An Exposition of the
THE SARDISEAN CHURCH AGE
Revelation 3:1-6
And unto the angel of the church in
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for
I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.
If therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Thou hast a few names even in
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before
My Father, and before His angels.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
243-2
243-3 This city was at one time very
important commercially. Pliny said that the art of dying wool was invented
here. It was the center of wool-dying and carpet weaving. It had a goodly
amount of silver and gold in the area and it is said that gold coins were first
minted there. It also had a slave market.
243-4 The religion of this city was the
impure worship of the goddess Cybele. The massive ruins of the temple may still
be seen.
243-5 You will recall that in the Pergamean Age I mentioned
that the Babylonish concept of "mother and son" known as Semiramis
and Ninus became the Cybele and Deoius of Asia. The attributes attached to
these two are most enlightening as we view them side
by side.
He was the sun god; she the moon goddess.
He was the lord of heaven; she the queen of heaven.
He the revealer of goodness and
truth; she of gentleness and mercy.
He the mediator; she the
mediatrix.
He with the key that opens and
shuts the gates of the invisible world; and she with an identical key doing
likewise.
He as the judge of the dead; she
as standing at his side.
He being
killed, raised and ascended into heaven; she carried there bodily by the son.
244-1 Now in
244-2 Now that
is what we found back there in the other two ages, where the 'mother and son'
concept took on such tremendous proportions. But now notice that even as it was
back in
244-3 Two things really struck me with
force as I looked into this worship of Cybele. One was the fact that she wore a
key like Janus which gave her the same authority as Janus, (key to heaven and
earth and the mysteries) and the fact that the worshipers whip themselves until
blood spurts from their bodies, which thing is done right today by the
Catholics who feel they are suffering like the Lord.
244-4 The fact that this is the age of
the first real break with papal Rome that actually flourished, no doubt caused
the Jezebel prophetess to consolidate and emphasize her doctrine of Maryolatry
in decided opposition to the Protestants who denied her any part whatsoever in
the plan of Salvation apart from her favor with God as the virgin chosen to
bear the Babe. As Luther crystallized the doctrine of justification by faith
they held to works, penance, prayers and other unscriptural means. And as the
freed Christians glorified the Son, the Roman Catholics increased their
deification of Mary until the twentieth century saw (in opposition to most high
ranking Roman theologians) Pope Pius literally exalt Mary to glorification in a
resurrected body. That doctrine is absolutely the Babylonish one of the son
carrying the mother bodily into heaven.
245-1 No wonder this fifth age goes
right along with the other ages and will do so until it ends in the lake of
fire where the whore and her children are killed in the second death. There it
is, Maryolatry, the worship of Cybele. By the way, did you know that Cybele was
the Astarte that Jezebel was priestess to and caused
THE AGE
The
Sardisean or fifth church age lasted from 1520 to 1750. It is usually called
the Age of the Reformation.
MESSENGER
245-3 The messenger to this age is the
best known messenger of all the ages. He was Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a
brilliant scholar of gentle disposition. He was studying to be a lawyer when
the lingering illness and death of a near friend caused him to become serious
concerning the spiritual condition of his life. He entered the Augustinian
convent at
246-1 Thus when Leo X become pope, and John Tetzel came to sell indulgences for sin,
Luther had no choice but to rise up against this anti-Scriptural teaching.
First, he thundered from the pulpit against it and then wrote his famous 95
theses which on October 31, 1517 he nailed to the door of
246-2 In a short time
246-3 Now Martin Luther, himself, was a
sensitive Spirit-filled Christian. He was definitely a man of the Word for he
not only had a profound passion to study it but to make it available to all in
order that all might live by it. He translated the New Testament and gave it to
the people. This laborious work he did himself, correcting a passage as much as
twenty times. He gathered around him a group of Hebrew scholars amongst whom were Jews and translated the Old Testament.
246-4 This monumental work of Luther is
still the work upon which all successive works of the Scripture in
246-5 He was a mighty preacher and
teacher of the Word, and insisted especially in his first years of public
eminence, that the Word was the sole criterion. Thus he was against works as a
means of salvation and baptism as a means of regeneration. He taught the
mediation of Christ apart from man as was the original and Pentecostal concept.
He was a man given to much prayer and had learned that the more work he had to do,
and the more sorely he was pressed for time, the more of his time he gave to
God in prayer in order to ensure satisfactory results. He knew what it was to
battle with the devil and it is said that Satan one day visibly appeared to
him, and he flung the ink well at him, bidding him go. Another time two
fanatics came to him to induce him to join with them in banishing all priests
and Bibles. He discerned the spirit within them and sent them off.
247-1 It is recorded of Dr. Martin
Luther in Sauer's History Vol. 3, page 406 that he was, "a prophet,
evangelist, speaker in tongues, interpreter, in one person, endowed with all
nine gifts of the Spirit."
247-2 What stirred his heart by the
Holy Ghost, and which was the little green shoot that signified that truth was
coming back to the church as it was known at Pentecost, was the doctrine of
justification: salvation by grace, apart from works. I recognize that Dr.
Luther did not believe only, and preach only, justification, but that was his
major theme as indeed it had to be for that is the basic doctrine of the truth
of the Word. He will be forever known as the instrument in the hand of God who
revived this truth. He was the fifth messenger and his message was, "THE
JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Surely we admit that he knew and did teach that
we are to go from faith to faith. His marvelous understanding of sovereignty,
election, predestination and other truths show him to be a great man in the
Word, yet I say again, as do historians, God used him to bring to the people
God's standard against works--"The just shall live by faith."
247-3 Now as I mentioned already, this
age has been called by the historians, the Period of Reformation. That is
exactly right. That is what it was. It had to be that for Martin Luther was a
reformer, not a prophet. Now I know the history book calls him a prophet, but
it doesn't mean that the history book is right, for there is no record of
Martin Luther qualifying as a true prophet of God in the grand Scriptural sense
of that word. He was a fine teacher with some of the manifestations of the
Spirit in his life and we praise God for that. So he was not able to lead the
church back to the whole truth as would a man like the apostle Paul who was
both apostle and prophet.
247-4 Now as time went on we find a
great change in the way he conducted the affairs in which he was involved. At
first he had been so gentle, so fearless, so patient and constantly waiting on
God to work out the problems. But then vast numbers began to come to his banner.
Their purpose was not a truly spiritual one. Rather they had political
motivations. They wanted to break the yoke of the pope. They disliked sending
money to
248-1 But for all that, God used Martin
Luther. Let it not be said that his intentions were wrong. Let it only be said
that his judgment failed. Truly if the Lutherans could get back to his teaching
and serve God as this gracious brother served Him, then that people would
surely be a credit and praise to the great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
THE SALUTATION
Revelation 3:1, "These things saith He That hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven
stars."
248-3 Once again as in the previous
four ages the Spirit is revealing our gracious Lord to us by setting forth His
wonderful attributes. This time as He is standing in the midst of the church,
we see Him as the One with the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. We
know who the seven stars are, but we will have to find what the seven Spirits
refer to.
248-4 This same phrase is found four times in the Book of
Revelation.
Revelation 1:4, "From the seven Spirits Which
are before His throne."
Revelation 3:1, "These things saith He That
hath the seven Spirits."
Revelation 4:5, "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne which are the seven Spirits of God."
Revelation 5:6, "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and
of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as It had been
slain having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth."
248-5 To begin with, we know for a
certainty that these verses are not teaching a new and contrary doctrine to John
4:24a "God is A (one) Spirit." But this is like I Corinthians
12:8-11 wherein we find ONE Spirit manifesting Himself in NINE ways. Thus we
know that the seven Spirits of God mean it is the one and same Spirit coming
forth in a sevenfold way. Now in Revelation 4:5 these same seven Spirits are
called 'lamps of fire burning' before the Lord. Since John always used nothing
but Old Testament symbols in the Revelation we go to the Old Testament and find
from Proverbs 20:27 that "the spirit of man is the lamp of the
Lord." These seven Spirits are found to be associated with man. John
the Baptist in John 5:35 was called a 'burning light' which should actually be
translated as 'burning lamp.' Again in Revelation 5:6 the seven Spirits are
identified as seven eyes. In Zechariah 4:10, "For who hath despised the
day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall
see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven, they are the eyes
of the Lord." It is very evident that the word, 'they' refers to men.
Thus we see that the eyes of the Lord in this instance are men--of course they
will be anointed men, full of the Holy Ghost, for God's ministries are not in
the power of men but of the Holy Ghost. Putting our Scriptural discoveries
together it is evident that the seven Spirits of God refer to the continuous
ministry of the same Holy Spirit in the lives of seven men with whom God
identifies Himself very closely. They are His eyes, and they are His lamps. Who
these seven men are can easily be seen because the next phrase calls them the
seven stars which are already known to us as the seven messengers to the seven
ages. How beautiful that is. See, the star was meant to reflect light at night,
for the sun has gone. Just so the messenger (typified as a star) to each age
was to reflect the light of the Son. They all did this by the Holy Spirit.
249-1 Paul was the first messenger and
he said in Galatians 1:8 that if any angel, any messenger, any vicar, no matter
who he was--if he preached any other gospel than what Paul preached, let him be
accursed. Paul knew that after he was gone grievous wolves would come in. He
knew that Satan, himself, could appear as an angel of light so how much more
his ministers. So he warns that this Gospel would always be the same. Now Paul had
baptized in Jesus Name and rebaptized where people had not been so immersed. He
set the church in order and taught the proper use of the gifts of the Spirit
and confirmed that they were to remain in the church till Jesus came. Thus the
next messengers, all the remaining six, would by the same Holy Ghost, burn with
the same fire and give the same light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the
signs would follow them. Did Irenaeus qualify? Yes. Did Martin? Yes. Did
Columba? Yes. Did Martin Luther? Most assuredly. Did
Wesley? Yes sir, he had a great ministry and even prayed for his horse to get
well and it did. There you are. Seven church ages and seven messengers who were
alike, and Paul pronounced a curse on anyone who said he was a messenger but
had a different gospel and lived in a different light.
250-1 Now does that last statement of
mine bear up with the rest of the Word? Yes. It says in the Word that if any
man adds to this book or takes from it, he would be plagued and judged unto
condemnation by God. God said, "I will add the plagues written in this
book or I will take his part out of the Book of Life." Revelation 22:18.
250-2 So we see that the Seven Spirits
actually refer to the One Spirit of God working out the will and Word of God in
different generations. I would like to illustrate that from the Word. The
Spirit of God was mightily upon Elijah. Then that same Spirit came upon Elisha
in a twofold effect. Then centuries later, the same Spirit Which
we call the Spirit of Elijah in order to describe Its ministry, came back upon
John the Baptist. One day that same Spirit identified by the
same manner of ministry will come upon a man for the end of the Gentile church
age. Again: the Scripture says that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost and power and He went about doing good, healing all that were
oppressed of the devil. As Jesus went away He told His disciples to tarry until
Pentecost at which time the very same Spirit that was upon Him would come back
and fall upon them and fill them. Then that 'called out' body (the church)
would be in His stead upon the earth, taking His place. And because that same
Spirit That was in Him would be in them, they would do
the very same works. And any people that is truly the
Body of Jesus Christ (the true church) will manifest the same works as did
Jesus and the Pentecostal church because the same Spirit will be in them. Any
other church that does not have the Spirit and the manifestations is going to
have to account to God.
250-3 It also says here that these
seven stars, or seven messengers to the seven ages are
in His hand. He is holding them. You know right away that if they are held in
His hand they are associated with His power. That is what the hand signifies.
It signifies the power of God! And authority of God.
Not one of them came in his own power and authority. That is what Paul said. No
man would dare to. It takes the authority of God and the power of the Holy
Ghost. The Gospel is preached by the authority of God in the power of the
Spirit. These men were all empowered by the Holy Ghost. They all stood up to
the world. They could do that. They were full of God. They were SENT or
authorized by God NOT by self or other men.
251-1 Now they had what the world could
not have. Jesus said that when He went away He would send His Spirit Which the
world could not receive. That is right. The world, or
world systems could not receive Him. That is what organization is--it is world
system. Show me a world system church that is full of the Holy Ghost. I want to
see it. If you can show me such a church you are finding a mistake in the Word.
No sir. Not one of these messengers was organized. Either they were put out or
got out because they were convicted of the sin of organization. How can the
Holy Spirit possibly be in organization when it is organization that takes the
place of the Spirit and denominations take the place of the Word? Remember,
"Organization" is "DEATH". It just can't be any other way.
If the world takes over, the Spirit departs.
251-2 Yes, the Spirit is not seven
Spirits but ONE. He will always be the same and act the same. And the seven
messengers will have the same Spirit and teach the same Word and have the same
power. And if the church is the true church it will have the very same Spirit
and Word and acts of power that they had at Pentecost. By experience it will be
a Pentecostal church; and there will be tongues, and interpretation and
prophecy and healings. God will be in the midst of her and God will declare
Himself in the midst of her as He always has. Hallelujah! And she will be
UNorganized. Don't forget that.
251-3 Now we can see that Jesus Christ
is revealing Himself through the ages by His Spirit in the messengers. They are
as Moses was to the children of
252-1 "He that hath the seven Spirits of God and the
seven stars." Revelation 3:1. As this same Lord identified Himself with man in the
incarnation, He is again identifying Himself with man by His Spirit within man.
"These are mine," saith the Lord. The seven Spirit-filled messengers
are the Lord's. They may be repudiated. They may be questioned. Indeed, to
human minds they may not even seem to qualify--nevertheless, they are the
messengers for their age. God used an Abraham (he lied),
He used a Moses (he rebelled), a Jonah (he disobeyed), a Samson (he sinned), a
David (he murdered). He also used a Joshua, and a Joseph. And those with severe
blemishes far outnumber those whose histories seem to be perfect. ALL WERE, AND
ARE HIS. None dare deny that. He used them by and through the Holy Spirit that
He put within them. To their own Master they stood or fell. And in them all was
accomplished the sovereign will of God. Let external history attempt to refute
this, it still stands. The Eternal God still walks amongst the golden lamp
stands and sends His messengers by His Spirit with the Word to the people of
every age.
THE DENUNCIATION
Revelation 3:1b, "I know thy works, that thou has a
name that thou livest, and art dead."
Revelation 3:2b, "For I have not found thy works perfect before God."
Now here,
indeed, is a very strange thing. In every age to this point the Spirit has
first of all praised the true believers, and then denounced the false vine. But
in this period there is evidently such wanton disregard for the Lord and His
Word that the entire message to this fifth age rings with condemnation.
253-1 "I know thy works." What were these
works that came up before the Lord and caused His displeasure? Well, you know
that each age lapped over into the next age, so we have a continuation of the
works of the fourth age into the fifth. These works as you are well aware were:
1. The leadership of the Holy Spirit was superseded by a
human hierarchy.
2. The pure Word of God and its free benefit to all men was deposed for creeds,
dogmas, church orders, etc.
3. The worship in the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit and all that which
pertains to true community fellowship of the saints was cast aside for liturgy
and literal idol worship, pagan feasts, etc.
4. Maryolatry was assuming a greater place in the Christian worship, until she
had actually assumed a place of Godhead and the Son was brought from His lofty
position of over all to being subservient to a man called the pope, who termed
himself the vicar of Christ.
253-2 Those who
fought this terrible anti-Christ church were destroyed. Those who stayed with
it found themselves the pawn of the church whether they be peasants or kings.
Their lives were not their own, and neither were their lives Christ's, but they
belonged body, soul, and spirit to the Church of Rome. They talked about the
blood of Christ, yet they purchased their salvation with money, and bought
forgiveness of sins either by gold or penance. The wealthier of them found it a
happy situation when Pope Leo X allowed them to buy indulgences for sins not
yet committed so that they with ease of conscience could plan their awful
crimes and then proceed to carry them out, knowing that the pope had already
remitted their sins. The Word of God was kept from them, so who was to know the
truth! Since truth comes only from the Word, the people were shut up in a
dungeon of the Roman Church, awaiting death, and after death the judgment. But
the great whore, drunk with the blood of martyrs and with no thought of the
judgment, reeled savagely on to kill men with both spiritual and physical
death.
253-3 Now toward the end of the fourth
age which would be the beginning of the fifth age also, the invasion of
254-1 In spite of Luther's constant
teaching against outside interference in local church matters he was not able
to clear men's minds of the "Bishop, Archbishop" concept of church
government. Thus the church took one step in the right direction but still
remained shackled, so in short order she was again imprisoned in the same
dungeon whence she had attempted to escape.
254-2 Still the cup of the abominable
works was not yet full. Not only did Luther through poor judgment incite to
battle and thereby cause the death of multitudes; but Zwingli's party persecuted
unto prison the godly Dr. Hubmeyer, and though it did not commit him to the
stake, it was actually responsible in great measure for his eventual death by
fire. And Calvin did no less, for he demanded the arrest of Servetus who had
seen and taught the oneness of the Godhead. The State then tried this brother,
and to Calvin's dismay he was burned at the stake.
254-3 If there was ever a time of
denominational zeal it was at this tragic time. The words of Comenius describe
much of this era. Comenius wrote the "ONE THING NEEDFUL." He compares
the world to the labyrinth, and shows that the way out is by leaving what is
needless, and choosing the one thing needful--Christ. The great number of
teachers, he says is the reason of the multitudes of sects, for which we shall
soon have no names left. Each church reckons itself as the true one, or at
least as the purest, truest part of it, while among themselves they persecute
each other with the bitterest hatred. No reconciliation is to be hoped for
between them; they meet enmity with irreconcilable enmity. Out of the Bible
they forge their different creeds; these are their fortresses and bulwarks
behind which they entrench themselves and resist all attacks. I will not say
that these confessions of faith--for we can admit in most cases that they are
so--are bad in themselves. They become so, however, in that they feed the fire
of enmity; only by putting them away altogether would it be possible to set to
work on healing the wounds of the Church. "To this labyrinth of sects and
various confessions another belongs; the love of disputation... What is
attained by it? Has a single learned strife ever been settled? Never. Their number has only been increased. Satan is the
greatest sophist; he has never been overcome in a strife
of words... In Divine service the words of men are usually heard more than the
Word of God. Each one chatters as he pleases, or kills time by learned
disquisitions and disproving the views of others. Of the new birth and how a
man must be changed into the likeness of Christ to become partaker of the
Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4), scarcely anything is said. Of the power of the
keys, the Church has almost lost the power of binding, only the power of
loosing remains... The sacraments, given as symbols of unity, of love, and of
our life in Christ, have been made the occasion of bitterest conflict, a cause
of mutual hatred, a centre of sectarianism... In short, Christendom has become
a labyrinth. The faith has been split into a thousand little parts and you are
made a heretic if there is one of them you do not accept... What can help? Only
the one thing needful, return to Christ, looking to Christ as the only Leader,
and walking in His footsteps, setting aside all other ways until we all reach
the goal, and have come to the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:13). As the
heavenly Master built everything on the ground of the Scriptures so should we
leave all particularities of our special confessions and be satisfied with the
revealed Word of God which belongs to us all. With the Bible in our hand we
should cry: I believe what God has revealed in this Book; I will obediently
keep His commands; I hope for that which He has promised. Christians, give ear!
There is only one life, but Death comes to us in a thousand forms. There is
only one Christ, but a thousand Antichrists... So thou knowest, O Christendom,
what is the one thing needful. Either thou turnest back to Christ or thou goest
to destruction like the Antichrist. If thou art wise and wilt live, follow the
Leader of Life.
256-1 But you, Christians, rejoice in
your being caught up,... hear the words of your
Heavenly Leader, 'Come unto Me.'... Answer with one voice, 'Even so, we
come'".
256-2 Now I just said that this era
gave tremendous growth to the denominational spirit. If the Corinthian attitude
of "I am of Paul, I of Cephas" was ever exhibited, it was now. There
were Lutherans, Hussites, Zwingli's party, etc. Such fragmentation of the Body
was deplorable. They were living a name but were dead. Certainly they were
dead. They died the minute they organized. The great groups organized and tied
themselves in matrimony to the state. That did it. They were finished. Here
were those Lutherans who had criticized the Roman Church. They knew the
unrighteousness of political and spiritual unions--yet Luther (as when Peter
was overbalanced by the Judaizers) went right ahead and made the state instead
of God, the defender of the faith. This is the first denomination of repute
that came out of the harlot, but when Luther died it was not long until it had
a hierarchy like the one it had fought. This move of God, by the time the
second generation came along was right back under the wing of her mother. She
had gone back and did not even know it. They had taken on their own name above
His Name. They were living their own name, too. And all the denominations are
doing that very thing today. They are living their own name, and not the Name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is easily seen for every church is known by the
way it worships but none are known by the power of God. There is your test. And
I want you to notice right here that this era did not have the signs and
wonders amongst them. They gave up the power of God for the power of the state.
They clung to their own name; they made their names great. It was that old
spirit of getting everyone into its fold. Today the Baptists want the
Methodists to come over to the Baptists. The Methodists are out to proselytize
the Presbyterians. And the Pentecostals want them all. Each claims to offer the
most and to hold out the greatest hopes--a sort of door to heaven, or at least,
the way to a more abundant entrance. How tragic it all is.
256-3 This denominational spirit has
made all the denominations write their manuals and teach their creeds, set up
their offices and church governments and then each claims that she, and she
alone, truly speaks for God as she is the best qualified. Now if that isn't
exactly what the pope and the Roman Church are doing! They are right back there
with their mother, the harlot, and don't know it.
257-1 In closing our comments on this
verse, "thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead," I
cannot impress upon you too strongly that this age, though it brought the
reformation, was most sternly rebuked by God instead of being praised, because
IT SOWED THE SEED OF DENOMINATION THAT ORGANIZED RIGHT BACK TO THE HARLOT,
after God had opened a door of escape. When the move away from the Catholic
Church took place, it was not truly Spiritual as a
whole, but more political. Most of the people took up with Protestantism
because as I have stated, they hated the Roman system of political and
financial bondage. Thus, instead of this being a great Spiritual move with all
the earmarks of Holy Spirit influence as when God used purely Spiritual means
to accomplish His ends at Pentecost, it was indeed a WORK WHEREIN THE WRATH OF
MAN PRAISED GOD, and the results paralleled the history of Israel when she left
Egypt and wandered in the desert, not making it to Canaan Land. However, much
was accomplished in that where the yoke of
257-2 The Jezebel of Thyatira was in no
mood to give up her hold upon the people, and thus we see her daughter Athaliah
raise her head in the Sardisean Age with the hopes that she would be able to
strangle the true seed by her schemes of organization.
THE WARNING
Revelation 3:2, "Be watchful and strengthen the
things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found thy works
perfect before God."
257-4 I wish it could be said that the
Sardisean Age was a restoration instead of a reformation. I cannot say that.
The Word does not call it a restoration, but certainly calls it a reformation.
Had it been a restoration, that age would have been another Pentecostal age.
But it was not. The best that could be said of it was, "Strengthen that
which remains, that is ready to die." There was something missing. My,
yes, there certainly was. This age had justification, but it had missed
sanctification and the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. That is what God's original
plan was. That is what they had at Pentecost. They were justified,
they were sanctified, and were filled with the Holy Ghost. Why, listen to me,
the reason for being justified and sanctified is to the end that you might be
baptized with the Holy Ghost. That is the reason that there is a church. It is
the
258-1 Now be careful, and get this. It
says in this second verse that I read, "For I have not found thy works
perfect before God." Do you know what the meaning of 'not perfect'
really is? It is 'unfulfilled.' This age was an unfulfilled age. It was just
the start of getting back. That is why I said the Bible called it Reformation--not
restoration. It had started out in the doctrine of justification which meant
salvation was all of God. Oh, how Luther preached the sovereignty of God and
election. He knew it was all of grace. He separated the church from rule by
ecclesiastical hierarchy. He tore down the idols. He cast out the confessions
to the priests. He denounced the pope. It was wonderfully good, as he started,
but God had said 1500 years before, "Luther, you are going to start
things, but your age will see it all unfulfilled, I am leaving that to
later." Hallelujah, our God reigneth! He knows the end from the beginning.
Yes, Luther was His messenger. It didn't look like it, as we examine the flaws.
But there was a man called Jonah, he had flaws in his life too. He was a
prophet though you and I might not want to say so on
the basis of how he acted. But God knows them that are His and He has His way
just as He did with Jonah. He had His way with Luther in that age, and He will have His way until the consummation.
259-1 Now this was an unfulfilled age. It was an age of
reformation. But that is how God wanted it. I want to illustrate that to you
the way I did to a very wonderful Lutheran brother who is a president of a very
fine seminary out West. I had been invited to his place to have dinner with him
and to speak to him concerning the Holy Spirit. He was puzzled about many
things and he said to me, "What have we Lutherans got?"
I said, "Well, you have Christ."
He said, "We want the Holy Ghost. Do you think we've
got It?"
I said, "Potentially, you are
believing unto It."
He said,
"What do you mean, potentially? We are hungry for God. We read a book on
Pentecost and the gifts of the Spirit, so some of us flew out to
259-2 Now this brother's seminary is out in the country and surrounded
by many acres of farm land on which the students can work and thereby pay their
way through college. He also has factories that go along with the farm to give
added employment. So using his fields to illustrate my case I said, "Once
there was a man who went forth on his own ground to plant a field of corn. He
pulled up the stumps, cleared off the rocks, ploughed and disked it and then
planted his corn. Each morning he looked out across the field; but one morning
instead of barren ground he saw myriads of little blades coming up.
He said, "Praise God for my field of corn."
I then asked him, "Did the man have corn?"
He said, "Well, in one way he did."
I said,
"Potentially, yes; and that was you Lutherans in the reformation, putting
forth your blade, see? The corn began to grow. (After it had
rotted in the ground during the Dark Ages). After several joints there
were fine large stalks, and one day a tassel of silk appeared. That tassel of
silk looked down at the blades and said, "You old formal Lutherans haven't
anything. Look at us, we're the breeders, the great
missionaries. Our day is the missionary era." That tassel age was the
Wesleyan Age. They were the greatest missionaries and even excelled us in our
age. What did that age do? It scattered like pollen in the breeze.
259-3 "Now what is the next step? Logically we think that
is the actual forming and harvesting of the grain--the completed cycle. But not so. There is another stage. That stage is when the
husk or chaff is formed to cover the seed. And that is exactly what happened in
this Spiritual cycle. At the turn of the twentieth century, in the start of the
Laodicean Age, there was widespread belief that the Holy Ghost was falling
exactly as He did at Pentecost. People were talking in tongues and claiming to
be baptized with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. But I
have walked in the grain fields many times, and there in late summer I have
plucked the heads of wheat and rubbed them in my hand to get some grain, when to
my surprise there WASN'T ANY CORN OF WHEAT IN THAT CHAFF, THOUGH INDEED IT
SURELY LOOKED AS IF WHEAT WERE THERE. This is a perfect picture of the
so-called Pentecostal move. And that this is a proven fact is found in that
these people ORGANIZED ON A DOCTRINE and bound themselves right back as did the
organization ahead of them, proving that instead of being the real seed, they
were the chaff or protecting cover for the wheat seed which should come. This
chaff stage was the danger period that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:24, "deceiving
the very elect if it were possible." Oh, man felt that this husk, the
so-called Pentecostal Age was the true seed. But it proved to be just the
carrier to carry the life over into the age in which the true restoration comes
and the Wheat Bride is manifested in the power spoken of by Ezekiel 47:2-5,
"Then brought he me out of the way of the gate
northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that
looketh eastward; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when
the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a
thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the
ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters
were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the
waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river
that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a
river that could not be passed over."
260-1 "And the way that it was
done was by God's perfect will and programming. The Lutherans had the Holy
Ghost potentially under justification; the Methodists had It
potentially under sanctification and today It is brought back, a restoration--the
Holy Ghost is here."
261-1 "Be watchful and
strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die." Now the
ideas expressed in the two words, "watchful" and
"strengthen" are these. To watch contains not only the idea of being
awake but to be alert. To be otherwise insinuates danger and loss. To
strengthen means more than just to give strength, it means to fix and establish
for permanency. These two commands refer to what is left of the TRUTH which
itself is ready or "about" to die. This expression of the Spirit
comes before me as an illustration. A group of slaves, in total bondage
physically and morally have risen up and escaped from their captors (indeed
that is what
JUDGMENT
Revelation 3:3, "Remember therefore how thou has
received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know the hour I will
come upon thee."
261-3 I want to read another
translation (Wuest) of this verse, "Be remembering, therefore, in what
way you have received (the truth as a permanent deposit) and what way you heard
(it) and be safeguarding (it), and have a change of mind at once." It
is very evident from this verse that God had given them truth as a permanent deposit.
It was received and is irrevocably theirs. It now remains to be seen what they
will do with it, whether they will regard it or not. And that is true. They had
been given the basic truth of the whole Gospel, "The just shall live by
faith", "Salvation is of the Lord." They had heard the truth of
the Bible which cast down the doctrines of
262-1 "I will come on thee as a
thief." Ancient
THE EULOGY
Revelation 3:4, "Thou has a
few names even in
262-3 Of course the word 'names' means
'people' as it says in Acts 1:15 concerning those in the upper room, "the
number of names together were about 120." But
to me it goes far beyond just signifying people; it brings out that truth that
is set forth in every age which was spoken to us by our Lord with great
emphasis. It is this: the church system of these ages is made up of two vines,
true and false. God in His own sovereign purpose has put them all together,
calling them the church. See in this age how He has rebuked them saying,
"unto the church which is"--not "churches are" in
263-2 Now from this verse which shows
the elect of God to be a "Few Names," you can see clearly what
we have been teaching about this age. It was chaotic. It was UNFULFILLED. It
was split scores of ways, and God rebuked it almost in its entirety. It was
weak and sickly and ready to die. It was not the glorious era that carnal
minded Protestant historians have tried to make it. One quick look at that tree
saw it was cankered and blighted, denuded of leaf and barren of fruit except
for some deformed and wormy fruit that was fast dropping to the ground. But
hold a moment! Look closer. There at the top, in the light of the sun, were
some 'first fruits'--a 'Few Names'--perfect in Him for they were born of Him,
filled with Him and walking with Him by His Word. Thank God for 'those few.'
263-4 "And they shall walk with
Me." That is what God says He will bestow upon them for this upright
walk. That is part of their inheritance that He has reserved for them. If they
were willing to walk with Him through the toils and snares of life and be an
honor to Him, He was going to reward them. He is not forgetful of our labour of
love. God will always recompense us for our efforts to please Him.
264-1 Yes, they had walked through the
world and had not partaken of it. They had not let the world systems overcome
them. When the illustrious names of that age had yielded to the blandishment of
the state and chosen political mindedness rather than Spiritual mindedness and
were on their way back into the world, these few stood for the Word of God, and
thereby honored the Lord. Now He would honor them in return. For
they shall walk with Him in white. They had identified themselves with
Him on earth and now He would identify Himself with them in the New Jerusalem.
And how marvelous will be that identification! It makes me rejoice and yet it
makes me weep to think of His condescension, for you will note that He is not
dressed in another color different from the saints, as earthly leaders would so
do. No, they are like Him; He is like them. They are like Him, even as John
said; for "they see Him as He is."
264-2 "For they are worthy." Do you realize Who
is saying this? It is Jesus, the Worthy One, Himself. This is the only One Who is accounted worthy to take the book out of the hand of
Him Who sits upon the throne. And now this Worthy One is saying to His saints,
"You are worthy." Here is this One, the only One qualified to judge,
(and indeed all judgment is committed unto Him,) and He says, "You are
worthy." These words are as astounding as are the words in Romans 8:33b,
"God says I am righteous." (Way Translation.)
There in the white light of God's righteousness, hear the sweet voice of Jesus
as He says, "These are Mine. They are righteous.
They are worthy. They shall walk with Me in
white."
THE PROMISE TO THE OVERCOMER
Revelation 3:5, "He that overcometh, the same shall
be clothed in white raiment: and I will not blot out his name out of the Book
of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His holy
angels."
264-4 "He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment." This is actually a repetition
of verse 4, wherein is made reference to the few who have not defiled their
garments. We used to have a saying years ago that no doubt was taken from this
verse. It was, "Keep your skirts clean." It meant: don't get
involved in questionable things; others will be involved and you might be
tempted to be involved, or someone might even try to involve you; but stay clear
of it all by steering a course away from it. Now God is going to reward those
who follow this advice. They are going to be clothed in white even as He is
clothed in white. Peter, James and John saw Him on
265-1 You know we are living in the end
time. It is in this age that the churches are going to come together. And as
they are even now controlling world politics, they will soon control the
finances of the world. Then, if you don't belong to the world organization of
churches, you won't be able to buy or to sell. You will lose all. Those who
stay true to God and keep their garments clean from the defilement of this
'world-system' of church orders will be physically bereft. There will be
presented to them a great temptation to give in. Preachers will give in with
the excuse that they will serve God within the framework of the antichrist
beast-system. They will give in to the flatteries and blandishments of the
hierarchy. And the people will follow these false shepherds right into the
slaughter. But in the judgment they will all be found naked. They will not be
given those white robes; neither will they walk with Him. You can't walk in the
spotted garments of the world, holding hands with the devil here, and then
expect to be with God. It is time to wake up and hear the voice of God crying, "Come
out of her (organized religion) My people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues." Amen.
God is speaking. Shun the religions of this world like you shun the plague.
Leave off walking with the world and make your garments white by repentance and
the blood of the Lamb. But do it now, for tomorrow may be too late.
265-2 "And he that overcometh, I will not blot out his
name out of the Book of Life." Once again we come to a most difficult
portion of the Word. This verse superficially regarded will be used by both the
Arminians and the Calvinists to suit their purposes.
The Arminians will declare that this verse assuredly
annuls John 6:37-44,
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to
Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him
That sent Me. And this is the Father's will Which hath
sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. The Jews then murmured at Him, because He
said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, Whose father and
mother we know? How is it then that He saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus
therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to Me except the Father Which hath
sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
Arminianism
makes the will of the Father, not a sovereign purpose, but merely a complacent
desire as He stands back to see what all men do with His good and gracious
gifts, and even life eternal.
266-1 The Calvinists do not see that.
They see in this verse strong consolation given to the suffering, burdened
saints, that no matter how evil are the times, how terrible the persecution,
because the overcomer is one, "who believeth that Jesus is the
Christ," he will not have his name removed from that book. Some also say
that this 'Book of Life' is not the 'Lamb's Book of Life.' But as usual, when
one regards a verse superficially, he comes up with a superficial
understanding.
266-2 The possibility of the removal of
a name from the records of God deserves more than a casual study, for up until
now most students have merely drawn a conclusion that God places the names of
those born again within the Lamb's Book of Life at the time of their rebirth;
and if for any reason that name must be removed, the space on the record will
simply be a blank as it was before a name had been placed there. This is one
hundred percent opposite to what the Word actually teaches.
266-3 At the very start of our study,
let it be known that there is NOT ONE Scripture that teaches that God is
presently compiling a record of names. This was all done before the foundation
of the world, as we will point out shortly. Also, it is not a question of
simply involving ourselves with two groups of people both of whom had
opportunity to receive eternal life, wherein one group received it and had
their names placed on record while the others who refused did not have their
names so placed. We will actually show by Scripture that multitudes who were not even born again will go into eternal life. As
strange as this may sound, it is certainly true. We will also show that there
is a group of people whose names having been placed on that record before the
foundation of the world, CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE THOSE NAMES
REMOVED; but will also show that another group WHOSE NAMES WERE ON THAT RECORD
BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD WILL HAVE THEIR NAMES REMOVED.
267-1 To begin with, there is no basis for the claims that the
'Lamb's Book of Life' is not the same as the 'Book of Life.' The Book of Life
might be called the Lamb's Book of Life, or Christ's Book of Life, or even Thy
Book and Book of the Living. Only names are written in it.
Revelation 13:8, "And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, (the beast) whose names are not written in the Book of
Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Revelation 17:8, "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on
the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from
the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not,
and yet is."
Revelation 20:12-15, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the Book
of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake
of fire."
You can
see that though there are other books mentioned, there is always the reference
to ONE book containing names. In the Revelation it is called the 'Lamb's Book
of Life', or the 'Book of Life.'
267-2 Now where is this book located?
Luke 10:17-24, "And the seventy returned again
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy Name. And
He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give
unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this
rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit, and
said, I Thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even
so, Father; for it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered Me of My Father: and no man knoweth Who the Son is, but the
Father: and Who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
Him. And He turned Him unto His disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the
eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you that many prophets and
kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them;
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."
The Book of Life is definitely located in heaven, and will
appear at the great White Throne judgment. In these verses Jesus said that
their NAMES were written in heaven. They were written in the Book of Life, for
that is where names are placed. Jesus was speaking to the seventy (verse 17), but
He was also speaking to the twelve (verse 23). These had all been rejoicing
that devils were subject to them in Jesus' Name. Christ's rejoinder was, "Rejoice
not that spirits are subject to you, but rather that your names are written in
heaven (Book of Life)." You will note here that Judas was one of those
who were casting out devils in Jesus' Name, but we know that he was a devil,
the son of perdition.
John 6:70-71, "Jesus answered them, Have not I
chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon: for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the
twelve."
John 17:12, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy
Name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the
son of perdition: that the Scripture might be fulfilled."
John 13:10-11, 18, "Jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not
save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean but not all.
For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, ye are not all clean. I
speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with Me hath lifted
up his heel against Me."
Now if language means anything at all we must admit that
Judas was chosen by Jesus (John 13:18), yet he was not clean. (John 13:10-11),
Judas was also given to Jesus by the Father. John 17:12. (Let it be noted here
that the "choosing" and giving is the exact parallel as in the
illustration of Moses and Pharaoh, Jacob and Esau, for though Esau and Pharaoh
were both fore-known, they were predestinated to wrath, while the end of Moses
and Jacob was glorification.
I Peter 2:8-9a shows both reprobates and elect "even
to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: where-unto also they were
appointed. But Ye are a chosen generation.")
Judas was numbered with the twelve and actually had a part with them in the
ministry previous to Pentecost.
Acts 1:16-17, "Men and brethren, this Scripture
must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David
spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he
was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry." The
part that Judas obtained amongst the twelve and then lost was neither inferior
to the ministries of the other eleven, nor was it a devilish foreign ministry
interjected amongst the ministries of the others.
Acts 1:25,
"That he may take part of this ministry and apostle-ship, from which
Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place."
Judas, a devil, lost a God-given Holy Ghost ministry, and killed himself and
WENT TO HIS OWN PLACE. His name was even in the Book of Life. But his name was
blotted out.
269-1 Now before we pursue this thought
on Judas, let us go back to the Old Testament and see where God did the same
thing. In Genesis 35:23-26, the sons of Jacob were twelve in number and their
names were as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun;
Joseph and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. These twelve sons'
descendants become the twelve tribes of
269-2 The question now arises, why are these two tribes
deleted? The answer lies in Deuteronomy 29:16-20,
"For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came
through the nations which ye passed by; and ye have seen their abominations,
and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them: Lest
there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart
turneth away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of these
nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless
himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the
imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The Lord will not
spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against
that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him,
and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven."
Herein is pronounced the curse against idolatry, or
spiritual fornication. The tribe that turned to idolatry was to have its name
blotted out. And the history of the two tribes whose names were blotted out
because of idolatry is found in I Kings 12:25-30,
"Then Jeroboam built Shechem in
Hosea 4:17, "Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone."
270-1 Note particularly that the
punishment for idolatry was that the name of that tribe was to be blotted out
'from under heaven.' Deuteronomy 29:20. It does not say that it would be
blotted out 'in heaven,' but from under heaven. And that is exactly as it is,
for now
Revelation 7:4-8, "And I heard the number of them
which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand
of ALL the tribes of the children of
(1) Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
(2) Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
(3) Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
(4) Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
(5) Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
(6) Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
(7) Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
(8) Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
(9) Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
(10) Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
(11) Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
(12) Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand." (Note, Dan and Ephraim missing).
270-3 Now with this see Daniel 12:1
which refers to these one hundred and forty-four thousand being sealed during
the sixth seal and the time of the Great Tribulation or Jacob's trouble. "And
at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children
of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered every one THAT SHALL BE FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK."
271-1 However, after this period of
tribulation, (during the millennium,) as seen by Ezekiel in 48:1-8, and 22-29
we see the tribes back once more in Divine order. But, from the time that
Ephraim and Dan joined themselves to idols, they died, and those tribes have no
more recognition. Now I realize that since the destruction of
271-2 Here are the tribes of
Ezekiel 48:1-8 and 22-29, "Now these are the names of the tribes. From
the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath,
Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these
are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. And by the
border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the
west side, a portion for Naphtali. And by the border
of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the
west side, a portion for Ephraim. And by the border of
Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west
side, a portion for
272-1 Another illustration that we
might take is the story of
272-2 Now I am sure that you have
noticed that those whose names were in the Book of Life were a part of the
religious order of that day that centered around the true God and worship of
Him, though they did not worship according to Truth (Word). Like Judas they didn't
go all the way. See how Judas was chosen of God. He was instructed in truth. He
shared knowledge of the mysteries. He had a ministry of power granted unto him
and he healed the sick and cast out devils in Jesus' Name. But when the
show-down came, he sold out for gold and political power. He did not go up to
Pentecost to receive the Spirit of God. He was devoid of the Spirit. Make no
mistake about it, a person that is truly baptized by
the Holy Ghost into the body of Christ receiving the fullness of the Spirit
will be in the WORD ALL THE WAY. That is the evidence of being baptized with
the Holy Ghost. Judas failed. Multitudes fail right there. And when they fail
to go on in that Word, their names are taken off the Book of Life.
273-1 In order to further clarify this
removal of a name from the Book of Life we ought to extend our thoughts to
Exodus 32:30-34, "And it came to pass on the
morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have
sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall
make an atonement for your sins. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them
gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I
pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written. And the Lord said unto
Moses, whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I
blot out of My book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which
I have spoken unto thee: behold Mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless
in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them."
It is more
than evident that names have been, and will be removed from the Book of Life
ere time shall be no more. In this particular place it was because of idolatry,
even as when Dan and Ephraim lost their rights as tribes for worshipping the
golden calves. All who worshipped the idols had their names removed from the
Book of Life.
273-2 When
In Psalms 69 which sets forth the humiliation of Jesus it
says in verses 21-28,
"They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My
thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before
them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually
to shake. Pour out Thy indignation upon them and let Thy wrathful anger take
hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their
tents. For they persecute Him Whom Thou hast smitten; and they talk to the
grief of those whom Thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and
let them not come into Thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the Book
of the Living, and not be written with the righteous."
When the Jews rejected Jesus there was a literal turning away of God from them
to the Gentiles.
Acts 13:46-48, "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, it was
necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing
ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we
turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set
thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto
the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and
glorified the Word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed."
274-1 This is not to suggest that there
will be no more names from the tribes of Israel remaining in the Book of Life,
for many of these (but not multitudes) through the principle of election will
be in the Gentile church age and come into the body of Jesus Christ, showing
that their names did indeed remain in the Book of Life. Also, as we will show,
according to the fifth seal multitudes of martyred Jews will be given white
robes and eternal life by the Lord. Also the hundred and forty-four thousand
will be sealed at His coming, proving that their names were not deleted either.
But it is even as most accurately set forth in Psalms 69 that it is the wicked
or unrighteous rejecters of Christ and the destroyers of His people whose names
are removed.
274-2 As Israel (chosen people of God)
in majority forfeited their rights in the Book of Life by rejecting Jesus, so
the majority of the Gentile church will also come into condemnation with the
resultant removal of their names from the Book of Life by rejecting the Word
and thereby entering into the world ecumenical movement which is the image
erected unto the beast.
274-3 There is
another point to see here. In the great White Throne judgment there will be a
separation of people. The Book of Life will be opened and another book will be
opened.
Matthew 25:31-46, "When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the
throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left.
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me
drink; I was a stranger and ye took Me in: Naked and ye clothed Me: I was sick,
and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the
righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an
hungered and fed Thee? or thirsty and gave Thee drink:
When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or
naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, In
as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me. Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from
Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: Naked, and ye clothed Me not:
sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not: Then shall they also answer Him
saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or
naked, or sick, or in prison and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He
answer them saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one
of the least of these, ye did it not unto Me. And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal."
Revelation 20:11-15, "And I saw a great white
throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away: and there was found no place for them. And I
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works,
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into
the lake of fire."
275-1 There will be both the righteous
and the unrighteous in this judgment. It says so. THESE RIGHTEOUS WILL NOT BE
THE BRIDE FOR THE BRIDE SITS WITH HIM IN JUDGMENT.
I Corinthians 6:2-3, "Do ye not know that the
saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall
be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not
that we shall judge angels? how much more things that
pertain to this life?"
Revelation 3:21, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in
My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His
throne."
See, the bride is with Him in the throne. As she is to
judge the world she has to be sitting in the judgment with Him. That is exactly
what Daniel saw.
Daniel 7:9-10, "I beheld till the thrones were
cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, Whose garment was white as snow,
and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery
flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth
from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were
opened."
See, it is
the same scene, for the thousand thousands who are ministering to Him are the
bride, for who ministers to the husband but the wife?
276-1 The question now arises, why are these righteous ones in
the judgment? There is no other place that they can come up, for there are but
two resurrections and since they could not qualify for the first resurrection
they must come up in the second which is a resurrection unto judgment. The ones
who qualify for the first resurrection (the bride) are not in the judgment.
John 5:24, "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that
heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life (that
is, the believer is already the recipient of eternal life which he has in his
possession now) and shall not come into condemnation (shall not come into the
judgment, is what it really says) but is passed (permanently) from death unto
life."
But notice carefully, Jesus must have yet another group in
mind who at a certain resurrection will receive eternal life. They will receive
it at the resurrection, NOT HAVING PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED IT AS A MEMBER OF THE
BRIDE.
John 5:28-29, "Marvel not at this, for the hour is
coming, in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
Now we all know that John 5:28-29 is NOT THE RAPTURE for
only the dead in Christ will arise from the graves at that time along with the
living bride who still is on the earth.
I Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
But it
says in John 5:28-29 that ALL are going to come forth from the grave. This is
the very same resurrection that is spoken of in Revelation 20:11-15 wherein THE
DEAD were brought before the Lord and judged according to their works, and all
whose names were not in the Book of Life were then cast into the lake of fire.