Those who would (at the Lord's return because it is not possible prior to His return) ascend the thrones that govern the world must lose their own head, their own thinking. In place of their own thinking must be established the mind of Christ. Such substitution of Christ's thinking and planning in place of our thinking and planning cannot occur until we follow the Lord into crucifixion.

"The souls of them that were beheaded."

It is not likely that only those who have been decapitated will live and rule with Christ. But it certainly is true that no believer will live and rule with Christ until he has been "beheaded" in the sense of no longer thinking, speaking, and acting according to the adamic mind.

It is the smell of "flesh," not of Christ, that comes from current attempts to organize Christian people into a political force.

We understand, then, that the sin in the world cannot be overcome until we overcome Satan. We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and by loving not our life to the point of death. All of the political strength that possibly could be brought to bear can never remove sin from the earth. Until Satan has been overcome the nations will continue in sin.

The purpose of the ministries and gifts of the Spirit of God is not to improve the morals or the welfare of the world. Many Charismatic people have not understood the purpose for the ministries and gifts of the Spirit.

The purpose for the ministries and gifts of the Spirit of God is to build the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is God's Servant who will return with Christ (the Head and Body forming one Servant of the Lord) and bring justice and peace to the nations of the earth, beginning with Israel.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Bible interpreters often work this passage around until it means we ought to "get souls saved" or do some other "practical" work in the world. However, the passage is to be left exactly as written. The purpose of the ministries and gifts given by the ascended Christ is to build the Body of Christ, the golden Lampstand that is the light of the world.

All of us desire that the world be a sin-free paradise in which justice and righteousness abound. The Scriptures teach that just such a paradise is coming to the earth. It is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom that is from Heaven.

The Kingdom will come at the hands of the completed Christ—completed by means of the joining of the Body to the Head.

To be continued.