A GREAT WONDER IN TEH HEAVENS

A GREAT WONDER IN THE HEAVENS

                “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, He says not “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to Thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16             

                “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Galatians 3:29.

                IN about two weeks we are going to behold in the heavens a great wonder. We will not actually see it and in fact it would go completely unnoticed if it weren’t for today’s technology. But we dare not ignore this great sign and wonder, because from the creation, God has timed this configuration of sun, moon and stars to appear for the first and last time in our day when it could actually be observed.

`               The big question is what exactly does it mean and why is it so important to us just now?

                It has been popularly taught that the church was born at Pentecost, but if we are to truly understand this wonder, we need to change our metaphors. The church was not born at Pentecost… It was CONCEIVED a Pentecost. For just as the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived and gave birth to the Messiah, so the Holy Spirit came upon the church and she conceived.

                IF we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the implanting of the SEED, which is Christ, then we can begin to rightly understand that the past 2000 years have been a gestation period during which the church has gone through many stages of development until “we all come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph. 4:13

                “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and bones.” Eph. 5:30

                “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles…” 1 Cor. 12:13

                So if we can picture the past 2000 years as a gestation period in eh formation of the Body of Christ then we can also understand why Jesus spoke of the last days as ever increasing birth pangs leading up to the birth of the man child.

                So, was the sign in Revelation 12 historical or future? The answer is Both. The Head was born as first fruits when Yeshua ascended back into heaven and in the very near future, His Body will be born as well when they too are caught up into heaven.

                In both cases, the dragon was there to devour the child as soon as it was born. In both cases the woman who gave birth fled into the wilderness… not Mary, but Israel and in our day the woman who gives birth will also flee into the wilderness to be pursued by the dragon.

                Take note that this remnant is identified as those who keep the commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus; so this would not be unbelieving Jews. So who are they?

                And who is the man child? Could the man child be composed of the Wise Virgins who were ready for the marriage in Yeshua’s parable? Could there be a group that is caught up to heaven as a Bride adorned for her Husband? As first fruits?

                I do not have a definitive answer to that question, nor do I have a definitive answer as to who might be the Remnant people other than what is described in the Bible.

                But let me throw another factor into this scenario. Rebekah gave birth to twins and they fought together in the mother’s womb and they fought with each other outside the womb and that controversy is still going on in the Middle East today.

                Could it be that in some spiritual way, two seeds were conceived at the beginning of the church? One is of the seed of promise and shortly thereafter a wild seed or tare, the seed of Satan? Does it not appear that almost from the beginning there have been two… a true church and a false church, a Bride and a prostitute, a Seed of Christ and a seed of Satan? And has not the seed of Satan always persecuted the true people of God throughout history?

                But now, in our day, we are about to witness the sign of the birth of the Man Child who will be caught up into heaven before the dragon can destroy him and then the woman who gave birth to the child will flee into the wilderness.

                Could it be that the church gave birth to the man child, but like a foolish Virgin she never came to full maturity so that even though she kept the commandments of God and held to the testimony of Jesus, she would now have to be brought to full maturity through suffering and persecution?

                Were not the foolish virgins counselled to go and buy oil from those who sell? They kept the commandments and had the testimony, but they had no oil… so just like the Laodiceans they would have to go and buy gold tried in the fire, or to buy oil with their lives. This speaks of tribulation does it not?

                No Christian was ever intended to go through the time of Jacob’s trouble. It was designed for the Jews who had not yet received Yeshua as their Messiah, but some Christians had never made use of the oil to come to maturity. They were not bearing the fruit of the Spirit. They had not come into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ.

                I put these ideas out as things to think about. We in the church have been handed a bill of goods that is totally non-biblical. Our ideas of grace have led much of the church to ignore repentance and obedience. Nowadays many are even leaving behind the blood of Jesus and the cross and death to self and living by the resurrection spirit of Christ. They are creating a huge crowd of foolish virgins that will not in any way be ready to reign with Christ. Furthermore, many of them will fall away from the faith and they will join with Esau and the antichrist and they will persecute  the Remnant people who keep the commandments and who hold to the testimony of Jesus and even though they intend to destroy the woman who gave birth, they will actually serve in bringing her to maturity.

                Some of the mantras that are being tossed around in the church today are truly non-biblical sound bites. They speak of a God who will not judge sin. They speak of no need to be formed into His image. They embrace pagan anti-Semitism and refuse any notion that we are by faith Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. They have separated themselves from the Seed of the Woman and they are falling away to join the seed of Satan. They will truly join with Esau in his war against Jacob.

                I don’t have all the answers to be sure, but I do know that this is highly important and whether we fully understand this sign or not, one thing is certain. We need to come fully into Christ now. We need to come fully out of Babylon and the kingdom of Esau. We need to believe God by faith that even now, He will take that which we have committed unto Him against that day… that He will finish what He has started in us and that He will do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. His Holy Spirit… His Seed… His life brought forth in us.

                There can be no doubt that we are now entering the birth canal. We are in the tightness and pressure that comes just before the joy. The birth pangs are not pretty, but when the pangs bring forth the child there is great joy and the pain is forgotten.

                We have been conceived by the Holy Spirit just as Mary was and for that reason, we are His offspring and shall be called children of God and brethren of Yeshua.

                Christ’s body the church is not an organization, but an organism. We are being fitted together. “For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles…’ each of us has a part to play in the body whether a hand or foot, or an eye or an ear.  We are growing together into a temple of the Holy Spirit. We do so individually and we do so corporately. We do not isolate ourselves from the body in order to become holy, for indeed it is as we minister to the needs of others that we are brought into full maturity.

                The church is not perfect. In fact it will not become perfect until I am perfect. But Jesus loved the church and gave His life for her. He also loved me and gave His life for me. So as members in His Body, we are all being brought into the image of Christ together as well as individually.

                We are all organs in the Body of Christ, but sometimes we act more like tumors. A tumor looks a lot like an organ, but it only takes from the body but gives nothing to the body. I have to ask then if I am an organ in the Body of Christ or am I a tumor? Am I blessing the Body of Christ or am I just coming to see what I can get from it. Am I coming to be formed into the image of Christ or am I just coming for entertainment and a good time?

                Sometimes we think we are maturing when in fact we are acting more like tumors than organs. It is time for maturity and there isn’t much time left. And whatever we refuse to let the Holy Spirit do in us now, we may have to buy from those who sell, to buy gold tried in the fire.

                These are sobering thoughts and we must each one of us take these things before the Lord. We must offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice and ask Him to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

                For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of ourselves, for it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that any one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow-citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:8-10, 19-22.

                At this point the church is full of both Jacob’s and Esau’s, Organs and tumors, but God is about to clean house.  We need to cling to Yeshua with all our hearts and to trust Him to get us to the finish line.

                Sometimes I ask too many questions, but the answer is always Yeshua.