament depend upon our obeying Christ's commands. Yet, the current teaching of "salvation by grace" nullifies the importance of keeping Christ's commands.
I do not know how the teaching of "grace" as an alternative to righteous behavior became so prevalent. Both the Lord Jesus and His Apostles stressed righteous behavior, not "grace."
It was the Apostle Paul who introduced the idea of grace. But Paul did not present "grace" as an alternative to righteous behavior. Paul was making the transition from the Law of Moses to faith in Christ and obedience to the Spirit of God. Paul spoke of "the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus."
It was natural that the Jewish listener would wonder what had happened to the Law of Moses he had been taught from infancy. "What are you preaching, Rabbi Paul?"
So Paul stressed that we are not saved by works (of the Law) but by a Divine provision that exempts us from the Law of Moses, when we count our old nature as dead and are pressing forward into the Resurrection Life of the Lord Jesus.
We cannot be the light of the world by talking about our theologic beliefs. It is only the goodness and holiness of God demonstrated in our speaking and behaving that is the light that leads people to God.
Today, at least in America, we are told that we are not saved by works of righteousness. We usually are not advised that by "works," the Law of Moses is meant. We Gentiles take this to mean it doesn't really matter how we behave because we are "saved by grace."
If there has been a more morally destructive teaching in the history of the world, I am not acquainted with it.
Following are three excerpts from the teaching of the Apostle Paul:
"Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:21)
"For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." (Ephesians 5:5)
"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—" (Colossians 3:9,10)
The Apostle Paul wrote many additional passages along the same line.
The teaching of "grace" in America today is a destructive misunderstanding that is preventing the moral growth of those who refer to themselves as "Christians."
Just as is true of Revelation 21:7, the above three passages must be accepted as the eternal Word of God.
What we conclude is that we are deceiving ourselves, and not serving as the light of the world. It is no wonder the Lord is raising up enemies without and within the United States! We are not teaching, preaching, or living what the Bible teaches clearly.
To be a part of the vehicle for the end-time revival.
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
The rain cycle of the land of Israel suggests that at the end of the age there will be a powerful, unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit of God. Then the final judgment will come.
When we think of revival we think of a commotion, multitudes of people accepting Christ and being healed, backsliders renewing their vows. In actuality, the heart of revival is one person confessing and turning away from a sin or from his or her self-will, by the power of Christ. This is life from the dead.
There is a different kind of revival that takes place. It is an increase in our understanding of the Scriptures. We need only to think back to the Pentecostal renewal that gave us insight into speaking in tongues and also into the other gifts of the Spirit.
There is an unveiling of the Scriptures taking place in our day. In my personal experience it has come as an understanding of the spiritual fulfillment of the seven feasts of Israel.
This "enlightenment" began in Bible school, in 1948.
A Bible teacher came to the Bible school. He taught us about the feasts of Israel, which I never had heard of previously.
The sixth of the celebrations is the Day of Atonement. I had been a Christian for only five years and knew nothing about the Jewish Day of Atonement.
While I was in prayer, the Lord spoke to me. He said, "The Day of Atonement signifies that I am going to judge My Church in the coming days."
I immediately told the Bible teacher, Brother Ellenwood, what the Lord had spoken to me.
Brother Ellenwood listened without comment, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with me.
I have been a Christian for more than seventy years. Much of that time has been as a Bible teacher or pastor. I now have seen what the Lord meant by the Day of Atonement being judgment on His people.
The previous century, the Twentieth, might be named the Pentecostal century because of the worldwide spread of the Pentecostal message, including speaking in tongues. Pentecost is the fourth feast of the Lord.
Each of the four feast has had a spiritual fulfillment in the Christian Church.
Three feasts remain: the Blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and the feast of Tabernacles. In the Jewish calendar, these three observances are celebrated in the same month. The Blowing of Trumpets is the first day of that month, and could be thought of as New Year's Day.
The Blowing of Trumpets is being fulfilled as the Lord Jesus is coming to us in the Spirit to prepare us for the installation of the Kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus is declaring war against His enemies that dwell in the personalities of His People.
The Blowing of Trumpets brings us to the celebration that follows, the solemn Day of Atonement. The spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement is the reconciling of us to God. Such reconciliation has two main dimensions: the removal of all that is not of the image of God from us; the forming of Christ in us.
If the reader will ask Jesus to bring him or her into the Day of Atonement, he or she will find their various sins of the flesh and their self-will are being pointed out by the Spirit of God.
The correct response, one that will increase the forming of Christ in us, is for us to confess these areas of spiritual darkness and ask the Spirit to put them to death in us. Then we are to draw near to Jesus that we may enjoy increased fellowship.
It is true that the latter, or spring, rain is to come in unprecedented power. It has begun in a quiet manner as Christian people are confessing and turning away from their sins and self-will.
As we pass through the period of confession and repentance, we actually are coming before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
When Jesus next appears, the only believers who will be qualified and competent to experience the change of their body into incorruptible eternal life, and who will be joined together with the saints who have come with the Lord and participate in the ascension to the staging area in the air, are those who have been living in the rest of God. This means they have appeared before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
When these two groups have arrived in the Presence of the Lord Jesus, they will be joined by the army of angels. All will be mounted on the white war-stallions.
Then the Lord Jesus, at the head of this supremely powerful cavalry, will give the signal. The attack will commence that will drive from the earth all the sources of spiritual uncleanness.
At some point the Glory of God will come upon each member of the remnant on the earth and also upon the saints that have come with the Lord. They all shall be one in Christ.
The people of the nations will behold this unity and Divine Glory. They then will realize that it is God who has sent the Lord Jesus to the earth, and has loved Jesus' followers as He loves the Lord Jesus.
So we understand from this that the future will bring unprecedented tribulation and also unprecedented Divine Glory.
To be a source of eternal life and healing for the nations.
So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (I Corinthians 15:45)
In order to understand how the Royal Priesthood, the Christian Church, will be a source of eternal life and healing for the nations, we first must realize that there are two classes of saved people. There are the members of the Church. Then there are the people who have been saved from the nations but who are not of the elect, the Church.
I realize that these two classes are not always explained in today's preaching and teaching; but without this understanding, many of the important passages of the Bible will remain incomprehensible.
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