INTRODUCTION
The book which you are about to read has important theological
and practical implications. In fact,
they are monumental! Therefore it should
read carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully.
It is essential to start
from the beginning and read through to the end of the book without skipping
over any material. Since the ideas which
are presented here are developed over many chapters, if the reader, does not
familiarize himself with the entire work, misunderstanding could result. There is sometimes a great temptation when
first picking up a new book to look through the table of contents, find a
chapter that looks interesting, and start reading there. Since many believers are not well acquainted
with this subject matter the results of such reading could be disastrous. With this in mind I would like to urge all
serious readers to thoroughly study the information presented here before they
form their final conclusions.
Another fact which should be mentioned is that to understand
the contents of this book requires spiritual revelation. Since we are going to be investigating the
truth of God as contained in the scriptures, we must do so properly. Due to the inadequacy of the human mind to
know God without revelation
from His Spirit, when we are seeking to know His will we must rely on Him to enlighten
us. So I would like to urge you
while reading through these pages to do so in an attitude of prayer having your
heart and mind open to Jesus, that He may reveal His truth to you. Of course this book is only a human effort;
nevertheless, let us pray together that God could use it to further unveil to
His own more of Himself and His purposes upon the earth.
The reader should be cautioned that much of what is presented here is neither widely
taught nor known. Many of these
things may be new or different from what he has heard before. Therefore if you come across something
unfamiliar in your reading, I would ask you
to weigh it carefully in the light of the scriptures rather than discard it
because you have heard something
different in the past. It is all too
easy for us as Christians to develop
concepts in our minds concerning the
contents of the Word of God which are not firmly established on the truth but
only on things we have heard. How easily
our preconceived notions blind us to spiritual things and how much we should be
careful not to get into a position of opposing God’s truth just because it does
not fit with our previous ideas! May the
Lord have mercy upon us so that we could be workmen who do not need to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Tim
2: 15).
In view of all these things let us openly, honestly, and
sincerely investigate the
D.W.D.
* *
*
STOP!
IF YOU HAVE NOT
DONE SO ALREADY, PLEASE READ THE INTRODUCTION BEFORE YOU PROCEED.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. “Thy
Kingdom Come”. Page11
2. The
3. A Brief Chronology Page 27
4. The Day of the Lord Page 37
5. The Purpose of God Page 51
6. God’s Commission – Man’s Failure
Page 66
7. The Kingdom of God is Among You
Page 76
8. The
9. “Lord, Lord” Page 102
10. A Just Reward Page 117
11. “Faith-Works” Page 130
12. The Overcomers Page 145
13. A Word of Encouragement Page 160
14. The
Conclusion Page 180
Appendix Page 183
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*
[Page 11]
1
“Thy Kingdom Come”
Contrary to popular belief, the final dwelling place of real
Christians, is not heaven. That’s right,
no Christian is going to spend eternity in heaven. Now, before you get offended and throw this
book away in disgust, please allow yourself to read just a few pages with an
open mind.
According to the scriptures found in the Holy Bible, the final
dwelling place of redeemed mankind is the new earth.
The New Jerusalem which is the bride of Christ, of which all true
believers are a part, is seen in the book of Revelation descending out of heaven to the new earth (Rev 21: 2).
This means that Christians will spend eternity on the earth, a new one
perhaps, but nevertheless on earth. In
fact, God Himself is so pleased with the finished product that He is seen
leaving His throne in the heavens and taking up residence on the new earth with
His people (Rev 21: 3). What does this astounding fact mean? It means that God is more interested in the
earth than [Page 12] than we thought. His original
purpose in creating man and placing him on the earth to have dominion over it
has not been abandoned. He has not given
up on this first plan and instead
started a rescue operation to save a few souls and whisk them off to heaven
while leaving the devil to reign supreme in this world. No, what He originally started out to do, He
will do! Nothing can stop Him. All His purposes will be accomplished both in
this world and in the one that is to come.
(Please don’t get me wrong. I am
not saying that the new earth will not be heavenly or that it will not be of a
whole new substance and, nature far superior to that which we enjoy today. The point here is that God is interested in
the earth.)
Not only are God and His people going to dwell on a new earth
for eternity but He is not finished with this old one yet - not by a long
shot. When Jesus Christ our Lord
returns, He is not just coming to rescue us (although there is that element to
it) - but He is coming to
establish His Kingdom literally on this earth for 1,000 years (Rev 20:
4). And, we, if we are ready, will reign with Him. You see, not only are we not going to spend eternity in
heaven, but we will not go there after Christ returns. We will still be or this earth for 1,000
years! That’s a long time. If we who are
alive today get to heaven at all it will only be for a brief stay while waiting
for the glorious moment of the second coming of Jesus the King.
A brief time chart is being included here to aid the reader in
understanding these events in their proper sequence.
[Page 13] In light, of the above facts, perhaps we Christians should reconsider our
present suppositions concerning the earth and what our role in it should
be. Perhaps we should relinquish, our
escapist philosophy and realize that God is not finished with the earth yet and
neither are we. I am not talking here about a new plan to improve the
environment or to end nuclear war.
Neither am I going to recommend some social action or protests to
improve the present state of affairs.
What I am proposing is that believers need to be getting
ready for the next phase of God’s plan on this present earth - the coming [millennial]
Kingdom.
Now I realize that there
are those who do not
believe that there is an earthly Kingdom coming, or that it is here today or
even that it has come and gone already.
But dealing with these doubts, misconceptions and misunderstandings in any
kind of a thorough way is really beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say that if people do not see
from the scriptures a Millennial (1,000 year) Kingdom where Satan is bound (Rev 20: 3, 7) - which surely he is not today -
where Jesus Christ is ruling the nations with a rod of iron and they are
infinitely obedient to His will (Rev 19: 15),
where the sucking child will play on the hole of the asp and the lion will lie
down with the lamb (Isa. 11: 6-8), where men beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning books and there is no more war (Isa 2: 4), where Christ reigns physically on the
earth (1 Cor 15: 25, Is
24: 23, Rev. 20: 6), reapportions the land of Israel among the twelve
tribes (Ezek 48) and builds again the temple
(Ezek 40-43, Zech 6:12, 13); if they do not
see in this an earthly, physical Kingdom of Jesus Christ, then I do not know
how to convince them. There is just no [Page 14] way to prove anything to anybody from the scriptures of they are not open
to it. However if there are those who
are not certain about this and are genuinely interested in a better
understanding of the coming Kingdom of God, then I suggest they go to a good
Christian bookstore and buy some books written by authors who believe the Bible
literally just as it reads and do some further study. Also a partial listing of scriptures
concerning the Kingdom is being included at the end of this book for the
serious Bible student. “And we shall reign on the earth” … “with him a thousand years” (Rev. 5: 10, 20: 6).
This earthly reign of Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of God’s
promise to David the king that there
would never fail of his seed one to
sit on his throne (2 Sam. 7: 12, Jn. 7: 42). It is the completion of God’s commandment to
Adam to have dominion over the earth (Gen 1: 12),
a sabbath rest to the people of God (Heb. 4: 1),
the Day of the Lord (1 Thess 5: 2), and much, much
more. What a blessed fact that we, God’s
people, can be a part of it with Him. The participation of [“accounted worthy” (Luke
20: 35)] believers in this Millennial
reign of Christ is one of the most neglected parts of the gospel. Too often we have skipped over this
most serious subject while looking towards going to heaven for
eternity.
Yes, we should set our minds on things above, and it is true
that our reward is laid up for us in heaven, but the Bible teaches that when
Jesus Christ returns He is bringing these rewards to earth with Him (Rev. 22: 12).
I am not suggesting that we fill our minds with earthly things, but that
we prepare to bring the heavenly things to earth. This is part of the gospel. The Kingdom reign
of Jesus Christ is an [Page 15] indispensable part of what He came
for and is going to do. And our role in this plan is of the utmost importance. So central is the idea of the coming Kingdom
to the gospel that when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, one of the first
sentences He spoke was “Thy Kingdom come … on earth,” just as it now is in heaven (Matt. 6: 10 NASB).
Also a great many parables which He taught were about the coming Kingdom
and what it would be like. Certainly we
should not treat this subject as unimportant or inconsequential. Rather, with the return of the Lord
drawing nigh, it is something to which all of God’s children need to give
serious and prolonged consideration.
There is no way for the people of God to circumvent the
Kingdom. It is a part of God’s plan for
the earth in which we will all participate in some fashion or other. The
amazing but largely unannounced truth is that what we do today has everything
to do with what our role in [or outside of] that Kingdom will be. No matter how old we are, our time on the
earth is not “just about over.” We still have at least 1,000 years to work
together with our Lord for the accomplishment of His purposes in this
world. Our faithfulness, our diligence
and in fact our whole manner of living in this present world will be the
determining factor for what role Christ gives us in His Kingdom when He
returns. Can this be any surprise? Even
in this realm people give places of responsibility and honour to those who are
hard working and faithful. Does not
Jesus say that He will reward each man according to his works (Rev 22:
12, 1 Cor 3: 14)? This is exactly what He will do.
With this in mind, in the following chapters we [Page 16] will examine several aspects of the Kingdom which have great relevance to
us today. Many of these truths may seem startling but I beg you for your own
sake, do not close your mind to them.
After reading this book, search the scriptures for yourself to see if
these things are true. By all means do
not, be talked out of them by some well-meaning individual without looking into
it thoroughly. The coming Kingdom has
much to do with you and no one else can change your part in it. “So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God” (Rom. 14: 12).
“And I say unto you, that many shall come from the cast and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into
outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt.
8: 11, 12).
* * *
[Page 17]
2
The
Before we get very far in this book, one
thing must be made very clear if the readers are to properly understand this
message, and that is that the “
Perhaps the confusing element in the phrase “the
It is interesting to note that of all the New Testament
writers, only the Apostle Matthew uses the phrase “the
[Page 19] The Jewish people who were listening to Jesus teach did not have a
problem understanding that He was
referring to an earthly Kingdom. On the
contrary, many of them had difficulty realizing the spiritual aspects of
it. For centuries they had been waiting for Messiah the King
who would lead them out of bondage. They
well knew the scriptures prophesying that One would come to sit on the
throne of David and rule over them (Isa. 9: 7). When Herod questioned the scribes regarding
the place of the Messiah’s birth, they knew the exact location. The coming of a King to set up an earthly
Kingdom was no secret to them. What they failed to realize was that the
prophesied coming of Jesus consisted of two events. There was a first coming and there will be a
second one - one to which all true believers are looking forward. And it is at
the second one that He will establish His earthly, physical Kingdom.
What the Jews did not realize then, but what we know now, is
that these two comings of Christ correspond to two aspects of the Kingdom. First, there is a present spiritual
experience of the Kingdom into which Christians can enter and second there is
the coming outward manifestation of the Kingdom on this earth. Today we can experience the Kingdom
spiritually, and someday soon it is coming to the earth physically. On the one hand, referring to the first,
Jesus said, “My
kingdom is not [out] of this world” (Jn. 18: 36). But on the other hand, the scriptures read, “The kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ”, (Rev
11: 15). Although the spiritual
aspect of the Kingdom, ushered in with the first advent of Christ, and the
outward manifestation of it, which begins [Page 20] with second coming, are separated by 2,000 years, they have very much
in common. In fact they are inseparable
and completely interrelated.
In order to have a good comprehension of these two facets of
the
In most of the free world today people have a lot of trouble
understanding the concept of “king.” There are very few rulers today who claim to
be kings, and those that do (except perhaps in the
Perhaps a word which could be used to
better [Page 21] describe what the Biblical word “king” should mean to us is the word “dictator.”
Here is a word our world can relate.
It holds for us the idea of a man who wields absolute power. His word is law and no one dares to disobey. This
is really what the Bible means when it uses the word “king.”
(The word “Lord,” by the way, has a very similar
meaning.) Although “dictator” may convey to us the idea of harshness or
cruelty while our King, Jesus, is not that way, still the concept of absolute
power and authority is exactly correct.
God has made this same Jesus who was crucified both King and Lord. In
fact, He is King of kings and Lord
of lords (Rev 19: 16). It is to Him we must submit
ourselves and Him we must obey.
Now, with this in mind, we can talk a
little about the
As mentioned previously, the first place that He is starting
to rule and the area in which He is working today is the hearts and lives of
men and women. Through the events of His
first advent, Jesus Christ [Page 22] gained the authority to transfer
people out of this world’s kingdom of darkness into His own Kingdom of
light. He has redeemed mankind with His
own precious blood and purchased us for His own possession. Now we are rightfully His! Whereas once we were obedient to the evil
ruler of this age, now we need be subjected to him no longer. Jesus has set us free. Although we were God’s because He made us,
Satan usurped this authority in the garden of Eden through his temptation of
Adam and Eve. Now, Jesus Christ is in
the process of recovering us from this fall and re-establishing His Kingship
over His people. Hallelujah!
There is, however, a very interesting aspect of Christ’s
Kingdom to which we must pay very careful attention. Jesus will reign over only those who are willing.
He will be a King over only those
who want Him to be. When He came in person to the Jews in
These days in evangelical circles, a person can hear many
people preaching such things as “receive Jesus,” or “ask Jesus
into your life.” These things are
true and right and good. However, this
is not the whole story. What seems to be
missing [Page 23] from this kind of preaching is that when we receive
Jesus, we receive Him for what He is - King and Lord. When the first disciples preached, they
preached the Lord Jesus Christ. They proclaimed a Christ who wanted full
allegiance, who asked for a total commitment of the rest of their lives and who
required a complete separation from what was not in His Kingdom. This is why they saw such marvellous
results. Those preachers did not
overemphasize what Christ could do for the people but they announced what the people’s responsibility was toward God. They knew who Jesus was. He was the King promised long ago and they
were wise enough to submit themselves totally to Him. How we could stand a good dose of this kind
of preaching today! How we need to
follow their example!
This is one explanation of why we have so many lukewarm,
insincere converts to Christianity today.
We tell them something like: “If only you will
receive Jesus He will make you happy and make you feel good and help you with
your life.” On the other hand
Jesus preached: “Repent (totally
change your way of thinking and living) for the
Kingdom (the rulership) of Heaven is at hand.” This then is
the problem. When we lead someone to
receive Christ without making it very plain to them the total commitment which
is required, at first things may go along just fine. But sooner or later Jesus will begin to
assert His rightful Lordship over their lives.
Since these converts have not been prepared for anything like that, many
times they turn away and walk with Him no more.
Or sometimes there begins a long and painful struggle with God about who
is to run their lives. We could easily
spare people this problem by [Page 24] telling them the truth from the
beginning. Let us tell them plainly that
they should not even begin to build a tower until they sit down and thoroughly
count the cost. I am afraid that we
water down the gospel to get “numbers” “saved” when in reality we are doing service neither
to God nor to them. It is all too easy
to immunize converts with easy Christianity, making it all the harder for them
to later realize the truth.
This then is the gospel
of the Kingdom. It is the gospel that Jesus preached. We are to repent because there is a spiritual
Kingdom which has been announced in which God is to have complete control over
every aspect of our lives. And there is
an outward, earthly manifestation of this Kingdom coming soon to this earth of which we can be a part if
we are willing. Actually,
there is no other gospel. Although we
usually hear only other aspects of it, this is really what the Bible teaches.
The
[* On the contrary, eternal salvation is obtained by FAITH: “God gave unto them [the
Gentiles] the like gift as he did also unto us, when we
BELIEVED on the Lord Jesus Christ:”
(Acts 11: 11: 17).]
[Page 25] Once we enter the sphere of God’s
reigning over us, it is essential that we continue submitting
ourselves to Him if we are to keep on experiencing the present
I would like to emphasize here that this is a choice which we have
to make every day if not every minute of every day. There is a constant battle going on. Satan wants to retain his control over our
lives and keep us subjected to himself.
Unfortunately there is still an old nature within us, a product of our
first natural birth, which sides with the devil against God. But Jesus Christ has overcome all that is
within us and all that is within the world.
The new life with the new nature which has been born into us has the power [if
we remain obedient to Him (Acts 5: 32b)] to
overcome all opposition. Within us we
have the supernatural power to overcome Satan and his kingdom. The pivotal point however is that we
must be completely willing to submit ourselves to God. If we
are, He will give us the power to overcome.
If not we will only end up
serving the devil. How many
Christians are in this boat! They belong
to God, but in their daily lives they submit themselves to this world and the
ruler of it. Oh how we believers need to
submit ourselves totally, without reservation, to our rightful Lord and
Creator! What a shame [Page 26] it is when we go our own way, but what a glory to God when we willingly live in His Kingdom and allow Him to be the Lord
of our lives!
So we see that there are two, aspects of the
* *
*
[Page 27]
3
A Brief Chronology
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day” (Ex 20:
11).*
God’s work of creation consisted of six days with a seventh day of
rest. It did not take Him weeks, months,
or billions of years. The days about
which the scriptures are talking are six literal days. As believers we have no reason to doubt
this. Our God is capable of doing
anything. He could have created the
universe in six minutes if He so desired.
We should realize that even time is the invention of God which He is
using to accomplish His own purposes.
Just because we are confined to it does not mean that He is. He exists eternally and is Almighty; there
are no limitations on Him whatsoever.
[* NOTE.
In Gen. 1: 1- 2a there is evidence to
prove that a ruin of God’s initial creation too place: “The earth became waste and void” (verse
2). Therefore the six ‘literal days’
following were days of restoration not creation. This fact will become apparent as we continue
with our study. – Ed.]
The way we know that the present earth was created in six
literal days is that the holy scriptures tell us so. After each day’s creation
record in the first chapter of Genesis we read: “And the evening and [Page 28] the morning were the [number] day” (Gen 1:
5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Even a
young child could understand this simple explanation of a literal day. The sun
comes up and the sun goes down and we have one day. Probably the reason that causes so many
people to doubt the truth of these verses is their desire to somehow escape the
fact that there is an infinite Creator to whom they may owe some
responsibility. If in their minds they
could only make God weaker or non-existent perhaps this would salve their consciences concerning their sin and lessen
their need for a Saviour.
However, our real purpose here is to realize that God made the
heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. Why did He do things way? Why not eight days or five or even 50? Since there is nothing recorded in the Bible
which is accidental or does not have some meaning for us, perhaps there is
something about God and His creation which we can understand from it. So, the remainder of this chapter will be an
investigation of God’s seven days.
There is another verse of scripture which also speaks about
days. Peter, in his second epistle,
addresses the question of the end of the age and the second coming of the
Lord. Since many believe that this event
will occur soon and since it has so much bearing upon the subject of this book,
let us read it together. (Please
remember that the context of this verse is the second coming of the Lord.) “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day” (2 Pet 3: 8).
In this verse is the key, to understanding the six days of creation [restoration]. [Page 29] It contains a fact that the writer
considered very important and about which he was concerned that, believers
would not be ignorant. Here we find a simple equation. One day equals one thousand years and one
thousand years equals one day. To take this one step further we could say that
one day of creation represents one thousand years of time which God has
allotted man upon this earth and one thousand years corresponds to one day of
creation. Lest some of you think that I
am taking this too far, let us investigate some Biblical chronology.
Chronology is: “the science of
ascertaining the fixed periods when past events took place and of arranging
them in the order of occurrence.”*
Biblical chronology then is the science of putting together the events
and dates which are found in the Bible.
Although many people do not realize it, through the years some very
scholarly men of God have studied Biblical chronology. Among them are: Theophilus of Antioch (3rd. century A.D.), Clement of Alexandria (3rd century A.D.), Eusedius
(265-340 A.D.), Wm. Hales (fl.
1809), J. N. Darby, and Martin Anstey,
to name just a few.**
* Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1979).
** Martin
Anstey, Chronology
of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1973), pp. 24-29.
These men and others have traced the often slender thread of
dates through the scriptures to arrive at a very good idea of how many years it
has been since the creation as well as the timing of important events, such as
God’s covenant with Abraham and the advent of Christ. Although no two [Page 30] of these men agree completely on
every date, the interesting thing is that almost without exception they are
very close to one another. Within a
reasonable amount of scientific error and considering the great age of the
documents and dates with which they must work, they essentially agree. Most of them come within one hundred to two
hundred years of each other.
Now for a simple person like myself, such in-depth study of
ancient history is a bit beyond my scope.
But since these scholars agree with one another to a reasonable extent,
I am inclined to accept their learned opinion. Peter the fisherman’s brief
chronology is more in my league. The
surprising thing is however that Peter and the scholars agree! Their study and his revelation do not
contradict one another. As one would
suspect, honest scientific study only serves to further support the Word of
God.
Did you realize that according to the Bible the present earth
has been in existence for almost six thousand years? Since the six days of
creation until now almost six thousand years have elapsed. Another interesting observation is that from
the beginning of this world until Abraham was about two thousand years; from
Abraham until Christ, about two thousand years; and from the birth of Jesus
Christ until today, almost two
thousand years. This is no
coincidence. God’s plan and the way He
has been carrying out His plan since the creation is very orderly. There is nothing haphazard or disjointed
about it. Things are going just the way
He intended them to, and as time goes by His masterful plan unfolds.
Let us assume here that when Peter wrote about [Page 31] one day being equal to one thousand years that he meant something specific
by it and was not simply being poetic.
Imagine for a moment that, when God spoke these words through Peter that
He was revealing something to us which could be of use in comprehending His
timetable and that He was speaking to us about the end of the [this] age. To go further, let us believe just what the
Bible says and take heed to it. God
chose to make [restore]
the earth, the heaven, the sea and all that is in them in six days
because He had already decided that man’s time upon the earth would be six
thousand years (of course let us not forget the seventh thousand). Since the “I Am”
of creation knows both the beginning and the end, He planned to do things in
this way. Much later He revealed this to
the Apostle Peter for our edification and benefit.
These observations all point to one thing. We are rapidly approaching the end of this
age. We are on the very verge of its
completion! We stand upon the threshold
of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Millennial
(one thousand year) Kingdom upon this earth.
And all this corresponds exactly to the six days of creation
and the seventh day of sabbath rest. The simple chronology of Peter the fisherman
is correct and is attested to by all the other scriptures. The prophetic utterances in the Bible, including the words of Jesus concerning the
restoration of Jerusalem to the Jews (Lk. 21: 24.)
and the coming one thousand year Kingdom of Christ (Rev
20: 4), point to this fact - we
are rapidly approaching the end of the six days, the completion of the age.
We have said all this to build up to one conclusion [Page 32] and that is that there is a seventh day coming, a one thousand year period
of time which is the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ. God is not through with the earth yet. If Jesus returned today, there would still he at least one thousand
years of time on this earth
remaining. The next stop for
God’s people is not heaven. Those who
are there now waiting for the Lord’s, return will come back with Him and assist Him in setting up His heavenly
Kingdom on the earth (Jude 14).*
God still has some work to do here in this world. And His people have the privilege of helping
Him do it. Jesus is in the business of subduing the whole earth unto
Himself. All the nations, the people in
them, even the animals and the environment will he put in subjection to
Him. This is the
[* NOTE. The error taught by Hymenaeus and Philetus
was “that the resurrection is past already” (2 Tim. 2: 18); and the author has slipped into
this same error! We cannot ascend into
heaven until we are resurrected from the dead: and that cannot take place until the return of Christ, (1Thess.
4: 16. cf. John 3: 13; 14: 3; Rev. 6:
9-11; 20: 4.). We are not
resurrected at the time of death one at a time! Only at the time of our Lord’s return to this
earth will “the dead in Christ” be resurrected:
and the “thousands of his holy ones” (Jude 14), who will accompany our Lord at the time
of His return, are not
“God’s people” but holy angels. “When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the angels with him then…” (Matt. 24:
31).
Having pointed out the
time of the resurrection “of the dead,”
it is of vital importance to distinguish “the dead”
from those
who will be alive, and caught up into heaven before the Great
Tribulation commences, (Luke 21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10). These are the watchful saints - “those who are there” at that time in heaven - and who
“come back with Him.” – Ed.]
Let us now take time for a brief summary. God has always existed and will exist
eternally. So before the earth was
created He was there, without time, in what can be called “eternity past.”
At some point He created the earth and decided after a conference with
Himself to make man and place him on it (Gen 1: 26). In the process He also created what we call “time” and confined man to it. The treating process took six days plus one
day of rest which corresponds to the time which God has allotted to man to
dwell on the earth and accomplish His purpose.
These seven days are, a foreshadowing of the seven thousand years during
which man will have inhabited this present earth. Then after the last one thousand years, which
is the Kingdom reign of Christ, God will dissolve both the old heavens and the
old earth and create new ones. There will be new heavens and a new
earth. This is what most people call “eternity.” For
our purposes we will refer to it as “eternity future.”
Man then has been allotted a seven thousand year period on earth in between two
“eternities.”
It is at the end of the last one thousand years that the New
Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, is seen descending out of heaven from God (Rev 21: 10).
This holy city will then be located on the new earth which God will
create. The New Jerusalem and the new earth are what most
people are referring to when they talk about spending eternity in “heaven.”
Actually it is not heaven at all but a whole new creation. Of course it will be heavenly in nature. In fact it will be a whole lot better than
the present heaven, since what exists today will completely pass away. If
heaven today were what God considered perfect, there would be no need for Him
to destroy it. No, what God has prepared
for those who love Him is glorious indeed.
It is an entirely new creation, the thought of which has not entered
into the mind of man, but which God is revealing to His servants (1 Cor 2: 9, 10).
Now for a word of caution.
Although this little chronology of events is very simple, we cannot be
too sure about the exact timing of them.
We are told the [Page 34] order of the things to come, but we
are not told exactly when they will occur.
As a matter of fact, the scripture plainly tells us that no one will
know the exact day or the hour (Mt 24: 36). Specifically, we do not know just when our
Lord Jesus will return and usher in the
It has already been mentioned that the Bible chronologers seem
to agree within one hundred to two hundred years. Even they, scholarly though they might be,
cannot be certain of the date. We do
know that it will be about two thousand years from the first appearing of
Christ. But where shall we begin
counting? Shall we count from His death
or from His birth? As you know our
calendar begins roughly near the time of His birth (give or take three to five
years). Just because secular history has
chosen this date as its reference point does not mean that God has. A very powerful argument could be made that
His death at
As a matter of fact, the verse in 2
Peter about which we have been talking was written to address this very
problem. He tells us that towards the
end men will be scoffing and asking, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
No doubt many will be questioning this very thing if He delays longer
than we think He should. Many may even turn away from following Him because of
it. In these days when wickedness is
abounding there is a great temptation for our love for the Lord to grow
cold. While others are enjoying the
pleasures of sin for a season, Jesus is asking us to deny ourselves and follow
Him. If His coming does not coincide
with the concepts of some Christians, they may be tempted to disbelieve and
fall away. Please don’t get me wrong. I myself expect the return of Jesus during
this century. The New Testament
prophecies seem to indicate this. But if He doesn’t, I by His mercy will not abandon my faith, and
neither should you. Our faith
should not be based upon a timetable but upon Him.
In reality the teaching of the scriptures is that we should
live each moment as if He were coming today.
Our lives and our hearts should be ready for Him. The attitude we need to cultivate is one of
constantly watching and waiting. If we
do this then we will be ready. Then He
will find us doing His will. If we
willingly subject ourselves to His Lordship and live in His Kingdom today,
there will be no problem tomorrow. “Blessed is that servant,
whom his lord when he cometh shall find so
doing” (Lk. 12: 43).
[Page 36]
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF DARBY’S
CHRONOLOGY
From the creation to the flood, when Noah was 600 yrs.
old (Gen 5: 3-29; 7: 11) - 1,656
Years
From the flood to the birth of Terah (Gen. 11:10-25)
- 222 Years
When his father died at the age of 205
yrs., Abraham was 75 - 130Years
Which fixes his birth, from the
creation at 2, 008 Years
His entrance into the
Up to the exodus from
Up to the building of the temple 480
yrs. later - 480 Years
Length of Solomon’s reign, less three
yrs. already past (1 Kings 6: 1) - 37
Years
Kings of Israel and Judah, up to the captivity
in
Length of the captivity 70 yrs., and
up to Nehemiah 80 yrs. - 150 Years
Sixty-nine “weeks”
less 33 yrs. (Dan 9: 26) - 450
Years
From creation to the birth of the
Messiah - 4,000 Years
* *
*
[Page 37]
4
The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord is the seventh (and last) 1, 000 year day
of this world. It begins with the
appearing of Jesus Christ - the “second coming”
- and ends with the advent of eternity future.
The Day of the Lord is also the
At least part of people’s misunderstanding about the Day of
the Lord stems from the fact that when the Bible mentions the Day of the Lord, it
not only talks about Jesus’ coming in the clouds and His judgment of the
saints, but it also speaks of the heavens and the earth dissolving, burning up
and passing away (2 Pet 3: 10). From reading
verses such as these, a person might be led to believe that Jesus’ return is
the beginning of eternity. Such is not
the [Page 38] case. With the
knowledge that the Day of the Lord is a 1, 000 year day, all perplexity
disappears. Many things happen during
the Day of the Lord, and in this chapter we are going to be investigating some
of them.
One of the first events to occur during the Day of the Lord is
something which we already mentioned - the judgment of the believers. When Jesus Christ returns we will rise to
meet Him in the air, and then come back with Him to the earth to help Him set
up His Millennial Kingdom. After the rapture (the term which some
people use for the catching up into the air of the saints) and before we begin our role in Christ’s
Kingdom, there will be a judgment. We
will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account to Him of
the things which we have done in our body (2 Cor 5: 10).
The word “we” here must refer
to believers since it is to them that this epistle was written. This judgment is different from the final judgment of all people at the end of the Millennium which is usually called
“the great white throne judgment.” The “Judgment seat of Christ,” on the other hand, is before the Millennium and involves only believers. It is at the first judgment that what we have
done will be weighed. This judgment of believers [before the
Millennium] is an essential element in the Day
of the Lord. There are many interesting aspects of it which
Christians should understand; however, most of them will be covered in
succeeding chapters. Suffice it to say
here that there will be a thorough examination of believers at the beginning of
the Day of the Lord and before their entrance with Him into the
[* NOTE. There must be a judgment of the dead (in Hades,
Matt. 16: 18.
cf. Acts 2: 27, 34; Psa. 16: 10 ) before the time of
Resurrection. This judgment will
determine who will rise out from amongst the dead to reign with Messiah upon
earth. It was this pre-resurrection judgment
and
the select resurrection which Jesus and Paul referred to as recorded in
Luke 20: 35 and Phil.
3: 11. “…they
that are accounted worthy to attain
to that world (age), and the
resurrection (out) from the dead.”
“…that I may know him … and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto
his death; if by any means I
may attain unto
the resurrection (out) from the dead.” See also Heb. 11:
35b.]
Please allow me to take a few moments here to speak concerning
the rapture, which signals the beginning of the Millennium. This is the event in which all the saints of
God are caught up from the earth to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess 4: 17). The scripture says that where the body is
there will the eagles [vultures] be gathered together (Mt.
24: 28). This is a reference to
how vultures, or birds of prey will circle the carcass of a dead animal. When the Lord appears all believers will be
gathered together to Him. No matter
where we are, we will rise into the air and be gathered to the place where He
is. We will meet Him in the air and then
come back with Him to the earth. And to
where is He coming? He is coming to
A friend of mine once shared with me an interesting idea
concerning this word “meet.” He said that in New Testament times when a
victorious king would return to his city with his army and all of his captives,
the inhabitants of that city would come out to meet him and would then return
with him to enjoy his victory celebration.
What a picture! This exactly
portrays how the rapture will occur. We
will ascend to meet Him in the air and we will return with [Page 40] Him to the earth. The reason for
being caught, up seems to be mainly for gathering the believers together into
one place. When the Lord comes back we
will be caught up to where He is so that we can come back with Him to where He
is going - the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Now in order to avoid confusion we must
remember one thing: this event is not the beginning of eternity. It is just the first part of the Day of the Lord,
the day toward which we should all be looking.
Many have thought that the judgment which happens at this time
will take place while we are suspended in mid-air. Others have speculated that we will go with
the Lord back to heaven, wait for a while and then return again with Him, thus
requiring several “appearings”
of Jesus Christ at the end of the age.
However, it seems possible that the judgment of believers could take
place right here on earth. One thing the
scripture does tell us plainly is that there will be such a judgment and that
we [who may be left until that time] will be involved in it.
Another thing which we can know with certainty is that when we
are caught up our bodies will be glorified. We read, “In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ...
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall he changed” (1 Cor 15: 52).
Oh what glory there will be in that day!
Our vile bodies will be made heavenly.
The evil effects of the fall - death working in our bodies - will be
eliminated completely. This receiving of our glorified
body is just the beginning, a
preparatory step for our inheriting the Kingdom which Christ is preparing.
Notice here that this verse tells us exactly when the rapture
will occur – “at
the last trump.” Most [Page 41] Christians realize that during the
tribulation period there are seven trumpets which sound (see Rev 8: 2 ff.).
In order for this trumpet of which Paul, speaks to be the “last trump” it must of necessity be either after
the seven mentioned in Revelation or be the seventh. This would place the time of the rapture at the end of the tribulation period, or
at least toward the end. Another passage
which sheds some light on the timing of this event is Matthew
24: 29-31 where we read, “Immediately after the
tribulation of those days ... he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds.”
Although there are some who would insist that the “elect” here refers to the Jews and not to
Christians, this idea does not fit with the Old Testament prophecies which tell
that the people of the earth (not
the angels) will bring the Jews back to Israel after the Lord’s return (Isa. 49: 22).
Actually, the time of the rapture is not the central theme of
this book. Neither should it be a point
of controversy. I am offering these
thoughts only for the reader to contemplate and form his own conclusions.
Therefore please do not be distracted by it from the content of the rest of the
book. The timing of the rapture has very
little bearing upon the remainder of this message.
Many of you may know from memory the scripture which says, “For in six days the Lord
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day” (Ex. 20: 11).
This seventh day is the sabbath day.
It is the day of the Lord’s rest. Not only was it the initial rest of
God but it also foreshadows a further day of rest, the Day of the Lord. The
Not only is the sabbath day a foreshadowing of the rest which
we will have with God in the Millennium, it is also a type of the rest which we
can now have in Jesus Christ. Today
spiritually we can enter into the sabbath rest of God through Him. We can cease
from our own labours as God did from His.
As a matter of fact this is a real key to a living Christian
experience. We must learn to cease from
our, own works - that is, doing what we want to do by ourselves, for ourselves
and with our own energy - and rest in God.
Do not get me wrong, this resting does not imply that we do
nothing. It is only a cessation of doing
our own thing.
When the Pharisees challenged Jesus about not keeping the
sabbath day, He said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work” (Jn. 5: 17).
Even though God rested from His labours after He created the heavens and
the earth, Jesus tells us that He is still working. He is still doing something to accomplish His
purposes. The reason that God continues
to work is that His enemy, the devil, corrupted what He originally made and
there arose a need for Him to do [Page 43] something further to fulfil His
plans.
Yes, today Jesus Christ is working and we are to be working
with Him. We are to perform the “good works, which God hath before ordained. that we should
walk in them” (Eph. 2: 10). However, such labouring can also be
resting. If we abide in Him and rely on
His strength to do His bidding, we will, find peace. He explains to us that His yoke is easy, His
burden light and that we will find rest in doing His work (Mt. 11: 30).
When we find ourselves striving and very hard to serve the Lord - when
we realize that we’re weary and exhausted - this is only an indication that we
are not experiencing the rest of God. We
have not entered into the supernatural rest which is available for us. Of course we know that this present rest is
incomplete. During the Day of the Lord
we will enjoy an even deeper rest and in eternity a full rest.
One reason we will be able to rest during the 1, 000 years is
that Jesus Christ will defeat all of His enemies. In the scriptures we read that He will reign
until He has put all His enemies under His feet (1 Cor 15: 25).
This Millennial or “Kingdom”
reign of Jesus Christ is another aspect of the Day of the Lord. In it He is going to establish His rightful
rulership over the whole earth. All the
peoples, nations, animals, and even nature itself will be subdued before
Him. We read that He will rule the
nations with a rod of iron (Rev 2: 27). We are also told that the lions will eat
grass like oxen and the children will be safe around venomous beasts (Isa. 11: 6-8). It sounds as if the whole course of
nature will be changed and made to be at peace.
The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. At the end of the Millennium the victorious [Page 44] Son will deliver up the Kingdom which He has subdued to Himself to God the
Father, that God may have complete rulership of all that He has made (1 Cor 15: 24-28).
During the Kingdom reign of Christ, He will make all things
right. He will stop injustice, clear up
the problem of pollution and bring an end to war (Mic 4: 3). All crimes which are committed will be
punished in a just an equitable way which God Himself could administer. The many things about our present evil world
which so perplex and grieve us will be straightened out when Jesus
returns. He will rule this world
perfectly.
Another thing which will greatly further His correcting of
this world’s mess is that the devil, will be chained up for 1, 000 years. During this time he will be bound and cast
into the bottomless pit (Rev 20: 2, 3). Satan’s influence - his rulership over this
present world - will be eliminated, and Jesus Christ will take His rightful
place as King. Jesus will be reigning
and establishing His Kingdom over the peoples and nations of the earth.
Unfortunately this rulership of Jesus
Christ will in many cases only be an outward subjugation. When the devil is again loosed for a little
while at the end of the 1, 000 year reign, all the nations will follow him in a
rebellion against the Lord (Rev 20: 7-9). They will gather themselves an army and
encompass the holy city to fight against Him and His saints. This uprising ends when fire comes down out
of heaven and consumes them (Rev 20: 9). This unfortunate episode graphically
illustrates an important fact. The
How blessed we are today to have the opportunity to know Jesus
personally - to have His life living inside of our being and to have Him
cleansing us the inside out. Through the
indwelling [Holy]
Spirit, He can purify our lives of that very sinful nature which causes us to
do immoral things. He can save us
completely from all of the evil that is in our hearts. We Christians are able not only to stop
performing those outward deeds which are sinful, but we can be changed inwardly
to be like Jesus. Oh what a salvation!
Another aspect of the 1,000 year, earthly reign of Jesus
Christ is that it is the fulfilment of God’s
promise to David the king that there would never fail of his seed one to
sit upon his throne. David, the king of
The Kingdom reign of Christ is also
the [Page 45] fulfilment of God’s
promise to Abraham* that his seed would inherit the
[* See “God’s
Promises to Abraham” by Robert Govett.]
Of course we do not know exactly what form our reigning with
Christ will take. One thing we do know,
however, is that we will
be in our glorified bodies, which are
bodies just like Jesus Christ has had since His resurrection. This body is not confined to time and
space. In the Bible it is recorded that
Jesus walked through walls and seemingly appeared at will wherever He
wished. No doubt our new bodies will
have these same capabilities. So during
the Millennial reign we also will probably not be limited in our abilities
regarding time and space.
The scriptures do not state specifically whether [Page 47] our presence and our reigning during this time will be fully realized by
the inhabitants of the earth. Although
we may be visible to them and known by them, it is equally possible that we may
not be. There are today spiritual
rulers of this world led by the devil, which are not seen by men but which
nevertheless exert full sway over them. Believers’ role in the coming Kingdom could
conceivably be similar to this. Another
possibility is that they may function in ways similar to the Old Testament
judges (
The people of the earth over which those who are with Him will
reign are the descendants of the men and women who survive the
tribulation. During the great
tribulation a large portion of the world’s population will be killed by various
plagues and judgments from God. Also, at
the battle of Armageddon (which takes place just before the return of Jesus
Christ), literally millions of soldiers will be slain. The Bible describes the earth after this time
as an olive tree which has been shaken (a method of harvesting the olives) and
as a grape vine after it’s been picked (Isa. 24: 13). In other words, during the first part of the
millennium the inhabitants of the land will not be many. But one thousand years is a long time and
these men no doubt will multiply.
Without wars and various other natural calamities they will increase
quite rapidly and the earth will again be populated.
Not only is the thousand year Day of the Lord the judgment day
for believers, a day of judgment upon
the unbelievers who oppose Him at the battle of Armageddon, the seventh day,
the sabbath day of [Page 48] rest, and the day of restoration of
God’s Kingdom, but it is also the Lord’s wedding day. Perhaps many of you have heard or read about
the wedding feast which is being prepared.
The general concept among Christians seems to be that when the Lord
returns and we are caught up to meet Him, everyone will quickly sit down around
a large table and gulp down a huge feast.
Possibly it will consist of turkey or ham or something like that (well,
probably not ham), and then we will all rush back to the earth to set up the
Kingdom. Some people think this feast
occurs in a few days. Others surmise
that it takes weeks or even three and one half to seven years. But, let us consider for a moment that this
is the wedding feast of the Son of God. It is no small or
unimportant event. This will be the most meaningful, supremely holy and
spectacular wedding ever to occur in the whole universe. There is going to be nothing hurried about
the wedding feast of God. This feast
will be taking place over 1, 000 years because the Day of the Lord is also the
Lord’s wedding day. “And I appoint unto you a
kingdom, as my Father bath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom”
(Lk. 22: 29, 30).
In Biblical times it seems the way people celebrated a wedding
was to put on a large feast and invite all their friends. They started sometime during the day, perhaps
in the morning, and they began to eat and drink and make merry. All of the guests would have a good time with
their companions and relatives. They
feasted throughout the day until evening when the bride and the bridegroom went
off to consummate the marriage. This is exactly how the Lord’s wedding day will
be. We know from the [Page 49] scriptures that it is at the end of the Millennium that the bride of
Christ, the New Jerusalem, is made ready and that the wedding, the marriage of
the Lamb, is come (Rev 19: 7, 21: 9-27). This is when the marriage of Jesus Christ and
His holy bride is consummated. There is
no such thing as our gulping down a feast, racing off to reign with Christ 1,
000 years, and then being involved in the wedding later on. No, the marriage supper of Jesus Christ will
last for 1, 000 years. Our reigning with
Christ, our resting with Christ, and our feasting with Christ are all simply
different aspects of the same period of
time. This is the
In the book of Revelation, in the letters to the seven
churches, Jesus not only speaks about our sitting with Him in His throne
(reigning) (Rev.3: 21), and ruling the
nations with a rod of iron (ruling) (Rev 2: 27),
but He also promises that we [if deemed to be overcomers] will eat of the hidden manna and the tree of life
(feasting) (Rev 2: 7, 17). These verses
portray to us two of the aspects of Kingdom living into which we are to be
entering. During the 1, 000 year reign
of Christ, we will be feasting. We will
be feasting with Jesus Christ and we will be feasting on Jesus Christ. He explained to His disciples that He is the
living bread that came down. He is our
feast. Certainly at that time we won’t need turkey, bread, or wine to sustain
us. Our desire will be the supernatural elements of the divine life of
Jesus Christ.
Today we have a foretaste of this. On that day we will have a full taste. The new wine will be abundant, and the
heavenly manna will be spread everywhere.
None of God’s chosen people will go hungry. We can then feast on Jesus Christ and he
fully satisfied. Of [Page 50] course it’s a good idea to get our appetites ready. There is no doubt in my mind that our capacity for enjoying God in
that day will be very much dependent
upon how we develop that capacity right now. If we learn to feed on the Lord, in His Word
and through prayer, and to have intimate times daily with Him basking in His
presence, then I believe our enjoyment of Him during the Millennial reign will
be greatly enlarged. It’s worth it, I
would say, to apply ourselves in this direction. Not only will we be rewarded today for our
efforts, but we will also be rewarded greatly in the age which is to come. Surely, we cannot lose anything by preparing.
* *
*
[Page 51]
5
The Purpose of God
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And as part of this creative work He made
many angels, one of whom was named Lucifer.
He was the mightiest, most beautiful angel which God made. Probably he was also the first being to be
formed. In Isaiah
chapter 14, verse 12, he is referred
to as the “day-star,
son of the morning”
(ASV). This verse alludes to the fact
that in the dawning of creation when God was just beginning His wondrous works,
the angel Lucifer was created. Not only
was he the highest and most powerful angel, he was also one of the cherubim and
dwelt near the very presence of God. Ezekiel chapter 28 reveals some very interesting
facts about this Lucifer, known today as Satan.
Although here the prophet is speaking of someone referred to as the “king of
Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy
covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle,
and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy
pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the
anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the
holy
What a tremendous passage of scripture this is, revealing to
us the status and the nature of Satan as he was originally created. He is referred to here as “the anointed cherub that
covereth.” Lucifer was
one of the cherubim - created, chosen, and anointed by God for a special task
about which we will speak more shortly.
In the first part of Ezekiel we can learn more about
cherubim. We know, for example, that they
are winged creatures each having several sets of wings. Instead of feet they have hooves and each has
four faces on its head, one on each side.
Rather than having a back of the head and two sides of the head they
have four faces. One is like a man, one is like a lion, one is like a cherub
and one is like an eagle. They also have
other interesting features such as wheels full of eyes which go with them
wherever they go. When they move they
don’t turn toward the direction they are going but simply move in that
direction instantly, seemingly violating the laws of nature.
By the way these beings are most likely the same as the “living creatures” or “beasts” that we find mentioned in the book of Revelation. Many times the scriptures speak of God’s throne
being surrounded by cherubim. Psalm 80, verse 1, reads, “thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.” (See also 2 Kings 19:
15, 1 Ch 13: 6, Isa. 37: 16, 1 Sam 4: 4, 2 Sam 6: 2,
Rev 4: 6-8.) And in the book of
Revelation it is the “living creatures” which
occupy this position.
[Page 54] You may notice that while Revelation 4: 6-8 describes each “beast” or “living creature” as having a different face, Ezekiel sees each cherub
having four faces. Why is there this
apparent discrepancy? The secret is that
the Apostle John was seeing these cherubim from only one direction. These four beings stand on each side of the
throne of God and each of them faces it.
Since John was looking from only one direction he saw only the one
corresponding face on each of the cherubim.
Consequently, it appeared to him as if each one had a different
face. However Ezekiel gives a more
complete description and explains that each cherub has four faces.
Lucifer was once one of these cherubim. These celestial beings’ duty is to surround
the throne of God and cover His presence.
With their wings they conceal the glory and majesty of the Most High God
from any would-be onlookers. These
cherubim are constantly in the presence of God worshipping Him and covering His
glory with their wings (Rev 4: 8).
The cherubim also appear symbolically on the top of the ark of
the covenant which the children of
So now we know who Lucifer used to be. No doubt he was the first created angelic
being (Isa. 14: 12) and probably occupied the highest
position in the universe. He was one of
the cherubim. It is not impossible that
he was also the high priest of the universe and led all of creation in worship,
praise and adoration of the Most High God.
At least we know that he understands something about religion since he
has started numerous false ones. Perhaps
he is using his experience before his rebellion to do so.
Not only do we know that Satan was great in might, power and
beauty when he was created but also that he fell, was corrupted and began to
sin. He began to think of himself very
highly and was lifted up within himself because of his greatness, His pride was
his undoing. He must have thought
something like this: “I am so beautiful, so mighty -
all the other creatures in the universe respect and admire me. Why do I need God? Why do I need to submit to Him and worship
Him? I’ll start my own thing.” And so he did. Of course in order to do this he needed to
establish his own kingdom. He had to
lure away from [Page 56] God’s kingdom a number of adherents -
followers who would worship him and do his bidding instead of loving and
obeying God Almighty. So he had to chose
something different. He had to base his
kingdom on something else.
The Bible tells us that the devil is the father of lies. He invented this for himself. He became the originator of all kinds of sin,
establishing his kingdom on hatred, darkness, lust, greed, corruption, lying
and every imaginable kind of evil. He
changed his nature to be the opposite of all that God is. And no doubt he began to visit other beings
in the universe to seduce them to join his kingdom and to follow him in his
rebellion against the Most High. As we
all know, he is still engaged in this same evil activity today.
It is probable that God gave the earth to Satan as part of his
jurisdiction sometime before his fall.
The scriptures are not explicit about these things and so we can only
speculate concerning some of these ideas, but we do know that at some point in
time the devil obtained authority over the earth. He is called the “prince of this world” (Jn. 12: 31, 14:
30, 16: 11). We also know that
the angels are sometimes referred to as “the stars of heaven” (Job 38: 7, Dan 8: 10,
Rev 12: 4). It is possible that
in the beginning each angel was given a star and the surrounding planets, if
any, over which to rule. If this is so,
the devil’s domain would be our solar system, the centre of which is the
sun. It is interesting to note how many
of the ancient pagan religions worshipped the sun, and by so doing were really
worshipping the devil.
One thing is certain and
that is that the devil is the ruler of this present world. When he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness
he claimed to have authority over it and the
Lord did not dispute that authority.
He only rebuked him by quoting the holy Word.
Other places in the scriptures also show us that the devil has
jurisdiction and over this earth (Jn. 14: 30, 16: 11, 2 Cor 4: 4). In all probability this authority was given
to him before his rebellion, while he still retained his original position
before God.
Since it appears safe to assume that Satan (Lucifer), the
highest angelic being whom God created, was given this earth as part of his
domain before his fall, we can’t help but wonder what it was like at that
time. Although the Bible does not tell
us these things specifically it does give us some hints from which we can draw
some reasonable conclusions. The book of
Genesis states that God created the heavens, the earth and all that is in them
in six days. However this scenario does not provide an explanation for when the angels were
created and when and how Satan fell.
Neither does it tell us how his fall affected the earth over which
he ruled. In order to investigate these
things further let us look at the first verse in the book of Genesis.
We read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:
1). The second verse begins with
the word “and” – “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of
the deep” (Gen 1: 2).
The first verse tells us of God’s creation, and we can be assured that
when God creates anything He makes it perfect and beautiful in every
detail. The second verse therefore is
not a [Page 58] further explanation of God’s creative work, but rather
it shows us a second step in a sequence of events. Grammatically this word “and” in the second verse implies that
something else then began happening or had happened. If we take verse
2 of Genesis simply as a description of the original heavens and earth
which God created, we would have to assume that He first created a dark, waste,
void, empty mess. Then He began working
on it to make it look good. This does not fit with the kind
of Creator that we know God to be.
Actually there is a better
understanding of this verse to be seen.
In fact there is a better translation of it which will help us to
understand more clearly what the Biblical record is saying. The fourth word in the second verse is translated by the King James
version “was” - “And the earth was...” This word can equally well be translated “became.”
It is the same word which is used in the story of Lot and his wife
fleeing from
The phrase “without form and void” can also be translated differently, and to do so will help
us see more clearly what has happened.
The Hebrew words here are “tohu, wahbohu” and could better
be rendered “waste
and empty.” These two Hebrew words are found together two
other times in the [Page 59] Biblical record. In both places, they refer to
God’s judgment upon and subsequent destruction of something (Isa. 34: 11, Jer 4: 23-27). They do not speak of creation, but of wrath
and desolation (note context). These
words “tohu” and “wahbohu” are found
separately many other times in the Old Testament and most of the time they
clearly refer to God’s judgment, His wrath or His destruction. One passage which is particularly striking concerning
this subject is Isaiah 45: 18 where we read,
“For thus saith
the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made
it; he hath established it, he created
it not in vain [tohu].”
Linking all of these items together, a picture emerges. It becomes clear that in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth perfectly, just as they should be, but
something happened. At some point in
time the earth “became waste and empty.” No doubt this corresponds to
Satan’s rebellion. When the god of this
world rebelled against the one true God, corrupting himself and his own nature,
in the process he corrupted the territory over which he ruled. It is probable that God then judged that world
and destroyed it by a flood of water.
This is the condition in which we find the earth in the second half of Genesis 1: 2 - covered with water and in darkness
and desolation. Although we cannot make
an airtight case from this one verse and a few others which are associated with
it, still I feel that it is a good possibility that this is the truth. What is hinted to us in the second verse of
the first chapter of Genesis is in all probability what actually happened.*
* For an
in-depth study of this subject see: G.
H. Pember, Earth’s Earliest Ages (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1975).
[Page 60] Another interesting point here is
that this word “created” which is
used in the first verse of Genesis (where we read “God created the heavens and
the earth”) means to make something out of nothing. Most of the other words in the first
chapter of Genesis which are translated “made” refer to something being constructed out of materials that were already
present. The word “created” meaning to make something out of
nothing is used only two other times: in verse 21,
concerning the animals, and in verses 26 and
27 regarding the creation of human
life. The other acts which God did during what we know as “the six days of creation” are most probably a restoration - a restoring of the earth which God had originally created.
A good example of this is found in Genesis
1: 11 where God says, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and
the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the
earth: and it was so.” It is quite possible that these seeds which
sprouted and began to bring forth many varieties of plants were already in the earth. The ruined earth which God was restoring
contained seeds that God simply caused to germinate, sprout and begin bringing
forth fruit.
What we have here then is a record of God restoring and re-creating something which He once made perfect and
complete and which was destroyed by Satan in his rebellion. Of course we cannot prove this conclusively
and it is nothing to base our faith upon, but I believe you will see as we
proceed how it explains many more things than it makes unclear, and how this
understanding provides us with a much better picture of what God is doing on
the earth today. In fact two good
criteria for judging the truth [Page 61] of certain teachings may be: one,
that they explain more things than
they confuse and two, that they enlarge our revelation concerning the purposes
of God rather than obscuring them. Any
teaching concerning scripture which, reveals, unveils and expands our
understanding concerning God should carry a certain amount of weight.
Another thing about which we can speculate is that during this
time when the original earth was governed by Lucifer before his rebellion
against God, there may have been some kind of creatures or beings inhabiting
it. Perhaps some of them even resembled man in some way. We do not know such things certainly, but if
there were such creatures, when Satan rebelled he no doubt induced them to
rebel with him. When a person examines
the fossil record interesting facts emerge which tend to give credence to this
idea. Many of the dinosaurs for example
which could have lived during this time seem to have been very vicious,
aggressive animals. And the fossil men
which some claim to have found (although the evidence for them is very scanty
except in the case of the Neanderthal) could have been the inhabitants of the
earth during this age. According to this
idea, after these creatures rebelled with Satan, God judged that first creation
with an inundation of water in which all the beings upon the earth were
destroyed. This is exactly the picture
of the earth which we are shown in the second verse of Genesis: the earth
waste, void, covered with darkness and submerged under water.
If there were such manlike beings upon the earth before
Satan's rebellion this would explain to us the origin of the demons. Most Christians have been [Page 62] taught that demons are fallen angels.
This is not necessarily the case.
There is no verse of scripture which says that this is so. Unfortunately, people have made this
connection mainly by guesswork. What we
do know however is that in the scriptures there is a strong association between
demons (unclean spirits) and water.
Jesus said that when a demon has gone out of a man it wanders through waterless places seeking rest (Mt 12: 43).
When Jesus cast out the legion of demons they requested that they could
enter into the swine feeding nearby.
These swine then rushed down the embankment into the sea (Mk. 5: 12, 13).
Evidently those demons were anxious to get there. There is also a verse in Job which mentions “the shades (spirits)
of the dead” trembling underneath the water (Job
26: 5 Amplified). Who. are these “shades” if they are not demons? It is doubtful that this verse is referring
only to the limited number of sailors who had died at sea before the book of
Job was written. Although again we may
not be able to draw absolute conclusions from these things there is some
scriptural evidence supporting them.
This would explain why demons would desire to possess or inhabit a human
body. If they were once spirits dwelling
in bodies comprising a pre-Adamic civilization and were then disembodied (in
other words the body in which they lived died during the judgment of the first
earth) then no doubt they would want to again inhabit a body.
Angels on the other hand were created higher than human beings. We read that man was created a little lower
than the angels (Psa. 8: 5).
They seemingly can appear in bodily form at will when they so
desire. There would be no need for them
to possess a human [Page 63] body.
Also we are told that the fallen angels dwell not in the sea but in the air (Eph 2: 2). These facts show us that the fallen angels
who are ruling this earth with Satan have their dwelling place in the
atmosphere, the air, and not upon the earth or in the sea.
The complete picture of the enemies of God - the demons in the
sea and the fallen angels in the air - is clearly portrayed by the passage
which describes Jesus going across the sea in a boat (Mk
4: 35-41). The wave’s (home of
the demons) rose up and the wind (the domain of the fallen angels) blew while
Jesus was asleep. When He awoke He rebuked
them and said, “Peace, be still” (vs. 39).
Jesus Christ has full authority over both the fallen angels and the
demons.
Perhaps you in your walk with the Lord have had some
experiences which this interpretation could explain. From reading the New
Testament we know that Jesus gave His followers authority over the unclean
spirits, the demons. Jesus and later the
apostles cast them out with a word.
However sometimes we find ourselves harassed and attacked by spiritual
forces which when we rebuke them do not instantly obey our commands. A possible explanation for this is that they
are not demons at all but fallen angels - principalities and powers against
whom we are fighting. We are not yet
today given full authority over them.
Paul says we wrestle against
principalities and powers (Eph 6: 12). Our warfare against them is a wrestling and a
fighting whereas our warfare with the demons is one of absolute authority and
command. When we rebuke them they will
flee. So if you can rebuke evil spirits which are [Page 64] bothering you and they flee away,
this may indicate that they were demonic forces. But on the other hand if you find you must
wrestle, strive, resist and seek God’s help for a long period of time, it is
probable that this is the wrestling with fallen angels about which the
scripture speaks. I am not saying that we do not have the power to win these
battles but only that the manner of warfare and victory is different and should
be understood by those who are walking with the Lord.
There are some believers today who, not realizing the
foregoing assertions, have followed a policy of rebuking and casting insults at
the devil and his angels. This activity is warned against both in 2 Peter 2: 10 and Jude
8. Here we find strong admonitions against “railing at glories [Gr].” We are told that this is a foolish, fleshly
thing which even the highest, holy angels do not dare to do. Brethren, let us he careful in our warfare
with the enemy and do so according to the Spirit and not according to the
flesh. Do not be led astray into silly
and hurtful practices but rather focus your attention on the Lord Jesus Christ,
serve Him with your life and resist the advances of the devil at all times.
Now before we get too far afield let’s get back to our subject
at hand. After God’s first creating
work, the original earth was corrupted by the fall of Satan and his rebellion
against God along with all the inhabitants of the earth. God then judged that earth, destroying it by
an inundation of water. (By the way,
this covering of the earth with water and the absence of any light would
explain the long and sudden ice ages which some geologists claim the earth has
experienced. See Job 38: 30.) This
ruined, corrupted [Page 65] earth God set out to restore,
recover, and bring back to
Himself. He has not allowed and did not
allow the devil to defeat Him. He simply
began the further outworking of His plan for this earth - to restore it to
Himself, to assert His rightful authority over it and to fill it again with
beings who would be obedient to Him.
This is what we’ll be talking about in the next chapter.
The foregoing discussion has been an
effort to paint a picture and set the stage, so to speak, for what we are to be seeing in the rest
of this book. If we are to understand God’s purposes for the
earth, it is essential that we know its history. The
* *
*
[Page 66]
6.
God’s Commission -
Man’s Failure
It can be postulated
then, as shown in the last chapter, that the original earth which God created
was corrupted and ruined by Satan in his, rebellion and that God then judged
and destroyed that earth as a consequence. Therefore the first several chapters
of the book of Genesis are actually a history of God’s restoration and
reconstruction of the earth. This
restoration like the original earth was perfect, since it also was the work of
God. After each day’s work of creation,
with the exception of the second, God “saw that it was good.” God was
pleased with His work when it was finished (Gen 1:
30).
Although this is so there was still
something wrong. In this beautiful,
lush, re-created earth which God made was the presence of His enemy with all
his hosts of wickedness. The atmosphere
surrounding the earth was full of fallen angels (Eph
6:12,
When man was created he was made in God’s image and after His
likeness (Gen 1: 26). To be created in God’s image means that man
is law inwardly like God. And to be created in God’s likeness means
that outwardly, physically, man also
resembles God. The scripture informs us
that man consists of three parts. He has a body, a
soul, and a spirit. In
1 Thessalonians 5: 23 Paul says, “I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” These same three parts are also evidenced in
the Most High God, although perhaps not exactly in the same way.
In order to investigate this further let us start with man’s
spirit. The Bible speaks of the Lord who
“stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him” (Zech 12:
1). Therefore, we know assuredly
that man has a human spirit. Every
believer should also realize that God has His Holy Spirit.* Many times in the Bible the Spirit of God, or
the Holy Spirit, is mentioned. Thus God
and man [Page 68] have these two corresponding parts - Spirit and spirit.
[* See the attached condition for the Holy Spirit
indwelling the believer: Acts 5: 32.
cf. Psa. 51: 11; 1 Sam. 16: 14, L.X.X.: “And the Spirit
of the Lord departed” - [because of disobedience] – “from Saul…”]
Man also
has a soul. Interestingly in many passages God speaks of
Himself as having a soul. He says in Hebrews 10: 38 for example, “if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure
in him.” These verses reveal that in the inward parts,
the spirit and the soul, man is made in the image of God.
The body of man gives him his outward appearance. Although God does not have a physical body
His appearance is like that of a man. He
does not have hooves, claws, feathers or scales. When we see Him we will recognize the form in
which He exists because man appears just like God. The likeness or the outward form of man is
made after God. As a matter of fact man
is the only creature in the whole universe which has this privilege of inwardly
and outwardly resembling God.
Hallelujah! What a glorious fact
this is that we have been fashioned after God Himself.
Now to return to our original discussion: God made a new
creature, man, in His image and after His likeness and placed him in the garden
of Eden. In so doing He put him right in
the middle of a hostile environment full of fallen angels and demons, and He
charged him saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Gen 1: 28). (The Hebrew word for “subdue” can also be translated “conquer.”)
Here we find God creating a man after His similitude, placing him in the
midst of the devil’s territory and
charging him to conquer, or subdue it.
This was the beginning of God’s plan to recover the earth, Satan’s
domain, back for Himself. God placed man upon the earth as
His emissary to retake what had been
lost during Satan’s rebellion.
[Page 69] Man, resembling God and having
communion with Him, was commissioned with the work of populating the earth with men just like himself
who were submitted to the authority and rulership of God. As they multiplied, on the earth God could
again claim it as His own because it would be filled with creatures who. loved
and obeyed Him. What a glorious
victory! But as we all know at that time
the victory was not to be forthcoming.
Satan no doubt understood at least part of what God was
doing. He probably could not stand a
being who looked like God inhabiting his world.
It must have galled him to the very core to see Adam and Eve living and
working for God on his earth, so he came and subtly deceived Eve. She in turn seduced her husband, and they
fell. Instead of living for God and
serving Him, they rebelled against God and became constituents of Satan’s
kingdom. They partook of the tree of
which God had instructed them not to eat.
Their natures were corrupted and death began to work in them. At that time they came under God’s curse and
became for all practical purposes part of the devil’s kingdom.
However God is not easily thwarted. He does not give up quickly. He has the power to carry out His plans , in
the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity.
Even though the first man Adam, failed to perform the charge of God to
have dominion over the earth, God promised to the woman a seed. And of this seed He said, “it shall bruise thy head” (meaning the head of the serpent) (Gen 3: 15).
Although the devil had won an apparent victory, still God had a
plan. From woman, through the race of
man, God was going to bring forth a seed that would [Page 70] finally fulfil His desire, crushing
and defeating the enemy. This seed is
the man Jesus Christ, the One who triumphed over the devil and made an open
display of this victory to the principalities, and powers (Col. 2: 15).
After the fall men began to multiply on the face of the
ground. As time went on God would
occasionally find a man who was open to Him, who would love Him and who would
serve Him. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was such a man. The scriptures testify that he walked with
God, and was not, for God took Him (Gen 5: 24).
In the long run, however, the multitudes of fallen men corrupted their way upon
the earth very much. They walked in
evil, lust, greed and violence. They continually
practiced all the things which God hated.
These men performed daily what the enemy with all his evil desires led
them to do.
This situation worsened until man became so much a part of
Satan’s kingdom and rebelled against God to such an extent that some of the
women even began to have
intercourse with fallen angelic beings.
In the first several verses of Genesis
chapter six we read about the “sons of God” coming in to the “daughters of men” and having intercourse with them. The product of such an unholy union we are told was the giants, a race of beings whom God
never intended and did not want on His earth. A careful reading of
Genesis chapter six will make this evil development undeniably clear.* At this juncture God [Page 71] saw that the imaginations of men’s hearts were only evil continually. Not only was man himself rebelling but he was
polluting the human race by illegal fornication.
* NOTE. The “sons of God” here must he angelic beings since the scripture
in other places refers to them as such (Job 1: 6;
2: 1; 38: 7; Dan 3: 25). In fact some of the ancient scripture
manuscripts render “sons of God” as “angels of God” in this passage. Although some have taught that these must be the
descendants of Seth (i.e. men in the lineage of those who walked with God) this
cannot be the case. Such a theory does
not explain why the offspring of these marriages were giants or why God
considered their activities to be so wicked.
Possibly some find this sin so offensive that they refuse to admit its
existence. Nevertheless Jesus plainly
tells us, “as the days of Noe
were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of man” (Mt. 24: 37).
The Biblical record also informs us that the earth was filled
with violence. Man had broken loose
against all reason and restraint, contrary to all that God had planned for
him. They slew one another at a whim. The situation became so bad that God repented
that He had ever made man. He looked
upon the earth and saw it altogether corrupted, filled with violence and evil
deeds, and populated with giant beings whom He never desired to exist. Consequently, God planned to destroy the
earth with all the creatures that inhabited it.
But in one man, Noah, God found someone who was righteous. Noah walked with God. And so God decided to save this man and his
family from the destruction which He was planning. God instructed him to build an ark and take
one pair of every unclean animal gong with seven pairs of every clean animal
into it. This ark was to be the vehicle
whereby they would all be saved from the second flood of waters upon the earth.
It is interesting to note that Noah’s ark, through which this
salvation was effected, is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the side of the ark was a door [Page 72] through which all who entered
were borne up above the judgment of God.
And it is also through the pierced side of Jesus Christ, from which
blood and water flowed, that we are saved from the impending judgment of God
for a new world which is to come.
Although Satan had apparently won a great victory by
corrupting mankind and again ruining God’s earth, God found one man with whom
He could start over and begin a new world to eventually accomplish His
purposes. After the flood waters subsided and the ark landed, Noah’s
descendants once again began to populate the earth. Sadly, they too failed to
know God, to love God, and to fulfil God’s commission to the first man. Evil and rebellion again began to spread
unrestrained. Striking examples of this
are recorded, such as the incident of the
At this point it appears God altered His method of
working. Instead of dealing with mankind
as a whole He decided to choose for Himself a people - to call out from among
all men a race that was especially His.
And it was with these people that He would work towards accomplishing
His original goals. For this plan God
chose a man of faith, Abraham. When he
was still childless he was called by God and [Page 73] promised that his seed would multiply
and inherit all the
As you probably know, God carried out this “phase” of His plan with the children of
Biblical history tells us that in the course of time this
project also ended in apparent failure.
The people of
At one point it seemed as if the victory had almost been
won. During the reign of Kings David and
Solomon the
Eventually this
No, God is not defeated, and neither will He be. He has not abandoned His plan and now gone
into the business of just rescuing men from
the earth. He is going to establish His Kingdom, His authority, His rightful rulership here on
the earth! The charge which
He gave to the first man, Adam, will be fulfilled. His people, with Christ at their head, WILL have complete dominion over this earth for 1,000 years. This
is the
Some, when reading about the coming
* *
*
[Page 76]
7
The
is Among You
In the last chapter we examined God’s
purpose for establishing His Kingdom upon the earth, to recapture this planet
from the domination of the devil and re-establish it under His rightful
authority. We have also seen that God
created man in His image and after His likeness and placed him on the earth to
be His agent in a accomplishing this plan.
Man failed to carry out the commission with which God
entrusted him in the first chapter of Genesis. Repeatedly mankind as a whole
did not fulfil what God required of them and did not accomplish God’s purpose
on the earth. Seemingly, the devil
reigned supreme. But throughout this
history God had promised a seed who would prevail. The fulfilment of this promise is found in
Jesus Christ. He was a God-man born of a
woman, in the family of
This God-man, Jesus Christ, is the fulfilment of God’s promise
to send a seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3: 15).
This is exactly what Jesus did.
From His birth the man Jesus Christ was completely sinless. He never did anything that displeased the Father
(Jn. 8: 29).
His earthly life was in total opposition to all that the devil’s kingdom
is. He never participated in evil in any
way. His life was the living
manifestation of God’s righteousness on this earth right in the middle of the
devil’s domain. How Satan must have
hated Him. He was a perfect man. At one point He said, “the prince of this world
cometh, and hath nothing in me” (Jn. 14: 30). Hallelujah! God sent His Son, and He became a man in whom
the devil had nothing. What a glory to
God and what a victory over the enemy that a real man walked this earth
sinlessly living in perfect submission to God.
He was never drawn into all the evil and the corruption that Satan had
to offer.
[Page 78] Now don’t think that Jesus wasn’t
tempted. His sinlessness was not a
result of an easy life. In the wilderness He fasted for forty days and forty
nights and was tempted by the devil. He
was tried in every aspect just as we are today (Heb
4: 15). He did not escape
temptation - He overcame it. He lived
victoriously above it. He did not give
in to the seduction of evil, which is why the Bible says with Him the Father is
well pleased (Mt. 3: 17). Jesus lived in this sinless, perfect way from
His birth to His death on the cross.
It should be mentioned here that His dying on the cross was
the fulfilment of all the typology of sacrifice in the Old Testament. Jesus was the Lamb of God who offered Himself
without spot or blemish for the sins of the world. The Israelites were supposed to find a
perfect male lamb to offer to God. They
examined it carefully to make sure that it had no imperfection. And Jesus too, before He was crucified, was
examined. Pilate and Herod both checked
Him out thoroughly, and Pilate when he was finished said, “I find no fault in
him” (Jn. 19: 4, 19: 6).
I doubt if he could have said that about any other man. He was so impressed with this one man, Jesus,
that he could truthfully say that he couldn’t find any fault in Him whatsoever.
This was a man that overcame all that the devil threw at
Him. He lived a victor. Not only this but when Jesus rose [out] from the dead
He overcame the most powerful tool that the devil has - death. He overcame sin during His life and He
overcame death in His resurrection from the grave. Death could not hold Him. The strength of Satan was overcome in the
resurrection life of Jesus Christ, the God-man.
All that the enemy and his forces could muster was [Page 79] thwarted. When Jesus rose from the
dead He made an open show of their defeat. He triumphed over them completely (
When Jesus walked on this earth almost 2,000 years ago He was
the living manifestation of the
* The reason I have chosen this translation is that it gives a
more correct understanding of this verse.
Some versions have “within you” instead
of “in the midst of you” or “among you.”
Although it is true that we can experience the Kingdom of God inwardly today
(chapter 8 of this book is all about this subject) at the time when Jesus spoke
these words the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out and thus it would have
been impossible for any of His hearers to have the Kingdom of God residing in
them.
As Jesus began His ministry He preached repentance for the
sake of the Kingdom. He said “Repent: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand” (Mt 4: 17).
This meant that the rulership or the authority of heaven was being
manifested and that men needed to repent for their part in Satan’s
kingdom. They were being called upon to
repent for the deeds which they were doing and even the thoughts which they
were thinking which were contrary to the new, heavenly Kingdom. Since the
The two kingdoms about which we have been speaking - the
kingdom of this world and the heavenly Kingdom - are in total opposition to
each other. There is no middle
ground. In order to become completely
subjected to God’s Kingdom we must be wholly set free from Satan’s. This requires a deep, thorough repenting in
the heart of every man concerning the things which he was doing and thinking
before he knew about the
The reason that we can live as Christ did is that He has given
us His very own life. The eternal life,
which God promises to give through His Son Jesus, is His own divine, eternal life. When
Jesus Christ, who lived victoriously conquering Satan and sin, now begins to
live in us, we too can live as He did. The
scripture asks of those who believe, “Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor 13: 5).
Praise God, this same Jesus who lived on this earth apart from the
kingdom of the enemy now resides in us. Jesus has given His Kingdom life to
men. When we receive Jesus Christ we
receive all that He is and all that He accomplished. When He comes into us He brings all His attributes and power with
Him. Through the Holy Spirit every believer can enter into victory.
[Page 82] Since God has poured His Holy Spirit
into men upon this earth (the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus) (Rm. 8: 2) there are now thousands of individuals
who have the life and the power to live in God’s Kingdom. Now, through the Spirit, the overcoming life of Christ is
being fruitful and multiplying in people all over the earth. These men and women can fulfil
God’s original command to overcome the powers of evil in this world and live
according to God. This eternal
power dwells in all [obedient] believers.
And if they are only willing to repent, to change kingdoms, to cease
from doing the works of darkness and to enter into the Kingdom of light, Jesus
Christ within them will supply them to do it.
His life, His victorious life, will enable them to overcome. This is exactly the purpose for which Jesus
came and died. He came to gather to
Himself a people who would express Him and have dominion over His enemy. By His power they are now living in this
hostile world yet subjecting themselves to His authority. Through their lives they manifest Christ’s
victory and establish God’s authority over this earth. At
last the purpose for which man was created is finding fulfilment. All that now remains is for God to finish
gathering all those whom He has chosen and prepare them for that final
day. Very soon we will all, be caught up
to meet Him in the air and return with Him to reign. Our role is to be obedient and to announce
this gospel of the Kingdom
in all the earth.
The Church is the body of Christ. She is His expression on this earth
today. Since He has ascended to the
Father, we His people are now the vehicle through which He expresses Himself
and accomplishes His work. This word “body” is not just [Page 83] a nice religious expression. It contains much important spiritual meaning.
God’s will is to use His people as
instruments of righteousness and as a testimony of Himself. This is both a privilege and an awesome
responsibility. We are to be expressing
the invisible God of the universe to the inhabitants of the earth as well as
displaying His victory to the heavenly hosts.
Today, through His body, the Church, God is manifesting His wisdom and
His eternal plan (Eph 3: 10). How we need to take this commission of Christ’s seriously! It is of
the utmost importance to Him to accomplish this work through us, so much so in
fact that He died in order that it might be done. This is not a small thing for which we have
been called. One day soon when we stand before His judgment
seat we will be called upon to give an
account of our response to this all-important command.
One very important aspect of this work is that we are to
announce this gospel to every creature (Mk. 16: 15).
Part of our job as Jesus’ disciples is to preach as He
did the gospel of the Kingdom. His will is for all men to hear the message
of repentance and to receive His new life.
For this to happen, we must co-operate.
We must be willing to go wherever He sends us and spread the good
news. We too need to be fruitful and
multiply spiritually. If we are willing and obedient, He will empower us to rescue men and
women out of Satan's kingdom of darkness and transfer them into His own Kingdom
of light. Jesus Christ is coming back again soon and I am very sure
that He would be happy to find you standing in the gap saving people from God’s
wrath and getting them ready for the wedding feast.
[Page 84] This brings up another essential
aspect of our Kingdom commission. It is also our responsibility to
assist God in perfecting His people and preparing
them for His coming. Not only
do we need to introduce them to Christ’s Kingdom, but we also need to teach
them how to live in it. God does not
want a collection of spiritual babies but a multitude of mature saints with
whom He can dwell in intimate fellowship forever. Before He ascended He said: “Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations... teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you” (Mt. 28: 19, 20 NASB). Building up the body of Christ is not a
secondary responsibility but an equal part of the task which believers who are
seeking to be obedient to God’s will should be doing. Not only do we need to bring, in the raw
materials, but we are also being called upon to assist Him in fashioning them
into what He wishes them to be. We must
be helping each other prepare for His coming.
It should be noted that not all members of Jesus’ body have
the same function. All of us are not
called to do the same thing. There are
many different kinds of work to be done.
The scripture specifically mentions in several places that there are
various gifts, administrations and abilities which the Spirit gives and with
which we can serve God (see 1 Cor
12: 4-12, Rm. 12: 4). The
important message is not that we are all to do the same job, but that we are all to do what Jesus is calling us to do. Each and every one of us is
to be actively serving God in some capacity.
All believers must live under the authority and direction of Jesus today
if we are to find His approval when He returns.
Whatever your job or function is, you should be doing it with all of
your energy. If you [Page 85] do not know what it is then you should seek the Lord’s face through prayer and seek fellowship with
other believers until you know that you are walking in His will.
One reason that many Christians have difficulty knowing the
will of God for their lives is that they have so many priorities which come
ahead of serving God. For example, first
they get an education, marry a wife, find a good job, buy a house and then
wonder what God’s will for their life is.
No wonder they are confused! If we are to really know the
will of God, we must be open to Him in every area of our lives. ALL things must be put in subjection to
Him. The extent to which we are
truly open to Him is the extent to which we can know His will. No one who is genuinely seeking God will be
left hanging in bewilderment for long.
God is able to lead His people.
Of course simply standing in one place and praying for years
may not bring the answer. Sometimes we
must begin to move in the direction in which we think He might be leading to
find His will. As we walk, we will have
the inner assurance of His blessing or the conviction that we have made a
mistake. Be bold! Take steps toward doing the work to which
you think Jesus is calling you. Making
mistakes is not fatal but burying
your talents in the earth will bring His disapproval on judgment day. “Blessed are those who listen to God’s message and
practice it!” (Lk. 11: 28 Williams).
Once we receive
the Lord, this is not the end. Instead
it is the beginning of a life-long process of following Him, doing His will and
expressing His life and nature to the perishing world. Jesus has run the race before us, overcome
all the power of the enemy, [Page 86] and sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on High. Now we, His people, are
faced with the responsibility of following Him in this victory. By faith we can serve Him and accomplish His
will upon the earth. Since we have His
life within us, we too can live as He did.
There is no acceptable excuse for not living in God’s Kingdom, today and
manifesting His will upon the earth. The
great and terrible Day of the Lord is coming.
Who can stand in the day of His appearing? I tell you, it will be those who have done
His will.
* * *
[Page 87]
8
The
Although the outward manifestation of the Kingdom of God,
which we know as the Millennial Kingdom, has not yet come, still today there is
a present spiritual reality of this Kingdom.
Even though we cannot see it with our eyes, it is very, very real. Anyone on this earth who is willing to
receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior can enter
to this Kingdom and live in it every day.
Men and women can experience the spiritual reality of the
In order to live in this Kingdom, we must first enter into
it. In John
chapter 3 Jesus explains to Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, some very
important [Page 88] facts about the
If you are reading this book and you have not had this
experience yet, I urge you, take the time right now and pray earnestly to the
heavenly Father. Tell Him that you are
sorry for your sinful acts and condition and ask Him to send His Son Jesus into
your heart to give you new life today.
I would like for the readers to notice here that the Bible
does not say that when a person is born again, he fully enters into the Kingdom
at that time. It says only that he first
must be born again before he can enter. In
fact, he must be born anew even to see the Kingdom, which means to understand
spiritually what the Kingdom is. Now in
order to comprehend this better, let us go back and repeat a short definition
of what the word “kingdom” means. A kingdom is the sphere over which a king
reigns. When a group of people living in
a geographical area [Page 89] submit themselves to the authority of
a king, they become part of that kingdom.
Or, in another situation, a king might come and forcibly assert his
authority over them. Now in the case of
the
Today we
can live in the
Once we decide to follow Jesus there are many things that will
stand in our way - the things of the world, Satan himself, sin working in our bodies,
and the self, the fallen nature which still lives on in us. From all these things we must turn away. Jesus said. “If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt. 16: 24). To live in obedience to Jesus Christ is to
deny ourselves every day. The cross is intimately related to the Kingdom. In fact, unless we experience the cross, it
is impossible to continue experiencing the Kingdom. There are many things that will come into our
lives to distract us and draw us away.
Even some apparently good things that we desire to do must be denied in
order to live in obedience to the heavenly King. And it is when we deny ourselves that the
cross is applied to our lives. This is
what the Bible means when it speaks about being crucified with Christ. When we pick up His cross and deny ourselves
we allow the Spirit of Jesus Christ within us to make His death on the cross
real to us. Through the Spirit we can put to death that part
of our old nature which is resisting Him.
When we deny ourselves, the death of Jesus Christ and His
resurrection from the grave, will become a reality to us instead of just a
teaching. This is something which all of
us should be experiencing, and if we are not, in all probability it is because
we are not being obedient. If the death
and resurrection of Jesus are not operating in our lives every day, then we are
walking only according to the course of this world and being disobedient. Jesus
says that if [Page 91] we don’t pick up our cross and follow
Him daily we are not worthy of Him (Mt. 10: 38, Lk 9: 23).
Clearly, self-denial, bearing the cross of Jesus Christ, should be the
daily experience of every believer. The cross of Christ stands at the door of the Kingdom. If we are to be entering in we dare not bypass
it. By its presence it speaks
of the annihilation of everything in us which is contrary to God and the
replacement of it by His Kingdom nature.
Friends, may we never imagine that there is any other, easier way.
Now let us move on to a few specific examples to more clearly
illustrate this concept. Let me simply
say that whatever there is in our lives which keeps us from living in the
presence of God is disobedience. Anything in which we are involved that
dulls our mind and our sensitivity towards God is no doubt something in this
category. These things could be our job,
money, relatives, family, recreation, prestige, glory, pride, ambition, or any
number of other things. Jesus says, “If any man come to me, and
hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14: 26).
And being a disciple means being obedient to His will. Many people’s daily living is filled up with
thoughts about themselves. They are
concerned about themselves and the many things in which they are involved. They put their own lives first and they serve
Jesus Christ only secondarily.
There is an excellent test which we can apply to ourselves to
see how we measure up in this category.
This test is to examine ourselves and see what thoughts our minds are
filled with. When we have time to think,
or when we find ourselves idly [Page 92] thinking, what kinds of things are we
thinking about? Are we meditating on the
Lord and upon His Word? Do we think of
how we can serve Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we regularly lift our hearts in prayer to
the Father, or are our thoughts primarily filled with things concerning
ourselves? Are we dreaming of how we can
entertain ourselves with a certain TV show or some other diversion? Do we often find ourselves thinking about our
job and how we can make advancements? Is
money a big part of our thought life?
How about our relatives and families?
Do they consume us and take a large portion of our thought time, more
than is really necessary? Or do we have
some ambition, some goal which we’re pursuing, which constantly fills our
minds? I’m sure, if we are honest, every
one of us would have to admit that to some extent one of these things, or
perhaps something which hasn’t been mentioned, often fills our thoughts, thus
dulling our communication with God and causing us to live in disobedience to
His Kingdom. The scripture plainly says
that “the mind
set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:
6 NASE).
But, some may ask, don’t We have to
think about all these things in order to live in this world? The Bible tells us the answer: “seek ye first the
If we are to live in the spiritual
Another good test which we can apply
to ourselves to see if we’re living in the Kingdom is to honestly assess out
attitudes towards such things as prayer,
church meetings, Bible study, fellowship with other believers and serving the
saints. If we are not doing these
things or if we find ourselves cold towards them and not desiring to be
involved in them, this is a sure sign that we are not living in the Kingdom. It is an excellent indication that there is
something in our lives which we are putting ahead of [Page 94] Jesus Christ and which is keeping us from experiencing His ruling today.
In this world there is no neutral ground. Many mistakenly think that because they are
not doing something blatantly sinful that God is pleased with their life, or at
least that there is no serious problem.
Such is not the case. Not every
part of Satan’s kingdom is obviously evil.
There are many things in his worldly system which appear to be quite
good. It seems he will tolerate good
things if they keep us, from God - if they capture our hearts and minds and
hinder us from experiencing the reality of Jesus. For example, we may be intensely interested
in playing sports, or hunting and fishing.
There is really nothing wrong with these things in and of
themselves. The problem enters in when
they keep us from experiencing God’s Kingdom.
In fact, the devil
can use these things and use us to work for him if we allow ourselves to be drawn away from God into them.
As an example, suppose we are thinking about going fishing and
as we’re thinking the idea occurs to us to invite another Christian to go along
with us. We know that there is a church
meeting that evening which we should attend.
Both of us realize that we probably won’t get back in time for the
meeting. But we go anyway. Then, if by
some chance we do get back in time, our minds will be filled with how many fish
we caught or what a good time we had - but no matter, there is nothing sinful
about it. However, when it is done in
disobedience, then it is sinful. It is
living for self and the pleasures of this life rather than living for God. Such rebellious activity only frustrates what
God would like to accomplish in us and in others during this time. When we do
these [Page 95] things, we actually build up and further the
No, there is no neutral ground. If we are not actively seeking and following
our Lord Jesus every day, then we are in reality building up the wrong kingdom;
and when Jesus Christ returns, no doubt He will bring us into judgment
concerning these things. We must be
willing to deny ourselves - to radically change our way of living if necessary
in order to conform ourselves to obedience.
Jesus says, “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mt. 11:
12). I am sure that He is not
referring here to armies or physical violence.
The violence He is talking about here is violence which is done to the self, the sinful nature which lusts
against the things of God and keeps us from entering into the Kingdom. Sometimes we must be violent with ourself in
order to take the Kingdom and enter in.
Jesus also says, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many ... will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Lk. 13: 24). The gate into the
We have been speaking about submission to God and how it is
through obedience to the daily leading of Jesus Christ that we enter into His
spiritual kingdom. If in any of these
areas we find ourselves coming short of what God expects of us the solution [Page 96] is to repent - repent for the sake of the Kingdom. This is the gospel which Jesus preached, that
men everywhere should repent and get ready for a divine Kingdom which was coming. Right now today we also need to repent, to
turn away from anything and everything which keeps us from experiencing God’s
Kingdom, and renew our hearts in the Holy Spirit towards God.
So before you read on, take a moment to consider these things
carefully and examine your heart before the Lord. Our goal as believers should be to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (
Another thing that I should mention here is that it is
essential for every believer to cultivate a living daily relationship with
Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. It
is only through the Holy Spirit that we can know and experience God. While Jesus Christ was on this earth He
informed His disciples that He was going away. “Nevertheless,” He said, “I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you ...
he shall take of mine, and shall shew it
unto you” (Jn. 16: 7, 15).
Yes, it is through the Holy Spirit, and only through the Holy Spirit,
that we understand anything of God today.
So if you are a Christian but your life is not full of the Holy Spirit
and you don’t have a daily intimate relationship with Him, then something is
definitely wrong. The answer to this
problem is for you to be
experiencing the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.
Please notice that I did not say that you need to receive the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, but that you need to he experiencing it! Sadly,
there are many people arguing about this subject today. Some teach that this is a second experience
after the new birth. Others want to
believe that it is something which you receive at the new birth. Still others teach that all the Gentiles were
baptized in the Holy Spirit in the house of Cornelius, the centurion. The fact is it really doesn’t matter when you
were theoretically baptized in the Holy Spirit if you are not experiencing that
baptism right now in your daily life. If
you have it only doctrinally, but it is not a living reality to you, what good
is it? We all should seek
to be filled, “baptized” if you will, in the Holy Spirit continually.
Jesus taught the following: “If a son shall ask
bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a
fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Lk. 11: 11-13).
He is making this point specifically about asking for and receiving the
Holy Spirit from the Father. It is of
the utmost necessity that every believer be experiencing the Holy Spirit every
day. If you are not, then you need to
seek for it until you do.
Now since we have been discussing obedience [Page98] perhaps it would be a good idea to investigate exactly what the substance
of this obedience is. In John’s epistles
he mentions that when we know Jesus we keep His commandments (1 Jn. 2: 3, 4; 5: 2). These commandments to which he is referring
are not the Old Testament law or the ten commandments. Instead he is talking about a living, daily
experience of obeying the risen Lord. The fact that we live daily in His
Kingdom is positive proof that we know Him and love Him. The
If our following Jesus Christ is outward and legalistic, it
will not please God. The Jews in the Old
Testament by keeping the law of Moses did not measure up to His standard. Neither can we. The scripture says that no one will be
justified by the works of the law (Gal 2: 16). Our own righteousness, which we can muster
up, is not acceptable. The only offering
which God will receive is that of His Son.
He said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:
17). It is only when we live by
Him - that is, allow Him to live His Kingdom life through us - that we please
the Father and enter into the
Please allow me to say here that although many Christians are
not living by the Old Testament law, they are instead living by New Testament
legalism. They, through the scriptures,
have developed for themselves a very complex code of ethics by which they
live. These misguided believers often
read the New Testament scriptures and then attempt to apply them instead of
yielding to the risen Saviour. Although
very few of those who are in this situation will admit it, this is actually
what they do. It is not enough simply to
know what God demands of us and then attempt to do it. Unless our obedience and our works are the
result of the living out of the life of Jesus Christ, it will not please the
Father. No amount of outward conforming
to the scriptures will do. God looks
upon such activity as rebellion because it is not truly submitting to His Son.
Those who live their lives by “scriptural
principles” fit into this same category.
If when we are reading the scriptures we think we perceive certain
spiritual principles and then attempt to live by them, we will also be found
rebelling against God. His is a very
narrow way and it is the person of His Son.
He [Page 100] said, “I am the way” (Jn. 14: 6). He didn’t just show us the way.
He IS the way, and it is only when we submit ourselves in our hearts and minds
to Him and allow Him to live His
life in us that we can experience genuine Kingdom living. Anything else is a fake and a sham.
How many Christians do you know personally who are outwardly
moral but inwardly dead? This is the
direct result of trying to live for Jesus without submitting to His inward “Kingdom life.”
Conforming to an outward code of ethics and spiritual principles is legalistic
and dead. Paul tells us that if we
submit ourselves to the law - if we are justified in our own eyes in this way -
that we are severed from Christ (Gal. 5: 4). When we attempt to establish our own
righteousness we cut ourselves off from the true righteousness available
through Jesus. We rebel against God and we enter into death. Again, we need repentance. We need repentance for the sake of the
Kingdom - the true spiritual reality of the
In closing this chapter, let me say that it is essential that
we enter into the
* * *
[Page102]
9
“Lord, Lord”
The chapter you are about to read is probably the most important
one of the entire book. The subject
which we shall be discussing here is of tremendous consequence to every
believer in Jesus Christ. Therefore I
would like to ask all the readers to pay careful attention to what is being
said. Please read these words with an
open mind and a heart which is open to God and genuinely seeking to know the
truth. Do not jump to any instantaneous
conclusions, but rather read the entire chapter before forming your own opinion
about these things. In fact, I would urge
you to also read carefully the several chapters following this one because this
subject is so important that we are going to dwell on it at length. There is no other single topic which I know
of in the scriptures that has been so neglected and so misunderstood by God’s
children in these days. May the Lord add
His blessing to these words.
It is well known by most Christians
that when a [Page 103] person is born again he receives
eternal life. This means that in
eternity he will be with the Lord. All true
believers will be inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, part of that holy city,
dwelling on the new earth with Christ forever.
Once we receive Jesus Christ, nothing any man or angel can do can take
Him away from us. He Himself promises us
that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:
5). His desire is that His
children be with Him for eternity. Let
me repeat this. ALL true believers, those who are born again of the Holy Spirit, will be with Jesus Christ in eternity. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved” (Acts 2: 21).
This means that they are rescued from God’s eternal judgment and they
will dwell with the Lord forever. These
are facts which we know and upon which we can rely.
However, even though all this is true, not all Christians
will enter into the coming
In order to have a full comprehension of what the scripture is
saying here, we must remember God’s purpose for having this earthly Kingdom in
the first place. Ultimately, His purpose
is to recover this world from the devil and to reassert His rightful Kingship
over it and all the inhabitants therein.
When He comes He is going to establish His government (Isa. 9: 6), which will be centered in
Now let us go on to examine other passages of scripture which
say essentially the same thing in order that we can understand more fully the
will of God. Perhaps one of the clearest
sections of the Bible which applies to this subject is the parable of the ten
virgins. This parable is found in Matthew chapter 25, beginning with verse 1.
Let us read it together:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened [Page 105] unto ten
virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were
foolish. They that were foolish took
their lamps, and took, no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps. While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go
ye out to meet him. Then all those
virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps
are gone out. But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to
them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were
ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins,
saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he
answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh (Mt. 25: 1-13).
This is a very interesting and enlightening parable. Notice from the first verse that it is a
parable concerning the Kingdom. We are
not misapplying this parable. The
subject matter (the wedding feast vs. 11 Gk)
also shows that it is speaking about the
Kingdom. That it is a parable which applies to Christians - real believers
- shall also become apparent as we look at this passage together. (Please do not let anyone tell you that these
verses apply only to the Jews or that they are not for this present [Page 106] dispensation. To say such a thing
is to render this passage of scripture virtually meaningless to believers and
to blind their eyes to the truth which is herein revealed.)
Who then are these ten virgins and what does this parable
mean? We know from the scriptures that
virginity is a term which is applied to believers. Paul says that he had espoused certain
believers as “a
chaste virgin to Christ”
(2 Cor 11: 2). Virginity here means purity, holiness and an
undefiled life. This is a reference to
believers who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, who have been cleansed
from all their defilement and who are now holy and pure before the Lord. All ten of these individuals were virgins. The only difference between them is that five
of them were wise and five were foolish.
The Bible does not say that five were saved and five were unsaved, or
that five were good and five were wicked.
We read only that five were wise and five, foolish.
All ten of these virgins had at least some oil in their
lamps. This is evidenced by the fact
that before they fell asleep, all of their lamps were lighted, otherwise they
could not later have “gone out” (vs. 8). A lamp wick without oil would have burned out
almost immediately. The wise ones had extra oil in their “vessels” (vs. 4)
while the foolish ones apparently had only a little in their lamps. This oil which they had is a type of the Holy
Spirit. In the Old Testament the priests
were instructed through Moses to compound an anointing oil (Ex 30: 22-25) symbolizing the Holy Spirit which
God has now poured out. Of these ten
persons, all had oil. They had all
partaken of the Holy Spirit.
[Page 107] Notice also that these lamps were
burning. The scripture reads: “The spirit of man is the candle [lamp] of the Lord, searching
all the inward parts” (Pr. 20: 27). The spirit of man is where the Holy Spirit of
God dwells in a born-again person. “He that is joined unto the
Lord is one spirit”
(1 Cor 6: 17).
The joining of God’s Spirit to man’s results in the kindling of a
spiritual flame in each believer which begins to give them supernatural
light. Surely these virgins who had oil
in their lamps and had their lamps burning must have been regenerated,
born-again saints.
Another
thing which tells us that these were believers is that they were waiting for
the bridegroom. No unbeliever is waiting
for the bridegroom. Only those who know
Him and love Him are waiting for Him. We
read in verse 5 that while the bridegroom
tarried they all fell asleep.
Symbolically, all these believers died while they were still waiting for
their Lord. But at midnight a cry went
forth, “Behold,
the bridegroom cometh!”
and they awoke. The scripture reads, “And many ... that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake” (Dan 12: 2).
When the Lord returned, these believers were resurrected, raised up
from [amongst]
the dead to meet the bridegroom.
However, after [before]* their resurrection some of them began
to notice their rather poor condition.
They lacked oil. They had not paid the price to go and buy while they
were still living. Evidently they all
had the opportunity but five of them were foolish. No doubt while they were living their life on
this earth they chose to please themselves.
They didn’t do the Lord’s will. They didn’t pay the price necessary to be
full of the oil of the Holy Spirit.
Their foolishness caused [Page 108] them to be disobedient, negligent,
and wasteful of their time and energy. So
when the bridegroom, came and entered into the wedding feast (from the previous
chapters we know that this is the
[* It is appointed unto men to die, and after that the judgment. That is, judgment takes place after the time
of Death, not “after” but before the time of
Resurrection. – Ed.]
This passage corresponds exactly to the other one we have already
quoted which says that not everyone who claims Jesus as their Lord will enter
into the Kingdom, but those that do the will of the Father. Here is an immensely sobering truth. It is one to which every believer should give
serious consideration, If, in our individual lives, we are unfaithful and
disobedient, the Son of Man will come at a time when we are not looking for Him
(Lk 12: 46) and will find us unprepared. Since we see that not every
Christian will be allowed to enter, how should this knowledge affect our
daily living? My hope is that this
realization will startle some who are only pleasing themselves, cause them to repent and to begin living
from this moment on for their King.
No doubt we should take a moment here to discuss one phrase which
is used in this parable that might cause some misunderstanding. It is the one where the Lord is heard saying,
“I know you not.”
These words are found both in the passage where it says, “Not every one will enter the
Kingdom” and in this
parable about the ten virgins. Some have insisted [Page 109] that because Jesus says he doesn’t
know these people that they are not His children. They argue, how could He say
“I don’t know
you” if He had begotten
them. Please pay careful attention to
the answer for it is very significant.
There are several reasons which explain this statement of the Lord.
To begin with, the word “know” - the Greek word which is used here - is translated in another place “allow.” In Romans
7: 15 Paul says, “For that which I do I allow
not.” This means that he didn’t approve of doing
it. This word can also be translated “certify.”* Jesus would
then be found saying these passages, “I certify you not” or “I approve you not.” “You have not measured up to the
standard and, therefore you are not certified or approved.” These individuals who were foolish, unfaithful and did not do the will
of God while they were alive were not certified, approved, or allowed by God
when He came to establish His Millennial Kingdom.
* W. E. Vine, An Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966).
Would the Lord Jesus deny that He knew some of His own
children? Yes, He would. He says plainly that those who “deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father” (Mt. 10: 33). This means that He will deny that He knew
us. He will deny having knowledge of us
because we denied Him. And what does it
mean to deny Him? It means that by our lives, our
actions, our words and the way we conducted ourselves, we denied His Kingship,
His Lordship and His rightful authority over us. In short, we were disobedient children. You
don’t have to say with words, “I deny Jesus,”
to deny Him. All you have to do is
ignore Him and deny that He has any [Page 110] claim of authority over you. Don’t get me wrong; our denial of Jesus can
be verbal and outward, but it can just as easily be non-verbal and inward,
manifesting itself in stubbornness, disobedience, and self-serving living. Those people who conduct their
lives in this way are the ones to whom Jesus Christ will say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [rebellion, lawlessness, disobedience]” (
This
situation could be likened to a woman who had a son. She loved her son very much and raised him
the best she could. But when he grew up,
he became disobedient. Let us imagine
that he became a murderer, a thief, a rapist, an immoral person, a gambler, and
was involved in wickedness and evil of every kind. His mother naturally was ashamed of him. After
many years this man came back home and said, “Hi, mom,
how are you doing? Can you lend me some
money?” This woman would probably
say, “I don’t know you. I disavow that you are my son. I am ashamed of you because of your
disobedience, rebellion and evil works and I am disclaiming any knowledge of
you. You are not allowed inside my house.” This is just how it will be on
the day of the Lord’s return with those [of
God’s redeemed children] who have acted
foolishly and unrighteously.
Let us now go on to several other passages of scripture which
tell specifically who will or will not inherit the
What Paul is telling these believers is that if they
continue to participate in the rebellion and sin in which they once participated before they came to know Jesus Christ,
they will not inherit the
A passage in Galatians 5,
starting with verse 19, says essentially the
same thing: “Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God” (Gal
5: 19-21). Do you know any
Christians who do such things? Do you
practice these things yourself? If you
do, then you can be assured that you will not inherit the Kingdom. You will not enter into all that God has
prepared for you. Although we usually
think of unbelievers as the people who do these things, it is a shame to
say, but yet true, that there are many Christians who still practice them.
Let as start with the first word in verse
21, “envyings.” How many of us envy
others and what they have and who they are?
How many of us have hatred in our hearts towards another brother or
sister in Christ? Or, how many of us love
to strive about certain doctrinal teachings?
Don’t you know that those who practice such things will not inherit the
Not only are there believers who strive, envy and hate but it
has also come to my attention that there are literally thousands of Christian
men and women who regularly commit
fornication. There are also innumerable
people who profess to know Jesus but spend countless hours in bars, drinking
and participating in the worldly atmosphere and conversation. The sad truth is that many of the individuals
who come to church on Sunday morning do other things during the week that would
raise the eyebrows if not the hair of anyone who genuinely loves the Lord. It is even true that there is a growing number of Christians who use marijuana and other drugs claiming
that they enhance their “spiritual”
experience. This is a lie from the
pit. And it is these kinds of activities
about which the scripture is talking. No one who does these things will enter
into the Kingdom but only those who do the Father’s will.
Now let us read together in chapter
5 of Ephesians, starting with verse 1.
Here again Paul is writing to believers:
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And
walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or
covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which
are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, [Page 114] hath any inheritance in the
I believe that these verses speak for themselves. It is very true that in Jesus Christ we have cleansing
from these sins - that His blood is available to us today - to wash us
clean. However, I would like to submit
to you that it is only the repentant ones who confess their sins whom God is
going to cleanse (1 Jn.
1: 9). Those who are unfaithful, rebellious,
disobedient and continue unrepentantly in their sin
are going to be held accountable. True, if they are believers they have escaped
the wrath of God and eternal judgment, but the scriptures tell us that they will not inherit the
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is
the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5: 3). “Blessed are the meek: for
they shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5: 5). “Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s
is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5: 10). Those people who are humble, who are meek,
who are obedient and who submit themselves to the heavenly rulership of Jesus
Christ are the ones who will possess the earth when
He comes again. They are
the ones to whom He will say., “Well done, good and faithful
servant ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Mt. 25:
21).
A passage in 2 Peter speaks clearly about this subject. Starting with verse
9 in chapter 1, we read, - “But he that lacketh these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged
from his old sins. Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall: For
so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into [Page 115] the everlasting kingdom of
our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1: 9-11).
“He that
lacketh these things” is
somebody who is foolish, someone who is lazy and irresponsible in his relationship
with Jesus. Peter explains to us here
that if we do the will of the Lord, our entrance into His Kingdom is assured.
Praise God! What a glorious day [or day of glory] this will be, when
all those who love Jesus Christ, who look forward to His appearing and who have
worked for Him during their lifetime, will enter into the
joy and the abundance which He is preparing! Oh, hallelujah, what a glory it will be to
see all those faithful saints, some of whom have even lost their lives for the
Kingdom of God, enter into this wonderful 1,000 year reigning and feasting
experience.
Still another passage which conveys the same message is found
in Hebrews chapter 4. Here the Writer is
speaking of the rest, the seventh day rest - the
I urge you all to read this chapter in Hebrews carefully and to
see in the light of all the things about which we have been talking how this passage applies
specifically to the coming Kingdom;
how the rest, the victory over the enemy and the enjoyment of Christ in His coming glory, is something which we must
labour to enter into. Our
entrance into the Kingdom requires diligence and faithfulness. It is even quite scriptural to have within us
a certain amount of fear - a holy, Godly fear - of not measuring
up to the standard which God requires [for our entrance]. The
writer of Hebrews urges us on to enter into what God has prepared for us.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:
7). God is not fooled by anything
which we are doing. “Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the
eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4: 13). God knows our hearts. He sees if we are faithful or
disobedient. If there are things in our
lives which we know are against Jesus Christ, we should seek Him with our whole
heart and do our utmost to put them away.
No one can please himself and do his own thing in this life
and expect that God will be happy with him on judgment day. If we live for ourselves and
please ourselves only we will find the door to the Kingdom shut and no way will
be found for entering in. That day will be a day
full of surprises, anguish and grief. I
pray that every one of you who is reading this message and I myself will be
found doing the Lord’s will when He returns.
* * *
[Page 117]
10
A Just Reward
In the last
chapter we discussed the fact that not all God’s [redeemed] children will enter into His Millennial
Kingdom. Although they will all be with Him
eternally in the holy city upon the new earth, still, not everyone who names
the name of the Lord will enter into the blessing of reigning and feasting with
Him in His [Millennial]
Kingdom. Not only this, but some of God’s children who are
rebellious and disobedient will also be
punished. Not only will they
miss out on the precious reward of
the Kingdom, but they will be punished in various ways, some of them
punished severely
for their disobedience. In this
chapter, we are going to be investigating the scriptures which illustrate this
truth.
Once a person receives Jesus as his Saviour, he is born again
and has a new life. His acceptance of
the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross guarantees his existence in
eternity. Anyone who knows the Son
personally has passed from death into [Page 118] life.
Those who have received salvation through Jesus are no longer alienated
from God but are now His sons. The
scripture tells us that He is “bringing many sons unto
glory” (Heb 2: 10).
What a privilege it is that we could be one of them. Since we have been redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lamb we have been saved from the wrath of God and He no longer
deals with us as He deals with His enemies.
Instead, He deals with us as His children. However, becoming God’s sons does not mean
that we have escaped His disciplining entirely or that we can do as we please.
Just as you, as a parent, would not
allow your children to be rebellious and disobedient, but would keep them from living
that kind of life by disciplining them, so God too disciplines His
children. The scripture reads: “For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb 12:
6). This word “scourgeth” means
to beat with a whip. God is not the kind
of father which some people are today. He does not advocate
permissiveness. He loves His children
and in His wisdom He realizes that discipline is healthy - that to punish them
for their wrongdoings will cause them to do the right thing in the future. In fact, His disciplining of us proves that
we are His sons, because in His great love, He provides us with correction.
Now we come to a very important divine
principle, which is set forth in the Word of God. Galatians 6: 7 says: “Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.” Whatever kind of seed a
gardener or, farmer puts into the ground, that is exactly the kind of plant
which [Page 119] will grow up. If he plants corn he will not get beans;
and if he plants onions he will not harvest beets. The seed that is sown produces exactly after
its kind. The same principle is true
with us as believers today. Don’t be deceived about
this. Don’t think that just because we are under the grace of God
and have been delivered from the wrath with which He will destroy His enemies,
we can do as we please and get by with it. God is not mocked, neither is He blind. The Bible
tells us that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding both the evil
and the good (Pr. 15: 3). He knows what we think, He knows what we say and He
knows what we do. For all these things
we will be brought to give account before the judgment seat of Christ.
At this
time, though we will not be in danger of the lake of fire, we will be in danger
of the proper punishment which we have earned.
God will punish His disobedient children. They will receive exactly what they deserve
because of the rebellious things which they have done. In Revelation 2:
23 we read of Jesus saying, “and all the churches shall know that I am
he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and, I will
give unto every one of you according to your works.” Revelation 22: 12
reads, “behold,
I come quickly; and my reward is with. me,
to give every man according as his
work shall be.” And again
in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10 we
read: “For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Concerning these verses I’ve heard some teach that whether the things we have
done are good or [Page 120] whether they are bad, God will
still reward us. He will still bless
us. He will still give us only good
things. This is what it means to be
deceived. It is impossible to sow bad seeds and grow up
good rewards. Such a thing will never
happen. I’ve also heard it said: “Well, those who have done good will receive many rewards and
those who have done bad will receive only a few.” I feel I must tell you in the name of Jesus
Christ that this is a lie.
When the Bible uses the word “reward” it does not always refer to
something good or a blessing. The word “reward” is also used in the New Testament to
refer to just punishment of ungodly acts (see 2 Pet 2: 13). When Jesus was hanging on the cross
between the two thieves, one of them said, “for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss” (Lk. 23: 41). They were being crucified because they had
done wrong. They were evildoers and were
suffering the “reward” which they
deserved. When Jesus Christ comes with His reward, we must not think that it
will be only good no matter what we have done with the things that He has given
us. He is expecting us to be serving Him
in obedience with our time and our talents (Acts 1:
18, 2 Tim. 4: 14, 2 Pet 2: 13, Rev 18: 6).
Would God punish His children?
Yes indeed He would and He is going to if they are
rebellious and disobedient.
In fact He promises
that He will do this very thing. Now there are some who say that the
chastening and scourging to which the Bible is referring happens today in this
life. They think that the Lord would
never do that when He comes. While it is
true that in this world God does discipline and chasten us very much, it is
equally true that some of [Page 121] God’s children do not respond to
this. They do not heed the warnings of
God and do not allow themselves to be guided and corrected by Him. Instead they continue in their evil way. Oftentimes these people will attribute the
unfortunate circumstances which come upon them as natural happenings and refuse
to recognize the hand of God in His dealing with them. Some will find any excuse not to admit that
the problems through which they are passing are the divine disciplining of the
heavenly Father. These people stiffen
their necks and harden their hearts against what God is doing. Though they may deceive themselves in this
life by so doing, when Jesus Christ returns all things will be manifested. All
the hidden counsels and thoughts of the heart will be brought to light, and
these men and women who knew the Lord’s will but didn’t do it will be justly
punished by Him.
Let us turn again to Matthew
chapter 25 and examine another parable which details this truth for
us. Starting in verse
14, this passage reads:
“For the kingdom of heaven is
as a man travelling into a far country, who called his
own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another
two, and to another one; to every man according to his
several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents
went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he
also gained other two. But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a [Page 122] long time the lord of those
servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five
talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have
gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good
and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came
and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two
other talents beside them. His lord said
unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lotd, I knew thee that thou. art
an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast
not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo,
there thou hast that is thine. His lord
answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that
I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I
should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten
talents. For unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall
be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into [Page 123] outer darkness: there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25: 14-30).
What a tremendously sobering parable this is. In it, Jesus Christ is speaking about His
servants. These three servants were [regenerate] believers. They
were all servants of the Lord, and each one of them received talents from Him
to do His will while He was away. No
unbeliever fits into this category. Do
not make the mistake of calling two servants believers and the other servant an
unbeliever. All three must be the same
thing. And all three are born-again
believers who are servants of Jesus Christ.
I beg you, do not deceive yourselves about
these things. Take
them to heart and consider them seriously, because through His Word God is speaking
these things to us today. He that has ears to hear let him hear what the Lord is saying.
In this Kingdom parable we are informed that the unprofitable servant will be cast into outer darkness where there
is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We aren’t told exactly what outer darkness is, but one can imagine that
it is a place which is separate from the direct presence of Jesus Christ and
that it is a place of deep soul searching by the individuals who are cast
there. The weeping and gnashing of teeth about which the
scripture speaks is caused by the anguish of these believers who have just
realized what they could have had, the
joy into which they could have entered, if only they had taken a little effort
to be faithful. But now they
see that it is too late. They cannot at this point recover
themselves to enter into the Kingdom and they are left in this state for 1,000
years until the beginning of “eternity future.” This is a serious punishment. It is something [Page 124] which I am sure you would not like to
experience. Fortunately, no believer has
to, since God has enabled us all to be faithful and He will empower us to be
obedient.
In many people’s eyes this servant’s sin does not really seem
to be too bad. He didn’t really do
anything blatantly evil. He simply
didn’t do anything. We have talked
before about the fact that there is no neutral ground in this world. In our lives we are participating in either
one kingdom or the other. Either we are
living in Christ’s Kingdom and in obedience to Him, or, knowingly or
unknowingly, we are serving the devil.
Jesus Christ has entrusted us with a commission to go into the world,
teach all nations, and make disciples of them (Mt.
28: 19). A disciple is someone
who is obedient and disciplined by his Master.
Believers are entrusted with this message and are given various
abilities to use in carrying it out. If
through fear, laziness, or simple disobedience we do not exercise our gifts and
talents to fulfil what God has commanded us to do, we will answer for this at
the judgment seat of Christ. At this
time, some will be cast into outer darkness: There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Not only will some
believers be left out of the wedding feast, but also some will be punished in
this way for their lassitude and disobedience.
The scripture repeats this warning in another place where we
read that “many
shall come from cast and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kindom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that
place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 8:
11,12 NASB).
Who are [Page 125] these sons of the Kingdom? They are those who, by virtue of being sons,
who because they were born of God, had the right to inherit the Kingdom. Just as the son of an earthly man will
inherit his substance when he dies, so the sons of God have the right to
inherit the Kingdom which He has promised.
The Williams translation makes this very clear by saying: “many will come from the east
and from the west and take their seats at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will
be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and
grinding their teeth.”
Those of God’s children who are unfaithful will be disinherited, and not only will they be disinherited, but they will also be punished.
It is important to note that outer darkness is not the lake of fire. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that it is.
Human beings have often put these two things together when they should not
be. Let us not take our inspiration from
Dante or Milton, who portray hell as a place of various kinds of punishments
and sufferings (darkness, scourgings, fire etc). No, being cast into outer darkness is
a punishment for God’s children.
It is temporary and it
is something which happens after the judgment seat of Christ, during [before] the
Millennium.
[* That is, this judgment must take place in Hades and before
the time of the resurrection of the dead. Note also that this is not the false doctrine of
purgatory!]
Why is God punishing and disciplining His sons in this
way? He does this so that they will
learn to be obedient, so that when eternity comes they will be ready. He knows what is best for them. I’m sure it grieves Him tremendously that
these His children have not made themselves ready. But in His divine providence He has made a
way to help them so that when eternity comes they can enjoy it freely.
[Page 126] Let us turn now to another passage in
Luke chapter 12, starting with verse 35.
Keep in mind that this passage is also spoken in the context of the Kingdom (see verse
3l):
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves
like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding;
that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord
when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird
himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. [This is the wedding feast.] And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in
the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good man of the
house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not
have suffered his house to be broken through.
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye
think not.
Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this
parable unto us, or even to all? And the
Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward,
whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion
of meat in due season? Blessed is that
servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make
him ruler over all that he hath. [This speaks of the ruling with Christ. in the [Millennial] Kingdom.] But and if that servant say
in his heart, [Page 127] My lord
delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and
to eat and drink, and to be drunken, the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for
him, and at an hour when he is not aware,
and will cut him in sunder, and
will appoint him his portion with the
unbelievers. And that
servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes. But he that knew
not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of
him they will ask the more” (Lk. 12: 35-48).
Here we have elaborated for us clearly
and undisputedly the fact that when Jesus Christ returns, some of His servants
will be punished. The particular servant
of which the scripture speaks here was beaten with many stripes. The words in the King James version, “cut him in sunder,” (vs. 46) do not mean to
cut him in pieces but mean to “scourge him severely”* and are referring to how the skin on the back is cut open
by repeated lashing with a whip. Will
the Lord beat His children? Yes I tell
you surely He will do just
that if we have been unfaithful and disobedient. Here the scripture
makes it plain that this is a believer.
We read in verse 45, “But and if that servant say
in his heart, My lord delayeth his [Page 128] coming.” This is the very
same servant that in the preceding verses was blessed by the Lord and made to
be ruler over His household. There
should be no doubt that this servant about which the
scripture is speaking was a child of God, but that in the latter part of this
passage he became disobedient.
* From
marginal note in American Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc.,
1901).
Yes, God will surely punish His children when they deserve
it. Both in this life and in [Hades, during] the
Kingdom age which is to come, He will reward every man according to his works
whether they be good or evil. All of
God’s children should take this message seriously. Colossians 3:
23-25, which are words written to believers, reads: “whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the Inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ I beg you for your own sake,
pay careful attention to and believe these words. The way we live today has monumental consequences! Whatever we are sowing is exactly the reward
which we will reap. No one will
get special treatment or be able to escape the just reward which they have
earned. If you or I are disobedient we
will be punished by the Lord when He returns.
Not only will we be
left out of the wedding feast, but for 1,000
years we will suffer God’s righteous discipline. Please do not deceive yourselves about these
things. Even if you can talk yourself
out of believing this message the final outcome will be the same.
With these things in mind, let us examine our manner of living
thoroughly to see if what we are doing is pleasing to God. And if we find that it is not, [Page 129] let us then repent for the sake of the
Kingdom. It is very scriptural to live
both soberly and circumspectly in this world so that we will be pleasing to our
Lord. The things and worldly pleasures
which we must deny ourselves today are not even worthy to be compared to the
things which God has prepared for us. Our
life here is short and fleeting. It is well worth the investment to spend our time here wisely and gain a
Millennium of joy.
* * *
[Page 130]
11
“Faith-Works”
Salvation is by grace through faith. In these days almost all Christians who have
access to a Bible realize this fact. There
is nothing which we can do in and of ourselves which will please God or cause
Him to save us. It is only by His great
mercy and the love which He has for us that He sent His Son to die in our
place. No works which we can do will
bring us salvation but only our acceptance of the great sacrifice which Jesus
made. When we believe into Him, then God is happy with us. He is satisfied with the perfect offering of
His Son and He receives us into the Beloved.
This is something which every Christian should understand.
Even though this is so, as we have been learning from the past
several chapters, a
believer’s entrance into the
Salvation - receiving eternal life - indeed is by grace
and is not of ourselves. We will spend
eternity on the new earth with Jesus because He died for us. But, our entrance
into the
This knowledge caused Him to be obedient and to spend His time
doing His Father’s will. He said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it
is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (Jn. 19: 30).
In fact, many times Jesus even worked on the sabbath
day. When the
Pharisees questioned Him about such working He explained to them, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work”
(Jn. 5: 17).
You see Jesus was busy working and He tells us the Father was too. Even though God rested on the seventh day of
creation, something happened which caused Him to begin working again. This event was the fall of Adam and Eve, His
first created human beings. When they
fell, God’s perfect re-creation of the earth was ruined, making it necessary
for Him to begin working again to accomplish His purpose. This purpose was and is accomplished in His
Son.
When Jesus died upon the cross He said, “It is finished” (Jn. 19: 30).
Through His death all that the Father was working to do had been
fulfilled. The defeat of God’s enemy was
now complete and all that remained was the outworking of it in the lives of the
believers. Yes, Jesus Christ, while He
was on this earth was very busy because He knew what the Father was doing. He was labouring together with Him to
accomplish these purposes.
This should provide a challenge for us as Christians
today. How we too need to have an
uplifted, heavenly vision of what God the Father is purposing in His
heart! When our vision
is limited [Page 133] this also limits and hinders us in our labouring
together with Him. If all we see
is a small fraction of God’s purposes, we will be greatly impeded while seeking
to accomplish His work on the earth. If
on the other hand we lift up our eyes to see all that God is doing and will do,
we can more easily, faithfully and perfectly cooperate with Him in it. One of the things which He is doing is
working to bring His heavenly Kingdom to the earth and to establish it
here. This is what Jesus taught us when
He prayed. “Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6: 10).
Just as Jesus Christ spent His time doing the will of the
Father, so we too should bear fruit unto God.
When a farmer plants seeds in the ground he does so with the expectation
that they will grow up and produce fruit.
In the same way God is expecting us to bring forth works which glorify
Him. Peter writes that we should be neither barren nor unfruitful in the
knowledge of Him (2 Pet. 1: 8). God requires that we produce the fruit of
good works while we are on this earth.
Through Jesus He has given us new life and entrusted us with a great
commission. His purpose for doing this
is that we would use our time here to serve Him, helping Him to accomplish His
will. The Lord Jesus expects us to be
doing something while He is away, and it is by these works which we have done
that we will be judged when He returns.
May God have mercy on us that we would be found faithfully doing His
will and be pleasing in His sight. Paul, the great apostle, urged Timothy to labour
so that he would be a workman that “needeth not to be ashamed” (2 Tim
2: 15). We too should follow his
example so that we would not be ashamed on [Page 134] that day.
When the Day of the Lord comes, all the works which we have
done will be tried by fire. 1 Corinthians 3: 12-15 reads: “Now if any man build upon
this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s
work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall he
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it
is. If any man’s work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
This fire which will test our works, I believe, is nothing other than
the presence of the eternal God. “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12: 29). The intensity of His presence and the glory
of His countenance will quickly reveal the substance of our activities.
The phrase “suffer loss” used here must mean the loss of inheriting the
We find mentioned in the foregoing passage two specific
categories of works: wood, hay and stubble; gold, silver and precious
stones. The valuable ones endure the
test and entitle us to a reward while the combustible items are consumed and
expose our disobedience, thus disqualifying us from entering into the Kingdom.
Since these deeds which we do are so critical in determining whether or
not we will be approved when we stand before the Lord, it is well worth taking
some time to discuss at length the substance of them. Every believer should have a good
understanding of which activities will please God and which will not. Many Christians being ignorant of God’s
criteria could all too easily be wasting their time building something which
God does not desire.
To begin, we know that these works which we are to do while
Jesus is away are not works of the law for the scripture says that “by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3: 20). And we should further realize that doing the
right thing according to a “New Testament pattern”
will not be acceptable to Him either.
What then is the secret? What is
it that Jesus is requiring of us if it is not to do the works which He Himself
specified? How can our righteousness exceed
that of the scribes and Pharisees so that we can enter into the Kingdom (Mt. 5: 20)?
The secret to this is found in the gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 10. Pay careful attention to this. Jesus said, “the words that I speak unto you I speak not
of myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works.” Jesus was not doing these works
Himself. He was not dreaming up ways to
please God, or imagining what the Father would like Him to do and setting out
to accomplish it. Neither was He
studying the Bible and trying to fulfil what [Page 136] He read there. No, there is an entirely different kind of
thing happening. The Father was living in
Him and the living Father who dwelt in Him was actually doing the works through Him. It was not the man Jesus who was the source
of these works but God the Father was accomplishing His works through Him. This is the secret of genuine New Testament
Christianity!
Jesus Christ when He went away did not leave us alone but He
sent us the Holy Spirit. He said that He
would send the Comforter who “dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (Jn. 14: 16, 17). Today the Spirit of Jesus Christ lives in
every [obedient] believer.
Our responsibility is to cease from our own works and turn our lives
over to Him. We must allow the Spirit of
God to work the works of God through
us. We should be channels, vessels
if you will, to convey and express the God of the universe. It is not our calling to attempt to figure
out how to serve God through intensive Bible study.* Our
responsibility is to cultivate an intimate, personal relationship with the one
true God and to allow Him to live His life out through us. We must permit Him to work His works in our
bodies, to live His life in our hearts and minds and to express Himself to the world today.
This is the real New Testament Christianity. And this will produce the kind of works which
will endure the test of that [Page 137] day - gold, silver and precious
stones.
* NOTE. The word “study” found in 2 Timothy
2: 15 which many people quote as an exhortation to peruse the Bible as
if it were a textbook, is actually a King James English word which means “be diligent.”
Although diligence would seem to require extensive reading, merely “studying” the Bible may not produce the desired result
of life through an intimate relationship with God.
Unfortunately many believers have missed this secret. They have used the New Testament simply as an
extension of the Old. They have studied
it thoroughly, followed it diligently and become legalistic and stilted in
their work for the Lord. These
Christians have missed the inward secret which is manifested therein: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:
27). The works that a believer
does only by following the Old Testament or the New are “dead works” (Heb 9:
14). Paul says that God made him
and his fellow-workers able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter,
but of the Spirit. He explained, “the letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor 3: 6). Here he is referring to the written pages of
the Bible used without the Holy Spirit.
How sad it is that many ministers of the New Testament today are
ministers of death, ministers of bondage, ministers of
self-induced righteousness which cannot please God. By teaching only the letter they fall into
the trap into which the Jews fell when in “going about to establish their own righteousness” they did not submit themselves “unto the righteousness of
God” (Rm. 10: 3).
Those who are living their lives only by the outward
directives found in the scriptures and not by the Spirit of God will be among
the ones to whom Jesus says, “depart from me, ye that work iniquity [lawlessness,
rebellion]” (Mt. 7: 23).
To set out to accomplish the dictates of the Bible
without first submitting ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to live
and work through us is rebellion against God. It is the works of the flesh. People who live in this way can accomplish
many apparently wonderful [Page 138] things for God. They can do “mighty works” in His name. They can build cathedrals, preach wonderful messages, and live (at
least outwardly) very moral lives. But
moral living, beautiful cathedrals and eloquent messages do not please the
Father. Only His Son pleases Him. And it is only when He sees His Son being manifested in us, when the life of Jesus Christ
is lived out through us, that the heavenly Father is satisfied. The
works which we ourselves can do will be exposed on judgment day as being only
wood, hay and stubble.
Although there are actually tremendous spiritual differences
it can sometimes be very difficult to tell which works are done in the Spirit
and which are done in the flesh. These
two kinds of activity can appear very similar.
Christians can do deeds which seem so very good but which are without
the content of the living God. It is only through spiritual discernment that we
can know the difference. If we do not
cultivate a personal relationship with God and grow in this discernment we will
be helpless to know what is merely outward and what is of the Spirit. We like Enoch must learn to “walk with God” (Gen 5:
25). It is only from such
intimacy with the Most High that we are able to know what is really of
Him. As our relationship with God grows
we learn to embrace reality and refuse the rest.
Now we come to a very important section. Here we are going to discuss the operation of
faith in the production of good works. Unless
the reader grasps this all-important truth, it may be difficult for him to
enter into the things about which we are speaking. Therefore, please take some time and
prayerfully consider the contents of the next few pages.
[Page 139] Today we serve a God who is
unseen. Although He is very real He
chooses to hide Himself so that the natural man cannot apprehend Him. It is only
through our faith that we are able to see Him and know Him. It is also only through our faith that we
can obey Him and follow Him. Since
He does not often speak to us in an audible voice or write us messages on the
wall we must through faith affirm His inward leading and do what He says. When we sense in our spirit that Jesus is
leading us in a certain direction to accomplish some work for Him we must then
believe that it is realty His speaking and obey. By faith we can know His inward voice (Jn. 10: 4, 5) and thereby follow Him.
This is what is meant by the term “faith - works.”
The acceptable works which we do today are works of faith. Just as Abraham, Isaac, Samson, Moses, David
and all the men of God wrought by faith many works through the power of the
Holy Spirit, so we too need to work the works of God while it is day. Our responsibility is to co-operate every
minute of every day with the Spirit living in us to accomplish the purposes of
God. If we do not we are in actuality
rebelling against Him. And for these
things we will all be brought into judgment on that day.
In the scriptures concerning the garden
of Eden two specific trees are mentioned.
One is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the other, the
tree of life. These two trees contained
important spiritual realities for the first man and they still speak to us
something very essential today. Of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil God said: “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:
17). Notice please that this tree
is just as much the [Page 140] tree of the knowledge of good as it is the tree of the knowledge
of evil. To know good can be
just as deadly as knowing evil. In their
minds I’m afraid that many Christians have put the “knowledge of good” on the tree of life and have been
chomping merrily away. This is a great
mistake. Before his fall Adam evidently
did not know the difference between good and evil. He relied upon His relationship with God to
know what to do. He did not have the
capability of discerning between good and evil and so he was forced to lean
upon God and trust His direction. This
is exactly the way believers should live today.
Unfortunately much of Christianity is practicing the opposite
thing. They spend their time perched in
the tree of knowledge studying the Bible trying to figure out which things are
good and which are evil so they can know for themselves the difference and so
they can decide what they should and shouldn’t do. But true to God’s Word, in the day that you
eat thereof you shall surely die. I’m
sure that many of you know Christians who are very legalistic and very
dead. They know in minutest detail from both Testaments, Old and New, how they should be
living. Every doctrine has been studied
thoroughly. Every point of conduct has
been elaborated upon and death has set in full force. On the other hand there are always those
believers who don’t know that much, whose knowledge of the Word might be
somewhat incomplete, but who are extremely living, who love the Lord and who
express the Holy Spirit.
Of course I am not advocating ignorance of the Word of
God. In fact, I would exhort the
opposite - that we should fill ourselves daily with the words from the Bible
because they will feed us and cause us [Page 141] to live for God. However we must learn to apply them in the
right way. We must eat of the tree of
life. And what is this life tree? It is the Lord Jesus. He says, “he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me” (Jn. 6: 57).
Paul further clarifies this by saying, “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” (Gal 2:
20). The tree of life is symbolic
of the experience about which we have been talking, being full of the life of
God. We should not live our lives according to an outward standard of what’s
right and what’s wrong but rather learn to know Him, the One whom God
sent, and to allow Him to live His life through us.
To partake of the Spirit of God is to eat of the tree of life
and to fill ourselves with the living God.
When we do this, what we take in will begin to produce fruit. Jesus said, “He that abideth in me, and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15: 5). When we abide in Christ we will produce works
which God calls “good fruit.” This is the kind of works which will be
pleasing to Him when He comes again.
These are the works which will stand in the day of
judgment and not be consumed by the fire of His presence.
This explanation should solve for all believers the dichotomy,
or at least the apparent dichotomy - [ a division into two entirely
different parts or kinds.’] - between
faith and works. James tells us that “faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone” (Jas. 2: 17).
If we have faith in God, true faith, it will produce Godly works because
God Himself will be working in us. The
scripture says this very thing. We read:
“For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:
13). Eternally we are [Page 142] justified by faith in the Son of God, but before the judgment seat of
Christ we will be justified by the fruitful “faith - works” which the life of God has produced
within us. If we are void of these works
this will also prove that we were void of faith and very short in our relationship
with Him. It will expose us as being
disobedient, rebellious sons who spent their time either doing their own thing
or trying to accomplish work for God without truly submitting to Him.
It is possible that some may argue against the premise that we
are justified before Christ by our works by stating the “positional truth” that we are “justified by faith.”
While it is true that we are “justified by faith” in God’s Son, this will do us no good if we are not
experiencing it. Just as Jesus died for
the sins of the whole world but only those who believe into Him are thereby
justified, so it will only
be those who through faith enter
into God’s works who will be
approved. “Positional
truths” are useless to us if we
do not enter into the experience of them through faith. How pathetic it is that so many of God’s
children are satisfied with the continual restatement of their doctrinal “position in Christ” and do not enter into the rich,
unlimited experience of all that He is.
This is the kind of faith that James labels “dead.”
Let us be careful then in our walk with the Lord that what we
do for Him would be genuinely of Him and not merely outward. Let us handle knowledge, especially knowledge
of the scriptures, in the proper way. At
one point the Apostle Paul said, “if any man think that he
knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor. 8: 2). I
believe what [Page 143] we’ve been talking about is the very
reason He said it. Paul’s desire was
that he might know Him (Phil. 3: 10).
He realized that the knowledge of the Person was true knowledge. Knowing Jesus Christ in reality, not just in
words and letters from a book, is the real understanding that we need to
have. This kind of [mature] knowledge, the knowledge of God,
will cause us to be, neither barren nor
unfruitful. God Himself living
within us will cause us to live righteously according to His Word. In this way an entrance will be abundantly supplied to us into the
Yes, one day we will all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ. There the fire of God will test
our deeds thoroughly and expose the substance of them. Those whose works pass the test
will be greatly rewarded, but those whose works are burned will be punished
severely and suffer the loss of the 1,000-year Kingdom.
Consequently every Christian should live with this judgment seat in
view. All our words and actions should be weighed in the light of how they will
appear when we stand before the Lord of the whole earth. This life into which we have
been called is not a small thing. The
stakes are very high. The choices which we make today concerning these things carry a Millennium of
consequences.
If after reading this chapter you find that your Christian
life has been only legalistic and dead, or that you have been doing nothing to
bring forth fruit unto God, the answer is repentance - repentance for the sake
of the Kingdom. God is calling to us
today to repent of everything in which we are involved which is against His
Kingdom. Jesus Christ is coming again
soon to judge the earth in righteousness.
Therefore “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin [Page 144] which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God” (Heb 12: 1, 2).
* *
*
[Page 145]
12
The Overcomers
Even though the door to the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ
is open to all believers, not all choose to enter in. For various reasons, many of God’s children
refuse His rightful Lordship over their fives and instead live largely for
themselves and the pleasures of this world.
Perhaps it is for this reason that in the book of Revelation, Jesus
Christ issues many calls to the “overcomers.” When speaking to each church,
He states their attributes and their shortcomings and then makes some very special offers
to those who are willing to overcome - those
who have “ears to hear” (Rev 2: 7). By the time the Book of Revelation was
written, it had become apparent that not all believers were going to be obedient,
as evidenced in these letters, and so again, God sends forth a call to those
few who would respond to Him and promises them special rewards. (See Rev 2: 7,
11, 17, 26-28; 3: 5, 12, 21).
There should be no doubt from reading
these [Page 146] verses that many of the rewards which are mentioned here apply to the coming [Millennial]
Kingdom. The verses which speak of ruling the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2: 27) and sitting with Him in His throne (Rev
3: 21) are obvious references to sharing Christ’s
authority during His Millennial reign. The passages which mention having the right
to eat of the tree of life (Rev. 2: 7) and
eating of the hidden manna (Rev 2: 17) show
the feasting aspect of the Kingdom experience.
A couple of other overcomer promises which relate to the Kingdom are the
one which mentions being clothed in white raiment and the one in which Jesus
promises to confess the faithful believers’ names before, His Father and the
angels (Rev 3: 5). You may remember that we have already
discussed in chapter 9 whom the Lord will or will not confess knowing in that day.
There is an interesting portion of a
Kingdom parable found in Matthew chapter 22
which addresses the subject of wedding garments. We read beginning in verse
11: “And
when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a
wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not
having a wedding garment? And he was
speechless. Then said the king to the
servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many
are called, but few are chosen” (Mt 22: 11-14). This poor man was obviously lacking some requirement
for entering into the wedding feast.
What was this requirement? It was to be clothed with good works. Revelation 19: 8
reads: “that
she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the [Page 147] righteous, acts of the
saints” (ASV).
If we are to enter into all that God has prepared for us, we
too must overcome. God is calling to
us. His will is for us to conquer and
have dominion over everything which is contrary to Him. We must overcome the devil and every aspect
of his worldly kingdom. If we do, God
promises to reward us greatly; but it not, we will suffer loss. Therefore we, God’s people, should cultivate
an attitude of submission and obedience to the Father’s will and decide to do
everything possible to remove ourselves from the devil’s kingdom.
There is a great battle in this world today. The devil, his angels and all his demons are
fighting with every ounce of strength they possess to counter what God is doing
to recover the earth for Himself and establish His
Kingdom upon it. Do not be surprised,
therefore, if escaping this world to live and work for the
In order for us to have a better comprehension of this battle
in which we are engaged, it is important to have some understanding of the
obstacles which we must overcome. For
this purpose perhaps we can divide Satan’s kingdom into four categories: number 1, the system of this world with
all its lust, opulence, greed, flash and glitter; number 2, the fallen “self” of each individual; number 3,
sin; and number 4, Satan himself and
his cohorts. These are four areas of
battle in which we are to overcome if we are to live victoriously in the
Firstly,
God has called us to separate ourselves [Page 148] from the world. He says in His Word: “come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you” (2 Cor. 6: 17). The world and all the things in it are an
important ingredient of the devil’s kingdom.
It is one of the most subtle snares in which he entraps the people of
God. Satan offered to Jesus and he is
offering to us today all the kingdoms of this world if we will submit ourselves
to him. But like our Master, we must
learn to flee from this at all costs because if we do not, it will cost us the [inheritance in the coming]
Kingdom.*
In the
scriptures we read, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:
24). The mammon that the
scripture is talking about here is the things of the world. It is impossible to serve God and serve the
world. Unless our hearts are purified from these things and we
determine to serve God alone, we will be
swallowed up by the cares of this life, by the things of this world, and we
will fall short of the goal to which we have been called. “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is
the enemy of God” (Jas. 4: 4).
[* See Gal. 5: 5. cf. Col. 3: 24]
Money is the singularly most powerful thing in the physical
world today. Jesus says that it is
harder for a rich man to enter into the
If we do possess money, it is only by subjecting all that we
have completely to the authority of Jesus Christ that we can overcome. And like the rich young ruler, this may require
that we give much if not all of it away. Money should be used for doing God’s
work and fulfilling His purposes and not for setting ourselves up in a
comfortable and secure position, gaining material possessions and satisfying
all our own desires. Money which is
under God’s control will be used to support His servants, to give to the poor,
and in every way to see that the purposes of God are furthered in this
world. Money can be a very important
tool for those who know how to use it for God’s Kingdom, but the scripture
warns us that the power of money is extremely deceitful, so deceitful in fact
that we must exercise extreme caution and care in dealing with it.
All of God’s children should make sure that their finances are completely under the authority of
God, and that they are willing to obey Him whatever it may cost. Peter at one time said to Jesus, “Lo, we have left all, and
followed thee” (Lk. 18: 28).
And Jesus replied to him: “Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath
left house, or parents, or brethren. or wife, or children, for the kingdom of
God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in
the world to come life everlasting” (Lk. 18: 29, 30).
In this “Present time,” that “more” might mean spiritual blessings. It might mean that we never possess many
things for ourselves, but on the day that Jesus returns, we will be greatly
rewarded. I beg you brethren and readers, do not put the world and the things in it
first. Put them all aside. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of this life” (2 Tim 2: 4).
Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and trust
that He will add to us the things which are needful to continue living in this
present world (Mt. 6: 33).
The second thing which hinders us from entering into
God’s heavenly [sphere of the coming] Kingdom is the “self.” The “self”
refers to the fallen soul of man. In
Adam all died, and death has passed upon all men. Although in Christ we are
made a new creation, the old creation is still with us until the day of
the redemption of our bodies.
The old nature, or the “old man” as it is sometimes called (Eph 4: 22,
The Bible teaches us that it is only through much
tribulation that we enter into the Kingdom (Acts 14: 22). We also. read
that, “If we suffer, we
shall also reign with him” (2 Tim 2: 12). At each moment of every day we have a choice. The self has its desires, and the Spirit of
God within us has its own. We must
choose every day whom we shall serve remembering
always that we will be brought into judgment concerning these things. When we
find ourselves wanting to do things which we know will not further God’s
Kingdom, activities which spring from self-serving lusts and desires, it is
then that we need to deny ourselves and take up the cross of Christ. However in order to have this experience we must
be willing. Let us therefore prepare our
minds and affirm that this is God’s way: that sometimes, no, even often, we
must suffer because we choose not to do those things which our self desires but
rather do what we know is pleasing to God.
Jesus never said that following Him would be easy, but He
promised us an inward joy and strength which comes from
believing obedience. It is
only when we deny our “self”
and lay it down at the feet of Jesus that we can enter into the eternal,
spiritual joys which are available in Christ.
It is only as we leave the realm of this world and our own life that we
can experience His. Much of Christianity
today is shallow simply because it has not passed through the [Page 152] cross. The life which we Christians live has so little of
the power of Jesus’ resurrection because
we have so little of the fellowship of His suffering. We do not experience His exaltation and
glorification because we do not share in His cross. Let this be a challenge to all believers to
deny themselves in every area of their living the things which Jesus shows them
are of the self and begin living in obedience to the heavenly Kingdom. Please do not excuse yourself; the Day of the Lord is drawing nigh.
Peter, when Jesus told him that He was going to the cross,
attempted to hinder Him from doing so.
He said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (Mt. 16:
22). This is exactly what many of our friends, even Christian friends,
will tell us today. They may say
something like: “The cross is too hard. Denying
yourself this or that pleasure is certainly too much. It couldn’t be real Christianity to do
that! God wants you to have all good
things. Those people who aren’t doing
those things are just too religious or too much.” What was Jesus’ reply to this kind of talking? He said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests,
but man’s” (Mt. 16: 23 NASB).
If we allow ourselves to he taken in by those who would comfort us and
encourage us not to experience the cross, or if we deceive our own selves in
this way, then we will miss out on the heavenly Kingdom. Do not be led astray by these things, but
know what the will of the Lord is, and by patient endurance, do it until He
comes.
The third thing which is part of Satan’s kingdom that
we need to free ourselves from is sin.
On the cross Jesus conquered sin.
For those who have [Page 153] received Him it is no longer
necessary to live in it. Believers have
within them the power to overcome sin.
The Bible teaches us that we should not yield our members any longer to
sin because to whom we yield our members, that’s whose
servants we are. Although it may be very
difficult and we may experience a tremendous battle, we can choose not to
sin. That’s right. It’s really very
uncomplicated. All we have to do is
simply to choose not to do the things which the devil is
tempting us to do. By the power of Christ within us we can turn away from the lusts which war
in our members and we can live for God.
If you find that you absolutely cannot cease from a certain
sin, it is very possible that there is something else in your life which needs
to be dealt with. Perhaps your
environment is wrong. If you are an
unmarried woman and are living with your boyfriend, of course it’s going to be
impossible to cease from sin. If you
have a problem with drinking and still visit bars frequently, naturally you’re
going to find yourself drunk. If you
live with unbelievers you are going to find yourself drawn into their sins. So, if you are serious about being holy and
living for God, you must depart from these things. You must remove yourself from the
environments and the situations which lure you to sin and seek the Lord for
what His will would be. Each of us
should seek a living situation where we can have as much contact as possible
with other believers who love the Lord and spend as little time as we can
around those who are involved in sin, except to relay to them the message of
salvation through Jesus Christ.
If besetting sin continues to be a problem in our lives,
another possibility is that there is a part of our [Page 154] heart that we are not yielding to the
Lord. When we insist on relying on our
own strength or on doing our own thing, it becomes impossible for us to
apprehend God’s power in these areas of our life. The solution for this situation is
consecration. We should daily give
ourselves to God completely, without reserve, and tell Him that we are only
His. Our attitude should be that of a
slave who has been purchased by someone and has no rights of his own
whatsoever. Another analogy could be
that of a sacrifice which is placed on God’s altar and completely
consumed. It is through this kind of “bond-slave” service to Christ that His power to
overcome sin is fully available to us.
If we are serious about following Jesus and being His disciples, then we
must commit ourselves to Him totally and allow Him to reign in every part of
our lives.
The last enemy with which we must battle and which we
must overcome is Satan himself with all his evil hosts. Since [obedient] believers are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit they
have the power to defeat God’s enemy.
Remember that the scriptures do not tell us to rebuke the devil but
rather to resist him. Paul says, that we
wrestle against the principalities
and powers (Eph 6: 2), thus indicating not
sudden victory but a, continuing warfare.
Every day we need to overcome the devil.
We must resist his suggestions, his influence, his thoughts, and instead
live in the truth of God.
To do this, it is necessary that
Christians learn to discern between the accusations of the devil and the
messages of their own consciences. While
God will use our conscience to touch us when we sin or stray from His will, the devil also will accuse our [Page 155] conscience and condemn us by telling us that we have sinned in some
way. We must cultivate a discernment through reading the Word of God and
establishing an intimate relationship with the Father so that we can understand
what is happening within our own being.
When we realize that it is simply the devil condemning us, which he does
constantly, we must then reject his accusations and not give them any place in
our minds. Many believers live in defeat
simply because they allow Satan to continually fill their thoughts with his
fiery darts. These negative, accusing
messages may appear to be very true but they must he resisted at all costs if
we are to live in victory. When Satan
reminds us of past sin, we need only point him to the precious blood of the
Lamb. On the other hand, we must be
careful to recognize the genuine twinges of conscience which come from God,
respond to them and obey.
The book of Revelation in the letters to the seven churches
has many messages from Jesus Christ to overcomers. Some of these we have already mentioned. By the time the book of Revelation was
written it was evident that not everyone who had believed in the Lord was
living in the victory which Christ had won for them. Even though He had conquered the devil and all of his kingdom on the cross, still some believers were
not willingly entering into what Christ had provided for them. Just before He died Jesus said, “It is finished” (Jn. 19: 30). Everything has been done. All that is in Christ - His victory, His
atonement, His redemption, His transformation, His glorification, His
enthronement and His Kingdom reigning upon the earth - is now available to
every man. But, just as we must
initially enter into [Page 156] Christ through faith, so too we must
by faith continue entering into all
of these things that God has purchased for us if we are to experience them.
Jesus is calling to men and women today, to anyone who will listen, to overcome. He is saying: if you overcome you will feast with Me;
if you overcome you will reign with Me; if you overcome I will reward
you with more than you can even understand or imagine. However, these things are promised only to those who overcome, not to those
who simply undergo. These
same letters to the seven churches are full of rebuke and admonishment to those
who were departing from His will, to those who were unfaithful in one way or
another. We should give
earnest heed to these things which God has spoken to us lest at any time we
should let them slip. These words were not idly spoken by God. He very much means what He says. He is calling to you and me today to be those who are willing to do whatever is necessary to overcome. We must overcome the devil and everything in
his kingdom.
Later in the book of Revelation we encounter an interesting
scene. In chapter
11 we are shown a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her
feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
She is in travail, having labour pains to bring forth a man-child who is to rule the nations with
a rod of iron (Rev 12: 5). This vision is mysterious, yet it is full of
meaning. Let us take just a moment to
investigate several aspects of it. To
begin, some may ask, who is this woman? She is a composite woman of All God’s people from all of history. Since the beginning God, through His people,
including the apostles, prophets and patriarchs, has been moving toward this
one [Page 157] goal - to bring forth a group of men and women who are completely submitted to
Him. This is the man-child who will rule and reign
with His authority over the earth. Now
is the time of her travail. The time of her giving birth is near.*
Jesus is calling to those who are willing to overcome, willing to get
out of darkness completely and enter into light. He, through His Church and with the help of
all His faithful people down through history, is finally bringing
forth the man-child who will rule the nations.
[* See Psa. 139: 14, 15. cf. Rev. 6: 9-11.]
This man-child is the composite group of overcomers. How do we know his identity? By placing two scriptures from Revelation
side by side the whole picture becomes clear.
Chapter 12 verse 5 states that this
man-child will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Chapter 2 verses
26 and 27 show that this promise was given to those who overcome. (By
the way, if you’ve ever heard that this woman was Mary and the man-child was
Jesus, please put aside this teaching.
Jesus was not caught up to the throne of God after He was delivered from
His mother’s womb, nor did Mary flee into the wilderness after His resurrection
as we see this woman doing. This is a
spiritual vision. The woman and the
man-child here are spiritual entities.)
Now when this man-child who is to exercise God’s rulership
over the earth is caught up to the throne of God, an interesting thing
happens. This event seems to precipitate
a war in heaven (Rev 12: 7). We read that Satan and his angels fought, and
Michael and his angels fought; and Michael, the angel of God, prevailed against
the devil so that he and his angels were cast out of heaven (Rev 12: 7-9).
The scripture [Page 158] states that there was no place found for them (Rev. 12: 8).
I would like to suggest that the reason they had lost their place is
that they had been replaced. The devil and his angels’ original position
of exercising authority over this world had now come to an end. The man-child, that group of overcoming men
and women who during their life on this earth fulfilled the will of God and
lived according to His Kingdom reigning, are now elevated to the heavenly
position which Satan once occupied. They
have replaced him as the highest created being in the universe! The overcoming Church, the bride of Christ, will
then be the one who is nearest to God for eternity.*
[* Could
this be the saints who “prevail to escape”
via a
pre-Tribulation
rapture, and who will return with Christ at the end? See Luke 21:
34-36; Rev. 3: 10; Jude 14.) Note
also that the “bride” of Christ, consists of
those who will be taken out from amongst the members of the “Body” of Christ – the “church of
the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven:” (Heb. 12: 23)]
At, this point when the man-child is caught up, Satan is
totally, practically defeated. Notice
please the song which is sung after this event, starting with verse 10 of chapter 12:
“Now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives [Gk; soul-lives] unto the death” (Rev. 12: 10, 11). Praise God!
Now is come salvation and strength and the Kingdom! At last the [Millennial]
* NOTE.
It should be mentioned that this catching up of the man-child seems to happen in the middle of the
tribulation. Does this mean that
there is a partial “rapture” of overcomers (both
dead and living) in the middle of the tribulation? It is very possible that this could be (see Rev 3:10).
Finally, through these overcomers, God’s original commission
to mankind is fulfilled. Here is a group
of [Page 159] individuals made in the image and likeness of God who have
had and will have dominion over the earth. They conquered the hostile forces
which were upon it. They did not live
according to the rulership of Satan, but according to God; and in so doing,
they gave Jesus Christ the right to claim this earth as His own and set up His
Millennial Kingdom upon it. These people wanted Jesus Christ
more than they wanted the devil or any part of his kingdom and were willing to sacrifice even their lives
to see God’s Kingdom brought to this earth. Praise God for such men
and women who were willing to pay any price to see the kingdom of this world
transferred to Jesus Christ, thus fulfilling His prayer to the Father, “Thy kingdom come ... in
earth, as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6: 10).
Now let me ask you, will you be one of these? You have the opportunity. Jesus’ call to the overcomers
has gone forth to all who have ears to hear.
The door is closed to no man, but you must be willing if necessary (and
it probably will be) to give all for the sake of the Kingdom.
If you are ready and willing, God
is ready and He will enable you to live in this way. His life, living within you, will give you the
strength that you need to overcome the world, Satan, self and sin - all the
things that are standing in the way.
May God by His tender mercy grant you the willingness to live for Him
until He comes.
* *
*
[Page 160]
13
A Word of Encouragement
“Fear
not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom” (Lk 12:32).
Our heavenly Father desires very much that each and every one of His
children would be obedient to Him and would enter into His Kingdom. It is not His desire to turn any away. Surely in His own heart when He begot us
through His Son Jesus Christ He
yearned that we would be faithful and that we would inherit this great blessing.
The scripture reads – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (Jn. 3:16). We
also read in Romans 8: 32: “He that spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?”
These passages demonstrate to us God’s great love toward
men. He didn’t even spare His own Son in
manifesting to the world the immeasurable, immense love which He has. Concerning salvation we [Page 161] know that it is not His will that any should perish but that all should
come to the knowledge of the truth. I am
certain that this same attitude also applies to His children entering into the
It is up to us. If we are willing and obedient,
He is faithful and He will enable us to enter into these things. All the power
and the authority of God are invested in Jesus Christ and they are available to
us today through the Holy Spirit. We
should not make excuses about being too weak or unable. On the cross, by the shedding of His blood,
Jesus purchased everything that is necessary for us to be obedient and to
accomplish His will. Not only this but He has poured
out His Spirit upon us to strengthen us so that we may live according to God. If we are willing, He will empower us to overcome the devil’s kingdom.
There is no need for even the
smallest, weakest member of the body of Christ to be defeated. God has done it all. What remains is only for us by faith and obedience to enter into it. Let us not be condemned or afraid. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us
the Kingdom.
Now, we need to say a word to
backsliders. If you are a backslider and
living in a backslidden, sinful condition, it is not too late to repent.
You can turn from your evil, sinful living right now. And when you do you will find that the Father will welcome you with open arms. Just as the prodigal son whom we read about
in the scriptures went away from his father for awhile and squandered his
substance on riotous living [Page 162] and evil companions, one day came
to himself, returned to his father’s house and was there received with joy and feasting by his father; so you too can repent and turn away from the
direction in which you have been going and come back to God. He will receive you, He will love you, He will again clothe you in a clean garment. And if
you continue faithfully until He comes, you too can enter into the Kingdom.
It is not too late. It
will never be too late to repent and turn again to Him until the day He
comes. On that day it will be too late,
but until then there is opportunity for every child of God who
has returned to his vomit and wallowed in the mud to turn again and receive the
inheritance. In His great
love which He has for all of mankind and especially for His children, the
Father will certainly receive you back and enable you to live for Him. I must say here that those who
have backslidden probably will not receive the same degree of reward.
Nevertheless they can still enter into the
There is an interesting parable in the New Testament (Mt. 20: 1-16) about workers whom the Lord sends
out into the vineyard. The story is told
of how some workers were hired early in the morning, others later on in the
day, and some towards the end of the day.
When they came to receive their pay, each one was paid the same
thing. Some of those who had been
working hard all day long complained about this, but the Lord rebuked them and
said, “Friend,
I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will
give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, [Page 163] because I am good? So
the last shall be first, and the first
last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Mt. 20:
13-16). This is how the
There is still time for you.
If you have not received the Lord or if you have not yet begun labouring
in the vineyard, Jesus Christ is calling to you. He is calling labourers to come and work to
bring forth fruit unto God. If you hear this call begin
today. It is not too late to begin doing
the Lord’s will until He comes. Do not
let the devil deceive you into thinking that you’re too old or that it would he
too hard or that it’s simply too late to do anything. This is a lie. If from today onward you work faithfully, you
will receive the same reward [of the
inheritance (Col. 3: 24)] as those who have laboured patiently throughout
their lifetime.
In Matthew
5: 19 there is another encouraging word.
Here we find the story of a man who disobeyed one of the Lord’s
commandments and even taught others his disobedience. The scripture says that he will be called the
least in the
Let us read together a portion of another parable about the
“Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the
[Page 165] How accurately this parable
describes the workings of the Word in the hearts of men and how clearly it applies to the coming Kingdom. The Word of the Lord has gone forth and for
most of you readers it probably has been sown in your hearts. It is really up to us what kind of response
we are going to have to it. Since we are
in control of our own heart we must decide which one of these several ways we
will be going. I think it would be a
good idea for all of us, to examine ourselves in the light of these words. Now I do not advocate long hours of self
introspection but I do believe it is absolutely indispensable for us to have
times of waiting before the Lord, allowing His Holy Spirit to search our
hearts. We must be open and willing for
the Spirit of God to expose us in many areas of our life, to shine into us and
help us see the stones, the thorns and all the things that will choke the Word,
hinder it, and make it unfruitful.
No one who is truly willing to serve the Lord will be kept out
of the Kingdom by these things, for we can, when we see them in our hearts, ask
the Lord to remove them. We may request
that He change us into the kind of person He wants us to be. God can take away the heart of stone and give
us a heart of flesh (Ezek 36: 26). We, with
the help of the Holy Spirit, can break up the ground, throw out the stones, cut
down the weeds, and bring forth fruit unto God.
Let us therefore examine ourselves in the light of the Word and through
the enlightening of the Holy Spirit and see which one of these kinds of hearts
we have. If we find that our heart is
evil, stony or full of the thorns and thistles of this world, then let us
repent - repent for the sake of the Kingdom - and [Page 166] renew our hearts toward God. He
will greatly assist us in this and help us to enter into what He has promised.
It is important that all believers know the fear of God. The scripture tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge” (Pr. 1: 7).
To have a healthy, reverent respect for the power of God and for the
coming judgment day is good. However,
there are some believers who labour under constant condemnation from the
devil. It is to these that I would like
to write this word. Even though there
are many things in this book which are frightening, do not allow the devil to
use them to accuse you. If you are doing
your best, if you are obedient in everything that you know the Lord wants of
you and are in your heart living for God, do not permit Satan to condemn you
and keep you from your joy. Resist his
accusations and don’t believe what he says.
The devil is a liar and would love to keep you under constant
condemnation so that you cannot serve the Lord or know His will.
On the other hand, there may be many Christians who have the
opposite kind of problem. These are
those who refuse the speaking of the Lord, whose ears are grown dull of
hearing. They hear but they don’t heed. These are the ones who constantly make
excuses for not doing what they know God wants them to do. Since God today is invisible and we don’t see
Him with our natural faculties, it is all too easy for the children of God to
ignore His speaking or to excuse themselves from doing
His will.
If you are one of these, I plead with you, unstop your ears,
soften your heart, make it tender towards God and allow yourself to respond to
what He is [Page 167] saying. He may be asking you to do something is very
difficult. Perhaps He is asking you to sell all and go to another nation to
preach His Word. Perhaps He is leading
you to get out of some occupation to which you look for security but which
keeps you away from Him. Perhaps He is
telling some of you younger people to give up that boyfriend or girlfriend who
you know is not a believer, or is not living for Jesus Christ. Nothing is too much to sacrifice for the sake
of the Kingdom. Do not be like
Esau who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, who sold his right to
the inheritance simply to gratify his momentary cravings.
In God’s Kingdom today and in His Millennial Kingdom which is
coming, there are great spiritual rewards. The joy is unspeakable and full of
glory, but you will never know it or taste it unless you
lay aside what is keeping you from entering in. The scriptures exhort us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able” (Lk. 13: 24). This is referring to how a pack animal, in
order to go through a narrow opening, first had to have all its baggage
unloaded. It was only after being thus
disencumbered that a beast of burden could squeeze through. The sad reason that so many of God’s precious
children do not enter into the Kingdom is that they are unwilling
to rid themselves of all the baggage which is keeping them from the will of God. They are hanging onto many things being
afraid to let go of them and trust Jesus to be all to them. Many believers have barely gotten,
the aroma of the rich enjoyment of God which is available to them today. They stand in the outer court and never enter
into the holy of holies, into the very [Page 167] presence of God, to feast with Him
and enjoy Him, because they are attached to outward, material, earthly
things. Let us lay aside the weights and
the sin which so easily beset us and run the race. If there is something which is keeping you
from entering in, cast it aside. Do not
be encumbered so that you cannot enter.
God will keep those things which, you have entrusted to Him until the
day when He comes, and then He will reward you abundantly for what you have
left behind for His sake.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the
I would like to end this chapter with just a few verses which
show how faithful God is if only we will be, and how much it is His will for us
to enter into His heavenly Kingdom. “And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it” (1 Thess 5: 23, 24). “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may
be blameless in the day of our Lord [Page 169] Jesus Christ. God is faithful” (1 Cor
1: 8, 9). Paul says: “And the Lord shall deliver
me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim
4: 18). “Being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil
1: 6). “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude
24, 25).
* *
*
[Page170]
14
The
Of all that we have been saying the summation is this: In the
beginning God Almighty created the universe, the heavens and the earth and when
He created them they were perfect. Sometime
after that Lucifer, the mightiest angel, rebelled against Him and in so doing
his domain, the part of the universe that God had given to him before his fall,
was corrupted with him. This territory
included the earth. God in His greatness
did not choose to simply snuff out this rebellious angel but He instead devised
another way of defeating him. As part of
His plan to recover the earth back to Himself and to have it again completely
under His authority, He created man as His agent and placed him upon the
earth. His instructions to man were that
he should multiply, fill the earth and have dominion over it. His plan was that man would live in
subjection to His authority and by populating the earth recover it for the
rightful King, the Lord God.
[Page 171] However as we all know, man failed to fulfil this commission. First Adam, then mankind as a whole and later
God’s people the Jews did not measure up to God’s intention. So God sent His Son to redeem those who would
believe and to give them new life, thus enabling them to fulfil His original
purpose. Even though the first man Adam
failed, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, attained the victory over the devil and all of his kingdom.
Today the Spirit of this same Jesus is being poured out into men and
women who are also overcoming Satan.
They are defying him and defeating him in all that he is and all that he
has. And these same people with their
gospel [of the kingdom]
message are today spreading over the entire earth.
Someday soon the Son of God, the righteous King, is going to
return to claim His rightful authority.
At that time the devil will be bound in chains and thrown into the
bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Rev. 20: 1, 2).
During this time Jesus Christ and His faithful followers will set up a
After 1,000 years Satan will be loosed again for a little
while and will gather all the nations together to war against the Lamb and the
holy city. Here the devil and all his forces
will be totally defeated. Then comes the
moment when Jesus the King delivers up the Kingdom to the Father. This is the total fulfilment of God’s
original plan to recover the [this] earth for Himself, all of which has been
accomplished [Page 172] through His Son. After Jesus Christ subjects the whole world
to Himself He will then subject Himself and His Kingdom to the Father that God
might be all in all (1 Cor
15: 24-28). The victory will then
be complete and God’s reigning will be fully established in the whole
universe. This is what is known as the restoration of all things (Mt. 17: 11).
The defeated archangel Lucifer is then cast into the lake of
fire along with all his demons, his angels and those men and women of the world
who followed him instead of the rightful King.
The lake of fire is the garbage dump of the universe where all the
refuse will be cast to be punished and destroyed. Jesus, during His earthly ministry, often
referred to the lake of fire as “Gehenna.” Gehenna was the
garbage dump outside the city
At this time God will dissolve all of the old creation. The heavens and the earth will pass
away. The Bible says of the present
heavens and earth that they will wax old as a garment and as a vesture He will
fold them up (Heb 1: 12). We are also told that they will burn up with
fervent heat (2 Pet 3: 10). Then God in His magnificent omnipotence will
create a new heavens and a new earth.
The new heavens and earth will probably be quite different from what we
know today. Although we will no doubt
recognize them, they will be made of a whole new substance. God says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:
5). When the new earth is
finished the holy city, the [Page 173] New Jerusalem, which God has been
preparing will come down out of heaven to take its proper place upon it. This holy city is composed of God’s
people. It is referred to as the “bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev 21:
9). One day all those who have
been joined in Spirit to Jesus Christ, who have partaken of His life and of His
nature, will join in holy union with the Son of God. Thus the eternal marriage of God’s Son to His
bride will be consummated and we will be with Him as His proper partner,
intimate companion and “helpmeet” forever. What a glorious, joyous
day this will be when the wedding of Christ and the Church is consummated. How holy this occasion is and how much we
today need to be making ourselves ready!
Many Bible expositors and others have considered that this
city is something only physical and in so doing I believe they have missed much
about what God is telling us through the Apostle John’s description of it. Some have made it a cube, the length, height
and breadth of which are equal, and through mathematics have figured out exactly
how many cubic feet of space each one of us will occupy. Surely this is rather silly. The New Jerusalem is a spiritual entity. Individuality and elbow room will not be a
consideration on that day. Actually, the holy city is a mountain. The scripture reads: “But ye are come unto
I’m sorry to disappoint you by telling you that there will be
no mansions there. I’m afraid that many
people have misunderstood the verse in the gospels where Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many
mansions” (Jn. 14: 2).
The word here should be “abodes” or “dwelling places” and is referring 1 believe to the
Christians, the believers. They are the
many dwelling places of God. God is not
primarily making many dwelling places for us.
He is building us many dwelling places into one holy city where He will
dwell and where we will dwell with Him for eternity. We are being “builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2: 22).
Even though God is not making us all big mansions, I guarantee
that you will be extremely happy. To be
part of this holy city will be indescribable satisfaction. Please do not be disappointed and
disillusioned by this but only believe that the things God is preparing are
right and good and eternally satisfying beyond description. There will be no
night there nor any sorrow nor crying for God shall
wipe away all tears from our eyes. We
will dwell there in His presence for eternity.
How glorious this will be!
Another fact that I would like to point out is that there is
not a network of golden streets in this city.
The scriptures tell us that there is one street. There is only one way. This golden pathway winds up the
The wall of this city is great and high and a tremendously beautiful
sight to see. It is into this wall that
we are being builded and it is here that we will probably dwell. We know this because the scriptures refer to
believers as precious stones, and the walls of this city are composed of “all manner of precious
stones” builded together
(Rev 21: 19). Please notice here that the entire city is
transparent. Even though there are
different colours represented (perhaps alluding to the believers’ different
personalities), the whole city of
This fact should speak to us in our
daily lives. On earth today we are
building His holy city. We are involved
in constructing, the eternal habitation of the Most High God and because of
this we should be very careful how we are building. In our individual Christian lives, nothing
should be hidden. God’s desire is to
work in us to remove all the darkness.
In each one of us individually and between each one of us corporately,
God wants to remove the barriers, the walls and the dark areas which hide His
glory - all bitterness, jealousy, hate, strife, suspicion, fear - all these
dark things need to be removed.
This working of the Holy Spirit has very much to do with how
we as Christians are builded together into the habitation of God. He will inhabit a city that is crystal
clear. Let us therefore in our dealings
with God and with one another seek
to live in all clarity and purity. Let
us cooperate with Him in the work which He is doing so that there are no hidden
lies, secret ambitions, covetousness, jealousy, or anything that would mar
these precious gems which God is using to build His eternal dwelling place.
It is interesting that Solomon’s temple when it was built was
constructed in pieces away from the building site. All the stones were first
fashioned completely and then brought together and assembled. We read that when it was put together there
was not heard the sound of a “hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron” (1 Kings
6: 7). This is exactly how God is building His holy temple today. He is fashioning each part here on earth and
when that day comes it will all fit together perfectly. Each separate building is growing into a holy
temple in the Lord (Eph 2: 21). At [Page 177] the end of the Millennium it will all
be assembled and the various parts will fit together smoothly.
We should pause for a moment here to admire gates of the
city. Each gate is one huge, perfect
pearl. Have you entered through the
gates into this city? I tell you that
this pearl is Jesus Christ. He is our
entrance into this eternal community. He
is the pearl of great price for which the merchant when he found it went, and
sold all that he had to buy it (Mt. 13: 46). Would you do the same today? A pearl is formed when a small grain of sand
or other object pricks the side of an oyster.
As this irritation grows the oyster begins secreting juices from its
body to surround the grain of sand and reduce the irritation. So too the side of our Lord Jesus was pricked
for our transgressions and out from that wound came the life-giving flow which
has provided the pearl for us, our entrance into the city. “Blessed are they that wash their robes [apply the cleansing blood of the Lamb], that they may have the right
to come to the tree of life, and may
enter in by the gates into the city” (Rev 22: 14 ASV).
So we see God’s holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out
of heaven from God and being placed upon the new earth where it will abide
eternally. Here God shall “dwell with them, and they
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev.
21: 3). This is the final
fulfilment of all that God has been doing since the beginning. He has been defeating His enemy, securing a
bride for His Son, and calling out a people among whom He can live
forever. This is the everlasting
Kingdom.
When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He was the [Page 178] living manifestation of the
At this time the highest created position in the universe once
entrusted to Lucifer will be filled by men and women who will never take this
position lightly. They are ones who had
to fight for it, who had to overcome rebellion and sin. They were not created and placed into this position
perfect and beautiful as the devil was. No, because they had to attain it
through patience and endurance and because they realize the great price which
was paid for them by the Son of God so that they could enter in, they will
never take their place for granted. They will never again rebel in any way
against the Most High. In God’s wisdom
He conceived this plan and through His power and majesty He is fulfilling
it. Even though some of this process
remains to be completed, in God’s eyes it is finished. These are the words of Jesus when He died
upon the cross and there purchased for us all about which we have been
speaking. In that one act of sacrifice,
“It is finished” (Jn. 19: 30).
[Page 179] In view of all these things perhaps now
we can understand why our Lord taught us to pray as He did: “Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from [the] evil [one]: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Mt. 6:
9-13).
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[Page 180]
CONCLUSION
We live today in a most crucial and difficult time. This “Church Age”
is drawing to a close and the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh. The scripture says that the city of “
I am not claiming that these Jews are today [Page 181] righteous or that God
is somehow pleased with them in their present state. It is when
Messiah Jesus comes again that He will “turn away
ungodliness from Jacob” (Rm. 11: 26).
The point here is that God is doing what He promised and that His second
coming is imminent. The stage is being
set. These things are just signs which
show those who are watching and waiting the importance of the hour. No other time in history has
been so pregnant with turmoil and anticipation.
The Judge is at the door.
Jesus says: “Behold, I come quickly ... to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev 22:
12). The Greek word for “quickly” here does not mean fast, but rather “suddenly.”
Those who are actively seeking Him and waiting eagerly for Him will not
be taken by surprise when He appears.
But to those whose love has grown cold and whose ears have become dull,
He will come as a thief when they are least expecting Him (Lk. 12: 46). What will you he doing when Jesus comes? Will He be pleased to find you in your
present state? If not, then I want to
exhort you as forcefully as I can to repent.
Change your way of living before it’s too late! Repent for the
sake of the Kingdom!
Brethren, the time is short.
We are being called upon to work the works of God while it is daylight,
for night is coming when no man can work (Jn. 9: 4). The Bible tells us that shortly
before the Lord comes there will be a great falling away (2 Thess 2: 3). Although this may not yet be upon us, in its
place among many of God’s people there seems to be a “great
falling asleep.” The message of
this book is: “Awake, awake; the bridegroom
cometh!” It is high
time that we awake out of the sleep of
serving [Page 182] ourselves and make ready for His coming.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, prepare ye the
way of the Lord; make His paths straight!
This message is going
forth for that very purpose, to prepare
God’s children for Jesus’ soon appearing.
Men and women everywhere need to
be getting ready so that they will
be allowed to enter into the coming [Millennial] Kingdom.
The “gospel of the Kingdom,” the
reality of the total rulership of
Jesus Christ [in His manifested glory upon this
earth], must be preached to ALL nations and then
the end shall come (Mt. 24: 14). Surely in
these days [of apostasy],
at the close of this [evil] age, this is the message – [the ‘Gospel’ (good news)] - which is on the Lord’s
heart. Friend, let me
ask you one all-important question. When Jesus comes [to
rule and reign here in righteousness and peace],
will you be waiting and ready? I pray that we all will be.
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights
burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for
their lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and
knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find
watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to
sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or
come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this
know, that, if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of
man cometh at an hour when ye think not:”
- (Lk. 12: 35-40).
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[Page 183]
APPENDIX
Some people may argue against the foregoing assertion that some
of God’s children are going to be punished by claiming that all our sins are
covered by the blood of Jesus. Their
reasoning might go something like this: “Since Jesus’
blood has cleansed me, how could God see my sins and discipline me for them?” The truth is this. The blood of the Lamb in
only effective for those who have genuinely repentant hearts. No insincere Christian can continually
apply the blood and somehow “magically” be
forgiven. Just as no one can say the “sinner prayer” without meaning it in their heart and
be converted, so no [regenerate] believer will he forgiven for what he fully intends
to continue doing
(Heb 10: 29). While we have escaped the wrath of God and
eternal punishment we have
not gotten a blind fool for a [righteous and
holy] Father.
God will no more accept the blood of His most precious Son to relieve insincere believers of their
just reward than He accepted the blood of bulls and goats in Old Testament
times from the hands of the hypocrites. In short, our forgiveness from present sins
(not our eternal destiny) is related to the state of our heart.
Many Christians have been taught that
when they accepted Jesus as their Saviour all their sins were forgiven - past,
present and future. While it is true
that the death of our Lord on the cross was sufficient to atone for the sins of
the whole world, it does not follow that whatever we do from the new birth
onward is automatically covered by His blood.
No doubt we can be forgiven if we repent but Christ’s blood is not a license to sin [wilfully] without [dire] consequences.
Matthew 6, verse 15 states: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.”
This verse and others (such as 1 Jn. 1: 9; Mr. 11: 26; Mt. 18: 35) clearly show that there are some stipulations concerning our
cleansing. The power of the blood is available to us and
it is able to wash away any sin, but we
must come before God with a proper attitude. Hebrews 10: 22
says concerning this: “Let us draw near with a true heart (sincere
hearts, WMS) in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water.”
[Page 184] Please remember that once we have
received the Lord there is no longer any question about our eternal destiny. We have escaped the wrath of God and [relative to] eternal
judgement. Spiritual rebirth puts us
into a whole new category concerning our relationship with God and His with
us. While unbelievers are in danger of the ‘lake of fire,’ [regenerate] believers are not.
We are now His sons. And as such we are now and will be in the
future subject to the corrective measures which He deems necessary to
bring us into conformation to His will.
Another question which may arise is one concerning God’s disciplining us for our
past sins when we appear before the judgement seat. If we have repented, we are forgiven. God
will in no way hold us accountable. However, what we are speaking about here is
not primarily just individual sins but whole life styles. Our reward will be based upon our manner of
living when He appears. If in the past our lives have been shameful but we have repented and
turned again to His way, He will not hold us accountable. On the other hand, if we have lived for Him
for most of our life and then fallen away our present condition will determine
our reward concerning the Kingdom (Ezek. 33: 12-19). “Blessed is that
servant, whom his lord when he comes
shall find so doing” (Mt. 24: 46).
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[Page 184]
PRACTICAL
LISTING OF KINGDOM VERSES
1. Ezek 39: 25-28
2. Isa. 11: 14, 11,
12
3. Isa. 66: 14-20
4. Rev 11: 15
5. Isa. 56: 6-8
6. Lk. 22: 28-30
7. Isa. 2: 2, 3
8. Isa. 4: 3-6
9. Amos 9: 11-15
10.
Ezek. 20: 33-42
11. Ezek. 36: 21-28; 37: 14
12. Jer. 33: 7, 8
13. Isa. 61: 6
14. Zech. 8: 22, 23
15. Ezek. 44: 15-24
16. Jer. 30: 3-11
17. Deut 30: 1-10
18. Dan. 7: 13, 14, 27
19. Jer. 23: 5-8
20. Lk. 1: 31-33
21. 1 Cor. 15: 20-28
22. Rev. 20: 4-6
23. Rev. 5: 9
24. Gen.
35: 10-12;
17: 8
25. Zech. 10: 10
26. Zech. 12: 2-10
27. Isa. 9: 6, 7
28. Zech. 6: 12, 13
29. Zech. 14: 1-9
30. Ezek. 37: 21-28
31. 2 Sam 7: 12-16
32. Lk. 13: 24-29
33. Mt. 19: 27-29
*
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