Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Yokefellows

26 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in Devotional

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VERSE:

Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

 

Philippians 4:3

 

 

COUPLET:

Christ’s co-laborers: sisters and brothers;
Fellow workers meeting needs of others.

 

 

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit, remind us that all men and women believers in Christ are “fellow workers.” Also remind us that Christ’s co-laborers should assist one another, especially in the ministry of helps (a loving, giving, caring, service-oriented ministry). In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

 

 

~ a page from my manuscript, “Daily Manna: Bible Verse, Couplet & Prayer for Each Day of the Year”

Ambassadors

26 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by in Poetry

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Ambassadors for Christ

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ~ John 17:15-17, ESV

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV

 

In it, not of it.
        Deride us if you must,
labeling other-worldliness and unworldliness
                          annoying heresy,
                                           because of refusal
to conform to world’s
                          false and fleeting fashions—
                                           immoral conducts.

                         Not from it, sent into it.
                Set apart—sanctified:
                                          to NOT walk sinfully,
                                 as evildoers, doubters, backsliders;
                                          to NOT talk vilely,
                                 as non-believers, unbelievers, disbelievers;
                                          to NOT think wickedly,
                                 as atheists, agnostics, apostates.

Ambassadors for Christ.
                         Sent into world
                                         with full power,
                                         with all authority,
                to publish and proclaim peace—
                                           the Gospel Message: reconciliation;
the fullness of Christ.

 

~ from my Spirit’s Musing manuscript

Wheat Believers Were Carnal Christians Who Looked Like Tares

04 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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Barley, Wheat and Tares

…the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath come the tares?’ He said unto them, ‘An enemy hath done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Wilt thou then have us go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ~ Matthew 13:27-30, KJ21

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For if there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, KJ21

The Word of God teaches believers—in Christ’s day and in this century—about how important Barley is to the Kingdom of God’s economy (God’s sovereign plan for mankind). Several Scriptures imply that Barley is the perfect representation of the first resurrection’s firstfruits (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23), which would include the raptured Bride of Christ—both the resurrected dead in Christ and the alive saints at His coming. Furthermore, since Christ arose from the grave on the Firstfruits feast day—the same day that the Jewish Temple priest waved a sheaf of Barley before God for His acceptance—this Divine Truth is why Barley also represents the resurrected Christ who is the firstfruits of those who have died (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Now during biblical days, what was matchless about Barley was that it ripened in the spring before any other grains, and it did so without help from the Latter Rains. Barley also was a hardier grain than Wheat, because Barley was able to endure its harshest conditions—poor soil, less water, intemperate weather, and so forth—much better than Wheat. Perhaps the above facts are why Barley grew everywhere and in large amounts, or why Barley also was a healthy grain that resisted diseases. In fact, because of its early maturation, Barley wasn’t prone to pests and infestations like Wheat was.  No doubt it was because of all the ancient health benefits in Barley that made Barley the grain that symbolizes perfection—the perfect firstfruits offering, the perfect sacrifice, and the perfect Bride of Christ.

Harvested a month earlier than Wheat, mature Barley—the seeds of which were planted in Israel the same time as Wheat’s—easily was separated from the chaff and the refuse. Surprisingly, mature Barley’s winnowing involved no crushing or threshing, even though it grew wildly and in abundant amounts. Barley only needed the wind, which effortlessly separated the chaff (husk, hull) from the grain.

Something else to note about both Barley and Wheat is that they also are used in the Word of God to symbolize types of believers. For this reason, it should be expected that what is true about Barley will be true about Barley Christians. Likewise, what is true about Wheat will be true about Wheat Believers.

For example, broken and multiplied by the Lord’s hands, the Barley bread—what He feeds the 5,000 and later His disciples at His Last Supper—represents how saved and born-again believers first must be broken so that the Kingdom of God work they will do can be multiplied. Christ is their example, for His body would be broken for many.

This last truth is why, on the day the Lord feeds the 5,000, He demonstrates the multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle to His disciples and the multitudes, by causing each loaf of Barley bread in the His hands to be multiplied 1 to 1000 men. This multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle first is seen in the Old Testament, as Barley is multiplied 2 to 1 over Wheat (cf. 2 Kings 7:1), with Barley costing the same amount as Wheat. Then again in the New Testament, the measure of Barley is multiplied 3 to 1 over Wheat (cf. Revelation 6:6), with Barley and Wheat once again costing the same amount. People certainly will get more bang for their buck from Barley, but not so much from Wheat.

There can be no doubt that the multiplied measures of Barley over Wheat suggest that in the Kingdom of God it is, and always has been, more Barley Christians than Wheat Christians who are spreading the Gospel of Christ, and rightly so. More later on this point. Then too, in the times of famine and scarcity, which often are the results of war—as in the case of the siege of Samaria during the prophet Elisha’s day and in the case of the seal judgments that happen during the Tribulation Period—God designed it so that the poor, who would only be able to afford Barley, would remain healthier than the wealthy who would buy Wheat. Why? Well, it is because Barley is considered to have a near-perfect balance among its nutrients.

Now concerning Christ’s broken Barley loaves symbolizing believers’ brokenness, with genuine Christians their brokenness is the removal of all self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, strife, impatience, and so forth. This brokenness is achieved through the filling of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing sanctification process—the process of sanctifying (perfecting) them so that they effectively can feed the Gospel of Christ to the world’s unsaved multitudes. Once the Holy Spirit fills believers, He then is allowed to begin His progressive sanctification, which transforms believers into the image of Christ—changes their personalities and mindsets, more and more each day, until they become Christlike. Put differently, Barley Christians only need to be exposed to the Wind of the Holy Spirit in order for them to respond by walking right, talking right, speaking right, and thinking right. They truly are the sons and daughters of God who want to be pure (holy) and righteous.

Another example of how what is true about the Barley grain is true about the Barley Christians is in the way the Barley grain ripens before the Wheat grain matures. This early maturation of Barley represents saved and born-again Barley Christians’ spiritual maturity. There can be no doubt that Barley’s early maturation agricultural truth means that the corresponding spiritual truth happens the same way—Barley Christians and Wheat Believers who are saved (sown into the Kingdom of God) at the same time also will mature at different speeds. In particular, the Barley Christians will mature quicker than the Wheat Believers.

What is irrefutable is that the firstfruits Barley grain harvest in the Scriptures is symbolized as the first resurrection’s overcomers—the saints (i.e., Barley Christians) who are resurrected and raptured (winnowed or thrown up in the air against the wind)—translated; caught up; snatched off of this Earth—at the time of the Rapture of the Bride, but before the alive in Christ firstfruits are raptured. Put differently, there is no doubt that the raptured Bride of Christ is represented as the Barley sheaf wave offering that is lifted up and then waved before God for Him to accept it as a firstfruits offering.

In contrast, the Wheat Believers are symbolized as the Tribulation Period’s left-behinders—the rest of the believers. Unlike the mature Barley Christians who are raptured before the start of the Tribulation Period (the Wrath of God), the left-behind Wheat Believers who ripen during the Tribulation Period are in the Tribulation Period to experience the kind of separation or crushing/threshing that will cause these believers to be separated from their much harder husk (chaff, hull)—the world systems and doctrinal errors they trusted more than they trusted the Lord and/or Father God, when they were on the other side of the Tribulation Period.

All of the above was said so that the following can be said about why the Wheat Believers gathered at the end of the Age of Grace are NOT the Barley Christians and therefore not the Bride of Christ. In order to be the Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) or a Loaf of Barley that is to be broken for many, believers in Christ cannot have lost their first love, cannot be listening to and/or following the teachings of Balaam (idolatry and immorality), cannot be listening to and/or following the Nicolaitans and the Jezebel prophetess (more idolatry and immorality), cannot have passion that is dead, cannot have incomplete works, cannot be lukewarm, cannot be proud, cannot be ignorant of the Word of God, and cannot be spiritually blind.  For sure, the believers who have lost their first love, and etc., are the Wheat (Wheat Believers) that must go through the Tribulation Period.

Once again, the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace actually will be carnal Christians who finally reached their spiritual maturity during the Tribulation Period. God made this point clear when He mandated that the firstfruits of the Israelites’ Wheat Harvest, from which the two loaves of Wheat were made and then waved on the Day of Pentecost, should contain LEAVEN (cf. Leviticus 23:17). Now that is so interesting, especially since God makes it clear in many biblical passages that leaven represents a type of carnality and sin. This Divine Truth only can mean that the Wheat Believers who go through the Tribulation Period had to do so because of the carnality and sin that were still in their lives.

In contrast, the Barley bread was made without leaven, and this fact is another reason why Barley—NOT Wheat—symbolizes perfection—the holiness and righteousness of a pure spiritual life. Moreover, the difference between unleavened Barley Christians and leavened Wheat Believers should make it understandable that the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace will NOT be the Bride of Christ. Indeed, Jesus Christ definitely is letting His Bride know in the parable of the Wheat and Tares that the surviving Wheat Believers at the end of the Tribulation Period were never His true believers who—on this side of the Tribulation Period—humbly were growing in Grace through faith in the hope, love, wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God’s Will for their lives. That is why it is the surviving Tribulation Wheat Believers—NOT the Barley Christians—who have to be separated from the Tares and then stored in the Lord’s barn.

Certainly a barn or storehouse is a far cry from the Bridal Chamber the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) has prepared for His Bride (Barley Christians) in His Father’s House. That’s why the barn image also lets the true Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) know that the Tribulation Period’s Wheat Believers are not the Lord’s firstfruits overcomers, because these Wheat Believers are not gathered into Heaven but rather into the Lord’s barn. That is to say, these alive Wheat Believers no longer have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. They are now fully in the Kingdom of God, but that doesn’t mean they also have received their glorified bodies. The only thing that being put in the Lord’s barn means is that the Wheat Believers are completely safe and out of the reach of God’s enemies—Satan and his imps!

Now here begins the main point of this blog entry, which for many will be an uncomfortable truth. Be that as it may. Also in the Wheat and Tares parable, Jesus Christ is making it clear that the reason why His spiritual servants are not able to tell the difference between the Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers) is because Wheat Believers are the leavened carnal believers. In other words, it is the carnality in the Wheat Believers that makes them look too much like unsaved worldly people (unbelievers)—makes them look too much like the Tares! This last point is why, until the agricultural Wheat bows—becomes mature—it is almost agriculturally impossible to tell the difference between the Wheat and the Tares. Likewise, until the weight of the spiritual Wheat Believers’ fruit causes them to bow humbly before their Lord, it will be nearly impossible for other spiritual believers to tell the difference between the leavened carnal Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers).

No doubt this last fact is why leavened carnal Wheat Believers are in the Tribulation Period. It is obvious that God is giving them time to mature and finally get separated from the chaff—to have what is godly in them completely separated from what is ungodly.

There also can be no doubt that carnal babes in Christ—on  this side of the Tribulation Period—will become the sold out for Christ Wheat Believers who were once on milk. As the apostle Paul declares, carnal believers cannot be fed the meat of the Word of God. If they can’t eat meat, then their milk diet will be the reason why they do not grow up fast enough—spiritually speaking.

Carnal believers’ slow spiritual growth keeps them from being prepared and ready (sanctified, Christlike), when Christ comes for His Bride, who is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Therefore, the Bride of Christ is His ripened and harvested Barley Christians.

It is very unfortunate that the hard truth for some Christians to swallow is that Jesus Christ will leave behind—close the door/portal/gateway to Heaven—on the carnal babes in Christ who are not spiritually mature. Why? Well, the obvious truth is that they are carnal believers instead of spiritual believers! As such, there was no way the Holy Spirit could finish the work God began in them—no way He could give them their completely sanctified spirits, souls and bodies so that they could receive their glorified bodies!

That’s right! Today’s carnal believers are not becoming Christlike because they are not being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, who cannot initially fill them (baptize them in Him) so that the sanctification process can begin. If these believers in Christ do not cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that He can give them His filling—His Baptism that is corroborated, first and foremost, by the speaking in tongues—then these carnal believers (Wheat Believers) will continue to look the Tares until these carnal believers either physically die—on this side of the Tribulation Period—or until they become completely faithful and obedient to Christ during the Tribulation Period. However, by then, they either will be martyred (beheaded for their love of Christ and God, and for their holy and righteous living) or they will survive the Tribulation Period and become the holy and righteous individuals who—like Noah and his family—repopulate the Earth.

In contrast, neither the Barley grain nor the Barley Christians resemble Tares. This truth no doubt is why Barley Christians represent genuine Christians. Moreover, Barley Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, as well as empowered and endowed by Him. As a result, these believers will be producing the fruit of the Spirit and living righteous and holy lives that will make them standout instead of making them bear a resemblance to the Tares. This truth is why ONLY the carnal babes in Christ will be the Wheat that is growing right alongside of the Tares—both on this side of the Tribulation Period and during the Tribulation Period—at least until they become sold out for Christ followers.

The bottom line is this: In the Word of God, there are two grain harvests that belong to the Lord—the firstfruits harvest and the subsequent harvest (the Barley harvest and then the Wheat harvest), with the latter being larger than the former. Now that should be no surprise, since the Word of God reminds true Christians that only a few of people—a remnant—of all of the world’s people will find the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God gate,  enter through the gate to the Kingdom of God, and continue walking on that path. This Divine Truth is why the Word of God also promises there will be two spiritual harvests—the harvest of Barley Christians and the harvest of Wheat Believers. 

Just like the agricultural Barley harvest comes first with the agricultural Wheat harvest following, the Barley Christians or Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation spiritual harvest will come first, and it will be followed by the Tribulation Period’s finally sold out for Christ surviving Wheat Believers’ end of the Age of Grace spiritual harvest. Clearly, the Barley Christians and the Wheat Believers are not the same people, and that is why both of these groups of believers cannot be the righteous, pure (holy), and unblemished believers who, after being sanctified, are given glorified bodies and then admitted into Heaven as the Lord’s Bride.    

Lastly, the reasons why Barley is important to the Kingdom of God are what follows. The first reason is because Barley’s multiplication principle/miracle represents how swiftly The Way—in the first century—and today’s real Christianity spreads. Put differently, Barley signifies just how often God has added another follower of Christ to the Lord’s ekklesia—the emphasis should be on GOD being the One adding genuine followers of Christ to His ekklesia and NOT on men and women adding new converts to their “church” rolls. Secondly, since Barley grows everywhere, tolerates the harshest conditions, and endures inclement temperatures, it should be obvious by now that ONLY Barley represents all of the persecuted Christians from the first century until the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, and all of the centuries of Christian missionaries—whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. In short, Barley is important to the Kingdom of God, because Barley symbolizes the Age of Grace’s pre-Tribulation raptured perfected Bride of Christ.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen.

It’s ALL About Kingdom of God Living

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Spiritual

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Kingdom of God Living

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all  these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~ Matthew 6:31-33,     ESV

 

“Church” attenders have become so good at manipulating their learned churchy-ology (so good at playing “church”) and so good at regurgitating their pastors and/or ministers’ theology—a theology that often is minus the Theos (God; the Creator)—that these churchgoers completely have missed or are missing their purpose for living. “Church” attenders were not created just to become believers in Christ Jesus, and they were not created just so they can get into Heaven. They also were not created just to preach the Gospel—to evangelize and disciple the whole world.

First and foremost, God has created human beings for His Glory (see Isaiah 43:7; 1 Peter 4:11). His Glory is the beauty and excellence of His diverse holiness or countless perfections. His Glory also is the revelation and manifestation of His Character or all that He has and all that He is.

Put differently, God has created every human being for one purpose—to glorify Him. The problem is that so many believers are running around—like chickens with their heads cut off—“trying” to figure out what their purpose is for living, when the Word of God makes it clear that humanity was created to display or manifest—to reflect—God’s Character (His Glory), and to do so 24/7 – 365 days of the year. 

Once again, we all have been created for one purpose—for God’s Glory; to glorify God. Now glorify means: to magnify, praise and worship God; to accredit honor to God; and to acknowledge Him (His total being, attributes/characteristics, and deeds). Therefore, for us to glorify God, we must desire what He desires for us.

Scriptures tell us that God desires that we accept and confess His Son as our Lord and Savior, that we fully love Him (the Father) with the God-kind of love He has put inside us; that we absolutely love Him with our whole being; that we totally obey Him, and that we are utterly faithful to Him, as demonstrated by our God-kind of faith in Him. We also glorify God when we genuinely praise Him and truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (His Word is that Truth), when we publicly acknowledge His Glory and value His Glory above the glory of all created things/beings, and when we openly make His Glory known to others—make God recognizable to others; show others what God is like. Lastly, we glorify God when we bring Him honor (please Him) through everything we say, do and think.

The only way we can fulfill this purpose—the glorifying God purpose—is through the aid of God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not in us just to take up space (to live/dwell in us). He is in us to fill us with everything God’s Grace has made available to us so that we who are in Christ Jesus can glorify God just like our Lord glorified His Father. It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to take those of us (we believers) who are born again, saved, and filled with Him into the Kingdom of God where He (the Holy Spirit) disciples (teaches/trains) ALL of us on Kingdom of God living—teaches us everything we need to know about the knowledge of God so that our individual “new life/new creation” keeps glorifying God until His Kingdom in all of us is brought to its fullness.

We never were created just so that we can live comfortable lives—have comfortable jobs, comfortable paychecks (or comfortable bank accounts/savings), comfortable homes, comfortable friends, and/or comfortable churches or ministries. If we are born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will know that it no longer is about us living our own lives the way we want, because our lives now belong to Christ Jesus. We no longer can live as we please, because Christ Jesus has committed our lives to Kingdom of God living. In the Kingdom of God, only Christ Jesus is Lord—not our pastors, bishops, elders, and so forth; not our earthly parents; not our godly family members and godly friends, not our positions and titles, not our money, not even we ourselves.

The Kingdom of God’s King of kings and Lord of lords has commanded us to live our lives in the Kingdom of God for the Glory of God. If we have not surrendered or are not surrendering our lives to Christ Jesus’ Lordship and Kingdom of God living, then we have been blinded by the blind Kingdom killers—our learned churchy-ology and accepted theology that is minus the Theos.

Selah (calmly pause and think about that) . . . .  A word to the wise should be sufficient.

Our Spiritual DNA: Divine Nature & Authority

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Spiritual

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Animated DNA

The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person. ~ Genesis 2:7, TLB

When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!  And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels (or Elohim, in Hebrew) and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head. ~ Psalm 8:3-5, TLB; the inserted parenthetical words are this blogger’s emphasis

He told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.’ ~ Matthew 28:18-20, TLB

that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead…and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did. And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. ~ Ephesians 2:5a&b, 6-8, TLB

 

In the blog entry, Being Changed from the Inside Out, the main point is that, even though there can be no doubt that God certainly saves everybody just as he or she is, it is evident in His Word that God never intended to leave anybody the way He finds him or her. For sure, the second a believer in Christ Jesus is born again in his or her spirit/heart, God Himself deposits in that believer’s heart or spirit His DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will, the Source of which is His Holy Spirit). Therefore, it should be obvious that God’s intent always was, and still is, to begin His Holy Spirit’s sanctification process, which is what changes from the inside out each born-again believer who has received God’s Gift of Salvation.

This Divine Truth also is touched on in the blog entry, Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us. In this blog entry, the main point is that the ultimate goal of every believer is NOT to make it into Heaven. Without doubt, the central purpose of God’s Salvation Plan is to have every one of His sons and daughters achieve Christlikeness, while he or she is living on this Earth. Now, the only way to achieve this Christlikeness objective is to work OUT of every believer in Christ Jesus everything God Himself already has worked INTO each believer’s born-again heart or spirit—for example, to work God’s Perfect Will out. It is important to note here that the Holy Spirit not only is every believer’s Source of godly Power, Authority, spiritual gifts, practical sanctification, and so forth, but also the Source of God’s Perfect Will in each believer’s born-again heart or spirit is His Holy Spirit!

This working OUT of believers what God Himself has put inside them also is addressed in the blog entry, Your Old Man Is Dead. The main point that is made in this blog entry is that through the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy or metaphor, believers are shown that just like the Jewish wife, whose first husband’s death releases her from the marriage part of the Law, believers’ new-man nature, which is married to the Lord, also has been released from the Law. In other words, the one point of Divine Truth in the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy or metaphor is this: Death removes a person from the bondage of the Law. Put differently, the reason why every born-again spirit (heart) within each believer is no longer under the Law is because every believer’s old man or sin nature no longer exists! The believer’s spiritually DEAD heart (spirit), in which the old man used to live, has become a New Creation (see Romans 6:4,6; Ephesians 2:5-6; and Colossians 2:12-13). Thus, because of God’s Grace, each believer in Christ Jesus now has new life—is a new man with a sinless nature. 

Having said all that, it now is important to mention that from the beginning of mankind God’s plan has been to put Himself inside of human beings. This Divine Truth is documented in Genesis 2:7. Furthermore, the only way that the dust God formed Adam from was able to become the structure in which the living, moving, breathing person (Adam) could exist was because the eternal Creator God filled Adam full of Himself—God breathed His Spirit into Adam. As a result, the original purpose of Adam’s body was to house his true self, which was his spirit.

Scripture says that Adam’s spirit, which is who ‘man’ is—NOT the dust God breathed His Spirit into—was  created to be a little lower than the Triune God who made him (see Psalm 8:5a). For this reason, beginning with Adam, it is clear that once human beings have inside of them God’s spiritual DNA (the God-breathed Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to God’s Power and His Will) their individual identity (true self) is then determined by that spiritual DNA that is in their own spirit, instead of by the DNA from their ethnic, cultural, or other known physical roots.

Thus, before Adam sinned, his spiritual DNA made him the highest kind of created being. Indeed, once God had filled Adam full of Himself, Adam had become spiritually bountiful, wealthy—he was holy, righteous, healthy, spiritually gifted, and etc., as well as spiritually royal and majestic; in essence, Adam was crowned with glory and honor; see Psalm 8:5b. This Divine Truth means when Adam was created, he lacked nothing!

Now the reason God filled Adam full of Himself was so that in this Earth Adam would be a visible being who was created after God’s Likeness, in His Image, and having His Nature. Then too, God also filled Adam full of Himself so that Adam would multiply God’s Likeness, Image, and Nature in this Earth—so that Adam would pass God’s Nature, Likeness, and Image (the Creator’s Holiness, Righteousness, Royalty, Majesty, Power, Will, Health, Wealth, and so forth) on to his offspring.

However, once Adam sinned, he immediately became spiritually dead. As a result, God’s DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which includes but is not limited to His Power and His Will)—God’s Holiness, Righteousness, Majesty, Royalty, Power, and so forth—left Adam.

While there can be no doubt that Adam was born to rule, born to have dominion over Satan, Adam lost control of this Earth the second he rebelled against God—the moment he sinned. Thus, because Adam spiritually lost EVERYTHING God originally had breathed into him, and because it always was God’s intent for mankind to be filled up with Him, centuries later God made the Sovereign decision to send His beloved Son, Jesus the Christ, to the Earth to be the second, and last, Adam. It is through Christ Jesus that everything God initially had given to the first Adam now had been restored.

This restored spiritual DNA is why Jesus the Christ taught the Kingdom of God was within believers, and why He stressed how important being born again was. These Divine Truths mean that the only place God not only Planned but also Willed for His Kingdom to be set up is in believers’ hearts (born-again spirits). In other words, God’s Kingdom rule begins in the heart or spirit of born-again believers. For this reason, as much as believers allow Him to rule in their individual heart or spirit is the degree to which God also is able to rule in their individual day-to-day life.

For sure, because of Christ Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, since the Day of Pentecost, after the Lord ascended from Earth to Heaven, the Lord’s centuries of disciples’ bodies have housed their true selves or born-again spirits, just like the first Adam’s body used to house his true self or spirit, before he sinned. Moreover, through Christ Jesus, God now is able to call human beings back to their true identity—back to that initial “new thing” God first did in Adam, which was to make a “man” who had God’s Spirit and His Mind housed in flesh. As a result, God’s spiritually born-again children supernaturally are able to live, move, and breathe in His presence, as well as supernaturally communicate with and worship God, spirit to Spirit, just like Adam once was able to do. 

Furthermore, since God not only has given the Lord’s disciples His Likeness and Image but also His Nature, having His Nature means that being like God will come naturally. That is to say, those parts of His “Nature” that God put inside of believers in Christ Jesus will establish their “natural” response to His Nature. In other words, just like the first Adam didn’t need to be taught how to live, move, think, or speak like God, the same is true for the Lord’s centuries of disciples. In fact, having God’s Nature also means that He should see His children’s born again new nature (spirit), their being sanctified soul (mind, will, emotions, etc.), and their being sanctified body doing what they are naturally expected to do, which is living and behaving totally Christ-like (holy, righteously, lovingly, friendly, compassionately, and so forth).

However, until the majority of today’s believers in Christ Jesus see themselves the way God sees them, the Body of Christ members never will be able to manifest in this Earth what God has put inside of each believer, which is His Kingdom—these believers never will be ready to see His Kingdom come and His Will be done on Earth the way they are in Heaven. In other words, until this 21st century’s countless believers in Christ Jesus see themselves the way God sees them, His Kingdom on Earth, which is inside each one of them, never  will manifest in the ways that resemble His Kingdom in Heaven.

Now the apostle Paul says that when God resurrected and lifted Christ Jesus up to Heaven, He also did the same for the Lord’s believers. That means that we, in our born-again spirit, right now are sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:5-6), even though we physically are living on this Earth. Therefore, until we stop treating our outward appearance, our body in which our spirit is housed, as if that is who we truly are, we will continue to live way below our true identity. Once again, our true identity in God is His children who have been filled with God’s spiritual DNA (His Splendor, Glory, and Honor—His crowned royal, majestic kings or queens, who spiritually have abundance/wealth and the authority and power of God on the inside).

In the Kingdom of God on this Earth, we who are truly born again, saved, and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit are the only ones who have been given God’s spiritual DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will), which will manifest, for example, as God’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Earth. The people who profess to be born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus yet do not manifest righteousness, peace, and joy in the Earth either do not know about (or have not accepted) their true identity’s spiritual DNA, which only can be found in their born-again heart or spirit.

Ultimately it is by the Holy Spirit, who both lives in and infills true believers with God’s spiritual DNA, that true believers in Christ Jesus literally are being changed from the inside out! Because the Holy Spirit is the only One who has been given to believers to work out of them EVERYTHING God has put inside them (to get them to manifest Christlikeness, righteousness, peace, and joy in this Earth), there is no other way for God’s circle of divine life in mankind to be perfected.

The Creator began His circle of divine life in mankind with the first Adam, intending that Adam pass on to his offspring God’s Likeness, Image, and Nature. When Adam failed, because of sin, God sent His only begotten Son to restore in mankind EVERYTHING Adam had lost, which was God’s spiritual DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will). These Divine Truths are why it is only by way of the Holy Spirit that God’s Kingdom on Earth is able to manifest righteousness, peace, and joy, and this manifestation happens only when those individuals who have God’s spiritual DNA are functioning as the holy, righteous, and spiritually wealthy royal kings and queens God has raised them in Christ Jesus to be.

The bottom line is that any believer in Christ Jesus who doesn’t naturally know about (or hasn’t willingly accepted) his or her true identity in God never will have the Kingdom of God worked out of him or her so that he or she can see the Kingdom of God manifested in this Earth. A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen!

The Parables of The Growing Seed and The Mustard Seed

25 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by in Bible Study

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… So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. …Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. ~ Mark 4:26-32, KJV

Most teaching parables are similar to illustrated sermons about the Gospel, and the Gospel is that which announces Father God’s GOOD NEWS about His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, who is gathering believers in Him (in His Body), and these believers will spend eternity with Father God. However, even though Kingdom parables also teach about this same GOOD NEWS, Kingdom parables’ narratives conceal the Gospel’s Divine Truths. In other words, for the purpose of drawing out GENUINE seekers who desire to know God’s secrets/mysteries that are hidden in the Gospel, seekers of the Gospel’s Divine Truths must first solve the Kingdom parables’ riddles before they can understand the mysterious ways of God.

For those individuals who are not GENUINE seekers of the Gospel’s Divine Truths, Kingdom parables are viewed as merely unexciting anemic stories. As a result, the insincere (pretend) seekers will not dig any deeper or try any harder to uncover God’s Divine Truths. They instead will treat His Kingdom parables as jokes, or as impenetrable riddles, or as incongruities (absurdities), or as mere short stories, and so forth.

For example, on the surface, the Growing Seed mini-parable (Mark 4:26-29) seems to be a very succinct short story about a man who  properly prepares the soil into which he plants a seed. He tills the soil, plants the seed in the soil, then possibly applies nutrients to the soil, and possibly waters the soil, but after that he forgets about the seed. Then too, this very concise short story clearly points out this seed sower’s lack of influence over the growth process of his seed, which is why this man’s day-by-day routines don’t educate him about how his sown seed develops into a green leaf that rapidly changes into a full-grown plant, which then produces much grain. Furthermore, this short story seems to be about a man who, though ignorant about how grain grows, as well as a bit unconcerned about the seed’s needs, is still very aware when the grain is ripe. In fact, it is apparent that he anticipates reaping a harvest!

Therefore, the only understanding (truth) to gain from this mini-parable seems to be that the best part of this man’s initial labor is yet to come, now that the plant is ripe. The truth is that once his grain crop is harvested, this man will have plenty food to eat and/or he will make money from the sales of his grain!

A closer analysis, however, will reveal that the Kingdom of God is HERE NOW within every born again, redeemed, justified, being sanctified believer, and this Kingdom of God appears, expands, and reproduces itself by way of the intrinsic POWER that not only is within the planted seed but also within the One who cultivates the seed. For this reason, the mysterious growth of the mini-parable’s seed represents the secret ways in which God plants and increases the Kingdom of God in believers’ “hearts.”

In several Scriptures, both Jesus the Christ and the Apostle Paul make it clear that the Kingdom of God is NOT the realm of God but rather the reign or rule of God in believers’ lives. The Apostle Paul writes:

…the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 14:17, AMP

Based on the apostle’s above Kingdom of God definition, this Kingdom IS anywhere and everywhere in this world where the fruit of the Kingdom of God is ruling in the “hearts” of mankind. That fruit is God’s righteousness (goodness), love, justice, peace, and joy. It should be understood here that “heart” means the center or seat of everything that is moral and spiritual—the seat of humans’ affections, desires, conscience, determination, intellect, emotions, thoughts, perceptions, understanding, reasoning powers, imagination, grief, happiness, joy, and faith.

Furthermore, since the reign or rule of God is in believers’ lives, then in Romans 14:17, the Apostle Paul also is making this salient point, which is that the Kingdom of God that is now in born again humans first was placed in God’s Holy Spirit. For this reason, spiritual or inner growth is not the result of human effort! This Divine Truth also means that the harvest mentioned in Mark 4:29, which results from this independent spiritual growth (inner growth not caused by humans), is both a gift given directly to God and a miracle. Indeed, this harvest is a type of New Testament “firstfruits,” and  “firstfruits” in the New Testament is used as a metaphor for something given in advance of something anticipated to come that will be of a greater benefit or will bring a larger “harvest.”

Like the Growing Seed mini-parable’s man, who cannot explain the mystery behind the rapid growth and development of the seed he plants, likewise, NO ONE can explain precisely how God through Jesus the Christ gets the seed planted in receptive humans’ “hearts” to produce Kingdom of God fruit, specifically, the fruit of righteousness (goodness), love, justice, peace, and joy. This fruit mainly grows within believers, mysteriously and very swiftly, but it also manifests itself right in front of believers and unbelievers’ eyes, when the children of God do the many great works that please God. Even so, just as the plant in the Growing Seed mini-parable is capable of “…bringeth forth fruit of herself…” by reproducing itself through the seed, the seed in this mini-parable also is symbolic of one of the means by which spiritual growth can be advanced.

The answer to the Kingdom of God’s growing mystery, then, is the POWER of the planted seed and the POWER of the indwelling and infilling Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the One who is inside believers applying the spiritual nutrients and pouring the Living Water in their “hearts” (the soil), the place where the seed (the Living Word of God . . . Jesus the Christ) already has been planted. Working in tandem, the Power of the seed (Living Word) and the Power of the Holy Spirit (Living Water) cause Body of Christ believers to live a lifestyle that reflects their child of God or Kingdom of God identity.

The bottom line is this: Father God is the all-important factor in this mini-parable. He is the One who makes the Kingdom of God’s spiritual growth happen, because it is His Power that is in His seed and in His Holy Spirit! For sure, it even takes the work of God’s Holy Spirit for people to have ears to hear  (understand) what thus saith the Lord!

Let there be no doubt about it. Though God uses mankind to sow the Gospel seed in this mini-parable, it is God, through His Son, His Word, and His Spirit, who causes the spiritual growth! Believers, however, are sowing the seed (spreading the Gospel), when they hand out tracts in the streets, when they have a one-on-one Gospel sharing session with an unbeliever, when they witness to lost souls about their own faith in God and in Jesus the Christ, when they publish their Christian articles online, or post relevant comments about their faith on various websites, or stream their sermons over the Internet, and so forth.

Furthermore, it is evident that Jesus the Christ will return soon for His Bride . . . His CHURCH . . . His Body of Believers . . . the gathering up of those in Him (the Rapture or Harvest of every believer in Jesus the Christ who ever lived on Earth so that each one of them can spend the seven-year Tribulation AND eternity with God). That’s why the duty of everyone who has the Kingdom of God growing within him or her is to spread/advance the Kingdom of God throughout the present world. This duty is accomplished primarily by evangelizing lost souls (leading others to Jesus the Christ) and discipling the saved souls (encouraging and edifying others in the Lord so they will remain sold out for their Lord, while they spiritually mature—ripen).

While the Growing Seed mini-parable is about God being the Power being ALL of the spiritual growth in the Kingdom of God, the Mustard Seed mini-parable is about the extent to which the Kingdom of God has been designed by God to grow. Thus, in the second mini-parable (Mark 4:30-32), the Lord paints a different picture. Here, He uses the imagery of the mustard seed. The Lord declares how in a very small and virtually invisible way the mustard seed is, generally speaking, the very tiniest of seeds planted in gardens, yet it grows into one of the largest trees on Earth (cf. Matthew 13:31-32).

The Lord then compares the growth of the tiny mustard seed to the Kingdom of God’s growth. Similarly, just as the sown extremely small mustard seed ends up becoming one of the biggest bushes (or biggest trees) in any garden—becomes a huge bush or a colossal tree with large but rigid branches that often serve as a shelter for EVERY kind of bird—the Kingdom of God also grows from essentially a small dot into a mammoth-sized realm.

Now, to the people who are NOT looking to find any deeper meanings in this Kingdom parable, this second narrative only seems to be just another familiar story about those big outcomes that result from small beginnings. However, Mark’s second mini-parable is not just about big outcomes from small beginnings. This mustard seed’s insignificant, humble beginnings that result in something gigantic not only is comparable to the growth of the Messiah’s Kingdom during Jesus the Christ’s millennial reign, but also comparable to the growth of His Body of Believers—to their outward and inward growth.

Outwardly speaking, Jesus the Christ’s initial handful of believers, 12 disciples, grows to an enormous number in the few months that followed the Lord’s death. For example, the 120 disciples on the Day of Pentecost increase to 3,000 on that same day (cf. Acts 2:41-42). Moreover, each one of the believing followers of Jesus the Christ has an unbelievable amount of influence—some even had a supernatural and natural influence. Thus, the Mustard Seed mini-parable in Mark 4:30-32 not only describes the rapid growth of worldwide Christianity as an outward sign recognized by the vast number of “physical” churches (the institutional church), but also the Mustard Seed mini-parable describes the inner spiritual growth that happens in the life of each Body of Christ member who has God’s Kingdom in him or her.

In the natural, the literal mustard seed grows independently, on its own, and depending on where it is planted and how it is cultivated it can reach ten, sometimes fifteen feet in height. However, even though a child of God’s spiritual growth also is independent, aside from the supernaturally manifested miracles, signs, and wonders that many believers are able to perform (an outward sign of inward growth), human beings really cannot correctly measure the spiritual growth that is happening in every true believer. The reason why this spiritual growth cannot be measured correctly is because this kind of growth happens inwardly via the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s mighty workings.

Furthermore, unlike the seed that can grow, expand, and reproduce itself, the Kingdom of God cannot make itself grow, expand, and/or reproduce itself. It takes other agents to grow, expand, and/or reproduce the Kingdom of God, and those other agents, once again, are the seed (Living Word) and the Holy Spirit (Living Water). Nevertheless, what is true about the mustard seed’s small beginnings leading to gigantic ends also is not only true about the growth of Christianity but also true about each individual believer’s initial start and final finish, spiritually speaking.

Concerning the phenomenal growth of the institutional church, the early Way grew from small numbers into an exceedingly great Body of Christian believers, despite the fact that most believers weren’t demonstrating any immediate “major” visible (outward) changes. Now, even though many of the early Way observers could not visibly see another believer’s NEW NATURE, which makes it difficult to measure how much someone has grown from his or her very small beginnings, this fact didn’t stop many of these observers from concluding that so-and-so wasn’t “spiritual” enough. This misjudging is still true today. Many contemporary believers in Jesus the Christ who are observing someone they consider to be the least likely to change, are looking for immediate “major” visible (outward) changes. When this person doesn’t show any “major” outward changes, his or her observers will consider this person’s New Man conversion to be doubtful.

The irony here is that nothing delights Jesus more than to take people who seem most unlikely to be able to represent Him and then transform them into people who are so saturated by His influence that they become powerful witnesses of His transformable power. Thus, it is a very big deal when people finally astound their critics with a great outward show of their spiritual development. Until then, though, many family members in the Household of faith might not accept as a child of God those believers whose New Man conversion is considered doubtful.

Be that as it may, once the institutional church  reached the size that it is today,  there have been many believers in their local churches who often have thought that the Kingdom of God, which is represented as the mustard seed’s full-grown tree, certainly must be a wonderful blessing to all who find shelter (safety and harmony) in its “branches.” However, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Divine Truth is that the mustard plant has the tendency to intrude and mix with other plants, which is why the mustard seed should not be planted in a garden. Rather, it should be planted in a large field where it can be carefully tended to, individually.

Here’s the spiritual reason why the mustard seed should be sown in a large field. The mustard seed generally produces a plant or bush, but because the mustard plant has mixed with other plants it ends up growing beyond its originally designed sized. Therefore, now that it has become a tree with large rigid branches, it really is not a place where safety and harmony can be found, for the reference to birds (cf. Mark 4:32) signifies demons. That’s right! The mustard tree (institutional church)  is an unnatural home for demons, because “the fowls of the air” imagery that is used in v. 32 is a metaphor for Satan and his imps, who, although attracted to the seed and the shade, really perch on the mustard tree’s “branches” (church pews) because they are there to devour the seed (Word of God) [cf. The Parable of the Sower, specifically  Matthew 13:19] !

This Divine Truth about the mustard plant changing into something it never was meant to be, which is a tree, is supported by prophetic eschatology. God declares that at end of the age, when there will be a great harvest, before the Messiah’s millennial reign can begin there first will be the separating of the wheat from the tares, of the sheep from the goats, and of Israel’s friends from her enemies (cf. Joel 3:11-14; Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-42; Matthew 25:31-46; and Revelation 14:15-16 and 14:17-20).

This mustard tree, thus, represents a revival of all that was evil about Nebuchadnezzar’s tree (cf. Daniel 4:19-27). The mustard tree also symbolizes today’s institutional church that has grown beyond its originally designed limits. Furthermore, by adopting the ancient Babylonians’ false systems and those systems’ false doctrines, the institutional church has opened its doors to demonic spirits, who are sitting on pews right beside true believers.

The mustard seed’s modern day spiritual implication is as follows: Although the Gospel message has endured the test of time, too much of the unadulterated Word of God has been compromised. Secular humanism, the revival of ancient Babylonian spiritism (the belief that the dead communicate with the living; also spiritism refers to astrology, self-help, New Age, and other alternative belief systems that emphasize the spiritual aspect of life), world religions’ false doctrines, and so forth, have been mixed with the Word of God. As a result of the institutional church becoming too secular because it has grown too large (beyond its intended size), churches today also have become the breeding grounds for the “false church” . . . the apostate church!

For these reasons, it is difficult NOW for many saved and unsaved people to tell the difference between a genuine believer (a genuine sheep, or genuine wheat) and a fake believer, a pretender (a goat, or a tare). Therefore, it is easy to see why Jesus the Christ doesn’t let church “laborers” separate the wheat from the tares before the end of the age (cf. Matthew 13:28-30)!

Furthermore, those sheep and wheat who are separated at the end of the age are Tribulation Period’s survivors who have not accepted the Mark of the Beast. They are the Left Behinders who are converted by the Book of Revelation’s 144,000 Jewish evangelists, two Jewish witnesses, and the angel who is flying through the air preaching the Gospel.

Concerning the growth of the Lord’s Kingdom, when it starts, the numbers of Tribulation believers will be small compared to the huge number of believers that will be around at the end of the Lord’s millennial reign. The bottom line is this: The Lord’s Kingdom will increase swiftly, which means that the quick growth of the mustard seed not only represents spiritual growth but also represents the fast increase in population. For sure, the Messiah’s physical Kingdom will grow by leaps and bounds, naturally and spiritually.

Finally, in the Scriptures cited at the beginning of this article, it is clear to GENUINE seekers that in the mini-parable of the Growing Seed (vv. 26-29), which ONLY appears in The Gospel According to Saint Mark, that Jesus the Christ is speaking about the Kingdom of God’s growth within every born again and redeemed child of God, which is the Kingdom of God that is presently here on Earth. It also is clear to GENUINE seekers that in the mini-parable of the Mustard Seed (vv. 30-32), Jesus the Christ not only is speaking about the Kingdom of God that is presently here on Earth but also He is speaking about the Kingdom of God’s growth that happens during the Lord’s millennial reign—the Kingdom that is yet to come!

In both mini-parables, the Kingdom of God begins small but then rapidly gets bigger. The deeper message of these mini-parables, however, is that regardless of their background, believers in Jesus the Christ can become great spiritual men and women in His CHURCH and great spiritual men and women in His Kingdom, but only if they let God’s Word and Holy Spirit do His work in them!

The Bridegroom Is Coming: God’s Ultimate Marriage Story

25 Wednesday Feb 2009

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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William Blake's Ten Virgins Painting (Based on The Parable of the Ten Virgins)

Contrary to popular opinion, the Ten Virgins’ parable is not about Israel being grafted back onto the Olive Tree just in time to rule with Christ during His millennial reign. Spiritually speaking, since the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God is inside every born again and saved believer in Christ, the Ten Virgins’ parable, thus, is about all believers (Jews and Gentiles) who live and die on Earth during the CHURCH Age (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

Moreover, in this parable, Christ is teaching that not everyone who professes Christ as Lord will be counted in His true CHURCH number, because not every believer will have both an inner and outer appearance of righteousness, as confirmed by His description of the five wise and the five foolish Virgins¹. The five foolish Virgins, though professed Christians, are more like the quasi-religious Pharisees who only had an external show of righteousness, and because of that Christ publicly rebukes them for their hypocritical righteousness and calls them whitewashed tombs (cf. Matthew 5:20-7:1-5; Matthew 23:2-28). On the other hand, the five wise Virgins are fully prepared and alert believers because they take the Oil of the Holy Spirit with them as they enter into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The Oil of the Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for trimmed yet burning lamps to be continuously refilled, and the Oil of the Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for believers to be prepared and watchful, as they await the rapture of the CHURCH.

For these reasons, it is important to understand that the Ten Virgins’ parable does not  deal with Israel (Jewish people having the “spiritual” scales to fall off of their eyes).  Indeed, the Ten Virgins’ parable focuses instead on the marriage between Christ and the CHURCH, which is that great mystery the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians Chapter 5. Christ, thus, uses the Ten Virgins’ parable to teach all believers about the parallels between the traditional Jewish marriage custom and the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual Truths about the ultimate Bridegroom’s proposal submitted to the perfect Bride. Furthermore, in the Ten Virgins’ parable, Christ uses the Hebrews’ understanding of a marriage contract, the cup of wine, the bride price, the bridegroom’s midnight return, the shout, the bridal procession, the bridal chamber, and the wedding feast to reveal God’s spiritual Truths about the Rapture of Christ’s true CHURCH and what happens to His true CHURCH immediately thereafter.

For sure, the parable about the Ten Virgin’s is intended to teach ALL believers about the suddenness and unexpectedness of their Lord’s Second Coming—a second coming that happens in stages, with the final stage being Christ’s visible bodily return, when He comes back to Earth with His saints and allows His feet to touchdown on the Mount of Olives! Thus, the parable of the Ten Virgins is the true CHURCH’s wake-up call; this parable is intended to convince Christ’s true CHURCH about the necessity for each member to be prepared for that unknown moment when the Bridegroom returns for His Bride—returns in the air to rapture His dead in Christ and alive in Christ CHURCH members who are spiritually pure, righteous, and perfect in His sight!

The symbolisms in the Ten Virgins’ parable are: (1) Christ, who is the Bridegroom (cf. Ephesians 5:25-28a, 31-33); (2) the Ten Virgins, who are the CHURCH Age Christian believers (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2); without a doubt, the five Wise Virgins represent the watchful, prepared genuine believers (Bride of Christ) who are raptured—the alive believers who are caught up to meet Christ in the air; the five Foolish Virgins represent the alive careless, negligent, unprepared believers who are left behind to experience the Tribulation Period along with the ungodly unbelievers living in the world after the Rapture; (3) the Holy Spirit of God, who is the Oil in the five Wise Virgins’ lamps—the spiritual Oil that sanctifies believers with real righteousness, as well as the spiritual Oil that will glorify them; (4) the Shout, which signifies the prophesied thunderous sound that alerts the watchful, prepared Virgins (Bride) about their betrothed’s (Bridegroom’s) promised return—in this case, the time of the Rapture; moreover, this Shout consists of Christ’s (the Bridegroom’s) command “to come,” the archangel’s call, and the trumpet sound of Almighty God (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16); (5) the Shut Door, which symbolizes what Christ means when He says “I know you not” (cf. Matthew 25:12b, KJV), and the Shut Door also highlights the fact that Christ has not been fooled by some believers’ external appearance of righteousness; lastly, the Shut Door symbolizes the end of the CHURCH Age—that there will be no more chances for the alive unprepared Christians or the alive ungodly unbelievers to enter into the physical heavenly Kingdom of God with Christ before the Tribulation Period starts; and (6) the Marriage Feast, which is the promised Marriage Supper of the Lamb or the wedding reception that the Bridegroom (Christ) has prepared for His Bride.

Since Jesus is God, as well as a Jewish man, He most assuredly is aware of the old marriage custom practiced by Jewish couples living in Israel, or in other places throughout the world. That’s why Jesus has no problem effectively using the parable of the Ten Virgins to illustrate how a Jewish man’s proposal to his beloved bride-to-be is, indeed, the most unforgettable marriage story of all time.

By telling the parable of the Ten Virgins, Christ is proving that He knows that from the first moment that a Jewish male decides who he wants for a wife (the female he either chooses or the one his parents have chosen for him to marry, as in an arranged marriage), there are three established steps to the Jewish marriage process that the Jewish male must follow. Step one: After deciding who he wants to marry, the Jewish male then leaves his father’s house and goes to his intended bride’s house, taking with him a contract of marriage, a cup of wine, and the “bride price” (money). When he arrives at his intended’s home, the first order of business involves the contract negotiations. If the guy and the girl are too young to accept their adult roles, the contract is negotiated between their parents. Whether the marriage is arranged or the young lady is chosen by the young man himself, and whether the intended bride’s parents negotiate the terms of the marriage contract with the young man’s father or the young man negotiates the terms of the marriage contract directly with his intended, the two parties—the prospective Jewish couple—will know each other’s responsibilities, for these responsibilities will be spelled out in the marriage contract.

Not only are the terms of the marriage contract very clear, but also, if accepted, this marriage contract becomes a legal agreement (covenant) binding both parties. They legally are betrothed (married), even though they are forbidden to have any sexual contact during their betrothal period. In fact, since they are considered officially married, if the marriage contract is broken, the couple is considered divorced (cf. Matthew 1:18-19). Moreover, if the husband dies during the betrothal period, the wife is considered a widow—even though the marriage had not been physically consummated.

Furthermore, during Step One, before the negotiated and presented marriage contract could be enforced, the husband-to-be must give the marriage contract to his intended, must put the cup of wine in front of his intended (which symbolizes his act of proposal), and must place before her the mohar, the cash gift or the bride price. She not only must read the marriage contract but also she must count her money. Once she does all that, the husband-to-be would toast the bride with a cup of wine, giving her a short period of time (about 10 seconds) to decide if she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. To accept the proposal, the bride-to-be would pick up the cup of wine and drink from it, or she could push the cup of wine away, which would mean she has rejected the proposal. If she drinks the wine, she not only is accepting but also is sealing the covenant—agreeing to remain true to her husband throughout the betrothal period while she waits for him to return for her and take her home with him. Moreover, if her answer is “yes,” then the bridegroom tells her, “I go to prepare a place for you” (cf. John 14:2a), but before the bridegroom leaves for his father’s house his bride covers her face with a veil.

This veiling custom signifies that this woman is unavailable (that she has separated herself from the pool of available young ladies)—that she is consecrated, set apart, and bought with a price. Moreover, the wearing of a veil after accepting a marriage contract, lets others know that this woman is “taken.” For these reasons, in everything, this wife now must submit to her husband.

In the traditional Jewish marriage, no engagement ring is exchanged; however, the tie between the betrothed Jewish couple is a much stronger one than the tie between Gentile fiancés and fiancées. Furthermore, this betrothal period gives the two parties a chance to grow or mature in their relationship—to get to know one another better—before they consummate their vows. For sure, this betrothal period gives the couple time to mature emotionally, affectionately, and faithfully.

Step Two:  During the betrothal period, while the husband and wife are getting to know one another better, and maturing emotionally, affectionately, and faithfully, the bridegroom is preparing a proper room (bridal chamber) in his father’s house, where he and his bride will consummate their marriage vows. The bridegroom’s father is the ONLY one who can sign off on the completion of this bridal chamber. This custom prevents the young man from rushing through his building responsibilities—keeps him from building a lean-to or some poorly constructed structure that would not be an adequate place to bring his wife. For this reason, neither the bridegroom nor the bride would know the day or the time of the wedding ceremony, which is why in Matthew 25:13 Christ tells ALL of His believes to “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”; only God, Christ’s Father, knows when the Bridegroom (Christ) will return for His Bride (the true CHURCH).

Be that as it may, after the bridegroom’s father agrees that the bridal chamber is finished and that it is properly built, the bridegroom, accompanied by his companions/friends/groomsmen, returns to his bride’s house and escorts her to the bridal chamber that he has prepared for the both of them. It is while they are in this bridal chamber that they will exchange gifts—the bridegroom’s additional gifts for his bride and her dowry (offering) to him, which she laid up for him while she waited for His return. During the betrothal period, the bride also will keep her literal lamp filled with oil so that she will be ready for her bridegroom, in case he comes at night.

Traditionally, the bridegroom does return during the night, and his night arrival is the reason why he loudly calls out to his bride (or sounds a trumpet). To give his bride time to make herself presentable for receiving him (time to put on her veil and get her lamp), the bridegroom courteously alerts his bride to the fact that he is drawing close to her parents’ home. After he arrives and unveils his bride, the two of them leave for the place the bridegroom has prepared in his father’s house. Once there, they say their vows, then enter their bridal chamber, where, as aforesaid, they exchange their gifts and consummate their marriage.

Step Three: Seven days later, after their marriage has been consummated, the husband and wife come out of their bridal chamber for the Marriage Supper (Wedding Feast). The friend (best man) hears the husband’s voice, as the couple approaches the banquet room, and then the friend (best man) announces the union between the bride and the groom to the Wedding Feast’s invited guests. Only the husband’s special friend gets to stand beside him as one of the honored guests at the Wedding Feast. For this reason, the husband’s grateful friend rejoices in knowing that the bride and groom finally have become one (cf. John 3:29).

As Christ draws the parallels between the traditional Jewish marriage custom and the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual Truths about the ultimate Bridegroom’s proposal submitted to the perfect Bride, Christ presents modern-day believers with a beautiful portrait of the mysterious union between Christ (Bridegroom) and His CHURCH (Bride). We, thus, come to understand that through the parable of the Ten Virgins Christ is teaching us about His own return for us—teaching us about our Jewish Bridegroom (Christ) who loved us so much that He enacted the same marriage custom for us that God’s chosen Jewish people traditionally followed.

The mysterious union between Christ (Bridegroom) and His CHURCH (Bride) that Apostle Paul writes about in Ephesians 5:25-28a, 31-33 begins when we are born again and saved by Grace through our confessed faith in and acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. As New Testament believers, we now have entered into a legal marriage contract with Christ, who left His Father’s House in Heaven to come to us (His Bride-to-be) as our Jewish Bridegroom. Along with bringing us His marriage contract—the New Testament, which spells out for us our responsibilities as His Bride and His responsibilities as our Bridegroom—Christ also brings His gifts of the cup of wine (Christ’s shed blood) and His bride price (Christ’s atoning sacrifice–His death on the Cross).

After we accept Christ’s gifts, He lets us know that He is going (ascending) to His Father’s house (Heaven) where He will be preparing a place for us (cf. John 14:2-4). He also lets us know that He is coming back for us once our bridal chamber is completed. While He is in His Father’s house, we, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, must endeavor to live consecrated and sanctified lives for Him—we must wear our individual “spiritual” veils that let the world know that we have been bought by a price and, thus, belong to Christ.

Then too, during our betrothal period (the Church Age), while we live and walk in the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:25; Romans 8:9a, 11) and allow the Word of God to be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (cf. Psalm 119:105), we also are busy for the Lord. We are making sure that we lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven (cf. Matthew 6:20-21); during the CHURCH Age, we obediently and righteously do the kinds of works for Christ that are of gold, silver and precious gemstone quality (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15). These righteous works become our dowry to our Bridegroom (Christ)—our righteous works that earn us the gifts/rewards Christ has promised us: (1) our crown of glory (cf. Proverbs 4:9; 1 Peter 5:4, KJV); (2) our crown of rejoicing (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:19, KJV); (3) our crown of righteousness (cf. 2 Timothy 4:8, KJV); (4) our crown of life (cf. James 1:12; Revelation 2:10, KJV); and (5) our robes of white linen (cf. Revelation 19:8, KJV). During this Second Step of the Body of Christ’s (the CHURCH’s) marriage process, we also are keeping our vessels filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, fills us, and helps us to develop our necessary daily and intimate fellowship, and righteous and holy relationship, with God so that our spiritual life can mature morally, spiritually, emotionally, and faithfully, and so that we can be a watchful and ready (prepared) Bride—the One the Bridegroom will recognize and find acceptable when He comes back for Her.

As the Bridegroom is coming down from Heaven, He alerts us with a loud shout, the archangel’s call, and God’s blast from His trumpet. Next, Christ catches us up into the air where we meet Him in the clouds; this event is better known as the Rapture (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). After we enter the heavenly realm of the Kingdom of God, we will say our marriage vows. Then, we immediately will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ where we will be judged according to the “quality” of the works we did on Earth under the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Our Bridegroom then will take us to the place He has prepared for us (our heavenly bridal chamber). Next, we will exchange gifts—our dowry of laid up treasures—for the rewards we will receive from our well-pleased Bridegroom (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, 9-10; Revelation 22:12).

After consummating the marriage, becoming one with Christ, which is a seven-day ceremony biblically and symbolically represented as the seven years of the Tribulation, we will celebrate our marriage at the Lamb’s Marriage Supper, which will not happen until the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign—when Christ sets up His physical Kingdom of God on Earth. Now, what should be noted is that Father God is the One who invites the special guests of honor to our Marriage Feast, but who we can expect to see there as honored guests are the Old Testament saints who died before Christ and the Tribulation saints who died during the Tribulation Period. Other guests will be the ones who not only survived the Tribulation Period but also the ones who made the last-minute decision to receive God’s gifts of Salvation and Eternal Life during the Tribulation Period (cf. Matthew 22:8-10; Luke 14:21b-23; Revelation 19:6-9).

It is sad to say, but in spite of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit, there still will be hard-hearted individuals who will not accept Christ as their personal Savior. Consequently, Christ’s Rapture and bodily Second Coming, the latter of which will trigger the end of our present world as we know it, will shock numerous men and women who are not in the least bit prepared for Him, just like the masses of people during the flood in Noah’s generation were shocked when the rains finally came. The flood caught the majority of Noah’s unprepared generation by surprise. Moreover, as only a handful of humans got to enter the ark to be saved from the flood, (exactly eight people … cf. 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5, KJV), likewise, in the end times, it also appears that only a remnant of individuals will be caught up to meet Christ in the air (see the mini-parables of the two field individuals, whose gender is not specified, and the two women grinding at the mill … Matthew 24:40-41, KJV).

In these aforesaid Matthew Chapter 24 mini-parables and in the Ten Virgins’ parable of Matthew Chapter 25, as each of these parables serves as a picture of believers, Christ is making it crystal clear that after the dead in Christ arise ONLY the living true CHURCH members will be allowed to enter into the bridal chamber with Him and be saved from the Tribulation—saved from ALL of God and the Antichrist’s wrath that will come upon this Earth. Christ describes how ONLY one of the two field workers, one of the two women grinding at the mill, and five of the ten Virgins will be representatives of His True CHURCH members. As such, they will be the ones who are saved from the Tribulation Period. The fate that will await those who are not raptured will be that they become the left-behind individuals who will experience the prophesied second destruction of the world.

What’s more, the Ten Virgins’ parable makes a salient point that needs to be mentioned here, and that salient point is that the Bridegroom will Shut the Door (will close off any access to Himself), which underscores the aforementioned statement about the careless, negligent, unprepared believers being left behind. Without a doubt, Christ not only is the five wise Virgins’ Bridegroom but also He is the five foolish Virgins’ Bridegroom. Now, since Christ is the ONLY Door through whom ALL believers must enter into the Kingdom of God (cf. John 10:7, 9), then the Word of God is clear: the Door will close on ONLY those believers who are foolish (careless and unprepared). Christ Shuts the Door, because He has judged those standing on the Earth side of the Door to be unworthy to enter into the physical heavenly Kingdom of God.

Most of us will agree that having any door shut in our faces is probably one of the most embarrassing feelings we ever could experience in this life. In the case of the foolish Virgins, the experience of having the Bridegroom Shut the Door to the Kingdom of Heaven in their faces is more than an embarrassment, because the closed Door is a harsh reality check that comes in the form of a twofold rejection: verbal and observable. Christ, the Bridegroom, not only tells them that He doesn’t know them but also He shows them that He doesn’t know them by keeping the Door closed—by intentionally ignoring their knocking and pleading.

What a horrible reality check we (modern-day believers) will have if we end up being careless, negligent, and unprepared believers to whom our Bridegroom says “I know you not”! How devastated we will be to realize that we not only are EMPTY of the Oil of the Holy Spirit—empty of the power and authority that keeps us in covenant agreement with our Bridegroom, and keeps us willing and able to fulfill our own marital responsibilities—but also we will be devastated when we realize that we are homeless, uncovered, and on our own, for the Holy Spirit can no longer live in left-behind believers who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads (cf. Revelation 7:2-4). In this awful state, we will come to realize too late that we are the very personification of Christ’s foolish five Virgins who find themselves on the outside of the Door that leads to the physical Kingdom of Heaven, pleading with Christ to let them in, only to realize that He will not.

The bottom line is this: If we do not have any Oil in our vessels when the Bridegroom comes in the air to Rapture His glorified CHURCH, He will Shut the Door on us. Thus, without the anointing that illuminates Divine TRUTH, we will not have any Light emanating from us that could move Christ to open the Door for us. How is it, then, that we who find ourselves left behind could ever run out of the Holy Spirit’s Oil?

Well, Christ makes it clear in the Ten Virgins’ parable that these ten Virgins are believers; however, He also makes it clear that only five of them are baptized with the Holy Spirit, as the other five are trying to live a holy and righteous life off of fumes! These foolish five are careless, unprepared (non-productive), inattentive and impure churchgoers because they believe in Christ yet they have “no oil for their lamps” (Matthew 25:3b, NLT); therefore, they are spiritually anemic, lacking the full power and full authority of the Holy Spirit who would have sustained their lamps’ light. They are without the anointed Oil that makes it possible for them to achieve the spiritual maturity that would have kept them enlightened, watchful and prepared while they waited for their Bridegroom’s return. The parable’s moral, then, is this: If we are foolish, carnal, non-productive, inattentive, impure Christians, we will be left behind! On the other hand, if we are wise, spiritually mature and productive, purified, watching and waiting Christians, we will be raptured.

Time is of the essence. We must take advantage of every opportunity we are given to become more like Christ, for we cannot afford to miss out on being the Bride who is to participate in the ultimate marriage, everlasting honeymoon, and glorious wedding feast of all time. We also cannot afford to miss out on our Jewish Bridegroom’s gift—the gift of living with Christ in the presence of God forever. For these reasons, we swiftly must become the CHURCH Christ is coming back for, realizing that He is not returning for members of brick and mortar churches, but rather we must realize that our Bridegroom is coming back for what we have within our individual vessels. Therefore, what we must have on the inside of us is the infilling (baptism) of the Holy Spirit’s power that works in us (cf. Ephesians 3:19b-20) and causes us to develop a righteous and holy conduct—one that demonstrates that we are walking worthy of our vocation (cf. Ephesians 4:1-6).

Additionally, we must be filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit, because only His anointed Oil will cause us to be fruitful, purified, and wise servants who are pure in heart (cf. Matthew 5:8), as well as humble, holy, righteous, loving, forgiving, peaceable, merciful, and thankful believers. Finally, we must be filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit, because only His anointed Oil will keep us faithful in our resolve to remain true to Christ—will keep us loyal to the commitments outlined in His marriage contract (the New Testament). The Holy Spirit’s anointed Oil also will reveal to us God’s Divine Truth, which makes us aware of this fact: since carnal Christians just have an outward form of religiosity without any inward spiritual reality, they ONLY serve Christ with their lips. Therefore, we must seek continuous fillings of the Holy Spirit’s anointed Oil so that our married faces will never become unveiled, for this unveiling would indicate that we have fallen into spiritual adultery, and our spiritual adultery will cause the Bridegroom to Shut the Door and leave us behind!


¹The English word “virgins,” as used in the King James Version of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, has been translated from the Greek word “parqevnoß,” which is transliterated as “parthenos.” Thus, in the context of the aforesaid parable, “parthenos” or “virgins” means a marriageable maiden who never has had sexual intercourse with a man.

The Importance of Christian Worship

20 Tuesday Jan 2009

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For nearly three and one-half years, Jesus the Christ preached and taught about the Kingdom of God-a kingdom that only born-again individuals could see and/or enter into. Jesus the Christ’s Good News about the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven) was the Good News about Himself: Jesus the Christ, the One who is the heavenly Son-God-Savior-King-Lord-Head who fulfilled the Perfect Will of His Father by becoming the God-man who sacrificially gave His life (died on the cross) in order to pay (atone) for this world’s sins. Furthermore, this God-man taught mankind this Good News about the Kingdom of God and Himself mostly through parables, and from His parables the hearers learned that the Kingdom of God only had ONE sovereign King who had dominion over every created heavenly and earthly creature.

Just like an earthly sovereign king or queen is automatically lord of his or her subjects, Jesus the Christ, who is Heaven and Earth’s sovereign King, also automatically is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Since the definition of Lord is someone who is the owner of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in a kingdom, simply because he or she has complete power and authority over all of the kingdom’s resources, including its citizens whose service and obedience are due him or her, then just as it is important for citizens of earthly kingdoms to worship their kingdoms’ kings or lords, it is important for the Kingdom of God citizens (Christians) to worship their Lord, King and Savior who is Jesus the Christ.

As born again (Holy Spirit regenerated) saved individuals who are ambassadors (authorized representatives or messengers) for their Lord and Savior, these citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth also have the essence of the Kingdom of God in Heaven dwelling in them. That essence consists of holiness, righteousness, mercy, love, grace, peace, joy, faith, goodness, kindness, gentleness, humility, self-control, divine truth, wisdom, power and authority, which the citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth are to demonstrate to this entire world. Additionally, the citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth are to make disciples of the brand new Holy Spirit rejuvenated and saved believers. In other words, citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth (Christian believers) are entrusted stewards who faithfully must increase the Lord’s Kingdom on Earth in His absence.

Jesus the Christ makes this last point comprehensible in His parabolic teaching on the Ten Servants (also called the Parable of the Ten Minas, or the Parable of the Talents). In Luke 19:12-15, Christ says:

A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called   together ten servants and gave them ten pounds of silver to invest for him while he was gone. But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say they did not want him to be their king. When he returned, the king called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had done with the money and what their profits were. (NLT)

In these opening verses to the parable about the Ten Servants, the nobleman (a common citizen who is uncommonly wealthy) is Jesus the Christ, the God-man who, after having fulfilled His initial purpose for coming to Earth, now is returning to Heaven where God will anoint and crown Him Lord and King of God’s heavenly and earthly Kingdoms, and then anoint and appoint Him as Head of the CHURCH. Before Jesus the Christ, the nobleman, leaves for Heaven, He gives ten of His servants a mina (100 denarii). Seven of the ten servants (who represent the Pharisees and their Jewish followers) rebel immediately, because they refuse to accept Jesus as their Lord and King. However, by the end of this parable, the remaining three servants (Christians) give an accounting of their stewardship to the nobleman (Jesus the Christ) who now has been elevated to the positions of Lord, King and Head. This new Lord, King and Head of the earthy Kingdom of God soon finds out, though, that only two of these three remaining servants have been productive!

The moral of this parable is that believers’ Christian life must involve their service and obedience to Jesus the Christ, because He has been anointed and appointed by God to be Lord (owner) of everything and everyone in the Kingdom of God in Heaven and on Earth. The Apostle Paul confirms this Divine Truth when he writes:

Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because  of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11, NLT)

Consequently, believers’ Christian living must involve their godly worship of Jesus the Christ, because He not only has been anointed and appointed worthy to manage God’s heavenly Kingdom’s spiritual resources (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, spiritual gifts, power, authority, the holy city, and the angelic hosts), but also has been anointed and appointed worthy to manage God’s earthly resources (land, water, vegetation, money, material goods, and all creatures). Therefore, just as earthly kingdoms’ citizens have to bow down and worship human lords or kings, Christian citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth also must bow down and worship Jesus the Christ the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Moreover, this anointed and appointed Lord-King-Head is the Lion of Judah who is coming back to Earth again to rule and reign here with His saints.

That’s right! Just like the nobleman in the parable about the Ten Servants returns as a king and lord who is ready to reward his servants for the profit they gained on his mina, Jesus the Christ, who is the crowned, honored and glorified Son of God, is coming back with His reward in his hand for the lackadaisical and hard-working servants, as well as for the dissenting unbelievers.  Therefore, Jesus the Christ not only deserves to be honored and glorified by all of mankind, but also deserves to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth by His Kingdom of God on Earth citizens, and these true believers’ worship means that they must express their reverence of, respect/admiration for, and devotion to Jesus the Christ with EVERYTHING that is within them, which is the whole essence of the Kingdom of God.

We Must Be Born Again

15 Thursday Jan 2009

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Have you ever wondered why Jesus the Christ concentrated more on the idea of being born again than He concentrated on the idea of salvation? Here’s why!

Concerning whether or not people need to be born again, Apostle Paul writes in Titus that God:

…saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7, NIV).

Translation: regeneration is a must! Being born again is a must, because if we never experience our second birth (our spiritual rebirth/renewal/regeneration), we never will be truly saved! In essence, regeneration is the definitive prerequisite to salvation. That’s right! Being born again and being redeemed are not synonymous.

For sure, Jesus the Christ knew the difference between rebirth and salvation. In fact, during His earthly ministry, He didn’t explicitly teach about salvation because His primary focus was on the Kingdom of Heaven and how people must enter into this spiritual Kingdom. He taught that they must come through the ONE and only door/gate—that they must come through Him. Christ’s teaching on how people enter into the Kingdom of God confirms that there is ONLY one way (one path) that leads to living an eternal life with God.

This veiled reference to salvation aside, without a doubt Jesus the Christ explicitly taught that before people could come through Him (before they could be saved from an eternity spent in the Lake of Fire) they first MUST be born again! Repeatedly, Jesus the Christ made it clear that unregenerate sinners neither would see nor would they enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Certainly that is why Jesus the Christ insisted that people must be born again instead of preaching and teaching that people must be saved!

It is safe to say that He understood the difference between regeneration (rebirth) and salvation. Like God, Jesus the Christ knew that it virtually was impossible for sinners to be saved from the wrath of God without God’s intervention. Consequently, God uses His saving grace and His Holy Spirit’s power for the purpose of influencing every sinner’s necessary born-again experience.

Knowing that we would be utterly hopeless as long as we lived outside of a life in Christ is why God graciously intervenes in our lives and quickens our human spirits so that we can hear the Word of God and receive our measure of faith. God knows that it takes us being born again before we can proceed to the most crucial step in His redemption plan, which is responding to the Holy Spirit’s initial conviction. By God’s Grace, His Holy Spirit first convicts us about our need to be aware of our sin-guilt, to be accountable for our own sins, and to confess our awareness. For sure, it is our confessed awareness and accountability that will activate the Holy Spirit’s successive convictions: confessing our sins, repenting our sins (turning away from our sins and turning toward Jesus the Christ), and accepting Jesus the Christ as our Savior.

After we accept Jesus the Christ as our person Savior, we are reconciled and restored. Christ gives us His righteousness (He justifies us so that we will be in right standing with God); the Holy Spirit begins His practical sanctification process (He begins transforming us unto the image of Jesus the Christ); and our eternal life begins while we are still on Earth. But again, none of the Holy Spirit’s successive convictions that lead to our salvation can happen if we first didn’t have a genuine born-again experience!

The Apostle John says that “…to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan – this rebirth comes from God” (John 1:12-13, NLT). Once again, being born again is wholly, completely, and supremely because of God’s divine power (mighty workings of His Holy Spirit) and Grace. By God’s design, we are inactive receivers of our second birth! That is to say that there is nothing that we can do, say or think about that will influence our regeneration. Furthermore, if the Holy Spirit doesn’t rejuvenate our spiritually DEAD human spirits (spirits that are dead in sins and trespasses), we just would continue to deny our sinfulness and continue to deny our need for a Savior.

Since being born again of the Holy Spirit is something that humans cannot do under their own strength, might, and predilection, people need to know and understand that they are never considered to be regenerated just because they are fortunate enough to have been born (physically born) into a Christian family. Similarly, people need to know that they are not born again just because they make a decision to be saved, or make a commitment to the Lord, or choose to rededicate their lives, or walk down the aisles of the church and give their preacher their hand. Finally, people need to know that they are not born again just because they orally repent their sins and/or boldly profess to believe in Jesus the Christ. The spiritual truth is that people repent and believe because the Grace and Holy Spirit of God already have regenerated their dead human spirits, which is that quickening that eventually leads to believers’ spirits being put back in the right standing and relationship with Father and Creator God–they are presented to God just as if they had never sinned!

Unfortunately, because too many “churchy” people tend to think that regeneration (the rebirth) and salvation are the same, that water baptism is the second birth, that water baptism saves, or that people have something to do with their own rebirth, we have too many professed Christians in our modern-day churches who really never have been born again (people who never have received a regenerated spirit). The sad truth is that not until people study the Word of God for themselves until they know God’s Word inside and out, and not until pulpit ministers and other spiritual leaders teach the truth about the second birth, which is that being born again is solely of God, the numbers of people who neither will see nor enter into the Kingdom of Heaven will continue to be staggering!

Phases of the Coming of Christ

09 Friday Jan 2009

Posted by in Poetry

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Kingdom of God “is at hand.”

Nearness, though, in stages.

John the Baptist’s repent warning, phase one:

Christ, God’s suffering servant,

Arrives incognito;

Anointed Messiah, Father’s only begotten

Clothed with humanity Son,

Rejected, betrayed, crucified Lamb who’s resurrected.

Revealed, glorified Son of Man,

Returns triumphant King of Kings,

Lord of Lords,

Descending on cloud,

Bringing host of saints from Heaven to Earth.

His beautiful Gospel carrying feet

Split Mount Olives,

Ushering in Kingdom of God, really “is at hand”;

Phase two: fully manifesting after

Horrific seven-year Tribulation’s

Rapid increase in labor pains

Cease from troubling.

Second Coming sneaks up on church-players,

Catches them off guard, living in

Spiritual darkness, baring spiritual nakedness.

While stripped of all supernatural

Power, authority, discernment, they stand before their

Creator, uncovered; guilty of

Compromising God’s Divine Truth with

World’s repulsive, duplicitous, seductive,

Misogynous, misanthropic, depraved imaginations that now

Infect the music, print, motion picture, broadcast, and

Electronic communications’ brands…causing

Greedy for gain pursuits to become

Strongholds ‘til perverse activities are

Tolerated business as usual,

Instead of shunned ungodly habits.

The evil ways of the world steadily

Drown out contemporary prophets’

“Prepare to meet God” warnings ‘til

Get-ready time is spent.

Divine Judgment’s hour for

Church-players and the unyielding unsaved,

Already is closing in.

Now is the time to sorrowfully repent and

Cry: “Lord, save a wretch like me.”