Corinthians in New York state of mind

“Corinth (pop. 500,000) was what we would call a first-century laissez-faire society; their motto could have been ‘anything goes,’ and, it did,” writes Richard Ritenbaugh (www.bibletools.org) about what the port city was like at the time of Paul’s ministry there. “Even though Aphrodite was the leading deity in Corinth, Poseidon was the patron deity of Corinth, since it was right on the sea.

"Professional gamblers and athletes betting on the Isthmean Games took up residence here. Slaves, sometimes freed but with no place to go, roamed the streets day and night. And prostitutes, both male and female, were abundant . . . The temple of Aphrodite on the Acro-Corinthus, high point of Corinth, employed 1000 prostitutes alone . . . These were people who came out of a highly sexualized culture.

“People from Rome, the remainder of Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and indeed all the Mediterranean world relished the lack of standards, and freedom of thought which prevailed in that city. These were the people who eventually made up the Corinthian church. They had to learn to live together in harmony, although their national, social, economic, and religious backgrounds were very different.

“So, what we have is a first century version of New York City. Everybody tries to go there. There is vice. There is every kind of idea. You have actors, sports figures, financiers, business heads, great minds, artists, philosophers, all making their pilgrimage to a city where they know that they will have the freedom to do what they want to do. And this was known throughout the Mediterranean world. In fact, there was a word—to corinthianize—which means almost without restraint. It was tinged, of course, with sexual innuendo.”

*****

“The first six chapters of Corinthians are a scathing rebuke to those Corinthian Believers for their lackadaisical, unworthy, appalling lifestyle,” says Jordan. “They were fighting. They were suing each other. They were in some gross immorality.

“Paul tells them, ‘You’ve got such wickedness in your midst that it isn’t even named among the Gentiles.’ He’s telling them the unsaved Gentiles had better morals, more scruples and respect than they had. There was terrible wickedness openly in their midst.

“Do you think that was much of a testimony to the Jews whose Scripture would look at that and reason, ‘God says that kind of a person is an abomination to Him; God can’t be over there’?

“The Corinthian Believers needed, literally, the supernatural sign gifts that could not be gainsayed in their midst, not because of their spiritual condition, but because of the fact that they weren’t very spiritually minded.

“God is giving them a supernatural ministry IN SPITE of their lack of faith, lack of faithfulness and lack of a proper worthy walk. The 'sign gifts' were not given to the Corinthians because they sought it harder, prayed for it more earnestly, and deserved it more, in spite of all the stuff you hear today to the contrary.

“Those people were in a morally and spiritually lethargic and lecherous condition and God put the 'sign gifts' there sovereignly because of the need of the witness He was bearing to those Jews. And because He bore it there, that witness is recorded in Scripture for all time.

“Let me tell you, if there’s anything the grace message has contributed to understanding is that the ‘gift program’ is over and folks, when it’s over it’s over, and there are no gifts for you to seek today and you’re not a gifted person in the sense the Corinthians were.

“That’s the reason that verse in Ephesians 4 is in the PAST tense. Paul writes, [11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

“When the Word of God came there wasn’t a need any more for Him to supernaturally give it, because now we’ve got the doctrine in the written Word that we can put in our heart and be the motivator for us to then go do the things. Before the doctrine in the Word, they needed the gifts to motivate them to go do.”

(new article tomorrow)    

'What happens in Corinth, stays in . . .'

In Scripture, the people who had the biggest manifestation of tongue-talking were the worst assembly Paul wrote to.

“Tongue-talking was a sign, not of spirituality, but of carnality, and the Corinthians were the most carnal church Paul wrote to,” says Jordan. “The reason the people at Corinth sought the gift of tongues is that gift is a sensational thing that makes you look real spiritual. You see, the spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 12:7) were the outward manifestations of the working of the Spirit of God in you.

“I look at you guys sitting here today and I don’t see the Spirit of God working in you. You don’t see Him working in me. He’s inside. You don’t feel it, you don’t sense it. It’s a non-experiential reality.

“Notice in I Corinthians 12:14 what Paul says you’re supposed to do: ‘Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.’

“You see, they were trying to get the spectacular. Paul says, ‘Everything related to what goes on in the church is for one purpose: edifying, building up an internal structure in the Believers that causes you to become mature.’

“He says in verse 26, ‘How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.’

*****

“Corinth was a port city toward the bottom of Greece and on the eastern side of the isthmus separating two inlets. On the other side was the port city of Cenchrea. These ports were vital to the shipping in the Mediterranean Sea.

“The shipping would come into Corinth and go by land just a short way over to Cenchrea, pick up cargo and then go on. Goods came from the east and south to Rome, which was the center of the known world at that time, and back again.

“The Mediterranean Sea was very treacherous with the way its winds, tides, and currents were, making shipping a risky venture. If you remember, Paul, in Acts 27, was in a big shipwreck. He was actually shipwrecked several times in that area down there.

*****

“It’s important to understand this port-city kind of environment and how port cities are notoriously wicked places. I say that as someone born and raised in the port city of the state of Alabama.

“My point isn’t to condemn a port city; it’s just to alert you to the fact there’s some things that go on in Corinth that have to do with its location. Phebe was from Cenchrea and these two cities’ churches and Believers were involved together.

“Paul leaves the intellectual center of Athens, which had a high-brow, intellectual philosophers’ concentration, for his very important ministry in Corinth. Corinth is quite a different kind of city from Athens; much more earthy, more blue-collar, more working-man and down to the nitty-gritty other side of life.

“He goes there and ministers and Acts 18:2-3 says, [2] And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
[3] And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

[4] And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

“Priscilla and Aquila are two saints we know a lot about as we study Paul’s ministry. They hazarded their lives, Romans 16 says, for Paul. He meets them here. They are Jewish Believers who have come from Rome because the Roman government had run the Jews out of there. Paul was a tent maker, as they were.

*****

“Acts 18 continues, [5] And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
[6] And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

“This is one of three times in the Book of Acts where Paul looks at Israel, pronounces a sentence of unbelief and judgment upon them and says, ‘Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.’ The first time is in Acts 13 when Paul was at Antioch in Pisidia, which is in Turkey.

“Acts 13: 44-45 reports, [44] And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
[45] But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

“These Jews objected to Paul preaching the Word of God to the Gentiles and they’re going to stand in the way of the Word going to them. They contradict and blaspheme, yelling, ‘What he’s saying is not so! It is not true that God has sent salvation to all men! Salvation only belongs to Israel! It’s not true that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; you can’t be saved by grace.’

“They’re blasphemers, speaking evil of the things Paul’s saying. The passage goes on, [46] Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
[47] For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

“Paul, through his ministry, is demonstrating and declaring to the Jews in Asia that ‘through the fall of Israel salvation goes to the Gentiles.’ How do you know Israel is fallen? Paul says, ‘We preached the Word of God to you, we shared the message with you, but you refused it, you contradicted it, you blasphemed it; you don’t want it. You judge yourselves; you demonstrate yourselves to be in unbelief and lo, we turn to the Gentiles.’

*****

“With Paul’s move out of Asia into Europe, into Greece, what you’re seeing as you go through Acts is the next step in the ministry going out. The blindness starts in Jerusalem with the ‘stoning of Stephen’ in Acts 7, and then you see it in Asia in Acts 13. You see it in Europe in Acts 18 and again in Rome, which ruled the world, in Acts 28.

“When Paul makes this announcement in Acts 18, he is demonstrating the effect of the blindness on Israel. Verse 7 tells us, [7] And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

“He departed and entered into a certain man’s house named Justus. If you’ve got one of the new bibles, they called him Justus Titius, or Titius Justus, and you realize, ‘Okay, that’s what you call adding to the Word of God.’

"Paul’s declaring to the Jews the Word of God but they don’t want it, so he literally goes next door and starts preaching. What does that say? That’s saying God is leaving Israel and going over to a house of a Gentile. What’s God done? He’s left Israel and gone to the Gentiles.

“When it says the house is ‘joined hard to the synagogue,’ that means there’s a common wall between them, just like you see with city storefronts. He literally goes out of that synagogue, which is one storefront, into the next storefront, which is a man named Justus’ house.

“Paul gets up and leaves and a whole troop of people leave with him. All the Believers go with him next door. Now, notice what happens in verse 8: [8] And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

“What did the chief ruler of the synagogue do? He believed on the Lord. Isn’t that interesting? It says, ‘With all his house.’ The passage goes on, [9] Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
[10] For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
[11] And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

*****

“It’s very important you understand Corinthians is written to a group of people where God is pressing an enormous dispensational issue with them. I mean, this thing is so alive and active!

“Now, there are theologians and commentaries that will argue it was unethical and unkind of Paul to leave a group and go right next door and start an opposition group. They say, ‘Surely he was being Anti-Semitic.'

“By the way, Brother Gil once brought some folks here to visit on a Sunday who were from some so-called Messianic assembly near his house, and they went home in the car warning him, ‘That preacher’s an evil man; he’s an Anti-Semitic.’

“You know why some react that way? Because they would come here and we would treat them just like any other Gentile, not giving them a special status any more so than we would give someone of any other (blood) background. Now, just imagine what they would have said to and about Paul in Acts 18?! That would have been real interesting to have heard.”  

(to be continued tomorrow) 

Jews' origin for all man's religions

"Every religion found among mankind has its origin, in some particular way, in the religion God gave Israel.

"It’s a fascinating thing when you study it through. Study Islam, Hinduism . . . I was reading through the Bhagavad Gita, one of the Hindu holy books, and I’m in this one passage thinking, ‘Wow, man, that’s Leviticus!’ You say, ‘How’d they know about that?!’ Well, it got out.

“You watch Islam. Ramadan is here and they make the pilgrimage. Well, three times a year, every Jew had to go back to Jerusalem, make a pilgrimage. Deuteronomy 16:16. It was required of them. Not just once in a lifetime but every year.

“The Muslims pray toward Mecca. Well, where did Daniel pray toward? Jerusalem. Why? That’s where God’s temple was.

“You look at all that corrupted stuff out there . . . Israel, who had the ‘pure religion,’ as the Bible calls it, corrupted their religion with the false and it’s a screwball kind of a thing where, ‘I’ve got the real thing and you’ve got the fake thing, but I like your fake thing, too, so I’ll bring your fake thing into my real thing and corrupt my real thing, and now both of us don’t have anything worth having!'

“They just swap things around and that’s why II Kings 17 says about Israel that they worship Jehovah and serve Baal. You say, 'How do you do that?!' Well, go to any church in America today and you can see it happening. Go to a Catholic church, Orthodox church, Catholic-sympathizing Protestant church, which is pretty much everybody, and you see all those kinds of things.

“I just had a conversation with a brother who's dealing with people in his assembly about the Lord’s Supper; they're glued to doing it in the traditional mini-Protestant Mass form and they think it’s an absolute requirement it be done that way. I’m thinking, ‘You know, even if I thought what they wanted to do was right, making it an absolute requirement is exactly the opposite of what I Corinthians 11 says to do.’ You think, 'Where’d that come from?' Tradition gets a hold on you.

*****

“God says in Isaiah 1:13-15 [13] Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
[14] Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
[15] And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

“When He says there ‘you spread forth your hands,’ that’s how the religions pray. You know why people do that when they pray? It’s, ‘Pour down the blessing, Lord!’ Have you ever watched a Catholic priest do the Mass? Why do they do that?

"You ever watch the Charismatic folks on the TV? Why do they do it? They haven’t got a consciousness of God living inside of them. Why do you want God to drop you something if you understand He lives inside you? ‘What’s He dropping down? He’s in here!’

“Things that you do mean things. People say, ‘Well, Paul says over in Timothy to lift up holy hands.’ Well, as soon as you get holy hands, lift them up, but until then, understand that’s a figure of speech. That’s not talking about the posture of your hands. I’ve looked at most of you all’s hands and they aren’t that holy.

“By the way, people use this passage in Isaiah 1 to say, ‘See, God really didn’t want Israel to have all that bloody religion.’ Yes, He did. He gave it to them! He just wanted them to do it in faith, not make a religious system out of it; not have ‘idols in their heart,’ as Ezekiel says.

*****

“If we had forever to study, we could go back to Ezekiel 36 and see how the land had been polluted and made unclean by the blood of the idolaters and offering the children to Molech. All that blood of idolatry, He takes them out of that land for the 70 years so the land can have rest.

“In Isaiah 1, when He says, ‘So is this people,’ He’s talking about Israel and every work of their hand; everything they’ve done in their religion is unclean, unacceptable.

"Talking to the nation Israel, He says they’re spiritually Sodom and Gomorah: '[10] Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.' The Book of Revelation calls them that.

“The nation Israel is in an absolute condition of rebellion. He calls them that at the end of verse 2. Isaiah 1:4 says, '[4] Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.'

“That’s His description of them spiritually before they go into captivity. Haggai is telling them, ‘You’re still in that spiritual condition.’

“Isaiah 1:11 says, [11] To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

“The problem isn’t that God didn’t give them commandments and instructions about burnt offerings and so forth; it’s that they’re not bringing them in faith. The Book of Leviticus says ‘if any man will.’ They made a religion out of the sacrifices.

"He says ‘bring no more vain oblations.’ They’d developed the Jew’s religion into a vain religious system. Jesus said, ‘In vain do you worship me, teaching doctrines of men.’ ”

A cry for BELIEF in the access

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,” says Paul in Romans 8:15.

“To me that word ‘cry’ is one of the most important words in that verse and there are a lot of important words in that verse, but that one gets overlooked,” says Jordan.

“Paul doesn’t say, ‘Whereby we make the statement, Abba, Father.’ He doesn’t say, ‘Whereby we logically deduce that it’s the Father.’ He doesn’t say, ‘This is a doctrinal affirmation that we make and proclaim.’ He says, ‘Whereby we CRY out of a heart that understands I’ve reached the Father’s heart!’

“When you cry, you’ve reached down into the depths of the reality of who you are and all the other stuff is taken away. A cry is something that reaches down into the depths of your soul with the reality of the moment and that personal affection.

*****

“Paul says in Romans 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.”

“You’ve got the future where we rejoice in hope and then the present peace with God. All that God’s provided for us in Christ Jesus you have access to. 

“You have the capacity to have the Holy Spirit take you by the hand and lead you right into all of those assets and make them real in your experience by faith. That’s by that deep consciousness that’s produced in your inner man simply by believing God’s Word.

“Faith isn’t you deciding something’s going to be a certain way. Faith is finding out what God’s Word says and believing what God’s Word says is true. ‘Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’

“You find out what God’s Word says about it and you say, ‘That’s what’s real no matter what my experience says, no matter what my emotions say, no matter what the advice of others say, no matter what my reason says. What GOD says is true!’

“Now, maybe my circumstances and my reason and everything else lines up with what God’s Word says, but it isn’t true because of all of that; it’s true because of what God says!

“Most of the time, your senses and your experience want to go the other way, but you still stick with what’s . . . it’s ‘by faith we have access to this grace wherein we stand.’ The identity you have in Him, you access it by faith.

“First, the access is by faith that ‘comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,’ and that accesses that consciousness; that confidence in your inner man that’s produced by believing God’s Word.

*****

“Listen, when you believe what God says, it has an impact in your inner man. Ephesians 3:12 says, ‘In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.’ Notice in verse 11, God’s doing some things ‘according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

“When you truly begin to understand what God’s doing, and this eternal plan He has in His Son—this cosmic reality God the Father has planned to be the reality for the universe in His Son, the one the Father’s going to use to do all of that—it's in Him we have BOLDNESS and access with confidence. Why? By the faith of HIM. Because of who HE is we have boldness and access with confidence.

“I don’t have to wonder whether God’s going to accept me. I don’t have to think maybe possibly He will. All of the questions anybody’s ever going to ask me about my access to God have been answered! And I can come with confidence. Yea, I can come with boldness.

“Now, that’s not brazenness where I’m coming because of me. I can just come with that bold confidence of one who has the access of the Father’s ear. Because every question that’s ever going to be asked of me has been answered in Christ.

*****

“There’s a real parallel between Ephesians 2 and what Paul talks about in Romans 8. Romans 8:31: [31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

“Somebody’s going to read down to this point in the Book of Romans and say, ‘But wait a minute?!’ and Paul says, ‘What should we say?’ 

"If someone comes along and they want to say, ‘Who do you think you are anyway?!’ and oppose you . . . if God is for you, WHO CARES WHO’S AGAINST YOU?!

“Here’s how God’s for you: [32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

“When religion rears its head and says, ‘Yeah, but, if you don’t do this . . .’ you just say, ‘Wait a minute, He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not freely give us all things?’

“When the world rears its head and says, ‘Yeah, but,’ you say, ‘You know what the reality is? The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.’

“When the world out there comes along and wants to help you create your identity, and help you create purpose and meaning and acceptance and validation in your life, with a thousand things that are smaller than Jesus Christ, faith says, ‘He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up . . . ’

*****

“Verse 33 says, [33] Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

"People criticize you. I learned a long time ago that it isn't so much what others criticize you about; it's how you criticize yourself. The hardest person on you is going to be you.

“You see somebody walking around like they never have a doubt, they just always come off as confident and knowing what they’re doing. But you see, you don’t hear that self-talk between their ears.

“The heart condemns you because your heart knows you. And written down in the nature of your heart, God put a conscience that accuses and excuses based upon the way He created you, not on the basis of the way you try to create yourself.

“The criticism arises. Verse 34 says, [34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

“Who can lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? If God justifies you, who cares what the charges are?! What’s the verdict? You’re righteous. ‘Who is he that condemneth; it is Christ that died.’

“You know, when your own sinfulness shows up, you need to remember those are the very things Christ died for. People say, ‘You teach people about grace and they’ll just go live in sin,’ but that’s somebody who doesn’t understand grace. That’s taking the doctrine of grace and not putting faith with it.

“The only time anyone turns grace into lasciviousness and a license to sin is people who don’t attach faith to grace. Because grace teaches us that Christ put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And if I believe that, what’s the reality in my life? That I should add sin or put it away?! Duh! How hard is that?!

“But when you just get a doctrine and detach faith, what did the verse in Romans say? ‘We have access by faith.’ To have grace work in your life, you attach faith to it; you believe it and then it works.

“So Paul finishes chapter 8 with, [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

*****

“You see, you can have confidence because of who HE is. If your confidence is going to rest in you, you’re going to have problems. But you can have confidence because your faith rests in the unwavering faithfulness of God Himself.

“That’s what access is about. Being able to come right into the 

presence of the Father and have that relationship. That’s WHY Paul can say that we ‘pray without ceasing.’ Because when you begin to realize you have this unfettered, uninterrupted access to the Father, based upon what Jesus Christ has done through the ministry of the Spirit of God, taking His Word and making it real to you as you believe it . . .  

“When you have that uninterrupted access that can be made real in your experience, you begin to realize that prayer isn’t, ‘Oh, Lord, I pray.’ There are times when bowing your head with both eyes closed works, but then there are other times when it doesn’t. The reason people do that is to cut out all the stimuli around you so you can concentrate simply on what you’re thinking, but that’s a baby way to pray.

“I’m talking about your personal communion with God. What your mind realizes is that when you have this instant, continuous access is, ‘Oh, what it is to pray without ceasing is just to be conscious constantly of this unfettered access I have to the Father and thus that He has to me!’ All of a sudden prayer is a quite different thing.

*****

“There’s an old Quaker saying, ‘Whomsoever carryeth about the temple of God with him may pray wherever he may go.’ The Holy Spirit lives in you in order to make your body the temple--the dwelling place--of God. You don’t have to go to a building somewhere to find Him. He’s right there. You’re His temple.

“There’s so many verses in Ephesians that have the trinity in them. Ephesians is full of the godhead. Father, Son, Spirit. That’s why this verse is such a delight to me. Ephesians 2:18 says, [18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

“On the basis of what Jesus Christ has done, I’m going to have access to the Father and it’s going to be the Holy Spirit that takes me and the Father by the hands and brings us together and introduces us and makes it real in my life.

“Ephesians 2:13 says, '[13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.' It's His blood; His work at Calvary."

When E.F. Hutton preaches, people listen

An old axiom says, “All it takes is ignorance to start serving evil. Ignorance is the first step towards becoming an employee of dark forces.”

As “the god of this world,” Satan has a religion he seeks to propagate and the core of it surrounds the issue of a person’s relationship with his Creator or lack thereof. Religion, at its most basic, is designed to substitute confidence in the flesh for trust in Jesus Christ.

“If mammon-worship were a dominant religion, just as political leaders in ancient Rome sought the gods' blessings for their endeavours, those of today might turn to the financial sector, (and) even rivals for public office might be expected to share this faith,” suggests financial writer Savitri Hensman in London’s The Guardian newspaper.

“Sometimes sacred mysteries are open only to the initiated – rather like the inner workings of the City of London,” he writes. “In the case of a world religion, there may be linked spaces with names that also resonate among believers, not dissimilar to Wall Street . . .

“Likewise top bankers, because of their supposed access to esoteric knowledge, might be put in charge of areas of policy, such as welfare reform, of which they know nothing.

“Sometimes religions compete openly for converts and influence, but other faiths may expand by assimilating potential rivals. If this were the main strategy of mammon's priests, they might tolerate and even embrace other belief systems but seek subtly (maybe even unconsciously) to steer them towards the true path. Christian, New Age, humanist or whatever, all would be welcomed, provided they played down aspects of their faith that might pose a challenge to mammon's dominance.”

*****

“When I Corinthians 2 says the ‘natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him,’ Paul’s talking about trusting, valuing, treasuring who you are in yourself and your ability to perform. He’s talking about pride and self-satisfaction,” explains Jordan.

“Proverbs says, ‘Every man does that which is right in his own eyes.’ Can you relate to that? We do what WE think is right. It says, ‘There’s a way that seemeth right to a man; the end thereof is death.’

“Man says, ‘I’m doing what’s right in my mind . . .’ and there’s a pride in that. There’s a self-satisfaction in that and that’s what religion is all about.

*****

“When Paul says in Philippians 3:7, ‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ,’ gain is the idea of wealth, treasure.

“Notice he says, ‘I wasted it and profited in the Jews’ religion above many mine equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of traditions of my fathers.’

“You see he says he profited? He’s saying, ‘Those things that brought profit to me; those things I treasured and adored and thought were the most wonderful, solid, enriching things in my life.’

“What were they? He’s going to list some ethnic and racial things—some pride of race and pride of place kinds of things. And then he’s going to list some religious things; distinctions, performance.

“Can I tell you, those are the two things most people—those are the two things your flesh wants to glory in. It wants to glory in your race, which is another way of saying the 'place' that you have, and then it wants to glory in religion—the achievements it can make.

*****

“Your flesh has a tendency toward the lascivious, the earthy; the lust and the pull to be run by the desires that drag you downward into the earth. But you also have a bent toward aestheticism, toward the ability to pride yourself and satisfy yourself in doing what you think is right.

“It’s to do good and feel good about doing it. Your flesh is such a deceiver. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.’ Romans 7:18 says, ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.’

  

“And the moment you think you’ve done something good, the moment you sit in relaxation with your satisfaction about what you’ve performed, ‘Let him who thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall.’

“Saved or lost, that’s where your flesh is. That’s religion and that’s why I say this is the MOST dangerous battle you’ll ever face. This is where the real big game is. People like to argue about prophecy and politics and all the rest of the stuff, but this is the BIG stuff.”

Peace vs. nations' desire for 'him'

When Bach wrote Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and Charles Wesley began the fourth stanza of his Christmas classic Hark! The Herald Angels Sing with, “Come, Desire of nations, come,” they both were incorrectly assuming the “desire of all nations” from Haggai 2:7 was a reference to Jesus Christ.

“When they wrote those lyrics, they’re thinking it’s Believers, but Haggai is not talking about Believers,” explains Richard Jordan of Shorewood Bible Church. “Think about it, what nation has there ever been that desired Him?! Look at John 5 to see what the nations desire. Verse 43 says, ‘I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.’

“Jesus Christ’s saying, ‘I came in my Father’s name, you didn’t want me. Another is going to come in his own name and you know who that is? The Antichrist.’

“You know who the nations really desire? They desire the Lie, not the truth. And when the personification of the Lie, the Antichrist, the 'man of sin,' the 'son of perdition,' shows up as that ‘Wicked,’ what do they do? They receive a lie because they didn’t have a love for the truth. So what the world does is they receive the Antichrist, believing and trusting in him.

“There’s never been a time in human history, in all the world, that the nations of this world have desired the God of the Bible. They desire ‘the god of this world.’

*****

“Haggai 2:6-9 says, [6] For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
[7] And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
[8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
[9] The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

“Some people will say, ‘Okay, if the desire of nations is not Jesus Christ, then maybe it’s verse 8.’ The nations of the world absolutely do love gold and silver, so people say, ‘Well, then the desire of nations is gold, silver, wealth, that kind of thing.’

“Problem with that is he says ‘the desire of all nations shall come.’ So what is it that he gives them? In verse 9, there’s the ‘latter house’ in the kingdom and the ‘former’ one is that which Solomon had.

“You remember what the angels said when Jesus was born? ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ It’s not like what the new bibles do. They say, ‘Peace among men of good will.’ You’re going to have to have glory to God in the highest before you have peace on earth and good will to men.

*****

“When Jesus Christ comes back He’s called the ‘prince of peace.’ In I Thessalonians 5:3, when Paul talks about the Lie program, he says, [3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

“With that issue of ‘travail upon a woman with child,’ in Jeremiah 30 and a half-dozen other passages back in the old prophets, that’s a classic prophetic description of the time of Jacob’s trouble. When does that great tribulation hit? When they are saying, ‘Peace and safety. We’ve found peace and safety.’ You know what the nations want? That’s it!

“You look at what’s going on in our country and in Europe today and it’s such a strange thing; people are always talking about liberty and freedom, but you let somebody do some of these terrorist things and what’s the first thing they want to get rid of? That’s why you can’t have political liberty unless you have some internal integrity inside of people that restrains them from doing such things.

“The internal strength of character that is necessary to be who we have been as a nation is gone. It still exists some in the older generations, but the younger generations, for the most part, while you find little nests of people like us around, when you go out there in the culture . . . 

"All the things God puts in a culture to de-savage and discipline it and give people the capacity to be strong, Isaiah 14 says what the Antichrist does is he weakens the nations by taking those things out. That’s what’s going on in Haggai; it’s already happened.

*****

“Talking about the Antichrist, Daniel 8:23-25 says, ‘And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
[24] And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
[25] And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

“When it says ‘the transgressors are come to the full,’ that’s why the 70^th Week has to go all the way to the end. Notice he’s going to use peace. He’s going to have a peace policy that he’s going to use to destroy people. Daniel 11:21 says, [21] And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

“What’s going on in Haggai 2, when he says the desire of all nations is going to come, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come and give peace by giving glory to God in the highest. He’ll give peace on earth, good will to men.

“What mankind wants, what the lost nations out there want, is peace, and the Antichrist is going to give them a false peace; a lie he’s going to turn into slavery.

*****

“In the 1960s there was a national radio guy, Carl MacIntire, who had The Twentieth Century Reformation Hour, and he used to say, ‘Remember, the Communists want peace--a piece of this, a piece of that, until they have it all.’ I used to think, ‘That’s a great saying. They want peace, but they spell it different. When they have it all, then there’s p-e-a-c-e.’ Well, that’s what this crafty guy wants.

“When the Lord Jesus comes, He’s going to bring everlasting peace and be the ‘prince of peace.’ When He does, the glory of that house, the temple, when He comes . . .  

“The lack of adornment in that temple as they build it; it’s going to be humble, made out of wood, and it’s not going to look like Solomon did it, but He’s telling them, ‘You go out and do this for now; it’s not going to look proud, but out of the small things that you do, that temple, when I come, it’s going to be more magnificent than anything Solomon ever dreamed of and the way the gold and silver is going to come . . .’

“Isaiah 60 says, ‘[1] Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
[2] For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
[3] And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

“So when Israel is established in her kingdom, the Messiah is there, redeemed Israel is there and the Gentiles are going to come to the light that God puts before them in Israel.

“Watch what happens when they come. Verse 6: [6] The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

“What’s going to happen is the Gentile nations, when they come, they’ll bring their riches and give it to the nation Israel. Isaiah 61:2-3 says, [2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
[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.

“Verse 6 says, [6] But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

“In other words, what’s going to happen is the Gentiles are going to bring the material wealth that’s going to repopulate and repair, and the material treasures of silver and gold are going to be brought by the Gentiles and it’s the glory of the Lord that’s going to be there.

*****

“The verse says ‘the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former and in this place will I give peace.’ You can’t miss that phrase ‘in this place.’ That place is called Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem means ‘city of peace.’ If there’s any city that’s an oxymoron for in our day it’s that and yet that’s exactly what God’s going to make it.

“In Zachariah 12 it says He’s going to make it a cup of trembling to the nations but then He’s going to turn it into this in Psalm 76: [1] In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
[2] In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

“Jerusalem, that cup of trembling, will become ‘the city of peace.’ It will be the place where the weapons of warfare are broken and they take their swords and beat them into plowshares.

“This place is important. That’s why it’s important in the Bible. That’s why they are ‘the people of the land; the people of this place.’ That’s why the Gentiles are jealous of them and want to take it away from them.

“Psalm 132, a psalm about David, says, [13] For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
[14] This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. In this place He’s going to put peace.

*****

“Psalm 133 says, [1] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
[2] It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
[3] As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

“If there’s a verse in the Psalms that gets misused, that’s one of them right there in Psalm 133:1. People say, ‘Boy, it’s good for us to just get together and not have any fighting,’ but that is almost the opposite of what that verse is talking about! That verse is not talking about your benefit and your good. It’s talking about God accomplishing HIS purpose.

“You remember in Acts 2 it says, [1] And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. That’s the unity there. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that anointing oil. Who’s the head? That’s the king.

‘The ointment that ‘ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard,’ is the priest. What have we got in Haggai? Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest. He’s the king, the priest sitting on the throne. ‘Here’s the anointing of the Messiah, the king, the priest.’

“That ‘oil of gladness’ goes down to the skirts of his garment. He had on this high priest robe and you want to know what the oil went down? It went down off of his beard and down off those 12 stones that represented the nation Israel.

"Here’s the Holy Spirit, the fruit of God’s kingdom blessing, going down. As verse 3 in Psalm 133 says, ‘As the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.'

“So when He says in Haggai that ‘in this place will I give peace,’ He’s talking about how He’s going to bring peace on earth, good will to men, and it’s going to start in Jerusalem.

"It’s going to be through the people of that land, the nation Israel, that it’s accomplished. And the glory of it is going to be like nothing the earth has ever seen. That’s going to be some day.” 

Angels watch, learn, hit replay button

Speaking to the tremendous abilities of angels, John tells us in Revelation 14 that he “saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”

Jordan explains, “What you learn studying the Bible is the main thing angels are charged with is the Word of God and the well-being of the nation Israel. You see them minister to the nation, care for the nation, fight for the nation, provide for the nation . . . but what you also see is how they don’t do those things for us today; we don’t need what angels can provide.

“People who want to argue we have guardian angels today will take you to Hebrews 1:13-14: [13] But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
[14] Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

“But the salvation that’s talked about in the Book of Hebrews is the salvation you read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the early Acts period. That’s not us; that’s Israel. The point is, in Israel’s program angels were ministering spirits set forth to minister to the nation Israel.

“Psalms 91 is a psalm everybody knows: [9] Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
[10] There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
[11] For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

“You remember Elijah? He goes in and tells Ahab, ‘It isn’t going to rain for three-and-a-half years except by my word,’ and then he disappears. He goes out by the brook and God sends ravens and then angels.

“You remember how God sent an angel and killed tens of thousands of Israel’s enemies in one night? You remember when Daniel’s in the lion’s den and an angel comes? You remember when Mary is going to have the baby Jesus, God sends an angel to say, ‘Mary, you’re highly favored among women; you’re going to have a baby.’ It was an angel that went and told Joseph, ‘Don’t worry about her, she’s still a virgin; what's conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.’

“You remember how the Lord Jesus Christ is in the garden praying and sweats drops like blood and angels came and ministered to Him? You go to the early Acts period and God sends angels and opens the doors of prisons. You remember in Acts 10 when God wants to reveal to Peter the issue about Cornelius He sends an angel to communicate His will to him?

“Angels were constantly communicating information and God’s will in Scripture. Paul, in Acts 27, is in that boat in the storm and he tells the men, ‘Don’t worry, for there stood by me this night the angel of God and told me what’s going to happen, saying fear not, Paul.’

“You see, God up in heaven, when He would say something, He’d send an emissary to accomplish His will. I don’t know if you ever thought about how does God do these things, but when God would intervene, He didn’t just take the divine hand of God from heaven and reach down and go Krrrzzzchhhh.

“He didn’t use mind games where He’d try bending spoons. He sent emissaries and the angelic creation were His emissaries to go and accomplish these things. That’s why in Daniel they’re called ‘watchers.’ They were sent to watch over and see what was going on in His creation. They also revealed His will.

*****

“Angels are the agents of God, but what they do for Israel we don’t need them to do for us. Why? Because we have the completed written Word of God.

“Our security today is the fact that God the Holy Ghost is protecting us. Now, if you’ve got the CEO of the company taking care of you, would you rather have the janitor, or bellhop, or bus boy?! You’ve got the No. 1 Guy as you’re guarantor!

“Ephesians 1:13 says, ‘In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.’ So, you don’t need a guardian angel; you have the Holy Spirit to protect you and you have the Word of God to inform you.

“But we do have a relationship with angels in that we instruct them; we are teachers of them about the ‘manifold wisdom of God.’ As Ephesians 3:10 says, ‘To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.’

“Do you see that little word now? It’s not just that we’re going to have a future relationship with them in the ‘ages to come,’ but RIGHT NOW the angels are observing us in order to be instructed by us. Woah, that’s quite an idea, huh?!

“Around the room here this moment there’s an unseen balcony and they’ve all got their Bibles out and are watching us. In fact, they follow us home. They are fascinated by members of the Body of Christ. They’re hearing the information here and they’re looking to see what it looks like by looking at you. You see why it’s all connected with the ‘fellowship of the mystery’?

*****

“Angels are watching us and it’s like a spectator sport. They’re watching and scrutinizing. There’s a fascinating thread of verses in Paul’s epistles where he talks about this.

“He says in I Corinthians 4:9: [9] For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

“By the way, in the angelic world there are two kinds of angels; there are the elect angels but there’s also Satan and his angels. You’re under the microscope by both.

"Fallen angels watch along with the elect angels, and if they had the equivalent of ESPN’s instant replay, they’d be up there saying, ‘Run that back; let’s watch that again.’ You know, for the whole week following any Bears game there are people reviewing and analyzing, talking on and on, and there’s a whole industry for that.

*****

“I Corinthians 11:8-10 says, [8] For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. [9] Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
[10] For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

“Every time I read that verse I remember a preacher from years ago who said, ‘God created man and He wasn’t finished, so He created woman and then said, That’s it, good enough, we don’t need to improve on that.’

“The relationship that the women in this particular context have in the local assembly, in the functioning of the roles God gave men and women, in the relationship God gave in the structure He set up for man to operate in, angels watch all that.

“Angels are interested in the functioning of divine authority in your home, in your marriage, in the assembly. What are they supposed to learn when they watch us? The manifold wisdom of God.

“Paul writes in I Timothy 5:2, ‘I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.’

“When he says ‘I charge you,’ he means, ‘I’m putting you under orders before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, both of whom are watching along with the elect angels. They’re watching to hold us accountable to what God’s given us to do.' ” 

'We'll rule with Satan!'--fuhgeddaboudit!

In the heavens are many different levels of government and a hierarchy similar to what’s found in human government, only with angels and archangels, seraphim and cherubim.

Michael the archangel’s position of authority is on display in Daniel 10: [13] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia . . . [21] But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

“When Satan is fomenting his rebellion, obviously what he would do is focus on those angels who are more powerful and hold more responsibility,” reasons Columbus preacher David Reid.

“We know from other passages there are more than 100 million elect angels (who did not follow Satan), but we also know from Daniel 10:21 that a bunch of these leading folks are on the wrong team. So heaven has a bunch of guys in high places who have sinned and then a bunch of angels who are lower.

*****

“Paul says in I Corinthians 6:3, ‘Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?’ This is amazing to consider; the Body of Christ is going to judge angels, exercising authority over them.

“Let me suggest this, nature abhors a vacuum. Do you remember in Job 1 there was a time when ‘when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them’?

“Who came with them? Satan. God could have destroyed Satan and the fallen angels at any time but He didn’t. What He did is He left them in those places because He wanted those positions to be filled.

“Revelation 12: 7-9 says, [7] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

“What that’s telling you is that in the midst of the 70^th week there’s war in heaven. Daniel and his angels fight with the dragon and his angels, and Satan and his angels are cast down to the earth. By the way, don’t you think when Jehovah God gives that command to Michael he’s going to be like, ‘Yes, sir, I’ll make it so!’ He’s been waiting for that command for 6,000 years!

“Tell me what happens just before that? God allows Satan and his angels to remain until He’s formed their replacement. At the catching up of the Body of Christ, we’re given new bodies to function in spiritual places. We then go through the Judgment Seat of Christ and God assigns responsibilities for those different places. All those seats occupied by Satan’s bad guys are now occupied by the Body of Christ. That’s how the Body of Christ judges angels.

"Basically, what God says to Satan is, 'So you got some of the archangels to follow you; you think that's something?! I'll just form your replacement out of the dust of the earth.'

“Doesn’t that tell you why Satan hates ‘the mystery’?! You see how inferior Satan’s wisdom is to God the Father’s? If joy is the expectation of future good, think about what that means! God is forming a government in the heavens to reign for eternity to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and manifest His will to the universe. That’s what He’s doing and you are a part of that purpose! Isn’t that just mind-boggling?! You are a joint-heir with Christ!

******

"Paul says in Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

“When God reconciles that future system of government, and that’s what Paul’s talking about in verse 20, He’s going to reconcile them in two ways,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan of Shorewood Bible Church. “No. 1, in Revelation 12, we learn He’s going to go up there and throw Satan and his angels out. It says that ‘neither was their place, their position, found anymore in heaven.’ They no longer have authority. They no longer have any right to fill the positions in heaven.

“That’s one way He’s going to change the status of those positions and the other way He’s going to do it is by putting some new people in the positions, and you know who the new people are going to be? That’s what He formed the Body of Christ for, folks!

“When you think about Revelation 12, it isn’t enough just to throw the bad guys out. In government, it isn’t enough just to get rid of the bad apples; you got to get the good guys in. You think about in an election year and changing the president and congress.

“If you don’t get the right guy to take the places, it’s going to be more of the same, so it isn’t enough just to throw Satan and his angels out. You got to put the right guys in and that’s what God does, and you and I are the right guys and gals; the right new creatures in Christ.

******

“Ephesians 2:4-6 says, [4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

“Look at that passage carefully because most of the time we don’t really seem to understand what it’s really talking about. I’ve heard people say for years, ‘Well, I’m seated in heavenly places with Christ; I’m down here but I’m really up there,’ and I used to try and understand that. Am I not in my position down here? I’ve got some space I occupy. What is that?

“The answer is that those kind of ideas about your position is not what Paul’s talking about in the sense of you being positionally UP there but practically DOWN here. What he’s talking about is just like in Ephesians 1:20-21: [20] Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
[21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.

“What did God do? He gave Jesus Christ a position of authority over the heavenly government. You and I sit together in heavenly places in Christ. We participate in the authority of Jesus Christ in the government in the heavens. That’s what that’s talking about. I’m a participant in His heavenly government by virtue of being in the Body of Christ.

*****

“When Satan and his angels are cast out and salvation in the kingdom of God comes to the heavenly places, it’s going to be exercised and carried out through the Church the Body of Christ. II Timothy 4:18 says the Lord ‘will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.’

“You see, we are kingdom saints, we’re just not the earthly kingdom saints; we’re with the heavenlies. That’s why Paul would preach the kingdom of God but he didn’t preach the earthly establishment of the kingdom of God.

“When those elect angels out there, the seraphim and the cherubim and all the other creatures in the heavens . . . You understand, only about a third of the angelic host follow Satan, so the vast majority of the angelic creation are those who have chosen to stay with God and be on God’s side.

“They’re not saved because they never were lost but they’re called the ‘elect angels.’ They made the choice of staying with God and not going with Satan and they’re up there functioning.

“They’re not in the upper echelon of the government right now, but they will be one day when we’re placed up there. They’re going to cry that cry in Revelation 12: ‘Now is come salvation and the kingdom of our god,’ and when they do, they’re going to look at us as we occupy those positions of governmental authority out there and they’re going to see us as trophies of the super-abounding, riches of God’s matchless marvelous grace.

“You see, folks, the whole issue of the Body of Christ today, and I keep saying to you, the issue is that the life, the glory of Jesus Christ is manifested through us, and the reason that’s important now is because that’s what He’s going to do through us through all eternity. I mean, you’re just getting a little practice today in what’s going to happen perfectly out there in that day.

“If there’s anywhere in the Book of Revelation you and I show up, and are at least between the lines, there we are in Revelation 12:8-9 and especially verse 10: [10] And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

“They angelic host is going to look out there and see us shine forth the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ and the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ, and that’s going to be their cry and response to seeing us occupy those positions.”

(new article tomorrow)