The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Convergence, #4

Say to the Israelites: "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD's Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days." (Leviticus 23:34—NIV)

Multitudes of believers have experienced the spiritual fulfillment of the week of Unleavened Bread (salvation through the blood of the cross) and the feast of Pentecost.

Today the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. Each of us is to follow Jesus with dedication. As we do, the Holy Spirit gives us victory over all sin and self-will in preparation for the coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in us.

The entrance of the Lord's people into the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is one of the principal burdens of the Spirit in the hour in which we are living.

The coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth is the main subject of the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament.

The coming of the Kingdom was preached by John the Baptist, by the Lord Jesus, and by the Apostles. The proclaiming of the Kingdom soon gave way to the development of a religion and the construction of special edifices known as cathedrals, churches, chapels, and so forth. The Christian liturgy and accompanying culture came into being.

The Christian religion, the music, the structures, the liturgies, and the other elements of the Christian culture are accommodations to the concepts and plans of humans. The denominations are attempts to consolidate the achievements of the religious workers.

Very little of the Christian religion and culture, as we know them, is of God. They are a temporary scaffolding God has permitted for a season. God will do away with them in His time.

The Divine redemption is not a religion. On the one hand it is a personal discipleship to the risen Jesus of Nazareth. On the other hand it is a kingdom—a kingdom that will be brought into the earth suddenly and with great violence. The ministries of the Body of Christ are for the purpose of perfecting the Body—the Body being the Kingdom that will invade the earth.

We are drawing near to the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven to the earth. Soon the whole face of Christianity as we know it will be changed. The Hebrew Prophets have many things to say about the coming of the Kingdom, about the Day of the Lord, about the return of the Lord Jesus from Heaven.

The coming of the Lord will not be the Sunday-school picnic we have imagined. The coming of the Lord is the invasion of the earth by holy, militant people in whom God and His Christ are dwelling. It is an army of judges that is poised at the door (Jude 1:14,15).

The apostolic meaning of being "saved" is to be spared the destructive wrath of God when the Kingdom comes to the earth. It does not matter whether we are physically alive or dead when the Kingdom comes, for the Kingdom is a convergence of the material and spirit realms.

The Kingdom of God deals with living and dead people with equal visibility and effectiveness. There will be no place to hide during the Day of the Lord for physical death will flee at the Presence of Christ (Revelation 6:16; 9:6; 20:13).

To be continued.