As in Heaven Also On the Earth

AS IN HEAVEN ALSO ON THE EARTH

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Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth. (Matthew 6:10—YLT)

I may be mistaken, but I think at the present time we need to revise our opinion of what Heaven is like. Perhaps the spirit world is not as tranquil and as orderly as we have thought. In fact, the Bible states that God charges His angels with error.

If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, (Job 4:18)

I am wondering if Heaven has been in spiritual chaos ever since the rebellion of Satan and his angels.

Perhaps God created man to do something about the chaos. Not that man can do anything of himself, but he can pray. Man invited Satan, the instigator of the confusion, into the earth. I think that God is leaving it up to man, through Jesus Christ, to drive Satan out of the heavens and out of the earth.

If so, it will begin with the prayers of man driving Satan out of Heaven. Finally, the armies of the Lord, Christ, the saints, and the warrior angels, will drive Satan out of the earth. God, at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, will burn up the wicked and throw Satan into the Lake of Fire.

It will take that long to finally drive evil from the creation of God — hopefully for eternity.

We know that the final conflict between good and evil has begun, because Christ has risen from where He has been seated at the right hand of God and now is standing on Mount Zion with His called, chosen, and faithful saints.

Notice how man is instrumental is driving Satan from his place in the heavens:

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Revelation 12:10-12)

Can you see in the above passage that it was the saints who caused Satan and his angels to be removed from the heavens? Can you see also that the saints caused the Father to give Michael the strength to overcome Satan, and that the removal of Satan from the heavens caused the heavens to rejoice? Now think once more about the following verse:

Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth. (Matthew 6:10—YLT)

Can you see that the victory must be won first in the heavens, and after that, it finally will be won in the earth? As in Heaven, also on the earth.

This is the basis for the prayers of the saints. When Satan has bound someone on the earth with sin or illness, it is a spiritual problem. It reflects the determination of Satan to corrupt the work of God in the earth. When we pray through and touch God, God brings victory in the spirit world. This then is reflected in a healing on the earth. Isn’t it so? As in Heaven, also on the earth.

Whatever we bind on earth is bound in Heaven. Then the victory is reflected on the earth.

God is leaving the United States because Satan has overcome the Christian people with sin, who are supposed to be the lights of the world. If enough people prayed that God would break the bondages of sin that are widespread in America, Satan would be defeated; there would be righteous behavior in the earth, and our nation would prosper under the hand of Christ once again.

The spirit world is a battleground, and this is reflected in the earth. Notice the following:

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. (Daniel 10:13)
So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come”. (Daniel 10:20)

I think it is safe to say that there is a prince of America; a prince of England; a prince of Iran; a prince of Saudi Arabia; and so forth. What we see on the earth may be a struggle among these princes. Perhaps this is why when Jesus addresses the seven churches of Asia, He speaks to the angel of that church.

My point is, the heavens are not the nice, quiet, righteous place we might imagine. It is an area of warfare, and the inhabitants rejoice when the saints prove strong enough to overcome Satan and cause him to be removed from the heavens.

If my perception of the spirit world is true, there is a Heaven which is part of the spirit world. It is a walled city, as it will be when it descends to the new earth, after the final judgment. The entire spirit world is an unimaginably vast area, and the portion we refer to as “Heaven,” and its inhabitants, is just one small part.

The city of God, the new Jerusalem that is destined to come to the earth after the final judgment, is the home of the Church, the Royal Priesthood. God’s priests, who will govern under the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, are being prepared for their future role as the eternal representatives of God to the nations of people who are saved. This is made clear in the last two chapters of the book of Revelation.

As to the city in the heavens:

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

We have left Mount Sinai, the Law of Moses, and have come to the heavenly Jerusalem — that part of the spirit world we term “Heaven.” It is the city of God. There are multiplied thousands of holy angels there. This is “the Church of the Firstborn,” because many more sons of God are in training there. It is our “Heaven” that we often refer to. We are there already and our names are written there. We have come to the Judge of all men, Christians and everyone else. The spirits of the righteous are there. This is not speaking of those who have been given imputed righteousness so they can leave the Law of Moses and turn to Jesus Christ, but those who are righteous in their spirit. They are spirits of integrity, honesty, truthfulness, kindliness, being brought to perfection in the city. They are being made perfect in iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father. This is taking place today.

There are concentric circles of holiness that grow smaller in diameter as we approach the Throne of God. We can move closer to the Throne today, to one of the smaller circles with fewer people in it, by casting off, through Christ, all filthiness of our flesh and spirit.

One of the most destructive doctrines ever to be taught to Christians is “once saved, always saved.” I do not care what analogies are employed, this doctrine is not in the Bible.

The truth is, we can be in Christ at the very right hand of God, and then be cast down to the earth. That has happened to some prominent Christian ministers during the last twenty years.

Let me be plain. We can lose our place in the holy city, in Heaven we might say, by continuing to yield to our sinful nature. Paul teaches this clearly in more than one passage. We must labor to make our calling and election certain.

Our problems have their source in the spirit world, coming from wicked spirit dignitaries:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; (II Corinthians 10:4)

The “strong holds” are wicked princes in the spirit world against whom we wrestle. Our weapons are prayer, stern obedience to Christ, faithfulness, truth, moral cleanliness, and so forth. These are our weapons and they will tear down the principalities and powers in the heavenlies.

At the present time, we in America are seeking to recover our national strength by politics. This method will fail. Before America can be saved, the spiritual enemies must be overcome.

The virtue most prized by God is obedience to Christ. Obedience will be tested in the last days. There are some, who at present are dwelling in Christ at the right hand of God, who will be tested in obedience. Some will fall to the earth when they are tested by Antichrist.

Remember, Heaven is all around us. It is in another dimension, not thousands of miles away from us. “We have come to Mount Zion.” It is not out in outer space somewhere. When I speak of falling to the earth, I mean those who have not been perfected in obedience will leave their positions in the Presence of God and become filled with earthly lusts and covetousness.

Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.
It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.
Because of rebellion, the host of the saints and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground. (Daniel 8:9-12)

I believe I am correct in saying that the “horn” presented above is Antichrist. It grew in power and set its sights on Israel. It kept growing in power until it reached the army of saints in Heaven. It was able to tear them down from their place in God and trample on them.

I would imagine the “Prince of the host” would be Jesus, since the daily sacrifice was taken from Him. I believe that at this time it will be impossible for those on the earth to receive Christ and be saved, unless they join victorious saints who are hidden away somewhere.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32)

Antichrist will be given that much power and authority over God’s people until, as Daniel says, they are “shattered.”

What “the place of his sanctuary” is, I have no idea, but I get the impression that somehow the work of Christ will suffer.

Because of rebellion, the host of the saints and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. This is why God permitted Antichrist to have such authority and power. It is because of “rebellion.” From the time of Adam and Eve, mankind, including the Christians, have not been obedient to God. We are prominent in religious activities, but we “save our life.” We help God from our own position.

This is why in the last days, everything will be shaken until all that has not been in subjection to Christ shall be shaken and removed from God’s Presence.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:25-27)

We sing “Only what’s done for Christ will last.” The truth is, “Only what’s done by Christ will last.”

God’s plan from the beginning has been to build a kingdom of righteous people that will endure throughout eternity. But whenever He takes a step toward His goal, people put their hands on the Ark, so to speak, and attempt to improve what God has begun. Peter, on the Mount of Transfiguration, attempted to begin the Christian religion by building a house for Jesus, a house for Moses, and a house for Elijah. It appears that most Christian work from the beginning has been conducted largely through the endeavors of people. The people prayed, but they did not wait long enough to hear from Christ. So it is today.

Notice in Revelation chapter 12 that the brothers overcame the Accuser by not loving their own lives to the death.

I wonder how many of us of today are willing to give up our religious ambitions and do nothing except what we hear from Jesus. How many denominations would survive such a determination?

Because of rebellion! Because we cannot “let go and let God have His wonderful way”, we build “babylon.” Our intentions are the best, in many instances. But we are trying to help Christ out, and He does not need our help. He needs our stern obedience to His every desire.

Doing nothing but waiting for Christ can invite us to lapse into error. I am aware of that. Walking with our hand in the hand of God is an art that must be practiced every day. We are sure to make many mistakes, as our idols are uncovered and rejected.

As the shaking occurs in the final days of the Church Era, most Christian activities might be demolished. Certainly all cathedrals will, because they never were built in obedience to Christ. Everything in our own lives that was not conducted in obedience to Christ will be removed. Only what’s done by Christ will last.

How about you? Are you willing to seek Christ continually so you are aware of what He wants of you? This is my desire also. Let’s walk with God, as Enoch did, and see what God wants of us each day.

Let’s die to our self-will, live righteous lives, and pray fervently, until every spirit that disobeys Christ is destroyed and God can once more entrust Paradise to us on the earth.

(“As in Heaven Also On the Earth”, 3065-2, proofed 20240808)