Tag: death

Articles

Dying to Death – The Second Death

Pete

The issues of life and death, like all Scriptures and truths of the Lord, are hidden from those not yet given the gift of faith and the accompanying eyes to see and ears to hear.  Becoming grounded on some basic principles, such as the topic of death,  is essential to growing in understanding.  May these words help those few the Lord may lead to read them.

Pete & Ronel

Dying to Death

All men are PURPOSEFULLY born in marred vessels of clay so the Lord can remake us into a new mold in His image on His timeline.   Nothing we experience is wasted, it is all the work of the potter.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 

Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 

Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 

We are born into sin and thus begin the lives of every man.  As clay in the potter’s hand, the false doctrine of free will is readily destroyed by the truth.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 

Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 

We will naturally remain this way until our time of reformation comes and we begin our transformation into the image of God.  This is the process of salvation and the same said as being “our journey from death unto life”.  Paul’s words of the helplessness of Romans 7, expressing every man’s journey to be righteous under their own strength (i.e the law) segues into the freedom and new life described in Romans 8.  Abiding in death, stuck in a prison, and bound to the law we first await Christ.

Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 

When Christ comes He delivers us and sets us free from the law and the death that the law of sin and death (carnal mindedness) brings.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 

The law of sin and death is the same as the law of Moses and also the same as the law of the Gentiles.  Simply put, this law is what all carnally minded people are under.  Yet do not despair because all mankind is ignorant and oblivious to their plight until the Lord comes and sets them free from the resulting bondage that is also spiritual death.

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 

Heb 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

We begin to be transformed from death and having the mind of our father the devil, unto newness of life, having the mind of Christ.  This is our salvation and takes a three-day spiritual journey to complete.  The last enemy to be destroyed to complete the transformation is death.  This is the death of our carnal mind that has kept us in bondage all our lives.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

1Co 15:25-26  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The Lord who holds the keys to life and death, considers physical death to be the same as sleeping [Joh 11:11, Dan 12:2, etc].  The Lord’s words are Spirit and life and speak to great mysteries that only few are given to understand.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Our dying to the Lord is our dying to death.  This is subjecting our carnal mind to the will of God and following the Spirit by the law of faith.  That is how newness of life is found and how we are being raised with Christ in the resurrection.  Christ speaks and acts in parables but most like Martha are only able to see the physical or outward application.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Dying to death is also known as the “second death” which every man will fulfill in their appointed time.  We experience and fulfill all the Scriptures, living by every word.  All those experiences are indeed ours [1Cor 3:21] to fulfill and many err by taking things out of the book as not applicable to them.  Dying to death comes to a head in our day of the Lord, when the Lord comes a second time for judgment and salvation.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 

Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

The consummation of salvation is our being given our crowns which is the mind of Christ that is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  When the Lord first comes to us, we will be found dead in our sins and trespasses. This is the fate of all men naturally born in marred bodies of flesh that cannot help but sin.  The Lord has His ways to correct us and remake us through the fiery experience of His judgments.

Exo 32:33  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 

In our day of the Lord, the new man is brought forth as the old man and our carnal way of thinking dies under the fire of God’s jealousies.  All men have sinned without exceptions and thus are blotted out from spiritual life until their appointed time comes.    The time comes for our day of the Lord when we find ourselves in the lake of fire, experience the second death, and thus are being saved!

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life[i.e. all who sin who have been blotted out at first] was cast into the lake of fire. 

The second death and our resurrection are one in the same event we experience.  Think of a two-sided coin and know that the Scriptures are speaking about His two witnesses which are the old man and the new man.  Both the carnal old man and the spiritual new man are clay in the potter’s hands.  He is molding and shaping us on His schedule and by this process, we die to death at the same time newness of life is brought forth.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

In this consuming fire [Heb 12:29] that is the Lord, we are being quickened and in due time are overcoming our flesh.  As we progress, we are able to look behind ourselves and see our deliverance from the ways of the world which is ruled by the spirit of Satan or said another way carnal mindedness.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

Our flesh does not go willingly to its death.  It resists the ways of the Spirit until it is brought into subjection.  The Lord prevails when our time has come and we are freed from the law of sin and death and separated from the carnally minded by our faith.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 

We should earnestly pray that we grow in the faith.  The challenges of living in this carnal world but not being of it, get bigger the further we walk, yet the Lord will equip us with the faith and temperament to bear it.

Articles

The Joy OF the Lord is Our Strength

Pete

The Joy OF the Lord Is Our Strength

Heb 3:6  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

The faith and joy of the Lord are intricately linked.  To those truly few called out and separated for salvation,  the Lord promises our sorrows that come from our travails will be turned into rejoicing and joy.  To those on the other side of the veil, those few given faith unto salvation looks like they have fallen into perdition.  Yet the same events to those brought through the fiery trials and persecution is a manifest token and sign that the Lord has come for us.

Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 

And that is exactly what has been fulfilled as the Lord’s promises are true.  When the Lord appears to us the second time for salvation, imparting faith that converts us from being carnally minded and abiding in death, we become One with the Lord and His Father having been given understanding of the ways of the Lord.

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 

Where the King’s commandments are sent, the Lord’s commandments arise within us and one is converted, becoming a true Jew and a possessor of the light, gladness, joy, and honor.

Est 8:16  The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. 

Est 8:17  And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. 

The fear of the true Jews is the fear of the Lord that is our beginning of Godly wisdom and one being converted into a spiritual Jew.  Many claim the name of the Lord but extremely few are given to know Him in spirit and in truth with those few being worked on by the Potter and Spiritual Physician.

Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

The joy of salvation is knowing we are saved by our faith and none of our own works.  We first lose this joy as a consequence of our adultery [disobedience] and murders [hating our brethren], all exemplified in the sin of David [Bathshiba]; that is caused of the Lord and then we are restored of the Lord when we are granted repentance and believe the Gospel.

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 

Psa 51:12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. 

It is HIS Joy not ours

It is the Lord’s joy that is put within the escaped remnant being saved in every age.  Said another way, it is not YOUR or MY joy, but HIS joy that is to be our strength as the precious few walks out this gospel of grace in faith. It is like faith, even that is not our own faith but is a gift of His Faith.  The same with the joy of the Lord!

Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you

It is through our believing [our faith in action]; that we are filled with joy and the fruits of the Spirit manifest having us resting in His peace and the power that now does the work in us.

Rom 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Trusting in the Lord is faith in action and that brings great joy as we know the Lord is wasting nothing and all things being worked in our life are for the greater good of our salvation.  That is peace to stand and abide in the place of faith that has with it great joy that is the Lord’s joy growing in us.  Being made ready by His Hands and brought to His marriage and wedding feast manifests gladness and rejoicing in our hearts.  It makes all the pain and suffering and travails with our fellow man pale in comparison.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him [by our obedience]: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Being given faith gives us the garments and what is needed to be clothed and married to the Lord. To receive faith we have to hear the Gospel and experience many sorrows as we carry our cross and lose our life.  When faith has come, this yoke becomes easy as it is for His joy we are made able to endure the cross and despise the shame and persecution by our own people.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

The Lord loses none of His little ones chosen from the foundation of the world.  When He comes His joy begins to be fulfilled in us.  The implanted Word that is Spirit and life [Joh 6:63] henceforth leads us into the way of peace and righteousness

Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

The Lord’s joy is our joy if we belong to Him and stand firmly in the Gospel guarding our gates with all vigilance.  This was the theme of Philippians 3 and Paul giving all things, counting them as dung, to be found “resting in Christ” [Heb 4] being clothed with the Lord’s garments and not our own.

 Php 4:1  Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 

It is our time in Babylon, where the truth and lies are mixed together, no one is converted and where men seek after their own way of righteousness still being bound by the law of their carnal mind.  This is spiritual speak for making their own food and own garments.  These actions and this work in the Lord’s name is not of faith and is the bondage we all are appointed to endure first.

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 

We are warned not to let any man come take this crown and steal the Lord’s joy from us [Rev 3:11].  Those still bound to the world and its merchandizing ways [the carnal mind reasoning] go about seeking their own way instead of coming to Christ. That is the snare of Babylon and that mindset will hate us and speak evil of us casting Christ away.  This is every man’s evil experience to endure until His joy comes when the morning star is revealed in them.

Psa 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 

Those escaped from Babylon that “come out of her” and those that are still bound to the law of their carnal reasonings, “the circumcision” are those given to build the true temple of God holding the joy of the Lord.  That was the spiritual lesson here in Nehemiah, speaking of those that escaped from Babylon who are sent to build the wall of faith in Spiritual Jerusalem.  It is here we find the famous verse about the joy of the Lord.

Neh 8:9  And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 

Neh 8:10  Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. 

The day we come out and make a stand for Christ, despising the shame, is the day of the Lord and when His joy begins to rule our lives.

Act 8:7  For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 

Act 8:8  And there was great joy in that city. 

The deception about “the Jews” is far greater than just the outward physical Jews [physical Israel today] versus the Spiritual Jews.  The outward appeal and righteousness of the law is compelling to all flesh and blinds one to the work of faith.  We all first persecute the disciples of Christ and expel them.  Yet when we ourselves bear these marks for the Lord for our standing up for true righteousness and the Gospel, then great joy will soon come upon us.

Act 13:50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 

Act 13:51  But they shook off the dust of their feet [carnal works and reasonings] against them, and came unto Iconium. 

Act 13:52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. 

The precious few the Lord is saving all come out of Spiritual Babylon [Rev 18:4].  It is a necessary step to first come out of the world, which Babylon is just a religious rendering of the same world and its reasonings under the law.  Remember both Jews and Gentiles have the same law written on their fleshly hearts before faith is come.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 

Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 

When the Lord comes to save us, we are translated into heaven on the third day and then everything changes not in minor ways but in major ways.  Our sorrows and pain and doubts are vaporized when the Lord grants us understanding of His plan and work in us.  All tears and sorrow vanish.

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

Looking behind ourselves we see many things we did wrong that were worldly and of the flesh.  This includes our lusting after riches and chasing knowledge all the while being oppressed and in bondage to the law.  The focus is henceforth on the things ordained for the Spirit.

Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink [gaining knowledge focus on learning]; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

All that matters is love which is our obedience and waiting on the Lord to perform that work in us.  These verses speaking of love [Agape in Greek also translated as charity] mean so much more when we are brought back to the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ and His commandments.  All the other stuff and seeking of riches and tongues will cease when the Lord matures in faith.

1Co 13:8  Charity [OBEDIENCE] never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 

1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 

1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

In the third day, when the Lord is come, we have all the knowledge we need.  Circumcision and more reasonings about the Scriptures will profit us no longer.   What we lacked in Babylon [which is the carnal gathering of Jews under the oppression of the Assyrians – the world]; was faith and trust in the Lord and having no confidence in ourselves.  That was the punchline of the parable of the righteous man who followed the law but lacked ONE IMPORTANT THING.  He could not follow the Lord as he was very rich and still trusted in his own riches and reasonings of what was right and wrong.  That was one of the main topics in a recent article called “Who Has Believed Our Report”

This carnal trust, is the buying and selling, the reasoning of what is right and wrong based on the law for the lawless and it stops when faith is come.  We forsake all to buy the treasure and therein we now rest in Him.

Mat 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 

Now being seated in heaven with Christ, we can worship in spirit and in truth and stay in the Holy City and in His Temple with great joy and fervent praise for all the things the Lord is working in us and through us.

Luk 24:51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 

Luk 24:52  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 

Luk 24:53  And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. 

The Lord returns for us in our appointed time. He does not and did not leave us captive in Babylon. Our captivity has now been taken captive and we are entering into His Joy. This is the plan of prosperity the Lord has for every man in the appointed day and hour.

Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

This is the same as the fulfillment of the parable of the Talents.  When we prove faithful in a few things, He promotes us into greater things and gives salvation and we enter into His Joy.

Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 

The power we had over evil spirits when still unconverted is surpassed by our understanding what the Lord meant when speaking to us much earlier in our walk.

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 

Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. 

There is great joy in our heaven and all those seated with Christ when one person repents of His self-righteousness under the law [our inequity] and believes the gospel.

Luk 15:7  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 

Luk 15:10  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 

Trusting only in the Lord, having escaped the bondage and oppression of Babylon and the Scribes and Sadducees that deny the power of the Resurrection, the wall is now built by those few with gladness and joy.

Psa 105:42  For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. 

Psa 105:43  And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 

Psa 105:44  And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; 

We have to endure a little season where we will feel forsaken as our Lord experienced [Mat 27:46].  Being persecuted and crucified by your own people and waiting on the Lord to raise us up is this season.  We will weep and lament as our entire existence as we knew it and our faith is shaken to the core by this trying experience of the cross and be rejected by our own people.   This is how the sons of God are made manifest and come forth through much travail that is then quickly turned to joy.

Joh 16:20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 

The power of the Gospel unto salvation is come upon those who have borne these sorrows.  But we see our Lord again and in a new and much more powerful way when we walk in true faith believing upon Him being filled with His Joy.  Now in faith, we can ask the Lord ANYTHING according to His name and He WILL [not maybe] will do it.

Joh 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 

Joh 16:23  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 

Joh 16:24  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 

There it is, the promise of faith given to the few who believe and walk according to the Gospel of Grace.  When we receive the gospel and the power upon high our afflictions no longer bring sorrow as we have the joy of the Holy Spirit working in us.

1Th 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. 

1Th 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 

Now being married to Christ in Spirit, we are One with Him and are joined in Spirit with all the saints that walk in faith [Joh 14:20].  The flesh and old ways have passed away.  The comforter is come to His people and they are redeemed of the Lord.

Isa 65:17  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 

Isa 65:18  But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 

Isa 65:19  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 

It is an honor and blessing to be given to stand up for righteousness sakes and be persecuted and stoned by those that claim they are Jews but are not.  Those precious few given to repent and believe the Gospel in every age are the Lord’s redeemed who will be full of joy and exceedingly glad for all the things the Lord is working.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 

The exceeding and great reward is having the mind of Christ, being seated with Him in our heaven.  Now is salvation come when Satan and his carnal reasonings has been cast out of our mind and way of thinking [Rev 12:7-10].

Isa 51:11  Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 

Isa 51:12  I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 

Amen.  Grace and peace be with the Lord’s people.

Studies

Exposing the Millennium Reign Doctrine – Part 1

Pete

Exposing the Millennium Reign Doctrine – Part 1

This study is intended to expose some of the many falsehoods of a doctrine many of us previously learned that has Jesus Christ returning outwardly to physical earth and ruling and reigning with His Elect for a symbolic 1,000-year period. This doctrine, as we once learned is a lie that takes our focus away from where it should be.  An invention of the carnal mind, this teaching relates back to the lie that the Elect receives greater rewards from the Lord including ruling the outward world.  If we are chosen to be saved in this age, we will be given to see through the twisting of the Scriptures by those who perform great signs and wonders.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

Within secular Christianity, there are many versions of this one thousand [1,000] year doctrine, called “the Millennium” that have generally been classified into three main groups those being: premillennialists, post millennialists or amillennialists.  The pre and post refer to whether the group believes this outward literal event occurs before or after an outward “great tribulation”.  Of course, even this great tribulation is an inward event, signifying the coming of Christ a second time to men for salvation.

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

Amillennialists believe there is not an outward reign on the earth. Amillennialists are closest to the truth by rightly claiming this event is spiritual in nature and not an outward physical event.  The words of Scripture are all Spirit, profiting not the flesh [Joh 6:63] and the truth of any matter is only found following sound principles to those the Lord has given the ability.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

The way of truth is foolishness to those God has blinded and who have not been given the gift of God to spiritual discern the truth.

Our old way of life [thinking and our deeds] is being destroyed in our great tribulation which is the same as our inward day of the Lord. From the perspective of the timing or sequencing, the premillennialists have it right as the time period of the 1,000 years precedes what is the day of the Lord and our being raised with Christ to eternal life.

Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished [AFTERWARDS]. This is the first resurrection. 

A little carnal leaven leavens the whole lump and results in all kinds of false doctrines and theories about the end times.  Only those blessed few in this age are given to see that none of the end times sequences [eschatology] in the Book of Revelation and in Scripture is outward. It is 100% speaking of what is going on in the kingdom of God within and it is always shortly to come to pass.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

Christ will rule and reign with His people, which is all men in the appointed time.  Yet that rulership is never said to be outward but always in His Kingdom.  And where is that kingdom?

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Our Lord who changes not [Heb 13:8] has no plan in ruling the carnal world outwardly through His people.  He is in the process of destroying that world one man at a time as He chooses them for salvation.

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Before we go further, let’s read the key verses and the only place in the Bible where this doctrine is being interpreted from.  Here are the verses

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, [our day of the Lord] and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The outward reign doctrine originates from false prophets the Lord created and turns over to the idols of their heart [Eze 14:9]. An idol of pride has us all puffed up and believing as God’s chosen people we are given better promises and greater rewards than other men.  Such thoughts are a hidden lust of the flesh that has snared many before we mercifully have been dragged out of that error.

The only purpose given for the outward millennium reign in our former teaching forums was so the Lord could destroy all physical flesh of men so no more babies could be born and so death could be destroyed. Here is an excerpt repeated all over those teachings that speak to the purpose of this outward Millennium.

“It is only “through death”, the death of our old man, that our new man can be born. So it is for all men of all time, and so it is with death itself. Until death itself is destroyed, there will be no victory over death. But as long as little Adams are being born, death cannot be destroyed, and that is the real reason for putting “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan” in prison for a thousand years, just to release him again for “a little season” afterward.”

The error here is very subtle yet huge.  While death is the last enemy [1Co 15:26] to be destroyed, this outward thinking about death misses the mark entirely.  The death the Lord is reigning until He destroys it is the carnal mind which is naturally an enemy of God.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

It is no big deal, requiring no process, nor a 1,000-year reign for the Lord to speak physical flesh out of existence. We have many events, stories, and parables that show us that the Lord considers physical death to just be sleep [See the story of Lazarus Joh 11:11-14].  The end of death is the end of the carnal mind. That is the Second Death that only happens in the Lake of Fire, which many deny as having any application to God’s Elect.

Unwinding these errors and removing the leaven, will help put our focus back where it needs to be which is our overcoming and the rest of the dead within us coming alive to Christ.

Rom 6:7  For he that is dead [dead to death and the carnal mind, which is the Second Death] is freed from sin. 

Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 

The resurrection to damnation is very much needed and must precede the coming of the Lord for salvation.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die [be found dead in sin, see ourselves as chief of sinners], but after this the judgment: 

Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time [in our day of the Lord in the Lake of Fire] without sin unto salvation. 

These events in Revelation 20 are signified words describing the transition from our abiding in the resurrection of damnation knowing the truth but without overcoming unto the day of the Lord when fire will be poured out and a new heaven and earth within us is being made.  It is answered prayer.

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 

Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 

Are there Multiple Witnesses to the Outward Rule on the Earth?

No Scripture is to be of its own private interpretation (2Pe 1:20) and that is how Revelation 20 must also be interpreted.  It is only in two or three witnesses that every truth and matter of doctrine shall be established.

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 

The Millennium Reign doctrine was taught without any confirming witnesses and is now shown to be another facet of the bigger lie that the Elect are given special awards and prizes from the Lord.  The Lord never mentions an outward rule on the earth to His disciples in all His walk with them in the Gospels.  Also, none of the Apostles (Paul, Peter, John, and James) make any mention of this supposed gigantic event in any of their writings.  This alone should be a huge red flag that this doctrine is an invention of men.  Revelation 20 by itself is not the Truth unless it harmonizes with the sum.

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. 

Christ is Lord of the heavens and the earth and He is going to reign in both places.  But those places are within you and that is where the Lord is working right now to establish dominion within those being saved.

Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool … 

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 

2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

A close inspection of the signified words of Rev 20 shows that nowhere does it say our reign with Christ is taking place on the outward physical earth. All those words in Revelation are signified words meaning what they mean not what they literally say [Rev 1:1, Joh 6:63].  It is only by transcribing them by the letter that such a doctrine can be twisted into existence.

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Let’s remind ourselves what the rulership of Christ is always speaking about when we see it in the Bible.  Rulership is over our own bodies and emotions, in the kingdom of God that is within us (Luk 17:21).

Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth [have dominion over sin, be dead to death]

Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors [the Gentiles, our carnal mind, our flesh]

Nowhere are we promised ruling over other men in any way shape or form.  In fact, we have the exact opposite witness, a witness that tells us those in Christ will be doing no such thing in ruling and lording over any man.  The list of Scriptures witnessing to this has been used a lot recently, yet repetition is needed to keep out that false spirit of ruling men.

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 

Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 

1Pe 5:2  Feed the flock of God [all men in their harvests] which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, [carnal gain, exaltation among men] but of a ready mind; 

1Pe 5:3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples [ministers] to the flock.

It is the spirit of Satan who will lie to us and drive us to be made chief among the people and be given the promise to rule over men and the entire world.  It is a key temptation that only the true Christ in us can resist and overcome.

Luk 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 

Luk 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 

Luk 4:7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 

Luk 4:8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

Those seeking to rule others in Jerusalem have made a covenant with the devil who has been given the power of death by the Lord [Heb 2:14]. Thankfully all men’s covenant with their carnal mind [death] will be disannulled.  But in the meantime, it will first deceive all of us until the Lord brings mercy.

Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Some may point to the story of Joseph and his brothers to say the Elect will rule over men.  Yet an important truth is omitted to arrive at such a conclusion.

Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

Notice it was the sheaves [of grain] not the brothers that bowed down to Joseph’s sheave of grain.  This story in no way speaks of the Elect ruling over men, it shows the Word of God, which is the grain we gather ruling over the carnal words that the world, our eleven brothers walking after the flesh gather.  The obeisance was to the grain; which is symbolism for the Word of God we as the Elect in this age are gathering into the barn.  Joseph’s brothers like our carnal brothers [the rest of mankind and the world within us] will misunderstand and hate us for standing on truth and falsely accuse us of claiming dominion over them.

Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

The carnal mind, every man’s flesh does not want to bow to Christ who is the Word. We don’t want to be reigned over.

Luk 19:14  But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 

The bowing down of men is always to be to the Word [Christ’s Commands] and never to the messenger who brings that word [Rev 19:10, Rev 22:8]

Joseph had a second dream about the sun, moon, and stars bowing down.    That dream like the first was about our carnal thoughts or beliefs … the sun, moon, and stars in our heavens, bowing down to the Truth.  When our day of the Lord starts and our conversion begins, the lights that guide us will all bow before the brightness of the Truth.

Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 

Act 2:20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 

The rulership of Christ is always about truth and doctrine ruling over the lies and carnal reasoning and the not the physical rulership of any man over another. Our old man [Jacob] will hate Christ in us and the world will also hate us for standing on truth and rejecting their way of thinking.  That is the real message in the story of Joseph’s dreams.  It was never about any outward rulership on a physical earth.  To be spiritually nourished, they all had to bow and come to Joseph [Christ] for the bread of life that sustains us.

Gen 41:55  And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for [spiritual] bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph [a type for Christ]; what he saith to you, do. 

Those yet carnal parts within us, the rest of the dead within us will in due time bow down to the new man who is the one the Lord loves [He hates Esau].  Our sins and carnality will be exposed in our day of the Lord and those parts of us will bow to the Word of God that is the New Man, Christ in us.  Our carnal thoughts are messengers of Satan that masquerade as angels of light [spiritual Jews] which will bow down to the new man.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 

Only the Lord who is the Word shall be ruling over every man.  Gideon, a type for the Elect and a judge of Israel, the very role those in the second harvest are first to serve the Lord in spreading the fire to all of mankind.

Jdg 8:22  Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

Jdg 8:23  And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you

Did Christ in the gospels teach of an outward rule and reigning over men before the end comes by His church?  No He did not.  His coming to every man is within, it is in the kingdom of God.

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all [inward] nations; and then shall the end come [inwardly in the hearts/minds of every man in their time]

 If we need any motivation to strive to obey the gospel [be faithful], we find some in the parable of the Talents.  We are all three of these men [as we mature] given talents who first squander them in sloth and then by the grace of God begin to work in the kingdom within us and multiply those talents as we gain dominion over our sins.  This is the rulership the Lord is working in His Elect in this age and in all men in due time.

Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 

When we are given His talents, His truths, we are learning to put them to use so we can receive even more and hasten the rulership and dominion over our inward earth.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 

Ruling over “many things” are the things that defile and the creeping things in our earth that are contrary to faith.  Our bodies are the temple of God, His very House in which He dwells, and it is in that house where the new man is being established as the ruler.  His inward revealing, the second coming without sin is when every man is judged and eventually given to rule and reign over the promised land.

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 

Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 

Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 

It is Christ in us who becomes the ruler of His House and Temple which is the Israel of God in which He dwells.

Mat 2:6  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee [within you] shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 

Christ in us and also in the fellowship with the saints is the “treader of the winepress” and the one serving up the wine [the cup of wrath to flesh] that is converting the inward nations when every man’s day of the Lord begins.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

The ruling and reigning of Christ coincides with the ruling and reigning of chastening, scourging grace within us.  Here is Paul speaking of these 1,000 symbolic years (one day) another way.

Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles [reign over the rest of the dead, the Gentiles within us]; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

In conclusion, the outward Millennium Reign of Christ on the physical earth is an invention of the carnal mind.  It’s origins and defense all come back to the carnal lie of Satan who promises us glory in ruling and reigning the entire world in Christ’s name.  Those taken by the serpent’s subtlety have invented an entire outward age, going way beyond what is written and going outside of the three-day process by which the Lord rebuilds His temple in every man.  The truth, which is the sum of the Word, stands in strong in opposition to this false doctrine we were once taught.

In Part 2, we will look more into the ruling and reigning with Christ and how it is depicted elsewhere in the Scriptures.  The focus will be on what this reign is versus this study that focused on what it is not.  Seeing the same event in plainer language than Revelation 20 will help cement the Lord’s plan for the age and get our focus back where it needs to be.

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. 

Part 2 of this multi-part study series can be found by CLICKING HERE

 

Articles

Knowing the Lord

Pete

In today’s study, we are focusing on the truth that we are being transformed with a renewed mindset (Rom 12:2) meaning God being all and all which is the end purpose of Christ. This will come to pass exactly on schedule in the appointed times for all men as death (the carnal mind) is destroyed in every man.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

Dying to this death is the function of the lake of fire and how we overcome all that is at enmity with God. This is the only way we become like Christ and are being given His mind.

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [second death – Heb 2:14-15], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Life cannot be “all in all” with God when enmity between Him and man still exists. Hence death has to be destroyed.

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Man profess the Name of the Lord and proclaim to know Him, yet we only know Him in the flesh at first. It takes the coming of Christ in the Spirit, in faith, giving us eyes to see and ears to hear to usher in the age of the day of the Lord by which we grow into our true knowledge of the Lord and be given His mind through a fiery process.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

It is those being judged now in all areas of their lives that are being purified through the lake of fire that is simultaneously giving them the mind of Christ the more we endure in the fiery furnace in our day of the Lord.

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? [only those judging all things now] But we have the mind of Christ. 

We have this crown in down payment form now as our foreheads have been sealed with the Spirit of Truth. Yet we have to endure to the end to receive the full prize of the upward calling of God, which is to have His mind, a crown of glory.

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Obedience Manifested by the Fear of the Lord

Knowledge of the Lord comes from understanding which originates from us fearing the Lord.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Knowledge of the holy is speaking of our obedience which conforms us into the image of the Lord. The gold we are buying in the fiery trials of our judgment (Rev 3:18, 1Pe 4:12) is the fear of the Lord. This is the beginning of us having wisdom into God’s ways.

Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

It is our fiery lake of fire experience we have to endure to receive a new heart of the Lord. This is the true spiritual circumcision, made without man’s hands (Col 2:11) that brings with it a growing and healthy fear of the Lord.

Jer 32:39  And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

Jer 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

God’s judgments teach us the righteousness of Christ. It teaches us the fear of the Lord and leads to our receiving the great reward, the mind of Christ as a result.

Psa 19:11  Moreover by them [the judgments] is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

The fear of the Lord is how our obedience is being made manifest in our lives. It is through this fiery process, in our heavens and earth that the Lord is giving us age-abiding life. That is the Lord’s will for all men beginning with the house of God upon which judgment is first fallen (1Pe 4:17).

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

This fear is being taught in a similar way our earthly or physical father taught us and demonstrated they are in charge and we are to be obedient to their commandments. The Lord’s favor upon us is His grace which is chastening and scourging us into following His ways and commandments as His sons.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence [feared them]: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit [our good], that we might be partakers of his holiness.

So right there is the purpose for all judgment and all chastening that is scourging and bringing to naught the man of sin within us. To be made partakers of His holiness, we go through our chastening judgment and not cut those words out of our life. If we want to be like our Lord, we obey His Word as He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek that Word. If we hearken to Him, we are taught the fear of the Lord which hastens His coming within us.

Psa 34:11  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Our Lord sets for us the supreme example of obedience and fearing God and how the prayers of one being made righteous are answered mightily.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Learning anything takes experience in doing it right but also doing it wrong. Our judgment is the correction of our Father bringing upon those whom He loves. We learn that it’s not just about doctrine, it is about doing righteousness, being obedient. The Lord rules not only in heaven with His truth but also in our earth as all things are being brought into subjection.

Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 

Act 7:50  Hath not my hand made all these things? 

The Lord is Lord of the outward heavens and earth but also the inward heaven (our mind) and the earth (our walk/bodies). The work of God in His Kingdom in ushering in righteousness is happening within our hearts and minds.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Eternal Life is to Know the Lord

When we are dead to death, we are alive to Christ and the Father. This is the definition of “eternal” or “age abiding” life that the faithful receive first as they are the first to go through judgment and die to death.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

Christ has already come in the hearts and minds of His sons. We henceforth are coming to know Him as we follow Him to the old man’s death (death to death) in the lake of fire.

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding [His mind], that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

This gift of God that comes via grace is what makes us One with the Lord and our Father. This begins with the household of God separated from this world who are the first to partake of the Lord’s mind.

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 

Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

Our suffering through our judgment, carrying our cross to death is what we do in order to receive the gift of God which is eternal life.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into [the second] death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

It is a desire to love (obey) God and to know Him that is the reward and the prize we as the possessor’s of God’s oracles are pursuing. If the love of God is in our hearts, we are pressing onward and upward for this high calling to know the Lord.

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

This will take us going to our death and experiencing all the vengeance of the Lord for His Holy temple that we have defiled (1Co 3:17).

Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

The best litmus test of do we truly “know the Lord” is to examine ourselves on which will help us stay on the narrow way.

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

All of us are the many that at first say we know Him, but we have yet to go through the fire and die that is necessary to know Him in Spirit and Truth.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

It’s the same lesson for the foolish virgins who we are before we become wise and gain understanding and know Him by going through the fire. That is the only place oil can be purchased that will give us what is needed to keep our internal lamps burning.

Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 

No man can enter in any other way except by living out all the wrath of God. That wrath is the same as the seven plagues brought to us by the seven angels of the Lord.

Rev 15:8  The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. 

When carnal mindedness, which is death, is destroyed; then all men will have a new mind.  This comes by losing the old mindset, which spiritually speaking is a beheading of our old man in our day of judgment. The new man (the overcomer in us) is raised to life as the dead in us (the old man and his mind) is destroyed.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

New life comes forth from death in the Lord’s fire. If we die with Him, we live with Him and that is how we come to know Him and His power. The plan of our redemption and overcoming the world has never been changed. It was always there from Genesis to Revelation. The process is how we gain knowledge and receive His mind, knowing the Lord.

Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

To know He is the Lord of our heavens and our earth, we are given not only a new mind (heaven) but also a new heart.

Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Eze 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

How does the Lord do this and by what process? We need not guess or speculate but go to the source of Truth (Psa 119:160).

Eze 36:27  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Rom 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God (zeal to obey the Lord) has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Agape or true love really means.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Our carnal minds are being slain right before our eyes.

Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

The carnal mind being slain by the sword of the Lord is what brings us to life. Only the faithful are given to experience salvation in this age when the armies of Christ bring the fiery words of life to our hearing.

Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him [died to second death by the Body’s sword] that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

Ezekiel 11:10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Looking behind ourselves, it is the entire experience that will be attributed to the Lord and His works in us. Every step we take including our eating of the tree of good and evil is all the Lord’s work.

Ezekiel 12:15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, WHEN I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

Our time of judgment, the time when the wrath of God is at hand (Rev 1:3) is when we are blessed and begin to come into the true knowledge of the Lord.

Ezekiel 25:17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.  

Judgments are what brings about death to the old man which is life for the new man. The other side of the same two-edged sword (Heb 4:12)! We know He is the Lord when He is destroying the old mindset replacing it with the new.

Ezekiel 37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

There is no boasting for resurrecting ourselves from the spiritually dead. We know we are unworthy and unprofitable servants (Luk 17:10) who have simply been blessed by the Lord and are doing our reasonable service (Rom 12:1).

Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves

Knowing all of this and the Lord’s plan for His people what shall we be doing?  Our lives do not continue in the same way and manner as before.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love [obedience unto holiness] and to good works:

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.