During modern times (I don’t know when or where it started) a spirit has entered the Christian ministry. I am not sure what to call it, but it seeks to use the power of Christ apart from the traditional cross-carrying obedience and patient waiting on the Lord that we usually associate with discipleship.

There is talk of binding the principalities over cities; putting on our administrative hat; stepping out in faith. I suppose the faith and prosperity errors are part of it. We have had the "laughing revival." And there have been "revivals" in Toronto, Canada and Gainesville Florida that seem to be based more on enthusiasm than the Spirit of God. The Todd Bentley debacle is one of the later manifestations. I wonder what is next.

And then we have, "speaking the creative word." It is a fact that a member of the Body of Christ may be directed to speak a creative word, BUT ONLY AS JESUS DIRECTS, not because we just think it is a good idea.

What we may not understand, we Charismatics, is that Jesus is the only lawful Administrator of the power of the Spirit. We are not to attempt to use the gifts of the Spirit. We are to keep looking to Christ so we will know what we are to exercise and when we are to exercise it. If this simple fact were brought to the attention of Charismatic people, we might have real revival on our hands, not the kind of worked-up things we have been experiencing over the past twenty-five years.

When you think about the dramatic calls to see how marvelously God will work when we all get together and pray, or show by our actions that something remarkable is taking place, and then place these scenes against the ministries of the Apostles of the first century, there is a noticeable difference. Has God’s way of working actually changed?

I believe it is time to ask this question.

For myself, I don’t think much of the present commotion is of the Lord Jesus. Are some people genuinely converted to Christ? Is lasting fruit being borne? I think it is, in some cases.

The thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation tells us of the False Prophet who will assist Antichrist. Notice that the False Prophet has the two horns (power) of the lamb (Lamb?) but speaks with the voice of the dragon. The voice of the dragon is that of self-will. "I will; I will; I will." It is easy to apply this description of what is taking place in some of the Charismatic ministries.

Will it be self-centered Christians who support the self-centered Antichrist world system? I think so.

The following passage is found in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation:

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

God permits (or directs) Satan to put us in prison. But God always is in control. The length of time is determined in advance. The reward is the authority and power of endless, incorruptible Divine Life.

The imprisonment is that of our personal cross. Our personal cross takes two forms: we are not given what we so fervently desire at the time we desire it; or/and we have to live in a situation that we deplore for an unknown period of imprisonment.

When Audrey and I first came to Mount Zion, I resolved to do only what the immediate situation called for, the practical actions any normal person would take in his or her situation. I resolved to avoid planning major programs until I knew what Christ was saying.

If you think waiting on the Lord like this is easy you possibly have never tried it. There are several forms of pressure that urge us to get out and do something. Win souls for Christ. Build a big church. Compel them to come in. Win your city for Christ. Take dominion over the spiritual rulers of your community. In other words, come down from the cross.

So we have waited to see what Christ wanted. No word came. Younger ministers passed us up on their way to the "top." I already was fifty years old with an earned doctorate in education from the University of Rochester in New York. I am supposed to bring glory to my alma mater.

So here I am, waiting for Christ to do something, an old man on my way to the bottom, in a little church in Poway, California. Someone told me that "Poway" is an Indian term meaning "the end of the road." That does not help!

But you know what! I had determined "to fish or cut bait." "If there is a God in Heaven, a Christ who said He would build His Church, let’s find out." Kind of daring, I guess. Meanwhile some are saying we must go door to door and save souls. Oh well . . .!

I have stuck to my guns. It is thirty years later. The church is still less than a hundred in attendance, although it is growing slowly. We have not made any effort to build the church, the Spirit of God always seems to bring in the people we need for what we are doing.

Meanwhile, our outreach is impressive, I believe, in books going out, television, our two Internet sites, our daily essay on E-mail (over a thousand subscribers who read my rantings seven days a week). We still are not making any plans or trying to do anything. In fact, you are reading these words right now and I don’t even know who you are or where you live, maybe in Vietnam. We actually see Vietnam on our stat page for the WOR site, as well as France, England, Italy, the United Arab Republics, and other places you might not think of.

I prayed years ago that God would grant to me to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever people breathe the air. I think He is answering prayer.

Meanwhile I am in the Lord’s prison. You know, resurrection power comes only from the cross, not from our religious efforts no matter how sincere or violent. We can try to twist God’s arm, but all we get are manifestations that seem to be the Holy Spirit but leave kind of a bad taste in our mouth

When we think of Abraham offering Isaac, the numerous kinds of suffering the Apostle Paul endured, the deprivations of those heavenly witnesses mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews, we realize that God’s way is to reduce us to nothing, to remove all our ability to do anything, so that His wisdom and power might prevail.

Are you being denied what you want? Are you in a miserable situation? Pray earnestly that you will get what you want. But do not force your way out! In order to escape you will have to break God’s laws. The route to deception it to try to make our life on earth a pleasurable experience. Accept the trials God sends, and the blessings also. They are equally important.

When the Lord Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him, He knew what He was saying. The greatest enemy we have, even worse than our sinful nature, is our self-will; our personal ambition. Our personal ambition is slain in our prison, slain by our cross. This is the purpose for the imprisonment. It is to kill our self-will.

When a self-willed person enters the ministry, what we have is self-will in the ministry. This is what we often see today. An ambitious person attempting to make a name for himself or herself.

I guess being a minister of the Gospel must appeal to people. Maybe it is better than working. For myself, this is not my choice. There are many things I enjoy doing. I would not have picked out the ministry for a vocation. I am in the ministry because Christ called me in a supernatural experience while I was in the Marine Corps during World War Two. Yes, some of us are still living. I am pastoring as a favor for my best Friend, the Lord Jesus. Otherwise I would be doing something I like better.

But, like Moses I think it was, I am looking forward to the reward from a grateful King. So I will keep on pastoring until He says "enough."

I know, from reading the Bible, that the—shall I say monkey business—that goes on today with all its hype and begging for money probably is not Divine Life coming from the cross.

We have had several "revivals" in the last several years. But you know what? I am waiting for God to move. I have been in Pentecost for sixty years. I think I will know when I see the real stuff. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe genuine revival, the harvest rain prophesied for the last days, is at hand.

When it comes, you will know it and I will know it. There will be no more "big" preachers. It will be a "sackcloth" revival. Little people doing what the Lord has told them to do, and then fading back into the woodwork. Such people refuse to take the Glory. They want Christ alone to be magnified in their bodies.

So I invite you to wait with me in your own prison. Don’t try to be anyone special. Walk with the lowly of heart. Let’s see what our Lord Jesus Christ will do if we keep our hands off the Ark, because it certainly is coming down the road.

You know, it is a sad thing to see our great nation forsake its heritage. The once mighty United States of America is on the decline. This has happened to great nations of the past, hasn’t it. And always for the same reason—sin!

The issue is not the liberals or the conservatives, the Democrats or the Republicans, the black people or the white people. There are good people in all of these categories, and also wicked people. Rather, the issue is sin.

I believe, after prayer, that God’s main concern regarding America is abortion-on-demand. I realize there are occasions, such as a life-threatening medical condition, or rape, when God could condone an abortion. And as far as limiting the population of a third-world population for economic reasons, it would seem that preventing conception in the first place would be preferable to abortion.

But in America when so often the problem is one of convenience, or of establishing the "reproductive rights" of the female, murdering the developing fetus is simply not acceptable.

I asked the Lord how he felt about the millions of babies being murdered in America. This is what I believe He said: "I am going to avenge Myself, and the murdered babies as well. I am holding every man, woman, boy, and girl in America responsible for these murders."

You may argue, "You certainly were not hearing from God."

My suggestion is, "Ask God for yourself. The Bible says, let the prophets speak and let the others judge. So go to God and ask Him if what I heard was actually from Him. Don’t guess, ask God.

So I said, "What then shall we do?"

He said, "Get as close to Jesus as you can and obey all He tells you to do. Everyone who does this, whether man, woman, boy, or girl, will be spared the fury of My wrath."

We are not talking about tribulation here but about wrath. Tribulation enables us to enter the Kingdom of God. But wrath is destructive.

Do you think for one moment I would lightly quote God in such a manner? God would punish me for being a false witness. So please do as I suggest. Go to God and ask for yourself. See what His attitude is toward the practice of abortion-on-demand.

I do not care how wise are the forthcoming governmental decisions. America will grow increasingly weak, financially, militarily, educationally, physically, mentally, unless the government condemns and halts the practice of unneeded abortions.

If I am not hearing from Christ, then the country can relax. But if I am hearing from Christ, then our country is in about as bad a situation as is possible.

Regarding boys and girls at the age of accountability. They need to throw out the electronic games. Many of these games deal with demons, supernatural creatures or events, horrible-looking creatures, ghouls, snakes, dragons, and violence. All of these open the door for spiritual darkness to enter the home. Many youngsters will commit horrible crimes as a result of exposing themselves to these wicked games.

It is our fault as parents and adults. We have permitted the young people to become so involved with this witchcraft, and this indeed is what it is, that they cannot conceive of living without their electronic games. Only the most determined of the boys and girls will be able to give up these games.

I found it quite strange that God said He was holding all of the American people, including the boys and girls, responsible for the abortions that have occurred and are occurring. Since I am a responsible pastor and not some kind of nutcase, I am well aware of the consternation my declaration could occasion.

My alternative is to permit humanistic considerations to modify what I think God told me so it is more acceptable and "reasonable." However I am not even tempted to do that, because I have found in a Christian experience of over sixty years that it is best to do and say exactly what God says to do and say, and later we see the wisdom of it. Have you found this to be true.

Our Lord Jesus seems to be more real to me now than at any previous period of my discipleship. I believe He is telling me that because of the rise of the Antichrist spirit in our nation we are going to need to talk to Him constantly throughout the day and night if we are to survive.

The spiritual powers that are appearing in our nation and on the world scene are far stronger and wiser that any we have known. We simply are no match for them in political power are any other power or wisdom. Only Jesus sits as King of the flood. Only Jesus has more wisdom, authority, and power than the greatest of the titans of darkness that God has permitted to invade the earth in the closing days of time.

God knows exactly what He is doing and is in perfect control. He is shaking the earth and the heavens so only that which has been founded on Christ can maintain its position. The Christian activities and professions we have believed to be our guaranty that we cannot be harmed spiritually will vanish before the spiritual onslaught that is approaching.

We can survive and we can help our loved ones and friends to survive during the decline of the American way of life. But we will have to press into Jesus continually. We will have to think about that which is pure, lovely, wholesome, and not participate with those who are seeking that which is ugly, horrible, gruesome.

One of our greatest temptation will be to fret over the actions and words of wicked people, with which America seems to be filled. We simply must not fret! We must set our minds and emotions on that which is above. We must place our treasures in Heaven, understanding that our pilgrimage on the earth is only for a brief season.

If we seek to save our life, we are going to lose it. If we lose our life for Jesus’ sake, we will preserve it.

Make no mistake. Dreadful, terrible days are approaching our nation. I understand the unscriptural doctrine of the any-moment rapture of the believer will cause many to ignore the preparations I have mentioned. Therefore in the hour of calamity they will be of no help to themselves, their loved ones, or their friends. They have not prepared themselves to stand in the evil day, as the Apostle commanded.

I think America finally will survive as a nation, but we no longer will exert leadership in the world. We are throwing away the blessing of God that was gained by the hard work and faith in God of our forefathers. We are throwing it away as we watch the wicked people on the late-night television shows mock and blaspheme God and all that is holy and righteous.

You can let the troubles that are coming press you into Jesus. That would please Him, and he will enable you to save yourself and those who follow you.

It seems to be the prevailing concept, at least that which is held by evangelical, fundamental Christians, that Christ is coming at any moment to whisk His Church into Heaven in order to avoid the troubles on the horizon.

This belief is neither scriptural nor reasonable nor logical

It is not scriptural. There is no passage in the Bible that says Christ will return to remove His Church from the earth and bring her to Heaven so she may not have to endure trouble. In fact, Jesus Himself said He was not praying that God would take us out of the world but that God would deliver us from the evil one.

It is not reasonable. It is certain that believer cannot be lifted up to meet the Lord in the air until they first have been raised from the dead, that is, changed from mortality into immortality. Once they thus have been changed, neither Antichrist nor any other evil force can in any manner harm them. So why would Christ have to live immortal saints into the air to escape harm?

It is not logical. The believers of today, especially in America, live in the pursuits of their fallen nature. How many Christian people do you know who have denied themselves, taken up their cross, and are diligently following the Lord each day—that is, when they can tear themselves away from the television? Not very many, I am afraid. Therefore they are not disciples. Therefore they are not Christians, because "Christian" is another name for a "disciple."

If we are under the impression that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming with the victorious saints of all ages in order to receive to Himself millions of half-hearted, double-minded, lukewarm American church members, we are living in a delusion.

The American holocaust is on the horizon, sponsored by the babies that have been aborted without good and sufficient reason. During this season of Divine judgment we will discover that Christ’s way is not to remove us from trouble but to deliver us in the midst of trouble, as He did Daniel, as well as the three young Hebrew men.

What, then, can a believer do to prepare the way of the coming of the Lord to him or her?

First, he must realize that every son God receives He chastens. This means fiery trials to burn away our sin and self-will. God goes to war against every person He receives. He does not comfort us until our warfare has been accomplished.

@SCRIPTURE = Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:2)

Peter speaks of fiery trials. Isaiah tell us about the barren from whom God has turned away for a brief season, about being angry with us. We must receive a double portion of chastening before God will receive and comfort us.

If you have experienced this season of imprisonment you know exactly what I mean. If you have not, then pray that you will stand in the hour of testing.

The crooked places in your personality must be straightened out. Like most of us, you probably are deceitful. You are Jacob with the wounded heel, always trying to prove that your underhanded ways are actually righteous. You are a supplanter until your warfare, your hard service, has been completed.

The high places in your personality must be brought down. You may be arrogant, in love with yourself, presumptuous, expecting Christ to be your servant and give you all you want "right now, thank you." The Lord’s prison has a way of humbling the most proud, arrogant believer until he or she walks humbly with God.

The rough places must be smoothed out. A little lying; a little adultery; a little profanity; a little gossip; a little dabbling in the occult. Who among us can walk with the consuming Fire of Israel? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. How wonderful to live in the center of the Divine Fire! There absolutely is no other place to live in as wonderful as this? But everything that can be burned shall be burned. Covet this purifying!

The low places must be brought up God cannot work with timid, shy, fearful people. The titanic battle between good and evil is upon us. We must seek Christ until we are strong and of a good courage. How many times did God tell Joshua to be strong and of a good courage!

We might have gotten by this far in our church by pleading shyness, or self-consciousness, or whatever. Look at Revelation 21:8 and see who is the first candidate for the Lake of Fire!

Christ indeed will nourish the weak and care for them. But He intends to bring forth victory in them, and that means a personality who boldly trusts in Christ and goes forth in strength and confidence in the Lord Jesus.

Prepare the way of the Lord in your heart! The high comes down. The low comes up. The crooked is straightened out. The rough is smoothed out.

All flesh is as grass. Our natural life is temporary. Jesus told us the flesh profits nothing. Let us call on Jesus and ask Him to make us ready for His coming. He is life eternal. He is That who endures and cannot be shaken. Our mortal life soon shall wither and die, passing away like the grass of the field. Bright and green one moment. Dead and lifeless the next.

Who among us will seek true value, that which is eternal, that which brings everlasting love, joy, and peace?

Prepare the way of the Lord!

There come times in the program of redemption when there is a Divine step forward. Our day is one such time. God is ready now to exercise eternal judgment on His enemies, beginning with His enemies in His Church.

It may be true that many Christian teachers, including myself, view the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan as being symbolic of our Christian redemption. The New Testament supports this interpretation. We begin as part of the world system, and then are called out to travel to a land of promise, referred to in the Book of Hebrews as the "rest."

With this symbolism in mind, we realize that there will come a time when the Church is ready to cross over the "Jordan" and actually enter Canaan, the land of promise. Two interesting events occurred as Israel was poised in the area east of the Jordan. First, the new generation was circumcised. Second, the manna ceased and the Israelites ate some of the grain and unleavened bread produced at the camp in Gilgal These two occurrences are interesting food for thought for those interested in Bible symbolism.

They had to cross the Jordan River in order to enter their land of promise. The Jordan River symbolizes death to our self-will. We simply cannot enter our land of promise while we are living according to our own plans and desires. We have to die in the Lord that Christ may live in us.

The Book of Hebrews regards Canaan as an illustration of "God’s rest into which we are to press.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. (*Hebrews 8:4-11)

Notice carefully: "Anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." The above passage is using Joshua and the land of Canaan as an illustration of our entering the promised rest. To enter the Kingdom of God we have to be born again. This fact means our first personality does not enter the Kingdom. It is the Life of Christ in us who enters the land of promise.

When the Scripture says, "rests from his own work," it means we cease living according to our own wisdom, desires, and plans, and look carefully to the Lord Jesus for all we think, say, and do. While there have been outstanding saints of old who have entered this rest, the Christian churches as a whole have not been confronted with this challenge. But it is the prime issue of our day, and is absolutely necessary if we are to move past the Pentecostal experience.

Now we come to an important question: What does Canaan symbolize? Actually what is our goal, our land of promise, our "rest"?

Traditionally, eternal residence in Heaven is viewed by Christian people as being our goal, the goal of our redemption, our salvation. But this is an error. Canaan was filled with natives who had to be overcome before Israel could find rest in their land of promise. Is Heaven filled with natives who have to be overcome before we can enter? Of course not. Also, the New Testament does not teach that eternal residence in Heaven is the goal of salvation.

What, then, is our goal, the goal of our salvation?

Our goal, our inheritance, is the same as that of the Lord Jesus. The second Psalm tells us that Jesus was to pray for the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. We are co-heirs with Christ. Our inheritance is the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth.

In order to understand what is taking place we must keep in mind that the Canaanites were worshipers of idols. They burned their children in the fires of the idol, Molech.

Israel was bringing into the midst of this playground of demons the holy Law, the Covenant, the Ten Commandments. The Law they were bringing utterly condemned the worship of Molech and the other idols.

Please keep in mind that the purpose of God in giving His Church the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth for their inheritance is that His elect might bring into the midst of today’s playground of demons the Presence of God in Jesus Christ, and His laws of behavior.

The Lord Jesus Christ was our Moses and soon He will return as our Joshua. When Christ returns to establish His Kingdom on the earth, we cannot work with in accomplishing God’s goal of destroying the presence and work of demons until four changes take place in our personality:

The four changes are as follows:

The presence and works of Satan must be completely removed from us:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (I Thessalonians 5:23,24)

We must be changed in characters into the image of the Character of Christ.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

We must be filled with all the fullness of God:

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Ephesians 3:19,20)

We must be living in untroubled rest in the center of God’s Person and will:

Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57)

It seems to me that any thoughtful person would agree that redemption is a change in us, not a change in our location. We must be changed if we are to accomplish God’s purposes, His Kingdom, in the earth.

Before we can participate as we should in the roles and tasks of the Kingdom of God, we must have attained to the four changes just mentioned. Before we can be a co-heir with the Lord Jesus of the nations and the earth we must have attained to these four changes. If one of them has not been attained to, we are neither qualified (by the Word) nor competent in personality to serve God as a co-heir of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At this point I will leave the last three goals and focus on the first change, that is, the presence and works of Satan completely removed from us.

Perhaps we have not understood clearly that the work of redemption occurs in two phases. The first phase is the forgiveness of our sins. The second phase, based on the first, is the removal of our sins. Both the forgiveness and removal are acts of redemption, that is, of reconciliation to God.

There is a doctrine of eternal judgment. It may be new to many of us.

The doctrine of eternal judgment has to do with the eternal removal of all spiritual uncleanness from God’s people, and finally from the entire creation.

The Lord Jesus referred to a "day" in which God would avenge Himself on His enemies.

Also:

I suppose the best news we ever could hear as Christians is that God has set out not only to forgive our sins but to remove all of the presence and works of Satan from us.

Notice that it is clear from the passages (above) that the removal of sin will take place at a specific time. For example, "at the end of the age."

We are happy to announce that we have come today to the beginning of the Day of Vengeance of our God. This work of redemption will continue, according to our understanding, until the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. It is The Day of the Lord, the sixth day of creation, the day when man is to be made in God’s image.

In order for us to enter the "rest of God," our land of promise, our Canaan, we must, through the wisdom, authority, and power of Christ working through the Spirit of God, overcome each enemy we encounter. Remember, to cross the Jordan River we must be living in Christ, not in our adamic nature. We must "die in the Lord," as the Book of Revelation exhorts us.

Our enemies are found in three main areas in our life:

In our love of the world.

In our sinful nature.

In our self-will and self-seeking.

Perhaps many Christians deplore the worldliness, the lusts and passions of their flesh, and their self-love that characterize their personality. The good news is that today, God is ready to give us total victory over these enemies in our land of promise.

God will give us perfect victory over our love of the world as we keep looking to Christ for help and resolutely give time each day to prayer and Bible reading. Jesus wants us to learn to listen to Him and obey Him in every part of our life. Doing so is the best preparation there is for the Divine wrath that soon is to be poured out on the United States of America because of abortion-on-demand.

God is ready to enable us to drive out every sin that dwells in our flesh, whether it is of the nature of sexual immorality, hatred, lying, sorcery, pride, or whatever else it may be. When the Spirit of God points out to us one of the sins set forth in Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and other passages of the New Testament, we are to confess our action as sin; denounce it as worthy only of the Lake of Fire, and with all our strength renounce and reject it. We may find to our delight that power is present today that may not have been available previously.

Today is God’s time to judge the evil in His people.

As far as being delivered from self-will, if we will take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus, God will see to it that Satan will throw us into one or more prisons. There we must remain, in our miserable state, until God sets us free. It is in these prisons of unpleasant circumstances that the self-will is burned out of us.

While we are in such a prison we are to pray continually that God will deliver us, but never break out, because we will have to break God’s laws in order to do so.

Since we Christians in America are so spiritually weak, sinful, worldly, in love with our pleasures, it is somewhat doubtful that many will be able to cross over the Jordan at this time, although some may, do to the sufferings of the future.

However, this same program of redemption is at work in the spirit world among the deceased saints, as we read in the fourth chapter of the Book of First Peter. It may be true that multitudes of them have the spiritual strength necessary to enter the land of promise God has promised us.

No matter how spiritually weak we are in America, any one of us can choose to turn to Christ and seek the ability to escape the cloying hands of our fleshly "Christianity" and be among those soldiers who lay aside their own lives and live at all times in Christ. The Spirit of God will enable such to drive out the darkness and lies that fill the world at this time and find their inheritance in the Lord.

Two misunderstandings prevail today concerning our great salvation. One is that the goal of our salvation is eternal residence in Heaven. The other is that we attain that goal by maintaining our belief in certain facts about Jesus Christ, whether or not we attempt to live a godly life. Some go so far as to insist that once we make the correct profession of belief in Christ, we are assured of our home in Heaven even though we are living in sin. The Book of Hebrews does not support these ideas.

Religion has a way of destroying God’s intention. The purpose of God’s redemption is to bring us into the rest of God, that is, into the way of living that results as we keep seeking the Presence of Jesus and obeying Him in every area of our life. We work out this redemption by continually maintaining this contact and obedience.

When we enter God’s rest, which is our land of promise, we then are able to inherit God, the nations of the earth, and all of the resources of the earth. Thus we become co-heir with the Lord Jesus.

This morning we are considering Chapter Three of the Book of Hebrews. The chapter begins with "Therefore." The previous chapter tells us how great our salvation is, and how the Lord Jesus Christ is bringing us into sonship, making us His brothers.

Notice that Heaven as our goal is not mentioned in the third or fourth chapters of the Book of Hebrews, when our "great salvation" is discussed. I believe it can be said truthfully that just about all Christian explanations salvation assume that going to Heaven when we die is our goal.

One might venture that the rest of God is residence in Heaven. However, this interpretation does not agree with the argument in Hebrews. The "rest" is compared with Canaan, with Joshua battling his way into the land of promise. I don’t think most Christians picture Heaven as being filled with enemies that we have to overcome in order to attain to our inheritance.

To attain to the rest of God is to cease from our own works (religious or secular), our own striving to attain survival, security, pleasure, and success, and to look to Christ for every thing we think, say, and do. To live in continual interaction with Jesus in this manner requires the kind of faith in God that works through our strict obedience to His continually revealed will. This is why we find the expression, "So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief."

Notice, in the following passage, how obedience and belief are related:

It is obvious that the writer of Hebrews is comparing the program of new-covenant salvation with the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan. Therefore we conclude that the idea of holding "firmly tll the end the confidence we had at first" is not referring to holding firmly in our mind certain doctrines but remaining steadfast throughout the numerous problems and trials with which we are confronted.

God was not angry with the Israelites because they did not keep on believing that God had called them out of slavery to inherit a good land but because "Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways."

The problem of the Israelites was their continual sinning. The reason the men of war who left Egypt died in the wilderness was that they did not have faith that God was able to drive out the enemy. They murmured and complained every time they were fearful or uncomfortable.

God humbled them by making them dependent on the daily manna, just as He humbles us by bringing us into situations where we have to look to him constantly for survival and security. But the Israelites wanted meat, not manna.

God said they tested and tried Him even though they had seen His work for forty years. They hardened their hearts with a rebellious attitude.

Then, when they did enter the land of promise, they did not wipe out totally the inhabitants, as God had commanded them to do.

Obviously Canaan, the land of promise, is not a symbol of Heaven. We do not get into Heaven by war and then compromise with Heaven’s inhabitants.

Toward what, then, is our struggle directed as we out our salvation with fear and trembling? It is directed toward that state of being in which the will of Christ is being done in and through us at all times.

The expected Christian state is that of abiding in Christ. We are abiding in Christ when we are thinking, speaking, and acting in His Person and will. The writings of the Apostles serve as a yardstick that we can use to measure out behavior to see if we are growing in Christ. Such abiding is the "rest of God," which is presented in the Book of Hebrews as the goal of salvation.

Each day some sort of problem or pressure will attempt to disturb our rest in Christ. We may become angry or unforgiving. We may be tempted to indulge in immoral, nasty behavior. We may lie. We may steal. We may behave unfaithfully toward someone who is counting on us, such as our wife or children.

When we become aware we are not abiding in Christ in some aspect of our life, we have a decision to make. We can accept this sort of behavior even though we understand it is contrary to God’s Word and will; or we can determine to overcome such behavior through Christ. This is how we enter the rest the God has ordained for us.

God has commanded us to destroy utterly all sinful behavior of our personality. All sin is of Satan and must be driven from us. The reward of such deliverance is closeness to Christ and the opportunity to serve in the Kingdom of God. Such benefits are promised to the overcomers, to those who overcome their impulses to sin.

Israel was not faithful to destroy the enemies in the land. It is this way today. The believers do not attain to total victory over known sin.

Why don’t they attain to victory over their sinful behavior. It is because they do not believe Christ wants to deliver them or does not have enough power to deliver them.

Or it may be because the believers are too spiritually lazy to pursue a besetting sin until it is destroyed out of them.

Another major factor that prevents victory over sinful behavior is the way "grace" is taught. The idea presented today is that something termed "grace" removes the need for deliverance. The believer can continue to sin and it doesn’t matter because God is unaware of their behavior. It is covered by "grace."

Actually, grace, as it is taught today, is rebellion against God combined with schizophrenia. The Christian believes that God is pleased with him when such is not the case. The New Testament warns the individual that to live according to the lusts and passions of the sinful nature is to destroy one’s resurrection unto eternal life.

The teaching given to Christians today would be as though the Israelites were to take the position that because they believed the <MI>Torah<D> was God’s Word. the fact that they disobeyed God in the wilderness did not matter. The truth is, whether or not they believed the <MI>Torah<D> to be the Word of God, they would have died in the wilderness because of their disobedience arising from their unbelief.

In like manner, even though Christian people maintain a stout profession of belief in the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, they will die spiritually if their unbelief results in their disobeying Jesus Christ.

If a believer prays and reads the Bible each day, seeking the mind of Christ, he or she continually will be faced with temptations and problems that must be overcome. It is the act of overcoming through Christ our temptations that is what the Book of Philippians means by working out our salvation with fear and trembling—fear and trembling that we might miss God’s will for our life.

Our goal is not eternal residence in Heaven. Our goal, our land of promise, is not a place. It is a state of being. It is to be fashioned in God’s image in our character, and to rest in His Person and will. This is what it means for us to enter rest in His rest.

Attaining to this state of being is necessary if we are to participate in the resurrection out from the dead, the resurrection that will take place when the Lord Jesus returns from the spirit world with His saints and holy angels.

Man has been created to be the Throne of God. There was a rebellion in Heaven among the angels. Rather than moving immediately and destroying the rebels, the Father, in His infinite wisdom, created from the ground of the earth a new race, the race of mankind.

It is God’s plan to make kings and judges from the new race—judges who will pass judgment on the rebellious angels. Because these saints have been faithful under very trying circumstances, they are the guarantee that never again will there be a rebellion against God. This is the master plan. It must be the background for our perception when we think about the Kingdom of God.

What is man?

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. (Hebrews 2:5-8)

Notice carefully: "God left nothing that is not subject to him." We are speaking here of absolute authority, the authority given to the Lord Jesus Christ and those who are part of His Body, who are co-heirs with Him. It is all authority in Heaven and upon the earth.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18)

In short, it is the supreme Throne of God.

Please do not count me among those today who are getting God’s people all puffed up with how great they are. The Word of the Spirit today to the believers is: "Confess your worldliness, the deeds of your sinful nature, and your self-seeking. I will help you as you confess and renounce your sins with all the determination you can bring to the conflict."

I said years ago that the Charismatic move will be divided, with the majority walking according to their own plans on how to save the world, and a minority who forsake their own plans and wait patiently on the Lord Jesus. In fact, the majority will become the False Prophet who will support the self-driven Antichrist.

Please notice the following prophecy from Jeremiah:

"They will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord."

Now notice how this is fulfilled in the new Jerusalem. Remember, the new Jerusalem is the glorified Christian Church, the Wife of the Lamb:

"The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city."

Man has been called to the highest of all thrones:

There is a Divine principle that must be kept in mind when we are considering the high destiny of the new race. It is this: God will never give His Glory to another. The reason the Lord Jesus Christ has received the fullness of the Divine Glory is that He is not separate from the Father. He is an integral part of the Father.

It follows then, that if we are to attain to the high calling that is on us we must become an integral part of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him an integral part of the Father. This concept is crucial to our understanding if we are to proceed past the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Pentecost.

If we are to receive the fullness of the Glory that has been promised, we must become part of God. There is no other way.

I think it is clear from the Scriptures that man has been created to be the Throne of God, and that this is possible only as man becomes an integral part of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we are to govern the works of God’s hands, as an integral part of Christ, and of God through Christ, our character must be formed so we are competent to serve effectively as God’s king and ruler. Our character is formed under the heat and pressures of life on the earth, as portrayed by the precious stones in the twelve foundations of the wall of the new Jerusalem.

All of the tests and trials, the sufferings and denials, we experience, when we are following Christ, bearing our cross patiently after Him, are for the purpose of producing a godly personality, a personality that will rule and judge in a manner pleasing to God. The following traits are an example of what our daily experience should be producing:

Stern obedience to God at all times.

Righteous behavior.

Moral cleanliness.

Compassion and understanding.

Patience.

Courage.

Humility.

Faithfulness.

Wisdom.

Generosity.

Not a lover of money or power.

There are many more. If we lack these, our ability to govern and judge righteously would be hindered.

The twentieth century was the "Pentecostal Century," in that the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Pentecost spread through the Christian churches of the world. The twenty-first century is the "Tabernacles Century."

There are three more feasts to be fulfilled: the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and, finally, the feast of Tabernacles. This is the goal of the present century.

These three feasts have as their purpose bringing the believer into perfect union with God through the Lord Jesus. The "Pentecostal" experience is anointed flesh. The "Tabernacles" experience is that of man becoming the Throne of God. As he does, as described in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the living Water, the Spirit of God, that always flows from the Throne of God, from nowhere else, will pour out from him that eternal life might be brought to the dead sea of mankind.

This is why the invitation to drink of eternal life is given by the Spirit and the Bride.

We have just described the high calling mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the third chapter of the Book of Philippians. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are invited to press forward to the attainment of this high calling.

God is more than willing that we find our place with Christ in the Highest of all thrones. It now is up to us. The price of our admission was paid on the cross of Calvary.

The third chapter of Philippians describes the extreme lengths to which Paul was willing to go in order to attain to this early resurrection. All worldliness must go. All yielding to our sinful nature must go. All determination to manage our own life must go. Christ will enable us to accomplish these three deliverance if we follow Him closely.

Make no mistake. This highest of all callings is going forth in our day, Some will count all else as garbage and reach forth with all their might in order to attain to the "out-resurrection," the first resurrection which is our from among the dead. The remainder of the believers may not be ready to renounce everything in order to thus gain Christ.

Friend, you and I have this marvelous opportunity. Will we leave all and follow Jesus? He is patiently waiting and knocking. Will we open the door of our personality that the King of Glory may enter and dine with us, we on His body and blood, He on our obedience and worship?

I have made my choice. I hope yours will be the same.

I have been thinking about the last three churches of the seven mentioned in Revelation. They are Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. As I was preparing for Sunday’s sermons I noticed statements concerning all three churches that stood out as being especially important at this time. So I think rather than try to consolidate them in some manner I will start with the Church in Sardis and leave the remaining two for another time.

The first issue, raised in the Church of Sardis, is that of the total authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars—that is, the seven churches. When we consider the unimaginable space and masses of the firmament, and that Christ spoke all this into existence with His word, we gain some small notion of the authority and power the Father has issued to the Word.

Now we see that the Word has become Christ. Christ holds the seven Spirits of God: the Spirit of wisdom; the Spirit of understanding; the Spirit of counsel; the Spirit of power; the Spirit of knowledge, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord; the Spirit of delight in the fear of the Lord.

Christ holds also all the Christian churches. The churches do not hold Christ. He holds the churches.

Given the total authority and power of Jesus Christ, we have no need to fear the hour of testing that is at hand. If we will live in Christ, abide in Him, learn to live by His Life rather than by our own, we will be more than a conqueror throughout all the chaotic conditions of the coming days in America.

There will be no other place or condition of safety in the future.!

Christ knows our deeds. It is taught commonly that God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He sees us. There can be no greater lie than this. God and Christ know all that we are doing at all times. Either we are obeying God and living righteously, or we are obeying our sinful nature and behaving wickedly. Either we are keeping our robe clean, or we are allowing it to become filthy. We shall be clothed with our robe in the Day of Resurrection.

It may be true that the fact most needed to be proclaimed in America today is that the "robe" we are clothed with in the Day of Resurrection will reveal the choices we have made in the present world.

The Church of Sardis had the reputation of being alive, but it was dead in the eyes of Christ. Why would a church have a reputation for being alive? It would be because it was growing rapidly in the number of those who attend.

I have noticed for many years that churches are measured, at least in America, by the number of people who attend. Denominations especially are interested in the attendance. "How is your church doing" may be translated as "how many people are in attendance." It may be the case that few of the members if any are growing spiritually. What a misguided index of value this is!

I think it is safe to say that in some instances, a church of thousands probably is dead spiritually. We have in America what are termed mega-churches. This means there are several thousand people who refer to such churches as their "church home." It is a large, prosperous, thriving church. It is "alive"!

It is possible that the large attendance is due to the fact that the pastors are not stressing patient, cross-carrying obedience to the Lord Jesus as the only life acceptable to God. The rest is churchianity, or religion, or whatever else you may wish to term it. It is not the new covenant. It is not the redemption God has in mind. So Christ would view such an assembly as "dead."

Christ commands the numbers-oriented church to "Wake up! Repent of your worldliness, your sinful practices, your self-love and self-will. Spend time in the Word. Pray sincerely. Seek to die to your own will and learn to live by the will of Christ.

"You think you are alive, but your activities are produced by human talent, wisdom, and ambition. God is not accepting these. They do not produce the eternal righteousness and holiness of the Kingdom of God.

"Perilous times are ahead for your country and you are not strong enough to stand in that hour. I am coming unexpectedly, as a thief would, and you will not know how to abide safely under My protection. The time of preparation is now, and you are wasting your time with the works of the flesh.

"You heard the truth in the beginning. Return to it.

"Among your thousands there is a handful of believers who will walk with me in the whites robes of the royal priesthood. They have shown by their devotion to Me that they are worthy of the Kingdom of God. The remaining thousands of the congregation will never walk with Me unless they repent.

"In your country, America, there are powerful demons of sexual lust moving among the people, young and old. Only the most determined of the believers will be able to keep themselves morally clean. They can remain clean by My power, but it will not be easy. If they do succeed in living victoriously, they will walk with Me in white."

And now, in the message to the Church in Sardis, comes a message that reveals the lie that fills the Christian preaching of our day. "I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels."

How often is it stated that once we make a profession of faith in Christ we never can lose our salvation. The message to the angel of the Church in Sardis clearly denies this teaching. The source of the teaching of "eternal security" is the self-love of people today and the willingness of the Christian leaders to placate their admirers.

God and Christ are not our servants who are trying to please us, to make us comfortable and safe. God and Christ are merciful, but they are not as current

Christian teaching in America are portraying them.

God’s Word, which cannot be altered in any manner, states that it is the believer who lives victoriously in Christ whose name will remain in the Book of Life.

There is an important truth here. It is that we start out with our name in the Book of Life, but then we have to make certain it remains there. If we want our name acknowledged in the Presence of the Father and His angels, we must behave in a manner worthy of the Kingdom of God.

Do we have ears to hear this profound truth? What we are supposed to be hearing is that God, Christ, and Their salvation, is different from what is being preached in so many American churches.

The American churches give the impression that God and Christ love us so much They bend over backwards to make certain we are happy and secure at all times until they receive us joyfully and present us with a mansion befitting a Hollywood star, where we will recline at our ease doing nothing of significance for eternity except eating cake and not getting fat.

Listen to me! Whether innocently or deliberately, we have been lied to. We say Christ loved us so much He left the ivory palaces and came to earth to suffer so we never will have to suffer. The truth is, Christ came to earth in obedience to God, not because He loved us. His obedience was tested severely in Gethsemane, but He persisted in obeying the Father. Now He has been rewarded richly. So shall we be rewarded richly if we will obey Christ when we are led into unpleasant circumstances.

God, at incredible cost to Himself, made a way of redemption for us by sacrificing His Son on the cross. Man decided to follow Satan while in Paradise in the Garden of Eden. Now man must decide to renounce Satan; but this is possible only because of God’s sacrifice.

We may think all this is nice but God loves us so much we always will be comfy and cozy. The truth is, we are facing suffering of every sort in the near future. God is turning His back on America because of our willingness to tolerate the murder of children in the demon-inspired practice we call "abortion."

Are we preparing ourselves to stand, serve Christ, and help others to stand when there are famine, poverty, and severe persecution against Christians? Many believers in the world of today are experiencing these agonies. Are we preparing ourselves, or are we assuring ourselves that nothing bad can happen in America and are entertaining ourselves with orgies of sensual worship?

The trumpet is sounding in Zion today. Who can hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church in Sardis. Can I? Can you? God help us!

Let’s think for a moment about the Church in Philadelphia.

Notice that "Philadelphia" means "loving people." It seems to me that today there is quite a bit of emphasis on Christians being in unity. Does it seem that way to you? Sometimes, though, it is a physical unity rather than unity in Christ in God.

Notice the emphasis on "holy." I believe there is a great need today for God’s people to live a holy life. "Holiness" consists of the absence of unclean spirits, and closeness to God. Without holiness no one shall see the Lord, the Bible says.

"True" also is mentioned. The world today is one huge lie. Truth is scarce, even in the Christian churches. Our theology is mostly tradition, not Scripture.

The "key of David."

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ((Isaiah 22:22)

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ( Matthew 16:19)

Christ is in control today. The world certainly is spiritually dark and growing darker each day. We Christians must keep in mind at all times that the Lord Jesus is in control. No matter how evil the government becomes, Christ and Christ alone can open and close the activities on the earth. Please keep this in mind.

If you are able to do something about the growing spiritual darkness, then do it prayerfully. But do not fret or worry about the increase of evil in our county. You will only harm yourself spiritually Rather, concentrate on that which is pure and lovely.

We Christians also, under the Lord Jesus, can be in control, but only as we flee from worldliness and the lusts of our sinful nature. Of special importance is that we count ourselves as dead to our own will and alive in the will of the Lord Jesus. Self-willed believers are of little use in the Kingdom of God.

The "Synagogue of Satan." There are people who call themselves "Christians," but they are not. The works of their father, Satan, they will do. The day will come when it is clear who is serving Christ and who is a liar.

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. (Malachi 3:16)

The Church in Laodicea (opinion of the people) reflects the same emphasis on the rights and welfare of human beings. The occupation with the happiness of people may pose as the attitude of God, but this assuredly is not the case.

We may have made a god of the philosophy of democracy, but the true God is far more interested in His own welfare and Kingdom, and that of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, than He is in the happiness and fun of human beings living in their own self-centeredness and self-love.

"Laodicea"—the opinions and decrees of people. These ideas seem so American, so Christian, so desirable, so democratic. We think of the expression "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and suppose that these bedrock principles of democracy were proclaimed from Mount Sinai.

They were not. They were formulated by men who were seeking to escape the various tyrannies of Europe, of monarchies. But because these concepts proceeded from human beings seeking to improve their own welfare, and did not come from the Lord Jesus, they result in an escape from one bondage and an entrance into another, which may be even worse.

It is God’s will that people be governed by a strong king who judges righteous judgment in the fear of God. Notice what God said to King David of Israel:

The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: "When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth." (II Samuel 23:3,4)

It always is God’s will that a government enforce the moral principles found in the Bible. When it does not, it shall be replaced.

Democracy will never bring righteousness, peace, and joy to people. Consider the present distress in America, as elected people vie for power. The political leaders do not work for our welfare, although they say they do, but for their own self-interests. At least that is the way it looks to me.

God’s Kingdom is a rule from the top down, and sometimes arbitrary, from our point of view. It in no way is a rule by the people. It is not a democracy by any means.

Maybe this is why American people are ready to receive Christ as their Savior, but not as Lord of their lives. They are not accustomed to being told by a king what they can do and what they cannot do. They suppose they are "free moral agents" when they actually are bound in worldliness, lust, and self-seeking.

There are numerous problems in America that a God-fearing, righteous king could solve. But it may be true that we will not have such a monarch until the Lord Jesus returns. "Come quickly, Lord Jesus! We are in a mess!"

The Lord Jesus is the only true "Amen." Today the accent is on "relative truth." There is no such thing as relative truth. Truth is truth. In fact, the only truth there is, is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus. He is the Consuming Fire of Israel, and that Fire, that exposes all that is false, is the only actual truth in existence.

Christ is the only "faithful and true Witness." All of us are liars when compared with the Lord Jesus. He alone declares the truth about God’s Person, God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s eternal purpose in Jesus Christ. We Christians overcome the accuser when we bear this faithful and true witness. But how many of us compromise because we wish to please people rather than God.

Christ is the "Ruler of God’s creation." If this is so, why has He permitted the world to be in the condition that it is?

Christ always is in control. The world is like it is because such temptations, pressures, moral filth, lies, and all the rest of the world’s characteristics are the crucible in which the brothers of Christ are being formed. Our immersion in such a cesspool is the only means by which Gods eternal purpose can be accomplished. God must see that the future coheirs with Christ are going to obey God and stand for righteousness in the presence of their enemies.

God knows what He is doing. Do not fret yourself about the current abominations when you cannot change them. They are working for good for those who are called to God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

Christ knows our deeds. There is an abominable doctrine preached today that teaches God does not see our sinful behavior but observes only the righteousness of Christ in us. This unscriptural concept has resulted in the prevailing moral mess in the churches of our day, and is going to bring down Divine judgment until America is a third-class nation—if it survives at all.

Make no mistake—Christ is very aware of all of our actions, both righteous and unrighteous; holy and filthy; obedient and rebellious.

It may be true that the American believers as a whole, with notable exceptions, are lukewarm. Because of false doctrine they are not, as Paul, leaving everything that they may attain to the first resurrection from the dead. Their leaders are telling them they are fine and any moment God is going to carry them to Heaven so they won’t suffer. What a lie this is!

Christ wants us hot for Him and cold for Satan, or hot for Satan and cold for Him.

I don’t think most believers in America would want to be hot for Satan. But because they are not hot for Jesus, this is what we would call in computer terminology "their default position." Because they are not hot for Jesus, He wants nothing to do with them.

We American believers may say we have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. We are proud. We are haughty.

The teachers in our church have found that many American Christians are too proud to receive the Gospel of the Kingdom, whereas the poorer people of other countries receive it gladly.

We may have forgotten that it is God’s way to make the poor wealthy in faith.

We American believers are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked, and think that any moment we are going to be caught up to a mansion in Paradise. If we were, it would be the worse thing that could happen to us, because our behavior is not according to the ways of Heaven. We would be thrown out immediately.

We are to buy gold refined in the fire that we may be rich. Have you been through suffering yet? Has Christ taken you out into the desert and left you there? Have you had to find comfort in the Book of Job? Has God confronted you as yet?

If He has, you know what I mean. If He has not, when He does, do not be surprised at your fiery trial. Stand true and constant. You will come forth as gold, to your amazement.

Are you washing your robe each day in the blood of the Lamb? Are you walking the Calvary road in the confession of your sins as the Holy Spirit points them out to you? "Are our garments spotless, are they white as snow?" as we used to sing. Or are we content to be spiritually naked?

Please realize that in the Day of Resurrection you are going to be clothed in the robe of your own behavior. the robe fashioned while you were living on the earth.

Have you put salve on your eyes so you can see? So much of today’s preaching comes from the minds of well-intentioned people. We need to pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, because only then can we understand what is written in the Bible.

If the Lord loves you He will rebuke you. Don’t faint. Humble yourself and accept the correction. Believe me, He will not spare for your crying. Profit from these corrections. Ask the Lord to search you to see if there are any wicked ways in you; and, after your wicked ways have been corrected, lead you in the everlasting way.

Jesus Christ is knocking at the door to our personalities. This may be more true today than at any time in past history. We have a lot of religious activities going, perhaps, but Christ wants to enter you and me until He is doing His own works, building His own Church.

I think there is a specific word of truth for each generation of Christians. The word for our day is the entrance of Christ into us. He wants to dine with us on our obedience and worship. We are to dine with Him on His body and blood.

All that has happened in time past is to bring us to this hour. By "us" I mean those of us living on the earth today, and also the remainder of the Body of Christ who have died and are in the spirit world.

It is God’s intention to place His Throne in the hearts of His elect. The Lord Jesus Christ overcame all the obstacles placed before Him, and now He is the eternal Throne of God. He is sitting with God on the Throne of His own Personality.

Now the challenge has been placed before each of us. We must overcome if we would attain to our foreordained destiny. If we do overcome, then the Father and the Son will sit down with us on the throne of our own personality. This is where all our trials are leading us.

It is my resolve, along with the Apostle Paul, to press through to this supreme destiny. Do you feel the same way? I certainly hope so.

Of the seven feasts of the Lord, the Day of Atonement is number six. Pentecost is number four. The Blowing of Trumpets is number five.

The twentieth century beyond all doubt was the "Pentecostal Century," with the spreading throughout the world of the speaking in tongues.

The Blowing of Trumpets signifies the coming of the Lord Jesus to declare war on His spiritual enemies, Satan and the demons.

The Jews celebrate the Blowing of Trumpets as New Year’s Day. It is the first day of the year of doing business. This is why we are hearing more and more about the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

The Day of Atonement is the period when Christ reconciles us to God by removing the sins in our personality. It is judgment on His spiritual enemies in mankind, beginning with His spiritual enemies in His Church. The Day of Atonement has begun now and will continue throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age, often referred to as the "Millennium."

This present coming of Christ is mentioned in John 14:21-23. Jesus stands knocking at the door of His people today. He wants to enter us and become our very Life.

How can you tell when the King has come to you? The Spirit of God will make you aware of the sin you are practicing. When you become aware of a specific sin you are to confess it clearly; denounce it as evil; renounce it, saying clearly and firmly that you want nothing more to do with it forever. Then you are to look to Jesus knowing you have been forgiven and cleansed. You will discover that you now have the ability to resist this behavior. (I John 1:9)

It is an eternal judgment on that spirit. It will not be mentioned to you at the future Judgment Seat.

The Day of Atonement rightly may be termed the "Day of Reconciliation." There are three areas of our personality that are to be brought into harmony with God’s personality:

First, our love of the world spirit such that we look to the world for survival, security, and comfort.

Second, our sinful nature. Every sort of unclean spirit dwells in our flesh. Each of these must be presented to the Spirit of God for removal, once He shows them to us.

Third, our desire to maintain our self-determination. We want to conduct our life as we see fit.

When Christ cried out "It is finished," He meant the guilt of the sins of mankind had been atoned for. It is true also that the adamic race had come to an end. God desires that each of us by faith die with Christ on the cross of Calvary. Now we are to live by His resurrection Life.

To live by the Life of Jesus means we are to meditate in our Bible every day (if a Bible is available to us). More than that, we are to live in a state of prayer, bringing every decision to the Lord Jesus. We are to live by His Life in our thinking, speaking, and acting.

In the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement we are baptized with the fire of Divine judgment. All that is chaff must be burned up.

It is interesting to note that the trumpet of the Jubilee was blown on the Day of Atonement. The demons are condemned and we go free.

Allow the Holy Spirit to bring you into complete freedom from the Antichrist world spirit.

Allow the Holy Spirit to remove every trace of Satan from your flesh.

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you throughout the program of death to your self-will and entrance into the Life of Christ.

Some passages you may wish to consider are as follows:

Matthew 3:1,2.

Malachi 3:1-4.

Isaiah 61:2.

I Peter 4:17.

Leviticus 25:8-10.

Hebrews 6:1-3,

Romans 8:13,14.

Note that Lazarus was raised on the fifth day, the day of the Blowing of Trumpets. (John 11:13,14)

Borrowing a phrase from Isaiah 61:2, we just have been discussing "The Day of Vengeance of our God."

In the evening we turned to the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans and considered the Law of the Spirit of Life.

Our current traditions often maintain there is no law but the "law of love." This tradition is based on the idea we are in a new dispensation in which God sees us through Christ. It might be nice to behave in a godly manner, at least some of the time. But when we "accept Christ as our personal Savior" we can forget about any law governing our behavior. Our judgment was completed on the cross and now we will go to Heaven instead of to Hell when we die.

Am I correct? Are there Christians who believe these things and are living accordingly?

I used to rant and rave about these errors. I don’t anymore. I am real calm and soft-spoken—most of the time.

But for old times sake, let me once again, peaceably and quietly, point out the problem with the current traditions.

There is no law but the "law of love."

We are in a new dispensation, a "dispensation of grace."

God "sees us through Christ."

When we "accept Christ."

Our judgment was "completed on the cross."

Our goal is "to go to Heaven."

If you could see me sitting at my computer and writing you would be pleased to know I am quiet and peaceable, "with malice toward none," as Lincoln said.

There is no law but the "law of love." There is a law that is part of the new covenant. Paul calls it "the law of the Spirit of life." The law of the Spirit of Life requires that we live in the Spirit of God and not in the desires of our sinful nature. Thus the law of the Spirit of Life is far more comprehensive than the Law of Moses, governing at all times what we think, what we say, and what we do.

It is important to note that we share in the righteousness purchased on the cross only as long as we obey the law of the Spirit of Life. (Romans 8:4)

We are in a new dispensation, a "dispensation of grace." There is no statement in the New Testament that we are in a new dispensation. There is, however, a statement concerning a new covenant, which is the writings of God’s eternal moral laws on our heart and in our mind.

The Apostle Paul used the term "dispensation" to mean a "trust" or "stewardship." The term is not found in the New International Version or the New American Standard Bible. "Dispensation of grace" is not a new-covenant concept.

God "sees us through Christ." There is no such statement in the New Testament. God always sees what we do. He knows our works, as stated so many times in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. The idea that God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He sees us is not a new-covenant concept. It would mean that when we commit adultery that God sees the purity of Christ.

Do you really believe that? I don’t imagine you do; but we Christians often compartmentalize our thinking. We hold both ideas in our mind at the same time: God sees us through Christ; but God does not see the purity of Christ when we are behaving immorally. It is time we checked out our thinking to see if it is rational. Do you agree?

When we "accept Christ." There is no statement in the New Testament that we are to "accept Christ." We cannot even come to Christ except the Father draws us. At that point we are to believe in Christ to the extent of learning to live by His body and blood. (Check out the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John).

Far too often when we say someone has "accepted Christ" we mean he has conformed to the requirements of his denomination. He has not really come to the Man and laid down his life, determined to carry his cross behind Jesus wherever Jesus may lead him.

Christ stands at the door of our heart today. We are to invite Him into our personality. He is to dine on our obedience and worship. We are to dine on His body and blood, which are given to us in the Spirit every time we turn away from the deeds of our sinful nature and choose to follow the Spirit of God.

Our judgment was "completed on the cross." This can be construed from a passage or two, when we ignore the contexts. But the fourth chapter of the Book of First Peter shows this to be a false idea. Also, the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians, where we read of the consequences of participating in the Communion service when our heart is not pure. Why would we get sick or die if God does not see the sin in our heart?

There are numerous passages in the New Testament that warn the Christians about the danger of living according to the sinful nature. These would make no sense whatsoever if our judgment was finished on the cross.

Our goal is "to go to Heaven." There is no such idea presented in the New Testament. The expression "go to Heaven" is not found in the Bible.

When we make residence in Heaven the goal of our salvation, we simply cannot understand the Bible. The idea of the Kingdom of God coming to the earth, which we pray faithfully in the "Lord’s Prayer," is negated as far as having any concrete meaning in our mind.

Now, if anyone would care to challenge the above statements, please send me the passage of the Bible you are submitting so I can learn. And whatever you do, please do not start your comments with, "But Brother Thompson, don’t you think . . ." This drives me nuts! Obviously I have written what I think. Please address your comments to webservant@wor.org.

Really, the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans is a marvel. All anyone needs to be firmly established in the Christian salvation are the sixth and eighth chapter of the Book of Romans. This is my opinion.

What is the eighth chapter of Romans telling us? It is saying that we can turn away from the Law of Moses and be without condemnation.

It is telling us that because of the obedience and death of Christ on the cross, the full righteousness of the Law of Moses will be assigned to anyone who turns away from his sinful nature and follows the Spirit of God at all times. It is as though he had kept the Law of Moses perfectly even though he knew nothing about the Law of Moses.

It is telling us that our mind is to be kept a prisoner of the Spirit of God.

It is telling us that God intends to make alive our mortal body by filling it with the Spirit of God.

It is telling us that we are not obligated to obey our sinful nature.

It is telling us that if we continue in our sinful nature we will die spiritually; we will not attain to the making alive of our body.

It is telling us that the sons of God are they who are led by the Spirit of God.

It is telling us that we are God’s children and co-heirs with Christ, and will share in His glory if we share in His sufferings.

It is telling us that the material creation is in bondage, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed–they who will release the creation from frustration and bring it into the freedom that comes as we live in the Spirit of God.

It tells us that our reborn inner nature will be clothed with a body fashioned from eternal, incorruptible life when God adopts our mortal body. It is the adoption of our mortal body that is our hope, not eternal residence in Heaven! (Lord, help me to stay calm. Thank You.)

We are told that all of man’s history, including today’s wicked events, exist for the good of those who have been called to be the brothers of the Lord Jesus.

It tells us there is no power on earth, or under the earth, or in the heavens above, that can in any manner separate us from God’s love that comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said previously, I have malice toward no one, even when I yell and tear around. But it does seem to me that there ought to be some Christians who believe the sixth and eighth chapters of the Book of Romans instead of the gallimaufry, hodgepodge, mishmash of errors that compose today’s supposedly Christian teaching.

Today’s burden has to do with God’s elect. The seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John presents the great jasper wall that divides God’s elect, His family, the royal priesthood, the Body of Christ, from the remainder of mankind.