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Teaching
REVIVAL CENTER TEACHINGS:
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1. 2011
2. We are the Bride of Christ, Awaiting the Return of Our Bridegroom
3. The Expressive Bride
4. Godliness with Contentment
5. The Prophetic Future of the United States of America
6. White Unto Harvest
7. Imagination
1. 2011
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Hosea 6:1-2
In history there are certain events that were demarcations for various groups of people. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was one such event. Another of these events occurred in the fourth century when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion. What had been a powerful apostolic church in the first century digressed into a dead religion and the Dark Ages followed. Another demarcation was when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the church house door in Whitenburg, Germany in 1517. In 1521 he was given an opportunity to recant but refused at the risk of his life. The Protestant Reformation was born, which began to restore truth and power to the apostolic church that had been dormant for centuries, for the most part. There have been other events in recent church history. The Welsh Revivals of 1859 and 1904. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Topeka, Kansas around the turn of the twentieth century. The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angles, California in 1906. The Charismatic Movement around the mid-twentieth century.
I believe we have entered another time of great significance in church history. From the time that Israel came out of Egypt until Solomon began to build the temple in Jerusalem was a period of 480 years (1 Kings 6:1). 40 is a Biblical number for preparation. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness preparing to enter the promised land. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness preparing for his ministry. 12 represents government. There were 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus appointed 12 apostles that became the foundation of the apostolic church in the first century. 12x40=480.
So, it was 480 years from the time that Israel came out of the bondage of slavery until Solomon began to build the temple that became known for the manifested presence and glory of God.
When Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the temple with such great power that the priests could not stand up to perform their duties. This happened as the people were praising God saying, "For he is good, for his mercy endureth forever." (2 Chronicles 6:13-14)
From the time that Martin Luther refused to recant his 95 Thesis in 1521 until 2001 is another period of 480 years. Solomon’s temple was a type and shadow of what God is doing today. In 1521 the church began to come out of the bondage of slavery to religion. I believe that in 2001 the church entered into a time that will bring us to completion or fullness. God is birthing his temple in us and like the temple that Solomon built, we are becoming known for his manifested presence and the glory of God. We are becoming a people of worship. I think the Islamic attacks on the United States in 2001 were another line of demarcation in the course of history. We could view it as an attempt by Satan to abort the birthing of this new time we are entering into and perhaps we would be correct. But I think in the bigger picture, from the panoramic view; it began an intense period of tests and trials for those of us the Lord is preparing and positioning for the day we are entering into.
For the last ten years God has been focused on a remnant of believers that will be the firstfruits of a great harvest to be reaped very soon. It has not been an easy journey for those chosen vessels but their reward is about to be realized.
Ten in scripture is the number for tests and trials. Abraham had been in Canaan ten years when he decided to help God out by having a child by Sarah’s maid. They had been waiting for the child God had promised them and since Sarah had not given birth to that child she gave Abraham her maid to bring it to pass. Obviously, they failed that test.
When God gave Moses the tablets on Mount Sinai, how many commandments were there? Those ten commandments were a test to prove Israel’s obedience to God. In the thirty-eighth chapter of Isaiah is found the story of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was sick and about to die. He prayed to God asking for more years to be added to his life. God sent Isaiah to tell him that God had heard his prayer and would add fifteen years onto his life. As a test to prove this to Hezekiah God made the sundial turn back ten degrees.
There are many more “tens” in scripture that represent tests and trials. One more I will mention here is the Day of Pentecost when about a hundred and twenty believers were first baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit prior to his ascension into heaven. Those believers had been waiting ten days when the Spirit came. Those ten days were definitely a test for them. While they may have had some idea something would happen on the Day of Pentecost, they didn’t know for sure how long they would waiting. They knew they were waiting for the promise of the Spirit but they didn’t really know what to expect.
Ten years from that fateful day on September 11, 2001 will occur in the new year, 2011. Those ten years have certainly been a time of testing for the United States and the free world but I think the more significant test has been for the remnant of believers God is preparing and positioning for greatness in this new day of the church.
True spiritual worship ushers in the presence and the glory of God. We are becoming a habitation of God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). Becoming that habitation of God through the Holy Spirit has necessitated the severe tests and trials we have endured. God will not allow any flesh to glory in his presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). We have been going through a process of dying to self so we can live entirely for him.
Through this process we have learned trust, obedience and total, continual surrender to the Divine purpose and plan. The peace that has become second nature to us is but the earnest or down payment of the great reward we are about to reap.
I believe we are going to see and experience a major shift in our situations in the coming year. We will still have to take the land. We will still have to be overcomers but I think what has seemed difficult during the passed ten years will suddenly become easy. Didn’t Jesus say, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30)?”
I am greatly encouraged as we enter this new year in this third day of the church. 2011 is going to be a time of great significance; another line of demarcation for the true church.
Surely we were born for such a time as this!
2. We are the Bride of Christ, Awaiting the Return of Our Bridegroom
Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Joel 2:16
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25-32
In order to understand who we are as the Bride of Christ and where we are prophetically and historically as the Bride of Christ, we must have some understanding of ancient Hebrew marriage customs.
In order to understand the historic and prophetic church we must go all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but a great stride toward the birth and completion of that church has a major beginning with Abraham. While the historic church falls short of being the Bride of Christ, the prophetic church is becoming the perfected Bride of Christ.
In order to come to an understanding of the Bride of Christ I think it is fitting that we go back to Abraham to study ancient Hebrew marriage customs.
In Genesis, chapter twenty-four is found the story of Abraham sending his top servant to find a bride for his son, Isaac. This servant took with him ten camels laden with gifts for the bride he would find. Abraham’s servant is no less than a type of the Holy Spirit, sent to seek out those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life and then give them gifts. (See 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 for a list of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.)
But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
Ephesians 4:7-8
Ancient Jewish custom dictates that if the young man (bridegroom) himself goes to the house of the young girl he prefers for a wife, he must take with him three things:
1. A large sum of money or many expensive gifts as payment for the bride.
2. A written contract containing his promises to the bride.
3. Wine.
1 John 5:7 tells us there are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word (Son) and the Holy Spirit and that these three are one.
1 John 5:8 tells us there are three that bear witness in the earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood and that these three agree in one (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
The Spirit of course speaks of the Holy Spirit (the one that finds the bride and the bearer of gifts), the water speaks of the Word (written contract or covenant) and the blood speaks of the purchase price (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23-24).
Ephesians 1:14 informs us that the Holy Spirit is the down payment until the purchased possession is redeemed.
Under ancient Jewish marriage tradition, when a young man approached the father of the woman he desired for a wife, he presented the three things to the father first; seeking the father’s approval. Perhaps this is where the western custom (of recent generations) of asking the father for his daughter’s hand in marriage came from. If the father approved he would then call in his daughter and the three of them would drink the wine together, sealing the covenant presented by the young man. Are we doing any less when we partake of the wine and bread celebrating what is commonly referred to as communion today?
Once the wine was consumed the contract/covenant was sealed and the gifts were given. The young girl now belonged to the young man, being purchased by him. She was then considered the bride and he the bridegroom. They were engaged to be married. However, being engaged in ancient Israel or in Judea was a much more binding engagement than it is in our western culture today. In order for an engagement to be broken, the couple had to become divorced; even though the marriage had not yet been consummated. This is evident in the narrative of Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus. Joseph, assuming Mary had been unfaithful to him, planned to divorce her prior to an angel revealing to him that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-21).
After the wine was consumed, the covenant sealed and the gifts given, the bridegroom spoke the words found in John, 14:2-3:
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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Then the bridegroom left the bride with her father and returned to his father’s house, where he began to prepare a chamber in his father’s house for his new bride. This chamber was sometimes referred to as a “chuppah” in Hebrew or a honeymoon bed, which is probably the source of our modern day western practice of going on a trip called a honeymoon after the wedding.
During the absence of her bridegroom, the bride spent her time preparing to become a wife and mother, learning how to please her husband and raise her children. This process sometimes lasted as long as two years while she awaited her bridegroom’s return. Unaware of exactly when her bridegroom would return, she had to be a fast learner, always being ready for his return while continuing to learn.
While the bridegroom prepared the chamber for his bride, if he was approached by anyone inquiring of the date of his wedding, he simply said, “No one knows the day or the hour, only my father.” Sound familiar?
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:36
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Mark 13:32
However, under Jewish tradition, the bridegroom could communicate with his father concerning the day of the wedding and even communicate with his bride concerning that day but only in secret (perhaps by a messenger, representing the Holy Spirit); the indication being that we, the bride of Christ, can by the Spirit know the day of his return. It is the world in general and those in the religious church world (that are not part of the Bride of Christ) that have no knowledge of that day. According to the Jewish tradition, the bridegroom said, “No man knows the day or the hour” but Jesus didn’t say that. He said, “No man knows the day and the hour.” So it is the hour that no man knows, not the day.
Saints, we know the day of his return. It is the third day of the church, which we are now entering into. The Jewish bridegroom, by communicating with his bride the day of the wedding, made her aware of where he was in his preparation of the honeymoon suite and allowed her to be fully prepared for the wedding. But because the journey to collect her was sometimes a long one, she didn’t know the exact hour he would arrive.
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.
Mark 13:35
On the Jewish calendar a day begins at evening. Jesus said we won’t know the hour of the day when he will return. Perhaps at the beginning of the day, during the day or at the end of the day. That tells me he can return any time during the third thousand year day of the church, which is the seventh thousand year day since creation. We know the day but we don’t know the hour. We are in preparation for his coming and while we are being prepared we should have the mind set that we are ready; knowing that he will return when we are fully ready or when we have reached perfection/completion not individually but corporately as the Bride of Christ.
All glory to God! What an awesome, awesome plan!!! Hallelujah!!!!! Bless his name forever!!!!!!!
3. The Expressive Bride
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25-32
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:18-21
Saints, the problem I see with the word/faith/prosperity/charismatic movement is not that we have been taught error but that we have been taught in part.
In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth he said, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (1 Corinthians 13:9-10).”
When I read a scripture like that it raises a question. Obviously Paul is saying that we know in part. If we know in part, when will we know completely? That answer is clear from the text: “When that which is perfect is come.” So the question is, “When will that which is perfect come?”
Jesus said, “The third day I shall be perfected (Luke 13:32).” We know that Jesus was resurrected on the third day after he was crucified. He walked out of that tomb with a perfected body. Or did he? A short time later he pointed out to Thomas the scars in his hands and in his side (John 20:27). A scared body is not a perfect body.
So if he was not perfected on the third day after the crucifixion, when will he be perfected? Saints, I submit to you that it will be in the third day of the church. We are the Body of Christ. That is not an analogy or a figure of speech. It is literally who we are. He is the head, we are the body (Colossians 1:18). The body that he walked out of that tomb with is forever scared so that his new body, which is his church, can be perfected.
While that body he walked out of the grave with is a glorified body, it is only glorified in part. It is his new body, the church (his bride) that will be glorified in fullness or completely, glory to God!
That’s our future, saints! That is our destiny! If you want to stay focused on some great escape that by the way isn’t going to happen, then you go right ahead. If you want to be focused on seven years of hell on earth, then you go right ahead. Not me. My focus is on my destiny and saints, our destiny is to be the perfected Body of Christ bringing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
Heaven is not our destiny. Heaven is not our home. We were created to live forever in a universe that was created to last forever. We have an intricate part to play in the restoration of that creation. We are about to enter a period of time that is unlike anything we have known before. Up until now it has been beyond anything we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) but in this third day of the church we are going to experience it and it is going to be glorious!
Glorious beyond that which is in part. Completely, perfectly glorious! Jesus is going to have a perfected, glorious body and saints of the remnant, precious Bride of Christ, that is us. It is who we are. It is our destiny!
Becoming this perfected bride, while the process has been intense and sometimes severe, is a gloriously joyful experience. It is out of that experience that we speak to ourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is out of that experience that we submit ourselves to one another in reverence of God out of the perfected love that he is and we are becoming (Ephesians 5:18-21 above).
Worship, praise and thanksgiving are no less than an expression of who we are. We express our love, adoration and reverence first to our bridegroom and then to each other; with each part joined together and compacted by the part that each of us as members of the Body of Christ supplies; building the church up in love (Ephesians 4:16).
As we assemble ourselves together as the church, our meetings should become that expression of the bride to the bridegroom as we worship him and as we minister to one another. Since we are his bride, and since he is preparing us for himself, we must depend on his Holy Spirit to guide us in our ministering to one another. He knows the needs. He knows how to reach each individual and how to reach that corporate person, the Bride of Christ that we are becoming.
That’s what 1 Corinthians 14:26 is about:
How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
This is no less than the bride expressing herself while being led by the Spirit to do so. And it doesn’t end when the meeting ends. It is how we are to live each day of our lives, expressing the love that he is and we are becoming, literally bringing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
All glory to God!
4. Godliness with Contentment
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith , love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:1-12
I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:11-13
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
My wife, Cathy was director of a domestic violence shelter for seventeen years. Not long after she accepted the job there, she attended a conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. The first time I talked with her on the phone while she was there she said to me. “I think I am the only straight person here.” Most of the attendees at the conference were lesbians.
Cathy discovered that domestic violence awareness in the United States had come about because of the radical feminist movement and the gay/lesbian movement. It seems it took these extremes to point out a very disturbing reality in the United States; that domestic violence is a major problem that crosses all social and religious boundaries. It seems that while domestic violence was rampant no one wanted to talk about it or recognize it for the problem it is. It took people that were already living an extreme and unpopular lifestyle to bring it to the forefront of consciousness in America.
I think the so called “prosperity gospel” has similar parallels. When God began to give a few well known teachers revelation on prosperity, they taught it from a very extreme point of view. Perhaps it took that extreme point of view to wake the church up to the truth that God definitely wants to prosper his people. However, the view they taught was not the whole truth and in order to accept it the way it was taught for the most part, a lot of pages in your Bible would have to be torn out.
One of the “prosperity teachers” was a man that has taught me much over they years. In the early days of his ministry he taught much on faith and healing but then his focus became prosperity. He taught both subjects from a very extreme point of view that was only true in part. However, what I learned from him served me well for a number of years. I think it took this extreme point of view to change our thinking about faith, healing and prosperity.
Had I not learned what I did from him, I might not have survived the financial challenges I have experienced over the years. I know that instead of having one son in heaven all three of my sons would be in heaven today. My second son, Jeremy, died when he was only twenty-four hours old, due to an under developed lung. My third son, Gabe was born with the same problem that Jeremy had and then contacted meningitis when he was only a few hours old. I put what I had learned from “faith teachers” into action and Gabe was almost completely well in a matter of two days. He completely recovered from both problems with no side affects. When my oldest son, Josh was six years old he too was diagnosed with meningitis. He too had a miraculous recovery that took about a week to completely manifest. When Josh’s daughter, my first grand-daughter was five years old, she became sick one Sunday during a family get-together. I knew by the symptoms and by the Holy Spirit that she had meningitis also. My mother, sister and I took authority over it and not only got Nevaeh healed instantly but broke a family curse. I had learned that meningitis had taken the lives of children of my ancestors.
I thank God for what men and women like Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Creflo Dollar, Charles Capps, Kathryn Kuhlman and others that have taught me about operating in faith for healing, finances and all the other physical needs we have while living on this planet. But in this, the beginning of the third day of the church (2 Peter 3:8), I have come to realize they only taught what they knew and it was only in part. I am coming into a much deeper level of faith and trust than what I learned from these chosen and anointed vessels of God.
This is a new day and while we shouldn’t just throw out what we have learned in the past, we must make adjustments in order to build upon past revelation. We must discern what was indeed truth and what was a mixture of revealed truth and intellectual knowledge. The Church Age, which was the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost, allowed leaven. At best, we experienced a mixture of revealed truth along side ideas and traditions of men. In this, the seventh day of creation and the third day of the church (when the church is transitioning from the Church Age into the Kingdom Age), we will experience the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, which did not allow leaven.
While much good has come from the extreme teaching on faith and prosperity, damage too has been done. Some are finding it hard to reconcile what they thought to be truth with what they are now experiencing.
As I often teach, we are pilgrims and not settlers. Revelation is a progressive thing. If we “camp out” in past revelation we will get “left behind” instead of continuing on our journey into all truth (John 16:13).
Around 2002 and 2003 when everything I had learned about faith and prosperity didn’t seem to be working, I could have stubbornly just kept on thanking God and confessing scripture promises while my whole life seemed to be going down the toilet. I am convinced that had I done that, I would have lost everything. I nearly did. At the darkest moment, when it appeared I was going to loose everything, I heard the Lord say, “Put the ball back in my court.” I said, “Lord, I didn’t know I was carrying the ball but I put it back in your court. I quit. I’m not doing another thing until you do something.” That was about 4:00 one morning. Unknown to me, everything changed at that moment. I didn’t learn of the change until about 7:00 that morning and the complete manifestation of it took place over the next several months and even years. Actually, it is still a work in process.
In reality, I did loose everything. At the moment I totally surrendered it all to God, not caring whether I succeeded or failed, I actually lost everything. I gave it to God. I put it all on him. I no longer owned my problems. Neither did I own the things that mattered to me most, which included much more than material possessions. When I surrendered to him, I not only surrendered my material possessions, I surrendered the people closest to me (my wife and children) and even my own life. I didn’t care if I lived or died.
Immediately upon that moment of surrender I experienced great peace (Philippians 4:7). Peter told us to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, casting all our care on him and then he assured us that God cares for us (1 Peter 5:6-7).
We are not equipped to care about anything. While there are several definitions of care, in Webster’s dictionary the stronger definitions are worry, anxiety and fear. Worry, anxiety and fear are killers (Luke 21:25-26). That’s why when someone says to me, “Take care,” I want to say, “No thank you.” I am not going to take something that is going to kill me. Instead I will take godliness with contentment (1 Timothy 6:6 above).
When Kenneth Copeland first started teaching prosperity, he received much criticism from other Christians. For awhile he backed off his prosperity message. That year, for the first time in his ministry, he ended the year in the red. And not just a little in the red; an million dollars in the red! He went to the Lord with his shortfall and the Lord chastised him for backing off the prosperity message; a mistake Copeland corrected. The Lord also told him to begin tithing everything that came into his ministry into other ministries, which he did. The next year Copeland saw his financial situation turn around.
In the 1980’s I was listening to a cassette tape by Copeland. During his message, he prophesied that God was holding back the ministries of certain believers until right at the end of the age. He also said that God was going to make certain believers very wealthy at the end of the age because he could trust them to put their wealth into the gospel. When he spoke those words, I knew I was one of those people. At the time, little did I know what it would cost me to experience the fulfillment of those two prophetic words in my life. I also didn’t know the level of trust in the Lord that would be required of me to bring those prophetic words to pass. I had no idea that the process that would bring those prophetic words about would at first appear to be doing just the opposite.
Through that process I have learned, like Paul, to be content in whatever state I am in. Prospering in the Lord is not about getting more stuff and it definitely is not about living the American dream. While Copeland may have taught the prosperity message in an extreme fashion and while many may have misconstrued his message; I remember hearing him in one sentence put it all in prospective. He said, “True prosperity is having whatever it takes to get the job done.” Saints, that is not about getting more stuff or living the American dream. It is about establishing the blessing of Abraham (covenant) (Deuteronomy 8:18 above), which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For some, getting the job done is about having millions of dollars and jet airplanes. For others, it is about laying down their lives like the believers Jesus spoke of Revelation 11:11.
And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
In the 1950’s, Jim Elliot and his wife Elizabeth were missionaries to Ecuador as a newly married couple in their twenties. Jim and four other missionaries, including their pilot, made contact from their plane with the Waodani Indians of Ecuador using a loudspeaker. Several months later they built a base near the Waodani Indian village, on the Curaray River. There they were approached by a small group of Waodani Indians, which resulted in several friendly encounters with the Indians. On January 8, 1956 they met with a group of about ten Waodani Indian warriors at a designated place on the river, where all five men were killed by the Indians and their bodies thrown in the river. Their bodies were later recovered down stream.
In the days that followed the death of her husband of three years, Elizabeth Elliot continued to minister to the tribal Indians of Ecuador, leading the very men that had speared Jim and his friends to death, to faith in the Lord.
Perhaps this story doesn’t fit very well with the “prosperity gospel” that has been taught in the United States in recent years but it is none-the-less an incredible success story. God certainly prospered the efforts of the Elliots and their friends as the Waodani Indians came to know the Lord. As someone has said, “The church is built on the blood of martyrs.” This is even more so the case as we enter this third day of the church when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord (Revelation 11:15). With a political religion that believes it is their duty to kill Christians and Jews, the costly reality of going into the entire world and preaching the gospel is not something to be taken lightly. But go we must! We have no other choice if we are to walk in obedience to our Lord.
The twentieth chapter of Revelation speaks of believers beheaded for preaching the gospel. I know believers of the past have been beheaded but who would have ever thought just a few years ago that today believers would once again be executed by beheading. Is beheading not a common form of execution in Muslim countries?
We all have a part to play in this third day of the church. It doesn’t matter if we have a lot materially or a little. It doesn’t matter if we minister to multitudes or a few. It doesn’t even matter if we see tremendous signs, wonders and miracles or if we don’t. It certainly doesn’t matter if we live or if we die. What does matter is that we fulfill what God has chosen us for and anointed us to do. In that and that alone is great peace and contentment.
To focus on the things we desire usually gets us off track. Instead, we must focus on being led by the Holy Spirit and walking in obedience to him. Only those that are being led by the Spirit are maturing (Romans 8:14). The leading of the Spirit will position us to accomplish the purposes and plans of God; and it will bring us to maturity. Is anything else important? I think not.
Jesus told us that in patience we possess our souls (minds) (Luke 21:19). Godliness with contentment is no less than patience. James told us to let patience work in our lives enabling us to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4). That sounds like prosperity to me! The writer of Hebrews told us to run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).
Notice he didn’t say, "Run the race you desire to run." He said to run the race we are presented with. That race may involve circumstances we don’t like but I have learned that when we are content with whatever state we are in (Philippians 4:11 above) we can actually appreciate and enjoy the race we are running.
Paul said that to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). In other words, we live by the anointing (Christ) we have been chosen to walk in and even if that walk cost us our lives, we win, glory to God!
Truly, we can’t loose for winning and we can’t go under for going over. We are being perfected and that perfection is no less than the love that God is. Perfected love not only cast out all fear (1 John 4:18), it never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Is this not a description of success and prosperity?
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 1:2
5. The Prophetic Future of the United States of America
Did ye never read in the scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” Therefore say I unto you, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Jesus in Matthew 21:42-44
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Psalm 118:22-25
The preceding verses of the above scripture in Matthew are a parable of Jesus that tells of a man that planted a vineyard, left it in hands of another and went to a foreign country. When the time of harvest came, he sent servants to check on his crop and receive the profit from the sale of the wine. The caretakers beat up the first servant, killed another and threw rocks at a third servant. The owner sent other servants and they too were treated violently. He then sent his son, whom the caretakers killed.
In Matthew 21:40 Jesus then asks the question, “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen (caretakers)?”
In verse forty-one the chief priests and elders answer, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” Then Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 above.
In Matthew 21:44 above Jesus spoke of “this stone”. Acts 4:10-12 and Daniel 2:34 confirm that he was speaking of himself. When Jesus spoke of falling on this stone, I believe he was speaking of those that accept him as Lord and Savior and establish a relationship with him. Perhaps this is where the idea of “falling” in love comes from. To fall in love with Jesus is to be broken. It is to come to the end of ourselves and become totally dependant on him. Our flesh dies, crucified with him and we become new creatures out of our brokenness. Just like a seed that must first die and then grow and bear fruit, we too must die before we can truly live.
Those on whom the stone falls are those that reject Jesus. To reject Jesus’ salvation is to rely completely on oneself, which leads to destruction. I know from past experience that the results of relying on myself can feel like being ground to powder.
I find the verse before Matthew 21:44 very interesting. Jesus, speaking to Israel said, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” We know that in AD 70 the Romans put down a rebellion of the Jews in Judea (the remnant of Israel) and for the most part destroyed Jerusalem. Most of the Jews were dispersed throughout the nations and Israel and Jerusalem were occupied by other nations for many years to come.
Had the leaders of the Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah, things would have been much different. But we know they rejected him causing the “stone” to fall on them and grind them to powder. The Kingdom of God could have grown and flourished among God’s original chosen people but instead, he turned his attention to the nations (gentiles).
While we can consider what could have been, Matthew 21:42 and Psalm 118:23 let us know that Israel’s rejection of Jesus and God turning his attention to the nations was actually God’s plan and as the scriptures say, “It was marvelous!”
We should note that in Matthew 21:43 the word “nation” is singular and not plural. The Greek word for nation in this passage is ethnos. It means a nation or a people. It seems obvious Jesus was speaking of a people that come out of the nations and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Peter spoke of the church as a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).
Psalm 118:24 speaking of this nation of people says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” This has to be speaking of the third thousand year day of the church (2 Peter 3:8) when the Kingdom will manifest on earth as never before.
Out of the nations and out of the church world at large God has chosen a people (remnant) to manifest the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We are the Body of Christ. As he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). I believe that in this third day of the church many will “fall on us” or come to us because they will see the salvation of the Lord is in us and belongs to us. Others, who reject us, will find themselves in dire straits.
However, like many of the prophetic scriptures, I think there may be another application of this scripture. While Israel is the chosen people of God and the true church is the chosen people of God, Israel was also a political nation with a specific geographic location on earth. So this scripture speaks of the nation of Israel and also speaks prophetically of another geographical nation.
The United States was founded by a group of men that were for the most part men of faith at least to some degree. More than a few of our founding fathers were ordained theologians. Our constitution and our laws were based on Godly principals. As a result, we have become the greatest nation on earth. The freedoms we cherish have made us a prosperous nation and a defender of freedom. For many years, most of the gospel preached throughout the world has come from the church in the United States and a combination of the church, non-profit organizations and our government has done much to aid other nations.
Many have “fallen” on us (come to us) for help in their time of need and many individuals and families have come to our shores seeking a new homeland with better opportunity than the places they left. Those that have come against us militarily have discovered like Japan did in the 1940’s; a sleeping giant was awakened that ground them to powder.
Perhaps these prophetic scriptures in Matthew and Psalms are not only about the true church but about the United States of America. If that is the case, we should look again at verses twenty-four and twenty-five of Psalm 118:
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
As we enter into the third day of the church I believe believers are going to prosper as never before. Perhaps in this third day the United States will once again prosper also. Perhaps those political forces that have been determined to destroy this nation from within can be stopped and this nation can be turned around. Perhaps that is a part of God’s plan that will enable his people to prosper and establish the Kingdom.
I think we will face some major challenges as this transition takes place but I believe the Holy Spirit will guide us through the challenges and changes. The secret is going to be found in staying focused on the Kingdom of God rather than on ourselves. Our priorities must be his priorities and the desire of our heart must be for our bridegroom and not for the temporary pleasures of this world.
Just the possibility of this reality gives me hope for America and greatly encourages me. My salvation is not in the nation I am a citizen of but in Christ Jesus alone. However, God may plan to use the United States to bring about his plans and purposes for planet earth. He certainly has in the past and I don’t think he is through with us yet.
While our sins are many, our history proves that we have been a people that at least attempts to correct our sins when we realize change needs to come. Often that change has come at the expense of many lives but never-the-less it has come.
Today our sins continue to be many. The legal acceptance of millions of unborn children being slaughtered is perhaps the most grievous sin our nation has ever sanctioned. Our government’s efforts to divide Jerusalem and exchange land for peace in Israel is a very dangerous position for the United States to take. The rise of anti-Semitism in high places including the highest office in the land has the potential for devastating consequences.
Twenty-five hundred years ago the prophet, Zechariah warned us:
And in that day (the third day of the church/the seventh day of creation) will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:3, 9
Modern day prophet Dan Bohler was ordered by God to prophesy to the Great Lakes that they would spill into the Mississippi River and geographically split the United States down the middle if our government is successful in dividing Jerusalem. He actually heard a sound, which the Lord told him were the platelets of the earth shifting causing a major earthquake that would enlarge the Mississippi to thirty-five miles wide. To learn more of Dan Bohler and his prophetic words go to www.propheticwatchman.org.
Saints, the United States of America is definitely at a crossroads. The time just ahead will determine the outcome. Prior to that outcome, we will face probably the greatest challenges this nation and the church in this nation has ever faced.
The persecution that Christians in the United States are now experiencing from the ACLU and much of the political left is but a taste of the persecution to come. I don’t say this to scare you but to prepare you. But I believe Jesus is saying to the church in the United States what he said to the seven churches in the book of Revelation:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 2:11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Revelation 2:17
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.
Revelation 2:26-28
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 3:5
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 3:12
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 3:21
Saints of the remnant, while we will face continued challenges for the immediate time to come, the rewards of overcoming are glorious. God promised Abraham the nations and we are the generation that is beginning to see the fulfillment of that promise. Like Israel that had to take the promised land, we too will have to take the land but glory to God, if he is for us who can be against us (Romans 8:31).
However, if you are just hanging on waiting for some great escape (rapture) you will find yourself numbered with the five foolish virgins of Jesus parable in Matthew 25:1-13. We are not escape artists. We are overcomers. The end time teachers of the past several years have tired to put end time events into a neat little package they just will not fit into. While, like everything concerning God there is a very definite order and progression to end time events; much of what has been taught has been through a filter of self preservation rather than a total abandonment to the Gospel of the Kingdom.
This is a new day. It is the third day of the church, which has many challenges but it is also the seventh day of creation; the day of rest. There is no striving in rest. There is no concern for the temporary, material needs we all have. We can completely rely on and trust in our heavenly Father. While he will use the world situation to bring about his purposes, we are in no way confined to or limited by the world situation. While we definitely need the Holy Spirit to navigate us through the world situation, we are of a higher order than the world system. We are citizens of the Kingdom and our King owns and rules everything. What is taking place on planet earth today is no less than his plans and purposes for the restoration of all things, glory to God!
Whether the United States recovers as a nation or not, the Kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven. While I don’t believe there will be a rapture in the sense that many prophetic teachers have taught it, I do believe there is a generation that will not taste of death; not by escaping but by overcoming. I think many of the generation that is on the earth today will experience mortality putting on immortality. Is that not an encouraging, wonderful and glorious thought?!
Surely we were born for such a time as this!
6. White Unto Harvest
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
Hosea 6:1
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Psalm 17:15
He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
Numbers 19:11-13
And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
Numbers 19:19
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the pharisees said unto him, “Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?” And he said unto them, “Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?” And he said unto them, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28
With the terrorists attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 came a time of great testing for the United States but more specifically for the remnant bride chosen by God to come out of the church world at large and become the third day church, entering into the seventh day rest.
The apostle Peter in his second letter to the churches emphatically told us this:
Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8
Peter taught us much in his two letters to the churches as recorded in the Bible but he emphasized this one thing. The reality that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day is evidently of great importance. Actually it is so important that many other scriptures, both in the Old and New Testaments can only be understood when this truth is applied; especially many of the Old Testament types and shadows of the New Testament church.
Those of us that have been chosen to be the firstfruits of a great harvest that is coming have been in a time of severe testing since 9-11. What took place on that day was Satan’s attempt to stop the revealing of the Sons of God (Romans 8:19) but in the bigger picture, from the third heaven viewpoint where God see the panoramic view of all things, it was the beginning of a time of testing orchestrated by God to bring about the manifestation of the Sons of God!
Ten in scripture is the number for testing and September 11, 2011 is a mark of demarcation on God’s timetable signifying the time of testing is complete for the remnant bride chosen to be the firstfruits of the great harvest to come.
Saints of God, nothing happens by accident or by coincidence. God is orchestrating everything taking place on planet earth as part of his plan to bring about the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21) and it is marvelous in our eyes, glory to God!
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; “If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes?” saith the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; “Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”
Zechariah 8:6-8
Zechariah 8:6-8 is another example of a prophetic scripture with more than one application. It is not only speaking about natural Israel but also about spiritual Israel, the true church. The testing we have endured is a marvelous thing because it is our preparation for that which is to come and is already beginning!
He has torn and he has smitten and he is binding us up (Hosea 6:1 above). We have died to self, enabling us to see him face to face. Moses was unable to look on God’s face with the fullness of his glory and live (Exodus 33:20) but saints, we can because we are already dead (Galatians 2:20). We can behold his face in righteousness (all his glory) and be satisfied because the testing we have endured has produced in us his very nature and character (Psalm 17:15 above) which is pure and genuine love.
About now you are probably thinking, “I not quite there yet.” I would encourage you to take inventory. I suspect you are much closer than you were ten years ago.
After 9-11 it seemed the promises of God were no longer working in my life, as is the case with many of the remnant God has connected me with. All I had learned from the great faith teachers of the Word/faith/charismatic movement seemed to be failing me. But glory to God, saints of the remnant, the time of testing we have endured has been for the specific purpose of enabling us to operate in greater authority and faith than we have even thought or imagined to be possible (Ephesians 3:20). As we enter into this seventh day rest we are going to do even greater exploits (Daniel 11:32) than Jesus did when he walked the earth (John 14:12).
We have been chosen (John 15:16). We did not do the choosing. He chose us to be the firstfruits of many to come. Let’s read Numbers 19:11-13 again:
He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
When the emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion in the forth century AD the living organism that had been the church died. It was replaced by a dead church that adulterated herself with the Babylonian system. Saints of the remnant, all of us were a part of that dead church until God began the process in us to bring us out of that system. Even those of us that had embraced the move of the Spirit in the twentieth century were still a part of and contaminated with that dead system. Numbers 19:11-13 is a type and shadow of us, the remnant bride that is being purified during the third day of the church and the seventh day of creation. Those that have no understanding of this process and see no need to enter into it are defiling the church of Jesus Christ and in essence are cutting themselves off from the greatest move of God the world has ever known.
However, there is still hope for those that are being cut off as indicated in Numbers 19:19 above. There is a great harvest coming, which Mark 2:23-28 above is a type and shadow of. Those of us that are of the chosen remnant are but the firstfruits of many more to come. The process that for us has taken years will happen much quicker for those we will bring into the Kingdom and disciple in this new day that is dawning upon us, glory to God!
While the time we are in looks very dark for the world, it is going to be the brightest hour for the true church as the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord (Revelation 11:15), bringing about the eventual restoration of all things!
The third day of the church and the seventh day of creation is a time when the destiny of mankind will be revealed. Jesus said in Mark 2:27 above that the Sabbath was made for man. This is the day in which mankind will realize his full potential. It is the day when the man that God formed from the dust of the earth and placed in the Garden of Eden will become all God purposed for him to be; not just made in his image as Adam was but also in his likeness, having the character of God.
The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: this gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Psalm 118:14, 17-24
7. Imagination
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Jesus in Matthew 22:37
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:2
The Greek word for mind in Matthew 22:37 above is dianoia and it literally means imagination. The word affection translates the same. The Hebrew word in Isaiah for mind also translates imaginagion.
The word for soul in Matthew 22:37 above is psuche and in this passage means “the seat of will and purpose. So both words have to do with the mind but with different functions of the mind. Heart, while it has many varried meanings in Greek, has to do with the spirit of man. So Matthew 22:37 could read, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your spirit, with all your will and purpose and with all your imagination.” Isaiah tells us that when our imagination is continually focused on the Lord, he keeps us in perfect peace because we trust in him.
In other words, when we continually imagine there is nothing he can’t do, nothing he can’t fix, nothing he can’t provide guess what? Our imagination becomes reality. Because we know those things we imagine about him are true, we experience perfect peace or peace of mind. When our imagination is always on heavenly things and not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2 above), there is no way the circumstances of this life we live on earth can trouble or upset us.
Imagination has to do with what we see in our mind’s eye. When that imagination is the result of the life that is in our spirit man (heart) because we have been born from above (born again), we begin to see ourselves as eternal rather than finite. We no longer see death as the end of anything but instead see it as freedom from the limitations of this physical world.
Perhaps this is what happened to Enoch. The Book of Enoch, which the first century Christians considered to be scripture, lets us know that Enoch spent much time with God. At first it was a few hours with him. Then a few days at a time. Eventually, Enoch spent months and even years alone in God’s presence. How did he do this?
Enoch didn’t have the priviledge of God coming down and spending time with him as Adam must have had in the garden before the fall. He didn’t have the advantage of being born again as we do today. Enoch must have gotten alone and imagined he was in God’s presence. He must have focused on being in God’s presence until it became real to him. So real that he began to loose track of time until one day he completely lost track of where he was and as a result he simply dissappeared. He stepped over from the earthly to the heavenly. He walked right out of time and into eternity.
If Enoch’s imagination could accomplish such a feat, imagine what a born again person with a “renewed to the Word of God mind” can experience when that person’s imagination (affections) are completely and continually on heavenly things rather than earthly things.
Saints, I believe that in the third day of the church and the seventh day of creation, there will be a generation that will experience no less. At that point, mortality will put on immortality and the scripture will be fulfilled; O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory (1 Corinthians 15:55)?
I don’t believe there is going to be a so called rapture in the sense of the disappearance of all believers but I do believe there will be a generation of overcomers that will not taste of physical death. Perhaps you and I are among that number. But I can assure you this. Whether we go by the grave or by being suddenly clothed with immortality, we are already in eternity. When we were born again (born from above) the old man died and we have become a new creation with the very life of Christ dwelling in us. When we imagine ourselves as such, not because we are trying to make something happen but because that is simply who we are we will become no less.
Our destiny is such that our spirit will live in perfect harmony with the Spirit of God; our soul will possess God’s very nature and character and our bodies will be strong, in perfect health and very good looking; no longer subject to death of any kind, glory to God!
I don’t know about you but I will take it. I can imagine it already.
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