A Final Word

A FINAL WORD

“I am a seeker of the new things.
…Let them now come.” (Matt Redman—Believer)

The iron scepter of righteous judgment and determination in their hands.

Marching forward on the iron feet of invincibility, crushing evil under their feet, to drive all rebellion against Christ from the creation.

They are Life coming out of their crucifixion and their eternal dialogue with the Father and the Son. Iron righteousness; fiery holiness; stern obedience to the Father—such is the battle-standard of those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

They always are at rest in the feathers of the royal Swan who moves about majestically in the vast lake of the heavenly Jerusalem. They are delighting in righteousness, love, joy, and peace while they are sweeping wickedness from the Presence of God.

My title, “A Final Word,” may appear to be presumptuous, if not repulsively so. Certainly immodest!

I am not maintaining that teachers of the Bible will not press forward to uncover more treasures from the eternal Word. I am referring only to the conclusion, the summation, the point, of the concepts I have belabored over the years—concepts not always preached.

I refer to Paul’s “striving to attain to the resurrection,” for example. How many times have you heard a pastor urge his flock to attain to the resurrection? Yet Paul considered attaining to the resurrection to be one of his primary goals and exhorts us to be of the same mind.

What do you think about that?

Are you just going to run by the fact that you do not know what this outstanding Christian considered to be a goal if not the goal of our salvation? Or are you going to pray for understanding?

Perhaps attaining to the resurrection is an important idea.

While I am considering the concept of the resurrection, do you know the difference between the unscriptural “rapture” and the resurrection of our body? The so-called “rapture” is a change of where we are, while the resurrection is a change of what we are.

How about that!

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (I Corinthians 15:51,52).

The resurrection is not about flying up to Heaven, it is about change!

I argued publicly with an outstanding Bible teacher about First Corinthians, Fifteen. I said, “the ascension is not discussed in the “Resurrection Chapter.” He claimed the opposite.

I do not argue doctrine any longer. I put my brick in the wall. If someone wants to remove it, then I hope he doesn’t drop it on his foot.

Attaining to the resurrection is one of the most important goals of the Divine redemption. It is, as I declared, not a movement from one place to another, except from where we were buried to standing on our feet. In Norwegian it is something like “oppstandelser.”

I love this expression. Don’t you? One moment we were corrupting in the ground. The next moment we are “standing opp.”

But the resurrection has little to do with going from the earth to Heaven. Remember when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead He came out of the tomb and talked to people for a few days. He did not ascend to the Father in the sight of His disciple until forty days later.

The following is a verse that tells exactly what the “change,” the resurrection, actually is:

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)

The change in the body, the resurrection, has not taken place as yet in me or in any of my acquaintances. It will take place at the last trumpet, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. We do not experience the change by jumping up and down next to our pew, as some are endeavoring to do.

(Anything to escape our problems!)

This has led me to another topic. (I fear this “briefest of essays” is going to go on and on and…).

There is talk today, as we are preparing for World War Three, about the “soon” return of Christ. We suppose that all who “accept Christ” will be carried up to Disneyland in the sky and thus escape the Divine judgments that will come because of abortion, gender confusion, and other practices concerning which God, the Lord Jesus, and all true saints, are gravely concerned.

However, the Day of the Lord is “out of the frying pan into the fire” for most of us.

What I am going to say further on the coming of Christ can be summed up by stating that only a few believers will be gathered to Christ and resurrected when He returns—a firstfruits of the Church, we might say. The remainder of the believers will have to be patient and wait until the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age before they “stand opp” and return to the new earth as members of the Royal Priesthood.

Let me now present one of the best descriptions, with which I am familiar, of the first resurrection:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

The passage above deserves our serious consideration, doesn’t it?

For one thing, it points out that our destiny is not eternal rest in a mansion in Heaven. There are saved people from the nations who need to be helped to understand God, aren’t there? Isaiah speaks much about bringing justice to the nations—the poor beleaguered peoples of the earth who spiritually do not know their right hand from their left.

Bringing justice to the nations is the responsibility, as God directs and enables, of Christ and His Body, the Christian Church, the members of the Royal Priesthood.

I believe helping the peoples of the earth come to know the Lord Jesus is a far better destiny than resting in our mansion in Heaven while the angels pop grapes into our mouth. How do you feel about that?

Come to think about it, I am not sure that most Christians understand that there are two groups of people who will be spared from Divine condemnation—the members of the Royal Priesthood, a relatively small group, and the much larger “sheep” from the nations who have been kind to the Lord’s “brothers.”

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

If you are tired, get some rest now. You will be quite busy, if you are a member of the Royal Priesthood, having been spared from the Lake of Fire after the final resurrection of the dead.

I get to wandering, don’t I? But there is so much that is not always taught! There are passages that speak of the nations of the earth being taught by the Royal Priesthood, the Christian Church (the elect Jews and elect Gentiles.)

For example:

Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)

Wow! What treasures await the called, chosen, and faithful members of the Church when the Lamb sets up His Kingdom!

But back to the description of the remnant of believers who attain to the first resurrection when the Lord Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom of the earth.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

Please notice the parts I have emphasized, for there is much to learn here:

I saw thrones.
Those who had been given authority to judge.
Beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.
They had not worshiped the beast.
THEY CAME TO LIFE.
Reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.
This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.
The second death has no power over them.
They will be priests of God and of Christ.
Will reign with him for a thousand years.

Take a serious look at the items above. This is a statement of what will be true during the next coming of our Lord Jesus. Have you heard any of these concepts preached, for they compose a summary of what will be true when our Lord returns? Where do you and I fit here?

I saw thrones. We have not been chosen and trained by the Lord Jesus so we may rest in our mansion in Heaven for eternity. Rather, our role is to govern, with our Lord, the people assigned to us. If we truly are serving the Lord Jesus, we are part of the Body of Christ, a member of the Royal Priesthood.

Those who had been given authority to judge. The Lord Jesus announced that those who had left all and followed Him would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. It is possible that being beheaded is to be taken literally; or possibly that they were living in the rest of God. That would mean that they had forsaken their own plans and desires that they might follow the path chosen for them when God rested on the seventh “day.”

They had not worshiped the beast. I believe this means that they had not worshiped money in their mind or in their activities. The worship of money is one of the chief gods of the American people. The worship of money is the worship of Antichrist.

THEY CAME TO LIFE. Do you remember I pointed out previously that resurrection is not a flight from earth to Heaven but a “standing opp”? It is a change in our body, in which our metabolism changes from blood and oxygen to the Spirit of God.

Can you see how different this is from a “rapture”?

Reigned with Christ a thousand years. If you are tired, get some rest now. If you press through until you become a true member of the Royal Priesthood you are going to be busy as soon as Jesus returns, teaching the less mature members of the Church, as well as the “sheep” of the nations, about the will of God.

The “rod of iron” by which you will govern in righteousness is being created in you in the present hour, as you resist temptation. If you are not living the victorious Christian life in the present hour, then set aside your hope of being gathered to the Lord when He returns.

Did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. The Christians who did not set aside their own life that they might live in the rest of God will not experience the change in the body when Jesus returns. The tremendous error in today’s Christian thinking is that all who make a profession of belief in the Lord Jesus will ascend to meet Him when He next appears.

This is the first resurrection. All people at one time or another shall be raised from the dead, regardless of the kind of life they have chosen during their days on the earth. Some shall be raised to eternal life, and some to condemnation. No “attaining” is involved.

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:28,29)

However, participation in the first resurrection must be attained to. Attaining to the first resurrection means we must come to know God and Jesus in the sense we are in continual communication with them until our life is conforming to Their every desire. This is eternal life. Such a life is possible for every believer in Jesus, and should be prayed for every day until it is a reality in one’s daily behavior.

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Right here is the point of much of my teaching and exhorting. Attainment to the first resurrection, that which shall occur when Jesus returns, requires that we exhibit holiness and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ in our personality and behavior as we grow in Christ each day. Other than this, we shall not participate in the gathering to Jesus that will occur when He returns from Heaven.

The second death has no power over them. It may not be understood commonly that the Lake of Fire has been given authority by the Father over certain behaviors. This is true whether or not we are a professing Christian.

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

I honestly wonder if Christian people regard the above verse seriously. They have been taught that because they have “accepted Christ” they could not possibly be consigned to the Lake of Fire.

I think this overlooking of the Word of God is a serious error.

When God says “all liars shall be consigned to the Lake of Fire,” then that is what God means. He expects Christian people, His family, to tell the truth. Telling the truth is part of God’s image.

I believe many Christian people do not always tell the truth. They should be warned that “all liars” shall be consigned to the Lake of Fire. They ignore what God has said, placing themselves in grave danger.

If we ask God to help us to always be careful to tell the truth, He will answer that prayer. He is our Father and He always tells the truth.

Christian or not, the Lake of Fire has authority over us if we are prone to lie. It claims us as its own inheritance.

The Lake of Fire has no authority over the Christian people who do not behave according to the pattern mentioned in Revelation 21:8, unless they willfully are disobeying the Lord Jesus in some other manner.

It is my intention to have more to say later about the “lawless grace” teaching of our day.

They will be priests of God and of Christ. The prevailing Christian thinking is that we are saved so we can go to Heaven. This not the reason God has elected us from the population of the earth. Rather, it is so we may serve God and Christ as a priest, that is, an intermediary between God and man. This is why were called out from the peoples of the nations, and it is why we go through the experiences we do. We are being trained to be a priest!

Because of this reason for our election, many promises are given us so we might attain to the spiritual maturity required if we are successfully to serve as an intermediary between God and man. Yet these numerous promises often are not preached in order that the pastor might emphasize our need to go forth and bring other spiritual babies into the congregation.

Let me complete Revelation 20:6, and then I will return to the concept of Christians being priests.

Will reign with him for a thousand years. It is not unusual to hear Christians speaking of “ruling and reigning with Christ” (sic). How they are going to “rule and reign” with Christ while they are resting in their mansion is not always made clear.

In actuality, every Christian believer is not going to govern the nations with Christ. This responsibility is assigned only to those who at the present time are living victorious lives in the Lord; who through Christ are overcoming every temptation coming against them. They are genuine cross-carrying disciples of Jesus. I wonder how many of such people there are in the Christian churches!

If we cannot live victoriously today, how do we suppose we are going to govern the nations of self-centered, rebellious, stubborn people? The populations of the world are so obstinate they will have to be smashed to pieces before they are willing to serve Jesus in cheerful, peaceful obedience. This is not quite the same destiny as reclining in a mansion in Paradise.

Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. (Psalms 2:8,9)

Remember, we are coheirs with Christ.

It is certain that no believer is going to reign with Christ if the iron character of righteous behavior has not been formed in them. This suggests that only a relatively few Christians, a firstfruits of the entire Church, will be called to meet Jesus when He returns.

The majority of church members will continue with their ordinary life, while the victorious remnant find themselves carried to a place where they will be “changed”; and after a period of fellowship with believers of the same spiritual attainment, will be drawn up to the staging area in the air where Jesus, the angel army, and the white war stallions are waiting for them to join the invading force from Heaven.

At this point the Christian Church will be divided into a firstfruits and a main body of believers. As I see it, the firstfruits will not be joined to the remainder of the Royal Priesthood until the entire priesthood has been prepared to descend from Heaven, come down through the new sky, and be installed upon a high mountain of the new earth as the new Jerusalem.

The division of the Christian Church into a firstfruits and the remainder, a larger group of Christians, follows the type of David. David governed a part of Israel from Hebron for seven years; and then all Israel from Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

Now, back to the concept of Christians serving the Lord as a Royal Priesthood.

Because the goal of salvation often is set forth as eternal residence in Paradise in a mansion, the passages of the New Testament that speak of growing spiritually past the initial experience of receiving Christ are not always taught from the pulpit. The continued emphasis is on lawless grace, the imminent occurrence of the unscriptural “rapture” of the Christian people to Heaven, and the importance of bringing to salvation everyone alive on the earth.

Such preaching is not designed to produce mature disciples of the Lord Jesus. Therefore we have a multitude of Christian churches filled with spiritual babies who are not much of a threat to Satan and his kingdom.

I would like to present at this time a few passages of Scripture that have to do with working out our salvation such that we grow in Christ:

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)

We understand that the Lord Jesus was filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. But is this fullness to be true also of us? Yes, according to the Bible.

Paul was praying for the Christian people in Ephesus. His prayer may not be what we would hear today—that more souls might come to Christ.

Paul’s prayer was that God would strengthen the believers in their inner being so they would be prepared to be filled with God. Perhaps such a prayer would be in order in numerous churches in America.

Would you agree with that?

Because we envision Christians when they die going to Paradise by grace, regardless of whether they have been living a blessed and holy life, we are not going to pray for them that they may be strengthened in their inner nature so they can be filled with all the fullness of God.

I don’t know how you feel about this, but I believe we have a job to do. It is to convince the Christian leaders they must teach their followers that they are called to be a governing priesthood, and not elected so they may go to a mansion when they die. If we do not emphasize this change of goal, perhaps we are not fulfilling the Lord’s desire that we feed His sheep.

It is true that we are deceiving the Lord’s sheep if we keep emphasizing that Divine grace takes the place of a blessed and holy life; that they soon are going to be carried up to Heaven to escape the problems of earth; and that their business is to bring more spiritual babies into their church.

A thoughtful reading of the verses below will show clearly that they are of benefit to those who are being prepared to be members of the Royal Priesthood, the new Jerusalem. But I believe they would be of little benefit if one is waiting to go to Heaven by grace.

How do you feel about this?

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:5)
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white (be priests), for they are worthy. Revelation 3:4,5; a few out of a large church)
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. (Revelation 14:4)
But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:23)
He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:6)
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. (John 17:22,23)
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17)

Plus all the rewards to the overcomer in Revelation, Chapters Two and Three

It can be seen, then, the reason the verses that lead to maturity are not preached is that we are misinformed concerning the reason God chose us as a member of the royal priesthood.

And now we come to one of the greatest errors in Christian theology—the misunderstanding and misapplication of Divine grace.

It is taught that we are under a new “dispensation,” a “dispensation of grace.” This expression does not appear in the Bible, at least not in the New International Version.

The truth is, we are under a new “covenant,” not a new dispensation. The expression “dispensation of grace” implies that we may disobey God and still remain in His favor. We ought to know better than this! It is a terribly destructive lie. It has destroyed God’s intention under the new covenant.

Divine grace is preached as though it means only forgiveness—that God sees us through Christ so that how we behave matters little. God already has forgiven our sinful conduct it is supposed.

The confusion arises from the unscriptural idea that we are in a new dispensation in which God does not require righteous behavior. It certainly is true that we are under a new covenant. But the idea that the moral laws of the Old Testament no longer apply probably has done more to destroy God’s intention under the new covenant than any other single factor.

God has said that what is good is that man practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Is there a dedicated Christian on the earth who sincerely believes that this no longer is God’s desire?—that it is not required that people practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God? That God has given Divine grace so godly conduct no longer is necessary to please Him?

It is our love of pleasure that has blinded us to the point that we have lost the fear of God. We may have a religion, but we no longer have God!

Do you know why God gave us a new covenant? It is because the Israelites did not keep the statutes of the Law of Moses. Does it make sense to you that God’s solution to the lawlessness of the Israelites is to provide a covenant under which His eternal moral laws may safely be ignored?

The new covenant is the writing of God’s eternal moral laws in our mind and on our heart. Does this sound like we are to ignore them?

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Hebrews 8:10)

Don’t forget that if we belong to Christ we are part of Israel. God makes no covenant of redemption with someone who is not of Israel.

Most if not all of the writings of the Apostles of the New Testament warn us that if we keep on obeying the appetites of our fleshly nature we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. We will die spiritually. We will not experience the change in our body known as the resurrection.

And envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:21)

Will inherit the Kingdom of God or will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

Many preachers of our day are claiming that grace makes Paul’s warnings irrelevant. Do you believe this? I know it is not true! Christians who keep on living according their sinful nature shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. They shall not! Anyone teaching that Paul’s warning above is not applicable because of Divine grace is a false prophet.

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Do you believe John 3:16? So do I.

Do you believe Christians who keep on lying will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur? If not, on what basis do you believe that John 3:16 is eternally true but Revelation 21:8 is not eternally true?

How can we serve as a member of the Royal Priesthood if we are not certain concerning the written Word of God?

The Christian churches of our day in many instances are greatly, greatly, greatly deceived. They are blind leading the blind. The result is the weakness and immaturity of so many Christians. Another result is the Divine judgment that is hovering over the United States of America.

It seems to me that many believers have blinders on when they read the New Testament.

Look at the following passage:

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)

If we are an experienced Christian we know only too well that many professing Christians live according to their fleshly desires. But they do not die. So when it says “you will die” it is not speaking of physical death.

Well, then, what kind of death is it referring to?

It is looking back two verses to Romans 8:11, to the description of the resurrection of the body, the change of the body into an eternal metabolism.

Romans 8:13 is saying that if we as a Christian keep on living in the impulses of our carnal nature we will prevent our own resurrection to eternal life in the body; to immortality.

If we believe that grace wipes out Romans 8:13 we have been mortally deceived!

“Divine grace” is God in Christ ready to meet every need and solve every problem we have. Grace includes the forgiveness of and the deliverance from every sin that has us bound. It is employed in many different ways in the New Testament:

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (Luke 2:40)
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all. (Acts 4:33)
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8)

Paul emphasized that God has prepared His own salvation that operates apart from the Law of Moses. This is why Paul stated we are saved by grace operating through faith, not by our efforts to obey the statutes of Moses (by “works”).

This would be clear to Jews. But we Gentiles interpret Paul’s use of the term “works” to mean our efforts to lead a godly life, whereas Paul was speaking of the works of the Law of Moses.

Christian theologians have institutionalized the term “grace” to mean God is offering us a way to evade His moral imperatives and still retain His favor.

Can you see what a wise means Satan is using to ensure that God’s people still keep sinning, making it impossible for the Kingdom of God to come into existence?; making it impossible for man ever to be formed in God’s image?

Divine grace actually strengthens us so we can resist temptation, not yield to it in the assurance that God is “seeing us through Christ”—an expression not found in the Bible and somewhat antithetical to the concept that all things are open to Him with Whom we have to do.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)

Grace does not teach us to yield to temptation but enables us to resist temptation.

It may be true that one of the platforms of grace is not always taught. That is, the grace of “deliverance.”

Please notice the following verse:

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. (I John 1:9—The Amplified Bible)

Can you see any difference between the passage above and the customary preaching of grace?

Here we have both forgiving and delivering grace.

To my way of thinking, the passage above does not fit the idea of a grace that is an alternative to God’s will and purpose. Rather, it is the new covenant alternative to the disobedience of the Israelites.

Could you agree with my thinking at this point?

So the current preaching of “grace” is morally destructive and needs to be changed!

The New Testament has lists of the sins of the flesh, particularly in Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians, and urges us strongly to overcome them through Christ. Grace is not God’s provision so we can obey our appetites and still abide in His favor. Rather, it is a superior method of producing godly people than was possible to the Law of Moses.

I hope you agree with me that grace does not mean we can disobey God. Divine wrath is soon to fall upon America because of our worship of money, sexual activity and perversion, abortion, entertainment, gender confusion, and other such practices of the fleshly nature. We will not survive unless we are abiding in Christ at all times, under the shadow of the Almighty.

Another topic of prime importance is the “rest of God” set forth in the Book of Hebrews. The concept is that God worked for six days and completed all things in His vision. He calls things which are not as though they are.

Then God rested from His work. We are invited to enter His rest.

To enter God’s rest is to turn aside from our own planning and pray continually that we might know, desire, and do what God has planned for us from the beginning of the creation.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

Just think of it! God has a special plan for your life and for mine. This means we can cease from our own plans and live by talking to the Lord Jesus all the time and discover what we are to think, say, and do.

Obviously we must have faith that God knows all the details of our life and is leading us to good.

The life of faith is that of looking continually to God for all we are and do. Such is the rest of God. Blessed is everyone who is willing to surrender their own hopes and plans, take up their cross of deferred desire, and follow the Master to the fullness of eternal life.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14)

Christ, Head and Body, is a Royal Priesthood. God is creating it so there will be no more rebellions against His will.

If we would be a member of this Divine institution we must examine the passages that speak of spiritual maturity and pray that they may be fulfilled in us. It is not enough to merely say “I accept Christ as my Savior.” There is so much more involved in the bringing of a priest to spiritual maturity.

We are called to be trees of life, planted on the banks of the River of Life. The “sea” of mankind is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God, those who will bring justice, Divine life, and healing to them. It is for this reason that God has called us out of the nations that we might return to the nations as sources of Divine help for them. We are God’s chariots that through us God might minister to the needs of His creatures, just as the Lord Jesus has ministered to us.

He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.” (Ezekiel 47:8,9)

The above tells us of the bringing of the Life of Christ to the people of the nations of the earth, the spread of the Gospel to the whole world.

First, the members of the Royal Priesthood must come to maturity. This is the reason for the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The Royal Priesthood is composed of Christ, Head and Body: believers who have pressed past the water to the ankles, the knees, and the hips—people who have learned to live in the Fullness of the Spirit of God. Such people must be called, chosen, and faithful to Christ at all times.

This can be the inheritance of you and me. However, we must apply our whole life to the pursuit of the fullness of God. We can do so if we pray and obey Christ in all aspects of our life at the present time.

(“A Final Word”, 4277-2)