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There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (I Kings 8:9) |
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When the Ark of the Covenant was put in the new Temple of Solomon there was nothing in it but the Ten Commandments. The memorial jar of manna and Aaron's rod that budded had been removed. |
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The memorial jar of manna represents the daily grace given to us so we learn to lean on the Lord for all things. The manna will cease when we "enter the land," that is, when we come to the fullness of God. |
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Aaron's rod that budded refers to two related verities: (1) the royal priesthood comprises chosen people; and (2) the Life of God comes from that which has died. These two aspects will have been fulfilled when the new Jerusalem comes to the earth. |
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But the Law, the Ten Commandments, endures forever. We are not saying the Law of Moses endures forever for God plainly stated He would make a new covenant with the House of Israel. Rather it is the eternal law of God, that of which the Ten Commandments are an abridged, negative, covenantal edition, that will endure forever. |
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Of the seven furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, only the Ark kept its carrying poles intact when the Tabernacle came to rest. |
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God is telling us something here. All of God's work has as its purpose our being made in the moral image of Christ and our being brought into untroubled rest in the Father. Whenever Christian teaching does not point toward moral reformation it is not serving God's purpose. |
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The Christian teaching of today emphasizes the grace of forgiveness (as though that were the only aspect of God's grace) as being the principal aspect of the new covenant. It is not. The principal aspect of the new covenant is the writing of the law of God in the mind and heart of the believer. |
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God wants righteous behavior! God wants His people to keep His commandments. We are not doing this. We have substituted a false doctrine of a perpetual unconditional amnesty in place of the commandments found in the New Testament. |
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We do not love Christ. If we loved Christ we would be keeping His commandments. |
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We are teaching error. The result is Christian churches throughout the world that are spiritually dead. In place of the New Testament emphasis on moral transformation there is an unceasing, unscriptural emphasis on being caught up to Heaven to live in a mansion. |
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We are in apostasy because our doctrine is not biblical. We have been grievously deceived. |
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Perhaps it's not too late in America. If the Christian ministry will cease emphasizing the catching up of untransformed believers and begin to teach the commandments of Christ and His Apostles the people may humble themselves and turn away from their sins. In this case God will heal our land. |
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But if lawless grace (antinomianism) and the catching up (can you imagine the Apostle Paul saying if by any means I may attain the catching up?) along with prosperity, magical faith, and uncontrollable laughter continue to be emphasized throughout the nineties, then we are facing a holocaust worse than that experienced by the Jews. |
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If one preacher turns away from the present-day myths and begins to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom our geriatric efforts will have been worth it. |
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Lord, help us all! |
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And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3) |
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Moses put a jar of manna in the Ark of the Covenant. There it remained for a long while, apparently, but no longer was present when the Ark was put in the new Temple of Solomon. |
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The Ten Commandments in the Ark represent the righteousness wrought in the individual in whom Christ is formed. Aaron's rod that budded, also in the Ark, speaks of the calling of God on every member of the royal priesthood. Each priest of God must die to the adamic nature and receive the power of the endless life by which Melchisedec ministered. |
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The jar of manna in the Ark reminds us of our continual dependence on the Lord for all things. For forty years the Israelites ate manna. The manna ceased when they began to eat of the corn of Canaan. |
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The Bible tells us that the gifts of the Spirit will cease when that which is perfect has come to us. That which is perfect is the fullness of the Father and the Son through the fullness of the Spirit. Then we shall be filled with all the fullness of God. |
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The Bible informs us that God caused the people to hunger and then fed them with manna. He did this to humble them, that they might learn man does not live only by natural food but by the words coming from the mouth of God. |
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We have to learn to lean! |
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It is difficult for the adamic nature to find its wisdom and strength in God. The natural man would far rather charge around the countryside doing his own thing, as we say. |
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God has to keep knocking us flat or we get "in the flesh" fast! |
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How about you? Does God keep you scrambling? Do you have things in your life that keep you off balance? |
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If it wasn't for him, or her, or this, or that, I could really serve the Lord. |
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The truth is if it wasn't for him, or her, or this, or that, you would be making a mess of your life and that of everyone around you. |
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God much prefers to keep us "hungry." Then He gives us just enough manna for one day. Wouldn't we love to collect the manna so we could get control of the situation! But yesterday's manna breeds worms and stinks. |
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How many Christians are living on yesterday's manna? And all the religious perfume in the world doesn't help. |
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God has something new for you today—a fresh batch of manna, right from the oven, golden brown, crisp, tasty. Have some and see how good it is. |
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But remember, it won't be good tomorrow. |
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You know what? You're going to have to seek God every day if you want that good, fresh manna! |
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The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. (Numbers 17:8) |
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The story of Aaron's rod teaches us two things. First, that God chooses whom He will. Promotion in the Kingdom of God is not based on our striving or on democratic principles. Second, eternal life comes out of death. |
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These two ideas are related. |
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The religious world, like the secular, is filled with envy. The Lord Jesus was murdered because of envy. |
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You would think that as the leaders of the Jews watched Jesus they would have loved Him. Jesus represents the best the Law has to offer. To love God and other people is the sum of the statutes of Moses and this Jesus does to perfection. |
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Instead the Pharisees and priests howled for His blood, and then sought to kill Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. Pretty hard to argue theology with someone Christ raised from the dead! |
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Satan and his followers are spiritual creatures. In past eons they had lived in the glory and joy of the Lord. They lost the glory and joy because of their self-seeking. Now they attempt to enter the most spiritual congregation they can find in order to experience that which they lost, and if possible to spread their envy and rebellion. |
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In the churches there are those whom, like Moses and Aaron, God exalts for "no good reason." There are others who are religiously inclined and resent the fact they are not exalted. The personally ambitious folk argue and cause division. |
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The leaders God has exalted learn to die in the Lord so that eternal life may lift up those around them. They are dead rods but they bud, blossom, and bear eternal fruit—as did the imprisoned Paul. |
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There are those who also are of rank in the Kingdom but who, like Korah, desire to be number one. They envy God's chosen leaders. |
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These "mountains of Bashan" are a never-ending problem, as pastors know well. They are always "leaping." But God has chosen Zion. |
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You can always tell the Korahs. They are not willing to die in the Lord. They get what they want by politics. |
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Those God has chosen will prevail while they are ducking the stones. |
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If you are a number two be the best you can be for the Lord. It really doesn't matter whether you are riding in the front chariot or cleaning up behind the horses in the royal parade. Do what you do faithfully and you will be called the friend of God. |
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Brother, Sister, there is no other reward that compares with being the friend of God! |
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You will never be happy and fulfilled until you are at rest in the center of God's will. |
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As for the Korahs, keep your distance if possible. The ground is beginning to shake! |
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And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [test] Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:1,2) |
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Here is the third death and resurrection, the trial of obedience, the test that is more demanding and difficult than striving against the bondages of sin. |
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The calling of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees is a type of salvation. Then, when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and required a walk of sanctification. |
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In the offering of Isaac we witness a much more severe demand—the offering up to God of Abraham's son, the promised heir, his inheritance in the Lord. Isaac was the only means of obtaining the abundant fruitfulness that God had promised Abraham. Abraham's righteousness was based on the fact he believed the Word of God concerning that fruitfulness. |
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Wasn't this an exceedingly difficult trial? |
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Notice that God was testing Abraham. God reserves the right to test any one of us at any time He chooses. Our part is to pray and serve the Lord to the best of our ability in as cheerful and uncomplaining a manner as possible. Sometimes the tests of the Lord are quite difficult to endure. The test we are discussing now was extraordinarily difficult, but an eternal issue was being decided. |
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God said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest." |
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"Thine only son Isaac." God had promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations and his seed would be as the stars of heaven. Abraham had proceeded to attempt to work out the fulfillment of God's promise by using Hagar, a servant of Sarah. |
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God would not accept Hagar's son, Ishmael, as the heir of promise. God commanded, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac." At this point, God did not regard Ishmael as a true son of Abraham. Ishmael had not been given to Abraham by the Lord. |
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Much of our striving in Christian work is not even recognized by the Lord. It will prove to be wood, hay, and straw. All that God will accept in the Christian Church is what He Himself has accomplished in us. |
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"Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest." |
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If God had called for Ishmael the test would not have been nearly as difficult. Isaac was the fruit of the promised miracle. There was no doubt in Abraham's mind that it would be through Isaac the end would come to his lack of fruitfulness and the promise of the Lord would be realized. |
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If God would require us to sacrifice only those things we have accomplished in the appetites of the flesh it might prove to be a difficult trial of our faith in Him. |
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When God begins to demand of us what truly is our gift from Him, our acts of obedience bring forth the kind of character that is able to receive successfully the fullness of the fruitfulness and strength God desires to impart to us. (from Three Deaths and Three Resurrections, Volume 3) |
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For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:35) |
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If we will diligently employ in the work of the Kingdom what we have been given, the Lord will entrust us with greater responsibilities. We can gain "ten talents" if we will give ourselves to the tasks at hand. Such diligence and faithfulness please the Lord very much. |
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Many—perhaps most—of God's people have little idea what their roles are in the Body of Christ, in the Kingdom of God. There may be several excuses for such ignorance but the Kingdom suffers as a result. It is important in the present hour that each saint begin to do something about his or her responsibility in the Kingdom. |
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"I have a wife and family." |
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"I am too young." |
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"I am too old." |
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"I am not trained." |
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"I am too busy!" |
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"I will do the Lord's will when I retire." |
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On and on the excuses go but God accepts none of them. The point is, we are to seek first the Kingdom of God. Otherwise our crown will be removed from our head and placed on the head of another who is faithful to the Words of Christ Jesus. |
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The world rocks along toward the reign of Antichrist. Millions are born and millions die. Moral filth is increasing. A tiny minority has been entrusted with the Word of God. God requires that those who have been so entrusted lay aside all diversions and recognize that being a saint is a full-time calling. |
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Each member of the Body of Christ has been called to the work of the Kingdom of God. This is his responsibility in the world, the meaning of his life. |
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We can choose to set ourselves apart to the responsibility and work of establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth. If we do, we will lose our life for Christ's sake and the Gospel's and gain eternal life and fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God. |
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We can choose to make our occupation in the world the focus of our time and energy. We may gain friends, acclaim, material wealth, every physical comfort. We can portion out some of this gain for the work of the Gospel when such giving does not require a painful sacrifice on our part. |
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The moment we die physically our choices will be evaluated. The believer who has dedicated his life to the work of the Kingdom will be greeted joyfully by Christ Jesus. He will be welcomed to the fellowship of the saints, to the ranks of those who also have dedicated their lives to the work of the Kingdom of God. His gladness of heart will know no bounds. |
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But the believer who has struggled so laboriously with the affairs of the world will recognize immediately he has been deceived. His dedication to the world and neglect of spiritual values will be revealed for all to behold. |
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One of the most searing pangs of Hell will be the bitter remorse over opportunities forever lost. To think we could have spent our life for eternal gain! Instead, we so foolishly chose to occupy ourselves with tinsel, baubles, the cackling approval of worldlings. What sharp claws will tear our soul in that moment! It could have been so different. So different. |
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Let the foolish among us choose to occupy their time and strength with the visible world—that which will be done away when the universe is consumed in God's fire. |
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Let the wise among us choose to set ourselves apart to the Kingdom of God. As we do a multitude of others also will be set apart to God by means of the truth our life has become through our Lord Jesus Christ. (from John Seventeen) |
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Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17) |
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It may be true that many Christian people almost completely misunderstand the Divine redemption. They are under the impression that Christ died in order to forgive what they are and bring them to Heaven to live forever in the Paradise of God. They perceive the tribulations of this life as unnecessary harassments sent by the devil out of spite. They conceive of belief in Christ Jesus as a ticket to a better life in Heaven and, according to contemporary preaching, a more prosperous life on earth. |
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But the Divine redemption is not the forgiving and preserving of what we are. Redemption is not a forgiving of our behavior and a transferring of our personality to the spirit Paradise. |
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God is not saving what we are. God is saving us from what we are. |
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Redemption is the perishing of what we are and the forming of a new creation. It is true also that redemption does not consist in removing the new creation from the earth. We go to Heaven when we die only because our Life, Christ Jesus, is in Heaven. When our Life returns to the earth, then we also will return to the earth. Our land of promise is the earth. |
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The Divine redemption is not a transfer from earth to Heaven. What would that accomplish? What good would that do us or anyone else? Rather the Divine redemption is a transformation of what we are. If we have not been transformed we have not been redeemed, whether or not we escape Hell when we die. |
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Our outward man, our soul and body, perish every day because of trouble, perplexity, persecution, and heavy burdens. Our circumstances continually are frustrating and grieving us, resulting (if we hold steady in prayer and faith) in the death and resurrection of our ambitions, motives, thoughts, and everything else that moves and guides a human being. |
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Why are pain, bewilderment, and imprisonment necessary? They are necessary because apart from them our original personality continues to govern our behavior. |
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After we receive Christ Jesus a new personality begins to enter us, a personality born from above. Its ambitions, motives, and thoughts are contrary to those of our old nature. The new man is Christ in us. He is the Kingdom of God. In order for Him to grow our old nature must be struck down continually. |
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Our old nature will fight furiously for its life, but it must be killed for it cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is the new man who is blessed of God. If we will allow the Lord to crucify our old nature, the Lord will renew and bless our new nature each day. This is how we grow in Christ, how Christ grows in us. This is the Kingdom of God—the transforming of us into the image of the glory of the Lord. |
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How about you? Are you content with what you are or do you wish to become a new creation in Christ? (from Change) |
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Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21) |
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; not the spiritual Heaven, but the material firmament—space, as we term it, with its suns and planets. |
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This was the beginning of the material creation—that which is to be released through the unveiling of the sons of God. |
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What existed before the beginning? |
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We do not know. It was a spirit realm inhabited by angels, cherubim, seraphim, and other creatures. These beings were not material. They were not in the image of God. |
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Were there trees, grass, animals, birds, hills, valleys in the spirit realm? We do not know. The Book of Revelation suggests a sea of glass, an altar, thrones, but never the paradise we imagine. |
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It was a marvelous day when God created the heavens and the earth, the material realm. Satan and the fallen angels hurried to leave their first estate and enter the earth. Why? Because the material realm is more desirable than the spiritual. |
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When God created the heavens and the earth He did not create a lesser realm, He created a greater. He did not create lesser creatures, He created greater. God always moves from the lesser to the greater as all the saints know well. |
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Now Christians are hoping God will reverse Himself and bring us back to the prior condition. We want to leave the better realm, the material, and go back to the realm of angels. |
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God has a much better plan than that. |
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The material realm was created "very good" and still is very good. The problem is in the spirit realm. Wicked, rebellious spirits have entered the material realm, including our physical bodies. These unclean personalities are destroying everything they touch. Satan, their master, is perverse, treacherous, corrupt, lustful, murderous—abominable beyond all we can imagine. |
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God has no intention of abandoning His creation to unclean spirits. Rather, God is perfecting a royal priesthood consisting of the spirits of righteous people made perfect. |
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When these righteous spirits have been prepared fully, Jesus and they will return to earth to drive out the evil spirits. |
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When the evil spirits have been driven from the material creation, Paradise will be restored to the earth. Nature, dead for six thousand years, will praise God once again, being made alive by the touch of the Spirit of God. |
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The creation once again will be spiritual-material; not a dead physical thing but a living, joyous, singing creature. The wild animals will graze peacefully with the domestic. Nothing will hurt, nothing will dismay God's innocents. |
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What happened? How did man lose Paradise in the beginning? |
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We lost Paradise because there was no wall around Eden. There was no voice that said with Divine power and wisdom, "Satan, keep out. The wicked, the deceitful, the rebellious, the violent, the drunken, the unclean, the adulterous, the bestial, are not permitted here." |
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The wall of the new Jerusalem is being created today in the hearts of the believers. Are you one of those who has determined to come before the Father in stern obedience? Do you long for the new world of righteousness and praise that is to come? |
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If so, rejoice with us. God has heard our prayers. The earth yet shall be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (from A Change of Emphasis) |
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