The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Church Age

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)

The past two thousand years constitute the Church Age.

The three purposes of the Church Age. The three tasks of the two thousand years from the resurrection of Christ are as follows:

To bear witness to the nations of God and His salvation.

To bring people into the Divine salvation.

To create the Lamb's Wife.

It is God's will that every nation on earth hear the Word and see the power of the coming Kingdom of God.

To bear witness to the nations is somewhat different from constructing churches. Perhaps the Christian churches in many instances have become so involved in constructing the churches of their denominations that they have not attended sufficiently to the work of witnessing.

Bearing witness is not the same as bringing people into salvation. The witness has been borne when God's will has been made known, whether or not the people repent and accept the Lord. In the case of Nineveh, the witness was borne as Jonah obeyed the Lord. In Noah's day the Ark was the witness even though the people did not repent.

Today there is much ministry but very little witness. In fact, the witness of the Kingdom of God has been destroyed because the churches have understood Divine grace to be an alternative to godly living. The nations, seeing the sin and self-serving of the Christians, do not have a clear picture of the coming of the righteous Kingdom of God to the earth.

The second purpose of the Church Age is to bring people into salvation. To bring people into salvation is to help them receive the blood atonement, including water baptism; to encourage them to obey the written Word of God; and to pray with them and teach them until they are filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in righteousness.

To bring people into salvation is to assist them as they wash their robes in preparation for entering through the gates into the city of God.

The third purpose of the Church Age, and the unique aspect of the Church Age, is to create the Lamb's Wife. The Lamb's Wife is the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Throne of God. The Throne of God is Heaven. When the Throne of God comes to earth in the Lamb's Wife, then Heaven has come to earth.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)

After we are brought into salvation the Lord deals with us concerning the rewards for overcoming. The rewards for overcoming do not stop with access to the Tree of Life. They increase until we are a pillar in the Temple of God, until we are seated on the highest throne with Christ, until we are the Lamb's Wife.

When we become the Lamb's Wife, an integral part of Him, which is the highest calling conceivable, we are able to enter through the gates into the city. In addition, we now are the city destined to govern mankind to the ages of ages. (from Entering Through the Gates)