Session
Nine
Watching There Unto with all the Saints
Ephesians 1:16-2:22
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More
than 700 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah was able
to look into the future and prophesy, "And it shall come to pass in
the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be
established in the top of the mountains . . ." (2:2). A younger
contemporary of Isaiah, Micah, prophesied about the same event:
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established . . ."
(4:1). The phrases, "in the last days" and "the mountain
of the house of the Lord" have always sparked the quest to
understand the establishment of the "mountain of the house of the
Lord" and exactly when it would occur.
Daniel, several years after Isaiah and Micah, revealed the dream of the
king of Bablyon, again spoke of "a great mountain [that would fill]
the whole earth" (2:35). In the interpretation, the
"mountain" is revealed to be the coming kingdom of God
"which shall never be destroyed" and "stand for
ever." The interpretation, also, revealed when it would be
established. God would destroy the kingdoms of men and establish His own
kingdom by sending His Son into their world. Daniel told the king:
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image,
whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form
thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast
and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of
iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a
stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet
that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and
the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the
stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth. (Dan. 2:31-35)
After revealing that the head of fine gold represented the king of
Bablyon, Daniel proceeded to reveal how the kingdoms of men would
degenerate from brilliance to drabness, from strength to weakness. The
golden age of man declined through silver, brass, iron, and finally to a
mixture of iron and clay until it would be broken and scattered by the
wind. And in the aftermath, "shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed . . . and it shall stand for
ever" (2:44). Daniel’s interpretation of the coming kingdom of
God set the standard for Israel’s prophets in the following centuries.
They also prophesied of the coming Messiah (the anointed One) to
establish His reign of peace, joy, and righteousness in the kingdom of
God. For Daniel and all the succeeding prophets, the establishment of
God’s kingdom would be the consummation of the ages.
The expectation of the long awaited Messiah who would come to destroy
evil and establish a kingdom of righteousness began in the days of
Abraham, patriarch of the Jewish nation. Long before the people of
Israel began to conceive of themselves as a nation, God spoke to
their father Abram:
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:1-3).
God promised a great nation would come to Abraham and his
descendants. The nation would be blessed by God. He would not only bless
the descendants of Abraham, but he promised to bless the people that
would honor and revere the nation that God would establish. He also
promised to curse the people who would curse this nation. This promise
of God to Abraham forever produced in his descendants the expectations
of a coming kingdom of God that would be blessed and protected by God
Himself.
The descendants of Abraham have never been confused by the fact that God
had promised a coming kingdom of peace, prosperity, and justice. The
wrongs of evil would be punished and the righteousness of the good would
be rewarded. This expectation and hope has grounded the people of
God for centuries.
The confusion occurs as to when this promised kingdom would be
experienced in all of its glory. The descendants of Abraham, during the
time of David, knew without question that they were experiencing the
realized kingdom, the fulfillment of the promise of God to their father
Abraham. Their hopes and dreams of experiencing the glory of the kingdom
that would never end were shattered, however, when the kingdom of Israel
under David began to deteriorate.
The Northern ten tribes of Israel were eventually defeated and deported
by a foreign power. They would never be heard from again. When the holy
city and the holy Temple were destroyed in the south, the destruction of
the glory of the kingdom of David was completed.
During Israel’s captivity that followed the fall of the southern
kingdom, the prophets held to their belief and with visionary zeal
proclaimed that the promise of God was still true. There would be a
kingdom of God that would not be destroyed. It would stand forever. This
latter house of the Messiah, which will have no end, would be greater
than the former house of David, which came to an end. Many of the
descendants of Abraham are still waiting in expectation for the
establishment of that kingdom.
After the advent of Jesus with its renewed emphasis on the kingdom of
God, the Christian church eventually, around the year of 500 A. D, came
to believe that the physical presence of the organized church was the
promised kingdom of God. The material and temporal kingdom of Roman
Catholicism became the fulfillment of the expectation of that kingdom.
With its desire to spread peace and justice, the visible church spread
throughout the world with the hope of bringing the righteousness of God
to the world.
Many in Catholicism still believe that they are the physical
manifestation of the kingdom of God promised to their father of faith,
Abraham. But, many within the Roman church have also had their dreams
and hopes shattered. They have accepted that the visible church has
fallen far short of the promised kingdom of peace, joy, and
righteousness. Many participants today in Roman Catholicism are again
waiting in expectation for the fulfillment of the realized kingdom of
God.
After the Reformation, primarily led by Luther and Calvin, the emphasis
of the visible church in Protestantism turned to the experiencing of God
in the individual’s life. The birth of modern day denominationalism
gave rise to a diversity of ways to explain how believers were to
experience their salvation in this life. With their time being taken by
defending and promulgating correct doctrinal beliefs, the various
factions in Christendom lost sight of the realized kingdom of God. The
importance of experiencing the kingdom of God and the preaching of Jesus
to come and establish that kingdom was gradually replaced with a focus
upon a heaven and a hell in the next life.
It was not until the beginning of the 20th Century that a renewed
interest in the physical kingdom of God being established on earth came
to the forefront of man’s thinking. With the rise of conservative
Biblical scholarship, a rekindled emphasis on the last days became
prominent. This modern revival of the last days began when a group of
Christians around the turn of the century began to interpret a biblical
concept of history. It was suggested that the entire history of man
would eventually come to its consummation with the end of the present
world and the beginning of a new world. They would later become known as
premillenialists, because their emphasis was upon the return of Jesus to
rapture the church into heaven before the literal 1,000 years physical
reign of Jesus on earth. This "second" coming of Christ for
the raptured church would be established as the "realized"
kingdom of God in all of its glory. Most conservative and fundamental
Christians today are waiting for Jesus to come and establish this
physical kingdom of peace, joy, and righteousness upon the earth.
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Session
Ten
Take Unto You the Whole Armor of God
Philippians 1:1-2:11
|
A
human being is a creature of two different worlds. He is a flesh and
blood body that has been quickened by the breath of life, the Spirit of
God. Since the body is inanimate material, it has to be infused with
life by a force outside of itself. The spiritual has to penetrate the
physical before life can be experienced by that which has no life.
From the planting of a seed to the coming forth of the kingdom of God
among men, the miracle of this life is consistent with the events of its
mystery. The kingdoms of men, as in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream, must be broken into pieces before the means of their annihilation
(the coming of Christ) spreads forth in a great nation of God filling
the whole earth. The outward husk of the seed must be destroyed before
the essence of new life within can come forth in its glory. The coming
forth of the miracle of life within the created world always comes forth
in the labor pains of physical death--the dying to something in the
earthly domain.
The moment of time when the essence of the Spirit would break forth out
of the flesh, came to be known in the prophecies of the Old Testament
and the teachings of the New Testament as the "Day of the
Lord." It was a special time, a special day when God’s will and
purpose in the created world would be fulfilled.
It is not only the process of the new life for the individual, but it
is also the way in which God brings about His will and purpose in the
world. As in Daniel’s interpretation of the dream of the king of
Babylon, it always has both judgment for the physical world and
restoration of the spiritual realm. It always depicts the end of a
present age and the coming of a new age.
The prophet Amos was probably the first to use the phrase, the
"Day of the Lord:" "Woe unto you that desire the day of
the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is
darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear
met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a
serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be
darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?"
(5:18-20). Amos is speaking of the judgmental aspect of this special
time of God that eventually would bring restoration. The physical world
of man’s existence must come down before restoration.
The prophet Joel gave both the judgment and the restoration of the day
of the Lord. The Lord spoke through Joel and said, " ye shall know
that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and
none else . . . I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day
of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call
on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in
Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the
remnant whom the LORD shall call." (Joel 2:30-32). Those who would
call on the name of the Lord in the midst of this judgment and be
restored to newness of life, would do so because the Lord said, "I
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall
see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those
days will I pour out my spirit" (Joel 2:28,29). The Lord further
promised the restored remnant, "ye shall eat in plenty, and be
satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you . . . And ye shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none
else: and my people shall never be ashamed" (Joel 2:26,27).
When Peter quoted the prophecy of Joel to explain what was happening to
the followers of Jesus on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost, he
understood that out of the judgment of the nation of Israel was coming a
new nation. The present age of the physical nation of God was giving
birth to a new age. The power, the glory, and the honor of the new
kingdom of God was being experienced. By the Holy Spirit, this new
nation was being infused with the life of God, Jesus Christ, the
"Day of the Lord."
A few hours before His death, Jesus told his disciples that He was going
to have to leave them. Then, He said, "I will come again."
(John 14:3). When Jesus was taken up into the heavens by the Father, two
men in white apparel told the disciples who were witnessing the
ascension, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall come
again in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts
1:11).
The return of Christ is probably the most dominant theme in the New
Testament, especially if importance is measured by the number of times a
subject is mentioned. The return of Jesus is referred to over 300 times.
The expectancy of the coming of Christ is found in every letter and book
of the New Testament.
Peter wrote, "That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:7). James inscribed, "Be ye also
patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth
nigh" (James 5:8). Paul recorded, "And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (1 Thess. 5:23). John penned, "And now, little
children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming" (1 John
2:28). Jude communicated , "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of his saints" (Jude 14). Finally, the Bible closes it
record with, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22.20).
Jesus Himself talked of his return: "I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also" (John 14:2,3). He added, "I will not leave you
comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18). Finally, He stated,
"Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again
unto you" (John 14:28).
There are three key words that were used by the early followers of Jesus
when they talked of the coming of Christ. The most dominant of the three
words is usually translated "coming." Surprisingly, it is not
translated from the word meaning, "to come" or "to
go," as if you are in one place and need to go to another place.
The key word that is most often used to translate the "coming of
Christ" means, "a being near." The King James Version
translates the original word as "coming" and
"presence." The coming of Christ is to experience the nearness
or presence of Christ.
The second most often used word in the "coming of Christ" is
translated from the word meaning, "disclosure." The root of
this word means, "to take off the cover, i.e. disclose." It is
translated by the King James Version as "appearing,"
"coming," "lighten," "manifestation,"
"be revealed," and "revelation." The coming of
Christ is the disclosure of Christ. The original word is where we get
our word apocalypse. The revelation of Jesus Christ came to be
understood in the apocalyptic events of the destruction of the present
evil age to usher in the future good new age--the Day of the Lord. Thus,
the last book of the New Testament is the "Revelation" of
Jesus Christ--the apocalypse of Jesus Christ.
The third word used in the "coming of Christ" is translated
from a word meaning, "a manifestation." It is translated by
the King James Version as "appearing" and
"brightness." As Paul wrote, "then shall that Wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess 2:8).
Wickedness is always "rendered entirely useless" (destroyed)
by the manifestation (brightness) of his presence (coming).
The early followers knew that Jesus had promised that He would return to
them. He had said, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come
to you." They believed that Jesus had not only returned to them by
the Holy Spirit on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, but they also believed
that the revelation of His presence would be manifested
every time the present condition of life needed to be brought to an end
and a new beginning experienced. They knew Jesus would come into their
world and save them. They lived their lives in the expectancy of the
coming of Christ.
When Paul was in Athens because he had been forced to leave Thessalonica
by envious nonbelievers, he wrote back to the Thessalonian disciples and
raised a penetrating question. In the midst of persecution and
affliction (an apocalyptic event), he asked them, "for what is
our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?" (1 Thess. 2:19). He
answered the question for them: "Are not even ye in the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" (1 Thess. 2:19).
Then, simply stated, "For ye are our glory and joy." [1 Thess.
2:20). Experiencing the manifestation of Jesus Christ in their
relationship, the nearness of Christ had produced such glory that in the
midst of the afflictions, Paul was experiencing hope and joy. Is it any
wonder then that the early followers continually lived in the expectancy
of Jesus--the coming of Christ?
We, too, should live in the expectancy that in every "Day of the
Lord," in every crisis that life brings our way, Jesus will come to
bring restoration. As the old is being brought to its end, the new will
be ushered in by the coming of Christ. It is the glory of the moment
when new life is revealed--the special manifestation of His presence.
This is the eternal hope of every believer in Christ. It is the miracle
of new life bursting forth out of the dying of the old--the moment of
all things created experiencing the life giving presence of the coming
of Christ.
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Session
Eleven
The Ending of an Age
Matthew 24:1-28
|
In
spite of technological progress, increased years of life expectancy, and
many other advances of human existence, the future will judge the 20th
century as one of the darkest hours in human history. With two major
world wars, 18 minor conflicts, and 147 other military hostilities
killing 61,000,000 people (42 million soldiers and 19 million
civilians), the past century saw very few days that life’s blood was
not flowing from the veins of humanity. As alarming as the aftermath of
war has been, it pales in comparison to the 83,000,000 victims of
genocide in the past century. The Holocaust of 5-6 million Jews and the
recent massacre (1994) of 915,000 people of Rwanda in 100 days sadly
represents a very small number of the total killed simply because they
were of a particular culture or race. Add to that total 44,000,000
people who died from starvation produced in large part by man-made
famine, the 20th century has a staggering total of
188,000,000 people killed by acts of aggression.
There is more. Since 1981, there have been 11,700,000 deaths attributed
to Aids, since 1970. There have been 29,247,142 legal abortions in the
United States alone, 13,000,000 died from influenza in 1918-1919, from
1900-1999, 3,500,000 died from floods, earthquakes, and volcanos, and
from 1900-1999, 8,500,000 murders have been committed. If that was not
enough, it is estimated by the Institute of Medicine that up to 98,000
Americans die unnecessary every year from medical mistakes made by
health care professionals.
The question could be raised, "Are these the signs of the time for
the soon coming apocalyptical end of the world?" Are these the
answer to the question raised by the disciples of Jesus, "What shall
be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matt.
24:3). Are these signs of the time announcing the soon coming physical
return of Jesus Christ? Many believe they are.
But, are they? Has the past century faced a more difficult time than any
other century?" Has this generation experienced "great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be?" (Matt. 24:21). Are these events so
unique that they are the "beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:8)
that will usher in the end?
Out of the pages of history comes a voice which again staggers the mind
with its tale of another dark hour. There are similar circumstances of
the atrocities of the 20th century, perhaps, even more
devastating. It is the 14th century. Widespread wars,
genocide, pestilence, and natural disaster destroyed perhaps more people
based upon percentage of population (over 6 billion in the 20th
century compared to around 400 million in the 14th century).
The terrors of the night once again wreak worldwide destruction in the
lives of humanity.
The first part of the century all of Europe was in regional conflict and
feuds. During the middle of the century, the longest war in history
began. The 100 years war between France and England had 185,250
battlefield losses and by its end the population of France had decreased
by one-third. The flow of blood across Europe brought widespread loss of
life.
The Black Death (bubonic plague) in a relative short period of time
spread across the entire continent of Europe and Asia. The people of
entire cities and town died. During the years of 1347-1351, about
75,000,000 perished from the disease. The loss of life has been
estimated to be as high as one-third to one-half of the total
population.
Although they did not know the term "genocide," the killing of
innocent people was also prevalent during the 14th Century.
The most notorious was Genghis Khan’s killing of 35,000,000 Chinese. A
conquering Turkic warlord slaughtered an estimate 1,000,000. In 1398,
5,000,000 were massacred in India. Thousands of Jews were burned to
death as a scapegoat for the Black Death, plus over 140 Jewish
communities were destroyed killing thousands more by the Crusade of
1320. During the peasant uprising, 7,000 were killed in France and 1,500
were executed in England. The warriors of the 100 years war, when they
were not fighting for England or France, plundered the countryside,
killing and raping, because they had no other means of support.
The visible church was also in turmoil. Debating over the proper
theocratic rule of the church, a Pope was ordained by France as being
the authentic heir of the Papacy. The debate went on for several years
between the Pope in Rome and the Pope in France. Finally, a compromise
Pope was selected, but the Popes in Rome and France would not give up
their claim as the head of the church. So, there were three Popes. While
people were dying by the millions, the church kept arguing over who was
the legitimate heir of Peter.
Toward the end of the century, a commission was formed by the church to
study the Scriptures to discern what was happening during the 14th
century. Since there were so many atrocities (Black Death, continual
wars, peasant revolts, the killing of millions of innocent people, and
over 140 devastating earthquakes), the church wanted to know if these
events were the "sign of [His] coming and the end of the
world." After examining the Scriptures and comparing the events of
the time, their conclusion, not surprisingly, was that it was the
beginning of the end of the world. They predicted the soon coming of
Christ. They were sure the time had come.
Were the events of the 14th century the signs of the end of
time? Obviously, they were not. The 14th century passed and
the 15th, the 16th, the 17th and to our
present day, the 21st. In comparison to the 20th
and the 14th centuries, there is another event in history,
which is even more catastrophic in proportion of human suffering and
death. In 70 A.D., the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, which
effectively brought to its end the nation of Israel, was, perhaps, man’s
darkest hour.
In the complete annihilation of this single city, there were over
1,000,000 Jews slaughtered. The number is high because the sieging
armies of Rome permitted over 1,500,000 Jews to enter the city for the
Jewish Passover observance. They were permitted into the city, but were
not allowed to leave, which created difficulty of sustaining food for
the besieged city. Before the end, some of the people were killing their
own children for food.
If the besieging armies of Rome outside the walls of Jerusalem was not
enough, the defense of the city was split between three rival factions.
Although a common enemy was about to overrun the city from without,
years of tension between the sects escalated into hatred, betrayal and
killing of their own people.
With paralyzing fear gripping the people, they became susceptible to the
charismatic pleading of would-be saviors of the nation. These self-made
zealots, claiming to be the spokesman for God, would come among the
people and convince some that they could lead them out of the impending
destruction of their world. Although these champions of the people
offered hope and escape, their hope soon turned to despair and their
would-be escape hastened their death. Each, with their followers, either
fell to the sword of Rome or the savagery of their own people.
Enemies without and enemies within, the people of the city were in total
disarray. There would be few survivors. Those who managed to escape the
hungry, the sword, and the fires of the city as it was being burned to
the ground were carried off into captivity. The destruction was
complete. What once was a thriving city, the commerce, the religious and
cultural center of the nation of Israel, was no more. The people, except
for a few, were exterminated.
It seems that through the ages of time there have always been certain
eras that could only be labeled as dark nights of the human experience.
When these terrors of the night occurred, the visible church has
historically failed to meet the needs of the people. Often a lollipop is
offered (an emotional laden experience, a graphic description of the
suffering of Christ, or a futuristic presentation of glory and power) to
attempt to take the minds of people off the hardships of their time.
Frequently, a band-aid is provided (challenges to become all you can be,
discovering a purpose for your existence, or taking a bold plan of
action) to try to bring relief to the struggles of life. Very seldom is
the final solution given.
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Session
Twelve
The Beginning of a New Age
Matthew 24:29-51
|
The
first recorded words of Jesus when He began His ministry were: "Now
after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel"
(Mark 1:14-15). Matthew recorded, "From that time Jesus began to
preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
and "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom . . ." (Matt.
4:17,23).
The preaching by Jesus of this kingdom was so powerful that the people
who heard Him speak desired that He would remain with them. The response
of Jesus to their request was, ". . . I must preach the kingdom of
God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent" (Luke 4:43).
Luke would add, "And it came to pass afterward, that he went
throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God" (8:1). Jesus stated that "this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all of the world for a
witness unto all nations . . ." (Matt. 24:14). The preaching of the
kingdom of God by Jesus was so prevalent that there are fifty-eight
references to the kingdom in the gospel of Matthew alone.
The longest recorded message contained in the Scriptures is where the
principles of the kingdom of God that were given by Jesus. This Sermon
on the Mount is a powerful discourse on how the kingdom of God would be
experienced. The kingdom of God would be so revolutionary to the kingdom
of men that Jesus taught his disciples to pray continually, "Our
Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:9-10).
The last recorded words of Jesus just before He ascended, as recorded in
Acts, were ". . . speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God" (Acts 1:3). The Acts also recorded that Philip preached
". . . things concerning the kingdom of God . . ." (Acts 8:12)
and Paul "spake boldly . . . disputing and persuading the things
concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts 19:8). Finally, the Acts
closed its record: "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired
house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of
God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with
all confidence, no man forbidding him" (Acts 28:30-31).
During the preaching of Jesus, He spoke so much about the kingdom of God
that finally the Pharisees demanded, ". . . when the kingdom of God
should come" (Luke 17:20). The response of Jesus to their demand is
perhaps the most precise teaching on experiencing the kingdom of God
contained in the Scriptures. It is a powerful discourse on the mysteries
of the kingdom and the reign of God in the lives of believers.
The first and most difficult aspect of the mysteries of the kingdom is
given to the Pharisees when they asked when the kingdom of God should
come. Jesus simply stated, "The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation" (Luke17:20). The kingdom of God would not be seen.
Perhaps, they were thinking that the kingdom of God would be like the
kingdoms of men--physical, earthly, and experienced through the senses.
Jesus stated that it would not be seen by the natural eye.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or,
lo there! for, behold the kingdom of God is within you"
(Luke17:21). With the emphasis being "among" you (plural) as
opposed to being within an individual, Jesus is again revealing a
mystery of the kingdom of God. How do physical people with natural
senses experience the spiritual realm of a supernatural existence? How
do flesh and blood people experience the kingdom of God, when Paul
stated that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God" (1 Cor. 15:50)?
When an individual enters into a relationship with another person (be it
superficial or intimate), a third entity is formed between the two flesh
and blood people. It is within this incorporeal existence of the
connection between the two that the kingdom of God is experienced. Jesus
stated that the kingdom of God is among you, or in the midst of you.
The second great mystery of the kingdom of God and perhaps as difficult
for the rational mind to grasp is illustrated in Jesus’ next statement
concerning the kingdom of God. After addressing the Pharisees, He stated
to His disciples, "The days will come, when ye shall desire to see
one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it"
(Luke17:22). First, it should be pointed out that days is plural
in both the "days will come" and the "days of the Son of
man." There will not only be many times in the life of an
individual that he will desperately desire for Jesus to break through
into his life, but there will also be numerous times when Jesus will
come to bring salvation for the desperate soul. The early followers of
Jesus never saw the second coming of Jesus as a single day in the future
when He would return, but that He would come whenever the need for Him
to come was apparent.
The coming of Jesus into the lives of people would occur only after
certain things had transpired. Many would desire to see Jesus break
through immediately in a special way in difficult times, but will not be
able to see it even though they desire it. Or, as Paul would later say,
Jesus does not come until the man of sin has been revealed (2 Thess.
2:1-4).
All dependency upon anything earthly must come to an end before an
individual can experience the heavenly. As Daniel would also say, the
kingdoms of men must come down before the kingdom of God can come forth
in its full glory (Dan. 2:35). This is also the reason why Paul would
state, "we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your
patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye
endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of
God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye
also suffer" (2 Thess. 1:3-5). The bloom of a flower cannot occur
until the planting of the seed.
When the struggles of life come, most men, if not all men, are
susceptible to turn to anyone or anything for immediate help. What often
looks like a quick, successful answer to afflictions and sufferings is
usually more detrimental than beneficial. Jesus would state that in
these times many "shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not
after them, nor follow them" (Luke 17:23). You do not
have to go to any place or to any person (which usually offers only
physical cures) to find your help in the time of trouble. Jesus, in His
day (His coming to you), will be apparent to all. He will make Himself
known in your life with the ultimate cure just as surely as the streak
of lightning lights up the entire night (Luke 17:24). You will know that
Christ has come to bring deliverance.
Jesus revealed how an individual experienced the kingdom of God. He not
only revealed that great truth in these words but also by the
experiences of His own life. Just as every created entity must be
planted to enable the essence of life to come forth in the harvest,
Jesus Himself, being in the form and likeness of a man, also had to
"suffer many things, and be rejected of [his] generation"
(Luke 17:25). He, too, had to be planted in order to experience the
harvest. All physical dependency for life must come to an end before
spiritual life can break forth.
Jesus illustrated His teaching concerning the manifestation of the
kingdom of God with His examples of Noah and Lot. He simply stated that
before God could establish the new world with the saving of Noah and his
family, all of the old world had to be destroyed (Luke 17:26,27).
Likewise, the same day that Lot was delivered out of Sodom, all of the
city was destroyed (Luke17:28,29). The examples may seem to be severe or
catastrophic, but Jesus is emphasizing that to experience the glory of
the kingdom of God, the manifestation of Jesus, the old world order must
come to a complete end. Jesus is manifested in the life of an individual
only when one comes to the end of himself (Luke17:30).
The coming of the spiritual kingdom of God at the ending of the old
world order always occurs in earth-shaking moments of life. Although the
natural tendency for everyone is to hold on to the past (it is the only
foundation on which we stand regardless of how shaky it might be), Jesus
admonishes that the new way must be fully accepted with haste. Or, as He
stated, "In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his
stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that
is in the field, let him likewise not return back" (Luke17:31). In
another message concerning the events of these moments, Jesus simply
stated that the believer must flee immediately (Matt. 24:16). The
believer must turn completely from his old ways and embrace the new
manifestation of the coming kingdom of God.
In His final admonition, Jesus revealed how difficult this turning from
the old to the new can be. When the circumstances of life bring an
individual to the threshold of the coming kingdom of God, the individual
often longs to hold on to the old world order (Luke17:32). As Lot and
his family were being delivered out of Sodom (a salt producing economy),
they were told not to look back to the old way of living. Since Lot’s
wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back, she probably
was having great difficulty in giving up that which had produced their
livelihood in Sodom. One thing is certain, all people become exactly
that thing to which they turn for life. Jesus would add, "Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it" (Luke17:33).
Jesus then illustrated that because of this longing to hold on to the
past and the failure to understand the ways of life, many would miss the
opportunity to experience the glory of the manifestation of the kingdom
of God in their lives. He said that where there were two men in the same
bed, two women grinding at the same mill, and two men in the same field
"one shall be taken and the other left"(Luke17:34-36). With
the word taken literally meaning, "to receive near" and
the word left literally meaning, "to send forth," these
apocalyptical moments would produce in some the nearness and presence of
Christ while others would continue in their ever descending paths away
from God. Each moment of the pressures of life, each major crisis of
life, presents the opportunity to experience the heavenly realm (to
experience the nearness of Christ). It also may mean the emotional fires
of hell can be encountered (to experience distress, despair, a sense of
being forsaken, and a sense of being destroyed).
The challenge of these defining moments of life is simple. Can the
believer trust Christ? Can the believer rest in the understanding that
God is in control of these challenging moments? Or, will the believer be
persuaded away from the gospel of the kingdom by the many enticing words
of false "prophets"? In these troubling times, when God is
bringing down our dependency upon the physical to rebirth in us a new,
fresh spiritual reality, there will be many that will prey upon those
who are currently suffering the birth pains of new life. Or, as Jesus
stated, "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be
gathered together" (Luke17:37).
The dying of the physical will always bring out those who attempt to be
"the Christ," the anointed One, who can bring relief to the
suffering saints. They offer quick, superficial remedies that look
enticing, but are empty promises. While appealing to the physical flesh
of man, they diminish the opportunity for spiritual renewal. Jesus
simply said, "go not [after them]" and "believe [them]
not" (Matt. 24:22-26).
The good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God is that every time a
seed is planted, it brings forth a harvest. The glory of the
manifestation of the kingdom of God can be experienced by every
believer. The power of the kingdom of God has been available to all
people since the death, resurrection, ascension, and return of Christ
through the Holy Spirit to His people. Jesus simply said, when He began
His earthly ministry, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
Then, He said, while addressing a large crowd of people, "Verily I
say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall
not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with
power." (Mark 9:1). Jesus has come, and He will come again and
again to enable all to experience the power and the glory of His kingdom
that knows no end.
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Session
Thirteen
The New Temple of God
Ephesians 2:19-3:21
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There is a reoccurring theme that runs through the
Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, from the beginning of our lives
to the end of our lives. It has its roots in the beginning story of
Adam, the father of all humanity. It has its completion in the visions
of John--how Jesus is made known to all people.
This theme is seen in the encounter of life itself. As man goes through
his journey, whether he perceives it or not, he moves through various
stages of his existence. He experiences his birth, his infancy, his
childhood, his youth, his young adulthood, his middle age, and his elder
years. Each of these stages has its own unique characteristics and
patterns of behavior. Each is an age unto itself.
The success of enjoying life may largely depend on the successful
navigation of the passage from one age to the next. Many fail to
experience the steady development of life. They seem to have great
difficulty in crossing the bridge that takes them to the next stage of
their life. As with all of the created world, life is a continuous cycle
of the death of an age and the birth of a new age. In our own lives, all
of the experiences of life are recorded.
The events of the Bible are not just history. They are real events that
occurred to real people in the past, but they are also the same events
that occur in our lives. We are in a garden of Eden with the serpent
whispering its deception. We are in the wandering of an Abraham in a
place that cannot be called home. We are in a deliverance out of the
bondage of Egypt through the struggles of the wilderness existence to
the promised land. We are in the sufferings of Christ and the glory that
follows. Everything within the pages of the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation is the story of our lives, too.
The story of the Bible is the story of how God comes down into our lives
and dwells among us. God spoke to Moses and said, "Speak unto the
children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man
that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my
offering . . . And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell
among them . . . According to all that I shew thee, after the
pattern of the tabernacle" (Ex. 25:2,8,9) After giving Moses
further instructions concerning the things of the sacred place, God
said, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was
shown thee in the mount" (Ex. 25:40)
The physical temple that Moses built was constructed from the pattern
which was "the true temple, which the Lord pitched, and not
man" (Heb. 8:2) as the writer of Hebrews stated. Christ, the
greater High Priest, did not enter into the holy place made with hands,
which is only the figure of the true temple. He entered into the
heavenly temple, the temple not made with hands. The old temple has been
brought to its end and the new temple has been established with new
priests and new sacrifices--not the type of the old but the essence of
the new.
The reason why Paul could experience the good life from behind prison
bars was because he knew the dwelling place of God, the temple of
God--not the one Moses built but the actual pattern by which Moses
constructed the earthly temple. He said, "For through him we both
(all people) have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph.
2:18-22).
Our hope is not in the building or rebuilding of a physical temple. Our
hope is in the true temple not made with hands--the dwelling place of
God. It is a temple in which each of us "as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). With
the passing of the old temple and the bringing forth of the new temple,
each believer, through Jesus Christ, becomes the priest that offers the
sacrifices in the true heavenly temple of God.
It is within the realm of a seed falling to the ground to die in order
that it may be raised to newness of life that the challenges of
spiritual sacrifices are made. When man is taken to the end of his
current existence, he is at the germinating point of life. The
circumstances which he is facing bring his soul into the balance of
heaven or hell. This point of germination, one’s current existence
being brought to an end by the intrusion of another person, is the
moment of priesthood for all believers.
Every man will find himself continually at the crossroads of defending
his current existence from the encumbrance of others or willingly
experience the death of that existence through the control of his mind
by the Spirit of God. The dying of this old existence by the turbulence
of another will always bring newness of life between the two
participants. Refusing or resisting that intrusion always brings greater
agitation and separation between the two. Every man stands in the temple
of God in these challenging moments of life and death. These moments are
how spiritual sacrifices are made by the priesthood. The interactions
that continually transpire between people are the sacred things of this
sacred temple.
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Session
Fourteen
Heaven on Earth
Philippians 1:1-4:23
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The original formation of man contains the essence of
all things. The way of life revealed in that event is the reason Jesus
said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit" (John 12:24). The experience of that first
creation is the basis of why David said, "you will not abandon me
to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made
known to me the path of life" (Ps. 16: 10-11). This occurrence of
the original beginning of mankind is the heart of Paul’s statement,
"the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air" (1 Thess 4:16-17). The mystery of life lies in the
simple fact that man is a flesh and blood body that has been in-breathed
by the Spirit of God and that he has his completeness in at least one
other person.
Since man has the Spirit of God dwelling within him, he can experience
the essence of the life of God. Although a flesh and blood earthly
being, he can be dominated by the glory, the honor and the power of the
heavenly realm. His earthliness of corruption, dishonor, weakness, and
naturalness can be controlled by the heavenliness of incorruption, of
glory, of power, and of spiritualness. It can be heaven on earth because
he experiences the heavenly kingdom of God.
Since man is a flesh and blood earthly being, he can experience an
existence of his mind being separated from the controlling influence of
the Holy Spirit. It is the fall of man from experiencing the glory of
the heavenly realm to live in the hells of a mere earthly existence. The
satanic power of man’s mind out of control drives him to an inferno of
life alienated from the glory of God. Man, once the brightness of a
morning star now cut down to the ground, spends the days of his life in
the abyss of paradise lost.
The outworking of the Spirit of God always occurs in the interaction of
man’s completeness. The mind of man always occurs in the interaction
of continual fragmentary existence. This point of judgment is
continually faced by man. The dying of this old existence by the
turbulence of another will always bring newness of life between the two
participants. Refusing or resisting that intrusion always brings greater
agitation and separation between the two. Every man stands before the
judgment seat of Christ in these challenging moments of life and death.
The successful navigation of these confrontational moments are so
critical that Jesus said, ". . . fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell" [Matt. 10:28). It is never what
we experience physically that destroys our souls. It is our perception,
and how we respond to the physical provocations that devour our peace.
It is the reaction to the stimulus that governs whether or not the
satanic power of an uncontrolled mind drives us into the consuming fires
of hell.
The essence of all things for every person is that which involves
the person, another person, and the interaction between them. All the
complexities of one’s life come from this basic encounter. Manage this
fundamental experience, and life becomes enjoyable and blessed.
The essentials of how to manage this moment of life, which are the
foundational blocks on which all of life exists, are given in the
original formation of man. The first man existed. He had been created,
but he was incomplete, unfulfilled. The second person had to be created.
However, the second person created like the first person, an autonomous,
free-standing person would mean nothing towards the fulfillment of the
image and likeness of God. It would simply be two people, alone,
occupying approximately the same space trying to experience something
that is impossible to experience without the path of life.
Before the second person could be created, the first person had to be
taken down, put to sleep, and die as an autonomous, free-standing
person. Once asleep, God took out of the first person that which would
eventually become the second person. The ground of being for the second
person was that which God took out of the first person. Once the second
person was created by God, she was then brought back to the first person
and presented to him as the aid, the helper, or the ground of being for
the completion or fulfillment of the first person. Through the creative
power of God, the second person is made all that she can be through the
first person which, in turn, when presented back to the first person,
makes him all that he can be.
In the events of the original formation of man, the building blocks of
everything that exist in what it means to be a human being are found.
This process controls everything in the human experience. Living
in harmony with this divinely created working process will produce a
love for life and the experiencing of good days. It will be heaven on
earth.
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Session
Fifteen
Pray Always
Ephesians 1:16-19; 3:14-21; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-12; Phile. 1:5,6
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I
am a Christian. I believe that God, who is the essence of all things,
the intellect, emotion, and will behind every action and event of the
universe, came down to dwell among men in the likeness and form of a
man--Jesus of Nazareth.
I believe that God, becoming incarnate in the human flesh of Jesus, came
to man to reveal the true path of life. I believe that Jesus, the
God-man, is unique in that He and He alone is the means to experience
the way to God. I believe that true Christianity, as a belief system, is
distinct in that it proclaims that ultimately the good life for man is
only in the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.
I believe that God, within the God-man Jesus, existed before anything of
the world came into existence. All things in heaven and in earth were
created by Christ and for Him. It is also by Christ that anything that
is made consists. I believe that Christ is all and in all. True
Christianity is the only belief system that is purely God-centered. The
good life for man is solely the outworking of God in man.
As the ancient texts have said, "O the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and
his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it
shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to
him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever."
When God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus, the man, lived
his life as any other man with the exception that he is the only man
that lived his life knowing that God was producing every moment of it.
As he lived his life, he did not become entangled with the intricacies
of any religious sect of Judaism.
He knew that it was his heavenly Father that put him to sleep at night
and raised him to newness of life the next morning. The baptism he
experienced was a daily baptism of being taken down and raised in the
simple living of life, which was produced by his heavenly Father.
He also knew that when he set down daily to eat a common meal with
someone else he was experiencing the reality of his heavenly Father in
that meal. The communion of breaking bread he experienced was a daily
reminder of the source of his life in the simple living of life.
When he came together with his closest followers, the intimacy they
shared he knew was the expression of the love of his heavenly Father
among them. The ultimate expression of intimacy he experienced was a
daily partnership of fellowship in the simple living of life.
Jesus experienced his "sacraments" in the simplicity of life
itself. The good life for him was solely the outworking of his heavenly
Father in the experiencing of life. The sacraments that brought grace to
him was the common experiences of life produced by his heavenly Father
in and through him as he lived the simple life.
Perhaps, there is no better example of Christianity being purely
God-centered (meaning, the good life for man is solely the outworking of
God in man) than the Christian’s prayer. When the early followers of
Jesus came to him and requested that He would teach them how to pray, He
revealed how God-centered, as opposed to being man-centered,
Christianity is.
The Lord’s model prayer is not about how man can approach God,
manipulate God, get God’s blessings, or placate God’s anger. It is a
prayer how man looks to God, depends upon God, and lives in harmony with
what God is doing in the believer’s life. It is a prayer about the
believer experiencing God in the outworking of his life. As with the
life of Jesus, Jesus taught His disciples to experience their
"religion" in the simplicity of life itself.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this manner: "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 evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever. Amen (Matt. 6:9-13).
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Schedule