• revivin

    by Published on 06-21-2015 07:04 PM     Number of Views: 1649 
    1. Categories:
    2. Spiritual Christian Life

    Receive Not the Love of the Truth

    Not receiving the love of the truth is another big cause behind obsession. It is shown in 2 Thessalonians that for those who “received not the love of the truth . . . God sendeth a working of error, that they should believe a lie” (2.10-11). This is indeed a most terrible aftermath. People are obsessed by believing lies. They believe things which are non-existent. Because of their not receiving the love of truth, they just naturally incline towards lies.

    “Buy the truth, and sell it not, yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding” (Prov. 23.23). Truth needs to be bought, that is, a price must be paid. Blessed are we if our hearts are well prepared for the truth of God. We will love the truth and accept it whatever it may cost us. But oftentimes men do not have the love of the truth in them. They distort the truth and even discard it. Finally they actually believe it is not the truth. They proclaim as untrue what is the truth and preach as the truth what is untrue. They seem to do this with confidence. This definitely is obsession. . . .

    Seek Not the Glory That Comes from the Only God

    Not seeking the glory which comes from the only God is also a factor in obsession. “How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?” asks the Lord Jesus (John 5.44). For the sake of coveting glory from men the Jews rejected the Lord and lost eternal life. How very lamentable! This inordinate love of glory from men inclined their hearts to a lie. As a consequence, they believed in falsehood. They became increasingly confident of themselves. They were none other than obsessed. . . .

    “For with thee is the fountain of life: In thy light shall we see light” (Ps. 36.9). It is only by the light of God that we truly see light, that is, see the true character of a thing. The first light is that which enlightens, the second light is the true character which is seen. We need to live in the light of God if we wish to see the true character of a matter. . . .

    Those who know themselves in the light of God know their own selves indeed. If we are not in God’s light we may sin without being conscious of how wicked our sin is, we may fall without being fully aware of how shameful our fall is. We may do a little good outwardly but how deceitful is our inward state. We may show gentleness outside, but who knows how hard we are inside. We may put on a spiritual form, but in our reality we are full of the flesh. When the light of God comes, the true character of these things shall be manifested. We will then see through ourselves; we will confess how blind we were before!

    Herein is the difference between the Old and the New Testaments: in the Old Testament, people know right and wrong by outward law; in the New Testament, we know the true character of a thing by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is possible that we see our fault through doctrine or teaching but even so we have yet to see our fault in the light of God. Knowing our fault through doctrine or teaching is superficial; perceiving our fault in God’s light alone is thorough. This is the meaning of seeing light in God’s light.

    Spiritual reality has this outstanding characteristic, that it bears no mark of time. The time factor vanishes the instant you touch that reality. From the human point of view there is such a thing as prophecy, but from the divine viewpoint no such thing exists. “Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee” (Ps. 2.7). With God it isalways “this day.” Our Lord says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 22.13). He is both together, both at once. It is not that at one time He is first and at another time He is last. He is first and last simultaneously. Nor is it that having been Alpha for some time, He becomes Omega later on. To the contrary, He is Alpha and Omega from eternity to eternity. He is always first and last; and He is always Alpha and Omega. In the sight of man He is not Omega till He is manifested as Omega; but in the sight of God He is Omega now. With man, the past and the future are separate; with God they synchronize. The “I” of yesterday differs from the “I” of today; and the “I” of tomorrow differs further still. But “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, yea and for ever” (Heb. 13.8). God is the eternal “I Am.” It is here that the knowledge of God comes in.

    Our Lord once said, “No one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven” (John 3.13). Note how these two different positions synchronize in Christ. There is no change of time or place with Him. Of God it is written: “the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning” (James 1.17). He is that in himself. He is that in His Christ: He is that in His Church. . . .

    Spiritual progress is not a question of attaining to some abstract standard, not a question of pressing through to some far-off goal; it is wholly a question of seeing God’s standard. Spiritual progress comes by finding out what you really are, not by trying to be what you hope to be. You will never reach that goal, however earnestly you strive. It is when you see you are dead that you die; it is when you see you are risen that you rise; it is when you see you are holy that you become holy. It is seeing the goal that determines the pathway to the goal. The goal is revealed by inward seeing, not by desiring or by working. There is only one possibility of spiritual progress, and that is by discovering God’s facts. Our great need is just to see the truth as Godsees it—the truth concerning Christ, the truth concerning ourselves in Christ, and the truth concerning the Church, the Body of Christ. . . .

    The Church is not a company of Christians working their way heavenward, but a company of Christians who are actually now citizens of heaven. Alas! Christianity in the experience of most Christians is an endeavor to be what they are not, and an endeavor to do what they cannot do. They are always struggling to not love the world because at heart they really love it. They are always trying to be humble because at heart they are still proud. This is the experience of so-called Christianity, but it is not the experience of the Church. The question of deliverance from the world or redemption from sin never arises in the Church, for the Church never had any connection with sin or with the world.

    The Church existed before the foundation of the world and was never in the world, so she has never been touched by the Fall. Alas, the human mind cannot dissociate the thought of sin from the Church. But in the divine mind, there is no relationship between sin and the Church. The Church infinitely transcends all thought of sin: in fact, the Church is the most positive thing in the universe. The Church is Christ. The Church has no connection with sin, and consequently no connection with redemption. Anything that calls for redemption does not belong to the Church. As individual believers, because we were born of Adam, we need redemption. It is not the Church that is redeemed, but we sinners who are redeemed; and being redeemed, we become part of the Church. In our experience the Church exists after redemption, but in the sight of God the Church existed before redemption. Redemption relates to our standing in Adam; the Church relates to our standing in Christ. The Church is the One New Man where Christ is all and in all. The Church is Christ in corporate form.

    The Church is not an organization, not something to beunderstood and attained to; it is something to be seen. When we see the heavenly reality of the Church, then we see our heavenly nature and we know that our starting-point as Christians is not earth but heaven.

    The Church is perfect, perfect beyond any possibility of improvement. Theologians often say: “That perfection is the standing (or position) of the Church; but her state is not so.” Yet in the sight of God there is no imperfection in the Church eternally. Why be bothered by the endless questions that relate to the old creation? They simply vanish when we see the reality of the Church. The Church is the sphere in which God exercises His authority on the earth; and today, even in the midst of a polluted universe, He has a sphere of unsullied purity for His abode.
    by Published on 08-31-2014 02:14 PM     Number of Views: 6415 
    1. Categories:
    2. Millennial Kingdom

    Quote Originally Posted by soterion
    Mark 1:14-15 teaches that the time for the kingdom to be established was fulfilled and that it was at hand when Christ first came, not 2,000+ years later when He will someday return.

    Acts 2:22-36 teaches that Jesus was seated on the throne of David when He was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God.

    1 Corinthians 15:20-28 teaches that when Christ returns, He will deliver up the kingdom to God. The kingdom will not begin on earth when He comes back; rather, it's existence on the earth will end.
    How do you know the "gospel of the kingdom of God" is the 1000 years where Satan "should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled" (Rev. 20.3)? Are not the nations deceived still now with wars and rumors of wars? Whereas “the kingdom of God is righteous and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14.17). "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison" (Rev. 20.7). Was Satan in prison prior to Jesus? or is Satan in prison now with 10,000 children dying every day due to starvation? Overcomers in Christ "shall reign with him a thousand years" (v.6). Who is reigning over the nations now in the highest positions of government (2.26,27) certainly not believers? Could it be Jesus at the right hand of the Father does not mean He is reigning on earth for 1000 years right now?

    Let us review the things we have already seen previously concerning the kingdom of heaven. After the birth of Christ, there comes one who prepares the way for Him. His name is John, and he proclaims that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Lord, together with the apostles whom He sends forth, announce the same news. What does it mean? Later on, as noted in chapters 8 and 9, we see that the Lord heals the sick and casts out demons, and that all these are closely related to the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5-7 speaks of the nature of the kingdom of heaven: which is, that those who belong to this kingdom are absolutely righteous towards themselves, absolutely gracious towards others, and absolutely pure towards God. In Matthew 10 we learn that the Lord sends out His apostles. And in Matthew 11-12 we see that a great transition begins occurring, as though the kingdom of heaven is now being taken away from the Jews.

    Now with regard to the kingdom of heaven found spoken of in Matthew 13, some interpreters have asserted that the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are the kingdom of heaven in mystery. Such an assertion is logically unsound when it is held up against all the things which we have just seen: how that both John and the Lord as well as His disciples proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, how that the Lord then announces the nature or character of this kingdom, and how after He is rejected by the children of Israel He in the thirteenth chapter is found declaring only the outward boundary of this kingdom (what we see in this age being but the outward appearance). So that chapter 13 does not deal with the character or nature of the kingdom of heaven, for this has already been described in Matthew 5-7.

    Some, on the other hand, contend that all who desire to enter the kingdom of heaven mentioned in chapter 13 must possess the character of the kingdom of heaven as laid down in chapters 5-7. This interpretation again is impossible to accept, since in chapter 13 we have presented the tares, the leaven, and so forth as being in the kingdom of heaven. So that this chapter presents to us nothing but the outward appearance of the kingdom of heaven.

    The kingdom of heaven is not the millennial kingdom; it is the reigning in the millennial kingdom. Let us see that the kingdom of heaven has three different aspects.

    (1) An outward appearance, boundary, or scope as is shown to us in Matthew 13.

    (2) A spiritual reality, that is to say, a kind of spiritual conduct which is formed as a result of learning righteousness and grace progressively under the authority of God and which is elucidated for us in Matthew 5-7; and

    (3) A reigning with Christ in the future millennial kingdom as revealed in the fact of our future reward as told to us in Matthew 5-7.

    Accordingly, we must first of all enter into the sphere or boundary of this kingdom of heaven by being sons of the kingdom; then secondly, we need to have the kind of conduct described for us in Matthew 5-7 – which is to have real spiritual conduct; and lastly, as a consequence we may reign with the Lord.

    Today there are three different kinds of people:

    (1) those who have entered within the sphere of the kingdom of heaven and yet unsaved; these are represented by tares.

    (2) those who have been saved and are in the domain of the kingdom of heaven, ye they fail to keep the teaching of Matthew 5-7.

    (3) those who are saved and also keep the teaching of Matthew 5-7; they truly overcome, and therefore in the future they shall reign with the Lord in the third stage or aspect of the kingdom of heaven.

    A Comparison Between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God

    The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are distinguishable but are not separable. Let us consider in some detail these two descriptive phrases found in Scriptures.

    (1) With certain parables Matthew employs the statement “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto . . . “; but Luke uses the words “The kingdom of God is like. . . . “ for the same parables – thus indicating that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are one and the same. Both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven in these parallel instances refer to the outward domain of the kingdom. On this level, it can be said that the outward appearances of both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are alike. Parables such as that of the leaven belong to this category.

    (2) Yet the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are not synonymous with respect to the second aspect of the kingdom of heaven, inasmuch as what is described in Matthew 5-7 speaks of actual overt behavior whereas “the kingdom of God is righteous and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14.17). The one stresses spiritual conduct; the other inner spiritual condition.

    (3) Even so, in the third aspect of the kingdom of heaven is again similar to the kingdom of God since both refer to the matter of reigning during the millennial kingdom.

    Though the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are similar as regards the first aspect, the kingdom of God covers also the time of which the prophets in the Old Testament speak – for whenever the sovereignty of God is present, His domain is there at the same time. But this characteristic is not applicable to the kingdom of heaven.

    With regard to the third aspect, it is true that the kingdom of God is the same as the kingdom of heaven in that both refer to ruling with Christ in the millennium; yet the kingdom of God extends further on into eternity since in eternity God also reigns – but by that time the kingdom of heaven will have passed away. With respect to the third aspect, therefore, the kingdom of God exists longer than the kingdom of heaven.

    In certain sense it can be said that the kingdom of God includes the kingdom of heaven, but not vic versa.

    So far as the outward official history of the church on earth goes today, there can be said to be the Roman Catholic Church, the national churches, and the private churches. The Roman Catholic Church claims that the entire world is under her domain and that no national church is therefore allowed. The national church such as the Anglican Church asserts that every citizen of the nation belongs to the Church. But due to dissatisfaction with the national churches, there came into being the so-called private churches.

    As regards to the outward sphere, as long as people say they are Christians, no one can drive them out of the kingdom of heaven; for the Lord has not promised to weed out the tares today. At communion or the Lord’s Table or the breaking of bread, however, the church may indeed weed out or separate the unsaved and the wicked from the saved ones. So that in the outward appearance of the kingdom of heaven, such as in a national church, unbelieving people may be included therein, but in the sphere of the believing assembly an unsaved person may be excluded from fellowship. This clarifies the two totally different spheres: that of the outward appearance of the kingdom of heaven and that of the church. Within the boundary of the outward appearance of the kingdom of heaven there may be tares; but within the churches the body of Christ there is only wheat no tares.
    by Published on 08-29-2014 01:37 PM     Number of Views: 1477 
    1. Categories:
    2. Partial Rapture

    I believe in the partial rapture, that is, the first rapture is according to readiness like T. Austin Sparks said, "there are advanced parties and harbingers in every sphere." So it was with Elijah and Enoch before the flood, and so shall it be for Daniel's final seven years. The way I prove this to myself is by observing that there is a rapture to "before the throne" (Rev.7.9) before the 1st trumpet of the Tribulation (8.7). I read the Seals as the past 20 centuries, the 7th Seal opening up the 7 Trumpets of the Tribulation, and the 7th Trumpet pouring out the bowls of wrath. The first rapture is conditional based on many more verses than I provide, but especially these 3:

    1. "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matt. 24.40-42).

    A person who is not saved doesn't have Jesus as "his Lord" so this must be speaking to Christians. A Christian can't "watch" to be saved. So this watchfulness pertains to consequence to be taken or left. It is always better to be taken to meet the Lord at the throne in 3rd heaven before the Trib. than to be left to pass through the time of testing.

    2. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21.36).

    Again, told to watch as well as pray. A Christian very likely will be martyred in the Tribulation so watching and praying won't prevent martyrdom. To "stand before the Son of Man" "before the throne" (Rev. 7.9) in 3rd heaven is to be raptured alive. Jews will not be standing before the Son of man unless an individual Jew accepts Christ and overcomes. The only way to escape these things that shall come to pass in the Tribulation is to be raptured beforehand. This is a conditional rapture for the first rapture.

    3. "Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" (Rev. 3.10).

    Do all Christians keep the word of His patience? Are all Christians prayerful and watchful? Nope. Of course not. So the only way to escape the Tribulation, the hour of trial, is to be raptured ahead. This is the first rapture according to readiness - a conditional rapture - the partial rapture.

    I know you might try to disregard this because you are a historicist and not a futurist, but at least try to appreciate that if futurism is true then partial rapture makes more sense given these verses than do pretrib or posttrib onlyism. We can deal with the problem of historicists (posttrib onlyism, preterism, amillennialists, partial preterists, etc.) in one fell swoop by observing Rev. 20.3 which says, "And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." The nations today are very much deceived with wars and rumors of wars still persisting. But in the actual millennial kingdom that will not be the case. Jesus will reign with a rod of iron, certainly not what is happening today.
    by Published on 01-12-2014 02:34 AM     Number of Views: 2141 
    1. Categories:
    2. 2022 to 2029

    The 2015 total lunar tetrad I just found out to my amazement is a Super Blood Moon meaning it is the largest size (20% larger) at the perigee point to earth and it is seen from Israel at Tabernacles. Wow!

    Why should we know when Jesus returns? For the same reason we could count down the days (Dan. 9.24-27) from the declaration to rebuild the Temple (Neh. 2.1) there would be 7 sets of 7 (7 x 7 x 360) to rebuild the Temple then another 62 sets of 7 (7 x 62 x 360) after which the Messiah to be cut off for a total of 173,880 days to the 1st day of the 4 day inspection of the Lamb (March 28, 29, 30, 31) March 28, 33 AD Nisan 10 then Jesus died on the cross on Passover 4 days later on Nisan 14, April 1, 33 AD (Gregorian). Some call this April Fool’s Day to mock Jesus. 7 x 360 = 2,520 days the smallest number divisible by all numbers from 2 to 10 as a basic prophetic working unit.

    Likewise, since the first 4 feasts were on exact predictable days with respect to Christ, the last 3 feasts pertaining to His return are known days also. The best I have been able to surmise is some sort of battle with Israel is going to take place in 2014 or 2015 at the latest like at the 1949/50 Tetrad and 1967/68 Tetrad.

    And so we observe 2,520 days from Feast of Trumpets Sept. 14, 2015 to Tisha B’Av Aug. 7, 2022. Tisha B’Av was when the 1st and 2nd Temples were destroyed.

    However, there is a 7 year preparatory period, so we observe 2,550 days (1260 + 1260 + 30) from Feast of Trumpets Sept. 26, 2022 to Day of Atonement Sept. 19, 2029. In other words, first rapture according to readiness is Sept. 26, 2022 and Jesus steps down on the mount of olives Sept. 19, 2029 (if not on Tisha B’Av, 2029).

    Typically, the meaning of the 1290th day is Jesus steps down on the 1260th day and takes 30 days to the 1290th day to judge the nations.


    Amazing!