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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 130
THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS
(continued)
We give
Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast
taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And
the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward
unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and
great
(Rev. 11:17-18).
Which are the
nations that were angry? The
Lord promised the overcomers in the church of Thyatira, And he that overcometh, and
keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power
over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26-27). Generally all believers, of whatever persuasion,
interpret these words to mean that the Lords people shall rule and reign from the
throne of Gods glory over the physical nations of the world, thereby bringing the
kingdom of God to pass in the earth. I have
taught it that way myself! There is an
abundant array of scriptures that clearly point to a rulership of Gods elect over
the kingdoms of man, over all the peoples and nations of the earth, in fact, over the
endless vastnesses of infinity indeed, over all
things! That rule is given to man
Gods man! In chapter twelve of the
Revelation the manchild clearly begins to assume that rule and dominion!
The thing we
must bear in mind here is that in chapter eleven we are still under the trumpets,
signifying the progressive transforming work of God in His chosen elect. Without doubt all these events relate to Gods
remnant, His temple people in the days when
the mystery of God, which is the mystery of Christ formed in us, is consummated. This enables us to understand how the nations
in this instance bespeak something within the Lords elect, rather than the outward
peoples and nations of the world. Much
of the book of Revelation is rooted in events, conditions, and arrangements set forth
symbolically in the Old Testament. The tree of
life is drawn from the Old Testament. The
hidden manna is taken from the Old Testament. The
white stone and the new name are from the Old Testament.
The Lamb, the throne, the living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the
city, the temple, the altar, the court, and many, many more things are all pictures out of
the Old Testament. It is here that I see the
key to what the Spirit is speaking about when he says, To him that overcometh will I
give power over the nations.
Which were
the nations that Israel of old was given power over? It was not by any means all the nations of
the world! The imagery here is drawn from
Israels conquest of the land of Canaan! To conquer
is to overcome that is the precise
meaning of the word overcome in the Greek language. When
Israel came out of the wilderness to enter in and possess the land God had promised them,
for which purpose He had brought them out of Egypt by a mighty hand and had watched over
them for forty years during their wilderness wanderings, the record states, When the
Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath
cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites,
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perrizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations
greater and mightier than thou; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee;
thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; and thou shalt make no
covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou make marriages with them;
thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy
son. For they will turn away thy son from
following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled
against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But
thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their
altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven
images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy
God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth (Deut. 7:1-6).
Let every
spiritual mind think deeply and spiritually about the above scene! Does this not sound, in its spiritual connotation,
exactly like the word of the Lord to the saints: To him that overcometh, and keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over
the nations: and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they
be broken to shivers
(Rev. 2:26-27).
All that time in history, Israels new land had been occupied by the
seven ites by seven heathen nations who were exceedingly vile and
corrupt, which they had to conquer, drive out, break to shivers, destroy, and possess. As we compare the above scripture passage with the
Lords admonition to the overcomers in the Revelation we see revealed not only the
nations we are given power over but also why
we must break them to shivers and rule them with a rod of iron we are to make no
covenants (compromises) with them, nor make marriages (soulical, fleshly unions) with
them, nor preserve their images (priorities, ways, systems, methods, etc.), idols, and
groves. Our new land in this new day of the
kingdom of God is the fullness of Christ!
In the hidden
language of the Spirit, the symbol of land often has the meaning of inheritance. In some cases it deals with our inheritance
in Christ, in other references, to the inheritance of the Lord in His saints. Incredible as it may seem, the land of Israel is
but a figure of the true land Christ as everything to us and in us! Abraham from the beginning understood this
wonderful truth clearly, even if modern-day Christians dont! The writer to the Hebrews tells us, By faith
Abraham when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to
receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about
where he was to go. By faith he dwelt as a
temporary resident in the land which was designated in the promise of God, in a strange
country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs with him of the same promise. For he was waiting expectantly and confidently,
looking forward to the city which has fixed and firm
foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. Now
those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland their own country. But the truth is that they were yearning for
and aspiring to a better and more desirable
country, that is, a heavenly (spiritual) one. For that reason God is not ashamed to be called
their God
(Heb. 11:8-10,14,16, Amplified).
Now we know what
is meant by the land! It was but a shadow and figure of the true
land, the heavenly land of the Spirit, where the called and chosen elect of the Lord dwell
in Christ in God! Everything that God prepared
naturally for the children of Israel was concentrated in that land. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys,
and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the
eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the
end of the year (Deut. 11:10-12). They
were called to live on the land and to enjoy all the provision and abundance of God. They were to be formed into a kingdom in that land,
observing the statutes, judgments, laws, ways, and will of the Lord in the land. They were to become a kingdom of priests and an
holy nation in the midst of the land so that through them all the nations of the earth
might be blessed! Notice they were to subjugate and destroy every vestige of the wicked
nations that possessed their own land, but they were to BLESS ALL THE OUTWARD NATIONS OF THE EARTH! Selah. Pause
and meditate on that!
All
the promises, provisions, plans, and purposes of God were concentrated in the land. All these types are fulfilled in Christ as a piece
of land! All the promises, provisions, plans,
and purposes of God for mankind are concentrated in Christ!
Christ is the true, real, appointed, abundant, fruitful, heavenly land to
us! Our citizenship is in Christ in this
heavenly land of the Spirit! We are not of
this world, and regardless of our ethnicity in the flesh, we are not of the earthly
Jerusalem, nor of the physical seed of Abraham, nor of the land of Canaan in the Middle
East! God has given us a citizenship in the
heavenlies where we are seated together in Christ Jesus!
God has given us this heavenly, spiritual, incorruptible, eternal,
all-sufficient land that we may become a kingdom of priests, an holy nation, and that
through us as the very sons of God all the nations and families of the earth may be blessed! Isnt
it wonderful!
God has promised
to give us the land, which is the fullness of Christ.
There is just one problem with this beautiful hope. THE LAND OF PROMISE IS OCCUPIED! It is infested!
It is not vacant, ready to be settled into by Gods elect. It presently is occupied by Gods enemies. Seven mighty, vile, intransigent nations occupy the
land! The natural, outward promised land of
old was lived in by brutal and ruthless tribes who practiced devilish idolatries,
including the worship of their own sexual lusts and the burning of their children in the
fire as sacrificial offerings. Their
abominable, degrading, disgusting patterns of behavior had been inviting the wrath of God
during the time that Israel was multiplying in Egypt.
When we say that Christ is our land of promise, this doesnt mean that
Christ Himself is full of wickedness and abominations!
You see, my beloved, the land is the realization of Christ within ourselves. The
land is not in some far-off heaven somewhere. The
land is within us! And in that land of the
experiencing of Christ within ourselves we find a great number of hindrances, problems,
bondages, fears, false perceptions, ideas, concepts, fleshliness, carnality, self-will,
habits, lusts, sin, sickness, and death all enemies of the realization of Christ. All the abominations of the seven nations of Canaan
lie right within the very soul and body of each of us!
Now we are
crossing the Jordan, in spiritual type, and are entering the new land of the kingdom of
God or the fullness of Christ on the earth! We
may have held the erroneous idea that upon entering the new land of the kingdom we would
at once know absolute peace, joy, righteousness, kingdom blessings, power, and
incorruptible life. Perhaps we once thought
that by entering into the kingdom of God, by simple faith the entire order of things
within and without would change overnight! But
I call you to remembrance, my beloved, that the new land of Canaan was the place where
Israel of old faced their enemies and conquered
them. It meant warfare! It meant obedience and sacrifice! It meant struggle and bloodshed! It meant going on the offensive and effectually conquering, one by one, each and every enemy!
Only now are we
discovering our enemies! As we cross over our
Jordan all our enemies, including death, the last enemy, must be driven out before we
shall inherit the kingdom of God in all its glorious fullness. But the battle is not ours! Our enemies are also the Lords enemies, and
HE has promised to drive them out before us as we walk forward in obedience to Him! Here in this new land of the fullness of Christ we
shall be fully saved in spirit, soul, and body. Then
even death, the last enemy, shall be totally conquered within ourselves and defeated. Some say that it is in crossing the Jordan that
death is overcome, but such is not the case! Death
is the last enemy that shall be destroyed, not the first! The battle only begins after we have crossed our spiritual Jordan! Jordan is simply the crossing over of
leaving our wilderness journeyings behind and stepping forth in faith and obedience to
enter in and begin possessing the land of our inheritance!
As we enter into this land and begin to conquer the enemies and possess our
inheritances, we will know that we are truly His people and He is our God!
Do not think,
precious friend of mine, that you will face no resistance as you rise up to conquer the
enemy nations within your land! You
will come face to face with all their passion and fury!
and the nations were angry
Ah, how eloquently those words describe the
reaction of our enemies, those entrenched nations within, as the battle rages!
This is all part of the process. Yet
how I praise God with joy unspeakable and full of glory for the words that follow: and
THY WRATH IS COME
What a word that
is! Only HE within us has the power to deal
with these nations! Only our Almighty Father
has this power over the flesh to subdue it unto Himself.
He alone can bring about this transformation of our beings. That is the mystery!
On the one hand the Lord says, You drive out the enemies, while
on the other hand He says, I will drive out the enemies from before you. He alone can make the enemies within us subject to
the will of God. He can subdue this flesh of
ours, and the powers of darkness within it, so
it is necessary for us to turn it over to Him that this transformation can take place. As we turn our body over completely to His control
He will go before us and give us the victory! We
must be obedient and follow our heavenly Joshua! It
is HIS WRATH that works in us and through us to gain the victory!
THY
WRATH IS COME
We give
Thee thanks
because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the
nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come
(Rev. 11:17-18).
What is Gods
wrath? Two kinds of wrath are
revealed in the scriptures the wrath of man and the wrath of God. The wrath of man springs from a carnal, fleshly,
unholy nature. It is therefore vindictive,
vengeful, retaliatory, implacable, unmerciful, retributive, spiteful, and malicious. The wrath of God, however, derives from a
spiritual, loving, holy nature. The wrath of
God is no more like the wrath of man than is the love of God like the love of man, or the
heart of God like the heart of man, or the thoughts of God like the thoughts of man. God is not a
man! Yet people speak of the attributes of
God as though they are of the same character and quality as the attributes of man,
attributing to the holy God the unregenerate traits and emotions of man. But the wrath of man is no model of the wrath of
God!
One brother
wrote, Revelation speaks frequently of Gods terrible wrath, and it frightens
people to think that the earth will feel the full fury of Gods anger, of hellfire,
the fire that burns forever. A woman once told
me that she always thinks of the wrath of God as the intense fire of infinite love that burns up that which is not true. This is a beautiful way of looking at it! We can think of Gods fiery judgment as a
purifying fire, and if we read Revelation with the thought that it is speaking of the
intense fire of infinite love that is too pure to behold evil, then we can see why
anything less than Truth has to go.
The word wrath
in our text is the Greek word orge meaning desire, excitement, passion. That
certainly doesnt sound like the kind of wrath most people think of! There is another Greek word, thumos, and surprisingly Strongs Concordance
also gives as the basic meaning of this word, breathing
hard, passion. Why havent the
preachers told us this before! Let me give you
an example of the use of thumos right here in
the book of Revelation. Speaking of the great
harlot, Mystery Babylon, the angel explains to John, All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication (Rev. 18:3). Now,
I ask, who ever heard of wrath being sweet and intoxicating like wine! And
who would ever think of the sensual pleasures of fornication as being angry, vengeful,
full of rage and violence! But when we
consider the true meaning of the word thumos it
becomes very clear For all nations have drunk of the wine of the passion
of her fornication. What a
difference that makes!
Gods wrath
is not that which is vindictive and vengeful, but rather that which is impassioned,
fervent, zealous, enlivened, glowing, vigorous, intense, burning, and dynamic. In the face of the anger of the
symbolic nations God is moved into action by His passion for righteousness. My friend, John Gavazzoni, once wrote, Ed
Brown translates the Greek word orge as (Gods)
intrinsic fervor. I like that. I think Ed has captured the essential meaning. For me it suggests ravishing love. Since God IS love, then wrath, necessarily is a
form of love, for nothing could proceed out from the nature of God that is inconsistent
with the love that He IS. The conclusion is
just too obvious once one has been delivered from the dark, demonic imagination that fuels
eternal torment dogma; namely, that God, when faced with the ontological contrarianism
that seeks to impose on us a false identity, with us being overcome by a false persona,
His love is aroused to reclaim us, to lay claim with divine jealousy to that which belongs
to Him. With intrinsic fervor He reaches out
to possess that which is His, and we are His both by creation and redemption! end quote. Men of passion can certainly be angry, but the
anger is not the basis of their passion. Even
in a punitive way passion may be expressed in terms of love, as when a parent is moved with passion to
sternly discipline a misbehaving child. So it
is clear that wrath has to do with passion, or feeling very strongly about
something. It does not mean either anger or vengeance!
God has a
passion to make right what is wrong, to cleanse and restore His creation, like any Father
who wants his son to grow up straight and strong. He
has a passion, therefore He will spare nothing, not even the rod, to accomplish His great
purpose. The wrath of God is the wrath of a
Father and in His wrath He remembers mercy! His
purpose in wrath is not vindictive, but corrective and redemptive. Mankind is full of anger, bitterness, torment, and
fury the wrath of man but now Gods
wrath comes! The nations were angry,
and Thy wrath, Thy passion, has come. What
a revelation that is! Oh, the wonder of it! How sublime the very thought! How awesome the implication! How divine and glorious the outcome!
We will not
dwell long upon the other beautiful thoughts in verse eighteen. Mention is made that the time has come for the
dead to be judged. Immediately we
conjure up the thought of a great white throne out there somewhere in the distant future
where dead men will rise up to appear in order to be judged.
But that is not the thought here! Everything
in chapter eleven is related and it all concerns
the final work of the Lord symbolized by the seventh trumpet sounding, and
this is His great work in His called and chosen
elect. May I suggest that the dead
referred to are the very same dead found in verse thirteen: And the same
hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the
earthquake were slain of men seven thousand
Oh, yes! These
are the ones who die to the great city, religious Babylon, and
their names are erased from the registries of that symbolic city. It means to die out to the flesh, to the carnal
mind, to the soulical emotions and desires, and to every vestige of the religious spirit.
It is not said that these dead are raised,
only that they are judged. We need to always hear what the Spirit saith! To
judge simply means to render a verdict which may be either favorable or
unfavorable, depending upon the context.
The only
judgment most people understand is the negative aspect of judgment, the unfavorable verdict, which is unto condemnation and
wrath. It should require only a moments
reflection, however, to enable anyone to see that the very same judge who sentences one
man to pay a fine, another to die in the electric chair, may suspend the sentence of a
third man, declare a fourth man not guilty, acquitted, and may reward a fifth man the sum of one million dollars
as recompense for some wrong done to him! It is plain that a great many different judgments
or verdicts may come from this one judge.
Thus, the work of the judge is not merely to condemn and mete out sentences,
but to weigh all the facts, take all the circumstances into consideration, and render a
just verdict, favorable or unfavorable, as the case may demand.
Furthermore, the
judge of a beauty contest does not condemn or damn any of the contestants who fail to receive the
highest recognition. He merely renders a
verdict as to whom, in his estimation, is the fairest of them all! The Psalmist spoke of this when he said, For
promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But GOD IS THE JUDGE: He putteth down one, and
setteth up another (Ps. 75:6-7). The
positive aspect of judgment, the rendering of a favorable
verdict, and the granting of a reward for
some purpose, is implored of the Lord by king David in Psalm 43:1-2: JUDGE ME, O
God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: for Thou art the God of my strength. Ah, promotion
promotion that comes from the Lord clearly that is the idea conveyed by
the words of our text! The dead ones are
judged our great and glorious heavenly Father renders His verdict it is time
for promotion in the ranks of His separated ones!
The great truth
of what I now say is incontrovertibly confirmed in the very statement that follows:
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets (two-witness
prophetic company), and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, small and great
(Rev. 11:18). It is evident that the
judging leads to the reward. And
it indicates a reward for faithfulness, obedience, and kingdom works. It is a reward
for works, not a dealing with sin, nor a discipline for the perfecting of sons. It is vital to our understanding of this subject
that we see clearly the distinction between these important biblical terms: salvation, inheritance, and reward. Salvation
relates to the sinner, inheritance relates to sons, and reward relates to servants. SALVATION means to be rescued from the power of sin
and death and is the free gift of God to the
believer. And she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21). For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
not of works, lest any man should boast
(Eph. 2:8-9).
INHERITANCE, on
the other hand, is that which a son receives by
virtue of his relationship to the Father. It
is not a gift. It is not earned. It is his by right!
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an HEIR of God through Christ (Gal.
4:7). And if children, then HEIRS; heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
REWARD, furthermore, is something that is given for service rendered.
It is not a free gift, as is salvation, nor is it bestowed because of
right, as an inheritance. It is earned by work!
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His
messengers; and then He shall REWARD EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS (Mat. 16:27). And the nations were angry, and Thy passion
is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants (Rev. 11:18).
It is when we
come to this thought of servants that there
arises a great deal of misunderstanding among the Lords people. When we speak of servants, some boast that this
calling does not apply to them, for they are no longer servants, but sons. And that is true in the spirit in which Paul argues
when he states, And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore,
thou art no
more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ
(Gal. 4:6-7). It is far from the truth,
however, to say that there is no sense in which those who are sons are also servants. Paul is speaking of our relationship
to God, the Father. Under Old
Testament economy the people of God had not received new birth by the Spirit and so were
not, by spiritual regeneration, conscious of being the children of God. They were conscious only of servantship to God and
the book of Hebrews calls them a house of servants (Heb. 3:2-6). Their relationship to God was the relationship of servants. They
were not counted as sons.
Now, bless His
name, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law that we might receive placement as
sons, and He has birthed into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, the very spirit of
sonship, whereby we cry, Abba, FATHER! This
has brought a change of relationship to God. To Him we are no longer servants, but sons. However, as sons we enter not only into a
relationship to God, but we also become uniquely
related TO MEN. It is here that we
must be very clear in our understanding! Unto
GOD I may be a son, but unto MEN I may be a servant the servant of God unto them
because I am a son! I can not be a servant to God, for I am a son. But I cannot be a son to men, therefore I must approach unto men in a
relationship through which I can minister to them out
of the life of the Son which indwells me. The
only agency through which I can minister the life of the Son unto men is as a servant the servant of the Lord unto them. To minister means to serve, and both minister and servant
are frequently translated from the same Greek word. If
I am a minister, then I am a servant not a servant unto God, but a servant sent
from God to serve men!
Can a son be a
servant? Jesus, the Pattern Son, declared:
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (serve), and
to give His life for many (Mat. 20:28). Jesus
was a Son to His Father, but He came as a servant unto men.
It is the SON that SERVES! The
Son is a Servant-Son. The very same Jesus, the
Son, of whom the Father witnessed, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased, of Him the Father also witnessed, Behold my SERVANT, whom I uphold;
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon Him: He shall bring
forth judgment to the nations (Isa. 42:1). Matthew
12:15-21 shows unmistakably that this SERVANT of the Lord is JESUS. The Son came into the world as a Servant-Son! The beloved John understood this beautiful truth,
for the same John who wrote, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God,
later penned these significant words, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things
which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it unto His servant John (I Jn. 3:1; Rev. 1:1).
The great
apostle Paul also understood this great truth, for the very same Paul who wrote, Wherefore,
thou art no more a servant, but a son, also said, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle
(Gal. 4:7; Rom. 1:1). Is Jesus a son or a
servant? Was John a son or a servant? Was Paul a son or a servant? And lest we would exalt ourselves above John, or
Paul, or even Jesus, we further find that the 144,000 in the Revelation, that glorious
company of the manifest sons of God standing with the Lamb in the governmental heights of
the heavenly mount Zion, even of this exalted company it is written, Hurt not the
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed THE SERVANTS OF OUR GOD IN THEIR FOREHEADS (Rev.
7:3). So there you have it! The sons are
the servants!
Not servants to God, of course, but sons who are servants unto men, humble
ministers of the life of the Father. And the servants receive a reward! That
is the mystery.
DESTROY THEM THAT DESTROY THE EARTH
And the
nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time
that Thou
shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth (Rev.
11:18).
That there is a
natural application of this idea of destroy
them that destroy the earth none can deny. We
are now witnesses of an ever-looming catastrophe that potentially could take place between
the nations of earth on a scale never before seen. There
is an increasingly dangerous level of corruption, fanaticism, violence, and terrorism in our world, with the
potential for the release of various weapons of mass destruction. The attempt to procure these devastating means of
destruction includes chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, which are now openly and
aggressively being obtained by rogue nations and numerous terrorist groups world-wide.
Our day is also
marked by impending environmental catastrophes that appear ever larger upon the horizon. Most of these conditions have come about as a
result of mans pride and selfishness. The
idea that man could actually, literally, destroy the earth would have appeared ludicrous
to any previous generation. Even less than a
hundred years ago it would have been hard to imagine that anyone could destroy the earth! Sure, mankind tended to misuse the earth, but destroy it? For
the first time in history, mankind does have the
capability of totally destroying all human and animal life from the planet! The effects of air pollution, the transportation
and storing of hazardous materials, depletion of the earths ozone layer, pollution
of the atmosphere, rivers, lakes, and oceans with some of the most dangerous chemicals
known to man, the kind that just dont go away; these are penetrating the food chain
even in pristine environments like the Arctic. U. S. citizens alone produce some two
billion pounds of hazardous waste a day, not to mention vast quantities of automobile lead
deposits, tire rubber, backyard pesticides, chemical fertilizers, plastic products, fossil
fuels, refrigeration equipment, and a thousand more.
But how can it
stop? Pollution is only the by-product of all
the goods and services upon which the modern world has become so dependent. If big business is to continue to produce goods and
provide jobs, if big finance is to continue to fund growth and expansion, if government is
to continue to make it all possible and since greed
is the undiminished underpinning of human nature
then the continued wreckage of the earth is the inevitable course of the natural man! All the modern technology which we now consider
irreversible and indispensable to our way of
life, products of mans ingenuity to wrest the secrets of nature, the handiwork of
the wise, all combine to terminate as a Frankenstein monstrosity
threatening mans annihilation! No personal benefits can survive this level of
irresponsibility indefinitely! It is apparent
that mans careless and greedy tendencies are responsible for this systematic
destruction of the natural earth. Even those
nations that produce the highest levels of pollutants are ill-prepared to act swiftly and
seriously because of economic reasons, and the
situation continues to deteriorate.
Yet as
true and awesome as all of this is, we are not interested in the natural, except as it serves as a parable, for the
revelation given to John by the Spirit is not a warning for the natural man about earthly
and physical catastrophes, but a spiritual
revelation given for the edification, understanding, instruction, and transformation
of the saints! All the outward is merely a
shadow of the true and greater realities to which the Spirit points. It speaks spiritual truth and sets forth spiritual
dealings! The earth signifies the soul realm, and all that is soulical in the
religious life of man. Out of mans
fleshly nature arise those things which instead of bringing the soul into union with the
spirit of life, enslave and destroy the work of God in the soul, barring man from entrance
into the kingdom of heaven. The meaning of the
Greek word destroy in our text is to rot thoroughly, decay utterly, ruin, pervert, corrupt. The clear import is just this to pervert, kill, or destroy by corruption! To
destroy by corruption signifies to destroy by the flesh, for he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption (Gal.
6:8).
When
the soul is united to the fleshly life instead of being joined to the spirit, the
restoration and transformation of man is thwarted and at best the Lords people are
held captive in the soulical religious realm! In order for truth, righteousness, life, and
reality to be raised up in our life, sin, lies, error, deception, and the spirit of the
world must be destroyed. That means all earthly concepts and fleshly
ways have to be destroyed, for they bring man under the dominion of the carnal mind and
the old Adamic life. The earth is
their dwelling place, for the carnal mind dwells in a body made of dust! The thoughts, desires, and ways of the mind of the flesh are those
which by corruption kill the soul! They kill or destroy the
soul by keeping it from life in the spirit! To
destroy those who destroy the earth does not mean that God is going to send destruction on
all the people in the giant corporations,
factories, refineries, and governments of the earth that are physically polluting the
planet. Nor does it mean that people are going
to be put into hell and tortured. Oh, no! When their
wrong thinking and fleshly ways are destroyed, they, the powers of the carnal
mind and the natural man, are destroyed! Oh,
the mystery of it!
So the passion
of God arises and destroys the carnal mindedness and fleshly life within each of us and so
astonishes the power of Self that it silences its desires, its aspirations, its
determination, and all its unrighteous and worldly religious ways! Paul spoke of the Galatians who did run well for a
time, but were hindered. That is ever the
problem for those who are not consumed by the flaming passion of the Lord! We do well for a time, but the cares of this age,
the deceitfulness of riches, the desires of the flesh, and the old religious spirit enter
in and choke us, and we become unfruitful and drop out of the race altogether.
We have
previously pointed out that in the book of Revelation the earth is a symbol
bespeaking the realm of the soul and all that is soulical, especially the religious realm. The soul has been created to be joined in union
with the spirit, as a woman is joined in union with her husband. Eve, as a type, stands for the soul as Adam stands
for the spirit. Now the Lord is the
spirit, says Paul, and may I add that the bride of Christ is the soul of the new
creation man in union with the Head, the Lord who is the spirit, or Christ in you the hope of glory. Peter admonishes the saints in his first epistle,
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (I Pet. 2:11). Can we not see by this that those who destroy
the earth are those who corrupt the soul
by leading it into a carnal union with the body of death (flesh realm) instead of the life
of the spirit. It is the defects of mans
fleshly emotions, thoughts, understanding, desires, and will that usurps and prevents the
life of the spirit, thereby keeping the soul from life and perpetuating the death of
carnality. These are they who
destroy the earth! When the Lords
passion strikes the enemies of our soul and destroys them, He effectively destroys them
that corrupt the soul, leads the soul out of her captivity to the flesh, woos her with His
cords of love, and claims His rightful bride as His own!
It is indeed wonderful!
George Hawtin
has given a very perceptive and inspirational insight into this truth, and I quote:
Now, since
the flesh lusts against the spirit and is at endless conflict with it, then anything that
seeks to make you earthly and fleshly-minded is a great evil. The things that belong to the realm of the flesh
(the body) are passing away. Even the flesh
itself is passing away. Anything that is
passing away is not real. It is like a bubble
that floats prettily in the air only to burst and never to exist again. It is like the darkness that disappears with the
dawn and has no certain dwelling place. It is
like a flower in the field that blooms for a moment and disappears, a vision of the night,
a fleeting shadow, a moment of joy, a passing sorrow, or a sudden pain. When such things have passed by, no one knows where
they came from or whither they have gone. Those,
however, who indulge themselves in the things that belong to the body grow to think that
nothing is true or real but what is bodily and
can be touched or seen or eaten or drunk or enjoyed by the passions of men. Unwittingly they change true riches for false;
things that are unseen by mortal eyes for things that are seen. They exchange things that are spirit for things
that can be touched, tasted, and felt by the body.
The soul
now begins to think that these things which belong to the body are real and therefore
becomes fleshly-minded. The carnal or fleshly
mind is an enemy of God and an enemy of all things spiritual. It follows, then, that because the soul is burdened
down with the earthly and visible, it is impossible for it to be spiritual, and when the
time comes to depart out of this world by death and enter the realm of the spirit, it will
fear to die and want to remain in the body, because it is a stranger to the realm of the
spirit and has come to believe that the realm of the body is
the only realm that is real, when in truth it is the only realm that is
unreal end quote.
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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