The Prophetic Telegraph - No.1A
WHY SETTLE FOR
HALF THE GOSPEL?
April 1986
It is commonly understood
and generally accepted that large chunks of original truth were lost in the
dark ages that followed the first century A.D. Precious jewels of knowledge vouchsafed
to mankind by our Saviour, and later by His apostles through the ministry of
the Holy Spirit, were thrown to the ground and trampled underfoot by human
agencies acting under the influence of dark cosmic intelligences. But men were
not generally even aware that they were being used as the tools of Satan in
this respect. However, the Apostle John, with keen spiritual intelligence, saw
the workings of this in the earliest days of Christianity when he said, "You
have heard that antichrist is to come. But already many antichrists have
already arisen." And then he said, "They went
out from us, because they were not of us." (1 Jn.2:18-19)
Some of the most powerful destructive agencies of God's truth have emanated
from WITHIN the church. This is an important understanding which cannot be
emphasised enough. Our Lord said on one occasion, that the enemy sows his tares
AMONGST the wheat, and for what purpose? Is it not to destroy the very ground
in which the wheat grows, in other words, the whole foundation structure of our
faith?
So the darkness grew. In
A.D.58 Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders, and with a deep groan warned
them that after his departure "grievous wolves would enter in,
not sparing the flock." (Acts.20:29-30) He went on to say, "Also
of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them." Just ten years later in A.D.68, when
writing to Timothy, he said, "All those in Asia have turned
away from me." (2 T.1:15) He spoke of "Perilous
times ahead".(N.B.
perilous = KALEPOS in Greek, and is only found elsewhere in Matt.8:28, where it
describes the two men in the tombs who were so 'exceedingly fierce'
that none might pass that way.) He spoke of people "having a form of
godliness but denying the power thereof." (2 T.3:1,5) and others who "turn
their ears from the truth and listen rather to fables." (2
T.4:4) and when he was called upon to make his defence before the Roman
authorities, he said, "No man stood with me; all forsook
me." Just two years later in A.D.70 the Roman army destroyed
Jerusalem under Titus, and the Jewish nation was dispersed throughout the Roman
world. The darkness deepened. The precious truths of the New Testament era were
preserved and transmitted secretly, just as they are in some oppressive
countries today.
Years, decades and
centuries rolled by. Gradually a great ecclesiastical system emerged which
purported to be the depository of truth, transmitted by apostolic succession
from Peter. But this was counterfeit, a pompous caricature of all that our Lord
originally vouchsafed to His disciples. The true faith hardly surfaced, and
this is why little if anything is found about it in the history books. It was
the way of life of the underground church, the remnant church, who with quiet faith,
confidence, and persistence kept the gospel flame alive, and by prayer overcame
the darkness of their day. This is not to say that the outward visible church
contained NO true men of God. Far from it. But theirs was not an easy ride. The
history books are replete with stories of bestiality and inhumanity inflicted
upon them, not by the world, but by entrenched sacerdotalism. Of such men and
women, "this world is not worthy."
Fifteen centuries rolled by
before any major crack appeared in this outward system. But the Reformation
must be understood in the right way, and not made into a new god. Certain
brands of short-sighted evangelicalism would see the Protestant Churches as the
bastions of "TRUTH", as against the Roman system as the "LIE",
but this is far from the case. The Reformation was an explosion within the
established system which sent fragments of itself throughout the world. Many of
these fragments differed only slightly from the mother body. And although they
were now islands instead of being part of the Roman mainland, they were not, by
virtue of this, an expression of complete restoration to pristine apostolic
Christianity. To view the Reformation in such a light is to perpetuate the
falsehood that Christ's church may be identified with this or that
ecclesiastical movement. In fact, the true church, the Body of Christ, is the
organic body of all true believers, and God alone knows just who they are, and
when He comes again, He will call upon His angels to gather them together from
the four winds of heaven. Some will be drawn from this church, and some from
that, and some from no recognised establishment at all. This is the true
church, the underground church, the church that has no name, receives little
publicity, and is often largely unknown except by the persecution it receives.
Since the Reformation, the
Protestant island churches, as fragments of the explosion, have themselves
broken up again into many smaller fragments. Indeed there are now so many small
pieces that it would be difficult to count them. None of these fragments
represents Christ's church, though (as we said before) members of the Body of
Christ will be found in most if not all of them. How can we understand this
progressive shattering of the parent bodies? The spiritual achievements of the
Reformation may be seen from heaven as the outcome of spiritual warfare between
agencies of light and darkness, and members of the true underground church were
waging war on the Satanic darkness through their prayers. The Reformation, which
started in 1517 and has been going on ever since, may be seen as the visible
outcome of that warfare. Each new facet of truth recovered represents a battle
won by the saints of the Most High God. But each new piece of truth became the
'stone of stumbling' between the various church members, and this was the cause
of the progressive splitting. The results may seem on the surface to be sad,
because they reflect the hard-heartedness of humankind to dwell together in
peace and love, but on the other hand they also show the fact that a continuing
warfare was being waged, and it was also being won! And that is good news
indeed.
However, in recent years
quite a new thing has transpired.
But let us emphasise again
the difference between the true church and the visible organisation of
churches. The whole visible system is described in Revelation as
We have been looking at two
things working alongside each other in this article, the new truths that are
emerging, and the conflicts within the churches. It will now be profitable to
look more closely at the aspects of this new truth, beginning with the
Reformation epoch. Luther was the first man to be closely associated with the
rediscovery of what is "justification by faith." This bright ray of
sunshine shone strongly in the 16th century, against a background of
"justification by works." Let no one diminish the glory of the new
truth whereby the vilest of sinners is made clean by one repentant look at the
dying Son of God at
But the Reformation
produced obscurity as well as light. Because of the Roman dogma that favoured a
'works-based-salvation' the new movements of the Reformation treated anything
of this nature as anathema. Ever since then there has been a deep
misunderstanding about the nature of 'faith-works' and the rewards that God
gives at the end of our course. Some Protestants cannot see anything but a
grace-gift, and vigorously oppose everything to do with a doctrine of rewards.
But the New Testament is full of allusions to reward, and therefore such
Protestants have emphasised one truth and soft-pedalled another in the process.
So there is more truth to
recover in this direction. But the almost universal misuse of the word GOSPEL
does not help us in finding it. The Greek word EUANGELION means "GOOD
NEWS" and it would appear that many have failed to appreciate just how
wonderfully great the GOOD NEWS is. When Paul referred to 'the
Gospel of the grace of God' he was speaking of all that Jesus
accomplished at
Consequent upon the
Reformation came the understanding of Eternal Life for those who believe.
Eternal Life was understood to be God's gracious gift to those who believe, a
gift of pure grace, as we said before, "not by works lest any
man should boast." (Eph.2:9) The Reformers were hot in their
preaching that there was nothing we could do to have this life. And so
greatly did they argue their case, against the background of Rome with its
indulgences, that the whole truth suffered by the exaggeration of one
of its parts. Furthermore, the Reformers, even those who were Greek scholars,
did little research on the word translated 'eternal' (AION) and easily fell
into the trap of equating it with 'everlasting.' Had they done this research,
they would have saved us today from the terrible misconceptions that abound in
the churches, not so much about eternal LIFE, as about eternal PUNISHMENT. The
over-indulgent thrill of excitement about 'eternal life' had inadvertently
obscured an attendant truth of no less importance. More about this in due
course.
Gradually the hope of the
second coming of Christ began to dawn upon believers. This was a great recovery
indeed, and we are now able to see that this "blessed
hope" and expectation was a sure goal for the early church,
and pervaded all the writings of the New Testament. So great was the joy of believing
in the Saviour's return that many of them gladly, but painfully, endured the
most bestial tortures for their faith. Stephen, the first martyr, called out
saying, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing
on the right hand of God." (Acts 7:56) It was as though Jesus
had arisen from His seat to come in judgment. A few minutes later he was to
stand before his Lord and Master, there to be rewarded for his bravery and
courage, having made a good confession of faith. But today the truth of the
second coming does not attract the same attention amongst believers, and with
many it certainly does not express itself as the daily yearning and hope that
the early church possessed.
Around the turn of the
century came the experimental knowledge of the baptism and the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Although there were what might be called sporadic outbreaks of
this throughout history, most people think of the events that followed the
happenings at Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California, and the rise of the
Pentecostal Churches in this land. (Elim & A.O.G.) Only during this century
have we found the widespread operation of power gifts in the churches, and it
was to be expected that the new truth would cause yet further splits in an
already fragmented church. Having gained some momentum in the years from 1920
to 1960, the neo-pentecostals (as they have been called) spearheaded the
massive, excitable, and surging Charismatic-Renewal movement that now extends
right across the world, and is said to be the fastest growing church movement
of this century. Although many still view the whole episode with intense
distrust, more and more are becoming aware that God is the Author of the
outpouring, and therefore "new truth" is with us.
But here again, the
recovery of lost truth has led to the veiling of something else. Almost without
exception, the Pentecostals are indeed "Pentecostals." In other words
they see and interpret this movement of God in terms of what they have read in
the Book of Acts. They look upon the gifts as a restoration of the early
church, a recovery of something lost, and speak about "getting back
to Pentecostal-style Christianity." They fail to appreciate that "Our
God is marching on", as the old song puts it. Pentecost was a magnificent
event in history, a non-repeatable event, something that God performed once and
once only. But some might protest and say, "We have the same gifts, and
the same baptism of the spirit, so why is it not Pentecost again?" To use
a simple analogy, just because a wheelbarrow, a bicycle, and a car all use
wheels for their mode of movement, it by no means suggests that they are
identical! The purposes of God in the days in which we now live are quite
different to those of nearly 2000 years ago. At Pentecost God was equipping and
founding His church in its infancy. Today God is winding up the affairs of the
church prior to the manifestation of the Kingdom of God. It would be more
appropriate to speak of the approach of Tabernacles now, not Pentecost.
None of us is able to say
just how much "gospel" there is or will be, and perhaps there never
will be an end to the revelations of a mighty God, as successive ages roll on.
Undoubtedly God has many more plans, more secrets to reveal, for the good and
development of those whom He has created, whether they be human beings or
angels. And some of God's children have been exercised of recent years by the
way in which the Holy Spirit has been opening out the understanding, and
expressing new revelations, some of which are then seen (once again) to be as
old as the hills, but have been lost through the dark ages. And it has been
thrilling to find that, as a result of such revelations, documents are coming
to light which speak the same things from way back, thereby to make a link
across the centuries. These are very exciting days, and it is as though God is
on the point of opening vast flood-gates of understanding for all His people.
But the question then
presents itself, just how many will be glad, how many will be receptive, how
many will want their 'neat little package' untied to make room for more? Some
brethren have already tried to share new things with other believers, because
they know that God always gives His gifts, not to be kept for personal
pleasure, but for the building up and edification of the whole Body of Christ.
The trouble is that very often this produces quite the opposite to the intended
effect. Instead of a building up process taking place, fragmenting occurs.
Ostracism, dis-fellowshipping, cries of heresy and teaching of demons, these
become the responses of some. And this barrage of hostility comes mainly from
WITHIN the established churches rather than from outside. Sadly it seems to be
a repeat of what happened in Paul's day. He was given sacred secrets, or
'mysteries' never before revealed to man, and it was his joy to make these
available to all those evangelised. The Jews, to whom the message had first to
go, vehemently rejected it, trying their best to stamp it out. Apart from a
thin scarlet cord, a remnant, this is still the Jewish line. But the Gentiles,
who possessed no 'established traditions' were on the whole glad to receive the
good tidings when Paul preached. In this manner the mainly Gentile church was
established throughout the then known world.
What is the nature of the
new outpouring? What new truths are being vouchsafed to the church? Jesus said
that every man trained in the ways of the Kingdom would bring forth out of his
treasures things old and things new. If we state briefly some of these areas of
understanding, we recognise that it will cause misunderstanding to some, and
fear to others, and even outrage, but truths cannot be hidden. No light may
logically be placed beneath a bushel. Jesus said that the things He had told
the disciples in secret, they were to shout from the rooftops. And in due
course they did! Likewise today the principles are the same, and it seems that
the time is now right, and for those who have ears to hear and hearts to
understand, who knows how much more will added unto them? If the statements
here made are going to cause turmoil, then we hope that the turmoil will
replace complacency, for out of the turmoil will come the vision that there are
even more rungs to the great ladder of enlightenment, rungs that hitherto have
been shrouded in mist and clouds. But as God causes those clouds to rise, the
rungs become apparent, and the new body of truth is for the joy, benefit, and
rejoicing of the whole Body of Christ.
1. THE FOUNDATION
STONE OF BELIEF.
This is justification by faith. Jesus also referred to it as being 'born
again', a spiritual rebirth as definite as ordinary human birth. The one who
looks to the Lord Jesus, and His death at Calvary, and repents of his sins is
granted NEW LIFE, is released from the bondage of sin and death, and is ready
to walk by faith. Although this will not be 'new' to many, it has to be stated
here as a basis on which other things can be expressed.
2. THE
SUPERSTRUCTURE.
God provides us with a pattern of good works on which to walk. This is the walk
of faith, and requires obedience, courage, and activity on the part of the
believer. All this will ultimately be assessed by the Lord, and tested by fire.
If we build using 'gold, silver, and precious stones,'
they will become our reward, but if we use 'wood, hay, and stubble'
then we shall find to our embarrassment that we have nothing left. Only the
foundation stone will remain. That cannot be taken away. Many of the parables
of the Kingdom have to do with this process of Christian living. Rewards and
punishments are there spoken of, and show that we have to make proper use of
'talents' that are given to us in order to gain a reward.
3. THE PURPOSE OF
THIS BUILDING.
The superstructure mentioned above must not be confused with the building of a
spiritual temple out of individual believers. Although both subjects have
attracted the same symbol, (i.e. that of building) they are quite distinct. The
building that we are required to construct is the means by which God assesses
our ability to govern in His Kingdom. Although one may enter that
Kingdom possessing only the foundation stone, (the free-gift of God to all who
believe,) the Lord is looking for those who will prove themselves worthy of
positions of responsibility. Those who learn to overcome, to conquer their own
weaknesses, and deal effectively with the 'world, the flesh, and the devil'
will be seen by the Lord as having proved themselves in this life, and their
reward will be to administer justice, law and order, and good government in
God's Kingdom. Some will "be seated on twelve thrones governing
the twelve tribes of Israel" as Jesus promised his disciples,
others may administer justice in cities, towns, and villages, according to
their several abilities.
4. ETERNAL LIFE. We have already said that the word
'eternal' is not synonymous with 'everlasting.' Length of time
is not always latent in the Greek word AION. It is a word that possesses more
the ideas of QUALITY and CHARACTER, rather than QUANTITY. It is clear from
Genesis 3 that God finds the idea of man 'living for ever' quite abhorrent, and
hence the Cherubim that were placed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. The
only safe way to translate AION in the expression 'eternal life' is to use an
expression like 'life on a higher plane.' We are not saying
that this exalted life will NOT be everlasting. What we are saying is that the
thought of 'everlasting' is not contained in the word AION.
5. THE EFFECT OF
CALVARY.
Calvary is often thought of as bringing about the reversal of the fall. But
this is only part of the whole story of the cross. Think about it logically.
Adam and Eve were perfect human beings. They fell by their sin. Jesus came to
reverse the effects of the fall. Therefore with the advent of 'new birth' man
is legally entitled to have back that which he lost in Adam. Therefore in the
days to come, in resurrection, all those who were 'in Adam' and who have died,
may now be 'made alive again in Christ.' One's hope therefore is to live on
this earth as Adam and Eve lived, with perfect bodies, and the added benefit of
being proof against sin. Herein the justice of God is vindicated, because Jesus
took the place of all, and therefore we are able to have that which our first
parents lost at the fall. The scales of divine justice have thereby been
balanced in our favour by the Cross. But this is not all. On a
certain occasion Jesus said, "Those who are worthy to attain
that age, and the resurrection from the dead, will be EQUAL TO ANGELS." (Luke
20:35-36) There is something extra here, quite beyond the requirements of
justice. It is hoped that the realisation of this will create a deep sense of
joy to some, as they appreciate perhaps for the first time, the extreme riches
of God's grace to man.
6. THE MAGNITUDE OF
CALVARY. For
whom did Christ die? The evangelical world answers this by saying that potentially
Christ died for all men, but in practice it is only effective for
those who believe. But the New Testament does not teach this. The modern ideas
of evangelicals do not correspond with New Testament revealed truth. Consider
the following verses, and ask yourself whether you are prepared to accept what
is said, simply and without compromise. Read the contexts as well, to make sure
that the words have not been wrenched out of place to mean something other than
they were intended to mean.
(a) Rom.5:18. As through
one offence, judgment came upon ALL MEN unto condemnation, so by the
righteousness of One came the free gift upon ALL unto justification of life.
(No mention of LIFE ON A HIGHER PLANE here. It is death versus life)
(b) Heb.9:26. Christ has
now been manifested for the annulment of sin through His sacrifice. (How much
sin? Yours? Mine? All believers? Or the whole world?)
(c) 1 Jn.2:2. He is the
mercy seat for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole
world. (Belief is better than argument here.)
(d) 1 Cor.15:22. As in Adam
all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. (This verse has the same
teaching as Rom.5:18)
(e) Heb.2:9. He has tasted death
on behalf of every man.
(f) 2 Cor.5:15. He died on
behalf of all. To a growing number of people these days, the clear truth is
shining through the pages of Scripture, that at the cross Jesus erased THE
WHOLE STAIN OF SIN FROM THE UNIVERSE. It may take long ages for the Lord to
accomplish all that He set out to do, but the final outcome is already settled
in the person of His Son. "At the name of Jesus EVERY knee shall
bow", and not by force of arms, but voluntarily, by the exercise of the
human will. Ultimately God will 'make all things new.'
7. THE GREAT DIVIDE. When Christ returns, there will be
a great sorting out process. This sorting out will by no means just divide
believers from unbelievers. But within the great company of those who have been
born again there will be a division, because some will try to claim what they
imagine is logical to expect, and crying out "Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons, and do many mighty works," will
then be told, "Depart, I know you not." This
is a sobering thought. There are some works which produce an increasing
maturity through the discipline of circumstances, (the way of the cross), but
there are other works which engender pride, even though performed by the power
of the Holy Spirit, and can even lead to the audacity of questioning Christ's
judgment. Gifts of the Holy Spirit are always CHARISMA (grace-gifts). They are
not a measure of a person's maturity. They cannot be 'added up' to make an
assessment of our standing before God. We need to search our hearts in this
respect.
8. PAYMENT FOR SIN. There is a sense in which all sin
must be paid for, otherwise the scales of divine justice can never be balanced.
At Calvary, Jesus removed the stain of sin from an evil conscience,
and God gave us new life. But the Scriptures are insistent that "Whatsoever
a man sows, that shall he also reap." And in case we think
that believers might be excused in some way, we are told "There
is no respect of persons with God." The Old Testament gives
the pattern. The sheep-stealer has first to restore his sheep fourfold, and
then take a lamb to the door of the tent to be slain for his trespass.
Restoration had to precede redemption. Likewise Jesus spoke of leaving gifts at
the altar whilst we seek restoration with our neighbours. The principle is seen
at work quite clearly in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Unfortunately,
this truth does not receive very much attention from believers, except
(significantly) during times of revival, when the Holy Spirit has laid it
heavily upon human hearts.
9. THE MEANING OF
HELL. This is
an extension of the last point. Some people have their 'hell' on this earth.
Blessed is the man who, at the point of death, not only knows that all his sins
are forgiven, but that all his sins are paid for humanly, and restitution has
been made for all wrongs. Such a man will have robes that are "clean
AND bright." But many will die with grey robes, and will
subsequently have to go through a process of refinement to make them wholly acceptable
to the Lord. In the Book of Revelation we are told that white robes are the 'righteous
deeds of the saints' and have nothing to do with the basic gift of
life in believing. Some will argue hotly against this, saying that it is a
return to the old Roman belief in purgatory. But a moment's reflection will
demonstrate that the word 'purgatory' merely means to 'purge' us of all that is
as yet undone in the human process of restitution. Just because Rome abused the
teaching, we should not discard it as though it were erroneous. Many things
were thrown out at the Reformation which should rather have been cleaned up and
restored to their original place in the teaching of the church. If this be part
of 'hell' it should not cause the believer to be too worried. But everything
will have to be sorted out. God requires it from us all.
As for unbelievers, often
little or nothing has been squared up by the time of death. Some indeed will
have enormous wrongs to put right, and having lived lives that are proud and self-righteous,
they will indeed experience a process of restitution and refinement which could
well be pictured as 'fire', because on this earth, the burning of fire is the
most painful of all flesh wounds. Even in this life, some people refer to a
refining process they have experienced, as a fiery ordeal. It is mentally very
painful, and the more so in proportion to the degree by which we have
transgressed the laws of God in our behaviour. But this process, painful though
it may be, cannot and does not last for ever. Has anyone tried thinking about
it? Suppose you were to start paying for your sins tomorrow, and as an
unbeliever you expected to pay for ever. In one year's time you think about the
next year. After 10 years you think of the next ten. After 1000 you think about
the next 1000. After 1,000,000 years you think about the next 1,000,000 and
even then there is no end. What sort of torture is this? What kind of God could
inflict such punishment upon people? What degree of waywardness could ever possibly
attract even 1,000,000 years of punishment? Even more cogent is the question,
what sort of God could throughout 'all eternity' contemplate and even watch the
sort of hell-fire that is commonly represented in pictures? Is this our
impression of the Father that Jesus came to reveal in His life? Surely this
question does not require a printed answer.
In the New Testament we
meet the expression 'everlasting punishment' and so we
must deal with it. If, as Protestants, we hold to the view that the Authorised
Version is the inspired translation from the Greek, then we shall be in a fix.
But thankfully, only a minority of Christians hold this view. Clearly, if there
is any verbal inspiration, it can only apply to the original Greek, and
sometimes the textual critics are far from unanimity about that in places!
However, in one particular place in Matthew 25, the words are identical to
those which speak of 'eternal life.' We have already seen that the word
'eternal' means an intensity, a higher character, etc. It is therefore simple
to arrive at a wholly correct understanding of the expression in this passage.
It must mean punishment of a greater, more painful, more terrible kind than
normal punishment. Even on this earth we have courts of justice which try to make
the 'punishment fit the crime.' If our earthly systems of justice fail through
human error and perversion, then we should not be surprised. But with God's
justice we should have no reservation. Every crime ever committed by man will
receive its just punishment, and every good work will receive its just reward,
whether of believers or unbelievers. Ask a lawyer. Would he be willing to
accept that God's justice is any LESS than that which is applied in the best
courts of law this world has to offer?
And what of the end of the
unbelievers? Has it ever crossed the minds of those who hotly advocate
'everlasting hell-fire' what a terrible disgrace it is to the character of God,
what an affront it is to His divine justice? When the punishment of people is
complete, then they are given life in resurrection on this earth. What do the
hell-fire people think about all those who have never even HEARD about Jesus
Christ? How do they understand Jesus' words when He said, "If
the mighty works that were done in you (Capernaum) were done in Sodom, then it
would have lasted until this day, because it would have repented in sackcloth
and ashes. And I say that it will be MORE TOLERABLE for them in the day of
judgment." One cannot shrug one's shoulders and dismiss the
subject as though they were going to be put in a less-hot part of the lake of
fire for ever. Biblical figures of speech MUST be properly interpreted
otherwise they make a mockery of some part of God's character.
Much more could be said on
this subject, and needs to be said, and we hope that very soon it will be said,
loud and clear. In 1867 Andrew Jukes wrote on the subject in a very scholarly
way. The title of the book is "The Second Death and the
Restitution of All Things." In 1878 Rev. A.R.Symonds wrote "The
Ultimate reconciliation and Subjection of All Souls to God under the Kingdom of
Christ". In 1890 Thomas Allin wrote "Christ
Triumphant, or Universalism Asserted as the Hope of the Gospel on the Authority
of Reason, the Fathers, and Holy Scripture." Each of these
scholarly volumes of last century opens up the subject in an exciting manner.
10. EQUAL TO THE
ANGELS. Why
does God grant this inestimable privilege to some who tread this earth? The
answer may be found in connection with the first sin in heaven, when Satan and
his angels defected from their proper place, and tempted mankind in the Garden
of Eden. Jesus said that He had witnessed Satan fall from heaven. But those
very same angelic beings, with Satan as their head, were originally placed by
God as dominions and powers over the earth. Because of their fall, God requires
that those very same positions of authority be made up from amongst human-kind,
and as Jesus said, 'many of the first will be last, and the last
will be first.'
11. THE FALLEN
ANGELS. After the
crucifixion, and whilst in the spirit, Jesus went and preached to the angels
who sinned before the Flood, in the days of Noah. What was His message? Some
point out that the word for preach is not to evangelise, but to proclaim, and
they say that Jesus merely went to them to proclaim His victory. We cannot
accept this. In common parlance today, this would amount to gloating, and such
an attitude would be quite unbecoming for the Son of God. Whether proclamation
or actual preaching, Jesus went to them in their prison house and spoke to
them. What could have been His message? Logic demands that it must have been a favourable
message, and therefore we believe that it was a message of hope for
days to come. It is our studied belief that in the coming season even fallen
angels will find an opportunity to bow their knee to Jesus, and accept that He
is their Lord. We know that this will be treated as a monstrous assertion by
some, in the present climate of opinion, but it has to be said, and the more
often it is said the more rapidly will believers wake up to the fact that God
has much more work to do, and much more glory to gain for so doing.
12. THE END OF THE
PRESENT AGE AND THE RETURN OF CHRIST. The second coming represents the terminus for
the remnant church, after which time no further opportunity will be available
for anyone to attain the 'prize of the high calling,'
because the Lord will have 'made up His jewels' (Mal.3:17)
and this means that the full number of heavenly appointments to governorship
will have been recorded in heaven. At this juncture, the Kingdom of God will be
visibly manifested to the world, and God will begin dealing with NATIONS in the
manner described in the parable of the sheep and the goats. (Matt.25)
13. THE BAPTISM AND
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Paul spoke of the filling of the spirit as the daily requirement of a
believer, thus enabling him to walk in the spirit, and walk by faith, and walk
well-pleasing to the Lord. But at certain times, God has made available many
special miracles. These were intended to serve a specific function, and were
never intended to be the continuous function of the church for all times. In
these days, the presence of the gifts is meant to alert people to the near
coming of Christ, and the new offer of the Kingdom. And as before, the gifts
when seen are meant to engender repentance and faith, not a merry-go-round of
feasting and jollification. They are the 'powers of an age to come'
(Heb.6) and therefore they are but foretastes of the Kingdom. Many people have
been seriously disturbed by the fact that they have NOT been healed, even
though they have been prayed for with the laying on of hands, and anointed with
oil, and faith has been high in both donor and recipient. The reason is seldom
explained. There is no continuous and universal ministry of healing in the
church. All healing miracles are SIGNS, and when they occur they do so by
divine permission and purpose, to fulfil the plan of God for the end of the age
in which we now live. Remember again what Jesus said about Sodom, that they
would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if He had performed His miracles
there. How much repentance is observed today at the witness of miracles? How
many people are convicted by the mighty presence of God in the place, thereby
to cause them to sense their own unworthiness and sin? One has read about it in
the revivals of the past, but there seems little evidence of it in the Western
World at this present time.
14. ISRAEL &
THE JEWS. Some
might expect a statement on this subject, but we have little to say. Bible
prophecies refer to ISRAEL, not the JEWS. The present nation of Israel is a
misnomer. It is the nation of Jewry, and represents just two-twelfths of the
whole. As such it is impossible to apply Biblical prophecy, as the other
ten-twelfths remain unrecognised. We prefer to concentrate our attention on
that which is known, rather than that which is unknown. Nevertheless, we are
aware that this negative statement will act as a positive corrective to some.
Finally, the authors would
like to add a personal note. The foregoing exposition has been of vital
importance and significance to us for nearly 20 years, and has been recorded at
greater length in the seven volumes of our book, "Except the Lord
build the House." We claim no monopoly on these truths, believing
rather that the Holy Spirit has been giving similar enlightenment to
individuals the world over. Our statement is rather as a testimony to that
which we most surely believe, and we are conscious that the Kingdom of God is
now very near, whereby we ask that the "God who began a good
work in us, will bring it to completion (not just for ourselves, but for all
who are thus exercised) in the Day of Christ" to the glory of
God.