Every Christian should portray in himself or herself what God is thinking, doing, and speaking in the present hour. God's prophets should proclaim what God is saying, and the remainder of the saints must bear witness by giving their Amen to what the prophets are declaring. Each of the members of the Body of Christ is to give his or her Amen to what the Head is declaring to his own heart and proclaiming through the prophets of the churches.

But it is often true that the prophets are seeking their own welfare, and the Christians are living according to the appetites and desires of their body and soul and therefore are not aware of what the Head is thinking, speaking, or doing.

The spirit realm is the enduring realm and the source of all lasting joy and power. The material realm was created by the spirit realm. Each human being abides in the present material realm for a brief period of his existence. But he lives eternally in the spirit realm. It is important each individual understand what he will face when he leaves the present material realm and takes up his abode in the realm of spirits.

It is the Spirit of prophecy that bears witness of the attitude of God and His Christ and of the true state of the realm of spirits. A false witness of the attitude of God and Christ, and of the true state of the spirit realm, leaves the individual with a false impression of what he will face when he dies physically.

It is the writer's point of view that many (perhaps most) of the Christian churches of our day are bearing a false witness concerning the attitude of God toward His churches and toward the world. One reason for the false testimony is the current misunderstanding of the role of grace and of imputed (ascribed) righteousness in the Christian redemption. A second reason for the false testimony is the man-centered, pleasure-loving spirit that has entered the Christian churches.

It is possible the typical church member will be astonished when he dies and discovers he is not ushered into the Presence of Christ in the new Jerusalem, into a fabulous mansion, but rather is appointed to a place in keeping with his spiritual development and in which he receives instruction in spiritual growth and understanding.

The typical church member may be astonished to find the Lord Jesus does not approach him and exclaim, "Well done, good and faithful servant"; but is as far off as He has been on earth.

The devout, victorious saints are not astonished when they die. They live close to Jesus in the world and that closeness carries over into the spirit realm. One of the greatest of all the misunderstandings that plague Christian thinking is the belief that physical death causes us to become a better person.

To be continued.