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KINGDOM
BIBLE STUDIES
“Teaching the things
concerning the
THE SIGN OF THE
SON OF MAN
(Olivet
Discourse #6)
Originally
written in Oct 1974
Introduction
A person who speaks only the English language can take a book, written in French,
and while he may not be able to read it, except with much hesitation and
mispronunciation, still he can struggle through it, after a fashion.
Occasionally he will come to a word which closely resembles the English, with
which he is familiar. But, because he knows nothing of the meaning of French
words, no matter how well he can read the text, it means nothing to him until
he learns what each individual French word means.
Even so, Christians who read Bible
prophecy, if they do not understand prophetical language, are confronted with a
similar problem. Prophecy is invariably written in spiritual and prophetical
terms, and unless one understands the meaning of each individual term, though
he may be able to read the text fluently, yet he has no understanding of what
he reads. So, before one can understand prophecy, he first must receive a
revelation of the prophetic language. Fortunately, the Word furnishes us with
the KEYS to prophetic terms by which we may, through consistent study, and the
illumination of the Holy Spirit, become proficient in the prophetic language.
In Matthew 24:29-31 we read,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.”
In the above verses Jesus sets forth
several prophetical terms. Some of these prophetical terms are: SUN, MOON,
STARS, HEAVEN, SIGN, CLOUDS. Let us take a look at these!
THE PROPHETICAL “HEAVENS”
Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is
my throne, and the earth is my footstool” Isaiah 66:1. “Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool… saith the Lord” (Acts 7:49).
Children in school learn what we
call definitions. A definition is an explanatory statement which tells us just
exactly what a certain thing is, as “an island is a tract of land completely
surrounded by water.” God also gives us definitions in His Word. He tells us
exactly what certain things are. And, in the Scripture just quoted He had told
us exactly what heaven is: “Heaven is my throne.” Now, let us make this a
little plainer. Definitions of men can be given backward. For instance the
definition, “An island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water,” can
be given thus: “A tract of land completely surrounded by water is an island.”
This is but another way of stating the same thing. It does not, in any way,
change the meaning. Now, let us try this on the Biblical definition of heaven.
“Heaven is my throne” may also be turned around to say: “My throne is heaven.”
Whether we say that heaven is God’s throne or that God’s throne is heaven the
meaning is still the same.
We would do well to remember here
that ‘heaven’ is not a place away off somewhere in the ethereal blue, millions
of miles distant; but “heaven I-S M-Y T-H-R-O-N-E.” God’s heaven is the throne
from which He reigns over the earth – yea, over all things!
Christ is the Creator of the world,
and its present Ruler, in spite of all contentions to the contrary. The
Scriptures make this very plain. Of course, Satan represented himself to be in
control in Luke 4:6. But I personally have very little confidence in his
veracity. If this statement of his is true, then possibly there might be some
truth in his statement of Genesis 3:4 also, “and the serpent said to the woman,
Ye shall not surely die.” We must remember that he is the father of lies. And
instead of him being in control, Romans 13:1-6 tells us that all world rulers
are God’s “ministers,” and there is “NO POWER but of God.” Satan would like to
have us believe that the earth is his own and that he is its king; but the Word
says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, AND THEY
THAT DWELL THEREIN” (Psalms 24:1). It also says, “Behold, the heaven and the
heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with ALL that therein
is” (Deuteronomy 10:14). In fact, old Pharoah, as sinful as he was, was raised
up by God and the word says, “For the scripture saith unto Pharoah, Even for
this same purpose HAVE I RAISED THEE UP, that I might show my power in thee,
and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth” (Romans 9:17).
Christ is King, He rules, and not
another. He has been given power over “ALL flesh” (John 17:2). Before He
ascended He stated, “ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”
(Matthew 28:18). “All power” means “all power” and leaves no room for Satan to
have some power. And this unbounded power is not a mere recent acquisition, for
in John 17:5 we read that before ascending Jesus petitioned the Father to
glorify Him with the glory which He had before the world was. So the glory and
power which He now possesses, He also possessed in Old Testament times, and
even before time began. In Daniel 4:17, 25 and 32 we read, “The Most High
RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth
up over it the basest of men.” And Satan also serves. He served in Job’s day.
He did only what the Lord allowed him to do (Job 1:12; 2:6-7), to accomplish
the Lord’s purpose, and He is still at his job. If he were not a servant he
would have hindered the crucifixion of our Lord instead of encouraging it (by
entering into Judas), for that was the greatest spiritual victory of the ages!
And we have no time for people who seem to be serving a little, puny God, Who
is so weak and timid that He must run to get out of Satan’s way every time he
makes his appearance, lest He be devoured, or His plan and purpose thwarted.
Oh, that saints might once and for all learn this one truth: “GREATER IS HE
that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).
Christ is the supreme Ruler of the
universe. Satan has power only by special concession, in order to bring about
what God has decreed shall be. Christ always has ruled. He always will. The
Father has given “ALL things” into his hand (John 3:35). So, God’s “heaven” is
His throne from which He reigns over the earth, even though that throne be
occupied by a mere human government. Since God rules, and always has ruled, in
the kingdom of men, setting up over them even the basest of men (Daniel 4:17);
since all world rulers are merely His ministers, unwittingly carrying out His
decrees (Romans 13:1-6), then the GOVERNMENTAL REALM is the prophetic “heaven”
which constitutes His throne from which He rules, for that is the power which
enforces His edicts and executes His judgement. The realm of government is the
power, the prophetic heaven, through which God rules the world. This was true
peculiarly in
So, when we read in Matthew 24:29
that “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars SHALL FALL FROM
HEAVEN, and the POWERS OF THE HEAVENS shall be shaken,” we are simply
reading that the governments of men are COMING DOWN! Everything through
which God has ruled in the earth up to this present time is being darkened, and
is shaking, and is ready to pass away. This work of God is even now taking
place in the earth. Human government (God’s government through mortal humans),
now that the “times of the Gentiles” have ended, must DETERIORATE,
progressively becoming weaker and weaker, less and less able to rule, more and
more chaotic and confused. Daniel saw this divided and impotent system of
government at the end of this age and spoke of it in these words: “And as the
toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be
PARTLY STRONG, AND PARTLY BROKEN. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry
clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: BUT THEY SHALL NOT
CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven SET UP A KINGDOM, which shall never be destroyed…
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
forever” (Daniel 2:42-44).
God now RULES the earth through
mortal, human government. But this order is soon to pass away. God shall soon
establish in the earth His rule through immortal, incorruptible, and perfected
saints – the SONS OF GOD. In Bible prophecy, when God speaks of “heaven” He is
speaking of the GOVERNMENTAL REALM through which He rules. The present
“heavens” are being darkened and shall soon be shaken and pass away. This fact
is indisputably established in Hebrews 12:26-28: “Whose voice then shook the
earth (God’s footstool): but now He hath promised, saying, “Yet once more I
shake not the earth only, BUT ALSO HEAVEN” (the governmental realm, God’s
THRONE). And this word, “Yet once more,” signifieth THE REMOVING OF THOSE
THINGS WHICH ARE SHAKEN, as of things which are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken (incorruptible) may remain. Wherefore, WE RECEIVE A KINGDOM
WHICH CANNOT BE MOVED…” Or, as John the Revelator said in Revelation 21:1, “I
saw a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH: for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away…”
To further establish this great
truth, and further PROVE from the Word of God that heaven in Bible prophecy
refers to, and is symbolic of, THE GOVERNMENTAL REALM through which God rules
the earth, let us take a look as some of the other “heavenly” signs given to us
in Matthew 24:29.
SUN, MOON AND STARS
“Immediately after the tribulation of
those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken” (Matthew 24:29).
The natural sun is the brightest luminary
in the natural heavens. And to help us in correctly interpreting the meaning of
the prophetical sun, Genesis 1:16 informs us that God made “the great light
(the sun) to RULE the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to RULE the night.”
Here we first have the idea expressed of both the sun and moon being RULERS.
Then we find that God, the supreme Ruler,
is called in the Word a “Sun.” “For the Lord thy God is a SUN and a shield”
(Psalms 84:11). Also, our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, is in Malachi
4:2 called the Sun of Righteousness.” He rules. Furthermore, we find, in
reference to men, that II Samuel 23:3-4 reads: “He that ruleth over men … shall
be as the light of the morning, WHEN THE SUN
ARISETH.” And in II Samuel 21:17 we find David the King called “the LIGHT of
Then we find in Daniel 4:26, “the heavens
do rule.” God’s heaven is his throne. “Heaven I-S M-Y T-H-R-O-N-E” (Isaiah
66:1). Heaven in Bible prophecy is the seat where the SUN, the mighty God sits
and RULES. And as God’s heaven is His throne, so the prophetical heavens
include the THRONES OF MEN, or all the governmental realm, THROUGH WHICH GOD
RULES, and He is LORD OF ALL. That the prophetic “heaven” is the governmental
realm, including the thrones of men through which God rules over men, is
demonstrated quite clearly, as we have seen, in Daniel 4:22, where Daniel tells
Nebuchadnezzar: “thy greatness is grown, and REACHED UNTO HEAVEN.” He had just
become the most exalted monarch of earth: the sun. And in Isaiah 5:30,
describing the casting down of earthly kings from their thrones, the prophet
says, “the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.” This statement is
most meaningful when compared with all the foregoing scriptures, and finally
compared with the statements in Matthew 24:29: “Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall THE SUN BE DARKENED, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken.”
The sun in prophecy is the most exalted
ruler of earth, the moon second, while the stars are lesser lights. The heavens
are the thrones which these rulers occupy. The earth is that which is ruled by
the heavens: that which looks to the sun, moon, and stars for its light. This
is the prophetic order NOW. But all these are to soon pass away, be darkened,
fall from heaven, and a new order shall be instituted. In the coming age THE
SONS OF GOD shall be the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars) that shall RULE THE
EARTH. When we read of the stars falling from heaven, we are simply reading
that the so-called “big shots” are coming down! We are being made to know that
all that has been giving light in the past, and that has ruled in the past, is
going out and is darkened forever. But in Matthew 24:27 we read that Christ
shall come “as the lightning (sun) cometh out of the east, and shineth even
unto the west.” CHRIST in his many-membered body shall TAKE THE PLACE of all
the former sun, moon, and stars.
Peter speaks about three heavens and three
earths, three sets of governments and three social orders governed. In II Peter
3:5 he speaks about the heavens and earth which were of old, standing
out of the water, and that world perished by water. This was the heavens and
earth, or the governmental realm and the governed realm, before the flood. Thus
one government and one earth-system came into being and was ended. Then in the
seventh verse Peter speaks of the heavens and earth, or the government and the
governed, which NOW ARE and which are kept in store for a cleansing by fire.
Then thirdly, in verse thirteen, Peter sets forth the NEW HEAVENS and the NEW
EARTH, the NEW GOVERNMENT OF GOD and the new ORDER AMONG MEN as they are
governed by the incorruptible SONS OF GOD in the age which is even now dawning.
NOTE: It is important for the reader to
keep in mind that in this study we are treating the word “heaven” strictly from
the standpoint of the “PROPHETICAL HEAVENS”; that is, the symbolical and
typical use of the word as it is employed figuratively in BIBLE PROPHECY.
Prophecy is generally spoken in the Word in TYPES AND FIGURES. Therefore, in
bible prophecy heaven in used as a figure to denote THE REALM OF GOVERNMENT,
both spiritual and earthly. In other places in the Word the term “heaven” has
an altogether different meaning, usually denoting the universe, or the unseen
realm of the Spirit, the realm of GOD.
THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN
In Matthew 24:29, using the symbols
of the sun, moon, stars and the powers of the heavens, Jesus reveals the approaching
total and complete collapse and destruction of this present World-order. Then
in verse 30 He shows that after all the lights of the former governmental
systems go out, when you would expect only darkness, A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT
TAKES PLACE. The SIGN of the Son of man will appear in THE HEAVEN. “And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.”
In studying this last clause we must
first note a grievous error that is made by most people who study it. The
unthinking masses skip over it lightly, and misinterpret it as the coming of
“the Son of man in heaven.” That is not what the text says at all. We need to
pay particular attention to all the words. They all mean something. The verse
does not say that the Son of man will appear in heaven, but rather, “the sign”
will appear: the sign of the Son of man. A sign is a far different
reality from that which it points to. You cannot ride in a road sign
advertising a certain make of car. The sign merely tells you where to find the
man who sells that car.
So the SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN is not
the Son of man. But going to the Greek we find the word for sign is
“semeion” which means a miracle, sign, wonder or signal. And the text also
tells us where this wonder, or signal, will appear. In the previous verse we
saw the sun, moon, and stars fall from heaven: from their thrones. And then we
saw these heavenly or exalted powers themselves pass away and go into oblivion.
They are no more. And the Word of God tells us that upon the burning of these
Babylonish heavens, there will arise a new system, a new heaven and new earth,
in which will dwell righteousness (II Peter 3:12-13). And that is where we find
this “sign” or wonder, and signal of the Son of man. It appears
“in heaven.” And heaven in prophecy means thrones, usually the thrones of men;
the government of earth. The sun, moon and stars of Matthew 24:29 fell from
heaven, from their thrones, and here in verse 30 we see the sign or signal of
the Christ ascending the SAME THRONES, or taking away their place. The old
order passes away. This is a new day. And Christ is King. He reigns. And His
will shall be done in earth as it is done in heaven!
Since the “sign” of the Son of man
in heaven is that which points to and declares the imminence of
the absolute RIGHTEOUS REIGN OF CHRIST over the earth, then we must expect that
in this end-time there shall appear in the REALM OF GOVERNMENT a “sign” which
will declare and point to the fact that the hour has come for Christ to
no longer rule the earth through the weak, carnal and imperfect governments of
mortal man, but He shall take the power to govern this earth through an
entirely new system – a SPIRITUAL, RIGHTEOUS, AND INCORRUPTIBLE system
which shall be eternal and unchangeable.
To better understand what this
“sign” of the Son of man is, let us turn now to Revelation chapter 12, that
most wonderful, symbolic revelation of God’s plan for the day now present and
the days just ahead of us. The chapter opens with this statement: “And there appeared
a great WONDER IN HEAVEN.” It is important to pause here and note that the
word “wonder” in this passage is the same Greek word “semeion” which, in
Matthew 24:30, is translated “sign.” In other words, “there appeared a
great SIGN IN HEAVEN.” Now compare this with the statement of our Lord in
Matthew 24:30: “And then shall appear the SIGN of the Son of man IN
HEAVEN.” This makes it very clear that what Jesus spoke of, and that which John
saw, are indeed ONE AND THE SAME THING! So what is the SIGN that John
saw “in heaven”?
“And there appeared a great wonder
in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon
her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered… and she brought forth a man child, who was
to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God,
and to His throne” (Revelation 12:1-2, 5). Some would tell us that the woman in
this chapter is Mary, or
The Bride is referred to as a woman
in the Scriptures. Her characteristics are those of the female, or feminine.
She is never referred to as a MALE CHARACTER. But the child BORN OUT of this
woman, the Bride, is referred to as a man-child, a son, a male or masculine
child; one who is of MASCULINE CHARACTER. I have wondered for years why so many
Bible students call this masculine company the “Bride of Christ.” This
distinctly masculine company corresponds with the MANIFESTED SONS OF GOD who,
the Scriptures DECLARE, are going to liberate all groaning creation from sin,
bondage and death – according to Romans 8:19-23! While the Bride of Christ is
God’s Elect, in its feminine relationship of love and submission to Christ, the
MANCHILD, or the Sons of God, are masculine in their spiritual nature and
relationship to the FATHER. Their masculinity speaks of their great spiritual
STRENGTH, AUTHORITY, POWER AND DOMINION.
This SON represents a many-membered
company of FULL OVERCOMERS who are destined to become the very embodiment of
God’s
With all the foregoing in mind, let
us see that the “sign” of the Son of man in heaven is the same as the “wonder”
which John saw “in heaven.” That “sign” is simply the coming forth in the earth
of a company of fully-overcoming, victorious SONS OF GOD – who are to take the
reins of the government of this world and RULE ALL NATIONS in the age to come.
When these Sons of God begin to come forth in the GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY of the
Spirit of God in the earth, then shall the SIGN of the Son of man be
seen – for THEY ARE THE SIGN!
It is clear in the Scriptures that
this overcoming company of Sons of God shall be made up, not only those who are
living and overcome down here at the end of the age, but included in this group
are those who QUALIFIED AS OVERCOMERS through all the ages past – from
the time of righteous Abel, down to the present. These are they who have proved
themselves WORTHY to reign – of the CHARACTER required of Rulers – and they
shall be raised to the incorruptible, heavenly sphere to reign in absolute
righteousness, perfection, and incorruptibility, free forever from sin and the
curse. “If we suffer, we shall ALSO REIGN with Him” (II Timothy 2:12).
Most Christians mistakenly hold to
the idea that all saved people will automatically, by the grace of God, rule
and reign with Christ in His Kingdom. One great cause of this error among all
classes of saints is the failure to understand Revelation 20:4. “And I saw
thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them: and I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for
the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; AND THEY
LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS.” So many try to make this
include all saints. Unfortunately, the Greek word here rendered “beheaded,” in
our King James version, is not fully understood. It appears nowhere else in the
Word, except in this verse (Revelation 20:4). But, one fact stands out,
plainly: it cannot allude only to those who died as martyrs, for we know
that some who died natural deaths will be included in this first resurrection.
It therefore must refer to those who LIVED as martyrs. Let us remember that the
terminology of the Revelations is highly symbolic. Included in this first
resurrection will be Daniel (Daniel 37:24), and King David (Jeremiah 30:9;
Ezekiel 37:4; Daniel 7:9, 22). Yet, both of these died natural deaths and
neither of them are living on the earth down here at the end-time. John the
beloved will certainly be in it: yet he did not go to a martyr’s grave.
However, John suffered more by living than if he would have been actually
beheaded. Tradition tells us that he was once boiled in oil. He was exiled to
the Isle of Patmos, there to starve, where he was given the Revelation. A
martyr’s grave was very often but a release from persecution, an easy way out.
So, martyrdom does not necessarily mean an untimely death.
Fortunately, Paul gives us some very
vital information concerning this first resurrection, without which we would be
very much in the dark. He tells us just how he was planning to be included in
it. He also tells us how others came to be included in the same class with him,
and he states that the revelation concerning this great attainment and the way
into it, is a sign of spiritual perfection (Philippians 3:11-15). But, the
popular teachers of the day have totally missed these great truths. Let us consider
them very carefully. They are of the utmost importance.
In Philippians 3:8-14 Paul informs
us that he had given up everything, that he might suffer with Christ, with his
nature transformed to die even as Christ died, “IF BY ANY MEANS I might
attain unto the resurrection out from amongst the dead.” In our King James
version this is rendered, “the resurrection of the dead”: a pathetic,
and altogether misleading translation.
And speaking of this resurrection
“out from amongst” the dead, Paul explains: “Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. BRETHREN I
COUNT NOT MYSELF TO HAVE APPREHENDED, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the HIGH CALLING of God in
Christ Jesus.”
Paul knew that he was a saved man
and, as such, knew there was positively no way he could escape the resurrection
of the just. Now, if there were but one resurrection of the saved, as modern
apostate Christianity teaches, then all of his STRIVING to be in it was
altogether useless. Although Paul hoped to be in the resurrection “out from
amongst the dead,” he said that he had not yet attained, but was pressing
toward the mark for the HIGH CALLING of God. To be in the HIGH CALLING one must
be in this first resurrection. To be in this first resurrection, one must be
PERFECT. This is a PRIZE, AN ATTAINMENT. This is the clear meaning of Paul’s
statements in these verses! But no: Paul was not striving in vain; and unto
Timothy (and us) he wrote, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (II
Timothy 2:12).
Every soul who dies, both saint and
sinner, must be in the resurrection “of” the dead. There is no possible way of
avoiding it. But, to be a partaker in the resurrection “from” the dead, that,
Paul tells us, is a special blessing and distinction awarded only to those who
have QUALIFIED FOR IT. It is martyrs and martyrs alone (Revelations 20:4), who
are to share in this first resurrection; not the general run of Christians who
have hob-nobbed with the world and taken the mark of the beast by propagating the
false doctrines of the apostate Babylonian religious systems. The resurrection
“of” the dead will be completed after the millennial reign (I Corinthians
15:52). It includes both saved and sinners, every son of Adam who missed the
first resurrection “from” the dead.
This final resurrection is set forth
in Revelation 20:12-15, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: AND ANOTHER BOOK WAS OPENED, WHICH IS THE BOOK OF
LIFE: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works… and WHOSOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE
BOOK OF LIFE was cast into the lake of fire.” It is abundantly clear that this
resurrection and judgement INCLUDES both saved and unsaved. Otherwise,
why open the BOOK OF LIFE? And why say that “WHOSOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN
THE BOOK OF LIFE” was cast into the lake of fire judgement of God. If nobody
in that judgement was written in the book of life, the things written in the
other books would be sufficient to CONDEMN THEM.
The resurrection “from” the dead has
already begun! It started 2000 years ago. Our Lord was the firstfruits of this
company, “raised up out of dead ones” (I Corinthians 15:20), along with “many bodies
of the saints which slept and came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many”
(Matthews 27:52-53). Then, this resurrection “from” the dead was discontinued,
to be resumed at the end of this age, which is now. It is the same event that
Paul writes of in Hebrews 11:32-40. He tells us that the saints of old were
stoned, sawn asunder, slain, suffered all sorts of indignities and perils; they
were “tortured, not accepting deliverance; THAT THEY MIGHT OBTAIN A
BETTER RESURRECTION.” It is what our Lord spoke of in Luke 20:35-36, “But they
which shall BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO OBTAIN that age, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die
anymore: for they are equal unto the angels (in immortality), and are the SONS
OF GOD, BEING THE SONS OF THE RESURRECTION.”
This is also that company which
Revelation 20:4 describes: those who lived and died as martyrs in order that
they might reign: those who with Paul, came to the place where they gave up
everything, even wanting to die “as Christ died, IF BY ANY MEANS I might attain
to the resurrection out from amongst the dead.” There have been a few, a small
remnant, all through the ages who, in their day, strove for and attained this
position. And there is a little remnant alive today, who belong to this same
company and who will now come into incorruption, free from the curse, along
with Paul and all the others who traveled the same route. All such, even to a
remnant who are alive today, must now share in this blessed reality, the
redemption of the body, thus to reign with Christ on the earth, while
Christians who made not this sacrifice, paid no price to GO ALL THE WAY WITH
GOD, slumber on.
But mark: the way into this great
privilege is through death: DEATH TO SELF and the world, in seeking to live the
crucified life, totally surrendered up to the will of the Father, reserving
nothing to ourselves. And in the Old Testament we find the same resurrection of
overcomers, of living martyrs, mentioned in Psalms 50:5. “Gather my saints
together unto me; those that have MADE A COVENANT WITH ME BY SACRIFICE.”
This present time is, therefore, the
most important of all the periods of earth. It is the time to which patriarch
and prophet looked forward with longing to see. We are truly a privileged
people, in that we have been favored to live to see this day. It is the great
day of the Lord, bringing in the Sabbath, or seventh millennium of earth, the
day of rest, when God’s saints will have rest and rejoicing, and deliverance
from all the bondage of the past. And it is the day of defeat, and darkness,
and bondage, and humiliation for our enemies (Amos 5:18-20). It is the day when
the first shall be last, and the last first: when those who have been despised
and reproached for the truth’s sake, will be brought to honor and glory, and
all the proud and haughty who now reign will be abased and brought low.
This coming to completion of the
body of the Sons of God; this redemption of the body; this putting on of
incorruptibility; this “catching up to the throne”; this receiving of governmental
authority by the glorified SONS OF GOD – this IS THE “SIGN” of the Son of
man and therefore shall herald the coming of the Christ and of His Kingdom in
all its glory.
Therefore, if you desire to see a
“sign” of the coming of the Lord, then look not to the depressing, negative,
corrupted conditions in the earth today. Those NEGATIVE CONDITIONS are only
signs of the coming of the DAY OF THE LORD (read II Thessalonians 2:2-3; I
Timothy 4:1-3; II Timothy 3:1-5). These depressing conditions in the earth
today point to the approaching Day of the Lord, the day of judgement, but the
SIGN of the COMING OF THE SON OF MAN is a POSITIVE SIGN. The “Sign” of the
coming of the Son of man is the BIRTH OF THE MAN-CHILD, the rising up in the
earth of the overcoming Sons of God! Keep your eye on GOD’S ELECT. As full
maturity, perfection, strength, and the glory of the Lord begin to be fulfilled
in them – a great WONDER SHALL APPEAR IN HEAVEN. A new RULING GOVERNMENT of
Christ IN HIS BODY shall appear on the scene, in the prophetic “heavens.”
“The saints of the Most High shall
TAKE THE KINGDOM, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. And
the kingdom and dominion, and the GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOM under the whole
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Hitherto is the end of the matter” (Daniel 7:18, 27-28).
This earth is but a proving ground
for those who shall reign with their Lord and Saviour over the endless
vastnesses of infinity. They have proven faithful over few things. Now they
will be made ruler over many things: over all His possessions (Matthew 24:45-47).
And these possessions are beyond number. We are able to see a few of them in
the starry heavens above, but there are others besides these, and they all
belong to our King. And He has given us His glory (John 17:22), because we are
brethren, bone of his bone and flesh of His flesh. We are of common parentage,
brothers by the new birth: to be like Him in nature, name and being. We are all
“out of one: for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews
2:6). Hence, we belong on His throne. And the place which He has been preparing
for each one is not only a world, and a kingdom of life and light, but a
position, a place of eminence at His side, ruling with Him from the throne of
His heaven, over all the endlessness of His unbounded dominions. AMEN!
To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY
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