When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)
The Lord Jesus will come both in and with His saints. In the spiritual sense, Jesus is here now. He is building His Church. His second coming, in one sense, will be as that of a person returning from afar but in another sense will be a bodily manifestation of what already is here.
In a sense, the coming of the Lord actually will be the manifestation of the Lord. We know from the Scriptures that Christ is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. We understand also that He is both in and with His saints today. Christ dwells in us, and He also abides with us and works with us, strengthening us and confirming His Word with signs following.
The Lord Jesus is in Heaven but He also is here on the earth wherever two or three are gathered together in His name. Those who are diligently seeking Him know He dwells in us and will walk with us until the close of the present age.
If such is the case, if Christ dwells in and walks with His saints on the earth, then the coming of the Lord will be, to a certain extent, the making visible of the Lord.
Christ came to earth two thousand years ago, was crucified, and then was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. After that, He ascended to Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. The physical body of Christ is there in Heaven at the right hand of God.
But Christ returned immediately in the Holy Spirit, for He said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).
Mark verified this:
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20)
We could maintain that the Lord sat in Heaven and worked with the Apostles from there. This undoubtedly is true. Our point is, however, that Heaven and earth are so close that the Lord Jesus is present among us and with us at all times. It is inaccurate to envision the Lord as being beyond the stars while we humans are left (even though we have the Holy Spirit) to carry out His commands as best we can. In fact, it is the idea of the Lord's being far away while we build the Kingdom of God that has caused us to place the head of man on the Body of Christ.
We understand that Christ is in Heaven at the right hand of God. We know also that there will come a point in time at which He will descend to the earth and sit on the Throne of David in the earthly city of Jerusalem. These facts are essential to our understanding of the Kingdom of God.
To be continued.
We extend permission to make as many copies of this essay as you need, in both paper and electronic formats. Please include the following statement of copyright:
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Trumpet Ministries Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
God's Intention Is Being Thwarted
And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter: (Ezekiel 13:9,10)
The mainspring is broken.
God's intention has been thwarted.
In many instances the Gospel no longer is producing godly people.
The false doctrines of "free grace" and the any-moment pre-tribulation "rapture," because of the false sense of security they engender, have brought much confusion and caused many believers to lapse into sin.
The secular governments have lost their moral direction because the "light of the world," the good works of Christ's believers, has been extinguished.
If we do not have widespread repentance on the part of God's people, a return to godly living and godly preaching, our nation is doomed.
The preachers of today have stressed Divine grace as an alternative to godly living, claiming that if a person "confesses Christ" he is saved whether or not he lives a righteous life. What can such teaching do other than destroy the moral strength of the churches?
The teachers of today have stressed the building of churches and large numbers of people in attendance rather than the moral transformation of the believers. What can we expect other than the fleshly, self-willed congregations we now have?
The terror of the Lord has departed from us. We do not work out our own salvation with fear and trembling We believe we need have no fear of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Is it any wonder sin abounds?
The ministers of today are preaching "Slip up your hand, let Jesus into your heart," instead of "Repent!" We have changed the Gospel message. People get "saved"without repenting, which is to say they get "healed" without being healed.
We are assuming that every person who makes a profession of Christ will rise to meet Him in the air at His appearing. We are not doing what Paul commanded. We are not seeking to know the power of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
We are ignorant of the need to overcome, assuming that all the rewards assigned to the overcomer will be given to the defeated believer on the basis of "grace."
We are assuming that eternal life, glorification, and all the rewards to the victorious saint are imputed (ascribed) to us whether or not there is any effort or change on our part.
We are emphasizing we are saved by faith alone apart from any actual transformation of personality, any new creation. "The just shall live by faith" has come to mean if we believe the facts of redemption-facts known to be true by the demons-we will go to Paradise when we die.
We think it is acceptable for us leave Moses and yet not marry Christ, remaining a spiritual single bound by no law.
We view the Christian salvation as a device to save the unchanged natural man and to bring him to a spiritual-material paradise on the basis of "grace."
None of the above is true. None of the above is of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
The true salvation, the only true Divine redemption, takes place as the believer enters the atoning death of the Lord Jesus and His triumphant resurrection. Flesh and blood cannot possibly enter the Kingdom of God. It is only as we change from a mortal soul to a life-giving spirit that we enter the Kingdom of God.
Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent we possess Him in our personality we possess salvation and all the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the sons of God. The part of our personality that is not of the Lord Jesus is corrupt and will still be corrupt in the Day of the Lord. (from The Mainspring)
We extend permission to make as many copies of this essay as you need, in both paper and electronic formats. Please include the following statement of copyright:
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Trumpet Ministries Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The mainspring is broken.
God's intention has been thwarted.
In many instances the Gospel no longer is producing godly people.
The false doctrines of "free grace" and the any-moment pre-tribulation "rapture," because of the false sense of security they engender, have brought much confusion and caused many believers to lapse into sin.
The secular governments have lost their moral direction because the "light of the world," the good works of Christ's believers, has been extinguished.
If we do not have widespread repentance on the part of God's people, a return to godly living and godly preaching, our nation is doomed.
The preachers of today have stressed Divine grace as an alternative to godly living, claiming that if a person "confesses Christ" he is saved whether or not he lives a righteous life. What can such teaching do other than destroy the moral strength of the churches?
The teachers of today have stressed the building of churches and large numbers of people in attendance rather than the moral transformation of the believers. What can we expect other than the fleshly, self-willed congregations we now have?
The terror of the Lord has departed from us. We do not work out our own salvation with fear and trembling We believe we need have no fear of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Is it any wonder sin abounds?
The ministers of today are preaching "Slip up your hand, let Jesus into your heart," instead of "Repent!" We have changed the Gospel message. People get "saved"without repenting, which is to say they get "healed" without being healed.
We are assuming that every person who makes a profession of Christ will rise to meet Him in the air at His appearing. We are not doing what Paul commanded. We are not seeking to know the power of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
We are ignorant of the need to overcome, assuming that all the rewards assigned to the overcomer will be given to the defeated believer on the basis of "grace."
We are assuming that eternal life, glorification, and all the rewards to the victorious saint are imputed (ascribed) to us whether or not there is any effort or change on our part.
We are emphasizing we are saved by faith alone apart from any actual transformation of personality, any new creation. "The just shall live by faith" has come to mean if we believe the facts of redemption-facts known to be true by the demons-we will go to Paradise when we die.
We think it is acceptable for us leave Moses and yet not marry Christ, remaining a spiritual single bound by no law.
We view the Christian salvation as a device to save the unchanged natural man and to bring him to a spiritual-material paradise on the basis of "grace."
None of the above is true. None of the above is of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
The true salvation, the only true Divine redemption, takes place as the believer enters the atoning death of the Lord Jesus and His triumphant resurrection. Flesh and blood cannot possibly enter the Kingdom of God. It is only as we change from a mortal soul to a life-giving spirit that we enter the Kingdom of God.
Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent we possess Him in our personality we possess salvation and all the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the sons of God. The part of our personality that is not of the Lord Jesus is corrupt and will still be corrupt in the Day of the Lord. (from The Mainspring)
We extend permission to make as many copies of this essay as you need, in both paper and electronic formats. Please include the following statement of copyright:
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Trumpet Ministries Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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