People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (II Timothy 3:2)
In the beginning all was Divine Light. But then Satan and other distinguished personages decided they had a right to "be themselves" just as people of today decide to nourish their "rights," their self-will, self-love, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, self-importance, self-joy, self-fulfillment, self-ambition-self! self! self! People are lovers of themselves.
Christian people run here and there exclaiming, "I am not having my needs met. I am not being fulfilled!"
One wonders if the Christians who were being burned at the stake ever questioned if they were having their needs met or if they were being fulfilled!
What about God's needs? What about Christ's needs? Do we ever think about anything except ourselves?
This is the image of Satan in the earth.
Therefore God divided the Word, the eternal Life, and the elect angels from the darkness of self-will. The darkness of self-will never again shall be able to comprehend or associate with the Divine Light-no, not for the eternal ages upon ages. The darkness of self-will, self-centeredness, is doomed to remain bound forever in the joyless, loveless, restless realms of spiritual darkness.
God has wrought a new creation. The new creation springs from the obedient One, Christ. There shall come forth from the body and blood of Christ a company of totally obedient sons-sons who have loved not their lives to the point of death while the poison of self-will was being drawn from them.
They have denied their self, taken up their cross, and followed the Lord Jesus wherever He has led them.
"Your Kingdom come, Your will be done," they cry. "As in Heaven, so in earth." This in place of "I am not having my needs met."
The fallen lords occupy the thrones in the air above the earth. At the appearing of the Lord the victorious saints will be caught up to meet Him in the air. There they will be placed on the governing thrones, the thrones previously occupied by the rebels from Heaven. This is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
Because the spirits who have been seated on the ruling thrones are saints who have been called, chosen, and then proven faithful through countless temptations and tests, they are personages of the utmost integrity and obedience to the Father. Also, the love of Christ for all of God's creatures is in them.
These are God's judges, the new lords of the creation. The spiritual environment of the earth will change from that of rebellion and lust to the righteousness, love, joy, and peace that have been created in the sons of God as they patiently have endured tribulation. God's Presence and Glory will fill the whole earth because of the new rulers in the heavenlies.
The nations of saved peoples of the earth, the nations that assisted the Lord's brothers in their hour of testing, will reflect the new spiritual atmosphere.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
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, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Original Sin, #3
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13,14)
"I will ascend; I will exalt; I will sit; I will ascend; I will be like the most High."
As we have stated, the most difficult aspect of our salvation is the losing of our independence of thought and action in order that we may become one with God and His will.
This does not mean we lose our uniqueness or our will is weakened. Rather it is true that we are joined into oneness with the Father and the Son and our will is always set on doing God's will.
All of Heaven had been filled with Divine Light. The rulers and authorities who today are occupying the thrones in the air that govern the earth were at one time part of the Divine Glory. It prevents us from understanding what actually took place in the heavenlies if we picture the fallen lords as having been created in wickedness.
Insisting on our own will is sufficient to change us from a child of God filled with Divine Light and Life into a horrible monster of darkness and depravity.
The magnificent Satan, the covering cherub, chose to exert his will independently of the Father. Some of the rulers of the spirit realm followed him.
From the original problem of self-will have evolved the various aspects of covetousness, immorality, violence, drunkenness, and sorcery that are filling the earth today.
But the Word, the eternal Life that was with the Father from the beginning and by whom all creatures and things were created, chose to do the will of the Father.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)
Because the Word elected to do the will of the Father rather than to assert Himself, God made many important pronouncements concerning Him-particularly in the Book of Psalms:
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalms 2:6-8)
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalms 45:6,7)
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. (Psalms 110:1,2)
We can be sure these promises, as well as all the other promises of the Scriptures (for they all are directed primarily to Christ), were emphasized by the Spirit of God to the boy of Nazareth as He pondered the holy scrolls and asked questions of the doctors of the Law.
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
"I will ascend; I will exalt; I will sit; I will ascend; I will be like the most High."
As we have stated, the most difficult aspect of our salvation is the losing of our independence of thought and action in order that we may become one with God and His will.
This does not mean we lose our uniqueness or our will is weakened. Rather it is true that we are joined into oneness with the Father and the Son and our will is always set on doing God's will.
All of Heaven had been filled with Divine Light. The rulers and authorities who today are occupying the thrones in the air that govern the earth were at one time part of the Divine Glory. It prevents us from understanding what actually took place in the heavenlies if we picture the fallen lords as having been created in wickedness.
Insisting on our own will is sufficient to change us from a child of God filled with Divine Light and Life into a horrible monster of darkness and depravity.
The magnificent Satan, the covering cherub, chose to exert his will independently of the Father. Some of the rulers of the spirit realm followed him.
From the original problem of self-will have evolved the various aspects of covetousness, immorality, violence, drunkenness, and sorcery that are filling the earth today.
But the Word, the eternal Life that was with the Father from the beginning and by whom all creatures and things were created, chose to do the will of the Father.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)
Because the Word elected to do the will of the Father rather than to assert Himself, God made many important pronouncements concerning Him-particularly in the Book of Psalms:
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalms 2:6-8)
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalms 45:6,7)
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. (Psalms 110:1,2)
We can be sure these promises, as well as all the other promises of the Scriptures (for they all are directed primarily to Christ), were emphasized by the Spirit of God to the boy of Nazareth as He pondered the holy scrolls and asked questions of the doctors of the Law.
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
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Original Sin, #2
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Revelation 12:12)
We must never, however, presume upon the Father's love and patience. When the fullness of time comes, when the last overcomer has laid down his life that God's perfect will may be done in the earth, the righteous angels shall be commissioned to cast down Satan and his followers from the heavenlies.
Then there will be singing and dancing in the heavenlies because the mouth of the accusers of the brothers has been stopped. But woe to the sinners and hypocrites in that day! The wrath of God that has been contained since it came into Satan's mind to set his will against the will of God shall be poured out without mixture. Only those who are under the protection of the blood of the Lamb, Christ, will be spared the terrible Divine wrath.
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:10,11)
Those who worship the Beast and his image include people who, while they may participate in some aspects of Christianity, insist on maintaining their own independence of thought and action. They are self-ruled people. Like Antichrist, they are their own God.
The rebellion in Heaven took place in ages past. But all that is in Satan's personality and the consequences of what is in his personality have not as yet been revealed fully.
The ruling spirits of the heavens that followed Satan into the assertion of their own wills, resulting in the array of abominable behaviors that we see today, were at one time valued members of the family of God. Satan was perfect in all his ways.
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (Ezekiel 28:14,15)
"You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created."
The "iniquity" that was found in Satan and proved to be his downfall was the assertion of his will, his independence of thought and action, his desire to be like God but not part of God.
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13,14)
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
We must never, however, presume upon the Father's love and patience. When the fullness of time comes, when the last overcomer has laid down his life that God's perfect will may be done in the earth, the righteous angels shall be commissioned to cast down Satan and his followers from the heavenlies.
Then there will be singing and dancing in the heavenlies because the mouth of the accusers of the brothers has been stopped. But woe to the sinners and hypocrites in that day! The wrath of God that has been contained since it came into Satan's mind to set his will against the will of God shall be poured out without mixture. Only those who are under the protection of the blood of the Lamb, Christ, will be spared the terrible Divine wrath.
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:10,11)
Those who worship the Beast and his image include people who, while they may participate in some aspects of Christianity, insist on maintaining their own independence of thought and action. They are self-ruled people. Like Antichrist, they are their own God.
The rebellion in Heaven took place in ages past. But all that is in Satan's personality and the consequences of what is in his personality have not as yet been revealed fully.
The ruling spirits of the heavens that followed Satan into the assertion of their own wills, resulting in the array of abominable behaviors that we see today, were at one time valued members of the family of God. Satan was perfect in all his ways.
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (Ezekiel 28:14,15)
"You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created."
The "iniquity" that was found in Satan and proved to be his downfall was the assertion of his will, his independence of thought and action, his desire to be like God but not part of God.
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13,14)
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
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Original Sin
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8)
We may be trusting in the blood of the Lamb. We may be cooperating with the Holy Spirit as He creates the Divine testimony in us. But the most important and the most difficult aspect of the salvation of the sons of God is the losing of our independence of thought and action in order that we may become one with God and His will.
The original sin always is disobedience, not murder, adultery, or covetousness, but disobedience. This is why both Christ and Abraham, and then every member of the governing priesthood, must be tested rigorously in the area of stern obedience to the Father.
Only the Divinely appointed suffering can burn out of us our instinctive rebellion and self-love. Only the flames of tribulation, the suffering found not in Paradise but in this present world, can destroy self-centeredness from us.
God wants us to realize that insisting upon our own will, our own independence of thought and action, is sufficient to change us from a child of God filled with Divine Light and Life into a horrible monster of darkness and depravity.
When the Lord Jesus came two thousand years ago, He gave us an idea of what the Kingdom of God would be like. The Lord exercised the power of the Kingdom in healing the sick, casting out demons, and walking on water.
He at that time could have summoned the legions of powerful angels that perform God's will. He could have brought to an end the agony of earth's people as they wallow in the filth poured on them from the evil spiritual thrones in the air above us.
Christ at once could have at once abolished all sickness, all tragedy, all death.
Why did not the Lord do this? Why did He allow the rebellious lords of the heavens to continue to pollute the earth with their self-will and stubborn determination to frustrate the will of God, thus bringing untold misery upon the nations of the earth for so long a period of time?
The answer is, God is waiting for both righteousness and sin to come to maturity and to be clearly defined. The Father is showing the self-willed former rulers of the heavenlies, as well as the elect angels who chose the Father's will, His perfect wisdom and righteousness.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by [through] the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10)
An example of God's willingness to allow sin to come to full definition occurred in His dealing with Abraham:
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)
"The sin of the Amorites is not yet full, not yet complete."
The Father is exercising His infinite wisdom and patience as He permits sinners, both angelic and human, to keep on proving the wisdom and righteousness of God. Even the Lord Jesus, who has paid the full price for the redemption of all people, must wait until the Father brings the Lord's enemies under His feet.
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
We may be trusting in the blood of the Lamb. We may be cooperating with the Holy Spirit as He creates the Divine testimony in us. But the most important and the most difficult aspect of the salvation of the sons of God is the losing of our independence of thought and action in order that we may become one with God and His will.
The original sin always is disobedience, not murder, adultery, or covetousness, but disobedience. This is why both Christ and Abraham, and then every member of the governing priesthood, must be tested rigorously in the area of stern obedience to the Father.
Only the Divinely appointed suffering can burn out of us our instinctive rebellion and self-love. Only the flames of tribulation, the suffering found not in Paradise but in this present world, can destroy self-centeredness from us.
God wants us to realize that insisting upon our own will, our own independence of thought and action, is sufficient to change us from a child of God filled with Divine Light and Life into a horrible monster of darkness and depravity.
When the Lord Jesus came two thousand years ago, He gave us an idea of what the Kingdom of God would be like. The Lord exercised the power of the Kingdom in healing the sick, casting out demons, and walking on water.
He at that time could have summoned the legions of powerful angels that perform God's will. He could have brought to an end the agony of earth's people as they wallow in the filth poured on them from the evil spiritual thrones in the air above us.
Christ at once could have at once abolished all sickness, all tragedy, all death.
Why did not the Lord do this? Why did He allow the rebellious lords of the heavens to continue to pollute the earth with their self-will and stubborn determination to frustrate the will of God, thus bringing untold misery upon the nations of the earth for so long a period of time?
The answer is, God is waiting for both righteousness and sin to come to maturity and to be clearly defined. The Father is showing the self-willed former rulers of the heavenlies, as well as the elect angels who chose the Father's will, His perfect wisdom and righteousness.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by [through] the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10)
An example of God's willingness to allow sin to come to full definition occurred in His dealing with Abraham:
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)
"The sin of the Amorites is not yet full, not yet complete."
The Father is exercising His infinite wisdom and patience as He permits sinners, both angelic and human, to keep on proving the wisdom and righteousness of God. Even the Lord Jesus, who has paid the full price for the redemption of all people, must wait until the Father brings the Lord's enemies under His feet.
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
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mansions in Heaven, #2
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
Nowhere in the New Testament is it stated that Heaven is the Father's house. But several passages refer to Christ and to us as the eternal Temple of God.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19)
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (II Corinthians 6:16)
Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:5)
Nowhere is it stated that Christ is building fine houses for us in heaven. When Jesus said "I go to prepare a place for you" He was speaking of going to the cross, and then of the sprinkling of His blood in the Presence of God so we may be received into God and become an inseparable part of God and of Christ (Hebrews 9:23,24).
In John 14:3, Jesus promised, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself." This is not the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. John 14:18-23, which is part of the context of John 14:3, shows that the coming referred to here is the coming of the Father and Christ to make Their abode in the believers. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39-43).
To claim that John 14:2 is referring to going to Paradise to live in a splendid house is to remove this verse from its context.
The Greek term translated mansion, in John 14:2, has nothing to do with a structure, whether splendid or dilapidated. The term indicates a place of remaining or abiding.
The Greek noun translated mansion is found but twice in the New Testament: in John 14:2, and again in John 14:23 where it is translated abode.
John 14:23 explains John 14:2. It is we who are the mansions, the chariots of God. It is we who are the places in which God in Christ may find His eternal rest (Psalms 68:18; Isaiah 66:1,2; Hebrews 4:1).
The verb related to the Greek noun we are discussing is employed in John 15:4-7 and John 14:10. It is translated abide .
If we are to be consistent with the use of the English word mansion as the translation of the Greek noun and its corresponding verb, we have the following:
"But the Father that mansions in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10).
"We will come unto him, and make our mansion with him" (John 14:23).
"Mansion in me, and I in you" (John 15:4).
When we die we may, if we are among the saved, go to a beautiful home in Paradise. There is no doubt, according to the teaching of the Scriptures, that the rewards for obedient, faithful discipleship to the Lord Jesus will overwhelm the saint with joy and glory. God knows each of us well and He has prepared our rewards in terms of His personal knowledge of our deepest, strongest desires.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalms 37:4)
Our crowns and other rewards are tailored carefully to us as an individual. They will not be arbitrary riches bestowed on us apart from the intimate knowledge God has of the longings of our personality.
If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart.
No good thing will God withhold from the person who walks uprightly before Him.
Some trustworthy saints have, in their visions, beheld glorious mansions of light in Paradise. We do not doubt their revelations. Our point is not that there are no mansions in Heaven.
Our point is that we should not be preaching that the goal of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven. The thought of Christ building magnificent houses for us in Paradise has no foundation in the Scriptures, either Old Testament or New Testament.
However, the idea that God is building an eternal dwelling place for Himself, of which Christ is the chief Cornerstone and we are living stones, has support in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
The Father's eternal House, His dwelling place, is the Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians are the many places of abode (mansions) of the one House. We are the members of the Body of Christ. (from Mansions in Heaven?; It Is Time for a Reformation of Christian Thinking)
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
Nowhere in the New Testament is it stated that Heaven is the Father's house. But several passages refer to Christ and to us as the eternal Temple of God.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19)
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (II Corinthians 6:16)
Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:5)
Nowhere is it stated that Christ is building fine houses for us in heaven. When Jesus said "I go to prepare a place for you" He was speaking of going to the cross, and then of the sprinkling of His blood in the Presence of God so we may be received into God and become an inseparable part of God and of Christ (Hebrews 9:23,24).
In John 14:3, Jesus promised, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself." This is not the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. John 14:18-23, which is part of the context of John 14:3, shows that the coming referred to here is the coming of the Father and Christ to make Their abode in the believers. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39-43).
To claim that John 14:2 is referring to going to Paradise to live in a splendid house is to remove this verse from its context.
The Greek term translated mansion, in John 14:2, has nothing to do with a structure, whether splendid or dilapidated. The term indicates a place of remaining or abiding.
The Greek noun translated mansion is found but twice in the New Testament: in John 14:2, and again in John 14:23 where it is translated abode.
John 14:23 explains John 14:2. It is we who are the mansions, the chariots of God. It is we who are the places in which God in Christ may find His eternal rest (Psalms 68:18; Isaiah 66:1,2; Hebrews 4:1).
The verb related to the Greek noun we are discussing is employed in John 15:4-7 and John 14:10. It is translated abide .
If we are to be consistent with the use of the English word mansion as the translation of the Greek noun and its corresponding verb, we have the following:
"But the Father that mansions in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10).
"We will come unto him, and make our mansion with him" (John 14:23).
"Mansion in me, and I in you" (John 15:4).
When we die we may, if we are among the saved, go to a beautiful home in Paradise. There is no doubt, according to the teaching of the Scriptures, that the rewards for obedient, faithful discipleship to the Lord Jesus will overwhelm the saint with joy and glory. God knows each of us well and He has prepared our rewards in terms of His personal knowledge of our deepest, strongest desires.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalms 37:4)
Our crowns and other rewards are tailored carefully to us as an individual. They will not be arbitrary riches bestowed on us apart from the intimate knowledge God has of the longings of our personality.
If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart.
No good thing will God withhold from the person who walks uprightly before Him.
Some trustworthy saints have, in their visions, beheld glorious mansions of light in Paradise. We do not doubt their revelations. Our point is not that there are no mansions in Heaven.
Our point is that we should not be preaching that the goal of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven. The thought of Christ building magnificent houses for us in Paradise has no foundation in the Scriptures, either Old Testament or New Testament.
However, the idea that God is building an eternal dwelling place for Himself, of which Christ is the chief Cornerstone and we are living stones, has support in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
The Father's eternal House, His dwelling place, is the Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians are the many places of abode (mansions) of the one House. We are the members of the Body of Christ. (from Mansions in Heaven?; It Is Time for a Reformation of Christian Thinking)
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, July 16, 2010
Mansions in Heaven
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)
The original "blessed hope" of the Christian Church was the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to set up His Kingdom. This is the teaching of the Hebrew Prophets and also of the writers of the New Testament.
Our traditions have changed the original, scriptural hope. We of today are looking for the Lord Jesus to come and carry His Church up to Heaven so the believers can live forever in mansions in the spirit realm. It may shock Christians for us to say so but our traditions in this regard are incorrect and misleading.
The teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ returned to Heaven in order to build mansions for the believers is based on only one verse of Scripture-John 14:2. There is no other verse in the entire Scriptures that so much as suggests that Christ is building mansions for us in Paradise. All experienced saints know we must not base any doctrine, much less a doctrine that establishes the goal of our salvation, on a single verse of Scripture.
John 14:2 is the only verse that appears to support the idea that Christ is building mansions for us in Heaven. In fact, a careful examination of John 14:2 will demonstrate that not even it is suggesting Christ is building mansions for us in Heaven.
In actuality there is not one verse in the Scriptures that states Christ is constructing mansions for the believers in Heaven and that one day He will appear and carry us up to our mansion. This belief may be one of our strongest traditions but it is unscriptural. Furthermore, it has eclipsed the true goal of the Christian redemption-the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
The view of a mansion in Heaven as the goal of salvation actually leads away from the redemptive purposes of God. It contributes to the spiritual immaturity we see all about us.
Let us examine John 14:2 from a contextual standpoint and then in terms of the word mansion.
The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John has much to say about the new covenant fulfillment of the old covenant feast of Tabernacles. Christ is teaching that as the Father dwells in Him, the Father and He desire to dwell in us. In the Father's House (Christ) there is room for us too. In Christ there are many places of abode, of rest, of refuge.
Christ is the House of God. He went to the cross, and then to the Father, in order to prepare a place for us in Himself.
This same idea is repeated in the invitation to abide in Christ (John 15:4-7) and is brought to a climax in the holy prayer of the Lord's that we become an integral part of the Personality of Christ and God (John 17:21-23).
Notice in John, Chapters 14 through 17 that Christ never once speaks of His going to Heaven or of our going to Heaven. We say, no one goes to Heaven except through Christ. Christ says, no one comes to the Father except through Him. There is a difference between going to Heaven and coming to the Father (John 14:6).
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
The original "blessed hope" of the Christian Church was the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to set up His Kingdom. This is the teaching of the Hebrew Prophets and also of the writers of the New Testament.
Our traditions have changed the original, scriptural hope. We of today are looking for the Lord Jesus to come and carry His Church up to Heaven so the believers can live forever in mansions in the spirit realm. It may shock Christians for us to say so but our traditions in this regard are incorrect and misleading.
The teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ returned to Heaven in order to build mansions for the believers is based on only one verse of Scripture-John 14:2. There is no other verse in the entire Scriptures that so much as suggests that Christ is building mansions for us in Paradise. All experienced saints know we must not base any doctrine, much less a doctrine that establishes the goal of our salvation, on a single verse of Scripture.
John 14:2 is the only verse that appears to support the idea that Christ is building mansions for us in Heaven. In fact, a careful examination of John 14:2 will demonstrate that not even it is suggesting Christ is building mansions for us in Heaven.
In actuality there is not one verse in the Scriptures that states Christ is constructing mansions for the believers in Heaven and that one day He will appear and carry us up to our mansion. This belief may be one of our strongest traditions but it is unscriptural. Furthermore, it has eclipsed the true goal of the Christian redemption-the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
The view of a mansion in Heaven as the goal of salvation actually leads away from the redemptive purposes of God. It contributes to the spiritual immaturity we see all about us.
Let us examine John 14:2 from a contextual standpoint and then in terms of the word mansion.
The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John has much to say about the new covenant fulfillment of the old covenant feast of Tabernacles. Christ is teaching that as the Father dwells in Him, the Father and He desire to dwell in us. In the Father's House (Christ) there is room for us too. In Christ there are many places of abode, of rest, of refuge.
Christ is the House of God. He went to the cross, and then to the Father, in order to prepare a place for us in Himself.
This same idea is repeated in the invitation to abide in Christ (John 15:4-7) and is brought to a climax in the holy prayer of the Lord's that we become an integral part of the Personality of Christ and God (John 17:21-23).
Notice in John, Chapters 14 through 17 that Christ never once speaks of His going to Heaven or of our going to Heaven. We say, no one goes to Heaven except through Christ. Christ says, no one comes to the Father except through Him. There is a difference between going to Heaven and coming to the Father (John 14:6).
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
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