Podcasts about New Jerusalem

Description: An exposition of the Tree of Life with its associated parts and the application throughout Scripture. The importance of type and analogy is demonstrated, pointing forward to the future joy of the saints being Trees of Righteousness in the Kingdom of God - many trees partaking of the One Tree which is Christ; and the responsibility of instructing the mortal population in the Millennium.A @Christadelphians Video: # SummaryThis PRESENTATION explores the profound visions found in Revelation 21 and 22, particularly focusing on the significance of the leaves of the tree of life, which are described as being for the healing of the nations. The speaker draws connections between the visions of Ezekiel and John, elucidating the spiritual implications of the Water of Life and the New Jerusalem. The presentation highlights the transformative power of the leaves and their role in the Millennial Kingdom, where the Saints will act as instruments of healing for the nations.# Highlights-

 Victory Within: The Pathway to an Overcoming Life   Victorious Christian Living is meant to be the norm for every true believer in Christ.       Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."   Revelation 2:11 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."   Revelation 2:17 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."   Revelation 2:26 "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—"   Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."   Revelation 3:12 "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name."   Revelation 3:21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."   God actually expects us to overcome. To live victoriously.      #1 It starts with Intimacy.      THIS is eternal life that they might KNOWHim! (John 17:3)   Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resur- rection, & the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,”    John 15:5  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”     If you will get this part of the Christian life right. if you will prioritize this above all, then will be well on your way to victorious Christian living!     Christians who prioritize their relationship w/ Christ through a consistent devotional life tend to live victoriously.   2 Peter 1:2-4 says “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of Godand of Jesus our Lord.  3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”     As you spend time with Him you will become like Him.     The law, legalism, is contrary to faith.    The Righteous live by faith   I Jn 5:4 - “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”   And without faith it is impossible to please God!   This is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith.   3 Simple Steps to the Victorious Christian Life -  #1 Intimacy with Christ.  #2 Christlike character #3 Faith in the Word  

Principle 46, The New Jerusalem      Psalm 48: 1-14 We are consistently to rejoice and praise God that we have an everlasting inheritance in God's eternal city. NEW! - Let us know what you think of the program! Support the show

Series: Jesus is Coming! - A Study In Revelation - Pastor Mark SmithMay 4, 2025

John moves from pulling back the curtain on the “Eternal City” of Rome and gives us an image of what could be with the “Holy City” of the New Jerusalem. This week we look at the images and words John uses to describe what could be.

Law and the Real Sabbath (1) (audio) David Eells – 5/4/25 First, let me say that we do have a Sabbath to keep in the New Covenant. If you, who have eyes to see, will be patient and hear me out, I will show you that it is the best news you have ever heard. The Sunday Sabbath folks want to bring us under the law of man, and the Saturday Sabbath folks want to bring us under the Law of the Old Covenant, which God refused to make with the Gentiles (Psa.147:19,20; Deu.7:6,11). If you hold either one of these positions, do not be afraid to examine this subject for the truth will hold up to scriptural scrutiny. The early church kept neither Sunday nor Saturday as the New Testament Sabbath until a great falling away in the third century. The Old Covenant Saturday Sabbath was a type and shadow of what is promised in the New Covenant, but as we will see, Sunday is not the fulfillment of it. (Col.2:16) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day: (17) which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's. As anyone knows, a shadow is not real; it is only darkness. It is created because what is real is in the light. When Christians try to keep the Old Covenant Sabbath, they are in darkness and have not yet come into the light of the real Sabbath. The Jews never knew what the real Sabbath was, only the shadow or type of the New Testament Sabbath. God never made the Law covenant with the Gentiles. For a Christian to come under part of the Law, like the old Sabbath, is to come under a curse for not keeping the whole Law. (Gal.3:10) For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them. Christ delivered us from the curse of failing to keep any part of God's Law. (13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. We are now justified by faith, not by keeping any part of the Law. Paul then warned the Christians not to go back under the Law in observing feast days and Sabbath days. (Gal.4:9) but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? (10) Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. (11) I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain. Paul warned by the Spirit that these believers could not be Christ-like under the Law. (19) My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you. Paul then warned that the Christians who go back under the Law are sons of the bondwoman Hagar and not the freewoman Sarah. (21) Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? (22) For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. (23) Howbeit the [son] by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the [son] by the freewoman [is born] through promise. Here we come to a stern warning for those seeking to be justified by keeping the Old Covenant Sabbath or any other part of the shadow of the Law. (30) Howbeit what saith the scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman. For a Christian to go under any part of the Law is for him to go into bondage and be cut off from the benefits of Christ. (5:1) For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. (2) Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision (Or any other part of the Law), Christ will profit you nothing. (3) Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision (Or any other part of the Law), that he is a debtor to do the whole law. (4) Ye are severed from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. We are “severed from Christ” when we do not follow or abide in Him, but the Law. Only under grace through faith are we united with Christ through justification and delivered from the curse. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles told us to keep the Old Covenant Sabbath. Jesus always appeared to the disciples and taught on the Lord's day after His resurrection because it was His resurrection day, the first day of the week (Luk.24:1,13; Luk.27-32; Joh.20:1,17,19, 26; Rev.1:10-13). The disciples gathered on the first day of the week (Act.20:7; 1Co.16:1,2). However, they did not make the Lord's Day into a command or law, but a custom; and they never claimed it was the Sabbath. Apostate men did that. Jesus and the disciples went to the Jews on their Sabbath to evangelize them and bring them into the New Covenant Sabbath rest through the promises. Jesus was constantly accused of breaking their shadow Sabbath (Mat.12:2; Joh.5:16-19; 9:16) because He was not under the Law. We will also be accused of this if we follow in His steps instead of being “severed from Christ” by keeping a Law that was never given to us. The Apostles and elders in Acts 15 were gathered together to see whether to bring the Gentiles under the Law. They came to a conclusion that those under the Sabbath Law need to understand. (Act.15:19) Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God; (20) but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. These few things he commanded so that the Jews would not consider them anathema. This was important for the Jews' sake so that they could be evangelized. (21) For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him (Law), being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. (28) For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.... Notice that the Sabbath was not commanded of the Gentiles. Neither were a lot of other things that the legalists bring the ignorant Christians under. The Law passed away and was fulfilled in Christ, except for those whose hearts are blinded by the veil. (2Co.3:12) Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, (13) and [are] not as Moses, [who] put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away: (14) but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed [to them] that it is done away in Christ. (15) But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. (16) But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Don't go into bondage with the veil of Old Covenant Laws, which are just shadows or parables of what was to come. Now we, with an unveiled face see the New Covenant in Christ. (17) Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, [there] is liberty. (18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. The Law was cancelled because it could not complete or make perfect, because it was only a shadow of the good things to come in the New Covenant. (Heb.7:18) For there is a disannulling (Greek: Annulled or cancelled) of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness (19) (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope (The New covenant through grace), through which we draw nigh unto God. The purpose of those under the Law was to give us a shadow or parable of the great things to come. (Heb.8:5) who serve [that which is] a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned [of God] when he is about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount. (6) But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. (7) For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. (8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; (9) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ... (13) In that he saith, A new [covenant] he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away. (10:1) For the law having a shadow of the good [things] to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh. The Law was always planned to be a temporary shadow. (Gal.3:19) What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made... So there was an end of the Olde Covenant law. The Sabbath was eternal as the legalists will tell you (Exo.31:16). So how could it be eternal and still pass away? What they do not understand is that it changed from letter to spirit in the New Covenant (2Co.3:2-11). The letter of the type, shadow, or parable as taught in the Old Covenant is now fulfilled in the spirit of the New Covenant. Jesus said in (Mat.5:17) Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. (18) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. So now we must fulfill the parable. Fulfilling or accomplishing the Law is not the same as being under the Old Covenant Law as Jesus went on to demonstrate. (21) Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time (Notice that the Law was spoken unto them, not us.), Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: (22) but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. Notice that Jesus changed the Law from regulations of our actions to regulations of our heart, as the prophets said would come (Jer.31:33) But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Those who do not permit anger in their heart will fulfill the Law and not kill. (27) Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: (28) but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Jesus interpreted the Law again. If we do what He says and avoid lust, we will fulfill the Law by not committing adultery. Jesus continued to demonstrate how changing the Law from outer actions to inner nature will fulfill it (Mat.5:33, 43). If God changed all these Laws in order to fulfill them, then He did the same with the Sabbath. The Sabbath was meant to be a change in our nature rather than a regulation of our actions, one day a week. If a person rests from his own works every day by believing in Christ's finished work, he will certainly fulfill the Law of resting for one day. The Law will be fulfilled in us, but not by keeping the letter, “For the letter kills but the spirit gives life”. It will be fulfilled through us as we walk in and by the Spirit. (Gal.5:16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (18) But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. When you see what's written in the shadow of the Law, you must look in the New Covenant to find out what the fulfillment is. Circumcision was necessary under penalty of death, but Paul, by the Spirit, changed it from a carnal shadow to the spiritual fulfillment of baptism. (Col.2:11) ... in the circumcision of Christ; (12) having been buried with him in baptism. Under the Old Covenant, we were 90% owners and 10% stewards but according to Jesus, we are now 100% stewards, or we are not really disciples. (Luk.14:33) So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. To Peter, it was revealed that the Old Covenant carnal restriction on eating unclean beasts was spiritually a restriction of partaking of unclean people, which Solomon called beasts (Ecc.3:18), and the gospel solves that problem. (Act.10:11) and he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: 12 wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean. 15 And a voice [came] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. Then Peter was sent with the gospel to the Gentiles and got the revelation that they were the unclean beasts that God had cleansed. (28) and he said unto them, Ye yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to join himself or come unto one of another nation; and [yet] unto me hath God showed that I should not call any man common or unclean. As you can see, it was the habit of Jesus and the disciples to translate the shadow to the spiritual reality. It is a violation of the Spirit to bring old Covenant ceremonial laws into the New Covenant without translating them. Since this is so, we must find out what the Sabbath translates to. Let me explain the New Testament Sabbath rest. The Sabbath shadow was to cease from man's works one day a week. But we are commanded to do this every day.  We can cease from works of religious self-justification, works of the flesh, and various forms of salvation by man's works, through faith in the work that Christ has already accomplished. Jesus said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive (Greek: received) them, and ye shall have them (Mar.11:24). Why believe that we have received everything? Notice in the following verses that all things have been received by us and that the only thing left is for us to believe it. Also note the past-tense of our sacrificial provision in the following verses: (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body ...by whose stripes ye were healed; (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; (2Co.5:18) ...who reconciled us to himself; (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ, and its no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me; (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse; (1Pe.1:3) ...the Father ...begat us again ...by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; (Heb.10:10) We ...have been sanctified ...; (14) He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified; (Eph.1:3) ...who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and God (2Pe.1:3) hath granted unto us all things .... Jesus told us in His day which, of course, is also in the past that “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (Joh.12:31); “But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Joh.16:33); “It is finished” (Joh.19:30). This is why we are to believe we have received. The devil and the curse were conquered. We were saved, healed, delivered, and provided for. We can rest from our own works to accomplish this when we truly believe. Let me give you an example. (1Pe.2:24) who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. The one who believes that Jesus already “bare our sins” considers himself delivered and can rest. He no longer has to worry about how to be delivered because he reckons himself to be “dead unto sin but alive unto God” (Rom.6:11). He reckons within himself, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me” (Gal.2:20). He can rest. Notice that the one who believes that “by whose stripes ye were healed” never has to resort to his own works to get healed. All he has to do is rest and receive it by faith. If a man continues to try to get healed when the Word says he was healed, he shows he does not believe the Word. He has not ceased from his own works to enter the rest by believing 1 Peter 2:24. All the sacrificial promises are past-tense to cause us to rest from our works every day. Redemption from the curse is truly finished! In fact, God's “works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb.4:3) when He spoke the plan into existence. The only thing left is for the true sons of God to enter into those works by faith, believing they have received. Since the works are finished, we should believe and rest from our own works to save, heal, and deliver ourselves. (3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest. Notice it is not the one who ceases from works on Saturday or Sunday but the one who believes who enters the New Covenant Sabbath rest every day. (9) There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest (Greek: sabbatismos, “keeping of rest”) for the people of God. This constant “keeping of rest” every day, not one day a week, through the past-tense promises, is our spiritual Sabbath. (10) For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. This rest is to believe these past-tense promises and rest from our own works or man's works to save ourselves. Our faith in each of these promises brings us into more of the rest. We should be diligent not to leave out even one of these promises for our own good. (Heb.4:1) Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. (2) For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. This is true faith and always brings the answer. Through believing the promises, we enter into rest from our own works. For a child of God to say that they believe they have received and yet continue seeking to receive, usually through worldly methods, is to be double-minded. (Jas.1:6) But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; (8) a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways. Those who continue to work for what God has freely given believe in salvation by works. (Heb.4:10) For he that is entered into his rest, hath himself also rested from his works. (Jas.3:19) And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. Since the promises of deliverance from the curse are past-tense, when we believe them, we must stop working. It is an evil heart of unbelief to not rest. God was angry with Israel because they would not believe His Word in their trial in the wilderness (Heb.3:8-10). (Heb.3:11) As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest (the Sabbath!). (12) Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God .... (14) We are become partakers of Christ (His health, holiness, and blessing) if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. When we believe we have received, we are put in a position of weakness because we cannot do anything to bring the desired result to pass. This weakness is rest in our wilderness experiences because there is no help from Egypt or the world there. Only God's power saves in the wilderness. God says, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor.12:9). If we refuse to be weak, God refuses to be strong on our behalf. Our weapon against our enemies who try to talk us out of our covenant rights is the two-edged sword of these past-tense promises (Heb.4:11,12). Let me share with you a good example of the power of the true gospel through faith in our past provision. Several years ago, I ran across a lady who had two large, inoperable tumors. She listed for me several famous preachers she had been to, who had prayed for her to be healed. She said to me, “David, I just don't understand why I have not been healed”. I said, “You just told me why you have not been healed. You are looking in the wrong direction. Turn around and look behind you for 'by whose stripes ye were healed' (1Pe.2:24). You are looking forward to a healing that happened behind you. You have a little hope, but no faith. Faith 'calls the things that be not (in this case, healing) as though they were' (Rom.4:17). Faith looks back at what was accomplished at the cross, but hope looks forward to what will be accomplished. Jesus said, 'All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for believe that ye receive (Greek: “received”) them, and ye shall have them' (Mar.11:24). That is the gospel, sister, that you must believe”. With these few words, I saw the light come on in her eyes; and her face brighten up. I said, “Now we are going to pray one more time; but this time believe the Scriptures, and believe you have received whether you see an instant manifestation, or not”. She agreed, so I rebuked the infirmity and commanded her to be healed in Jesus' name. She instantly felt the tumors leave. We rejoiced and thanked God together. I said, “Sister, that is the first time you believed the true gospel concerning your healing. If you had done that when those other preachers prayed, you would have been healed.” Because she, through faith, entered into rest from her own works to save herself, she saw the works of Jesus. Many do not receive from God because they do not keep our Sabbath through faith. Many years ago, I had a dream about resting from my works in order to be caught up by the power of God to do His works. In scene one, my wife and I were resting in lawn chairs in front of our house. Our gaze was riveted on the power line that crossed our property because it was sagging between the power poles so much that it almost touched the ground. As we watched and rested, a tornado came over that power line and picked us up out of our chairs and carried us away. Interpretation: God helped me to understand this prophetic dream. As we cease from our works and enter into the rest (the lawn chairs), the power of man (power line) comes to an end, and the power of God (tornado or whirlwind) takes over. God only gives this power to those who cease from their own works, even religious works, to follow His Spirit because they believe the promises. In scene two, I found myself in front of a large church. I walked through the front door and standing in the foyer was an “old man” in a suit. I avoided this old man as if he were a rattlesnake and went into the sanctuary, so-called. I saw there a large double sink, full of water. In the water were babies; they were faced down and most were dead. I quickly went to the sink, picked up a baby, and held him in the air. He spoke to me saying, “Thank God, I knew he was going to send someone”. Interpretation: I was made to know that there are many carnal ministers (old man - Eph.4:22; Col.3:9,10) who are trying to wash up the people of God (babies in the sink) by using the word as the letter of the Law (which is the water in Eph.5:26) and they're killing them instead. (2Co.3:6) who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. The letter of the Law that is taught by the Pharisees of today only gets our eyes on our own earthly ability or inability, like being face down in the water, which kills. Many are they that sit under the condemnation of the Law, which is a powerless false gospel, only to give up in their failure to please God and go back into the world or die on a church pew. We cannot pick ourselves up by our bootstraps or be saved by our own self-will. This is an understanding that is from the earth, and is face down. Seeking this is to be “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2Ti.3:7) that sets free. Jesus purposely spoke in parables so that only those who have eyes and ears for heavenly things would understand (Mat.13:10-14). These seek a knowledge that is born from above, I.e., face up. (Mat.16:17) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. As always, those whose understanding is “face up” will be fought by those whose understanding is “face down”. The good news of the promises is the power of God given freely to save the one who believes (Rom.1:16). These promises get our eyes on God's ability and provision or face up. These promises give faith (Rom.10:17) to get grace (Eph.2:8) in order to have the power to live the Christian life and cease from our works. The Jews complained that Jesus' disciples were breaking the Sabbath by harvesting grain to eat (Mat.12:1,2), which was true according to the Law (Exo.31:14-17). Jesus replied to them; (Mat.12:5) Or have ye not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? Notice that He was proclaiming that His disciples were guiltless for profaning the old Sabbath. The priests, in order to fulfill the Sabbath, had to work in the temple. They did the work of God as we should also. Jesus was rebuked for healing on the Sabbath. Those outside the temple had to cease from their own works. (6) But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here. Jesus is our New Testament temple. We who abide in Him must work His works in order to fulfill the Sabbath. We must work the works of our Father, for we are the priests of God. (Rev.1:6) and he made us [to be] a kingdom, [to be] priests unto his God and Father .... Those who do not abide in Him have not ceased from their own works and are breaking the real Sabbath. Those who follow Christ as Lord are keeping the Sabbath, for He is Lord of the Sabbath. (Mat.12:8) For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath. If we follow the Lord, then we have rested from our works to do His works. (Joh.14:12) ... he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. If we follow the Law, we are cut off from Christ and grace and cannot be keeping the real Sabbath (Gal.5:4). Those seeking to keep the Law of the Sabbath are instead breaking it because they are not resting from the works of the Law. Those under the Law, who condemn us for following Christ on Saturday or Sunday, condemn the guiltless. (Mat.12:7) But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; ye would not have condemned the guiltless. We are to work and do good on our Sabbath. All good is legal on our Sabbath, every day, but our old works are not. (12) ...Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. Good, of course, is God's works. (Joh.5:16) And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. Notice that Jesus worked His Father's works even on their shadow Sabbath. Then Jesus specified what works are legal on our Sabbath. (19) ...The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. We see here that works that come from self are illegal on our Sabbath, but works that our Father does through us are not. (30) I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. As sons seeking the will of God, we also may work the works of God on our spiritual Sabbath but not the works of self. Even the Old Covenant gives us clues to this principle. (Isa.58:13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: (14) then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. Jesus said that He always did the will of His Father. Therefore He always rested from His own works, and those who follow Him do also. God gives the same Spirit that Jesus had to those who wish to be empowered to follow Him and so keep the real Sabbath. (Isa.28:11) Nay, but by [men of] strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people; (12) to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Paul declared this verse to be a promise to those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues in the New Covenant (1 Cor.14:21). Jews and Christians who refuse this Spirit to rest from the works of the Law, including the old Sabbath, are said to be those who “would not hear”. If we receive and follow the Spirit, we are not under the Sabbath or any of the Law. (Gal.5:18) But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Those who receive the Spirit are empowered to live in Christ, which is the rest from the works and curse of the old Law. (Rom.8:2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. We are under the Law of the Spirit. Except for prophets and kings, Israel did not have this Spirit to guide and empower them, and therefore needed rules and regulations on their external conduct. Those who live by the Spirit of life in Christ naturally fulfill the Law, which has been written in their hearts. Those who live in Christ by the Spirit cease from their own works every day. (Gal.5:16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Jesus said that those who received the Spirit would be witnesses of Him to the world (Acts 1:8). Jesus and His apostles never commanded to cease from work on a day. (Mat.11:28) Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden (with the Law [Mat.23:4]), and I will give you rest. The problem is that we are in and out of the rest like we are in and out of Christ. Abiding in Christ is resting in our promised benefits. Some say God gave us the gift of eternal life so he can't take it back. In Gal.3:16 we are told “to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ”. You see, the promises were given to Christ, not to you. The only way the promises are yours is if you abide in Christ. Abiding in Christ is: bearing His fruit (Joh.15:1-6), walking as he walked (1Jn.2:3-6), believing the same teachings given by Jesus and the apostles without adding or subtracting (1Jn.2:24 / Jude 3 / Mat.28:20 / Rev.22,18,19), not walking in willful sin (1Jn.3:5,6), keeping his commandments (1Jn.3:24). 1Jn.5:11 says that “God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” and that is the only place we can claim this gift. God doesn't have to take it back, his people walk out of it. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body (1Co.6:18). If we walk in willful sin, we are not abiding in his body, for there is “no sin in him” (1Jn.3:5,6). Sins of ignorance or failure are covered by the blood (Rom.7:15-8:2) but willful sin is always judged. (Heb.10:26) For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. The Spirit of life in Christ empowers us to walk in Him by faith in His promises. (Heb.4:9) There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest (Greek: sabbatismos, “keeping of rest”) for the people of God. This constant “keeping of rest” is every day, not one day a week. Paul, comparing the weak in faith with those who are mature, said, (Rom.14:5) One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. In our Covenant, every day is the Sabbath rest. As he said in Gal.4:9,10, “how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? Ye observe days”. Our Sabbath is freedom from bondage to the works of the Law. Since Jesus took away our sins, it is freedom from fleshly works too. (Psa.118:24) This is the day which Jehovah hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Old Jerusalem ruled over God's physical Old Testament people just as New Jerusalem rules over God's spiritual New Testament people. Paul declared that we have come to this spiritual city. He showed us that it is not a physical city that can be touched. (Heb.12:18) For ye are not come unto [a mount] that might be touched ... (22) but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn.... Jesus' called-out ones come to this mountain. This is the place of God's continual rest. (Psa.132:13) For Jehovah hath chosen Zion... (14) This is my resting-place for ever: Here will I dwell; for I have desired it. Unlike those under the Law, we are not to dwell outside the temple and go there occasionally, nor are we to dwell outside the rest six days and only dwell in it one. Those who dwell in this spiritual Jerusalem remain in God's resting place. There is only one day in the New Testament Jerusalem, the spiritual city of God. That day is the real Sabbath. (Rev.21:25) And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there). Notice that there is one day and no night in the city of God where the Lamb is the light (23). There is no darkness to break up the one day of God's work for those who abide in Christ. (1Jn.1:5) And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Those who abide in God continue in the light of day doing His works. (6) If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (7) but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Those who walk in the light of our day are always in the presence of the sun (Son). Night is to have the earth between you and the sun (Son). Our flesh came from the earth (Gen.2:7) and symbolizes the earth. When the works of our flesh come between us and the Son, we are living in the darkness of night. If we are in this idolatry with the world, whether this means our flesh or the things of the world (1Jn.2:15,16), we live in the night. Walking in the light of our one Sabbath day, the works of man are destroyed. I want to remind you that the Law is a shadow, and if you are under a shadow you are not in the light. The saints live in the lighted day of ceasing from their own works, especially the works of the Law, while the wicked live in the dark night of their own works. (1Th.5:5) For ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day (the Sabbath): we are not of the night, nor of darkness; (6) so then let us not sleep (Having their eyes closed to the light of the Son), as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. (7) For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. (8) But let us, since we are of the day (the Sabbath), be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. As long as Jesus has been in this world, either in His first body or His second corporate body, it has been day. (Joh.9:5) When I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (Mat.5:14) Ye are the light of the world. That only makes one day as long as the saints are here. (Joh.9:4) We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day (When we are ceasing from our works to do His, it is the Sabbath day.): the night cometh, when no man can work. Our works in Christ for this world are over when the Lord comes for us and then night comes for the judgment of the world. (1Th.5:2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them... After the tribulation, the light of the world will be gone! (Mat.24:29) But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (This is the falling away and reprobation of 1/3 of the stars, representing the spiritual seed of Abraham [Rev.6:12-14; Gen.22:17]). The darkening of the light of this world here is physical as well as spiritual. Joseph shared a dream that clearly showed that the people of God spiritually are the sun, moon, and stars, “the light of this world”. (Gen.37:9) ...behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. (10) And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? Starting as a star glory, Joseph went to his cross in Egypt and was promoted in glory above his brethren, the children of Israel. We grow from star glory to moon glory and then to sun glory as we continue to walk in the light that God gives us (2Co.3:18). Paul agreed that the saints manifest these three glories in 1Co.15:41,42. Now we can see that when the Lord comes and takes His sun, moon, and star glory saints, the world will be left in the darkness of night. (Mat.24:29) But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven. (30) ...and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect...Glory to God! Jesus taught that the whole Christian New Covenant era on earth is only one day. (Joh.11:9) Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. (10) But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. Those who walk in this continual Sabbath day walk in the light. This spiritual day lasts until the judgment. (Mat.20:1) For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. Jesus started hiring laborers for His vineyard first thing in the morning, which was almost 2000 years ago. Then He gives examples of going out to hire all during the day, the third hour (verse 6), the sixth and ninth hour (verse 5), and the eleventh hour (verses 6-9). Of the eleventh hour people it was said, “These last have spent [but] one hour” (12). Then at the twelfth hour He called in all of His servants to give them their reward. (8) And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. Jesus calls in all of His servants to face Him and receive their reward at His coming. (Rev.22:12) Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. Midnight is the twelfth hour when the Lord comes for the virgins (Mat.25:6) and also the time when the saints leave the Egypt of this world (Exo.29:12-31). At this time, even though it is midnight for the world, the saints are walking with lamps full of Holy Spirit light (Mat.25:4). From Jesus' first coming to His second coming is one day. This one day incorporates the whole Christian New Covenant era on earth. It should not surprise us that God could change something as important as the Sabbath from many carnal days to one spiritual day. He changed something much more important, our sacrifice, from many carnal sacrifices to one spiritual sacrifice, our Lord Jesus. The Lord again defines our rest as a corporate day that covers every day. (Heb.4:6) Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings (the promises) were before preached failed to enter in (Even though they kept the Saturday Sabbath) because of disobedience (Greek: “apeitheia” also means unbelief), (7) he again defineth a certain day, To-day, saying in David so long a time afterward (even as hath been said before), To-day if ye shall hear his voice (the promises), Harden not your hearts. (Today is any day that you are presently in. Since this verse was written to all saints throughout the New Covenant, then “today” is every day that they live in. God was telling us that when you hear His promises, do not harden your heart as Israel did, but believe to enter the rest in the day that you live in.) (8) For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. Today is that day saints, not Saturday or Sunday. Five times in this text, God uses the term “To-day” to define the rest. (3:13) but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “Day by day” it has been “called To-day” for almost 2000 years. (4:9) There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest (Greek: sabbatismos, “keeping of rest”) for the people of God. God has been merciful to our ignorance of this true Sabbath, but judgment will now be seen the world over because we have come to a second spiritual type of the Sabbath. (2Pe.3:8) But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Having read the writings of the early church fathers, I can tell you that they commonly believed in the one thousand-year prophetic day and that after six of these days from the beginning, the end time judgment would come. The Hindus, Muslims, and the Jews also believed this. Gibbon in The Rise And Fall of The Roman Empire said that the early Christians believed this. The Bible is laid out in seven prophetic one-thousand-year days. These days are numbered from the creation of Adam. There were four thousand years or four days between Adam and Jesus. Since the days of Jesus, the calendar has been tampered with extensively, but most researchers believe we are close to traversing two more days and coming to the beginning of the seventh, thousand-year period from Adam. Besides the regular spiritual Sabbath that we have already spoken of, this seventh, thousand-year day is a second spiritual Sabbath. When the body of Christ was crucified, it was a high Sabbath (Joh.19:31). That means it was a regular Sabbath and a second Passover Sabbath. This second spiritual Sabbath will also be a Passover Sabbath for those who have eaten the Lamb and are about to leave the Egypt of this world. This will also be a crucifixion to the fleshly works of the body of Christ. According to the shadow, when this end-time second spiritual Sabbath begins, God will judge those who go on in their own works. (Exo.31:12) And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you. Christians who try to keep the Sabbath in the “letter” don't understand this because they don't see that this is a “sign”. (15) Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. This is also the time when He finishes His creative work. (Gen.2:2) And on the seventh day God finished his work, which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had made. According to this type, God is about to finish His new creation work during this morning of the seventh day and rest. Every man's work will be proven by the fiery trial on the one day Sabbath. (1Co.3:12) But if any man buildeth on the foundation (of Christ) gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; (13) each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day (one Sabbath) shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. The wood, hay, and stubble of man's works will burn up on God's Sabbath day because, according to the shadow, there is judgment against man's work on the Sabbath. (Exo.31:14) Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Since there is only one Sabbath day, we have to rest every day from our own works, as the rest of the New Testament also teaches. (Rev.2:23) ... I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works. (25) And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. (Exo.31:15) Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Let's look again at this verse about the refreshing in Isa 28:11 Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people; 12 to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. This refreshing is coming again on the morning of the 3rd day (which is the Sabbath). There's going to be a change in the way God will deal with man when this millennium begins. There must be a ceasing from a Christian's own works and enter into the rest. Man's works have been going on in the church for six days (six thousand years). The church has been falling away from keeping the true Sabbath and we're coming to a time where if you don't cease from your own works, you will be cut off from the Body of Christ. There are many Sabbaths. There's the 7th day Sabbath, the 49th year Sabbath, there's the 50th year Sabbath, and there's the 7th millennium Sabbath. There's a Sabbath called the Jubilee. A Jubilee is a year. There are 120 Jubilees every 50 years. 120 Jubilees till Noah and another 120 till the next Noah. Noah means rest. So, 120 Jubilee years until the beginning of the Sabbath. 120 Jubilee Sabbaths bring us to the actual year 6000. We are entering into the prophetic Sabbath or the millennial Sabbath.   Reconciled to God Php 4:19  And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  (“Every need”, not greed. “Every” would include Spiritual, physical, emotional needs.)   What is faith? Heb 11:1  Now faith is assurance [substance?] of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. When you believe for something that is not yet seen, that is faith. How do we have God's faith to receive every need? Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have God's faith. (This is according to the numeric pattern proof.)  23  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. 24  Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (Numeric) them, and ye shall have them. (This is exactly what Quantum Physics, or Quantum Mechanics has proven, Jesus said it first. And here is an important condition to receiving. 25  And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  Col 1:19  For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; 20  and through him to reconcile (The Greek: kattallasso means “exchange” of Jesus' life for ours) all things(not Numeric) unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things those (Numeric) in the heavens. (Notice: He is not speaking of things but His people) 21  And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 22  yet now hath he reconciled (exchanged) in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: 23  if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister.  First the sons and daughters of God are exchanged and then Christ in them can deliver the creation. Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The Lord told me that he bore the symbol of the cursed creation upon the cross. It was the crown of thorns. As we manifest our sonship we have authority over the cursed creation. We can pray for our grass, dogs, cows, bugs, trees, neighbors, etc.  Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:.. 2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15  and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again. 16  Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. 17  Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things (not Numeric) are passed away; behold, they are become new. 18  But all things (not Numeric) are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; 19  to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (We reconcile others by showing them the exchange.) 20  We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. 21  Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.    Believe You Received and Rest Suani Guzman - 01/09/2010 I want to share a quick dream that helped me a lot. We all know that we must abide in the Sabbath Rest and boldly speak the good confession, but we don't always do it. So the Lord has to remind us sometimes. I have been going through some hard trials with caring for my elderly parents. I don't want to impose my faith on them but at the same time I'm trying to stand for their spiritual and physical salvation. The Lord impressed upon me that I must abide in the rest or the enormity of the problem will overwhelm me. In the dream, my husband and I had a truck in which we went sightseeing. We parked it and left for a walk. When we came back, the truck was a wreck -- another car had hit it really badly, and it was ruined. My husband, Raul, and another man tried to fix it. I went to help. I stood there and said something like, “Jesus had fixed it”. When those words left my mouth, the truck was immediately transformed into being whole again. I was so on fire and praised God and started to witness boldly to everyone about what Jesus had just done. We then left and, as we went, the truck started to stall and I said, “Oh no, it's healed”, and immediately it got power again. That happened twice. Then we got on a freeway full of cars. We were on the outer lane and struggling up a very, very steep hill. We were driving with two tires on the road and two in a ditch. The car couldn't go up like that, so it flipped over about two times and landed away from the road. So we stopped to consider the hill. By sight, it looked almost impossible to climb. We tried to figure out another way, but could see no other way. I thought that it was going to take all my strength to do it, and still it would not be enough. End of dream. (What is impossible with men is possible with God. We must trust His promises not our works.) Mar.11:24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (Greek) them, and ye shall have them. Heb.4:2 For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. (3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (9) There remaineth therefore a sabbath (Greek: Sabatismos -- a continual rest) rest for the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. (11) Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience. Building the “Resting” Church  Eve Brast - 08/11/2012 (David's notes in red) | (Deb Horton's notes in green)  I dreamed I was driving east (faceing toward the coming of the Son) toward Dallas on a large highway with very sparse traffic on it. (The highway of holiness going to Dallas, which means “meadow dwelling”.) (A place of feeding with the flock.) It was dark but I could see a little light on the horizon in the east. (Near to the coming of the Lord in the Man-child on the morning of the seventh thousand year-day.) I was going to an eight-story hospital building that was under construction (the true Church of the called-out ones is being built), where my husband (representing Jesus) had instructed me to meet him. The building was oval-shaped and not square. (The building was eternal without beginning or end because of its shape and eight floors. (An “8” lying down is the sign for infinity or eternity and “8” is the number of Jesus. Since it's lying down, it could mean resting in Jesus. A hospital is a place for healing the sick, spiritually and physically, which the Church is supposed to be.)  I pulled into the parking garage and parked my old, gray (indicating mixture of good and evil, white and black), five-speed (grace received to get to this point) manual (not automatic, works by self), 1980 Toyota Corolla that had been my first car when I learned to drive. (Our first car represents our first ways of rest in the Lord. To park is a sign of coming into maturity through rest.) I went inside the building with my son's blue backpack containing surgical instruments and food my husband had asked me to bring to him. (Man's burdens and works we bear until we reach the seventh floor of rest and give them over to Jesus. Mat.11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.) I went into the ground floor lobby with a recently laid, highly polished wood floor (the human nature is under our feet to serve the spiritual man).   I waited at the only elevator (there's only one Way to God) to go up to the seventh floor (entering into the rest) (The first six floors represent the first six days of the different levels of man's works we do until we rest on the seventh spiritual day). I had to wait a bit because it was the only elevator. I was the only one waiting to go up. (The Bride will be the first to fully enter into the seventh-day rest.)  When the door opened, A black sister from UBM was the elevator attendant, but she was white and looked like me. (The white represents holiness.) She greeted me and began telling me how old the elevator was. (2000 years) She was an expert on this elevator. It was her assigned job in the building, and she knew everything about it. She told me that currently, the elevator only reaches the seventh floor, but when the construction is complete, it will go all the way up to the top, which is the eighth floor. (The eighth floor is Jesus and Heaven and new beginnings. When the building representing the Church is finished, we will go to the top, the eighth, heavenly floor.)  When I got off the elevator on the seventh floor, my husband passed by me wearing metal leg braces supported by a blue, padded waistband that girded his waist and metal crutches that braced around his forearms. (Our husband Jesus was strengthened by the Father to finish His pilgrimage as a type of the body.) (This reminds me of the command in Deuteronomy to bind the phylacteries, which are Scripture verses, on the forehead and hand, because the phylacteries are bound on the hand and are laced on from the forearm.) (David had a similar revelation where he was wearing leg braces. They strengthened his walk and helped him to stand.) (God's power is made perfect in our weakness.) He looked at me as he passed by with a knowing look (seeing eye to eye) and a smile, as if we shared a common understanding of something. (A common understanding of faith in the same promises brings people to the seventh floor of rest.) (Amo.3:3) Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?  Suddenly, I realized that I left my backpack on the elevator, or I thought I had, but it wasn't over my shoulder anymore. (We can't take our own provision or burdens to the seventh floor of the rest but we can give it all to Jesus there.) I became concerned (we will lose the rest if we think on our burdens) and turned around to push the button to go back down (A warning not to fall away from the rest).   While waiting for the elevator doors to open, I overheard an accountant from the hospital discussing a debt of $20 that they said I owed with another employee. (A warning that If we leave the rest of faith, we begin to bear the debt of sin again. The first mention of 20 in the Bible is Gen.6:3 And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.) They said they had tried to call my cell phone to give me this report, but I wouldn't answer because I knew it was not really my debt and that I wasn't required to pay it. (The accuser will always try to convince you that you still owe the debt that Christ already paid for you.) (If one leaves the rest, they will be tempted even more so.)  When the elevator doors finally opened, a horde of people out of nowhere rushed into the elevator, as if desperate to get out of the building. (They were in their flesh and leaving the rest.) I calmly walked in but there was barely enough room. When the doors shut, we were warned that the ride down was much scarier than the ride up because the elevator went down really fast, and it did (Because this represents the falling away. We have seen people lose all the gain of years in moments.). But it slowed down midway for safety precautions (this could represent those who are neither hot nor cold -- the fence-sitters in the middle) (also, God makes a way for His people to change their mind and Return unto thy rest, O my soul Psa.116:7) and then it sped back up until it reached the ground floor.  As I got off the elevator, the morning sunshine streamed through the lobby windows (Jesus in the Man-child is manifesting). A surgeon from the hospital who was going up said, “Isn't it exciting that the building construction will be completed in a week?!” (After the seven years of the 70th week of the tribulation, the Church will be complete, and I believe this week will start very soon.) I turned around and said, “Yeah”. But the importance of what he had just announced didn't register with me. I was concerned about finding the backpack because my husband needed me to bring it to the hospital (to give that burden to him).  I hoped I would find the backpack in my car in the parking garage, since it had not been left in the elevator. I ran out to the car and found it (the burden was in the car, representing immaturity) and brought it back into the lobby and pushed the elevator button again.   When the doors opened, my sons Noah and Elijah came out of the elevator and passed me as I went in. They were eight-foot-tall, grown men! (Their “8” size indicates they have grown up in Jesus.) They gave me the same knowing look of common understanding and smile that my husband had given me. (The faith that brings relief from our burdens and works.) They said, “Don't worry, Mom. We have everything under control”. (Jesus in the Man-child ministry beginning to reign [having given their burdens to God].) Then I woke up.  Why would we bear the burdens of the curse if we believe what Jesus said? Mar.11:23 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. 24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mat.18:18 Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.  When we pray and believe, we rest from all the curse. Gal.3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Abraham was blessed in all things. Not entering the rest or keeping the spiritual Sabbath is because of unbelief. Heb.3:11 As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. 12 Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: 14 for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end:...  18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? 19 And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

Clip of the Week-"The New Jerusalem" Brother Harry Collins, Jr. Please take a moment to stop and listen to this fiery sermon from Brother Harry in 1982. He brings a message about how Christ took away the physical semblance of the Holy City, and instead brought it down to us: “The sanctified people have come to the new Jerusalem.” Brother Andrew Norman

In the famous chapter on faith, we find a succinct definition, an honor roll of faithful men and women in the old testament, and are told just how important faith is to God. But there is a deeper theme here of finding our way home that echoes one of the central stories of both Old and New Testaments. From the Garden of Eden, to the New Jerusalem, the journey to a home where we can be with God is our journey. And it means we are both pilgrims and exiles, and that means something for how we should live.在眾人皆知的信心章節中，我們看到了簡明的定義，在舊約中忠心的角色，並了解信心對神有多重要。但這裡還有一個更深層的主題，那就是尋找回家的路，這與舊約和新約的核心故事之一相呼應。從伊甸園到新耶路撒冷，通往與神同在的家園的這段路就是我們的旅程。這意味著我們既是朝聖者，也是寄居者，這對我們應該如何生活有著深遠的意義。

Pastor Mike Rose Revelation 21:9-27

Paul talks about a mystery between Christ and the Church. A theme that, when understood, unravels exactly how Christ fulfilled God's promise to Abraham, how He redeems us and brings us into that promised land, what New Jerusalem really is, and why the New Covenant is a marriage covenant. It also explains why the devil hate God ordained marriage so much. An important lesson for all believers to get into their Spirit.

In Revelation 21–22, we glimpse the breathtaking finale of God's story—a world made new. The brokenness of Eden is reversed as heaven descends to earth, and the dwelling place of God is once again with humanity. No more death, mourning, or pain—only everlasting joy. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, shines with the brilliance of God's glory, and the river of life flows freely from His throne. The tree of life, once barred, now stands open for all who belong to the Lamb. The curse is broken. The King is here. And the Bride is ready. This is not just a future hope—it redefines how we live now. The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come."Key Themes:· The City of God: A massive, radiant New Jerusalem, crafted by God Himself, the forever home for His people. (Revelation 21:9–21)· God's Presence Fully Restored: There is no temple, for God and the Lamb are the city's temple. The city is illuminated by His glory alone. (Revelation 21:22–27)· The Tree and River of Life: Flowing from God's throne, the river waters the city, and the tree of life bears fruit for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1–5)· A Final Call to Faithfulness: Jesus promises His return and calls His people to keep trusting, worshiping, and longing for Him. (Revelation 22:6–21)· The Reversal of the Curse: Sin, death, and darkness are banished. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will enter. (Revelation 22:3, 14)Reflection:As Revelation closes, the story comes full circle—from a garden lost to a garden restored. Eden returns, but it is even greater than before. It's a magnificent city. In this final vision, we are confronted with a choice: Will we live now for the city that is coming? Will we worship God alone, trust His promises, and endure in hope? The Spirit and the Bride call us to Come. The King is coming soon. May we be ready to welcome Him.Key Texts:· Revelation 21–22· Genesis 2–3· John 7:37–39· Ezekiel 47:1–12· Psalm 23· Matthew 5:8· Romans 8:18–25Support Our Mission:Your generosity helps us proclaim Christ as King and equip disciples to make disciples.https://alloflife.churchcenter.com/givingVisit Our Website:www.alloflife.church

From Documents concerning the life and character of Emanuel Swedenborg by Tafel, J. F. I. (Johann Friedrich Immanuel), 1796-1863; Smithson, J. H. (John Henry), 1803-1877, ed. and tr; Bush, George, 1796-1859, ed, Vol 1. HIS LETTERS TO DR. OETINGER. Pg 153 Document 25 Concerning the Natural and Spiritual Sense of the Word. That there is an internal or spiritual sense in the Word, in its external or natural sense, as a diamond in its matrix, or as a beautiful infant in its swaddling clothes, is a truth which has heretofore been altogether unknown in the Christian world, and hence also it is altogether unknown what is meant by the Consummation of the Age, the Coming of the Lord, the Last Judgment, and by the New Jerusalem, on which subjects many things are spoken and predicted in the Word of each Testament, both Old and New. Without the unfolding and unswathing of the literal sense of the Word by its spiritual sense, who can know intellectually what is signified by the things which the Lord predicted in Matt, xxiv., and also in the Revelations, and in like manner in Daniel, and in the Prophets, in many passages. Make the experiment yourself, if you are so disposed, by reading those passages of the prophetical Word, which treat sometimes of wild beasts and cattle, sometimes of forests and brakes, sometimes of valleys and mountains, sometimes of bats, of ochim, tziim, satyrs ; try whether you can perceive anything Divine therein, unless you believe it to lie concealed inwardly, inasmuch as it was inspired of God, just as a diamond lies concealed in its matrix, as was said above. That the diamonds, or treasures, which lie concealed within, are those things which the internal sense contains, is fully demonstrated in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, concerning the Sacred Scripture, 5-26 : and in the same doctrine it is further proved, that the literal sense is the basis, continent, and firmament of its spiritual sense, 27-36 ; also, that the Divine truth in the literal sense of the Word is in its fulness, in" its sanctity, and in its power, 37-49 ; and, likewise, that the doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, and to be confirmed thereby, 50-61 ; and, moreover, that by the literal sense of the Word, through the medium of its spiritual sense, there is effected conjunction with the Lord, and consociation with the angels, 62-69. Exodus 8. 1. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 2. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 3. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and caused frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 4. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Supplicate ye unto Jehovah that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Jehovah. 5. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou honor over me, till when shall I supplicate for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee, and from thy houses? Only in the river shall they be left. 6. And he said, Unto the morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like Jehovah our God. 7. And the frogs shall be removed from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; only in the river shall they be left. 8. And Moses and Aaron went out from before Pharaoh; and Moses cried unto Jehovah upon the word of the frogs which He had laid on Pharaoh. 9. And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. 10. And they gathered them together in heaps and heaps; and the land stank. 11. And Pharaoh saw that there was breathing, and he made heavy his heart, and heard them not,

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are possibly some of the best known parts of the apocalypic book, mainly due to their accessibility compared to the rest of it. But how should we read these seven letters? Are they examples of the history or eras of the church? Are they addressed to different types of church today? Are they symbolic? And why all the Old Testament references?Join Alex, Chris & Jo as they discuss these significant chapters, give some good background information that help make sense of what John is writing, and then talk aboput how we might be able to bring some meaning to us today. For the one who has ears to hear...Resources"Revelation (NIV Application Commentary)" by Dr Craig Keener– A detailed analysis that bridges the historical-cultural context and application for today."The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament" by Dr Craig Keener – Offers essential historical and cultural insights on the New Testament, including Revelation."Discipleship on the Edge" by Darrell W. Johnson – A study on Revelation that considers its relevance for Christian discipleship."Reading Revelation Responsibly" by Michael J. Gorman – A user-friendly guide to understanding the apocalyptic message of Revelation without fear or misinterpretation.Big thanks to Tim Whittle for editing and extra production on this podcast. Get more info at Riverlife Church, and find us on Facebook and Instagram.Subscribe to Bible Streams on Apple, Spotify, Google, and Amazon.

The book of Revelation unveils the full deity and sovereignty of our Lord God almighty in vivid detail. A right understanding of this apocalypse, prophecy and pastoral letter had the power in the first century to encourage and undergird the young church to persevere through intense persecution while simultaneously enlivening complacent and apathetic believers to join in the mission. Revelation still possesses the same authority and strength today. The Lord is on the throne and in full control even when it seems evil is winning. The book of Revelation emphatically reassures us believers that things are not as they appear. Please join us and be encourage through this study of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  ———————— This week, Pastor Jeff continues a series in the book of Revelation. The next message in the series comes from Revelation 21:9-27 and is entitled "New Jerusalem." The main idea of the sermon is: Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will enter the glorious New Jerusalem. ————————  Connect with Us: Website: parkwoodonline.org Facebook: facebook.com/parkwoodonline Instagram: instagram.com/parkwoodonline.org  Check out more resources and sermons online at: parkwoodresources.org

There was the old paradise, Edenand one day there will be a new paradise, the New Jerusalem. But must we wait for that utopia? We find ourselves caught between the two. Join Dr. James Boice on The Bible Study Hour as he answers the question, What's a believer to do while he waits for Christ's return and the restoration of paradise lost? To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/581/29

At the consummation of history, God promises to make all things new.  In Rev 21 we are given a picture of the beauty of the New Jerusalem, a place where God dwells with His people.

Video available — www.fed965.comCollaborations, Meetings, Sessions — babyblueviperbusiness@gmail.comWaternovaMerchandiseLinkedIn — Federico Blanco Sánchez-LlanosBuy me a Coffee or show your support by visiting Amazon and Shopify through our affiliate links — your purchases power the mission. We've teamed up with NordVPN , the king of VPNs, to keep you safe, and with Ledger, the top dog in hardware wallets, to lock down your assets. No gimmicks—just tools to push the fight forward.Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fed965.com/subscribe

What will eternity with God look like? In this episode of Rooted Together, we explore Revelation 21, where God makes all things new—creating a new heaven, a new earth, and the glorious New Jerusalem. This chapter is a breathtaking vision of God dwelling with His people, wiping away every tear, and the end of pain, death, and sorrow.

4/21/2025 | This day's featured sermon on SermonAudio: Title: The New Jerusalem Subtitle: Revelation 2023 Speaker: Bill Parker Broadcaster: Eager Avenue Grace Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/25/2024 Bible: Revelation 21:9-27 Length: 33 min.

There was the old paradise, Edenand one day there will be a new paradise, the New Jerusalem. But must we wait for that utopia? We find ourselves caught between the two. Join Dr. James Boice next time on The Bible Study Hour as he answers the question, What's a believer to do while he waits for Christ's return and the restoration of paradise lost? To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29

Revelation 21:3-4 There was the old paradise, Eden…and one day there will be a new paradise, the New Jerusalem. But must we wait for that utopia?  We find ourselves caught between the two.  Join Dr. James Boice on The Bible Study Hour as he answers the question, “What's a believer to do while he waits for Christ's return and the restoration of paradise lost?”

The whole resurrection of Jesus thing – can be a bit hard to swallow. I mean – did it really happen? And if it did, what does it mean for us here and now?   A Crazy Morning Let me paint you a picture. Just the other day, someone you love has passed away. You really admired and trusted this person. I mean, you'd seen them in operation and now they're gone. It's a shock. It shouldn't have happened. They were so young and so full of potential and promise; they had a future. And now that person's gone. It takes some time to come to grips with that sort of a loss. The shock, the sadness, even anger – we go through all sorts of different stages in that grieving process. You wake up with that dull headache in your head … what's it about? And then you remember your loss. But the phone rings and it's another friend and they're ranting and they're raving that this person who was dead, they're saying, "He's alive! He's alive! I've seen him!" Hang on a minute, what sort of a crackpot is this. What's going on? Is this some sick joke? But your friend's adamant. "He's alive!" Now what? How do you react to that? I mean, it's an incredible claim, an incredulous claim. Mad. You saw him die with your own eyes – arrested, crucified, buried and defiantly very, very dead. You know, in one sense it's almost easy to believe if you read it in the Bible. You know, it's something that happened a couple of thousand years ago to Jesus, I mean, long enough ago to make it safe. You know what I mean. Sure God could do anything, God could do that way back then, it was 2000 years ago. The question is, if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead again lets just transpose that into today, here and now. You get a phone call tomorrow morning, ‘Jesus is alive!' You saw him die … he's alive. Today we're going to put ourselves back in the shoes of the Disciples right there in that place in Jerusalem. This is the second message in a series of four that I've called, “The Price He Paid for You”. And it's about that part of the Easter story that involves the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What was that about? Did it happen, and if it did, what does it mean to you and me, here and now? Now, if we put ourselves back in the shoes of those Disciples, right there in that Jerusalem 2000 years ago with the Jesus they knew, all of a sudden it gets a whole lot harder to believe. It was a bit like that for Mary Magdalene: She went down to the tomb to embalm the body of Jesus and Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept she bent over to look inside the tomb and she saw two angels in white seated where Jesus' body had been – one at the head and the other at the foot. And they asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?' ‘They've taken Jesus, my Lord away,' she said, ‘and I don't know where they've put him'. At this she turned around and she saw Jesus standing there, but she didn't realise it was Him. ‘Woman,' He said, ‘why are you crying? What are you looking for?' Thinking that He was the gardener she says, ‘Sir, if you've carried Him away, tell me where you've put Him and I'll go and get Him.' And Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.' And she turned towards Him and cried out in Aramaic ‘Rabonni' which means ‘teacher'. Jesus said, ‘Don't hold onto me as I haven't yet returned to the Father, go instead to my brothers, the Disciples and tell them I'm returning to my Father and your Father and to my God and to your God.' And Mary Magdalene went to the Disciples with the news. ‘I've seen the Lord,' she told them.” He had said these things to her. See it wasn't only Mary. I mean, I love the fact that even though Jesus had told them time and time and time again He would rise from the dead, she looked at Jesus and it's so incredible to think that He could possibly be alive, she mistakes Him for the gardener. Do you know the joke in that? The Son of God has risen from the grave and Mary, I mean the humour here is just something else, Mary looks at Him and thinks he's the gardener – the guy that mows the lawns and weeds the garden and does the edges. But she wasn't the only one: After that Thomas, sometime they call him doubting Thomas now Thomas was one of the Twelve and he wasn't with the Disciples first came to them after He'd risen from the dead, and so the other Disciples said to him, ‘Thomas, we've seen the Lord, He's alive'. But Thomas said, ‘Come on, unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my fingers where the nails were and put my hand into His side where they pierced Him, I am not going to believe this rubbish.' Now work that out. Jesus' Disciples were in a house together and this time Thomas was with them, and though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you, Shalom.' And then He said to Thomas, ‘Tom, come on, put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and start believing.' And Thomas just said, ‘My Lord and My God.' Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me you believe and are blessed. But blessed are those who have not yet seen but they believe'. Now I don't know but I think I'm with Thomas. This is hard to believe when you're close to it. What do you believe? Maybe it's an uncomfortable question. Maybe it's easy to consign this resurrection of Jesus thing back into the past. Kind of like a fable that we give some moderate level of intellectual assent to; a kind of vague, half-believing insurance policy thing. But the Apostle Paul takes it very seriously. In Romans Chapter 10 verse 9 he says: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead then you'll be saved. 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 verse 17: If Christ has not been raised than your faith is futile. So for Paul the resurrection wasn't some optional extra; it wasn't some kind of distant myth; not something we can just kind of half believe, maybe. And we can say, "Look, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead." But see what Paul says here, "If you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead then you'll be saved and if you don't believe from the heart that God has raised Him from the dead then you're wasting your time." What do you believe in your heart about the resurrection of Jesus? The resurrection can seem completely incongruous amidst the day-to-day realities of our lives. I mean, we get up and we go to work and we do all the stuff and we sit in meetings and we take the kids to school and we do all those day-to-day things. And you look around and you think, "Could Jesus in the midst of all this normality, could He have risen from the dead?" Now stick the resurrection right in the middle of your day-to-day reality and ask me, "Berni, in the middle of all this, do you actually believe that this Jesus was raised from the dead? I mean, it seems incongruous, it's an outrageous notion; it just doesn't fit. Come on Berni, do you really believe this stuff?" And my answer to you is, "Absolutely. I do. I believe in my heart that Jesus was raised from the dead." That's me. What about you? What do you believe, and if Jesus did rise from the dead, so what? What does it mean to you here and now, today?   Living the Resurrection Okay, if Jesus did rise from the dead, what does it mean to you and me, here and now? What relevance is there in all of that for our lives? Can the resurrection of Jesus Christ have any impact on your life and mine today? I think they're the right questions to ask. I mean, why have a resurrection at all? Why did God plan it that way, and why did He make it central to believing in Jesus? Earlier we saw how the Apostle Paul said it was essential that without faith in this resurrection there was no point: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” “And if Christ wasn't raised then your faith is futile." Okay, that's the theology if you like. Take that at face value. But why is it so important? Why does God put it right at the centre of believing in Jesus? It's not an optional extra, it's central. So I'm a pesky bloke; I keep asking these questions because truthfully, people never explained this stuff when I became a Christian at first, in terms that I could really understand and lay hold of. All these Christians were talking about the resurrection and the blood of the Lamb and all this sort of stuff, like it was really important. Well, great, but why? Believing in Jesus for me is a process; it's a lifelong thing that happens. And at some point I took the step of faith to believe in Him but what I discovered was there were lots of different parts of my life that didn't fit with Him – selfishness, anger, judgement – and I'm a really judgemental person naturally in the flesh, all stuff that actually stunted my growth. It's crazy how we want to hold onto the rubbish in our lives for dear life, but we do. And it turns out to rob us of life. You know, I used to spend most of my time being angry with people because they didn't measure up to my standards. They didn't see the world the way I did. And you know what, that robbed me of life. So instead of peace and joy, I was always angry. There was always resentment in my heart. Not rocket science is it. Its one thing to believe with our head or our heart in Jesus and to live it out authentically requires change and that's where the resurrection comes in. Again, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans Chapter 8: If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit that dwells in you. Let's unpack that. You have the crucifixion, the death of Jesus, where Jesus paid for all our sins. You know, we turned away from God, we missed the whole point of creation, that's what sin is (we looked at that last week) but God is loving and just. We've all fallen short and so Jesus died for us, and when we believe in that, our slate is wiped clean. We're forgiven and we have a fresh start. Like a prisoner coming out of gaol having served his sentence. It's fantastic. But you and I know that getting rid of that rubbish in our lives that God calls sin, it's a life-long process. Come on, we're all naturally selfish. At least I am. Someone does us wrong somehow and we want anger and revenge and payback time. But Jesus turns around and says, "Do you want to believe in Me with your life? Well show me, go on. Go out and love your enemy, in fact pray for them." I don't know about you but that way of living just didn't come naturally to me. So the process of changing we discover changing those things is really hard. I mean, it's very hard, and in fact in some areas it's downright impossible. I was just talking recently with some friends and I know I'm a very outcome-oriented person and I expect everyone else to be the same. They're not. Some people are wonderfully relationship-oriented, much more so than I am. Now those people aren't outcome-oriented but we need them too. So what am I going to do? Do I spend my whole life getting angry with them? Do I spend my whole life complaining about people who are different to me and they don't fit with my way of thinking and behaving? I mean, Paul bemoans this reality in Romans Chapter 7 when he says: I can will to do what's right I just can't seem to do it. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection is learning to live again. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through that same Spirit. God wants to bring life back to our bodies, colour into our cheeks. How many people need that in their lives right now, and they're looking in all sorts of strange places. There a people who are broken and hurt inside; there are people who are suffering from low self-esteem; there are people addicted to anger like I was; and we go looking for solutions in all these wrong places when the solution is staring us in the face. This isn't some theory, its actuality. The same Holy Spirit who breathed life back into the dead body of Jesus is the Spirit that wants to give us victory over the sin of our humanity and breathe life back into our mortal bodies. That's what the resurrection is about here and now. The Spirit wants to give us victory and a new life. Come on, this is great stuff, this is a great plan, this is good news. It's fantastic news! God wants to do for you and for me, here and now and every moment of every day for the rest of our lives here on earth, to keep changing us and setting us free and filling us with fresh new life what He did for Jesus when He brought Jesus back to life after the crucifixion on the Cross. God wants to give us a new life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Isn't that awesome? In a moment we're going to take a deeper look at that, because Jesus, as it turns out, has something very, very special for you and me.   A Certain Hope for Tomorrow Have you ever been in a place where you've lost all hope? Hope, as it turns out is a very precious commodity. We all need it in our lives to look forward to; to hope in the deep sense that I have future, I know where I'm going. And when there is no future it's tragic. When we lose hope it feels like our life is over, and that's the problem with death. We all die at some point physically. Some die young; others watch their bodies progressively give up the ghost. If God is God though, if He loves us the way the Bible says He does, then hope will be very, very high on His list, because the last thing that would do or He would want for us is to experience hopelessness and it turns out that hope is very high on His list indeed. That's what the whole resurrection thing is about. It's a funny thing, but when things are going bad in our lives, isn't it funny how hope breaks really quickly. Have you noticed that? Look at the Disciples: over and over again Jesus told them, ‘Guys, I'm going to be crucified but I'm going to rise again. Come on!' He told them lots of times, but when it happened, when He died, they were fearful, they were devastated, they were scattered to the four winds. They deserted Him; they completely lost sight of His promise of the resurrection, the thing that would give them hope. Actually most of them, as we saw before, needed convincing that Jesus was alive again. Bit like us. Life takes a turn for the worst, the first thing you do is you throw hope out the window. It's kind of natural. 1 Chronicles Chapter 29 verse 15 says: Our days on earth are like a shadow without hope. And let me get right in your face now for a bit, because we need some good teaching on hope. It's not ‘hope that it rains tomorrow' or ‘hope that it doesn't rain tomorrow', I mean the certain hope that faith in Jesus Christ brings. When we put our trust in Jesus in the good times and we lay down our lives and we love Him and we adore Him and we worship Him and we follow Him with our lives, I tell you what happens: when the storm clouds start to roll in, something strange and new and wonderful happens in our hearts. It's like that hope shines and won't go out. Peter the Apostle writes in His first letter, Chapter 1 verse 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … It's a beautiful passage, if you have a Bible grab it, and have a look: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (I love that) “a new birth into a living hope, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead into an inheritance that's imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for us who are being protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this we rejoice, even though now for a while we've had to suffer various trials. Boy that's an understatement. The people Peter was writing to, the Christians, were being tarred and feathered, burnt at the stake, fed to the lions, killed and Peter writes to them and says, “… but you know something, when you look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have a certain hope for the future.” Over and over again the New Testament talks about Jesus being the firstborn from among the dead. In other words, it points back to His resurrection. Jesus took all of our sin, He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. So He died because of our sin and He's the first of many to rise again. He's the firstborn, the first one in this resurrection cycle and we put our hope in that because we too when we believe in Jesus, will rise again and have eternal life. One day when my body gives up the ghost, one day I'll stand before Jesus for ever and ever and ever. It's a historical fact that death couldn't hold Jesus down, and when we put our trust in Him, that's where we put our hope. Our problem is, we spend so much time hoping for the next pay rise, hoping for some temporal bauble here on earth that we lose sight of the living hope we have through Jesus Christ, through His resurrection. Let's do it again: By His great mercy He has given us a new birth. We are born again into a living hope, not an uncertain hope, not a hope that's fleeting and fading but a certain hope – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading that is there for you, that is there for me, if we put our faith in Jesus. And if we're able to say before God in our hearts, ‘Jesus is your son, He died for me, He rose again', it's rock solid. And do you know the basis of that promise – it's the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at your life for the moment, the things that aren't going too well for you at the moment; the things that you might want to change. The reality is that we can't change some of them. Maybe God will change some of them, I don't know, but in the meantime He wants us to live life in the certain hope that we have a future, an eternal future. And we know that because we can look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He defeated sin on the Cross – the wages of our sin became His death. But Jesus defeated that. He paid for my sin, He paid for my sin on the Cross and still He rose again even though He bore all that sin. And that's what awaits us. That doesn't compare to anything you and I can have on earth here. It just doesn't compare. That certain hope of eternal life with Jesus far outweighs it far eclipses anything we could have here and now. John writes in the book of Revelation Chapter 21; he gives us a glimpse, like a crack opens up in heaven and he's able to see inside: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the Holy City – the New Jerusalem – coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men and He will live with them and they will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There'll be no more death or mourning of crying or pain for the old things have passed away. Nothing, nothing comes anywhere close to that. We wander around down here in the weeds and the murky mire and we try to get hope and satisfaction out of all sorts of things that are going to pass away. What things on this earth be able to take with us when we breathe our last, come on? That's why God wants us to put our faith in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is God's call to set our eyes and our hearts and everything we are and all our hopes and dreams on heavenly things because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ – the first among many. That's where we are going when we trust in Jesus. Paul writes in Colossians Chapter 3 verse 1: If you have been raised with Christ, set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things on the earth because you have died to them. It is time my friend for you and me to start living our lives from an eternal perspective. When the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central truth, central to what we believe in our hearts, two things change. Firstly, the Holy Spirit starts taking away the rubbish that God calls sin and giving us life here and now – vibrant and abundant life. And secondly, no matter what happens, no matter how sick we get, how poor we get, we know that one day we will stand before Jesus Christ. Cry Hallelujah!

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man (Revelation 21:3). Thank you, Jesus!

April 16, 2025Today's Reading: John 13:16-38Daily Lectionary: Exodus 10:21-11:10; Lamentations 3:1-66; Hebrews 4:1-16“So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.” (John 13:30)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The time is drawing near for the Son of Man to be lifted up. His betrayal is imminent. The betrayer has dipped his hand with Christ. He has put on a facade of friendship and loyalty, but underneath, the “cha-ching” of the 30 pieces of silver is echoing in the background. He sold the savior of the world, the Son of God, the Son of Man, for 30 pieces of silver. John writes, “And it was night.”As we approach the beginning of the Passion of Christ, John draws us back to the tension between day and night. When Judas left the disciples and Jesus, night was setting in. Darkness was coming in the form of a crucifixion. The Son of God was going to be handed over and killed. Darkness was going to prevail. Night was going to cover the world, and mankind's hatred of his creator was going to come to fruition in the death of Christ.Sin loves the night. Throughout the scriptures, and especially in John, we hear repeatedly the use of night. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night in John 3, and in the opening chapter of John, darkness is used to show the condition of the world on account of sin. Our lives are filled with darkness, and we live in the night each day. We struggle with chaos all around us. We desire order, but uncertainty prevails. Families are in chaos. Friendships are unpredictable. Finances are tumultuous. We may feel that our church life and walk with Christ is even in want.  Christ sends Judas out to do what needs to be done at night. In the darkness of the pending crucifixion, there is light. The light of the world will be lifted up. Darkness will come, but it will not prevail. Satan's work of bringing death into this world is going to be overcome. Christ is going to the cross as the final sacrifice for the sins of the world. He is going to the cross for your darkness. He turns night into day. In the Revelation to St. John, the New Jerusalem is described as having no sun as the Glory of God and the Lamb of God are its light (Revelation 20:23). Now, we live in the light of Christ, waiting for His return.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all to bear our sins on the cross. Grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we fear not the power of sin, death, and the devil; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Wednesday of Holy Week)-Rev. Timothy Davis, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens, GA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (04/14/25), Hank focuses on Holy Week, with Christians in the Eastern and Western Churches celebrating Palm Sunday yesterday. Holy Week for Christians in the East begins on Lazarus Saturday. On that day, that we remember afresh that our Lord Jesus Christ raised Lazarus, a historical reality that points forward to the universal resurrection of all humanity. The next day, Palm Sunday, marks the commemoration of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Christ's entrance into Jerusalem announced the establishment of the Kingdom of God and a foretaste of the time that He will gather His perfected bride and carry her over the threshold of Jordan into the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. On Holy Monday, the fig tree is set before us as a reminder of the danger inherent in having an appearance of godliness but being devoid of its reality; a reminder to be vigilant and bear fruits of righteousness and repentance.Hank also answers the following questions:If you believe that salvation is “once saved, always saved,” would this mean your free will no longer exists? Tim - Keller, TX (15:51)To me, the term replacement theology seems to be an accurate term as opposed to a misnomer, would you not say? Mark - Vancouver, BC (21:11)

Friends of the Rosary,This Holy Week, we must admit our sins and reconcile with God. Sin blinds the soul and impedes love and generosity.We must die in our sinfulness to rise with Him, the sinless one, our light and our way.Our salvation depends on following Him and His forgiving love.Yesterday's liturgy, with the procession of the Palms, was beyond symbolism, beyond a mere memory; for we were accompanying Christ here and now.We are the community gathered together in His name, and Christ, according to His promise, is in the midst of us. Our Church stands for the earthly Jerusalem and Christ Our King stands for the New Jerusalem of heaven.Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York Enhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play• ⁠April 14, 2025, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

The New Jerusalem & the Bride

A GLIMPSE OF GLORY!This passage is more than an architectural description—it is a portrait of eternal hope and divine perfection. The New Jerusalem is not just where we will live one day; it reflects the beauty, holiness, and glory of our God.

My special guests are Paul Begely and Troy Anderson here to discuss their new book Revelation 911. Get it now on Amazon. About the book: riveting account of current events as foretold in the mysterious Book of Revelation. Are we teetering on the edge of the end of time? Look at the daily news and you'll see stories about plague, famine, unexplained deaths, artificial intelligence, looming nuclear war, inflation, transhumanism, wokeness, cancel culture, gender identity crises, and mass shootings. Is this the end of the world? Or are these just precursors to the end of the world? To answer that question, biblical prophecy expert Paul Begley and former investigative journalist Troy Anderson team up to compare today's headlines with the events foretold in the book of Revelation. Their findings? Not only are signs of the end times accelerating dramatically, but a catastrophic economic collapse and global conflagration could be the next major events on the prophetic timeline before the rise of the Antichrist, the emergence of the False Prophet, and the installation of the “mark of the beast” economic system. They also explore evidence linking the popular transhumanist movement, artificial intelligence, and top-secret government and military programs with prophecies of the last days. Revelation 911 offers hope and comfort through the power, protection, and provision of the Holy Spirit. Many believe these cataclysmic shakings will be accompanied by the greatest awakening in history as the world races toward the return of Jesus Christ, who will defeat the powers of darkness at the Battle of Armageddon and usher believers into an eternity of unimaginable wonders in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem. Mysterious Radio is transitioning to a show fully supported by my dedicated fans. If you genuinely love the show and the content I've created for nearly a decade, now is the time to help me continue this journey we started together. I have millions of listeners, and each of you will bring me closer to my goal of having the largest Patreon community ever. Soon, you'll only be able to access full episodes by becoming one of my devoted members. Joining the community unlocks over 1000 ad-free episodes, bonus segments, and much more that will blow your mind! While the price is set to rise to $9.99, you can jump on board right now for just $5, and that's forever! ⁠⁠Join The Brain Trust Now.⁠⁠   Follow Our Other Shows Follow UFO Witnesses Follow Crime Watch Weekly Follow Paranormal Fears Follow Seven: Disturbing Chronicle Stories Join our Patreon for ad-free listening and more bonus content. Follow us on Instagram @mysteriousradio Follow us on TikTok mysteriousradioTikTok  Follow us on Twitter @mysteriousradio  Follow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/mysteriousradio  Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/mysteriousradio]

In the book of Revelation, we're presented with two paths: • The glorious New Jerusalem or the ruins of Babylon • Our name in the Book of Life or judged by our deeds • Following Christ or following the world There is no middle ground. No sitting on the fence. Which city will you choose for eternity?

Return of the Man-Child (6)  (audio) David Eells – 4/6/25  We know that in the Gospels, the Lord has shown us that the things that happened in those times are going to happen again around the world. In fact, He gave us these as types and shadows of prophecies which shall come to pass in our days. Praise the Lord! God has hidden so many wonderful things in His Word. Father, we thank You for opening our eyes and bringing us into agreement with You. You say, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” So, Lord, it is so awesome to see what You are doing so that we can cooperate with You and be used as vessels of Your glory in these coming days. We are just so happy to hear about the great revival You have planned for us that is almost upon us, Lord. We want to be partakers in that and let You use us in it. We thank You so much, Lord, in Jesus' name.  I'd like to go back and talk a little bit more about the John the Baptist ministry because there's much still to cover. (Mat.3:1) And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, (2) Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (3) For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight (or “make a straight path for Him”). John's job was to prepare people for the coming of Jesus, and there is a corporate John the Baptist ministry in our day whose job it is to prepare for the coming of Jesus in the Man-child.  Remember, Jesus said He was coming again on the morning of the third day (Hosea 6:2), which is where we are now. We're at the third millennial day from Jesus, when He came the first time as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth (Hos.6:3). He came as the former rain, and now He is coming as the latter rain in a corporate body of people. We'll return to that text, but first, let's look at this. (Luk.1:12) And Zacharias was troubled when he saw [him,] and fear fell upon him. (13) But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. (14) And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. (15) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.   There is also a fulfillment of that in our time. Remember that Paul spoke about being separated from my mother's womb (Gal.1:15), meaning he was being born out of the Jewish religion. In John's case, it could be taken that way as well, although Luke literally meant “from his (John the Baptist's) mother's womb.” I believe this John the Baptist ministry in our day is going to be the spiritual fulfillment of that corporate body. I believe that they will be anointed from their spiritual “mother's womb”, or, in other words, they are delivered out of their religion. The woman in Revelation 12 who birthed the Man-child and other later seeds represents the Church who brings forth these seeds as they grow up and mature.  Luke goes on to describe what we know to be a great revival that is coming because this John the Baptist ministry is on the verge of coming forth, probably after the next great judgment. Luke continues, And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God (Luk.1:16). Notice that it states “many of the children of Israel,” so this refers to those who were considered to be God's people. However, they were not who they thought they were. Jesus had a great problem with people like that, who believed they were right with God because of their religion. But He said that the Father had sent Him to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). In our day, we have the same situation. There are a lot of lost sheep in Christianity, and the Man-child ministry of our day is going to be sent to them as the fulfillment of that in our day. (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition (referring to Christians), upon whom the ends of the ages are come. It says, “Many of the children of Israel shall He turn unto the Lord their God.” That's a great revival!  (Luk.1:17) And he shall go before his face (that is, Jesus' face, or in our day, it would be the Man-child's face) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children … What He means by that, I believe the Lord showed me, and this is also in Malachi, to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” is that we need the heart that our fathers had. We need to have the diligence and discipleship that our early Church fathers had. God is going to restore what has been lost to the Church for the last 2000 years. He said in Malachi that if He did not do this, He would have to smite the earth with a curse (Mal.4:6). (Luk.1:17) And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient [to walk] in the wisdom of the just … This will be the result of the John the Baptist ministry in our day. People will be seeking righteousness, purity, holiness, and repentance. This was the main message that John had, to “make ready for the Lord” a people prepared for Him. His ministry will be to prepare hearts to recognize Jesus.  Interestingly, most Christians could not recognize Jesus if He walked in the door. That's the whole reason for this repentance. We don't have eyes to see and ears to hear unless we have repented, which is the ministry of John the Baptist, who came to turn the people back to the Lord. If you turn to the Lord, you can hear and you can see; you can recognize someone spiritual. But not if you're dull of hearing and have closed eyes like Jesus talks about when He says, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given (Mat.13:11). He was referring to His own people here who had become blind and hard of hearing, and who did not recognize Jesus. They didn't know the importance of His words and didn't lay any importance on the sanctification that was in those words. Also, it says, This is He that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight (Mat.3:3). In other words, “make a straight path for your connection with the Lord and His coming into your life.”  This is a part of Isaiah. (Isa.40:1) Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. (2) Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. It sounds like that's when John came because this is a prophecy of John, which we'll see when we look at the next verses. They had just come through a time of judgment, and this probably softened them up to be ready to repent when John preached and baptized in the river. He said that they had received double for all their sins. As we read on, we are going to see this again. (Isa.40:3) The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord … The way to the Lord is in the wilderness. It is not in the city; it is not in apostasy; it is not in Babylon.   The way to the Lord is in the wilderness, as Moses told Pharaoh (Exodus 10) because you cannot serve God in Egypt. We have to go into the wilderness to serve God and that's exactly what is going to happen here. We're going into a wilderness where people will once again learn to walk by faith. (Hab.2:4) … But the righteous shall live by his faith. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith … (Isa.40:3) The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord; make level in the desert a highway for our God. In other words, make a way for His entrance into your life. You have to get all the stones out of the way; you have to remove anything that is between you and God. That's what the John the Baptist ministry is going to be all about.  (Isa.40:4) Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low (God is saying about this coming time, that when a person is humbled, then they'll be exalted and when a person is exalted, then they'll be humbled.); and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain: (Isa.40:5) and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. It was prophesied of John to speak this, and in the letter, Isaiah was referring to the coming of Jesus. But Jesus said He was coming again on the morning of the third day, at the latter rain, and He's going to come in His Man-child company first. His purpose is to fill His whole body with His glory. You know that we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2Co.3:18). “Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” is the real Gospel and the people have forgotten that it's the Good News. They've forgotten that the Lord has done this; it is not us. We have faith in Him.  (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. (7) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath (or the “spirit”; it's the same word) of the Lord blewit upon it; surely the people is grass. (8) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. (9) O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! This is prophesied of John the Baptist. “Behold, your God!”   The Lord is coming, folks! This is an exciting thing about the days to come. We're going to see the Lord again. No, not in His first physical body, but it's going to be Him manifested in His people. This is the great joy that God's people are going to have, and this is why no one will make them afraid in the wilderness because God's people are those who do truly desire Him and invite Him into their hearts to truly live, not as religion says, but for the truth.  The next verse speaks of His coming. (Isa.40:10) Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him … (Isa.53:1) … To whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? That was Jesus and it is still Jesus today. Jesus in you is still the arm of the Lord that strengthens His hands to do His work, and He calls us His hands in Isaiah 53:10. (Isa.40:10) Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. Notice that His recompense is before Him. That sounds like what we just read, that Jerusalem has paid double for her sins. It sounds as if judgment is coming before the Lord comes, and I believe that the Lord is showing us exactly that through many revelations, dreams, and visions. We'll return to that topic shortly, but it says, Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth (that is where we are), Say ye to the daughter of Zion (The daughter is born-again Zion, the New Jerusalem.), Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him (Isa.62:11). We can see that in two ways: First, we know that Jesus is coming in the Man-child as the white horse rider (Revelation 6:2) to bring judgment, like Moses came to bring judgment. But, and this is very interesting, it could also mean that there will be judgment before He comes, as we just read in Isaiah 40:2. (Isa.40:11) He will feed his flock like a shepherd (Ezekiel 34 refers to that – that He will shepherd His own sheep, His own flock.), he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, [and] will gently lead those that have their young. That sounds great, doesn't it? Praise the Lord! Glory to God! John the Baptist isn't such a bad guy. He's going to bring the beginning of a massive world revival.  (Mat.3:4) Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan. That sounds like a revival exactly as Luke 1 prophesied of John, that there would be a great move of repentance in God's people. What would cause God's people to repent like this? I believe, according to Isaiah 26, that one of the main things that moves God's people toward repentance is judgment. A very shaking judgment is coming, not only to America, but also to the world, and I believe that this may be the beginning of a John the Baptist ministry, which many will listen to. Something has to happen for God's people to listen and it is spoken about in Isaiah. (Isa.26:8) Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee. So I think God is going to catch people's attention with judgment and then He's going to bring the John the Baptist ministry, which will have a message of repentance.  (Mat.3:5) Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; (6) and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Notice that “Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan went out unto him, and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mat.3:7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance: (9) and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. We see here that there were two kinds of people who came to the John the Baptist revival. Those who were worthy and those who were not worthy. So, according to Jesus, even those who were actually sons of their father, the devil (John 8:44), were coming out there to that revival.  Now, it just so happens that we received a revelation that really fits this John the Baptist revival, the repentant burning up of the wood, hay, and stubble, and the two kinds of people there. Kendall Remmick received this on February 7, 2010. My comments are in parentheses.  I was walking down an old, familiar street with a friend whom I never did see in the dream. I knew the person standing next to me was a friend, but I did not know his identity. (It could have been the Lord. Who knows?) The street is the one I used to walk home on every day from school when I was in the first and second grades. (I think he's going to give us a revelation here of the path of immaturity, as you'll realize shortly.) My friend and I walked by one house that had some low evergreen bushes about two feet high, and there was a woman sitting in a chair in the midst of the bushes. She was pregnant and had her hands on either side of her stomach in anticipation of giving birth. In appearance, she was actually a silhouette of a woman, yet still three-dimensional. Inside the silhouette was black darkness, like deep space with no stars. Staring at her was like looking at a portal into darkness. (This is talking about the apostate, immature Church in whom is the absence of God's light. It is space, a vacuum, the absence of many things, but especially God's light. The Church is in bad shape, andi it's not the glorious Church that it's soon to become. God has a plan and He is going to tell you about that here.)  When we walked past her, either my friend or I said, “She's about to give birth to twins.” (The interpretation that came to me as I read this is that the twins represent the end-time Jacobs and Esaus born to the immature Church. Remember Jacob and Esau wrestled in the womb, And the children struggled together within her (Gen.25:22), and they were opposites, weren't they? Jacob is the father of the 12 patriarchs, just as Jesus was the “father” of the 12 patriarch apostles. In our day, the endtime Man-child will be used to raise up the patriarch apostles to the end-time Church. So there are parallels there and history always repeats, so we should expect this. Esau represents those who have sold their birthright, as Paul said in Hebrews 12:16. These two types will be separated at birth, and Esau will persecute Jacob, who is a type of the Man-child. Jacob was the father of the 12 patriarchs, and the Man-child will also raise up the patriarchs in our day. These two different types are being born to this Church, very similar to what we saw in Matthew 3. Some sold their birthright because they were sons of Abraham, and there is the true seed of promise.)  At this point, we looked away and continued to walk forward a few steps. I then stopped and noticed that I had a very small lawnmower in my right hand. The woman who was in the small hedge was behind us now, and the yard had grown very big. The grass needed to be mowed, but it wasn't green. It was golden yellow-brown, like wheat. And I realized that we were there to mow the lawn. (Now we're back to what we just read: (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass … So the yard of the woman, who represents the Church, has a large, grassy lawn, which represents lots of flesh. (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. (7) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath (or the “spirit”; it's the same word) of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. (8) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. This is truly going to be a revival because of the Spirit of God breathing upon the flesh, withering it up. This is a part of the John the Baptist revelation of Isaiah 40. This is what we need in preparation for the coming of the Lord into our lives in a greater way than we have ever known, in the latter rain movement.)  I looked down at the little lawnmower in my hand. The top of it looked like a regular lawnmower, but the bottom side, where the blades were, looked like a house fan with a safety screen on it. (My interpretation is that a corporate John the Baptist ministry will breathe out the winds of the Spirit. That will cut down the flesh of the Church in repentance to prepare for the coming of the Man-child ministry.) I began to laugh and said, “I can't mow this lawn with this little thing. This lawn is huge!” (Meaning that flesh is abundant in the worldwide Church. This is a worldwide John the Baptist ministry coming to a worldwide Church and their job is cutting the grass. I recently had a lady tell me that she saw me mowing her lawn and I said, “That means I'm cutting your flesh.” This should be the work of every minister, to cut down the flesh to make room for the coming of the Lord.)  My friend said, “Well, sit down on the grass.” (I believe that this represents that these ministers are going to be tested. They haven't been anointed yet, so they'll have to be tested. I believe they're being tested right now, that John the Baptists and the future Man-childs are out there right now. The thing is, they haven't been anointed. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but evangelists like John the Baptist can say less and see more people come to an altar or any other form of receiving the Lord. Their message is very simple, but people just seem to flock to them. It's a gift, an anointing that God gives. These people could be preaching away right now, but it's Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). Great revivals come by the Spirit of God. He is going to grant repentance, the Bible says. He can grant it to anybody. He doesn't even need your help to do it. A great revival is going to be just that; it's going to be a lot of people coming to repentance and wondering what happened. There's nothing from the outside you can observe that would tell you why this is happening, but you know that it's a move of God.)  When they set the mower down in the grass, it cut surprisingly well. But we realized that the lawnmower was way too small, so we agreed that we needed to go home and get a bigger lawnmower. (When the anointing comes on the worldwide John the Baptist ministries from Heaven, which is our real home because this world is not our home and we're going back home, the people will be prepared for the coming of the Man-child ministries. (Mat.11:10) This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. Malachi 3:1 calls him “messenger.”   We once had a brother come and share, and the Lord had been telling me for weeks beforehand that this brother was a John the Baptist, and so when I told Brother Brad to put a banner up on the site to let everyone know he was coming, Brad said that the Lord had spoken to him that this was a John the Baptist. I said, “I know that; the Lord has spoken the same thing to me.” And then, the first thing that the brother said when he opened his mouth was that he was a messenger. I said, “Aha! You just confirmed something for me.” Of course, he didn't know that he was a John the Baptist. A lot of people don't know who they are, but it doesn't matter that you don't know who you are. It matters that you follow the Will of God until you find yourself in the Will of God. Praise the Lord! He can do this!)  When I was writing this, a verse came to me. (Amo.7:2) And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass … (In Daniel 4, the Beast Nebuchadnezzar, who was the head of the Babylonian Empire, had been given over to the mind of a beast and had devoured much flesh. But when he was delivered over to the mind of the beast, he devoured the flesh of the field for seven years, representing the nations that he was conquering. The nations of the Beast were conquered. Why is God raising up the Beast? He's raising up the Beast to cut the grass. He's not raising up just the John the Baptists who preach repentance, but He's also raising up the Beasts that put you on the cross in the first place. People don't want to see the Beast. They don't have any idea what the meaning and the purpose of the Beast is. They don't understand that God raises up the Beast to put His people on the cross; in other words, “to cut the grass,” so that they will humble themselves before God.)  (There's only one escape from the Beast, folks, and people are going to realize that it's going to be the Highway of Holiness. The Beast can't go on the Highway of Holiness. If you're walking holy before the Lord, Isaiah 35 says the Highway of Holiness goes to Zion, the City of God, the holy city, the mountain of God's presence, where also the Beast cannot tread. There is a place of safety from the Beast. God is going to make people understand that and that's why people are going to flock to Zion. We know that the John the Baptist ministry is baptized for the death of the flesh before the Man-child brings the latter rain.)  The lawnmower is the ministry before the latter rain. (He had that right because I had that revelation as I was reading from the top down, and I didn't know he had that there, but the ministry before the latter rain is the John the Baptist ministry. The dry grass is the saints who will die to the flesh. John the Baptist came in the anointing of Elijah, the Bible says. He will also come again in our time, to fulfill this revelation.)  According to Jesus, Elijah comes twice. (Mat.17:10) And his disciples asked Him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? (11) And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things: (12) but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already (So He said that Elijah was future and that Elijah had come already.), and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. (Mat.17:13) Then understood the disciples that He spake unto them of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was Elijah (spiritually), who had come the first time, and now we have another John the Baptist Elijah that is coming. According to Jesus, he is coming twice.  Our text in Matthew 3 is an interesting revelation of a great revival and wave of repentance. We have had revivals, but a revival always starts with repentance, not just questionable signs and wonders. And for wise people, they are not even questionable. John the Baptist preached against such Babylonish hypocrisy as the Saul leadership, which we saw and understood must die before the David leadership could come.  I was talking with a brother one time about the John the Baptist ministry or evangelists in general, about how different they were, in that they generally stuck with the basics. The brother told me that the Lord had been telling him to get back to the basics, and I recognized that was what the Lord had taught me about evangelists or John the Baptist-type ministries. They're speaking to a people who do not have eyes to see or ears to hear, but through the preaching of repentance God is going to give them eyes and ears. They need to get the basics first in order to come into the Kingdom. The John the Baptists and evangelists both are speaking to people who are not yet fully manifested coming into the Kingdom, and also to apostate ministries, to bring them to repentance. You cannot bring a deep word; in fact, a deep word will just hinder their work.  John the Baptist had a real simple message of repentance, which is more than just crying at an altar. It is changing your mind, turning, going the other way. The Bible says, For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, [a repentance] which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (2Co.7:10). That means you might repent, but you'll regret it and go right back where you came from. The sorrow of the world is that way, but real repentance changes a person. It does not matter if you cry or not. Repentance is not necessarily crying; it's changing your mind enough to where you reject your old way of thinking, which is the main problem.  Another text in Matthew 11 speaks about John the Baptist's simple ministry, and perhaps he didn't yet understand a few things. It seems very plain here. (Mat.11:1) And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities. (2) Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples (3) and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? Now, why did he say that? It may be that Jesus was not living up to expectations, not that Jesus wasn't already doing great work. Maybe in John's eyes He wasn't living up to the expectations of what they thought the Messiah was going to bring. I'm referring to the religious crowd of his day; they didn't expect Him to come this way or act this way. John likely had some of that in him because he asked the question through his disciples, “Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?”   (Mat.11:4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: (5) the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. (6) And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me. Well, that was a mild reproof for John, to tell John, “You shouldn't stumble; don't stumble in Me.” Jesus was the “stone of stumbling” (Romans 9:33) and people did stumble over Jesus. But He warned John not to stumble over Him because there was a big difference between their ministries. John preached repentance and Jesus was an enigmatic teacher of the deep things of God. He had deep revelations of these things. We never had any sign that John ever went beyond the basic preaching of faith and repentance, which is what is needed to prepare the way for the coming of the teaching. People are not even interested in that unless they have changed their mind and turned to God. We hear many times of people who, after repenting and turning to God, ask Him to lead them to truth, and God did that for them. He led them to truth because they had repented and truly became a disciple, but they needed some “food.”  The important thing is that when John is through with you, you're ready for Jesus. That is what's coming in our day. When an evangelist is through with you, you're ready for a teacher. So God is laying the foundation, and He always does a very good job of that. (Mat.11:7) And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? (8) But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft [raiment]? Behold, they that wear soft [raiment] are in king's houses. John was not a fancy person at all, was he? He certainly did not eat fancy food. (Mat.11:9) But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is a great prophet. (10) This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. As we'll see a little further down in the text, John was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, according to Jesus, not because he spoke a lot of great things, but because of the anointing and the preparation and the job that he had to do. Once again, God is choosing a people through whom He is going to do a great work. Many of God's people are going to turn to God through this ministry, a worldwide ministry.  (Mat.11:11) Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In Jesus' day, John came at the end of the Old Covenant and was an Old Covenant prophet who was, at that time, preparing for a New Covenant; it was the old order preparing for the new order. The old and new orders are slightly different in our day but still have to follow according to the pattern. The old order in our day is the former rain ministry, and I know not many people have even come into that. This is really sad because, if you just read the Bible and pay attention to it, not getting distracted by religion, you cannot help but realize that you're supposed to be filled with God's Holy Spirit.  I believe the John the Baptist ministries that are coming in our day are going to fulfill being in the end of an old order, to prepare the way for the coming of a new order, which is the Man-child ministry. The John the Baptist in our day is going to come as the greatest prophet of the former rain and be a great ministry, bringing in multitudes of people. He will have the gifts of the former rain and be a former rain prophet, but the Man-child ministry is coming with the latter rain. That's the anointing that will fall upon the Man-child. The anointing that fell upon Jesus was the former rain, but the latter rain will fall upon the Man-child. We know that Jesus said He was coming again after two days on the morning of the third day, as the latter rain (Hosea 6:2-3).  So you see, Jesus is coming again, but this time He's coming as the new order for our day. He came as the new order for His day last time, and He's coming as the new order this time, as well, but He's coming after a John the Baptist ministry, which will be the greatest of the old order former rain. We know that the prophecy says that the rain will come, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first [month] (Joe.2:23). We see that there's a revival coming and it's going to be a revival of the former rain and the latter rain. The latter rain is going to supersede the former rain, and John the Baptist said just that. (Joh.3:30) He must increase, but I must decrease. In other words, “Don't get your eyes on me too long, boys, because there is coming One whose shoe latchets, I am not worthy to undo” (John 1:27). So John's disciples started getting the revelation of Who Jesus was, and they started following Him. John freely admitted that he was not the Messiah, but that the One Who was coming was greater.  (Mat.11:12) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. How much more is this going to be true in the coming revival? Why do we have to take the Kingdom by force? Because there is a whole army standing against you, one over which you have been given authority. (Luk.10:19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. He gives us authority, but we have to fight a spiritual warfare to take the Kingdom of Heaven. It has been given, but you still have to take it with your “sword” (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). When God sent the children of Israel to take the Promised Land, they had to take it with their sword. God said, “You go in there with your sword, and I will be with you.” Basically, that's where we are today. We have to take the Kingdom with our sword. Why? Because there's a second heaven before the third Heaven.  We dwell in the first heaven, but the second heaven is filled with the principalities, powers, and world-rulers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12) that do everything they can to keep us from reaching the third Heaven. We don't take the Kingdom from God; we're taking it from these spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places] (Eph.6:12). By the way, Paul was a type of the Man-child who entered the third Heaven. He said that he fought the good fight and finished the race (2 Timothy 4:7). We are fighting a fight to take the Kingdom of God, but we must take it here. People think that you don't enter the Kingdom on Earth, but you do. (Luk.17:20) And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: (21) neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you. So He says, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force (Mat.11:12). Remember the authority that the Lord gave you. You have a right to everything that the Lord says is yours in this Book, but that doesn't mean you're going to get it if you don't take up your sword and fight. For everything that God has given you, you may have to fight. Don't expect God to just lay it in your hand. You may have to speak faith, act faith, and repent to receive it.  (Luk.17:13) For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14) And if ye are willing to receive [it,] this is Elijah, that is to come. (15) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Praise the Lord! And so it is, we are about to enter into more of the Kingdom than we have ever experienced, or anybody has experienced, except the Lord. We're going to enter into it right here. And for some people to receive the former rain, repent of their sins, and become true disciples, it's going to be because of John's ministry. Then the Man-child ministry shall come, which is the latter rain. During the first 3½ years of Jesus' ministry, He was the only One Who had the former rain. When He was baptized by John in the river, He came up and the Spirit of God came upon Him; that was the former rain. At the end of His 3½-year ministry, He breathed on His disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (Joh.20:22).   Their former rain came out of Jesus and in our day, it's a perfect parallel because the John the Baptist ministry in our day is going to have the former rain, while the Man-child ministry in whom Jesus lives is going to have the latter rain for the first 3½ years. At the end of that time, they're going to pass on their mantle to their disciples. Why didn't the disciples need it during the first 3½ years? It's because they were being trained under Jesus' authority. He said that He would send them “another Comforter” (Greek: Paraclete; John 14:16). Jesus was also a Paraclete, meaning “One who stands beside and helps.” But the Holy Spirit was also a Paraclete, and Jesus went away in order to send the Holy Spirit, Who would manifest Him in those disciples.  So for the first 3½ years, Jesus' disciples were given authority by Him to go and do the things that they would do. They needed the other Paraclete when Jesus left in order to continue with the anointing and the power. Jesus was the only One Who had the former rain for the first 3½ years, but He imparted that mantle to them, as Elijah had done to Elisha (2 Kings 2:13), who turned and faced 42 youths who were mauled by two bears (2 Kings 2:23-24). The bears were the Beast, and the 42 youths represented the 42 months of the last 3½ years. We're seeing the parallel there of passing on this anointing, this mantle. Elijah passed his mantle to Elisha, who went out and performed more miracles than Elijah ever did. So did the disciples of Jesus; they went out and did greater works than Jesus (John 14:12) because they were multiplied. This was Jesus in all of them, going out and performing the same works that Jesus was doing, so it was multiplied into many greater works.  This is going to be repeated again and the reason this revival is going to spread all over the world is because of a geometric progression, or the “stadium effect” we've spoken of before. The stadium effect is a circle inside a circle inside a circle, and each circle that receives the words spoken in the center passes it on to a larger circle. Everyone who receives the Word passes it on to more than one person, creating a progressively larger circle. Geometric progression is going to turn the world upside-down in these coming days, just as it did for these disciples. The Man-child ministry is going to teach under the latter rain for the first 3½ years and will impart that to the disciples, who are going to go on in the second 3½ years to raise up the five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11), and so on and so forth.  We saw in Acts 16 that Jesus was still with them in Spirit, just as Moses went halfway through the wilderness and had to put a veil on his face because there was a glorified man underneath. Then Moses went with the Israelites the rest of the way through the wilderness, which represents the last 3½ years of the Tribulation. We know that the wilderness is, according to Revelation 12 and 17, the first and second 3½ years of the Tribulation. So, every Man-child type in Scripture adds more and more detail to the final revelation. Praise God! He's going to do an awesome miracle, an awesome revival, that will start with John the Baptist and be carried on through Jesus and the Two Witnesses because they're the ones who were trained by Jesus. He sent them out two-by-two, in every place that He was about to go. Where is He going? The whole world, For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man (Mat.24:27). That anointing will be passed from these ministries throughout the Church in this way and Jesus is going to raise up a body in His image. He will raise up the body of Christ.  We have been calling ourselves the body of Christ for a long time, but Jesus lives in the body of Christ, and He ministers from the body of Christ, so we're going to really see the body of Christ in the earth. Jesus will be famous from here on out. For the last 2000 years, His name has been small among the nations, but not so from here onward. The Lord is going to manifest His glory in this earth and people will fear the name of the Lord. They are either going to love Him or fear Him, but He is coming again, though not in the way the Pharisees and the Sadducees think. He didn't come the last time the way they thought He would, either. Once again, God has hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes (Mat.11:25). Praise God!   The Lord has a great plan to once again hide these things from the Pharisees and the Sadducees of our day. They will not understand it; they will not believe it; they cannot see Him, and they do not know Him. But, as Jesus said, those who come as a child to the Kingdom of God will do awesome wonders in the power of God, like He did through those ignorant fishermen. They were like babes to the great theologians who looked down on them, but these were the true believers, the true people of God. And in our day, it's going to be God coming in simplicity through John the Baptist. You couldn't imagine John the Baptist in a suit and tie in the wilderness, could you? He was a simple man here for a very important purpose, and I will guarantee you that's exactly what is going to happen. Praise God!   Thank You, Lord, for doing a mighty work. Amen!   The things God has spoken in Matthew are prophetic of something to come in the future. The prophet Isaiah also said the same thing: (Isa.7:14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign (The Hebrew word there is uwth, meaning “a sign of something to come.”): behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Jesus' birth to the virgin Mary was for a sign and we've discovered that Jesus' ministry was a sign of the coming Man-child ministry. When we look in the Gospels, we can also see a prophetic word about the coming days. Our study has reached the part where Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit, so we'll continue there. (Mat.3:16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; (17) and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This, too, is a prophecy of the things to come. As you know, Jesus spoke to us in John 16 and said that He was going to come again as a baby born to a woman, “a woman when she is in travail” (John 16:21). When we look all the way through the Bible, we come to Revelation 12:2 and there's the woman in travail with the Man-child.  After the sign that Jesus gave us here in Matthew, we know the Man-child is a corporate body coming forth in our day. It's interesting that everything that happened in the former rain is going to happen in the latter rain and this Spirit of God falling upon Jesus at this particular time was the outpouring of the former rain of the Holy Spirit that Joel prophesied would restore all things to the people of God (Joel 2:23). The former rain was given to Jesus first, who taught His disciples for 3½ years and then breathed on them, saying, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (Joh.20:22). Ten days later, a mighty, rushing wind came into their presence and baptized all of them in the Holy Spirit and they received the former rain.   But Jesus had it first and was the One Who breathed it on the disciples. Paul said that Jesus is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (Col.1:18). And He is going to have the preeminence this time, as well. Many people leave Him out of their Manchild theology, but the point is that it is the Lord Who is coming to do this. The Lord came with the former rain, and He is the One coming with the latter rain, although He's coming in a different body. It is still Him coming to do it. He came in the body of the Son of David, the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).  I know people want to make that the “seed of God,” but That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (Joh.3:6). Jesus was declared to be of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom.1:3), but declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness (4). God was the Father of the spiritual man Jesus, the Son of God, Who came from Heaven, and it was Mary's seed that was the son of David. Jesus said, a body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5), and that body was from man. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Once again, the Lord is going to take on a human body in these days and the body gets no credit; it is the Lord Who gets the credit.   But the Lord is coming to start the latter rain and though you've heard this before, I'll share it with you again briefly. (Hos.6:2) After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. (3) And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. “He will come unto us … as the latter rain that watereth the earth.” This is referring to the epiphany of Jesus, not the parousia of Jesus. The parousia is the physical coming of Jesus, but this latter rain is the epiphany of Jesus coming in His body. The first-fruits who are going to receive this blessing are called the Man-child ministry and it's on the morning of the “third day,” exactly what we see here in the text. It is Jesus who is coming to anoint His people and to, once again, sit upon the throne of David, as Luke 1:32 tells us; Jesus sat upon the throne of David.  The Bible also tells us, by the way, that the Man-child is going to be caught up unto God, and unto his throne (Rev.12:5). A lot of people do not realize that the throne the Man-child is caught up to is not some throne up in Heaven, way out yonder. It's the Kingdom of Heaven here. The “throne” that Jesus was caught up to is that He was given the throne of David to rule over Israel and He even came in the triumphal procession into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9; John 12:13), where it was quoted, Behold, thy King cometh … (Mat.21:5; Joh.12:15). Of course, He wasn't treated like a King, was He? He was a King Who was born of the seed of David and was to sit on David's throne and rule Israel. The Bible tells us, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king (Jer.23:5), and that David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17). So, once again, the Man-child is caught up to the throne, but I want to tell you Who rules on that throne: it is not the Man-child; it is Jesus! Jesus is coming as the latter rain to rule.  Here's another verse that pertains to this: (2Ch.9:8) Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God. He's talking about the throne of David. We are still talking about flesh, aren't we? Who is that Spirit in David? Paul spoke about the Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets and that Spirit of Christ was pointing toward the suffering of Christ in our day. So, who was in David who manifested that righteousness and goodness? It was Christ. He has always been on the throne; nobody else is going to sit on the throne. Oh, yes, there will be fleshly bodies that rule, just like there are in the Church today. There's the five-fold ministry that God raised up, and those are now our leaders in the Church. They rule, yet they really only have a gift that comes from the Lord, and it's the Lord manifested in them to Whom we are submitting. Paul said, Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ (1Co.11:1). In other words, “Follow me as I follow the Lord.”  The latter rain is in complete parallel to the former rain and the Lord is coming to rule in a body, to raise up the whole Church into His Image, the glory of God. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. That's the Gospel! I believe that the Man-child is the first-fruits in our day to reach sun glory. There is “star glory,” there is “moon glory,” and there is “sun glory,” the three glories that Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 15:40-41. He said that we grow through each of them in stages to come to maturity in Christ, Who is sun glory  Notice that one of the key words spoken in the verses that we looked at from Hosea 6:3 is “rain.” (Hos.6:3) He will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. This “rain” keys in on quite a few verses, especially in the Old Testament. Those verses give us little clues as to what's going to happen in the latter rain, not only for the Church, but also in the Tribulation, because the latter rain happens in the Tribulation, which is “on the morning of the third day,” the third thousand years from when Jesus came.   Now let's look at Micah 5. The chapter starts out speaking about Jesus. (Mic.5:2) But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel (that was Jesus); whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. (3) Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth (That's the woman bringing forth the Man-child in Revelation 12. He has given them up, but they are going to come back.): then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. However, the children of Israel in the New Testament are not those who are circumcised in flesh but circumcised in heart. That's what Paul tells us in Romans 2:28-29. His brethren are going to come back to the children of Israel, the ones who are grafted into the olive tree. As the Bible tells us, they're going to be grafted again back into their own olive tree that they were broken off from because of unbelief (Romans 11:23).   This is what He's referring to right here, but the wonderful thing, the thing that excites me, is this: (Mic.5:4) And he shall stand, and shall feed [his flock] in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. This is the Lord coming as the latter rain, at the time that the woman brings forth the Man-child, and it says He is going to feed His flock. That excites me! The Lord is coming, folks! I love to think about His coming. He's coming to feed us and minister to us. The Lord is angry with the shepherds and what they have done unto His flock, as He tells you all through the Old Testament.  Some key verses that refer to the latter rain begin a little further down. (Mic.5:7) And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass (There it is again, “showers upon the grass.”), that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men. Wow! They are not dependent on this world, are they? People who love the latter rain are just carried by it. Without the Spirit of God, it is such a struggle to live and do His work and to minister as He called us to minister. It's a struggle without the Word of God. He makes it easy. We're supposed to give Him our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30). It's Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). It will get done by God's Spirit. We have now wasted almost 2000 years and made very little progress, as far as Christianity being born in the earth, as Isaiah 26 tells us. In just a very short time, the anointing of God is going to do its work. The Lord Jesus is coming with that anointing to sit once more on the throne of David and rule over His born-again people.  (Mic.5:8) And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples (We are spread throughout the world among the beasts of the field, the Beast being the nations of lost mankind.), as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. (9) Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off. He is referring to the Lord here, the Lord in His people. The Lord stands and feeds His flock, and the Lord raises up “seven shepherds, and eight principal men,” or “princes among men,” as stated in Micah 5:5. The seven shepherds are like the apostle John, who was also caught up to the throne as a type of the Man-child, but he gave a revelation of the end time to seven angels, who were then to bring it to the Church. The word “angel” is the same word as “messenger,” and it's used in the New Testament for not only heavenly-type angels or messengers but also earthly ministers. John is giving his revelation to seven ministers, who go forth to the seven churches. This is what Jesus did. He raised up disciples to go forth to the 12 tribes because He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. John raised up seven ministers to go forth and bring the message of the end time to the seven churches. Here in this text, we see the same thing. We see the seven princes among men, and the eighth is Jesus in the midst.  We also see here that they are going to be used to bring judgment in the earth, that they will be like a lion and not like lambs. Jesus came as a Lamb and He sent out His sheep to be lambs in the midst of wolves (Luke 10:3), but now He is saying they will be like lions. Not only are they going to bring the Gospel, but they are also going to bring judgment, like the Two Witnesses company brought judgment upon the earth. The Two Witnesses represent the disciples of Jesus because Jesus sent them forth two-by-two, corporately, to the places He was supposed to go, and the same thing is going to happen to the Man-child ministers: they are going to send forth witnesses, two-by-two, and they are going to speak judgments. It is like Revelation 11 on the earth and upon the wicked. No, it's not going to be like a lamb this time. It's going to be the Lamb and the Lion this time.   There is judgment coming with the latter rain movement because the end is near. All nations are going to persecute the saints, but God is not going to leave them defenseless. He is raising up a Man-child ministry, who is raising up a Two Witness ministry, which is raising up a five-fold ministry. Remember the disciples that Jesus sent out ordained a five-fold ministry to lead and guide the Church. This is what we're referring to that will happen again in our day. The Spirit that is upon Jesus, the mantle that is upon Him, He put upon His disciples, and they put it upon the five-fold ministry, and so on. This same thing is going to happen. The anointing that is upon Jesus coming as the latter rain is going to be put upon His disciples, etc. This anointing is the latter rain. It's the power of the Holy Spirit.  There's another way that God speaks about coming judgment. (Rev.6:1) And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals (the first seal), and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. (2) And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown (this is the crown of David): and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. Notice that he had a bow but no arrows, and this is the first judgment. I have shared before that this is not really referring to the Antichrist, nor literally Christ. It's referring to the Man-child ministry, which is coming with judgment. Moses was the Man-child ministry in his day and he loosed all of the “horses” of judgment in his day. All of them followed his ministry. All of the judgments that fell upon Egypt came right out of Moses' mouth, and this is the same thing that's about to happen, according to type and shadow. The Man-child is the first judgment and because of his ministry, all those other horse judgments and the other seals are loosed upon the earth. This white horse rider is none other than the Lord in His Man-child.  We can see the same thing here: (Zec.10:1) Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain (We need to be praying for that now because it is very near.), [even of] the Lord that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. There are ‘the showers' on the grass again. Peter said, All flesh is as grass (1Pe.1:24), and yet, the Lord said that He was going to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17). That refers to the Church because that is “all flesh,” men and women out of all nations. He is pouring out His rain upon the “grass of the field,” which Jesus said was the world (Matthew 13:38). This gives you the timing that we are talking about in the latter rain; this is a prophecy of our time. If we go back one chapter, we read, For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim (Zec.9:13). What does Judah represent? Well, Jerusalem the Bride came from Judah, and David was from Jerusalem, and David ruled over the Bride in Jerusalem over the rest of Israel. He says, “I have filled the bow with Ephraim,” and the name “Ephraim” means “the fullness of nations.” That refers to what we just studied in Revelation; it's a different parable, but it means the same thing. A remnant of Jacob or Israel was going to be used by God and was going to receive the anointing of the Man-child through the seven shepherds, who went to the churches, etc.  So how is this going to spread all over the world in just seven short years? It will be like a geometric progression, starting with a 144,000-member Man-child, first-fruits people with an anointing. And that anointing is nothing to belittle; look at the miracles that Jesus did. And then consider the miracles that Jesus is going to do because The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former (Hag.2:9). The miracles of the Man-child through the Two Witnesses, through the five-fold ministry, and through the Church will spread very quickly. God is doing a quick work here, for the Lord will execute [his] word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short (Rom.9:28) in righteousness. He will fill His bow with Ephraim. Notice also that the Man-child who rode upon the white horse had a bow, but he did not have any arrows. He had already sent forth His arrows.   The Bible says that our children are our arrows. (Psa.127:4) As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. Jesus called His disciples “children” (John 21:5) and He sent them forth. He drew the bow and sent them forth as His arrows to bring His anointed, His works, and His ministry all around the world. The exact same thing is going to happen again. (Zec.9:13) For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion (the Bride), against thy sons, O Greece (the Beast at that particular time), and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man. Anytime one of the Beasts (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc.) is mentioned in the Bible, it's a type and a shadow of the end time. Well, He says He would stir up sons, so there's a war preparing to happen here.  Let's see what He says about this white horse rider. (Zec.10:1) Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain, [even of] the Lord that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. (2) For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain. He's referring to the ministry that is there when the Man-child comes. It's the same as the ministry that was there when Jesus came. They were into a lot of falsehood – a lot of false prophets, false shepherds – and they had dealt corruptly. The Lord was judging them, but He did not judge them like He is about to judge this time because it is the Lion who is coming this time. (Zec.10:2) For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd. Remember, the Lord is mourning because there is not a shepherd in Israel. They are like sheep scattered without a shepherd. Of course, they had shepherds, but God was not calling them “shepherds” and that's the problem. So the Lord sent His Own right arm, the Lord Jesus.  (Zec.10:3) Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his goodly horse in the battle. You know, all those horses in Revelation 6 represent the harnessing of the flesh to do work. They were all judgments, but God was using different flesh to bring each kind of judgment. The kind of flesh that the Man-child is riding here is talking about Judah. David's authority was first received by the Bride because the capital city was Zion, which represents the Bride, and David was king in Zion.   The house of Judah will be “his goodly horse in the battle.” (Zec.10:4) From him shall come forth the corner-stone (which we know has happened), from him the nail (which we also know has happened), from him the battle bow … (And we know that happened. He sent forth Judah and Ephraim as the arrows. Judah is once again going to be in leadership, including the Lord Himself, Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. They will raise up the whole Church and that's what Ephraim represents as the “fullness of nations.”), from him every ruler together. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle … A lot of people do not know the authority God has given His people, especially in a time when grace is being taken from some. There is going to come a time during the Tribulation period when nobody else will repent. In fact, God will turn away from the Gentiles and He will turn to the remnant of the Jews that He is going to bring in, like He said He was going to do, back in Romans 11.  Once again, this white horse rider is going to bring judgment in the earth, like Moses did with the judgments he brought. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them … That's another meaning of “Immanuel.” Remember the sign that the woman would conceive and bring forth a son and they would call His name “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14)? Once again, “God is with us” because the Man-child is going to be born to the woman and God is going to be with us again. This is not saying that men will be God. It's saying that God is coming to do His works. If that offends anyone out there listening, the Bible says through Paul, Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate (2Co.13:5). To the extent that you are bearing the fruit of Jesus, 30-, 60- and 100-fold, as in the Parable of the Sower, to that extent Jesus lives in you. We're just talking about Him coming in maturity in some people first in order to lead the rest into the same maturity. It's still Jesus, and He is still the Son of God. He is still God. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them; and the riders on horses shall be confounded. Now, what is this referring to? God is leading the horsemen, yes, but they don't have any effect upon God's people. If you remember, in the Exodus, the judgments that fell upon Egypt, God separated His people in Goshen from those judgments (Exodus 8:22). So the riders on horses will be confounded in one aspect and that is concerning God's people because they are under the Passover; they are not under the curse.  (Zec.10:6) And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back (Back from where? Bring them back from Babylon, back from bondage. They were the first ones to come out of bondage and build the city of God.); for I have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. (7) And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea, t

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:32-45At that time, Jesus took his twelve disciples, and he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise." And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant of James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Return of the Man-Child (5)  (audio)  David Eells – 4/2/25  We've been exploring what it means that everything that happened in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts is going to happen again, except it will be on a worldwide scale, and the cast of characters will be multiplied. So we've been looking at the characters to see what they will do in their corporate bodies in our day. We need prayer.   Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask You to be with us this day, to open our understanding, to lead us, to guide us, to give words of wisdom and knowledge that will reveal Your Will to us. Thank You so much, Father. You are our guide, our wisdom, and we thank You so much for leading us in this Bible study. Amen  Let's back up to where we left off. We saw that Herod, as a type of the Beast, was attempting to destroy the Man-child and actually did murder many “man-children” in Bethlehem (which means “the house of food”). We also saw that, as a type and shadow, the Lord told us, A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted because they are not (Mat.2:18). When we were looking at the text in Jeremiah 31:15-20, the words “they are not” did not mean physical death. It meant spiritual death because Rachel's children had been taken into Babylonish captivity. They were in bondage to the Beast, and they were not serving God but serving the Beast. The Beast was their head and ruler; it was ruling over them. (Rom.8:13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. So spiritual death is definitely what is being pointed out here in this text. There was no physical death involved in the original text of Jeremiah. It's very interesting that, in all of our lives, the Beast has to die. If it does not die, we are not free to follow the Lord.  The very next two verses give us more clues. (Mat.2:19) But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, (20) Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the young child's life. Notice again the word “they,” meaning more than one person. That may point to the fact that Herod represents in our day a corporate body, but we know from this that Jesus was ready to come out of His wilderness and start His ministry when Herod, the Beast who ruled, was dead. I believe that's a type and shadow for us in our day.   It goes on to say, And he arose and took the young child (Note that He is still being called a “young child,” the same as He was called when the wise men came.) and his mother, and came into the land of Israel (Mat.2:21). He had to come out of His wilderness to do that. He came from Egypt, a type of the world, through the Sinai Peninsula and the wilderness there, and into the land of Israel. And Jesus was coming out of His wilderness from Chapter 4:1 on down, where He came from His personal wilderness to His ministry. This may be the exact same type. We noticed that Moses, David, and Jesus all had a perfect parallel.   (Mat.2:22) But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither; and being warned [of God] in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee, (23) and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene. This is rather interesting. We've seen many revelations about a baby being born in a type of the Man-child, yet the baby was born very mature and alert and grew up very quickly. We've seen quite a few of those and I think we see in this text that this is true. It refers to a “young child” in verse 21, and it's still talking about that young child for the next two verses.  But immediately following this, it says, And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea (Mat.3:1). That's intriguing; what happened to all those years in between? John the Baptist was only six months older than Jesus, so in Matthew 3:1, Jesus had to be almost 30 years old. You could not start your public ministry to the congregation until you were 30. That was the law. The text jumps from Jesus as a young child all the way to “in those days” with John the Baptist starting his ministry at age 30, and it makes you think, “Well, that Man-child must have grown-up very quickly.” Do you suppose this was a type and shadow of what is going to happen in our day? That the Man-child will be birthed and then immediately be caught up to the throne? In Revelation 12:5, the baby was born and then he was caught up to the throne of God; then he was leading the woman through the wilderness, which appears pretty fast. Clearly, God is shortening the time span that it takes because we don't have a lot of time for Jesus in the Man-child to grow up.  At any rate, John the Baptist's ministry was very short, starting when he was 30 years old. Six months later, Jesus was anointed to preach the Isaiah 61 anointing message, and He was 30 years old, so Matthew 3 is actually between when John the Baptist began his ministry and when Jesus began His. (Mat.3:1) And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, (2) Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That was proven by the great signs and wonders that God did in the midst of them, to show them that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. In other words, the Kingdom where God rules and where He reigns over the curse, over the devil, and over the flesh was at hand. It's obvious where the Kingdom of God rules because He does signs and wonders.  John the Baptist had a relatively simple ministry, which was the preaching of repentance. It did not seem that he ever went into much deep doctrine. He preached, “turning from your sins,” yet he had a very anointed ministry and he was, according to Jesus, the greatest of the Old Testament teachers “born of women” (Matthew 11:7). Jesus also said he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mat.11:11), meaning John the Baptist was the greatest of the old order ministers before the former rain came. Jesus came with the former rain, and that brought the Kingdom. So John was the greatest born of women up until that time.  I believe that we have just such a corporate body of preachers coming right now, who will probably be considered the greatest from among the former rain, before the latter rain comes, because now the former rain is the old order and we're coming to the latter rain. Some of you are seeing this program down the road, and all this is history, but at the point we are now, this revival is starting with the John the Baptist ministry and is yet to happen. We're on the very brink of it, and it is going to be a corporate body of people around the world who are coming to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. (Mat.3:3) For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight. Obviously, without repentance, you cannot do that. If you want the Lord to live in you, it will not happen without repentance. John the Baptist was preparing hearts to receive the Lord Jesus and to receive the Man-child in our day. History is repeating.  (Mat.3:4) Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan. This sounds like a great revival, doesn't it? I did learn that “all” was not all because the Lord said that the Pharisees and the Sadducees rejected for themselves the counsel of John, being not baptized of him (Luk.7:30). So “all” here means all of the elect, not all of the people. The Jews understood that very well because they believed in election. They believed that they were the elect people, the “chosen” (which is the same word, eklektos), people of God, and that God did not choose anyone outside of them.  Well, it's still the same today. (Mat.22:14) For many are called, but few chosen. God does call “many” unto Him, but not all are called, and of those whom He calls, He still chooses only those who bear fruit. The first thing people need is repentance, and I believe that we will see this preaching of repentance through some very anointed men of God, men who have the former rain anointing. And it's going to start a great revival, as in this passage where you see people coming out of their “churches” and going into the wilderness to meet John. (Mat.3:6) And they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. That's a good sign of repentance, when people confess their sins. Every great revival starts out that way, and a great anointing falls on people to be grieved over their sinfulness and to repent and confess their sins.  (Mat.3:7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? John was very hard on their preachers, wasn't he? That got him in a lot of trouble – and Jesus, as well. No doubt that the same exact thing is going to happen in our day because the leadership of the churches has been leading them astray for a long, long time. (Mat.3:8) Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance: (9) and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Notice that it says we are to bring forth fruits. It hasn't been very long since I was confronted by a preacher who told me that he had repented of various abominable things that he was doing. He said that he had gone to God and asked God to forgive him, and he was forgiven. I said, “Well, that's fine, but that's not repentance because repentance is changing, and you're still in the middle of a crime spree.” So you have to change your mind because that's what “repentance” means; it means “to turn and go the other way.” That preacher didn't know what repentance was because he was not doing it. That's what John is saying here: “Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance.” There has to be fruit of repentance.  There has to be fruit showing in your actions that you are changing your mind, and John demanded that, even of these religious leaders. Obviously, some of them put on a show for the people. (Mat.3:10) And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees … Amen! That was true in John's ministry, and it will be true in ministries today, that the axe is at the root of the trees. By Matthew 13, Jesus was saying that those religious leaders were reprobated, saying, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given (Mat.13:11); and that He had blinded their eyes (Matthew 13:13). (Mat.3:10) And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  (Mat.3:11) I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and [in] fire. And Jesus did just that; He brought the baptism of the Holy Spirit and was the first one of the former rain to receive, according to type, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, He received it in the verses immediately following these that we're studying. (Mat.3:12) Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor (The fan was used to blow away the chaff, which was useless, and to leave the heavier grain, which is the fruit that God was after.); and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. The chaff represents the old man, the carnal man, the fiery trials that we go through to burn up the old man and leave nothing but the spiritual man. Notice that John preached to “make His paths straight” and here Jesus is cleansing the people.  There is a text that speaks of this differently. (Mal.3:1) Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple (That represented Jesus, but it also represents the Manchild because this is a repetition of history. The word “temple” here means His body. (Heb.10:5) A body didst thou prepare for me.); and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. (Mal.3:2) But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire (That is the fire to burn up the chaff.), and like fullers' soap: (3) and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi. Remember, the sons of Levi were the only ones who did not bow to the golden calf, the image of the Beast. They were the true ministers of the sanctuary.  He also said that He had called us to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), so really all of God's true people are priests because we have an offering of fire to bring forth and we present our bodies as a living sacrifice on that altar of the fiery trial. That is the crucified life. That is what Jesus called taking up your cross and following Him, for you to be His disciple (Matthew 16:24). (Mal.3:3) And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness. (4) Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. For our day, He's talking about New Testament spiritual Judah and Israel and the New Jerusalem.   (Mal.3:5) And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner [from his right,] and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. God is going to judge quickly those hanging around His people who are walking in their sinfulness. He will be very protective of His holy Church in these days with Ananias and Sapphira-like judgments on people trying to sneak in, acting as though they are Christians while they are not. So far, it's been difficult to keep that from happening, but the Lord says that He will put an end to it. Praise God! He is going to have a holy Church.  (Mat.3:13) Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (14) But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (15) But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [it] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth him. Obviously, we need to be baptized, or put to death, by the washing of the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26), a crucifixion of the old man, which is what it's all about. It behooves us to do this. Jesus went through this before He came to His anointing, which is very important. (Mat.3:16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; (17) and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Jesus was baptized in the Spirit here; He was anointed in order to start His ministry.   And we're also told this in (Luk.1:31) Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. So Jesus came to be anointed to take David's throne. That's what this anointing was about; it was the king's anointing. All the kings received this anointing when they took their position. Right after Jesus was filled with the Spirit and before going into His wilderness, it says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor (Luk.4:18). Jesus was 30 years old when this happened. This anointing of the Spirit started His public ministry and goes right along with history.  Joseph was 30 years old, according to Genesis 41:46, when he stood before Pharaoh and received the kingdom, and David was 30 years old when he began his ministry, which is very interesting. All these types of the Man-child were 30 years old. (2Sa.5:3) So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel. (4) David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. Forty is the number of tribulation. (5) In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. Jesus came to sit on David's throne. Jesus was anointed King of kings and He reigned over the true tribes of Israel. The apostate tribes did not recognize Him, but the true tribes did. Those who were born of God recognized Him immediately. He merely walked by His disciples and said, “Come, follow Me,” and they dropped their nets, left their business, left everything, and walked after Him. Now that's a strong calling! They just followed Him.  Well, what was the first thing that David did after he was anointed? (2Sa.5:6) And the king and his men went to Jerusalem … It wasn't called Jerusalem then. (1Ch.11:4) And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. It wasn't called Jerusalem until they conquered it. (2Sa.5:6) And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites (which means “to trample down” or “trodden under foot”), the inhabitants of the land, who spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither; thinking, David cannot come in hither. Jerusalem had to be conquered before it could be called Jerusalem, before it could be Zion. It was in the hands of the pagans, in the hands of the old man, the Jebusite. We know from Revelation that Jerusalem is the Bride, but she did not start out as the Bride; she started out as a pagan, as an unbeliever, and was converted and became the Bride. Jerusalem, before David conquered it, was Jebus.  David's job was to take Jerusalem, to show his men how to conquer and take Jerusalem. With the coming of the Man-child ministry, which is also a Davidic ministry, the first thing that's going to happen is that they'll be conquering Jebus. They're going to raise up Jerusalem again – not old Jerusalem; they're going to raise up New Jerusalem. Paul spoke about it in Hebrews 12, but then there was a great falling away, and this place represented holiness, the place of safety, the Bride. It represented the only place the Beast could not conquer, and it represented the Philadelphia church because it was the only one that escaped the hour of trial from the Beast kingdom. Here, we see that the Jebusites were telling David, “You'd better get rid of the blind and the lame, or you can't come here.” In other words, nobody who is blind and lame can take Zion. It represents the Bride, who is not blind and lame. She is spotless and blemishless because she has overcome some things, especially being lame, which represents being crippled or not being able to walk right with the Lord. And she has overcome being blind, which represents not being able to see, understand, or discern the truths of God.  So they said, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither; thinking, David cannot come in hither (2Sa.5:6). You know, some people do not think it's possible and, in fact, there are a lot of preachers right now who are saying that it's not possible for you to be an overcomer. They say that you just have to settle for being “a sinner saved by grace.” The old man does not think that it's possible for you to conquer him and have this place become Zion, the holy city. (2Sa.5:7) Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. (8) And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and [smite] the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul … The lame and the blind represent the apostates. Of course, the Jebusite represents the old man, and David and his men represent the spiritual man who must conquer Zion. We've been called to do that, and David is telling them that the way to do it is to “get up to the watercourse and smite the lame and the blind.” Put to death the old apostasy in your life. Two rivers fed Jerusalem, and David's men used those rivers to get into Jerusalem.  The place of the watercourses was where the water drained out of Jerusalem, akin to the sewer system. Instead of scaling the walls, they could go up the sewer. They probably smelled pretty bad by the time they got in there to take their sword and go to work, but that's what he was saying. Though most of this was probably river water, they still had to go against the current that was coming out of Jebus, so they were “going against the flow,” so to speak. And that's the way it is with us. Everything we do is contrary to the world: what they think is the right way, we think is the wrong way; what they think is up, we think is down. If we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. At any rate, David was teaching them that the way to conquer the city and the lame and the blind was through the water. (2Sa.5:8) … Wherefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house.  (2Sa.5:9) And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. He is talking about the ramparts of Jerusalem, so David built Jerusalem. He was the one who started building the “New Jerusalem” at that point. Jesus was doing the same thing. What Paul described with, ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb.12:22) … and to the spirits of just men made perfect (23), was what Jesus was building. I've shared with you a revelation the Lord gave me many years ago, where He showed me the tower in the midst of what was depicted as the New Jerusalem and He was giving it to me, revealing to me that my ministry was to build this tower. I found that Micah 4:8 spoke of Jerusalem as “the tower of the flock,” and it was the kind of tower that they actually built in those days in the midst of those cities to preserve them from invading beast armies. Jerusalem was just that; it was a place of safety where, if beasts invaded, whether from Babylon or Assyria, the people could flee into the broad walls and be protected.  David was building the tower of the flock here. (2Sa.5:10) And David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. I have found this language referring to only two people in the Scriptures, where it says, “waxed greater and greater.” It spoke of David, and it spoke of Mordecai, whose name means “little man” or “man-child.” Mordecai was the same type as David; both of them were the Man-child. Mordecai's job was to raise up the Bride, Esther, and save the people of God from the Beast, Haman. Basically, this is the same thing that David did. He raised up the Bride, Jerusalem, and defended the people from one of the Beasts, the Philistines. David's first job was to conquer the Jebusites and take their city away.  In thinking about this, I'd like to share with you a revelation we received concerning the same thing. This is Pamela Orr's revelation, and she received it in January 2010. My notes are in parentheses.  In a dream, I was in a house that is safe and secure. I have no desire or plans to leave this house. (Pamela is a part of our broader UBM Fellowship safe-house, but also, I believe that this is referring to Zion, and she had no plans to leave.) To my amazement, though, there are people leaving. … I'm given to know that there are many who do not return. (This is necessary because the sons of perdition and the Jezebels and the rest of the tares who have come in amongst God's people cannot be a part of this Zion, as I will show you shortly. The only people who entered Zion were the ones who conquered the lame and the blind, and it became Zion, the holy city, because they were the only people there. The Jebusites were driven out. The carnal Jebusites are leaving Jebus so that it may become Zion. They're being conquered. Zion is the Bride. Praise the Lord!   I remember her brother Mark Fritz, who is a part of our fellowship, asked the Lord when he first met us about the church he was currently attending. God answered that it was Pergamum, which was the third church of Revelation that was caught up in the Nicolaitan error. So Mark asked the Lord about UBM, and the Lord said, “The sixth church.” So he counted and found out that the sixth church was the Philadelphia church, which is the Bride, the one that escapes the hour of trial under the dominion of the Beast, and the name means “the love of the brethren.”)  There are locks on this house, a whole row of them, probably seven or more, but I didn't count them. (This is a very secure place, like Zion, which was called “the stronghold of Zion.” We're all supposed to be climbing Mount Zion to enter into the presence of the King. The throne is on Mount Zion; the Temple is on Mount Zion; His presence is there.) These locks are high up in the wall. We can't touch them or tamper with them; they are a fixture of the house. (The key to enter is high up with God. It is not with man.) Some, if not all, of these locks are specific to profiles. For example, there is the ‘age 18-and-over' lock. I'm given to know that when a certain lock turns over, then no one fitting this profile will ever again be allowed to enter the house. (I thought about that and felt that the Lord was saying that God gives more grace to the immature and innocent. He does not impute iniquity to them, but the further they go in their walk, the more they are held accountable. (Luk.12:48) to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required, so when people become accountable and they do not walk in their accountability, then they will be out of there. They will not have a position in that house.)  As I watch these locks turn, as if of their own accord, I realize that when the final lock has been turned, no one else will be allowed to enter. (That's the way it is with spiritual Zion, folks. Many years ago, I saw in a vision our ministry starting in Pensacola as a Zion, the Tower of the Flock, the Bride. I know that this is going on around the world with people who are desiring earnestly to be obedient to the Scriptures, live the crucified life before their Lord, and walk in the grace of God. (Mic.4:8) And thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come … When David took Jebus and it became the stronghold of Zion, the City of David, that was their stronghold. That was where the dominion started, right there. It said the former dominion was going to return to Zion, the Tower of the Flock, the Kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Note that the former dominion is not going to return to Jerusalem, but it's going to return to the daughter of Jerusalem or, in other words, to New Jerusalem. God is once again, in our day, going to raise up a David who will raise up Zion once more as the stronghold, the Bride.)  (In this New Jerusalem Zion, the wicked were not allowed, as Scripture says. (Isa.52:1) Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion (So it is coming to its former dominion.); put on thy beautiful garments (These garments are righteousness, purity and holiness.), O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. A New Jerusalem is started that does not allow any of the wicked. You can only do that with a spiritual city. In any physical city, you're going to have all kinds of people there, some of them good, some of them bad. But in this spiritual city, there will not be anybody unclean. That's what these locks are all about; they're to find out who is walking in purity and to keep out the rest. As I said, with knowledge comes responsibility, so the further you go, the more that's expected of you. When David first became king as a type of the Man-child, he taught his overcomers how to take the stronghold of Jebus from the Jebusites, representing the old man. Then Jebus became Zion, the City of David, a type of the Bride following the Man-child at the beginning of the Tribulation.)  (Father is cleaning house and will keep the evil ones out of His safe-house. Praise the Lord! As John said, He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (Joh.3:29). Soon, many, by their own evil nature, will not want to associate with the righteous for fear of alienating their Beast associations. God is separating here, and He is going to make His heavenly Zion a place where only the righteous will want to go. They will have had to conquer the lame and the blind to get there. They will have had to overcome. David's mighty men were sent by David to take Zion, and they took it. Jesus did the same thing with the disciples He raised up, who were His mighty men. Praise God!)  Speaking of entering this safe-house, people are entering. (The righteous are entering because they are the only ones who can come into this safe-house, the New Jerusalem.) Others are trying to enter, but the “bad guys” don't seem to make it past the door. (Praise the Lord! That is awesome. This is just like Ananias and Sapphira; they tried to enter, but God took them out.) And each bad guy gets done-in by the next bad guy. The bad guys get progressively worse, too. (2 Timothy 3 speaks about how bad the Church is going to get in our day. Verses 1 through 6 are pretty rough, and then it says, But evil men and impostors (KJV: “seducers”) shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived (2Ti.3:13). This is true in the Church today because that's what he was referring to. He wasn't talking about the world.) The second-to-last bad guy is sort of a handicapped or perverted or dwarflike individual with short little legs like tree trunks. (Here is a perverted dwarf. I see one thing here, spiritually speaking: those who do not measure up to the stature of the fruit of Christ are not going to be permitted in Zion.)  This is where it gets awful. The final bad guy (the Beast) begins to compress, squeeze, or fold this dwarf-like individual until he murders him. (Spiritually speaking, those who have not yet experienced the crucified life will have help from the Beast to go to their cross and to manifest death-to-self. Those who do not measure up will need crucifixion in the world. How do we grow up into Christ? Jesus said, He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it (Mat.10:39). You do not gain your life unless you lose your life, so growing up is a matter of the crucified life. If we do not accept it, we cannot grow up. If we do not accept it, we cannot put away the blindness and the lameness and cannot expect to go into Zion. Remember, we are told, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isa.52:1).) The evil nature of this final bad guy was beyond description. (That is the Beast.) I can only say that I could almost feel this individual's sick joy and satisfaction in pressing the life out of the other poor sucker. (She is talking about the apostate Christians, I believe. Many of the apostate Christians are going to be saved because of the crucifixion that the Lord puts them in. His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and … the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire (Mat.3:12), but He will have something in the midst of that which will be holy and precious.)   (Not everyone will be sanctified. Some people just get worse in tribulation. One thing that helps people to be able to come to Zion in the midst of tribulation is to know what God is doing. He is doing something for them. He is putting to death their old flesh, which cannot enter the Kingdom. By the Word of God, you learn how to cooperate with God, and then you see that this is a victory, not a failure. If the Church receives a lot of this prosperity doctrine and they do not believe that they are ever going to go through anything, any trouble, any tribulation, then these things come upon them as a shock, and they think that God has forsaken them. They are tempted to fall, and many do. So there has to be knowledge for the people to understand that God is doing a good thing with them and that they need to go through this, that they're privileged to go through this, and that they can have eternal life in the Kingdom. That's what the Man-child is coming to do; that's what Jesus came to do. Spiritually speaking, that's what David was doing. He was teaching men how to overcome the blind and the lame, teaching them how to take Jebus.) Even though I was horrified and sickened at the depravity, I was still safe in the (UBM) house. (Praise the Lord! Because God has a safe-house. He really does! I know that many people think that this is heresy, but that's not true. God has His safe-house.)  This same story is in 1 Chronicles. (1Ch.11:4) And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. (5) And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. (6) And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. (7) And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. (8) And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about; and Joab repaired the rest of the city. (9) And David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord of hosts was with him.  Yes, and what was the next thing David did? He brought the Ark of the Covenant. (1Ch.13:3) And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we sought not unto it in the days of Saul. The Israelites had been following after the flesh of Saul. That's why they got destroyed, and that's why Saul died. But David said, “No, we have to follow the Ark of the Covenant.” (1Ch.15:1) And [David] made him houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. The word for “tent” is the same word for “tabernacle.” (2) Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites … Absolutely! Who else can carry the presence of God but the priests of God who have offered their bodies as living sacrifices? They are the ones who are holy; they are the ones who are the temple of God.  If you read further, it says, And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it (1Ch.16:1). We know that God said He was going to raise up again this tabernacle. (Act.15:14) Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (15) And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, (16) After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen; And I will build again the ruins thereof, And I will set it up: (17) That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called. So now we're talking about raising up a tabernacle of David, which represents the portable temple, for the wilderness, but also the portable temple of the Church. Once again, we see that there is a David coming for the Church, and that's the Lord Jesus Himself, Who is the Son of David, Who was sitting upon His throne.  But the Bible also says, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17). There is a body in whom the Lord Jesus comes. The Son of Man came in the son of David 2000 years ago, and the Son of Man is coming in a spiritual Son of David today, a corporate Body called the Man-child ministry. Jesus is going to minister to His people, to raise up, once again, the Bride, the New Jerusalem. “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom,” as John said when he pointed at Jesus. He will raise up the Bride, the New Jerusalem, which is protected from the Assyrian Beast. When the Beast tried to conquer Jerusalem, God killed 185,000 of them and they left it alone (2 Kings 19:35). Folks, I tell you, the same thing is going to happen again. God is going to protect His Bride.  For instance, in the Book of Esther, there was the Bride, and there were also the people who were threatened by the Beast. Haman, the Beast, had been given authority to destroy the people of God (Esther 2:10-11), but Mordecai and Esther had been given authority to save the people of God (Esther 8:8). There were two contrary commands given, but they have their purpose and that is to make us decide whom we are going to serve, the Lord or the Beast.  Rachel's children fell into captivity of the Beast, and they were counted as dead, like the parable in Matthew 2:18, of the children of Bethlehem. It physically happened, but it was also a parable of things to come. In our day, many people are going to follow the Beast. They will take the mark of the Beast, which is a sign of his ownership, and these people will die. They will not bear the fruit of the Man-child, as Jesus did. Once again, we see that God is just going to repeat history, and Matthew 2 is going to be fulfilled, as well as Matthew 3. All the types of the Man-child are running in perfect parallel. Joseph was 30 years old, Jesus was 30 years old and David was 30 years old when they started their ministries, and they basically had the same job to do. It was shown in a slightly different parable each time, but it was the same job to be done.  Now the Man-child ministry is spiritually going to be 30 and it's going to start by building the New Jerusalem. Praise be to God! First, however, the Jebusites have to lose their grip and be conquered. And we need to know how to conquer this old man so that we can scale the heights of the City of God, the mountain of His holiness, and enter into His Presence. That is what the Word will do, and that is what the new anointed leadership is going to do for us. They are to teach us how to cooperate with God's work in our lives and be happy about it. Let's face it: if you don't know what God is doing, you're not happy about it. As soon as you get revelation, you can enjoy going through tribulation because you know that the Lord is getting you ready for His Kingdom, the manifestation of eternal life. Praise God!  Father, we thank You, in Jesus' name. Please open our eyes and make us joyful in cooperating with You in this process of sanctification, in becoming that holy, spotless, and blemishless Bride that You always wanted. Thank You, Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

We take a look at the Lord's response to a question he received from his disciples on the Mount of Olives concerning the end of the age ("world" in some translations). We're centered on Matthew 24 in part.We use this backdrop concerning the plan for the Kingdom (the gospel of the kingdom being for Israel and involving the earthly plan) to set us up for a look at the hope of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and its place in the plan of God.

This is the ninth lesson in Dr. Daniel Ragusa's Reformed Academy course, Fullness of Joy: A Biblical Theology of God with Us. This lesson covers the following topics: 0:00 An Eternal Happily Ever After 2:49 New Jerusalem 9:42 Living in Light of Eternity Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress, download supplemental materials, and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to twenty-five additional five-hour video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/ful... Your donations enable us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you all across the world: https://reformedforum.org/donate/  #biblicaltheology #Immanuel #reformedtheology

Return of the Man-Child (4) (audio) David Eells – 3/26/25 Dear Father, we thank You so much for being our Savior. Thank You for guiding us with Your Word. Thank You for encouraging us and for showing us wonders and revelations concerning the times to come. We want to be in agreement with You and You said, “How shall two walk together, except they be agreed?” We thank You for revealing to us Your Word so that we can cooperate with You in the principles that You abide by and we thank You for drawing us, giving us wisdom and opening our understanding. We thank You for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear that this may be possible. Thank You so much, Lord. Amen.  We've been studying out of Matthew some things that show us the truth, That which hath been is that which shall be (Ecc.1:9). We have been looking at the principles of what we know to be not only literally true, but a parable of things to come; and we've been reading in Matthew 2, where we discovered that the Messiah appears as a type and shadow of the coming Man-child Ministry, in whom He will live as the first-fruits.  The Messiah showed up and Herod and all of the people in Jerusalem were troubled concerning this, which is amazing unless you understand that people who are walking in the flesh and enjoying this world really do not want to be disturbed by a Messiah, or by a coming Kingdom, and they don't want their sins to be revealed. God's people have no business being troubled about the coming of the Lord. It should be a joyous thing and it is for all disciples of Jesus Christ. We left off here in (Mat.2:7) Then Herod privily called the Wise-men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared. (8) And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Goand search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found [him,] bring me word, that I also may come and worship him. (9) And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.Notice that He wasn't a baby anymore; at this point Jesus was a “young child.” (Mat.2:10) And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  (11) And they came into the house (He was not in the cave. He was in a house at this time.) and saw the young child with Maryhis mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (12) And being warned [of God] in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. (13) Now when they were departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Sounds very much like what we know from the Scriptures in Revelation 12, where the dragon was awaiting the birth of the Man-child to devour him, but the Man-child escaped and was caught up to the throne.  In the same circumstance here, we see that Jesus is about to escape the clutches of Herod. (Mat.2:14) And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; (15) and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son. The Lord has called His Son, and all of His sons, to come out of Egypt, and if we don't come out of Egypt, we cannot be useful in bringing other people out of Egypt. Herod was seeking to destroy the Messiah. The Bible says that Joseph took the young child and His mother and departed into Egypt. Going into Egypt from where they were in Bethlehem would have entailed them going into the wilderness and God said that they were to stay there until the death of Herod. Then He called His Son out of Egypt to come through the wildernessand go to the Promised Land. This fits very well with all of the histories of the Man-child back through the Bible. Moses went into his personal wilderness when fleeing from Pharaoh, only to return after the death of Pharaoh and become a leader of God's people. Now we see the same thing of Jesus going into His own personal wilderness in fleeing from Herod until the death of Herod.  Then, when Jesus came out from His wilderness, He started His ministry very quickly. We're not speaking physically, but you'll see as we continue this study that there is a seeming jump in time and suddenly the child grew up. The Man-child ministry is the same. Many people have had visions and dreams of what occurred here, that the Man-child was born and immediately started walking, talking, and acting in the Kingdom. He grew up very quickly, as we will see. The narrative jumps from the time He was a young child until the time when His ministry started and that's about to be fulfilled. But notice that all the Man-child types went into their own personal wilderness until the death of the king who ruled over God's people and then they came out of the wilderness and started their ministries. Now Herod wanted to make sure he killed this Messiah; he did not want any competition from any other kings. (Mat.2:16) Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise-men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the Wisemen. As we have learned, the word “Bethlehem” means “house of bread” or “house of food.” Notice that Herod slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem. That's very interesting because Herod was seeking to destroy the Man-child by killing all the people who were in the “house of food.”  I know that some people think that this murder of all the children applies only to something like abortion, but I think it's the other way around. Abortion is just a physical sign of what is really happening in the Spirit. Herod represents the Beast and Pharaoh represents the Beast kingdom. The beasts attempt, like the Dragon, to destroy the promised seed. How is that fulfilled in the earth today? How does the Beast destroy people in the first place? Well, the Beast represents all mankind that walks in the flesh because it is at enmity with God. If a person walks after the flesh, the Bible says he must die (Romans 8:13). If you walk after the flesh, the Beast has destroyed you. The Beast is making a war on the people who are receiving the Word of Life, the “house of bread.” In these days, God is revealing His promise to raise up His first-fruits in His image. There are a lot of people who understand, who know, who want to be a part of this, and are seeking to be full of the food of God so they can grow into maturity. The fact that God uses a child does not mean that He is not seeking maturity. To be mature in the Kingdom is quite the opposite ofthe way it is in the world. (1Co.14:20) Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men. So, according to the ways of the world, we are children, but in mind and soul we are mature.  Jesus said, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mat.18:3).We have to be a child in trusting our Father, in being submissive to Him, and that is what maturity is. The Man-child as a corporate body, is very small, so you could see him as a child in that way. We're seeing that Jesus was what the Bible says in Isaiah 7:14. He was “a sign,” an uwth, a sign of something to come; and the Lord has shown us that, as history repeats, it repeats on a larger and larger scale, with larger and larger groups of people. The Man-child Jesus represents an end-time Man-child of a large number of people, but it's still a relatively small corporate body.  Let me say, there are more people called to this first-fruits ministry than are attaining to it. One of the reasons is that some of them are being put to death by the flesh, the Beast. They're being taken out and I've seen myself that people who desired to be in the first-fruits were tricked by their flesh into succumbing to the lusts of the world and so were removed from taking part in this first-fruits ministry. They're slain by the Beast and carried away from the “food” to Babylon; they're carried into bondage. I've seen people who started out with Christ but were taken out by the world. They were taken into bondage in Babylon, bondage to the Beast, and that's what Herod wanted to do – he wanted to capture the Christ-child. This fits with what follows in (Mat.2:17) Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, (18) A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted, because they are not. This text quoted from Jeremiah 31:15 fits with what I just described, which is going into bondage to the Beast is death. The Bible says, for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die (Rom.8:13). Being in bondage to the flesh, to Babylon, to Pharaoh, is death. That's when the old man is ruling over the spiritual man like it was in Egypt.  So who is Rachel? And what does she represent here? Rachel was the second bride of Jacob, the second, favored bride of Jacob, who was Israel, the father of the 12 patriarchs. Can you think of another father of 12 patriarchs? Yes, that would be Jesus. In this case, Jacob, or Israel, represents Jesus, the father of the 12 patriarchs. The second, favored bride represents the Church, and not only that, Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph represents the Man-child, as you know. He was the one who was taken to Egypt and was basically “crucified,” sent to prison (Genesis 39), where he preached to the butler and the baker about who was going up and who was going down (Genesis 40) and came out of prison to be the king over everything, second only to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:40). Jesus did the same thing as a type. So Rachel was the one who brought forth the Man-child, but some of these people were being slain; people who lived in the same “house of bread” as Jesus did were being slain. Rachel was also the mother of Benjamin, who is the last fruit of the Church. You see, there is another fruit after Joseph, who is the first-fruits. The Bible says, But many shall be last [that are] first; and first [that are] last (Mat.19:30). We know that natural Israel is coming back into the Kingdom, but they are coming in last. When the brothers of Joseph came to meet him in Egypt, Benjamin was the last-fruits of Rachel, and I believe that this is referring to the fruits of natural Israel that are coming into the Kingdom at the end. Let's pay attention to Joseph here. What does Rachel and the death of her children represent, and how can we avoid it?  Let's look at the original text in Jeremiah that's quoted in Matthew: (Jer.31:15) Thus saith the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. They have in some way died and the rest of the text will reveal to us in what way they've died. In the text, Jeremiah speaks of Ephraim and he refers to the children of Rachel, but how is Ephraim of the children of Rachel? Well, Ephraim was the second-born son of Joseph, and the first-born was Manasseh. When Israel came to bless Joseph's sons, who followed in Joseph's steps, Israel took his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, then he took his left hand and put it on Manasseh's head and he began to bless them (Genesis 48:14). The right hand is always placed on the son of the double blessing, so Joseph was displeased when he saw his father doing this and he tried to move his father's hands. But Israel refused, and said, I know [it,] my son, I know [it;] he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations (Gen.48:19). It says “the fullness of nations” in the original text, so Ephraim represented the fullness of nations. Not only did Rachel represent the Church, in that she was the second and favored bride of Israel, who represents Jesus, the father of the 12 patriarchs, but also her son was the second-born son who received the first-born's blessings. You remember that Jesus came first to give that blessing to the first-born son, Israel, and they refused it, so He turned to the Church, which was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, to receive this blessing. But, by and large, the first son did not receive the double blessing. Instead, the right hand was upon the second son. Joseph's second son (or his born-again son) is God's first-born.  How is that? Because Israel was not born-again. They should have entered into that blessing and they did not. They were not born-again, but the Church was and is born-again. So Joseph's second son was God's first-born. How do I know that? (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Why wasn't Manasseh, who represented Israel, the first-born? Because he was the first-born son of Joseph, who represented Jesus. Everything that happened to Joseph happened to Jesus. So, once again, the doctrine that the Church has about the relationship of the Church to natural Israel is totally wrong. God has from the beginning planned to have a born-again people and the “letter people” were a type and shadow of the born-again people. If you don't understand that, you're going to go around worshipping Israel, which failed. If the Church doesn't have any better sense, they will walk in the steps of those people and fail as well. Now we can continue and find out what is meant for Rachel to lose her children. How did they die? What did it represent? (Jer.31:16) Thus saith the Lord: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. Wow! What is it for them to be dead? It's the same thing we were talking about; it means they were in bondage to the Beast, they were walking after the flesh and so they were dead in the eyes of God. I'll prove it just a little further down. “They shall come again from the land of the enemy.” In other words, they were taken into captivity, serving the old man, like Israel was doing in Egypt or in Assyria when they were taken captive. They were no longer living in their Promised Land.  (Jer.31:17) And there is hope for thy latter end, saith the Lord (Israel must come out of captivity in the latter end and so will the Church.); and [thy] children shall come again to their own border. The Lord calls it “living” when we come back to live in the Promised Land, or live on the promises of God, or live in right relationship to the Presence of God, which was in Zion. That's what He calls “living.” To be in bondage, walking after the flesh in the world, in bondage to your flesh, that's what being “dead” is, according to the Lord. (1Ti.5:6) She that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth. God calls that “death” – spiritual death. For us to come out of this bondage is God's plan. Why did God raise up the Man-child? To bring His people from death into resurrection life. (Jer.31:18) I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus,] (Notice, we're seeing Rachel's children here as Ephraim and he represents the “fullness of nations,” the Church, the second-born son.) Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke:] (You know how a calf is if it's unaccustomed to the yoke – they buck and snort, trying to get loose, wanting to do their own thing.) turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. This is grace. Ask the Lord to turn you, to grant you repentance. It's His gift to give. (Jer.31:19) Surely after that I was turned, I repented (That shows grace, doesn't it? If God turns you, you will be turned. Repentance means “turn and go the other way.”); and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.  (Jer.31:20) Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. The Lord has a heart to deliver His people out of bondage. Ephraim went into bondage before their enemies. They were taken captive by the Beast. They were reckoned as the dead by Rachel. So, we see this in Jeremiah chapters 30 and 31 where it speaks of this. The whole story is there of God delivering His people out of bondage. Why did Jesus come? He came to deliver His people out of Babylonish, or beastly, bondage so that they could serve God. You cannot serve God while you are serving the Egyptian, while you're in bondage to the old man. God started the story in Jeremiah the same way He did in Matthew. Looking at the previous chapter in Jeremiah, we find where He talks about the woman in travail with the Man-child. (Jer.30:6) Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Why? Because this is where the whole sequence of events is going to begin. (Jer.30:7) Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. So we're told that it's during the time of “Jacob's trouble,” the Tribulation. Not only that, but He goes on to say of His people that during this time, strangers shall no more make him their bondman (Jer.30:8). In other words, they are going to come out of bondage for the last time. God says they will never again be in bondage. When? The end time.  Then He says, but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them (Jer.30:9).There is the end-time David that's being raised up because Jesus came to sit upon David's throne (Luke 1:32). (Jer.30:10) Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. That is being “saved,” not being in bondage to your flesh anymore, not being in bondage to the Beast anymore, not serving the world anymore. That is what the Lord has promised for us. So you're either saved or you're dead. The Bible calls it being “dead in your sins,” and “dead in your trespasses.” Rachel was weeping because her children had been taken away into bondage and were no longer free to serve God. (Jer.30:21) And their prince shall be of themselves (We read that in Matthew 2; then it was Jesus coming and it's also the Man-child coming in the end time.), and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith the Lord. (22) And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. The Lord is going to draw these first-fruits unto Himself and that will be the beginning because their job is like Moses' job, which is to bring the people out of Egypt. Moses went through his own wilderness, as we have seen, and then his job was to go back and bring the people through the same wilderness to meet the Lord in the Mountain of God. (Jer.30:24) The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. So this is a latter-day revelation. God's judgment is part of what brings God's people out of bondage and into their Promised Land, which is the place of safety.  Jeremiah 31 tells us this story of Ephraim coming out of bondage and we saw that was because God raised up the Man-child to lead them out of bondage. We see here the same sequence of events. The prince will be raised up from the midst of the people. (Jer.31:1) At that time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel … “All Israel,” as we know from Romans 11, includes everybody who's abiding in the olive tree. Natural Israel rejected Jesus, and were broken off of the olive tree and the Church was grafted into the olive tree through faith in Jesus Christ. Those true disciples who followed Jesus in the Gospels, who were natural Jews who came into the Kingdom, remained in their olive tree. But it says, “all the families of Israel,” referring to all Jews, Gentiles, and all those who through faith in Jesus Christ are members of the olive tree, which in Romans 11:26 is called “all Israel.”  (Jer.31:1) At that time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. This includes the remnant of natural Jews that is to come back in, which I am calling “Benjamin,” who was the last fruit of Rachel. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness … There was a sword that came upon Egypt, representing the world, to motivate God's people to be willing to leave the fleshpots of Egypt, to come out from among them and be separate and to worship God in the wilderness. Egypt had to suffer the plagues, while God's people in Goshen were separated from Egypt and delivered from those judgments. Then He moved them out of Egypt and into the wilderness, where God could once again deal with them and teach them faith. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. God planned to bring Israel into His rest.  (Jer.31:3) The Lord appeared of old unto me, [saying,] Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (4) Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel … You might think that He's referring to the Bride here when He says the “virgin of Israel,” like the virgin Mary, who brought forth the Man-child and also went into the wilderness to be instructed of the Man-child. In Revelation 12, the Man-child was birthed and then he was caught up to the throne of David, which is God's throne on Earth, where He rules over Israel, according to the Scripture. And from that place of authority, He led the woman, who brought forth the Man-child, through the wilderness. (Jer.31:4) Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.When God's people are led out of bondage, it will be a time of rejoicing. (Jer.31:5) Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy [the fruit thereof]. There is going to be freedom for people who have escaped the bondage of the Beast in the days to come. That's what Moses came to do, that's what Jesus came to do and that's what the Man-child is coming to do: escape the bondage of the Beast and help the Church do the same. Not everyone is going to escape that bondage. (Luk.21:36) But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of man.  (Jer.31.6) For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. In other words, the second son is coming out of bondage. (7) For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. That's a good thing to cry today because here we are again. The Beast is about to bring God's people into bondage and the overwhelming majority of God's people have been in bondage all along. The bondage that we're talking about is more severe persecution, death, and destruction.  (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country … The “north country” is the place of bondage. That's where Babylon brought them into captivity, that's where Assyria brought them into captivity and that's where the Medes and the Persians ruled over them. It represents the beast in the north. (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth … This is because now God's people are in bondage to the beast all over the world. We are not talking about only little Israel, who is God's people, but worldwide spiritual Israel, who is circumcised in heart and not just in flesh. They're in bondage to the nations in which they live and God is calling them out of those nations to be a part of “all Israel,” one holy nation. (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame (Yes, God's people who are in bondage are quite often blind and lame, and God is calling them to be able to see and to be able to walk straight before the Lord.), the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together (In other words, those who have already borne fruit and those who will bear the fruit of Christ.): a great company shall they return hither. They're going to come back to their “borders,” inside the borders of their Promised Land. The borders could represent the outline of the way you live and you want to stay within the boundaries of God's Word, so to speak.  (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters … Amen! Rivers of living water, which Jesus spoke about in (Joh.7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive … Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus Himself brought to His people rivers of living water. That's where their life came from – the Word that came out of His mouth. (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.  (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. (10) Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off … (We are one of those “isles afar off” here in America.); and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd doth his flock. In other words, the Lord, Who sent His people into bondage in Egypt or in bondage to the nations, is going to draw them out now. This is a time of rejoicing. People are so fearful of the Tribulation, but they don't understand that the Tribulation is the judgment that's coming upon Egypt so that God's Israelites can come out and go into the wilderness to serve God. This is a good time. (Jer.31:11) For the Lord hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Which is which? It's the Beast entity “that was stronger than he.” We are not talking about a man when we say “the Beast.” We're referring to the whole body of the Beast. You're either a part of the Body of Christ or you're a part of the body of anti-Christ. The anti-Christ is the Beast kingdom. (Jer.31:12) And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion … God is drawing His people to come into His very Presence on His holy hill. God told Moses, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain (Exo.3:12).  (Jer.31:12) And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of the Lord, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden(Praise the Lord! This is talking about the Tribulation and God is going to raise up His people to bear fruit and they're going to be blessed.); and they shall not sorrow any more at all. (13) Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. (14) And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. Then it goes into the text we studied earlier, where Rachel was weeping for her children and God was comforting her by telling her not to worry, as they would return to their borders. They are coming back. Yes, they have been taken into bondage and are serving the flesh and are dead to the spiritual world, dead to the Kingdom of God, but He's going to change all of that. That's what God is saying in (Jer.31:21) Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway, (This refers to the highway of holiness that Isaiah 35:8 said leads to Zion.), even the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. (22) How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? In other words, while they're out there wandering around in the world, this is where they are supposed to dwell. These promises are the ones they are supposed to live upon.  …for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man. God is bringing the virgin into the wilderness to be led by the Davidic Manchild. The woman encompassing a man is the Bride encompassing the Man-child. Zion was the Bride, according to Revelation. God told John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride (Rev.21:9). And He showed him the New Jerusalem coming down, being born from above (Revelation 21:10). The Man-child David ruled in the midst of Zion, but he also ruled in the midst of the rest of the Church outside of Zion. So there is the larger Church, there is the Bride and there is the Man-child. This is the new thing that God is going to do: “A woman shall encompass a man.” It's not a new thing as far as history is concerned; it's a new thing as far as we are concerned, in our lifetime, because this is an end-time prophecy. (Jer.31:23) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity …It's an old English way to say it because it sounds like just the opposite in our modern ears. If you would translate that today, you would say, “I will bring them again from the land of their captivity.” It's a good thing to come out of captivity and into the Kingdom of God. There are only two places you can dwell in this world: you are either in Babylon or you are in Zion. We are coming out of Babylon, which is this world. All of the nations of the world were at Babel. They all came from Babel and they're all part of Babylon, but Zion is separate.  Zion is that holy place that we're all going to. God enjoins them to find this highway to Zion. (Jer.31:23) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: The Lord bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. Zion represents the place of holiness, the place of separation from the world. That's what “holiness” or “sanctification” means. It's the same word and it means giving up your sins in obedience to following the Lord. If you're obeying the Lord, you're walking in servitude to the Lord and you have matured in that obedience to the Lord. That is what Zion is. (Jer.31:24) And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. (25) For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. (26) Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. (27) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. (28) And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord. While in Babylon, they were living under the curse. Zion is where the curse is done away. So, spiritually speaking, you cannot physically go to Zion because obviously there is no physical Zion. We are not physical Israelites; we are spiritual Israelites and we can spiritually go to Zion. It is the place of holiness, the place of God's presence, and the place of His temple. When we come into the presence of God, that is that place of holiness. Those who were slain by the Beast, by Herod, by Pharaoh, by Nebuchadnezzar, by whatever Beast conquered them, they're going to return to their Promised Land. And living in the Promised Land represents resurrection life, the resurrection of God. This same story is found in Isaiah. (Isa.11:1) And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. This is the Branch that in Jeremiah chapters 23 and 33 speak of an end-time David ministry that God is going to raise up. We've spoken about this already. This Branch represents the Man-child ministry in the end time, the one in whom Jesus lives, because Christ in you is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  I knew a brother years ago who had a dream and he called me about it. His name was Tubby and he said, “David, I had this dream and I was talking to you, and in the dream, I said, ‘David, you remind me of someone I read about in the Bible.' You quoted those verses from Isaiah 11:1-5 and you said, ‘Yeah, I know that person.' Then you quoted these verses.” He was saying that these are going to be an end-time people who are going to come into this image, walking in the Spirit of God as the Branch. (Isa.11:2) And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (3) And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; (In other words, this is a people who are walking in the Spirit and not walking in the flesh, nor ruled by the fleshly senses. They have their senses exercised to discern good from evil, as in Hebrews 5:14.) (Isa.11:4) but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (5) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. (6) And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. A little child, the Man-child, is going to lead them. Why these beasts? Well, if you remember Noah's Ark and the people who were saved in the Ark, the beasts were also saved in the Ark and they represented the Gentiles. When Peter saw the sheet come down out of Heaven with all the unclean beasts on it, God told him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat (Act.11:7). And Peter said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth (8). But the Lord answered, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common (9). This was when Cornelius had sent his servants to Peter to get him to come and preach to them the Gospel (Acts 10:1-8) and Peter got the revelation of, “Oh, God has cleansed the Gentiles (Acts 10:46,47),” who became the Church. These were people who were members of the body of the Beast – different beasts around the world, as a matter of fact. They had come out of this beast and out of that beast. They were members of those bodies, but now they had come into the Kingdom and they were at peace with one another.  There is nothing that can bring the world together in peace except God's Kingdom. So here you see that God is going to raise up the Man-child. He's going to draw His people out of all nations, out of all beast kingdoms. By the way, they were all called beast kingdoms by Daniel, just as they are in Revelation 7. God was going to draw His people out of bondage and out of all these beast kingdoms to come and dwell in their land, which He called the land of rest, the land of milk and honey, the land of blessings, provision, and everything. Is a little child really going to lead all these beasts to be at peace and go back to the Promised Land? Yes, that's what He's talking about. (Isa.11:7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. At the end of 2007, I saw a vision of this happening. In the vision, the Lord was giving me a piece of property and there were all these beasts that were fleeing onto this property from the judgments that were happening outside the boundaries of this property. I saw it. They were all in total peace with one another, all these creatures that normally bite and devour one another, like the nations do. They were at peace and God's Kingdom was there; His peace was there. The Lord gave me a house and money to prepare and provide for these beasts that were coming to this refuge. (Isa.11:8) And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. (In complete safety!) (9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain … So where are these beasts? They are at God's holy mountain and a little child, the Man-child, shall lead them. When all the beastly people of the world get saved, when they come out from under the bondage of the Beast and come into God's holy mountain, then what this refers to will be fulfilled. These are Rachel's children about whom she did not have to worry anymore. They are going to be restored. (Isa.11:9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (10) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek (Of course, this is the Lord.); and his resting-place shall be glorious. Amen! That's where they're going – to this holy mountain, His resting place. (Isa.1:11) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people (Praise the Lord!), that shall remain, from Assyria … That's one of the “beasts” that conquered God's people and brought them into bondage. God is saying, “Come back out of bondage! Come back out of the north! Come back to your Promised Land!” God is telling us to come and dwell in Zion in the Presence of God on His holy mountain. You cannot dwell on His holy mountain without being holy because the highway that goes there is also called the “Highway of Holiness.” (Isa.11:11) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam(These were all the nations that were round about Israel.), and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. (12) And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  The Lord will gather them out of all the beast kingdoms to come back and dwell in their Promised Land. God is going to do this in the Spirit in the days to come. There is going to be a people who will dwell in safety and be blessed of the Lord. All their provision is going to be sure because they are a holy people. They are not under the curse. Those who walk in rebellion to God are under the curse because the curse was pronounced on the people who walked in their stubborn ways. (Isa.11:13) The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (14) And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. Judgments are going to fall all over this earth where God's people are being persecuted. When they were in bondage in Egypt, the judgments that we see in the Book of Revelation fell upon Egypt, to deliver God's people out of Egypt and into their Promised Land. (Isa.11:15) And the Lord will utterly destroythe tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod. (16) And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.   Praise God!

Send us a textEPILOGUE: THE NEW JERUSALEMJohn's visions invite us to never lose our focus upon God, of the divine image within, the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in a field; the morning star that is already rising in our hearts: for nothing other than God is capable of filling that vast expanse of the human heart created to know, to love and to worship God in eternity along with the angels.

Show Notes:: Heaven is a place of bliss, where we will be reunited with our loved ones and worship the King forever. But has our vision of heaven been tainted by the thoughts of man? In this week's episode of Real Talk Christian Podcast, Marc Hyde and Chris Fuller discuss some of these misconceptions about heaven and what the Bible gives us a some truth into what eternal life will look like.   //Resources Used In This Episode// 1. "Heaven is a Boring, Eternal Church Service” Many imagine heaven as an unending church service where people sing hymns forever. a) Heaven is a place of eternal worship (Revelation 7:9-10). b) Heaven is also described as a place of joy, fulfillment, and purpose. In Revelation, John speaks of the nations bringing their glory into the New Jerusalem, suggesting vibrant activity (Revelation 21:24-26). c) Isaiah speaks of people building and enjoying their work in the new creation (Isaiah 65:21-22). 2. “Heaven is Just a Spiritual State” Some believe heaven is purely a non-physical, spiritual existence. Scripture speaks of a "new heaven and new earth" (Revelation 21:1) where God's people will dwell in resurrected, physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). This indicates a tangible, physical reality. 3. “We Become Angels in Heaven” The idea that humans transform into angels after death is popular in media and culture. Yet, we see in scripture that angels are distinct beings created by God (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 1:14). Humans retain their identity but are glorified and perfected in heaven (Philippians 3:21). 4. “Heaven is for Everyone, Regardless of Belief” A common misconception is that everyone automatically goes to heaven. While God desires all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), entrance into heaven requires faith in Jesus Christ. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). 5. “Heaven Will Be an Escape from Responsibility” Some view heaven as a place of eternal leisure, with no responsibilities or meaningful work. The Bible states that, in the new creation, believers will serve God (Revelation 22:3). This service will be fulfilling and joyful, without the toil and frustration of earthly labor (Genesis 3:17-19 vs. Isaiah 65:21-23). 6. “Heaven is Our Final Destination” It's often assumed that heaven is where Christians spend eternity after death. Heaven is an intermediate state where believers are with Christ after death (Philippians 1:23). However, the ultimate destination is the new heaven and new earth, where heaven and earth are united and God dwells with His people (Revelation 21:3). 7. “We'll All Look the Same” The idea that we'll lose our individuality in heaven is a common fear. Revelation 7:9 describes a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language worshiping God together. This implies that diversity and individuality are preserved in heaven. 8. “Heaven is a Second Chance After Death” Some believe that people will get a second chance to choose Christ after they die. The Bible teaches that judgment comes after death (Hebrews 9:27). Decisions about faith in Jesus must be made in this life. 9. "Our Loved Ones Become Guardians Watching Over Us” Many believe deceased loved ones watch over us from heaven. While believers in heaven are aware of God's plan unfolding (according to Hebrews 12:1), there's no evidence they actively intervene in earthly affairs. Only God has omniscience and control over our lives. 10. "We'll Forget Everything About Earth” Some think that all memories of earthly life will be erased in heaven. Scripture suggests continuity between this life and the next. For example, Jesus retained His scars after His resurrection (John 20:27), and believers will likely remember God's faithfulness in their earthly lives. However, we can speculate that painful memories will no longer bring sorrow (Revelation 21:4).   //Other Episode You Might Enjoy// https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/episodes/183-what-will-the-new-heaven-and-earth-look-like/ https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/episodes/049-new-heaven-new-earth-new-jerusalem-and-why-it-even-matters/ https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/episodes/181-where-did-jesus-go-when-he-died/ https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/episodes/168-am-i-spiritually-ready-a-look-at-matthew-251-13/ https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/episodes/131-what-happens-to-those-who-dont-hear-the-gospel/   // Helpful Links // https://www.youtube.com/@realtalkchristianpodcast The Christian Standard Bible: https://bit.ly/3rulKqi Lifeway Christian Resources: https://bit.ly/3qka4Wv Got Questions?: https://bit.ly/3vSMJfq Dwell Bible App: https://bit.ly/3zUYq8E Cross Formed Kids from Ryan Coatney: https://bit.ly/3h19isZ RTC Quick Links: https://linktr.ee/realtalkchristianpodcast RTC Online: www.realtalkchristianpodcast.com Twin Valley Coffee:  https://www.coffeehelpingmissions.com Revive festival : Music Festival | En Gedi Music Fest | Leonidas, MI (myrevivefest.com) Toccoa Coffee:https://toccoacoffee.com RTC Merch-https://rtcpodcast.redbubble.com Let Them Live: https://letthemlive.org

In this lecture, Don Carson examines the final consummation of God's plan as described in Revelation 21 and 22. He emphasizes the transformation of the universe into a new heaven and new earth free from death, sin, and corruption. Carson explains the symbolic significance of the New Jerusalem, the River of Life, and the Tree of Life, underscoring the God-centered nature of the new creation.He teaches the following:Why it is essential to anticipate and pray for the end's arrivalThe implications of justice that will be witnessed at God's final consummationThe importance of storing treasures in HeavenHow earthly blessings can distract us from a heavenly perspectiveWhy believers should reflect on the new heavens and earthThe significance of God's new dwelling placeA description of the purity and perfection of the new creation

A @Christadelphians Video: *YouTube Video Title:* "[Why is Jerusalem Special?]

The arrangement of the gemstones on the foundations of New Jerusalem tells the story of the tribes of Israel. So the stories of this present world are written into heaven's architecture. That leads us to ask ourselves what story we would want written in heaven about our own lives here. Jon Hall | March 16th, 2025 ----------------------------------------------- We're Incarnation Tallahassee! Visit our website! www.incarnationtallahassee.org/
 Watch the Livestream youtube.com/live/ZSeuKYY3J2w

Istrouma Baptist Church (BR) Mar 16, 2025 ========== March 16 - Words of Jesus on the Cross Welcome! We're glad you've joined us today for our Sunday morning worship service! For more information about Istrouma, go to istrouma.org or contact us at info@istrouma.org. We glorify God by making disciples of all nations. ========== Connection Card https://istrouma.org/myinfo March 16, 2025 - Chad Glover "5 Truths of Heaven that will change your life" Luke 23:43 43 And Jesus said to him,“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me inParadise.” Paradise, paradeisos, an old Persian word for garden. It's a synonym for heaven. Revelation 21:1 - Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. No more sea is a reference to the fact that God will remove every threat to His redeemed people. TRUTH #1: HEAVEN IS 2 Then I,John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. TRUTH #2: HEAVEN IS 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. TRUTH #3: HEAVEN IS THE PLACE OF GOD'S PRESENCE In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” TRUTH #4: HEAVEN IS A PLACE OF HEALING 5 ThenHe who sat on the throne said,“Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”6 And He said to me,“It is done!I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, andI will be his God and he shall be My son. TRUTH #5: HEAVEN IS OUR HOME Want to receive weekly announcements in your inbox each week? https://istrouma.org/email Give Online Text ISTROUMA IBC to 73256 or go to: https://istrouma.org/give Our Website https://istrouma.org 

Sunday March 16th AM 2025.20

Hello there, and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. You know, hope is not something random. We don't stumble upon it, trip over it, bump into it and viola - lookie there, life-change occurs. That's not hope, especially not from a biblical perspective. The Bible has a lot to say about hope, and there is one book in particular that is brimming with hope for us today…if we'll just take the time to read what it says, and, of course, to believe it. Looking for some hope? Then this episode is for you.   This is The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, available on the Edifi app, and this is episode number 205. I'm so grateful you're listening, and I hope today's episode encourages and blesses you.    When I am reading my Bible, and I see the word will or the word all in a promise God makes, I take it seriously. I usually underline it twice and often I will read it out loud and put emphasis on the word will, or on the word all. There's nothing special about doing that; it simply reminds me that whenever God makes a promise, and says that He will do something, well, then He will. And I found that to be pretty significant, that decision to actively believe that He means what He says.    So, recently I was reading Revelation. Hold up. Don't panic, it's not just a scary book (although what is going to come upon the whole earth in the final days is very serious, I'm not denying that, not at all). But for the believer, for those who love the Lord, it's a terribly hopeful book in the Bible. And, it kind of shouts about hope, because it's not a past-tense, this already happened and it shows us God's character, He'll take care of me because He took care of, say, David, or Ruth, or Esther; those people inspire us to trust God all the more, and that is so important, such a blessing to have their real life stories to learn from, to be encouraged by, and to know God's character, even in the dark times of life. But Revelation, well, there's all this stuff that has yet to happen, prophecy to be fulfilled, and so much of what we read there is crazy encouraging. It's profound. And we know it will happen, that what the Lord has promised will come to pass, well, that's exactly what's going to come to pass. So it's a hopeful book, and a hope-filled book. Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick (that's Proverbs 13:12). But with Revelation, we need to bear in mind that even though it feels like so long since John received this revelation from Jesus, as Peter wrote, God isn't slow in keeping His promise, but is patient, because He does not want anyone to perish. To spend eternity apart from Him. That's from 2 Peter, chapter 3, I believe.   Let me read to you from chapter 21 of Revelation, verses one through eight.   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And He also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega - the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”    Got a whole lot of hope packed into these eight verses. The old heaven and the old earth are going to disappear. That's just a fact. Jesus says so, and so it shall be. Disappear. Gone. No longer here. If we are loving the world so much, trying to maybe hold on to aspects of it, to make it better, improve it, help it along, maintain it, keep it going…well, that's not the best use of our limited and finite time, because it is not going to last. Why spend all our strength on what is guaranteed to disappear? A 100% negative ROI. The sea will also be gone, says verse 1. When the old earth disappears, God will finally have His Eden. At the appearance of the New Jerusalem, which comes down from God out of heaven, there will be 1000 years of this world in perfection. Think about the hope and the promise of that. One thousand years of perfection. More than ten full lifetimes, as we know them know, more than ten lifetimes of peace and perfection in a world that is perfect. Every single thing will be perfect, under the reign and rule of Jesus. That's a lot of good stuff to look forward to. Hope - Revelation 21 ushers in so much hope.    The sea will be gone. What does this mean? Well, here's one thing that it means: restlessness will be no more. Think about the ocean, the sea. It's not ever really flat and calm, except in that area around the equator known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or the doldrums. It's calm there, but seasoned sailors (not so much in our day and age, but in the eras of sails and wind driven vessels) - seasoned sailors know that you end up stuck there, floating, not drifting, and it is so hot, the sun is so intense, the sea is flat and still, and there's nothing good about it. No forward movement, no momentum, the last place you want to be languishing out on the open ocean. The doldrums are the one place where the sea is not restless, but it makes the seafarers extremely restless. So when it comes to the sea, it is always a restless place. There won't be restlessness anymore. Knowing that a day is soon to come that will leave all our restlessness behind, well, that's hopeful. In the new world there cannot be, will not be, restlessness or lack of peace, being tossed around here and there, to and fro, as if driven by the waves of the sea. And there won't be any doldrums that nearly drive you mad. No longer any sea reminds us, promises us, a day is soon coming with no restlessness. Isn't that a beautiful promise to hold on to and garner hope from?    God's home will then be among His people. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Revelation 21:3-4. When God says will in one of His promises to us, He means it. He takes it so seriously, and I think He'd like us to also take it seriously. He will wipe every, not most, but every tear from your eyes. God Himself will do it. He doesn't send one of His mighty angels to do this, as He sends them to do so much of His will all throughout the book of Revelation. He Himself will bend near, and wipe every tear from our eyes. This verse sparks so much hope. There will be no more (how much more? No more!) death of sorrow or crying or pain. All these will be gone forever. How much kindness, love, goodness, compassion, mercy, grace and favor will come to us when this promise is fulfilled? God's very character and nature are wrapped up in this. Are you feeling hopeful based on these promises?    He will make everything new. I'm not sure what needs to be made new in your life, but I can think of several things in my own life, my world, that could use some brand newness from the Lord's hand. He is going to do what He said, and He will make everything new. Look forward to this time with hope and assurance. Take this seriously. He knows all the things that need to be made new in your life, and He is going to make it all new one day, likely one day very, very soon, based on the signs of the times and the season we're living in.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. And He ain't messing around. When He says in this chapter, “It is finished,” boy oh boy does He ever mean it. When He said that from the cross, and then gave up His Spirit and died, He defeated sin. And three days later, when He rose from the dead, He fully defeated death and the grave and hell for all who follow Him. It is finished are words in red that ought to wake us up out of our slumber.  To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. What you need most, what you really are thirsting for in life, the stuff that matters when the chips are down and it's all on the line and laid bare - He's promising to give it to you freely. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children.  All is used in this promise twice. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings.    It takes something to be victorious. It takes being a follower of Jesus who actually follows Him. Indeed, not just in words. Do you obey Him out of your love for Him? Are you following Him? And are you applying His words from Matthew chapter 24, when He says that the one who endures till the end shall be saved? Sometimes in this day and age, we just have to keep enduring. Moment by moment. Heartbreak, grief, sin, overwhelm, fear of what's to come, despair…in all this and so much more, He calls us to endure. Endure till the end. That is how we will be victorious and will inherit these blessings. You can do the work of enduring, because the Holy Spirit will help you.    And then, verse 8. But Oh boy, when the Lord starts a sentence with the word but, we need to pay attention. Close attention. He's saying something really important. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.    This is pretty serious. Cowards. Okay, well don't be cowardly when it comes to Jesus. If we are, then now is the time to deal with that. Pray and ask Him to make you not a coward, not ashamed to be known as one of His followers. In any and every situation and circumstance and relationship, He can make you brave for Him in place of being a coward. If this is you, please pray for it and seek His help. Today. Don't dilly dally on this one.  Unbelievers, they don't get the promise. They get the second death. We cannot continue to pretend that people who don't follow Jesus are unbelievers and they don't want to be believers, we need to stop pretending that they are somehow getting the new life when this verse says they get the second death. The corrupt, second death. Murderers, second death. You see, repentance and trust in the finished and complete and powerful work of Jesus, overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (which means we gotta have a testimony, right??) that's the opposite of unrepentant people. A murderer can be forgiven all day long by the Lord, if they repent. Same for the immoral, the corrupt, and idol worshipers and all liars. Repent and then turn and do a 180 from whatever the sinful condition is. Liars, stop lying. Idol worshipers, stop it and instead worship the One True God. Those who practice witchcraft - listen, if you are into palm reading and horoscopes and astrology and WitchTok on TikTok where you learn about casting spells, or like that Eagles fan at the Super Bowl who was stabbing and stabbing and stabbing like a wild woman that voodoo doll - wearing a red string on your wrist to ward off the evil eye, or wearing an evil eye necklace, I could go on and on. Witchcraft is very much alive and well right here in western society, and we don't need to lie to ourselves and say that it's not the same thing as Jwesus was talking about here in Revelation 21. Yes, it is the same thing. It's evil. And even a controlling spirit, like if you are a person who has gotten used to manipulating people, sort of twisting words, laying on guilt, leaning on people to get them to do what you want, you know, manipulation, that's a person who, in their spirit, in their inner being, in their thoughts and in their heart, they want to control people, and it shows up in their words and actions and behavior. That's witchy stuff right there. But the Lord is always ready to heal and forgive, when we repent and turn away from that and turn toward Him. The Holy Spirit is always helping us. Ask for His help, a million times a day if you need it. Won't He help you? He surely will.    Remember, the hope we have in these promises, that God is going to wipe away your every tear, and remove forever death and sorrow and crying and pain. Those will be gone forever. We want this to be our future reality. Not the second death. But eternal life with all the good that God has in store for us. Don't miss this, not for the world (especially not for the world, since it's going to disappear…that's a lousy trade, trading eternal good for a guaranteed total loss). Grab the hope in Revelation, and don't let it go. God's got good for you, in this life and so much good for you in the next life.  Hang on to this hope. Hang on to Jesus.   I'll see you next time. Bye bye. 

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (03/13/25), Hank discusses the identity of the sons of God in Genesis 6, debunking the pagan myth of angels cohabitating with women to produce offspring.Hank also answers the following questions:I struggle with same-sex attraction. Will these feelings go away?  Does Matthew 19:12 apply to people like me? Anthony – Los Vegas, NV (6:25)Concerning the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21: How much of it is spiritual vs. physical? Rich - Denver, CO (15:11)Does the New Covenant abolish the Ten Commandments? Sarah - Coffeeville, KS (18:22)Regarding the Cambrian Explosion, a Darwinist's friend said rapid mutations account for the lack of transitional fossils. What are your thoughts? Robert - Bellevue, NE (22:21)

This is the sixth lesson in Dr. Daniel Ragusa's Reformed Academy course, Fullness of Joy: A Biblical Theology of God with Us. This lesson covers the following topics: 0:00 In the Days of Kings 4:14 God Sends His People into Exile 9:55 Promises of the New Covenant, New Jerusalem, and New Temple 16:09 Return from Exile Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress, download supplemental materials, and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to twenty-five additional five-hour video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/ful... Your donations enable us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you all across the world: https://reformedforum.org/donate/ #biblicaltheology #Immanuel #reformedtheology

In this episode, Dr. Nicholas J. Frederick discusses his article "It's Not the End of the World; It's Just the Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation in the Book of Mormon" co-authored with Dr. Joseph M. Spencer. Professor Frederick examines the intricate relationship between the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, particularly focusing on the Book of Revelation, by highlighting key textual allusions, type scenes, and quotations between the two. For example, he compares Nephi's vision as a variant of the visions recorded in Revelation, reinterpreting and recontextualizing its imagery and language. He details how it stretches the language and imagery of Revelation across a broader historical framework. Further, Dr. Frederick identifies three key revisions that expand our understanding: the reapplication of New Jerusalem imagery to describe Christ's terrestrial visits, the use of apocalyptic language to depict Christ's Crucifixion, and the equating of the great and abominable church with the great harlot of Revelation 17—18. These revisions emphasize the significance of Christ's earthly ministry and death, presenting a typological view of sacred history with pivotal moments of Christ's sojourn.    Publications:  “It's Not the End of the World; It's Just the Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation in the Book of Mormon” (BYU Studies Quarterly, 63.2, 2024)  “Section 77 and Book of Revelation Scholarship” (Religious Educator, 22.2, 2021)  “The Book of Mormon and the Academy” (Religious Educator, 21.2, 2020)  “The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament Gospels” (in Prophets and Prophecies of the Old Testament, Religious Studies Center, 2017)    Click here to learn more about Nicholas J. Frederick.