DO WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?

DO WE UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE?

                “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what persons or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven- things into which angels long to look.” (Gain a clear glimpse) 1 Peter 1:10-12

                This is a bit complex, but in essence it says that the prophets of old were seeking to understand the nature of the salvation that would be brought about by the sufferings of the Messiah, but not only the prophets wanted to understand, but the angels as well. But what was it that they longed to understand?

                When Adam and Eve fell, the Spirit of God departed from them and in its place entered the spirit of this world, the spirit of the Nachash or Satan. And whereas they had previously had a natural inclination towards God, they now had a natural inclination towards Satan and self and a life apart from God. In reality these two that had so recently been sons of God, were now children of their father the devil and as time went on Genesis tells us that people’s hearts were filled with only evil continually. The earth had become corrupt in the eyes of God for it had been reduced to chaos and violence. It had to be destroyed.

                So how was God going to correct this impossible situation? How could a Messiah make a way out of this darkness? He would certainly have to do more that to introduce a new philosophy. And as for truth… it routinely got trampled in the streets, or perverted beyond recognition by the twisted hearts of men. The situation of the human race seemed absolutely impossibly hopeless to both prophets and angels.

                Hosea was incredulous when he said; “I will call those who were not My people, My people, and her who was not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people’, there they shall be called sons of the living God.” Hosea 2:23

                Paul quoted Hosea saying this in Romans 9:25, 26, and Paul was saying that even though the children of Israel were the chosen of God, servants of God, they were not yet sons of God. This is why they reacted so violently when Jesus claimed to be God's Son. The idea was blasphemous to them.

                And even though their sins were covered by the blood of goats and sheep, this did not make them sons. He goes on to say that in pursuing the Law they never attained to the Law. But the Gentiles, who did not pursue the Law, nevertheless attained righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ and not in our own efforts to keep the Law.

                What angels longed to gain a glimpse of is how the suffering of the Messiah could take children of the rebellion and make them into bene Elohim…sons of God.

                You see, giving people a law to obey, or a list of doctrines to embrace is not enough to turn children of Satan into Bene Elohim (Sons of God) and all of man’s efforts in the world could never make it so. There is no way to bridge the infinite gap between children of Satan and Sons of God, Bene Elohim, made in His likeness just as Adam was before the fall.

                This is the greatest miracle of all time. In the death of Christ we die to Satan’s kingdom and in the power of His resurrection we are born again into the kingdom of God. We are born out of darkness and into His light. And whereas we were not His people, we have through this greatest of all miracles become Bene Elohim, sons and daughters of God.

                You see, fallen people still have a spirit, but it is now the spirit of Satan. That’s why clairvoyants can see into the spirit realm and psychics can predict things (albeit inaccurately) and witches can conjure up magic and even speak in tongues. After all, Satan cannot create anything new. He can only imitate and pervert that which God has already created. So if there is a counterfeit, you can be sure that there is a real thing as well.

                The big question is this: How do we tell the difference between the spirit of Satan and the Spirit of Christ, especially as we are told that Satan will appear as Christ in the last days?

                Some people are waiting for the antichrist to show up in a white robe saying the gracious things that Jesus said and healing the sick and beguiling the world with his clever imitation of Christ. Unfortunately his work is much more subtle than that. Instead he has infiltrated the church today, bringing in a false grace, a false Holy Spirit, false gifts and doctrines of demons and even tongues that don’t come from Pentecost. The delusions and deceptions are so subtle that the church today is being deceived by these false spirits and so they are following these spirits right back to Rome from whence they came and he is preparing them to wonder after the Beast just as Revelation 13 says and they will think they are doing God a service when they persecute the true Remnant people, (both of Israel and of the church).. The Bene Elohim, the sons and daughters of God.

                Some people have the attitude that they no longer need the Bible because they have the Holy Spirit. Big mistake! How do we discern the spirits if we don’t know whether or not they speak according to the Word?

                On the other hand there are those who think they don’t need the Holy Spirit because they have the Word. They feel that they can attain to son status, intellectually and by pursuing the Law. However, nothing short of the new birth can make us sons and daughters of God. We enter death through the cross of Christ and we are born again by His resurrection and in doing so we receive the Spirit by which we cry Abba Father and we learn to live by that Spirit and by that Word by faith in our Redeemer Jesus Christ and that is what makes us Bene Elohim.

                This is a marvel to the angels and it was the great mystery and wonder of the prophets who longed to pierce the veil and to fully understand the salvation that would come through the true Lamb of God. After all, it was spelled out in the Sanctuary, but time and tradition had blurred the message and most truths are best understood in retrospect.

                One of the key reasons for studying Bible prophecy is to learn how to differentiate between the two spirits that are bringing this world into its final conflagration and climax. Satan has an agenda and God has an agenda. Satan has his words, his spirit and his people while God has His Word, His Son, His Spirit and His remnant people. The Holy Spirit is making all those who will, into Bene Elohim, sons of God and this is one of the key Bible themes, which are most prominently brought out in Romans 8.

                “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (The Bene Elohim) Romans 8:14, 19. Why? Because that will indicate that the great separation between God and man has been healed. A Remnant people discover what God is looking for and they offer themselves to Him for life or for death to become first fruits of the final harvest… having been made into the image of Christ by faith.  They keep the commandments of God and bear the testimony of Jesus. They do so not by the letter of the Law as kept by flesh, but by the Spirit of the Law which is love and they bear the fruit of the Spirit and so they fulfill the Law the way God intended it to be fulfilled… loving God with all of their hearts and their neighbor as themselves.

                Hebrews 11 gives us a list of faithful people throughout time who served God and faced the punishment of Satan because of their faithfulness. They looked forward by faith to a better resurrection.

                “And all these, having gained approval through their faith did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect. They were servants of God, but God was looking for sons. It had to come through His one and only Son, so that through His life, death and resurrection He could bring many sons to glory.” Heb. 11:39, 40.

                That is why all of creation is waiting anxiously. It is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God that will indicate that God’s plan is complete and if the first fruits be holy, then will the whole crop be holy.

                Can you now see why God is calling us in these last days to put away the flesh and to walk by His Spirit and His Word? Our generation is being called to become the Remnant of her seed. And as Revelation 12 tells us, the dragon is out to get us and to destroy us and we will not love our lives even to the death, but we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

                That is why God waited until now to bring forth His sign in the heavens perfectly fulfilling the great signs of Revelation 12. It happened on September 23, 2017. The woman gave birth to a Son. Israel gave birth to Jesus, who was caught up to God, but He sent His Holy Spirit down to bring many sons to glory, and Satan, having lost his hold on Christ has now turned to pursue the woman (Israel) and indeed we see Israel being surrounded by the armies of the world today. And when the abomination of desolations occurs in the third temple, she will flee into the wilderness where she will be protected by God for 1260 days. (Not 1260 years, but 1260 literal days also expressed as 42 months or 3 ½ years)

                But the Dragon, seeing that God is protecting faithful Israel, will turn in rage and go after the remnant of her seed, the seed of Christ, the Bene Elohim, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (which is the Spirit of prophecy…Rev, 12:17 and Rev. 19:10) So if you are a part of that false church that has abandoned the study of Bible prophecy and abandoned obedience to Christ that is fulfilled by love for God and love for our neighbor, you will not become one of the Bene Elohim. Neither false grace, nor legalism will get you there. We must bear the fruit of the Spirit of Christ. We must love as He loved as we live by His Spirit and not by our flesh. We must be born again, not as it is often popularly displayed, but as it really is, being described in the Word.

                Jesus is not calling us to be better Christians. He is calling us to learn how to live by His Spirit so that we will not carry out the deeds of the flesh. We are only holy because we have this treasure in earthen vessels. It is only because we are temples of the Holy Spirit that we are holy. We are burning bushes. We are tabernacles. And His salvation is being worked out in us as we learn to live by His Spirit and not by our flesh. As such we have nothing of which to boast, for the power is not from us, but from God.

                God has been shouting it from the sky for several years now. Beware my people. Earth is entering into the age of Revelation 12. Prepare to become the Bene Elohim as I take you through the final stages of life that will make you into a spotless Bride adorned for her Husband. Be sure your lamps are trimmed and burning and filled with oil so that you will be ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with Me.” Rev. 22:12

                It is highly important that we understand the differences between the spirit of Satan and the Spirit of Christ. Don’t watch only the big and obvious things that happen in the world. Both the false grace movements and the prosperity movements started out looking very good and very scriptural in the beginning, but they subtly got people to look to themselves and to self-gratification. They began to use God to get what they wanted, rather than dying to self so that God could get what He wanted.

                Now those with spiritual understanding can see the gap widening more and more even to the point where many are falling away and joining up with the global kingdom of the Beast. The situations in this world are far more advanced than even most Christians realize. For many the Lord will come like a thief in the night and they will not be ready. They had not a love of the truth so as to be saved.

                We need to cry out to God for understanding and for discernment. Tell Him you want to be one of His sons or daughters. Give Him permission to do whatever it takes in your life for Him to get you there. It is not our works that will get us there, but His work in us and through us. We need to learn to live by the “Treasure in these earthen vessels, so that the power might be from God and not from ourselves. Only He can transform us into His Bene Elohim. Selah.