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I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) |
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Any system that is going anywhere has a quality control department. This is where the inspectors evaluate selected items from the assembly line. |
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Let us say we are machining quarter-inch bolts. Let us say further that these are part of a sophisticated range finder and must be machined to plus or minus one ten- thousandth of an inch. |
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The inspector uses his micrometer (perhaps now it is done with a computer) to determine whether we are within or outside the specified tolerances. |
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Can you see that quality control is impossible apart from the dimensions and tolerances specified on the blueprint? How do you know when the thing is correct without clearly defined objectives? |
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So it is with every kind of system. If we do not know precisely what the objective is there is no way of knowing when we get there or how close we are to getting there. |
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One of the major problems of Christian thinking today is we do not have clearly specified objectives. Apart from these quality control is impossible. |
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Salvation often is viewed as being open-ended. Since we have no clear goals let us concentrate on the means. Should the coffee and doughnuts during the break be free or should we charge for them? This is how you drive a systems engineer crazy. |
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The assumed goal of salvation is eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven. There indeed is a place in the spirit realm called "Heaven" where God, Christ, and the saints and angels dwell (although probably not in mansions since it doesn't rain there or get cold as far as we know). However, there are two massive problems with this goal. The first is that quality control is impossible since we do not know if we reached our goal until we die. Second, an even more horrendous problem, is that neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament presents eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven as the goal of salvation. |
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John 14, the venerable location of the goal, is not talking about Heaven. The context of the chapter is the abiding of the Father and Christ in the believer. The "mansions" are properly translated rooms. God's House is not Heaven, this is not scriptural. God's eternal House is Christ and those who are part of Christ. Thus saith the fourteenth through the seventeenth chapters of the Gospel of John. |
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The true, scriptural goal of salvation has two aspects: transformation into the image of Christ and untroubled rest in the Father through Christ. Christ is not the way to Heaven but to the Father. |
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Participation in the roles and tasks of the royal priesthood are not possible except as we attain both aspects of the goal of salvation. |
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Quality control indeed is possible once we know the goals. We can assess our progress or lack of it in becoming a new creation in Christ while we yet are alive. (If you need assistance in evaluating your progress ask your unsaved neighbors to help you.) Also we can assess our progress or lack of it in subordinating our will to the will of the Father. |
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To be continued. |
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For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:31,32) |
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Any systems engineer will inform you that when you change the goal of your system you must make changes all the way back down the line. Every department, every effort must be organized in terms of the new goal. Cost effectiveness, for example, is impossible until your goals are clearly expressed. All of the quality control instruments that measure progress must be designed in terms of clearly defined goals. |
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Paul did not say, "I press toward I know not what because I don't know where I'm going." Paul wanted to be with the Lord of course. Who wouldn't if he was chained to a Roman soldier all the time. But going to the Lord was Paul's hope of a joyous future, not the goal of his redemption. |
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Paul said I press toward the mark. Paul was not talking about getting saved, obviously. His words were written after churches had been established and epistles written. |
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Paul was seeking the perfection described as attaining the out-resurrection from the dead. Paul was laying all else aside that he might win Christ, that he might live by the power of Christ's resurrection and share His sufferings. |
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These goals are nearly unknown to the Christian churches of 1997. God is not pleased with this fact because God knows we will never make progress toward the goals set before us until we know exactly what they are (and what are the penalties and losses of inheritance associated with not attaining the goals). |
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Every time a new feast of the Lord comes around on the Jewish calendar the Jews are commanded to cease what they are doing and pay attention to the Lord. |
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A new feast of the Lord is here in 1997. We are moving past Pentecost to the spiritual celebrations of the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. It is time to slow down and listen to what God is saying. |
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Someone advised a farmer who was chopping wood that his axe was dull and it was time to sharpen it. The farmer said, "I don't have time to sharpen the axe, this wood needs cutting." How bright! |
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This is the case today. We can keep on looking all over the place for Moses so we can revive him. Hey, get the message. Moses is dead! Christ is moving from the twenty-third to the twenty-fourth Psalm. He is taking off His shepherd robes and sandals and putting on His armor. |
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The gentle Shepherd is becoming the Lord, strong and mighty in battle, a Commander of Battle so fierce Genghis Khan appears as the leader of a Brownie troop. Clausewitz was a kindergarten teacher by comparison. |
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Jesus is not half-Shepherd and half-Warrior. When He is Warrior He is fierce beyond belief. The world has never seen the likes of King Jesus when it comes to the ruthless destruction of His enemies. |
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The slain Lamb will return and confront His murderers. |
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"Kiss the Son that you not be destroyed when His anger is kindled." "His wrath can flare up in a moment," the NIV proclaims. |
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To be continued. |
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Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (II Corinthians 13:5) |
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Total war is being declared. Satan and all that pertains to him will be driven from the earth. The wrestling match is approaching its righteous conclusion. |
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If you are a believer and yet have a heart to compromise with wickedness, get out of the way. |
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The kings from the East are on the horizon. |
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New goals are before us. When God said we are to be conformed to the image of Christ this is what God meant, and He is not pleased with our changing His goal to that of residence in a mansion. The very fact that our goal would be to take our ease in a wealthy setting in Paradise reveals that we have no heart for God and no understanding of the Kingdom that is coming to the earth. |
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When Christ prayed we would be one as He is one with the Father, this is what Christ meant. He is not pleased with our changing His goal to that of residence in Heaven in a useless, cumbersome mansion. Do we picture the Lord of Glory cooped up in a mansion? How ridiculous! |
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We must listen to what God is saying today. The Spirit is speaking to the churches about war, about repentance, about righteousness, about deliverance from sin and self-will, about the coming of God and Christ through the Spirit to make Their eternal abode in us (the actual, contextual meaning of John 14:2-6). |
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God's system engineers must redesign the operation to conform to the newly expressed goals. Quality control must be instituted so we can understand whether we are making progress, whether the system is working. |
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To continue in the past ways of thinking and preaching may accomplish much good. But those who are hearing from God will move forward. This has been true in every generation. |
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We have compassed the mountain of Pentecost long enough. The cloud is lifting from the Tabernacle. The ram's horns are sounding. Moses and Aaron, followed by the tribe of Judah (praise), are moving toward Canaan. The dancers and singers are out in front. The rest of the tribes are proceeding according to the designated order. |
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Where are you? Are you going to remain here forever while the entrepreneurs are selling prayer cloths, ripping you off with "Christian" fetishes and amulets? booking concert tours around the country? |
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Are you moving forward with Christ? Are you pressing toward the mark set before you? Or are you going to sit here while your brothers go to war? Be sure your sin of indifference will find you out! |
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If you are frightened at the thought of moving toward the enemy in the land, ask Christ for His courage. He has enough for everybody. Leave the timid in the Lake of Fire. You move forward toward the glorious inheritance waiting for you. |
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Get on the side of the Conqueror. Nothing can stop you. The Bible tells of the happy ending. No other power is as great as our Father. The demons understand well that the time has come and they are trembling. |
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Be a Caleb. Claim your mountain! |
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Let's go! |
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I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4) |
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I am an A-plus, time-urgent personality. Are you? It's not good for your health. But what can you do about it? There's so much pressing on us in America! Somebody has to sweat the small stuff while others are at the parties. |
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I like what Jesus said: "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." |
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That speaks volumes, doesn't it? It tells us that when we are serving God there is a specific job to do. When it is finished, it is finished. The task is not open-ended. |
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I can remember as a public-school teacher what it feels like to never finish the job. No matter how hard you worked, how many papers you brought home, there simply was no way to accomplish all that needed to be done. |
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Let all the grade-school teachers say "Amen!" |
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After twenty-five years out of the classroom I still have nightmares about not making progress in all the subjects listed on the report card. What a frustration! Do you have frustrating dreams? |
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It's not this way with God. God has given us something to accomplish on the earth. We do not have to agonize about souls going to Hell, or the people starving to death in the world, or even the fetuses being aborted in America; unless, of course, God Himself directs us to do something about it. |
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The Bible commands us to cease from our own dead works and enter the rest of God. The "rest of God" means that God finished everything from the beginning of the world and now is resting. Our task is to enter that rest, not just any old rest but the rest of God. As we do we flow with the flowings of the Godhead. |
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Jesus told His brothers that their time was always ready but His was scheduled. When you are abiding in Christ your time is scheduled. It is like a dance in which Christ does the leading. You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your back. But you do have to present your body a living sacrifice to the Lord in order to prove His will for your life. |
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When you do each day what God tells you to do the blood of the starving and mutilated is not on your hands. If you are not seeking God and doing His will, God will hold you accountable for not serving your generation. |
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Is there enough time to do what you are supposed to do? Yes, there is. God would be stupid to assign you a task and not give you enough time to finish it. Right? |
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You have something you are supposed to do, no more and no less. There is time enough to finish it. There may not be time enough for you to do all you want to do but there is time enough for you to do all God wants you to do. |
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Then you're out of here. |
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You don't die when you're old but when you're ripe, the Russians say. |
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Who wants to wait until they're rotten? |
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For if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (Hebrews 4:8) |
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Joshua brought the children of Israel into Canaan, the land of milk and honey, the promised-land inheritance, the rest of God. The Israelites never did receive the fullness of the inheritance because they were stoutly resisted by the inhabitants of the land. |
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As soon as we endeavor to rest with God in the blessings of His creation we discover there are enemies already living in the places assigned to us and that they will resist being dispossessed. |
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The present inhabitants of "our land" are crafty, diligent opponents who are determined to destroy us. It is impossible for us in our own wisdom or strength to obtain our inheritance. We are flesh and blood. The enemy is spirit. He is wiser, stronger, and more experienced than we. |
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Every time we attempt to enter God's rest something happens that produces unrest, pain, unbelief, sin, rebellion or some other evil or troublesome situation. Such opposition is caused by the enemy, with God's permission. God is using the enemy to humble us and to instruct us, to teach us discipline, and to make us know that man does not live by bread alone but by the words proceeding from the mouth of God. |
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Even though the works were finished before the world was created, and the land of promise is legally ours by inheritance, yet it is impossible for us to enter. What do we do? We come to Christ and follow Him as He destroys His enemies because He and we have the same enemies. |
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We learn to follow the Holy Spirit into the land of promise. We labor in the Spirit of God to enter our rest, our inheritance in Christ. Anyone who is of the opinion that we just fall into the fullness of Christ by accepting Him as our Savior and then continuing with our business as usual, has no idea of what it means to enter the rest of God. |
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Entering the rest of God requires total diligence on our part. We must give ourselves to Christ wholly if we expect to make any progress. No one can be a disciple of Jesus until he forsakes all he has, takes up his cross, and follows the Lord Jesus. |
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We cannot earn the rest of God, but we must follow the Holy Spirit every second of every day of our lives in order to wrest the inheritance from the hand of the enemy. The Christian discipleship is a battle to the death. There is a crown of glory to be attained. Let us make sure we do not lose the reward but are followers of those who through faith and patience obtain the fullness of the inheritance. |
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The promises of glory and authority are to the victorious saints. To be an overcomer requires all that a person is and possesses. Christ must become the center on which life revolves in worship and obedience. Anything less than total devotion to Him will prevent the seeker from laying hold on the fullness of God's rest. We must labor with everything that is in us to enter the rest of God. |
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That labor is not the wearisome striving of the religious seeker. The labor that is effective in the Kingdom of God is the labor of perceiving the mind of the Holy Spirit and then resting in the strength of God while the Spirit brings victory. (from Three Deaths and Three Resurrections, Volume 3) |
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And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 4:3) |
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The evil forces of the end- time will rule from the cities of the earth, or perhaps all the cities will be combined into one large city. It seems that the major portion of the frightful judgments of the last days will be poured on the cities, on the headquarters of the rule of Antichrist and the great Babylon (man-directed Christianity). |
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The Lord and His army will invade these centers of demon rule. They will tear down every wall, every defense that people will erect against Christ's appearing. The sons of God will enter every home, judging the inhabitants concerning their attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. |
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In the horror stories with which we entertained ourselves as children there are descriptions of monsters coming to our windows and peering in. We shrieked in horror at the imaginary sight of weird faces as we huddled in our house in terror. |
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The reverse of this will come to pass during the Day of the Lord. The practitioners of every ungodly, filthy, demoniacal wickedness will be cowering in their houses in that day. Then at the windows of their dwellings will appear what will be to them the most tormenting sight in the universe the faces of God's saints radiating a pure light as bright as the sun. The Divine brightness will expose every filthy practice, every unclean deed, word, and fantasy in which the demon-possessed revel. |
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The peoples of the earth already are practicing in their homes filthy works that the saints are not allowed to mention. In that day the filth will have reached its climax. The Spirit-filled saints of the Lord will break into every dwelling, bringing the Divine light into the private moral cesspools. |
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The demon-possessed will crouch in their dark corners in terror just as the demons screamed in fright whenever Jesus of Nazareth came close to them. Their homes may be barricaded in those days but the righteous will break into their privacy unhindered. |
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The Day of the Lord will surprise the hypocrites like a thief in the night. |
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So great will be the onslaught of Christ and His army that the earth will shake. The heavens also will tremble. The army of Christ will affect not only the wickedness in the earth but in the heavens as well. |
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Every person, spirit, and thing in the universe, physical and spiritual, will tremble when the army of the Lord begins its march. All acts of men and angels will be brought into judgment. Nothing will be able to stand before the advance of this army. It is the avenger of all the sin and rebellion against God that has ever occurred. The army is filled to overflowing with the power and fire of Divine judgment. God has delegated to His army the execution of His wrath, and the army is instantly obedient to God. |
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The sun, moon, and stars will cooperate with the saints by ceasing to give their light, just as in the time of Joshua. Darkness will cover the earth, but the light coming from the sons of God will be as many suns. |
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The Light of the Lord's Presence will bring into terrible contrast the distinction between what is holy and what is unholy, what is clean and what is unclean. The brightest light in the world in that day will be the Light of God Almighty in Christ radiating from the invading troops. |
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Habakkuk trembled when he saw the army of the Lord. And he was a prophet! |
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Where are you in this picture? (from Three Deaths and Three Resurrections, Volume 3) |
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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. (I Thessalonians 5:3) |
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The world will be exclaiming, "Peace and safety!" |
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Then there will appear signs in the heavens. The sun and the moon will be darkened. The sign of the Son of Man will appear for all to see. The heavenly Moses has appeared to call His people out of Egypt. |
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"Pharaoh" will attempt to reassure his people, but plague after plague will descend on the world. The people of the Lord will be hidden under the hand of protection of the Lord God just as Israel in Goshen was not harmed by the plagues that fell on Egypt. |
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Darkness will cover the earth and oppressive spiritual darkness the people. Suddenly, light will appear on the people of God. The Lord God now is ready to "roar from Zion." The trumpet of God will begin to peal, shaking the earth. Michael will give his war cry. Suddenly the saints of all time will be filled with resurrection life. Their dead bodies will arise and stand on their feet. |
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To the consternation of the rulers and peoples of the earth, every dead saint will come from his place of burial and stand on the earth. There will be a time of rejoicing among God's people as they are reunited in holy fellowship, that will far exceed in glory any previous occasion in the history of God's dealings with mankind. |
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Antichrist, the rulers, the peoples of the earth, who one moment before had been declaring peace and safety, must now stand and to their excruciating horror watch the saints of God embracing each other and praising the Lord. |
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God has prepared a table before His people in the presence of their enemies. The living Christians will gather together with all who have died in Christ. Such a time of praise! Such a time of rejoicing, of reunion of family members! There is nothing the peoples of the world will be able to do about it other than to look on in trembling and tremble they shall! |
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The most awful thing yet will then occur. The most powerful sound ever to stir the air will be heard. Christ will cry: "Come up here!" |
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The saints of God will begin to ascend just as Jesus ascended in the sight of witnesses. They will go up through the air to be with the Lamb of God, their bodies having been changed so there is no injury to them. There will be multiplied millions of them as clouds that hide the face of the sun. |
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The people left on earth will now proceed to destroy each other. They will turn on their rulers with cursing and murderous hatred. They will hurl down the pieces of silver with which they have betrayed Christ, so to speak, and demand an answer of the evil forces. |
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Like Judas, they will realize they have betrayed Christ and are lost forever. The result will be anguish of spirit, weeping, gnashing of teeth. Just as Judas was driven by despair to commit suicide, so people will attempt suicide but will not be able to take refuge in death (Revelation 9:6). |
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The bowls of God's wrath will be poured out. Plague after plague will strike the earth. Humans will howl in torment, cursing God, cursing Christ, cursing the Christians. They will be mocked by the demon hordes. The most frightful visions of Hell ever witnessed by anyone will be a Sunday-school picnic compared to the earth after the saints are lifted out and the wrath of God is poured on the rebellious. |
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After the world has writhed in pain for a season, the ungodly must endure another great terror. Down from the heavens with the speed of light will thunder the Lord and His army. Filled to overflowing with the wrath of God, invincible, ready to avenge the injustices of the world, will appear the sons of God. Men will scream in terror for the mountains and rocks to hide them from the face of the Lamb. Death itself will flee away in fear in that day. |
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This is a true vision of the future. It is time now to prepare yourself and your family. (from Three Deaths and Three Resurrections, Volume 3) |
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