Revolutionary Christmas pt 9

This is the final post. It might be a long one. Lets start somewhere in Genesis…

Genesis 11 starts with a story about this tower that was built in a place called Babel. The idea is that some people decided they wanted to build a tower that would reach all the way up to heaven. When God heard news, He came down to see it (the irony is amazing). 

So lets talk about that. It isn’t necessarily the “beginning” beginning, but in the first part of the Bible there is mention of mankind trying to ascend up to heaven to be gods. They build a tower that is supposed to rival the heavens. No matter how high they built it, God still was higher. 

This makes me think only too much of all the church buildings and congregations (and denominations built on movements of the Spirit) that try so desperately to work something up in their midst. They try to make some sort of spiritual atmosphere with their music and excitement. Guess what… God still needs to come down. Leonard Ravenhill used to say, “We try to stir something up; God must come down.”

The reason I bring this up is to set the stage. One of the main points of the Bible is that mankind is trying to work themselves up to God, but God continuously wants to come down. He wants to be with us. We want to leave this earth and go to heaven; God wants to bring Heaven here.

In Leviticus 23, we find feasts that the Israelite people would have to perform year after year. Here is the problem: they were rituals. God meant to display something of Himself in them, but we as humans decided we would rather perform something. We find that these feasts also seem to describe the first and second coming of Christ. The last feast of the year being the Feast of Tabernacles.

The idea of the Feast of Tabernacles that God wants to get across is that He Himself is coming to this world to “tabernacle” or dwell with us. His name will be Emmanuel - God with us. Jesus’ coming is this very thing. In His first appearance, He came to restore the tabernacle of David. He came to bring forth the Kingdom of God. This establishment of the Kingdom was not in a far off place of the heavens that if we fast and degrade ourselves and treat our bodies like they are worthless that we might attain to heaven. God came here. 

But Jesus didn’t stay here. After His resurrection, He ascended to the right hand of God. Jesus left with the promise of His return. I don’t want to downplay the Spirit. He sent one whom He called “the advocate.” This is the Holy Spirit. He is here now, too. And though the Spirit is not God in the flesh, He is God.

In fact, Jesus even said it is good for Him to go so that the Spirit could come. Do we really believe it? Is it really better for the Spirit to be here? (I’ll let you decide your own opinion)

In the Old Testament we find prophecies about when God comes down. We find they speak on a Messiah that will come from God and bring peace on earth. This is why the angels declared to the shepherds, “Peace on earth; goodwill toward men!” It is in these prophecies that I want to look now…

Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:3;4). Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain (Isaiah 4:5-6).

The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open,The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that dayThat the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones,And on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together,As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the Lord of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously (Isaiah 24:19-23 cross reference Revelation 20).

Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound (Isaiah 30:23-26).

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
Not one of its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
But there the majestic Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
(For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us) (Isaiah 33:20-22).

“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

“Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord (Isaiah 54:11-17).

Violence shall no longer be heard in your land,
Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders;
But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise.

The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Also your people shall all be righteous;
They shall inherit the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
A little one shall become a thousand,
And a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time (Isaiah 60:18-22).

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.

“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.

“It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord (Isaiah 65:17-25).

And it will come to pass in that day
That the mountains shall drip with new wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;
A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of Acacias.

“Egypt shall be a desolation,
And Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence against the people of Judah,
For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
But Judah shall abide forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
For the Lord dwells in Zion.” (Joel 3:18-21)

“On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle[c] of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of Edom,[d]
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God (Amos 9).

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:16-17)

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to theLord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 14:16-21)

So, after reading all the prophets… What are they expressing here? Lets look at Revelation. In chapter 20, we find satan bound for 1000 years and Christ ruling and reigning during that time. 

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

This Millennium is what the prophets were describing. This is heaven on earth. For 1000 years, we experience in full measure God with us.

Peace on earth.

Goodwill toward men.

This is heaven.

No more night. 

No more war.

People who die at 100 will die young.

And yet it doesn’t remain. If we continue in verse 7, “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

For some reason, there are actually people on the earth during this time that refuse heaven. They don’t want it. The devil is released and he gathers an army to war against God at Jerusalem. And people actually follow him. So can there be sin in heaven? Well, according to this passage yes. But here is the thing. This army that rejects God is destroyed and judged. Those who reject heaven don’t make it into heaven. You want to speak and spread Hell? Then I guess you can enjoy Hellfire forever. 

This passage is followed by the judgement seat. 

Then in Revelation 21, we see a “new heaven and new earth.” The old has passed away. Sin has been completely purged. Creation no longer moans and groans. There are no more tears. We won’t remember our sins any longer. Everything of the past is forgotten. The description of this new heaven and new earth is the exact descriptions we find of the Millennial Kingdom. They are not one and the same, but God allows for heaven to be placed on this earth to weed out all who will reject Him in His absoluteness. When you can be confronted with heaven itself and still deny God, then you will never have any place in the Kingdom of God that lasts forever. 

It is in this place where some will be given to rule over 10 cities and some over 5 cities and some won’t rule at all, but will only get into Heaven as one who escapes from the flames (1 Corinthians 3:15).

It is in this learning that we are challenged most: are you living in a way that would rule and reign with Christ, or only to get by? Those who achieved the first resurrection (of which Daniel is mentioned to be one in Daniel 12), as Paul said that he strove and we should also strive to achieve that resurrection, have no fear of the judgement seat. They aren’t even there. They don’t have to sit and wait to see if their names are indeed written in the Lamb’s book. I would rather be with those saints. I don’t know if I will achieve such things, but to not even try tells me that many probably don’t know or care about heaven anyway.

This is the fullness of the Christmas message. God is with us. And even though it seems like there is still darkness and chaos, God has not forgotten us.

He is here.

Now.

Among us.

With us.

In us.

Merry Christmas to all.

May God bless you in with every spiritual blessing in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Grace and peace.

Revolutionary Christmas pt 8

As promised, I want to look at Israel and the Church. Let me first go to Romans 11:11-27:

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

This is kind of a long passage to try and digest the whole thing. Lets take a few key points and try to go from there. We see in verses 11-15 that Paul reiterates what I went through last time: if the people that God has chosen brought about salvation to the Gentiles by being uprooted from God, then how much more will their re-grafting be? It will mean life from the dead. God has not forgotten His people Israel and plans to use them as the salvific agent to the nations.

Second point that is made is that we are grafted into their root. We are not some sort of new thing that God is doing. We are a continuation of the story. We are not the new Israel; we are reborn into Israel. In Genesis 9 we see a very peculiar story. Noah gets drunk and his son Ham walks in on him naked. The two sons Shem and Japheth then walk into the tent backwards to cover their father with a sheet. When Noah finds out, he blesses his two sons and curses the other.

Noah makes the statement, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.” So Canaan (Ham’s son) is to be servant to Japheth, who is then supposed to be servant to Shem. Shem is the patriarch of Abraham. Abraham is the father of Israel. What Paul is expressing in these verses about how we were wild branches that have been grafted in is that we were from Japheth or Canaan, and we therefore are to enter the tent of Shem.

The history of Israel is not a framework in which to hang pictures of the New Testament (Gentile) Church. It says in Ephesians 3:21 “To God be glory in the Church forever and ever.” We need to let go our ideas of God’s glory in the Church at the expense of Israel. I’m planning on getting into Ephesians where we can tackle that statement better. Paul is not saying that Israel is out, and so God gets glory only through us. 

We can read later in Romans 11 that we are to drive the Jew to jealousy. This was a quotation from Deuteronomy. Moses said, “I will call a people who are not my people.” That wasn’t to abolish Israel; it was to drive them to jealousy so they would repent and come back to their God. In Genesis 9:24, we see Noah claim the elder shall serve the younger. Japheth shall enter the tents of Shem and dwell there. 

Japheth is the father of the Gentiles. He is the father of the Western World. Ham is the father of the Middle Eastern World and Africa. It is assumed that the oriental regions come from the Sinites (Canaan’s children). All of these are to dwell in the tents of Shem and to serve his children. Shem is to give rule to Japheth; not Japheth to modify Shem. “You do not support the root; the root supports you.” God and His word tell one story and many parts - not two parts and many stories.

So lets turn to Ephesians. In the second chapter (verse 11), we start with: “

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Well if this is really talking about how we are now grafted into Israel’s root, and how we are not to remain as we have always been, and how we are to now be brought into the tent of Shem, then we have some severe misconceptions about the faith. It has always been taught to me that these verses talk about how I was once and sinner and now I’m saved. That is it. But it does seem like Paul is trying to convey that we are not just sinners saved by grace, but we have no right to be part of this at all except for the grace of God.

The promises were to Israel. Yet, here I am as a Gentile enjoying the very promises given to that people. It is by grace I have been saved, yes. However there is more going on here. We are brought into their history. We are grafted into their root. We are no longer “uncircumcised” nor are they “circumcised.” Circumcision is no longer the issue. It is a circumcision of heart, not of flesh. 

We are no longer Japheth and they are no longer Israel. We have been brought together - Jew and Gentile, Israel and Greek - under the same Head. We as the Church cannot be complete without Israel, and they cannot be complete without us. There is no separation between the two. We have become one.

Look at Ephesians 5. Paul brings up the point of marriage. But what is his point? Though there is good Scripture here for our marriages, Paul’s main point is that we are married to Christ. If the Body of Christ consists of Israel and the Church, and not just one or the other, then we too have been married. Israel and the Church have become one. 

I tend to use a word to describe this: hebraic. We are not Christian and we are not Zionist or the “New Israel.” We are Hebraic because our root goes all the way back before Abraham. It goes before Shem. It goes before the flood. Our patriarchs are anyone who it was said of them that they were a son of God (yes, even Adam). We are of the line of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Because we are of this line of people who follow God and believe God at His word, we are children of God. This is the whole point of the book of Romans.

Not everyone who calls themselves Israel is Israel. Jesus made the same statement in a different way. In John 8, He is talking to the Jews. They claim, “Our father is Abraham.” If your father was Abraham you would act like Abraham. We are a people who have been brought into this root of people who act like Abraham. Abraham acted like his fathers. His fathers acted like their fathers. It all goes back to being a son of God. But those who act in wickedness make it clear who their father is. Their father is the wicked one himself: satan.

This is the whole point of Ephesians. If you read it, I don’t see how you can get anything else from it. We were once sons of our father satan, but have been brought by the Spirit into a new relationship: being children of God. The children of God are not just Israel, but anyone who obeys the teaching of God. Jesus has broken down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile - that enmity that keeps us at each other’s throats - so that we can now be One Body in Christ our Head. 

Lets keep going through Ephesians. We reach chapter 3: 

"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”

What is the mystery? It is that we too have been given the grace of redemption through Christ. The Jews that that we were outcasts. They thought that even those in Samaria (who were also their brothers from different tribes) were outside the grace of God and could not be children. If even the brothers of Judah were thought to be outside the saving grace of God, then how much more we who were not even Israel? 

This is the whole point. By our unity, and by the truth of our proclamation of that unity, we are waring with satan. It isn’t about how much we can pray and what words we use and how riled up we get. The question comes down to one thing: are you one as Jesus prayed we would be with one another? If we aren’t even one with each other (Baptists vs Pentecostals vs Nazarenes vs Catholics etc), then we certainly cannot say that we are one with Israel. If we lack this understanding and the truth is that we are far divided, then we have no spiritual authority. The devil laughs and mocks, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”

So what was Paul saying in Ephesians 3:21? To God be glory in the Church. Why? God only gets glory from our unity. If we can understand this truth and lay hold of it, we will be changed forever. It isn’t easy. Lets remember what we read in Romans 11: they are the enemies of the Gospel for our sakes. They have every right to be upset and gnash their teeth at us. Our Gospel sounds utterly stupid. 

A man was born to a woman out of wedlock, and he claimed to be the son of God. He riled up crowds and wouldn’t obey the Law and prophets. He broke the Sabbath regularly, and taught that the religious authorities were evil. He opposed the state. In the end, he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and crucified outside the city with the thieves. 

Whether we want to admit it or not, this is exactly what our Gospel sounds like to people. Though we know the truth, they are blind. Though we know reality, they are deaf to it. They are the enemies for our sakes. For 2000 years they have been saying that Jesus was a bastard son. Mary broke her courtship with Joseph and Jesus is the proof. For 2000 years they have written it down and taught their children that Jesus and His movement has persecuted them. We, as Christians, are the enemy.

And we supposed to be one with them? I tell you that if you cannot love them, even in their unsaved condition, then you cannot love anyone. If you cannot find it in your heart to extend mercy to them (simply because God has said they are His chosen people), then you do not care about the glory of God and you have no mercy to extend. This is the ultimate challenge. Even Martin Luther failed it. If such a man as Martin Luther could say, “All the Jews should be put into a synagogue and burned alive,” then how would you respond to their opposition? 

It takes more than just wishful thinking. It takes the very heart of God. This is why “to God be glory in the Church forever.” It takes God to do such a thing. Let me remind you that this is Paul writing. This is the same man who was persecuted and executed by the Jewish authorities multiple times. That says a lot.

So let me end on this note. We are one with Israel in Christ. There is no separation between us. We are now grafted into their root. Therefore, it isn’t Israel and the Church. It is only the Body of Christ. It is only Israel. It is only the Church. It is only that Hebraic root. 

Lets continue with the revolutionary Christmas next time by looking again at the eternal perspective. In this, I want to try and look at some more eschatology and hopefully the Millennial Kingdom and Heaven.

A Quick Rant on the Context of Gifts

I have discovered a conference called, “Strange Fire.” John MacArthur has his friends bash the Charismatic Movement and all of the gifts of the Holy Sprit. They claim that God speaks through His Bible, and that is it. He does not speak to us through other means. He does not perform miracles like the ones found in the Bible. God does not act like He did in the Bible. Those times are over.

Here is my problem… It is true that God speaks through His Bible. But is it true that God does not speak to us in any other way? It is mentioned that the point is that God’s Bible is the ultimate word. We cannot add to it. There is nothing more that can be prophesied. 

Is this true? Do the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 not happen anymore? Are there no longer healings and miracles and gifts of tongues and prophets and apostles and prophesies and other forms of the Charismatic Movements of the Spirit? 

Here is the thing: there is no doubt that there are dubious signs. There is no doubt that many of these gifts of the Spirit are abused. There is no doubt that many times it is right to call into question the validity of such ministries that we see on TBN. But does that mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater? 

I want to give a biblical primer to the idea of the gifts of the Spirit. Lets try to set the stage for where they would come in and in what context, and maybe then we can further discuss their usage and whether they are still around.

God told Moses to come up the mount and be there. Jesus told us to be witnesses. The being precedes the doing. This is why we are still in need of apostles and prophets, of which I believe I am one of them. It is given to God’s apostles and prophets an understanding to teach and to edify and to reveal the secret things of God that have been hidden until such a one can be called to receive such as these mysteries. God gave His apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to edify the saints. This verse in Ephesians also precedes the doing of the work of the Spirit.

If we have no need for these foundational men (apostles and prophets), and if they are indeed something of the past that have passed away with the first century, then why are there so few who teach these hidden things that Paul proclaims so mightily? Why is there so little teaching about us being grafted into Israel that we might drive the Jew to jealousy? Why is there so little teaching that this grafting in is into their root? Why is there so little teaching about Israel and the Church being one – without Israel the Church cannot fulfill her role and without the Church Israel cannot fulfill hers? Why is there so little teaching about “And all Israel shall be saved,” Romans 11:26?

We have missed these hidden things, and it is only the mystery of the Church and Israel. There is the mystery of Christ. There is the mystery of the gifts and callings of God. Each thing needs to apprehend us before we can say that we truly understand it. There is an eschatological understanding of the faith that is hidden from modern understanding. We subscribe to the doctrine that Jesus will come back, but we can’t even tell whether we’ll be here or in heaven when He comes back. Does the Bible not give clarity of these things? If it is clear about things like rapture and assurance of salvation, then why are there so many people who don’t know where to stand on such issues?

We have missed very much the teaching of the apostles and prophets. In the lack of such teachings and words from these men, we have also missed the aspect of being in the faith. It is the third chapter of Ephesians that Paul concludes with, “To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

To the degree that we have dismissed this verse as simple rhetoric or dramatic language, we have missed the calling of God. Our calling and ultimate purpose as the Church is the glory of God. The glory of God is only fully present when He has established His Kingdom here on earth forever. Our calling is not to something here and now, but instead to something eternal. Our calling is to live in a way and have a mode of being that transcends time and space. We ought to live as though we truly are seated with Christ in heavenly places. If we are seated there, then certainly we can see into the future and know our calling well enough to not debate of stupid things like freewill and sovereignty. Our calling is to Israel and their salvation only – they are to be the priestly nation to the nations. Our evangelism and “winning the world” for Christ is in vein if it does not take into account the glory of God forever, which takes into account the promises of God to Israel – which are irrevocable (Romans 9).

What are the criteria that we judge successful church? It is not a lie to say that when we get into the parking lot that one of the first things we ask whoever is seated next to us, “What did you think? Was the meeting good? Did you like the sermon? What did you think of the worship?” We base successful church on size and popularity of ministries. As long as the preaching isn’t wimpy and the speaker isn’t a heretic, we think that these circumstances to be success. We have lost the apostolic distinctive: the glory of God in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.

Our primary call as the Church is to physically display a relationship with God in a tangible and realistic way to Israel that will drive them to jealousy. What do I mean by this? In Daniel 11, we read that the antichrist will kill many believers by the sword and burning them alive. He will imprison many believers. And we also read that there will be some “helpers.” These helpers will cling to the “wise.” The wise are the saints who have the end time understanding to stand up and proclaim the truth. They blow the horn. These are the ones who declare to the world what is really happening and what God has to say about the world events.

These wise will be killed and imprisoned. Some will hear their testimonies and will follow them. They will turn many to Christ through their words. You can find this in Daniel 11:33-35. Those who help these wise are called hypocrites in one translation; it is said they cleave to the wise with flatteries in another. These helpers follow the saints. They hear the words and they believe them. Yet, there is something about their following and their helping that is fake. We read in verse 35 that the persecution of the wise brings about refinement, purging, and cleansing of the helpers. Who are the helpers?

I have to imagine that these helpers are the Jews. The antichrist stirs up anti-Semitism throughout the world in the earlier verses of Daniel. He sets himself up as god (the abomination of desolation) in their temple. We know that the Jews will be sifted through the nations and found to flee into the wilderness places (Revelation 12). I say Jews for the simple fact that we aren’t sure where the rest of the tribes are, but I am sure that God knows. It is possible (and highly probable) that even the lost tribes will endure end time suffering along with their Jewish kinsmen.

We are the wise. We are the ones who are supposed to have understanding. Many don’t see this perspective, though. We will be killed and imprisoned on behalf of Israel. We will stand up and identify with that People in their end time calamity in a priestly way that we are the altar and the sacrifice. We are the priest and the altar at the same time. We offer our own lives – “Loving not our own lives even unto death.” We acknowledge the sins of Israel as our own sins because we are one with Israel and we cannot claim to be of the same root (grafted in) without claiming those same faults.

God’s chosen people will see in us a character that only Jesus displayed. This is what is meant when Paul said that we are to drive the Jew to jealousy. This is our calling. This is our eternal purpose: to sacrifice our lives on behalf of Israel.

But it doesn’t stop there. We read in Ephesians 3 that the whole reason that God created the universe is that we might display the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers of the air. In our sacrificial attitudes and compassion toward Israel we are displaying that very thing. This is where all the mysteries come together. We are one under the same Head. You cannot separate Israel and the Church. When you speak of one you speak of the other. They are the same because they are under the same Head. Though they are recognized as two different entities and given two different names, they go hand in hand. Man is physical and spiritual – you cannot separate them.

Our eternal purpose is to display this kind of reality and understanding. We can’t simply display it as individuals. Corporately we need to show forth the glory of God – which is the character of God. Words cannot express the depths of this. We can’t look into the dictionary or lexicon to find the words for glory and what they mean. It isn’t sufficient. These concepts need to apprehend us.

There will be no glory of God in the Church until we can wrestle with these foundational truths. We must humble ourselves to seeking first His Kingdom. Righteousness exults a nation, and a nation with an apostate Church will be cast down. Apostasy comes from a half Gospel. When our good news is about getting into heaven instead of being a part of the Kingdom and ruling and reigning forever with Christ, then we have missed it.

How severe can our misunderstanding be? After every great revival movement in the Western World there has been a great war to follow. After John Wesley came the war of 1812. After Finney came the Civil War. After the Welsh Revival came World War 1 and 2. What happened? If God was pouring out His Spirit and people were coming to Christ and morals were being practiced in the most immoral places, then why do we find such severe wars and racism after the most prominent revivals? Right down the line – the bigger the revival movement the more harsh the war that follows.

I fear that we have taught a half gospel. A half gospel is not the Gospel. The Gospel takes into account the beginning to the end. It looks at the whole picture. It grips the eternal perspective.

Our gospel starts in Genesis 3; the Gospel starts in Genesis 1. Jesus’ death on the cross was not to bring life and life abundantly. That is one of the effects, but it is not the main purpose. Jesus’ death and resurrection are cosmic events to bring about cosmic redemption. Through our righteousness and justification we can bring redemption to the world around us. What do you think the first chapter of Ephesians is about? We are sharers with God in the story of the redemption of all things.

My fear is that we look to revival because it is an easy way of avoiding God. We want a spiritual high that only comes once in a lifetime. We want to feel God’s presence and know that He is close to us. Our calling isn’t for revival. It isn’t to evangelize the world. Our calling isn’t to bring God’s presence down to earth. Our first and foremost calling is to display to the principalities and powers the manifest wisdom of God. The way we do that is by living in step with the cosmic redemption story and God’s plan of redemption for all nations. Israel is the key – without them we have no Kingdom.

Revival is looked to as a means to avoid this calling. I am growing more and more convinced that even the people with good intentions desire revival simply to have the spiritual shot in the arm. It makes it easier to endure the day. It is still a focus upon self. Revival is looked to in order to relieve me from burden because I can just soak and bask in the glory of God instead of being the glory of God.

This call to displaying the glory of God is an ultimate one. It brings everything into question. We are to bring down strongholds of the devil and release men from their bondage. If strongholds and bondage are simply looked upon as external things like, “Pharaoh took away our straw and told us to increase our quota,” then we have no idea what we’re doing. Bondage and strongholds go deeper than trying to relieve us from suffering. The bondage wasn’t Pharaoh’s oppression. The bondage was the system itself.

We suffer the same problem. We want to be relieved of our bondage to bills and debt and mean bosses and everything else that societal workplaces and lifestyles promote. Yet the bondage isn’t in the debt. The bondage is in the system of loans and banking. The bondage is in the system of business. We don’t try to free people from that Pharaoh. We don’t pray against that stronghold. We have to make a living, right?

We are living far beneath the glory of God. We cannot even identify where our oppression comes from. 

This is why we cannot discern whether there really are gifts of tongues and prophecy and miracles. If we were to take the ultimate battles into hand, and were to wage war against the Kingdom of Darkness at its roots, and were to truly combat against the antichrist spirit that so permeates through our world, then we would have need of these gifts. When Satan and his unholy angels come after us with all Hell unleashed, we will need the gifts of the Spirit. The challenge is that we have not needed them in our midst. We only use them as a novelty.

Because we have only desired them and not needed them as an intimate part and aspect of our daily lives, I can claim that we have lived far beneath the glory of God. We will need to know what God is saying in this very moment and time. We need to hear God’s words here and now. We need to know what the Spirit is uttering. We can’t continue to live in a way that doesn’t truly need it, but altogether desires it.

The gifts are vital. God truly speaking to us in tangible ways and giving us clear cut revelation of His path and His way for our lives is necessary. Reece Howells is known as a great intercessor. He prayed with a group of people about Britain’s air force winning a battle, and it happened. Why? According to the biography on Reece Howells, God had actually spoken to them and told them to pray for it. God then also spoke to them to pray that Hitler would turn to Russia and start to war against them. Hitler’s army did.

To this day, no one can understand why Hitler’s army would do such a thing. It was obviously going to end him. Yet, in the biography of Reece Howells, it mentions that God Himself spoke to this group in Britain and they prayed accordingly. It actually affected the outcome of history. Does that not happen? Is that fake? Does God not truly speak to us in this way? He might not speak to you in this way, but He speaks to those whom are devout and truly listening. He does indeed speak to those who are looking to advance His Kingdom by His Spirit and in His power. 

What it all comes down to is this: when we live according to the glory of God, and we take hold of His purposes, He will pour out His Spirit. He will give the appropriate measure of gifts according to the need. Your need might be a little razzmatazz for your Sunday service, but God’s need is that we combat the kingdom of darkness. If we take up thatcalling, then we will be equipped with all spiritual gifts and callings. We might even find prophets and apostles in our midst.

Revolutionary Christmas pt 7

So, in our search through the idea of the Kingdom of God, let us remember that it is a Kingdom come. It has come - here and now and among us and with us. That is the whole point of the Christmas message - God is with us. It is a literal Kingdom with a literal rule and literal people in it. These aren’t spiritual terms. 

So next what we need to consider before we get into the Kingdom of God forever, as mentioned to Mary by the angel and the shepherds by the angel and the prophets of old, we need to understand something about this kingdom. It is Israel’s promise. God chose them, not people like myself who are from any descendant except Abraham. I read in Ezekiel today about how God will reunite “Ephraim” and Judah (Ezekiel 37). In Isaiah, God says that He will accept the eunuch (even giving them a better name than anyone else) and He will not push away the foreigner that obeys His commandments. 

What is being expressed here?

When we talk about Israel, our reality and depth with God is equally as found out as with the principalities and powers. First, I’d like to say that we’re talking about Israel, not the Jews. The Jews are a part of the whole. It is true that they are what most people (including myself) seem to think of first when we’re talking about Israel. Before Israel was divided into two kingdoms, God knew each and every person. He has followed their line, and He still knows those who are Israel yet their heritage has been far lost.

When we read our Bibles, we start to come to the understanding that Israel is not just a people who missed their opportunity with God. They are the key to the profound mystery, which is the Kingdom of God. There is a coming time where Israel will be sifted through all nations. They will endure extreme hardship. This is probably also the time of the great falling away. Many Christians will see their suffering and ask the question of, “How is this happening to them again?”

The rulings of God with that nation are coming soon, and are going to be very harsh. We, who are not prepared for it nor believe it, will see it for what it is and probably fall away from the faith. God’s dealings with Israel must be harsh. They are the people who shall rule, and it shall be in their land.

"The law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,” Isaiah 2:3. When we talk about Israel and their identification with the Kingdom, I like to start in Romans 11. Romans 11 is the most obvious display of it to me, and it seems to easiest for me to interpret from.

It seems like those who would like to say that the Church is the new Israel, and that God has cast her away and has made us His new delight and plan for salvation does not ever reference Romans 11. This chapter seems to be the most misquoted and there seems to be the least written about it. When properly understood, it is also one of the few chapters in all of Scripture that can fracture and devastate wrong theologies, mindsets, and ideologies.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

Here is the mystery: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. Do you understand that? The Israel that has always been blinded and rejected their God will come to a place where the Lord will lift that blindness, and they won’t forever be cast out. They won’t forever be forgotten. They won’t forever be in a place of spiritual stupor.

Notice that Israel shall be saved. All Israel, in fact, shall be saved. They are necessary parts of the kingdom of God, and they must be a part of it. Without Israel, there is no kingdom. But notice their glory and their being brought into this kingdom aren’t by their own merit. Their salvation happens entirely by something other than them.

If you know anything about those who are Jewish, you know that they are very good at pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. It is for this reason that it can’t be by their own doing, lest they should boast. The purpose in Israel is not to celebrate Israel; it is to celebrate God. The full number of Gentiles must come in.

As it is written: The deliverer shall come out of Zion. God waits for it, not from Israel. God waits for the Gentiles. He waits for you and me. He waits for His Church. When we are an apostolic body that isn’t caught up with our own thing and mission, then God has something to work with. It is entirely by His glory, and not our own. It isn’t something that we would naturally do or be a part of. We don’t desire this. Everything within us kicks against the idea of God making the Church only for the purpose of Israel’s salvation. It is in humbling ourselves to that kind of abandonment to God that it matters not whether we receive reward or curse, but that God gets the glory that we challenge the principalities and powers.

When our desires and our hopes aren’t the cause of our living, we challenge everything they stand for. It is a requirement that we lay down our own lives and even our own dreams for one thing: the glory of God. Israel is inert. They must be acted upon. They are dry bones; they have nothing in themselves. You are the one who must prophesy to the breath and the wind for them to be raised. It takes a quality of life from you, as the Church, to be able to raise this people into an army for God.

Israel would normally have disregarded us, but in the providence of God, we should show them something that they cannot achieve on their own. Thus, we “drive them to jealousy.” But that which has no beauty or comeliness becomes the key to Israel’s final restoration and redemption that is carried on, not only through the Millennial Age, but also throughout all eternity.

And unless it comes from you, it shall not come. We find a text in Psalm 102 about this very thing. (Yes, even in the Old Testament). When you read Psalm 102, you find these statements that sound like they are straight out of the Nazi Holocaust. “For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.” “In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones.” “For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears.”

Here is the kicker: this is an end time prophecy. Though there are parts that sound like the Nazi Holocaust, this doesn’t describe the Nazi time. This is a prophecy that is yet future, and has its inception in Jerusalem. If you do your history searching, you’ll find that the magnitude of these kinds of merciless genocide eclipses national pride. It stems much further than the German against the Jew. This kind of killing, with gas ovens, starvation, and the horrors of the Nazi camps, cannot be ignored. It goes beyond human ability. It challenges everything that people would say that humanity has something good about it. Apart from God, there is nothing good.

The Japanese, when attacking China in World War 2, hung people by their tongues. They used men as bayonet practice. They raped women to death. They chopped off women’s breasts and let them bleed to death in the street. The kind of killings that took place in China by the Japanese are horrors that cannot be explained outside of the influence of the principalities and powers. It challenges that which we purport humanity to have: namely an inherit goodness.

Psalm 102 is talking about a future holocaust, which according to Zechariah and Jesus will be greater than the holocaust of the Nazi time. If it weren’t for God, all of Israel would be terminated. Zechariah claims that 2/3 of Israel shall be slayed.

We read in verse ten, “because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.” They realize that it isn’t some Hitler, or Palestinian, or Muslim government that imprisons them. God Himself has afflicted Israel.

How do I know that this is yet future? How do I know that it isn’t how the psalmist felt? There is nothing in the Bible that tells us this is David. David never endured this, as hard of a time as it was when he ran from Saul. If it is a prediction for Israel, there is nothing in their history that they have endured like this. They have never come to the point where they acknowledge the judgment of God. It is far from their consideration. They refuse to believe that they have done anything to deserve judgment.

How do I know that this time won’t be a repeat of every other time that Israel has been cast out of the land? They always come back and are equally humanistic as before. They continue to be cast out and be brought back, but they never truly repent and come to that point where “all Israel” is saved. Why should this time be different?

This time, it will be the Church (you and me) to tell them. We shall explain to them Scripturally and prophetically their condition, and the condition of their fathers. They have always rejected God, and this rejection of their King has always been the reason to why they get cast out of the land. Read Deuteronomy 28. You are the reason this will be different. It says in Ezekiel 20:35 that God shall bring Israel into the wilderness places and shall plead with them face to face. We are His face. Congratulations.

Could you imagine the kind of character you need for this? You need to be able to hear God and speak for Him in such a way as to communicate to those who don’t believe that He is an actor in history. History is simply circumstantial. God doesn’t play a role in it. Could you imagine the kind of anointing you need to communicate this in a way that they can hear and understand?

We come to verse 12 of Psalm 102. They acknowledge that God is enthroned forever. This acknowledgment isn’t to say that from that point forward, but that ever and always. He has always and will always be enthroned. They come to the point of understanding that God is indeed an actor in history. He has always been an actor in history. He has always put His finger into circumstances and situations and nations.

That kind of acknowledgment is itself an evidence of salvation. “You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.” Verses 13 and 14 express the reason I turned to Psalm 102. This portrays something that is outside of Israel being her deliverer.

The set time has come. The Psalmist knows that God’s judgments don’t last forever. There is a reason for them. He chastens those whom He loves. His judgment has come to the desired end. The Church now rises up to favor Israel. Israel’s stones are dear to God’s servants. It makes no sense to say the servants are angels.

This contradicts the ideology of Pre-Trib rapture. We are to go through the tribulation with Israel, because if we don’t then they won’t survive. This is the penultimate. It isn’t the last thing. It is the thing before the last thing. The last thing is glory. The last thing is God’s Kingdom being established forever.

It takes this kind of a judgment to bring us to the end of ourselves. It is true for Israel. It takes this kind of a judgment so that they can’t just pull themselves up out of it. It will take God’s intervention. It strips away the ideologies of “we can do this.” It brings about a kingdom mentality. God is enthroned, and we trust in Him only.

We’re looking for some sort of statement as to when the deliverer shall come out of Zion, and we find this ambiguous and poetic statement that needs to be interpreted. His servants find her stones dear; her very dust moves them to pity. The set time has come, not because of Israel, but because of the Church. Something has happened within the Church that they find the capacity to show compassion and pity.

What does it mean by stones and dust? We read in the prophets time and time again about Israel being desolate. Ezekiel 36 talks about (verse 33 onward) the ruins being rebuilt. The towns in Israel will be resettled. The desolate land will be plowed instead of lying desolate. All people will pass by and say, “The land that was laid waste has become like the Garden of Eden; the cities which were in ruin, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.”

Other prophets talk about jackals and animals being present within the cities. They won’t be inhabited. They’ll be laid to waste. Israel will be a wasteland, and it is that barrenness that the Psalm is speaking of when it references stones and dust. The world will say, “They deserve it.” They were against peace. But the true Church… they shall have compassion and pity.

Those who are impressed with Israel today, and preach that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem will be the first to reject her. Those who claim to be Christian, and they claim to love Israel, but they have not this understanding nor desire it will be the first to cast the first stone. Mark my words. They will be the first and most vehement.

I can say the same thing for those who want to protect the whales. They shudder at the thought of harming a cockatoo, or some other endangered species. When it comes to human violence, they don’t even wince. Sentiment is deadly. The same people who have sentiment will be the most violent and hate filled when their hopes and dreams have been crushed.

I warn you that having compassion and pity doesn’t mean apologizing. It means recognizing yourself with them. It means digging yourself in the ditch with them. It means standing up for them, even if that means your death. It means taking them in. Take care of them. The Lord will say at the end of the age, “Because you did not do this for the least of these my brethren, you did not do it for me.”

Our recognizing ourselves with them means a union with them. Our union with God’s people is the display of our union with Him. What God is waiting for is for a servant people who come into such relationship with Him that His heart is their heart. That is what is meant by hastening the day. God waits for us to be in union with Him.

According to Psalm 102:15, the nations will see this and be amazed. The fact that there is a people who are not Jews, and have no affiliation with Israel, and yet are putting themselves under the same persecution and humiliation for Israel’s sake will stagger the nations. These are the people who are opposed. And you, who have nothing to do with them, are going to stand up for them? It will cause for the nations to fear the name of the Lord. They will revere His glory.

How shall I conclude this? The issue of the Kingdom of God is the issue of Israel. It is dependant upon their recognition of God. “This is what the Lord Almighty says: In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you,’” Zechariah 8:23.

God has spoken that His law shall go out of Zion and His word out of Jerusalem. Israel is essential to the Kingdom, both as a people and as the land. The land is something that God has covenanted to Abraham. God has promised, and therefore it must be established.

Next time I’ll get into the real kicker: Israel and the Church are one. Lets look at Ephesians again for this (chapters 2 and 3).