The
Word of Truth Ministries
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I go to prepare a place for you that
where I am there ye may be also.
[John 14]
Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.
1 John 3:2-3
The Hope of The Believer
Each believer who is a disciple indeed knows that
our new birth is a reconciliation back to God, our creator from
whom we were estranged from since mankind’s violation in the Garden of Eden.
[Gen. 3:24; John 8:31-32] But after we are reconciled to God, there is
another step that is needed in our relationship; the scripture says that
as new born babes we are to desire the sincere milk of the word that we
may grow thereby. And again it says that we may grow into him;
and again, that we may leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ
and go on unto perfection. And these admonitions are necessary to be a part of that church
Christ is returning for that is without spot, blemish, wrinkle,
or any such thing. [Mat. 5:48; Eph. 4:11-16; Heb. 6;1 Pet. 2:2]
As we were made in
the image of God originally, we must be remade in his image again since
man has strayed so far away from him. That is that greater work that God called us to when Jesus said, the
work I do and greater works shall you do…. and that was the helping
work God called us to in the beginning of creation, when he said, Let
us make man in our image....[Gen. 1:26; Psa. 14:2; John 14:12; Rom.
3:10-23]
As laborers
together with him, we are engaged in the business and the adventure
of making man into the image of God. Surely that original image of God that we
were made in, we have turned from and become earthly, worldly, fleshly,
and ungodly. The Psalmist wrote that God looked down upon man to see if
any did do righteous and if any did call upon His name, and he concluded
that there was none righteous, no not one! That was the sorry state
man fell into and lingered in until Jesus came. [Psa. 14:2-4; Rom. 3:10-18] From the
image we were made in, we went aside from so far that God declared
all of his creation to be corrupt and the way of peace, they do not know.
And because God is never off-guard, he started on plan two, which was
established before the foundation of the earth and before the creation
of man. And plan two was
really plan one.
This plan
was foreshadowed in Genesis 1:26, when God said, Let us make man in
our image and after our likeness…. In this beautiful scripture, which
Montanus, Tertullian, and their minions thereafter have attempted to corrupt with a pagan notion
of triune-personage in the Divinity, God suggested that he would have
helpers/laborers with him in the making of man; that is why he said, “Let
us make man….” In this scripture, God called things that were
not as though they were; he declared the end from the beginning and things that were not then done as if they were done—for they
were done in his mind, and he knew that his counsel would stand and he
would do all his pleasure. [Isa. 46:9-11; 48:3; Rom. 4:17]
That call to
“Let us make man…” was a call to us, his ministers of truth in this
New Testament Church Age. Jesus said to, search the scripture; for in
them ye think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of
me. And in another place, the scripture says, the things aforetime
were written for our learning.... From times in memorial he called to
his New Testament people and said, Let us make man in our image and
after our likeness. Only now we are workers together with
Christ, and the works Jesus began to do were passed on to us and even
greater works. While Jesus was still with the apostles, he gave them power
to heal the sick, work miracles, cast out demons, raise the dead, and to
preach the gospel. But only after his death, resurrection, and the Holy
Spirit was sent into the church did we have power to respond to his call
to make man in his image. The gospel we now preach is the power of
God unto salvation from sin and into the recreation and reconstitution of
sinful man as sons of God. I submit, this is that greater work of
John 14.
.....We are, in fact, laborers together with
Christ in this great adventure of making man in the image of God. And as laborers
we need to understand our lofty position, if we are to allow his word to abide
in us and we abide in his word. Paul said that we are heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ. That position is one capable of doing that greater
work of Christ because he has gone away and we are left to carry on his
work, to occupy his position until he comes. Hence, even as David said,
we are gods. Jesus developed this lofty concept even more, saying they
are gods to whom the word of the Lord came. And in another place he said,
if ye abide in me and my word abide in you.... [Psa.
82:6; Lk. 19:13; John 15:7]
.....Jesus said if the word of God has come
to a person and abided in him, it is therefore written and is a fact that
they are gods, because they are the children of the Most High. [John 10:34;
Gal. 4:6; 1 John 3:2] Jesus, in talking about John the Baptist, said that
men born of women there is not a greater than John the Baptist, but he that is least
in the kingdom is greater than John. [Mat. 11:11-12] Why is this so? Because
those who are born into the kingdom of God are in a higher class than
those who are merely born of women. That higher class is a class of
Children
of God, hence, they are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, who
is God, hence they are gods to whom the word of God came and
remained--if so be that they abide in his word. This is also demonstrated by the
Luke 15 parable of the Prodigal Son--specifically the older son. [Rom.
8:17]
.....God
did the original work of making man, and now we, the sons of God, must
bring man back to the express image of Christ, who is the express image
of God’s person. If we have seen Jesus Christ, we have seen the father,
and we therefore know him and have seen him so that we know what image
man should be in. [John 14:9; 1 Cor. 3:8-10; 2Cor. 6:1-2; Heb. 1:3]
Why Reconcile with God
The reason
for our reconciliation with God and our being made into the image of Christ
is for two purposes: This earth and all that is within it shall be destroyed,
and we will need a place to shelter our souls that continue after the
grave. Second, we must all give in account of the deeds done in
these bodies while on this earth—death, as we know it, is not the end
of all things. There is a life that is after this life and quite different
from this life, but related and connected to this life.
.....Common reasoning and an almost innate
sensibility (intuition?) tell us that life is not to really at an end
here, and there is an accounting of the deeds done in this body. Indeed,
justice demands it so; justice is not always dispensed in our short lives.
But justice will be done. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was right when he
said, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward
justice; whether in this life or in the afterlife, justice cannot be
cheated.
.....Regardless of how atheistic or agnostic
a person claims to be, when great disaster or some universal act of God
occurs, that person fears greatly that his acclaimed notions were possibly
wrong and that the God he was uncertain about or declared does not exist
because of the limitations of his abilities to see him, sense him, or
understand his ways, will find himself emotionally surrendered and questioning
the efficacy of his proclaimed position.
And since these two factors are realities that we must deal with
as prudent people, and since we know that one day the mighty angel of
God will stand with one foot on land and one on sea and declare an
end to time, we persuade men to be reconciled to God, through Jesus
Christ. Only through this process is there shelter from the oncoming
doom and disposition from which even death will not allow men to escape.
For
death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire by that God,
which unbelievers claim does not exist! [Rev. 10; 20]
Jesus
said to those who will be reconciled and made perfect in him, he was going
away to prepare a place for them, and where he is they would be there
as well. [John 14:1-3] That place will be a place to shield believers
from the wrath of God--the turmoil and fire that will engulf this world,
as God makes an end to all things. [Isa.
32:1-2] For us to be in that new creation, we must do certain things in
this old system that we may be considered qualified and worthy of that
new creation.
I am aware
that to many individuals, this may seem like a myth conjured for no good
reason, other than to frighten people into certain behavioral patterns.
To those individuals, it is their option to believe or not believe and
conform their behavior accordingly. But suppose they are incorrect about
the existence of God. Suppose the Bible is, in fact, correct; what are
the consequences for them? Whatever they are, they must face and live
with the consequences of the most catastrophic mistake of their lives--a
mistake that will shape their eternity. And eternity is a long time to
suffer a fool’s decision and an angry God. Jesus offers a remedy to the
foolish and ignorant: accept his truth and be saved.
For those who have accepted the truth of God, we have a hope. The
hope is that when this world system and when we, as individuals, have
concluded our lives and tenure down here, there is a place that Jesus
has prepared for us where we can be with him as a shelter from the wind.
And, yes, Jesus has declared that he is going away to prepare a place
for us. [John 14:1-3] And he has put a longing in the hearts of his people for
that place. Paul writes, Abraham wandered looking for and hoping
to find a city whose builder and maker is God. [Mat. 25:34; Heb. 11:10,
16] And even today that longing is in us, as we read the scriptures that
say, even so come Lord Jesus and as we sing songs about his glorious
return. [Rev. 22:20]
Oh, I want to see him, look upon his face
There to sing forever of his saving grace
On the streets of glory, let me lift my voice,
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice!
But we who are looking and longing and hoping for Christ's return
are behaving appropriately--we are purifying ourselves even as He is
pure. And that behavior actually indicates whether we
are looking, longing, and hoping for his return. The Apostle John wrote
that as many as have that hope of Christ in them will purify themselves,
even as he, Christ, is pure. We will be attempting to make ourselves
just like him, his express image. Indeed, the grace of God that has
brought salvation from sins and the consequences of sin teaches us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in
this present world. That is because we are looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of that great God and our savor Jesus
Christ. [Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 3:2-3]
Those
who have no hope or those who have lost the hope of Christ will not purify themselves.
They will live anyway that suits them and think that the love of God will
overlook their behavior. But how far do they think they can stretch the love
of God? Be it known, God is more than just love. The Apostle Paul wrote,
knowing the terror of God, I persuade men. [2 Cor. 5:11] Any man
who really knows God, the fear of God is upon him, and he understands
that God is not a one-dimensional God who is just love. [Eccl. 12:12]
.....
Love is an attribute of God, but there
are many more attributes other than love; those who think to distort God
into their own image will be sadly mistaken by their own deception of
who and what God is. God asks, How long will the simple love simplicity
and fools hate knowledge? The simple-minded and simple-in-their-imagination
of God will be destroyed by God because they hate and reject knowledge
of God, as they attempt to make God into their milk-toast love
God that allows them to do anything. [Prov. 1:22; Hos. 4:6] Usually, these
individuals who try to distort God and his word by the overwhelming use
of their idea of love, have no idea what love is; their definition is
not God’s definition, and they do not even recognize that distinction;
they are even as the Prodigal Son, blind and not at themselves in God.
[Lk. 15] They have been deceived, just as Eve was deceived by Satan;
they sport themselves, Peter said, in their own deceptions and assume
those deceptions are also maintained by God. How sad they are in their
strong delusions. [Gen. 3:4; Isa. 55:8; 2 Thes. 2:11; 2 Pet.
2:13]
They disgrace
the name of God, even as the younger son in Jesus’ parable, The Prodigal
Son. [Lke. 15] Those without hope are those who are self-deceived
and self-propelled in their sin, thinking that they can live anyway they
chose and
call themselves Christians. They are not at themselves but are deceived. The Prodigal Son had to come to himself
before he recognized the open shame he had brought upon
himself and upon his father’s house—but unlike
him, many will die in sin and never come to themselves before getting
out of it. Many sinful Christians must come to themselves and return to God; the only
way to be acceptable to God is to rise from sin and go back to God. Those
with the hope of Christ will purify themselves. [Prov. 1:22; Titus 2:11-14;
Heb. 6:6; 1John 3:3] Those who have lost the hope of Christ will
continue in their own ways.
The Heavens Shall Pass Away
An
event occurred at man’s sin in the Garden and God’s response to that sin
that many of us have overlooked. We generally know that God cursed the
serpent, the woman, and the man, but we often overlook the fact that God
also cursed the ground/earth as well. And as man
did not see any immediate effect of that curse within his time-frame,
his failure to see direct and perceptible results aided in our overlooking
the other curse that God pronounced. [Gen. 3:14-17]
Yet God cursed
the ground, and that curse caused the earth to be out of alignment and
off its foundation. [Psa. 82:5] God cursed the earth because he had placed
it, his works, under the control of man. As a result,
because all creation has been cursed, the earth is degenerating, even
as humankind is degenerating. The Apostle Paul wrote that
creation
groans and waits for the revealing of the sons of God. He argues that
the creation was made subject to vanity. Because of man’s sin, all creation
was thrown into a state of decay. But just as creation and mankind
were made subject to vanity, we are made subject to hope. God’s creation,
in total—man and this earth—will be delivered from this bondage of corruption
that we all have been experiencing. Mankind shall have a new body to inhabit
another and new dimension, and this present earth and cosmos will be
destroyed--the earth shall melt with a fervent heat. [2Pet.3:12]
God will make a new heaven and a new earth wherein wells righteousness.
[1 Cor. 15:51-54; 2 Pet. 3: 13; Rev. 21:5]
The Apostle
Peter gives us one of the best descriptions of what, precisely, will happen to
this earth and the heavens, but first John saw in Revelation 10, that
a mighty angel of God will one day stand upon the earth and declare that
time will be no more: Time as we know it will end. The Apostle Peter
said that this earth is in waiting, in store, for the fire that shall
be released upon it from heaven—note, this is no nuclear event that will
bring this about, but God! This situation will be from God himself! And
when that fire is released, the coming destruction will be as a thief
in the night, and cataclysmic events will occur in the heavens: The heavens
shall actually pass away with a great sound as not heard
before. After that noise and passing away, the very elements, visible
and invisible, shall melt, as they will be on fire, with a very fervent
heat. Then the earth and all things therein shall be utterly burnt up.
As God once destroyed the earth by water, and promised not to use water
to destroy it again, he will dissolve all things this time by fire.
[Gen. 9:11]
Paul describes
his body as this earthly house of this tabernacle dissolving, but
he was also implying, without a doubt, to the house of this earth
being destroyed. For as Peter had read Paul’s writing, and cautioned unstable
souls to read him carefully because of the depth of wisdom God had given
Paul, no doubt, Paul had also read Peter’s revelation concerning the dissolution
of all things. [2 Pet.3:15-16]
But more
than that, Isaiah the prophet also had godly insights into this end of
all things. He wrote that God would come with fire and he will exercise
his anger with a great fury and rebuke sinners with flames of fire. Isaiah
goes on to say, God will destroy all things by fire and the sword
(the very word of his mouth) and the slain of the Lord shall be many. [Isa. 65:15-17]
Onto this Paul writes, Jesus will be revealed/come from heaven
with his mighty angels and in flaming fire he will take vengeance on those
who know not God and have not obeyed the gospel of Christ. [2 Thes.
1:7-8] He goes on to say, the man of sin will be consumed by the
spirit of Jesus’ mouth and destroyed by the very brightness of Jesus’
coming. For, as the lightning shines out the east and shines into the west,
so is the coming of Christ.
[Mat. 24:27; 2 Thes. 2:8] Bloodily will God deal with all flesh
and with this world, to its end.
Before
all of this comes upon the earth, for this (and much more) is the End
of All Things as we know them, there will be the Time of Jacob’s
Trouble—the Great Tribulation—that will have come and go. Fortunately
for us, we will have been taken out of the way through the Catching
Up—the Rapture. [Jer. 30:7; 1 Cor. 15:24; 1Thes. 4:15-17]
Catching Away of the Saints
Paul
developed this concept more fully than other writers in the New Testament
church. Jesus simply said that he would come back for us and take us with
him. [John 14:1-3] But when he left the earth, the angels standing by
said that he would come in same way as you see him go up into heaven.
[Acts 1:11] I tend to agree
with those scholars who argue that these angels were not talking in this
instance about the Catching Away of the church, but the actual
coming to the earth itself.
My reasoning
for this opinion is this--and it may be the same as theirs, I do not
know. At the catching away, Jesus will not come back to the earth mass. That
can be divined by a careful reading of Paul’s statement that the Lord
shall descend from heaven…and we who are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds. [1Thess. 4:16-17] The church
will be caught up into the clouds where Jesus will stand; hence, he will
not come down to the earth, but will stand in the clouds and catch the
church away with him. In Acts 1, after Jesus went into heaven in the presence
of the disciples, they returned to Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, which
is a day’s journey from Jerusalem. This is the place where his feet shall
stand when he actually returns to the earth mass to plead, as the scripture
describes it, with all flesh. [Zech. 14:4]
So we
shall be caught up into the clouds and taken with Jesus out of the earth,
and the scriptures say, so shall we ever be with the Lord. There
is much talk today about how cars will be running off roads without drivers,
people vanishing in large numbers, etc., that is the claim. I am not too
sure of the mass numbers, but I am sure about this: based on God’s word and people’s
behavior, there are vast numbers of people who think they are saved and
in the church of the Living God who are neither saved nor known of
Christ. Many of these will be surprised and many of these will be satisfied
that Christ did not rapture them from the party they are having down here.
Many will
come in that day and question Jesus about why they did not make
it, and he will say, “I never knew you, depart from me….” [Mat.
7:23; 25:41] These are they who have not allowed God's word, to intrude into their lives and shape their behavior into conformity
to him. Furthermore, Jesus has warned us that straight is the gate
and narrow is the way, and few there are that find it. This
scripture shows us that the number may not be as great as many are
predicting. Most of those large number predictions come from Evangelicals
who have fervency, but in large part do not have the Spirit of God. [Mat. 7:13-14]
I am not sure that the many calamitous consequences some think
will happen will, in fact, happen as a result of the Catching Away of
the church. As we discussed earlier, those who have the hope of the return
of Christ purify themselves, even as Christ is pure. These are perfection-minded
individuals, and there is a large church congregation that accepts the belief of the
world, no one is perfect. They are
deceiving themselves and allowing others to deceive them that perfection
is not attainable on the earth, so it is not achieved in their lives.
They argue such scriptures as,“Not as though I had already
attained either were already perfect….” And they stop there, claiming
that even Paul did not recognize earthly perfection. [Phil. 3:11-12] Yet
in that same chapter, were they to read on, they would see that Paul was
merely outlining and describing the mindset of the perfect man.
“Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded….” [Phil.
3:15]
Those who have
explained away the need to be perfect, to purify themselves, to be that
church without spot, blemish, wrinkle, or any such thing, will not be caught
us with the Lord. He is coming back for those in him that have died in
the lord and those who are alive AND REMAIN (in him). [1 Thes.4:17]
At
rapture, Paul describes what will happen almost instantaneously. Our present bodies
are not capable of functioning in this new
place where we will be, therefore, we will be changed in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye—a twinkle is not a blink of an eye; it is much
faster. Our decaying bodies will be clothed with immortality
so that they will live forever. This body that wears down and out and does
not want to function as we instruct it will be clothed with incorruption,
so that it will not hurt or wear out; it will function in this new godly
reality we shall inhabit with Christ. [1
Cor. 15:52-54]
And so
shall we ever be with the Lord, away from the troubles of this world!
And I, brothers and sisters, comfort you with these words, or warn you
by them!
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The Word of Truth Ministries
P.O. Box 6573
Oakland, CA 94603
11/19/05
