THE EIGHT UNTILS CONNECTED WITH THE COMING OF JESUS. THE GREAT COMMISSION. Luke 24:44-49 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: The GREAT COMMISSION IS BOTH APOSTOLIC AND PROPHETIC IN NATURE. Apostle is one sent to represent another...church becomes apostolic to be conscious of being the sent ones. Prophet is who brings a message from God....prophetic is being conscious of the now word/ emphasis from God. Luke 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: Matthew 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: Acts 11:27-28 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. The emphasis should be clear that Jesus is definitely coming. Believers however, are “not” going. They are supposed to be Kingdom representatives in the positions that God has placed them (L.K. 17:20 – 25) There are eight things we must consider and closely look into. They have to do with the timing of the coming of Jesus: 1) He must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things. And that he might send the Christ, who has been appointed for you even Jesus. He (Jesus) must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:20- 21) After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I WILL RESTORE IT… Acts 15:16 God is in the business of the restoration of his church; what was lost, what was stolen and what we need most (His Glory, presence; his power in the Church). At the moment the church is “far” from “being ready” for His coming. Much of the desire to go in any-moment rapture has produced an escapist mentality in the face of crisis, economic problems and other difficulties in life. It is UNTIL “all” IS RESTORED that we can expect the return of the Lord. Find out what it is that God is restoring and get a hold of it. The church is not going to disappear secretly. Rather it is called and expected to appear with a heavenly mandate even when everything around us is crumbling. 2) Until the enemies of the Lord’s people are made a footstool for his feet. “The Lord said to my Lord:” Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’” (Matt.22: 44.) The church is the body of Jesus Christ and she therefore has “the feet” of the Lord. Jesus Christ, the Son of man, crushed the head of the serpent. He, Jesus, is waiting until the Church enforces the complete victory that He won for her on Calvary. He cannot come until this is clearly done and demonstrated: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Col. 4: 2:15. The saints are to reign in the midst of their enemies. God has promised to prepare a table for them there. They must be willing to reign with a crown of thorns. Even if believers will not see everything as God desired in his word come to be, as only Christ will finally bring it to pass, there is still much they are called to do. We find a lot of this in the word. 3) Jesus will ‘’not’’ come until the church matures – Eph 4:11-13 It was He who gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. UNTIL we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. We are not going “anywhere” before this happens. The fighting, strife, divisions, pride, selfish ambition, jealousy and much more are signs that reveal a lot of immaturity in the church. (James 3:14-16) The whole creation is waiting for this day: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of Childbirth right up to the present time. (Rom 8:22). The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. (Rom 8:19). The suffering coming upon the Saints and in the nations of the world today is because the day when the glory will be revealed in them has come. These will also help manifest the King and his dominion. He is coming to be glorified first in the saints, before He finally comes back in person. Jesus is coming in two ‘’faces/phases,’’ first through the church (he will be revealed through his body), and second, when he comes in person and we see Him as He is at the last trumpet. (*1Jn. 3:2). Before Jesus comes on the clouds, he will first come through the church; the cloud of witnesses who are looking to him now and reflecting his image in increasing measure. The apostolic/prophetic ministries were given by the Lord to do this very thing. Exposing the entire church to the five-fold ministries will be very helpful in this hour. The church must be built according to the pattern! (Eph.3:4-5,10) A remnant that will produce a pure bride will come out the church: a church out of the church! Persecution and seclusion will help a lot in producing the bride! The rest will form the harlot who will be done away with. (Rev17:5; Rev.18:4) 4) Jesus is “not” coming until the gospel of the Kingdom is preached to all nations - ethnic groups. We have seen the partial gospel of the church: Come and see our big churches and rich preachers, our fabulous buildings, our choir, Oh our evangelist…! Look, the masses following us…Etc. We have seen church games and entertainment. It is time now to think and do kingdom business. For heaven’s sake let the elders, worship and praise leaders and musicians weep between the porch and the altar, and bring back the real touch of pure worship to its place. And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to the nations. And then the end will come (Matt: 24:13) The gospel of the kingdom will be preached as a testimony to all nations. This does not mean that everybody will be saved. It will not be a time of “making” Christian nations. This is will not be important since the Muslims have Islamic nations too. It will be more than that. The world will not become an Utopia, neither will it be the Taurus age of the New Agers; but all nations will hear and see the Kingdom demonstrated by the Saints in ways that they have never seen before. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1Cor.4:20) My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirits power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power (1Cor. 2:4-5). 5) Until the wicked one is revealed: who the Lord will slew with the sword of his mouth (2Thes.2:1-12). Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him…, that day will not come UNTIL the rebellion occurs...v.3. for the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way…v.7. Note the gathering of the saints and the coming of the Lord is put together without mention of a seven year period. 6) Until the full number of gentile believers comes in through effective evangelism. Only the Lord knows this number. (Rom.11:25. Lk.21:24). 7) Until the last living stone has been placed in the building – His spiritual house (1Pet.2:3-4). Fathers and sons will arise to accomplish this. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the son of man (Lk.17:27). When Noah and family, and all the animals had all gone into the ark, the flood came. The Church, the body of Christ is currently being rightly connected, ranked and positioned in relation to the Lord, to one another and his divine purpose (Eph.4:15-16. Col.2:19). 8) Until the time determined by the Father has come. Jesus said that only the Father knows the time and the hour; not even the Son or the angels know (Matt.24:36, 42, 44). Jesus said to his disciples when they asked about the timing of the restoration of the kingdom. He answered: Its not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. (Acts 1:6-7; See Daniel 12:5-13).
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 07:50:01 +0000
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