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And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3) |
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Right here, right here, in the verse above—are you listening?—is a one-liner that describes what God is doing. If you understand Revelation 21:3 you will understand the Kingdom of God. |
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If you are still picturing the Divine salvation as a plan to carry you to a mansion in Heaven where you will do nothing of significance for eternity you are dwelling in la-la land. |
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Notice when God or the angels speak from Heaven they always yell. So much for sitting quietly in church. |
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"The tabernacle of God is with men." |
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Here it is. Are you ready? |
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The dwelling place of God. This is the Father's house that Jesus talked about. It is the eternal dwelling place of God. It is the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the Messiah. |
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It is the glorified Christian Church. Jesus Christ is the chief Cornerstone. We are living stones in this structure. |
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The house of God is being prepared in Heaven right now. It is destined to come down and be installed on a high mountain of the new earth, where it will remain forever and ever. |
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The city's name is "the Lord is there." It is holiness to the Lord. |
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It is the throne of God and of the Lamb. |
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Is it a real city that people can travel to? Yes, I believe it is. |
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Now, who are the "men" that the tabernacle of God is with? |
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The "men" are the saved nations of the earth. |
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Right here is a glitch in Christian thinking. It is the current understanding that there are only two classes of people in the new age, the saved and the lost. Actually there are three classes of people: the Church, the nations of saved people, and the lost. |
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If you don't understand there will be saved people who are not part of the Church then how can you understand what it means to be a member of the royal priesthood? How can you understand what the Bible means when it states we will rule with Christ over the nations of the earth? |
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Are we to rule over the lost nations, the goat nations? I don't think so. I believe the Bible says the lost nations will be in the fiery Gehenna. |
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Are we to rule over one another? Are we to be priests over one another? The Bible forbids this. Christ is our only Master. Christ is our only Priest. |
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Hey! Get ready! The Kingdom of God is at hand. The Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the saints ruling the saved nations of the earth. |
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Get hold of this. It will revolutionize your understanding of the Bible. The Old Testament will make sense. Passages you used to skip over will suddenly be part of the package. |
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The Church consists of an elect, an Israel, a people chosen of God from the foundation of the world to govern the world in righteousness. This is why we are trained, tested, rebuked, dealt with all day and all night. We are being made paradigms—models from which mankind will be shaped forever. |
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Jesus Christ is our Model. We are being made models from the great master Mold. The people we will guide and bless will continue for billions of untold billions of years, so don't get impatient with God while He is dealing with you. |
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To be continued. |
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In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2) |
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The Church is destined to be without blemish or wrinkle of any kind. |
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When a machinist is making a tool or die he does so with much more care than is given to the articles coming forth from the production line. Why? Because from that tool or die thousands of parts will be fashioned. |
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So it is with you and me. From us multitudes of people will be fashioned. Therefore the acceptable tolerance of error is zero. Unlike the mechanical tool or die there is no room whatever for error when it comes to the transformation of the Christian. |
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God's work is perfect. We cannot perfect ourselves. God can and shall perfect us if we will follow the Spirit. |
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If we draw back ever so slightly from God's will it is not possible we can serve as a model for other people, not in the eternal sense God has in mind. |
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Here it is! The Divine plan. Grasp it and you will be on your way to Kingdom thinking. |
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The "men" of Revelation 21:3 represent mankind. God is coming down from Heaven, in His tabernacle, which is Christ—Head and Body, to live among the saved nations of the earth for eternity. Wow! |
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In the Father's house, His tabernacle, there are many rooms. |
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The Father's House is Jesus Christ. The many rooms are those who are becoming part of Christ. |
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Christ left the earth in order to prepare a place for us in the Father's House, that is, in Himself. While He was on the earth the disciples could not abide in Him. Now, because of His atoning death and triumphant resurrection, we can abide in Him. |
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Where did He go to make all this possible? He went to the cross, and then to the right hand of the Father. He has given us to eat and drink of His body and blood. He has poured His Spirit upon us. He has given ministries and gifts to the believers so they can build the House of God to perfection. This is the purpose of the Church Age. |
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We want the peoples of the earth saved. So does the Father. The Father is going to save them through us. The more we work with the Spirit in becoming a living stone in the Father's House the more effective we will be in helping the peoples of the earth. Can you see that? |
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When the Lord Jesus returns and the Light of the Glory of God fills the Church, then the nations of the earth will come running to the Light shining from the saints that they may be saved and blessed. This is the Divine plan. |
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This does not mean that we should not go forth with the Gospel in the present hour. It does mean we are to give first priority to the building of the Body of Christ to the fullness of the stature of Christ, because the Lord will not return until a firstfruits of His Church has been prepared to work with Him in the subjugation of the nations of the earth to the will of the Father. |
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The nations must be governed with the rod of iron until they bow the knee to Christ and to God's will for them. Isn't this what the Bible teaches us? |
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God Himself will be with the nations and they shall be His people and He shall be their God. God will accomplish this through Christ—Head and Body. |
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Ezekiel saw all this in vision and exclaimed, "the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there." |
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And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4) |
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Tears, death, sorrow, crying, pain, all result from the disobedience of people. It is not God's will that people live in pain and misery. It is not God's will that people labor from dark to dark, that the earth bring forth weeds and destructive insects. None of this is God's will for man. |
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In the beginning man was created on the earth. He began life in Paradise on the earth, the garden of God. This was located near present-day Iraq. |
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There already was a rebellion in Heaven. Satan, the leader of the rebellion came down to earth in order to spread rebellion against the Father. |
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Satan succeeded and now we have chaos to show for it. |
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We haven't yet seen the full personality of Satan but it shall be revealed in the near future. God is permitting Satan to fully express himself so the angels and other creatures in Heaven can witness for themselves the folly of disobeying the Father. |
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People always are attempting to restore their own concept of Paradise to the earth. But in order to make Heaven out of the earth you have to break God's laws; you have to sacrifice your integrity; you have to forget about the welfare of other people and just concentrate on your own satisfaction. |
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God has not called us to restore Paradise to the earth—not yet, at least. God has called us to receive and obey Jesus Christ so He can restore our personality. It does no good to restore a person to Paradise until you get Satan out of the person. |
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People wonder why God allows children to die of leukemia. God did not cause the woes of the world, we did with our disobedience. God is ready to deliver us from sin and rebellion if we will receive His Redeemer, Jesus Christ. When we have been conformed to the moral image of Christ, then God will get to work and restore Paradise to the earth. Make sense to you? |
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What would happen if you put the church people of the present-day in Paradise? You got it! They would disobey God, just as they do today, and we would have another six thousand years of agony and insanity. |
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God's plan is to send the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, which He did. |
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Next in line are those of the believers who will do what the Bible says and through the Holy Spirit overcome the world, lust, and self- centeredness. These compose the militant remnant, the firstfruits to God and the Lamb. Christ will return with them and, as I understand it, perform two works. First, He will perfect the balance of the Church. Second, He will teach the saved nations how to serve God. |
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The balance of the Church shall eventually be perfected—no doubt about that. Christ stated He would walk the first day and the second day, and then would be perfected on the third day. |
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To be continued. |
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And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9) |
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At the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age God will permit Satan to deceive the nations on the earth and they will rebel against the rule of the saints. Then fire will come down from God and destroy those wicked people. |
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At the white throne judgment administered by Christ and His saints (for the Father judges no one), all the dead will be raised. Each person will be judged according to his or her works. Those who have done good will inherit eternal life on the new earth. The wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire. |
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Then the total Church, including the firstfruits which had ruled with Christ over the saved nations and the balance of the Church as well, will descend from Heaven and come to rest on a high mountain of the new earth. This is our understanding at the present time. |
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When Revelation 21:4 speaks of the removal of tears, death, sorrow, crying, and pain it is referring to the saved nations. The members of the Church compose the city. They are the trees of life. The Holy Spirit will flow from them. They will be the ones who will remove pain and dread from the nations. This is the meaning of the symbolism as we see it. |
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It makes us think of the forty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel where, after having passed through water to the ankles, knees, and hips, and finally water to swim in, the saints are placed as trees of life along the banks of the River of Life. |
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Then the Divine Life of God will flow out to the dead sea of mankind and mankind will come to life. Many "fish" will be caught for the Lord at that time. |
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During the Church Age, which we are in now, God is calling out His predestined elect and building them up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. They then will serve God throughout His creation as kings, priests, judges, and teachers. |
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This is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. The Spirit of God and the Wife of the Lamb invite all who will do so to come and drink freely of the waters of eternal life. |
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Tears, death, sorrow, crying, pain, will not just vanish from the earth when the Lord returns. Rather the sons of God will spread out from Jerusalem and bring the Glory of God to the ends of the earth. The curse will be lifted at their hands, just as takes place on a small scale today as the saints pray for the sick and for other bondages. |
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We can experience the power of the age to come right now as we seek the Lord and do His will. But the fullness of Divine Glory the Lord Jesus will bring with Him will bring justice, peace, and joy to all the saved nations. |
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The Glory of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will not just drop down from the sky. It will be brought to the nations at the hands of the saints as they go forth to rebuild the desolation caused by the rule of self-centered man. |
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And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:5) |
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God is making all things new. Isn't this wonderful? How terrible it would be if God was making all new things! |
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We may or may not realize it but we like things the way they are. We like nature. We like people. We like to be alive on the earth except for the sin and the misery sin brings. |
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We may think we want to die and "go to Heaven," but when we are waiting for the biopsy we find ourselves hoping the results will be negative. Isn't that the case? |
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Do you really want to die? Probably not unless you are in very great pain or emotional stress. |
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It is natural to want to live. As rough as life is, we still want to live on the earth. |
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We have this funny idea about wanting to live forever in the spirit realm with the angels. This is because we are tired, sick, frustrated, or have many bills. |
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You may think you would be happy with the angels and other living creatures in the spirit realm, but you wouldn't be. Why? Because you were created on the earth and the earth is in you. |
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Do you ever notice that when people describe Heaven they actually describe New England, or Wisconsin, or Switzerland. Just think! In heaven there is beautiful grass, flowers, trees, clouds, hills and mountains. The birds are singing. All is peaceful. |
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In case you didn't realize it, you are describing the earth without sin. |
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No, we don't want all new things, we want all things new. |
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Picture an earth without sin, without war, without sickness, death, pain, or dread. Picture the most beautiful scene of nature you have ever enjoyed. Picture Jesus, the Father, the holy angels, being here with you. Picture yourself surrounded with your loved ones. |
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Would you like to leave this and go to live in a mansion in the spirit realm with a backyard full of diamonds instead of grass? Probably not. |
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You see, you don't want to go to Heaven after all. You want the best of Heaven to come to the earth and that is exactly what God has planned. |
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What will be carried over to the new earth? All that has died in Christ and been resurrected in Christ. Every person, every thing, every incident must have the stamp of Christ in it. Sin is gone forever, confined in the Lake of Fire with the devil and his angels. All is love, joy, peace. |
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Best of all God is here with us. The name of the city will be "the Lord is there," Ezekiel said. |
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Is there a Heaven? Yes. But it is not our eternal home, thank God. Our eternal home is the earth made new in Christ. Heaven is a resting place while the army of the Lord is being prepared to invade the earth and drive all wickedness from it. |
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Our greatest joy can be found only in relationships. Only a perfect relationship with God and a perfect relationship with people will satisfy the longing of our soul. Nothing else will fulfill us, not diamonds, rubies, or pearls. These are only toys. Love and love alone makes the world what it was meant to be. |
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To be continued. |
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For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 16:25) |
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"These words are true and faithful." What the angel told the Apostle John is true and faithful. God will never turn from His path. He has determined to make a new heaven and a new earth—and all will be filled with Jesus Christ and God in Him. There is no power in the heavens above, or on the earth, or in the realms of darkness under the earth that can in any manner alter the slightest aspect of what God has prepared for those who love Him. |
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The greatest mistake any human being can make is to grasp this present world, clinging to it with might and main, being unwilling to lose his or her own life in order to enter the Life of Jesus Christ. The present world is but the darkness of the uterus. We haven't even been fully formed as yet. We don't know what our eternal name will be. True life is ahead of us. |
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To cling to our animal life in the present cursed world is the depth of foolishness. The result of continuing to live in the appetites of the flesh will be corruption in the day of resurrection. |
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Let us not be fools. Let us lay aside our attempts to create our own heaven and earth and place our trust in Christ. Christ is to be trusted. He will work with us until we are prepared to enjoy and hold the paradise we are given. Outside of Him there is only vanity and frustration. |
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Brother George Gillies used to say, "If you go through life without Christ you've missed it all." How very, very true this is. Life without Christ is really death. The person without Christ is dead before his or her body is assigned to the grave. |
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But in Christ we have life and a hope for the future not based on an unfounded optimism but on the promise of Him who alone is true and faithful. |
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We are not going to receive the kind of future and destiny we are hoping for unless we do something about it now. Every time we deny ourselves and make a decision for Christ we add luster to our resurrection. Every time we cling to our own way and deny the will of Christ we diminish our resurrection, our future, our destiny. |
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Grace and mercy never, never, never alter the Kingdom law of sowing and reaping. We can be forgiven and cleansed, but either in this life or the next, in one way or another, we will receive what we have done. God forgave King David and he died in glory. But in his lifetime he paid bitterly for his adventure with Bathsheba. |
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Let us turn from our self-centered ways and seek the Lord. There still is time to be forgiven and to plant seed that will give us a fine harvest in the Day of the Lord. |
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And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6) |
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"It is done." Don't you love it? Sometimes when you are serving the Lord it seems like it never will be done. Thank God there is a finish line. |
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"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." |
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The beauty of the Christian redemption is that there is a mark, a goal toward which to press. |
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There is an "end." Sometimes the plan of salvation is presented as though there is no clear-cut goal and no clear-cut program for attaining the goal. This is exactly what Satan prefers—a muddle in which there is no change in the human personality. |
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You hear believers say, "I know I ought to try to be good but nobody's perfect." Please don't say that around me. You know what? You will never live the life of victory in Jesus Christ if you take the attitude that everything is a muddle and somehow you will muddle through and end up in a mansion in Heaven. This is hogwash. It has nothing whatever to do with the salvation that is in Christ Jesus the Lord. |
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There is a clear-cut beginning of salvation. There is a clear-cut program of deliverance from Satan and change into the image of Christ. There is a clear-cut mark toward which we are pressing—the first resurrection from the dead. There is nothing vague or mystical about any of this. |
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Where are you on the continuum from Satan to God? Somewhere in the middle along with the rest of us? Then press on! Press on! Press on! |
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God has a mark for you. Press toward that mark. Press toward perfection in Christ. |
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In the present hour gaining the victory over the world, over the lusts of the flesh, and over self-will and rebellion is very, very difficult. Only the most determined will reach the goal set for the present hour. |
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Have you been knocked down? Get up and fight on. Get off the canvas! Get up and start punching. Put your head down and fight. Keep punching. Run until your lungs are on fire. Never, never quit. The thrones of glory are at stake. Your will must be razor sharp if you are to attain the crown of righteousness and life. |
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We have lazy, careless, lukewarm believers in our nation. The churches are full of them. They hardly are disciples of Jesus Christ. They have been pampered until they are silly and self-centered. |
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If the pastors begin to preach righteousness as though they really mean it we are going to have the greatest backdoor revival in history. Then our former "loving" church members will take the side of the government against us. You don't believe me? Watch and see what happens in the next few years in America as some of the pastors and evangelists begin to get hold of God and start preaching righteousness and discipleship. |
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To be continued. |
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