An Inheritance Reserved in Heaven
Peter and Rohnel, servants of Jesus Christ, to the scattered pilgrims in the faith. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This letter is written to encourage the brethren to remain faithful and to endure their continuing struggles and a seemingly inability to overcome their sins. We are in the last days, and our man of sin is being revealed to us as the Commandments shine a bright light upon our earth. We continue to grow daily through trials in the understanding that only the Lord can heal us. Jesus Christ and no other is the Spiritual Physician. Our hearts and minds are surely being turned unto the Living Christ, who is now leading us to be holy in all our behavior.
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
We are the chosen of God, having been marked for salvation. The fact that we cry and bewail our sins is proof of the inner fight we are now engaged in fighting full-time.
Eze 9:4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Only the Lord can deliver us and save us from our sins. We wait on Him and cry out for Him to come and heal us.
Psa 147:2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Jer 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
As the elect of God, we possess the power of the Living Christ in us, yet we await the Lord to teach us and mature us how to walk in the anointing. Through the Holy Spirit, we can do all things, even overcome our sin. The gift of faith grows quickly once planted in our hearts and minds, but it still takes the times and seasons the Lord ordains. Young disciples are given power over the unclean and all manner of sicknesses [See Mat 10:1] yet need to learn patience and hope through many tribulations. Some victories come easy, some require prayer and fasting as we later learn from the Lord. We are growing in the faith which is growing in the Spirit and the power to overcome sin and cast out all devils.
Mat 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
The anointing those chosen of God receive is what teaches us righteousness and, in due time, causes us to obey all the Commandments, bringing our salvation from sin. This is the promised inheritance in Christ that we are now realizing and pressing towards daily.
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
The Lord has declared that it is done, and thus our salvation comes to pass. We merely wait for the Lord, who is faithful, to finish the good work He has begun. The waiting is our big trial, the many tribulations we now endure, and through it all, the Lord is teaching everyone patience. We are looking to Christ, lifting up our lives to the Commandments, asking to be taught to obey Him as David prayed before us.
Psa 25:1 Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
Psa 25:2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
Psa 25:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
Psa 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Nobody has arrived yet, so we run to the finish line and get the prize at the end. We are always pressing onward to the mark of perfection, forgetting our past failures but learning the lessons. The Apostle Paul wrote of the struggle and the ongoing engagement to be diligent and always pressing towards Christ.
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The growing and appearing of Christ in us, our bearing spiritual fruit, is likened unto the growing of crops. It takes time for a seed to be sown, take root, and then grow into maturity. During the growing season, it takes the coming of spiritual rain, that is, the Spirit of the Lord, to accomplish salvation and bring forth the crop. We, as the land tillers, wait patiently for the early and the latter rain, keeping busy, working in the kingdom of God.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
We are promised an incorruptible inheritance that is reserved for us in heaven, meaning in the spiritual realm. We have a down payment now and the fullness to come once we depart the clay. Our light or compass that guides us is now the Commandments, which is the power unto our salvation. We are kept on the narrow road, falling down, getting back up, all by the power of God, who has us in His hands.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
We rejoice in this promise, yet learn it requires enduring much heaviness in various tribulations that reveal our sins and bring the necessary chastening to write the Commandments into our hearts and minds. For what we do not yet see, we hope in the promises to come, and the appearing of the glory of Christ in all our behavior. Salvation, our overcoming, is the end of our faith.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
The Lord is faithful even when we are not. He is not forsaking us, and His judgment shall not fail to bring forth righteousness. We are commanded to wait for it and believe.
Psa 94:14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
Psa 94:15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
Our inheritance is Christ, and the further we walk, the Commandments become our most prized possession. The love of God, our focus and obedience to the Commandments, is being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We are being taught to possess our lives in righteousness, and Christ begins to be seen in all of our thoughts and deeds. Sons of Aaron and Zadok symbolize the elect of God in the shadows of the Old Testament.
Eze 44:28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
Num 18:20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
When the Lord comes and puts His Spirit in us, we have been begotten and are Sons of God. Our righteousness all derives from the faith of Jesus Christ that is given to us. We find peace with God through our obedience to the Father. Thus, the planting of love, that is, our obedience to the Father, is put into our hearts and minds. It then grows and, in time, makes its way to the outside of our cup. Our hope and patience continue to grow through the many tribulations we experience.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
As Sons, anything we ask in His name is given to us, and we are taking possession of the Promised Land, gaining dominion over sin. The strongholds of flesh that kept us in captivity are broken as we are instructed in righteousness and begin to judge our earth by the Commandments.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Psa 2:10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Our gift of the Spirit is only an earnest deposit. We await the fullness to come, and yet have many things to learn and grow in understanding. Thus, the purposes of the Lord are to bring us many trials and cause us to err from His ways. It pleases the Father to disciple and chasten us. We are the beloved sons of God and are being made holy and blameless.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
We walk by the faith of Christ that is now given to us. We are not inheriting the promised land based on our works of the flesh. We are learning to wait, to tarry, and have patience for the fullness to come.
Gal 3:18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Disciples inevitably advance themselves further along in the process of maturity than they have actually obtained. The Lord has a way of humbling us and showing us the work [the sin] that we yet await His deliverance and remaking. We are fulfilling all the signs of the end spoken of, and through it all, the Lord tells us to be patient, meaning to wait on Him.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
Overcoming our sin, our salvation, goes hand in hand with the appearing of Jesus Christ in our lives. They are opposite sides of the same experience. When we obey the Living Word that now dwells in our hearts and minds, Jesus Christ is seen. Thus, the mystery of salvation is being revealed and seen more and more, little by little.
Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Each day, the path gets brighter until we are perfected.
Pro 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
We are bearing more fruit, increasing in knowledge, and growing in His grace as we abide in the measure of the Spirit we are given, waiting for more to come.
Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Our waiting entails suffering and patience, and there is no avoiding it. We are being saved not by what we see now, but by the hope of the promises of God that now live in our hearts. Happy are we knowing the faithfulness of our Lord and the Spirit that now guides us in all our behavior.
Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
The Lord wastes nothing and is using our sins, revealing the abomination of desolation, all for the purposes of delivering us from those sins. All things happening in our lives are working together for the greater good of our salvation, right on the Lord’s schedule.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Flesh does not want to wait on the Lord. But all farmers know, it takes many seasons, hard work, and patience to bring forth a bountiful crop. So it is, therefore, also in the Spirit as Christ takes time to be fully formed and seen in all of our behavior. We do not understand it until we fulfill it.
Mar 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mar 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Mar 4:28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
The Lord does not come before we exhaust our own efforts and see the futility in striving to save ourselves. We learn we are chief of sinners and that no good thing dwells in our flesh. The Lord knows when we come to the point of being at our wits’ end, and then He delivers us. These are the wonderful works of the Lord to His children.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
With God, all things are possible, even the overcoming of our sins. He is the deliverer and we wait upon Him to come and bring us into the spirit of the New Covenant
Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isa 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Through the Spirit of Christ within us, we wait for the hope of our faith. Hope does not disappoint as Christ appears more in our walk, life, words, and deeds. We are overcoming, as our faith in the Spirit of Christ waxes stronger in us as we mature.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Coming out of spiritual Babylon, which has fallen within us, begins the final workings of salvation. All flesh worships themselves, their beast, and their carnal thoughts and reasonings. Thus, we are all most certainly going to be drinking the wine of the wrath of God that is poured out in indignation to save us from our sins. This season of torment is our many tribulations by which we are entering into the kingdom. Enduring the bowls of wrath against our flesh, we are taught patience as we seek and are caused to obey the Lord by the chastening that is our judgment.
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
What we know in heaven is now being tilled and spread into our earth. His Kingdom is coming to us little by little as we are growing into trees of righteousness. We are being set free, our prisons of bondage to the flesh are no more. The waste places are being destroyed and rebuilt.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
It takes longer than our flesh desires, and thus we all cry out asking the Lord why we continue to see our sin and why salvation seems far off. These are the words we are all asking for in our time.
Hab 1:2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
Hab 1:3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
This is the same as Paul, trying to obey, but not being able.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The Lord’s answer to Habakkuk is that the holy city within us needs to be trampled upon by the Gentiles, made desolate by our enemies, and then the end comes. The Lord is a God of vengeance and takes vengeance for His Temple, which Temple we are. We are just waiting for it to come to pass. The Spirit of the Lord is setting us completely free from the law of sin and death that had ruled in our members.
Jer 50:28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Those risen with Christ, having the indwelling Commandments working righteousness in them, are looking on things above and not of the world. Our hope and desires are all to please our heavenly Father, and we persevere in the hope of these promises being fully manifested in the appointed time.
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
We never take comfort in our sins or turn grace into justification for lasciviousness. The Lord is showing us areas of our lives that need to be repented from and turned away from. But also, do not lose hope, know that the Lord is working and causing all things, even your very sins, to teach us all things and make a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells forever. Take all lies and unbelief captive and stand strong in the faith and the hope of the promises yet to be revealed in you. Christ shall appear, and we are learning patience in waiting for Him. We often remind one another to stay the course, remain steadfast, and to keep working in the Kingdom, as our flesh is indeed weak.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer
Be encouraged, Saints. The Lord is good. May the Lord direct your hearts into His love and to patiently wait for Christ to appear.
