The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Convergence, #7

"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.

"But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness," (Malachi 3:1-3—NIV)

All of God's people are to repent and turn to righteousness in the present hour. This includes both the Jews and the Christians. We now are in the days of the coming of the Refiner. Judgment has begun in the house of God.

The Jews and Gentiles who humble themselves will be spared in the Day of Wrath. The Jews and Gentiles who do not humble themselves, who do not repent and turn away from their sin and self-love, will be visited with fiery tribulation. Some will fall away from God. The love of the majority will grow cold. The way of the Lord will be made straight.

We who have experienced the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost, who have spoken in tongues and have praised God in the Spirit, are to press forward to the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. If we turn to Jesus with all our heart, doing what He has commanded us, the Father and the Son will enter us through the Holy Spirit to a greater extent than we have known (John 14:23).

The spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles will continue to increase in power and revelation until the fullness of the Light of God arises within and upon the saints and they are revealed to the world. This will take place at the time of the return of Christ from Heaven.

The Kingdom of God is at hand. The return of the Jews to Israel is one of the major signs that the Kingdom of God soon is to come from Heaven to the earth. Because our fables and traditions view the goal of the Christian redemption as eternal residence in mansions in Heaven (revealing the influence of Gnosticism), a reformation of Christian theology is necessary. The Lord's people who are Gentiles do not realize that the Hebrew Prophets are talking to them as well as to the land and people of Israel (I Peter 1:10-12).

The Kingdom of God is described in the Prophets. The Hebrew Prophets reveal the destiny of the elect of God as well as of the nations of the saved. The destiny of the elect is to serve God as a royal priesthood in the earth. The heavenly aspect of the Kingdom is being perfected now and will enter the earth at the coming of Christ.

The spiritual life of the Body of Christ, of the Kingdom of God, is in Heaven in Christ at the right hand of God. A small part of the members of the Body are alive on the earth. The spiritual life of the Kingdom is increasing in the present hour as the saints are taught of the need for victory over sin and self-will.

Many tribulations yet will come upon us so our perfecting may be completed. This is a spiritual perfecting, not a physical perfecting. That which is taking place in our lives while we yet are on the earth may very well be bringing to maturity our spiritual life in Heaven.

To be continued.