The high calling of God in Christ Jesus that Paul pursued as a prize, with all that it entails, is encapsulated for us in the words of the cloud of witnesses who declared to Jesus, “You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth” (Rev. 5:9, 10 emphasis added). “Kings and priests”: That speaks of two sides of the same coin that is the high calling of God, and that is and that has been God’s eternal purpose for man from the beginning of creation, and that is to be fulfilled in us upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The “priests” side of the coin speaks of our RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. It is the ever unfolding revelation or unveiling of Christ to us in the context of intimacy, whereby He shows us ever increasing aspects of His glory, removing the hindering veils from the eyes of our hearts, and thereby changing us into His image from glory to glory.
This, of course, starts with the new birth, which makes us children of God as infants, born, not of the corruptible seed of a mixed gospel message; a hybrid seed spawned by the gospel cross-pollinated with the world and with selfish or even worldly motives, but rather, born of incorruptible seed: the pure word of The Kingdom (1 Pet. 1:23). The revelation of God’s holiness produces in us the fear of God that is the beginning place for the revelation of Him who is our Wisdom (Prov. 9:10, 1 Cor. 1:30). The revelation of the cross changes us from infants who struggle under the tutorship of the law and who fail often because of carnality, into bondservants or love-slaves of Jesus Christ, who find the power of grace to live a life of obedience to our master (Ex. 21, Gal. 4:1-3). The revelation of the Father changes us from slaves into adult sons (huios) of God and therefore brothers and co-heirs with His Son Jesus Christ. These sons are redeemed from the law and have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby they relate to God as Daddy, and these are led of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 4:4-7, Rom. 8:14). The revelation of Jesus as a close and intimate friend or lover changes us into a friend of God (John 15:15, Ruth 3:9). The revelation of the beauty of Jesus in His lowliness as He unveils for us His feet down on the threshing floor of union with Christ in His death, can change us into His wife, which is the consummate relationship of intimacy with Jesus Christ (Ruth 3:6, 7).
The intimate pursuit of Christ by His love-sick beloved is the very essence of the priestly calling. It is all about groping for and finding her Love (Song 5).
The “kings” side of the coin is different, though related. It speaks to us, not of our relationship with, but our POSITION IN CHRIST. To be kings and to reign with and in Christ has been the purpose of God for mankind from the beginning of time, and it will be fulfilled in those who are united with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and glorification. This is the inheritance for adult sons of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. They are the called, chosen and faithful who, having been predestined to the setting with Christ as adult sons (huiothesia), and having been united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, will reign with Christ in life, seated with Christ already in heavenly places, and who will reign with Christ in the Earth as the kingdoms of this Earth become the kingdoms of our God, and as the Kingdom of Heaven comes and His will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
The revelation of these adult sons will bring the revelation of Jesus, THE SON, for which all of creation groans in anticipation. Father God, in and through these kings who are co-reigning with His Son Jesus Christ, will bring the rule or the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth, and Father God will restore through the second Man Adam what creation lost through the first man Adam.
At this very moment, many sons (not gender specific but declaring the dignity and maturity of the relationship) are being brought to glory, and as more and more sons are brought to glory, the rule of Heaven is coming to Earth more and more. As salvation comes to these sons in all its fullness, so through Jesus Christ THE SON, reigning through His brethren, salvation will come to all of creation (Rom. 8:19-23).
In the past, God raised up anointed vessels for His service, and Christians gathered around these high profile ministers. These anointed vessels of God were great leaders and restorers. However, those days are coming to an end. No longer will God’s people gather around men or women who are especially anointed or used to bring Heaven to Earth within their sphere of influence. Rather, in the coming Kingdom age, the only gathering will be unto Jesus. The Lord has purposed that the connection be directly to Christ Himself, and He is, by His grace, intimately connecting many to Himself and freeing many from bondage to a religious hierarchy and submission to man as a mediator between God and man.
Up to the present, true leaders have always sought to connect God’s people to Jesus Christ. Many times, in their personal lives, these leaders embraced a certain mandate or emphasis. Because most of God’s people are currently in the infant state of development, the church as a whole is unable to connect directly to Jesus Christ. Therefore, most cannot see Jesus as the center, but rather, are drawn to whatever secondary emphasis is personally attractive to them, whether it be a lifestyle, such as the agrarian lifestyle, or an emphasis on family, or a means of operation or gathering such as organic church life and meetings, or any of a thousand other emphases around which Christians have gathered and are currently gathering.
Hopefully, for the leader, Jesus Christ is the goal and the center, and their purpose, whatever secondary emphasis they might have, is to connect others directly to Jesus in intimacy. However, because infants are unable to see Jesus, they naturally focus on and make connections based on the secondary emphasis or mandate that these leaders have expressed. This is not the case for the more mature in Christ. Those who have a revelation of Christ, can see Christ, and therefore gather unto Him and connect with Him directly. We are in a time when this is rapidly increasing as Jesus Christ is lifted up and is drawing men unto Himself. Jesus Christ is the center and the goal, and those who are in love with Jesus, and who have had the revelation of His person, are connecting with Him directly, and that connection to Christ necessarily connects them to one another in the Spirit realm, even for those who are separated geographically. That connection to one another is independent of time or space, and is outside the bounds of any emphasis to which we can attach a name, or denominate. There actually is a spiritual connection that is far more real than any connection based upon interaction or shared experience in the context of localized fellowship, and it is a connection in the Spirit and through a shared connection with Jesus. Paul hinted at this when he wrote, “When I am with you in spirit”, being separated from them geographically (Col. 2:5, 1 Cor. 5:3-5).
UnityWhen will we all be one? What is the source of unity? In the past, many attempts have been made to bring unity to the body of Christ. These were human attempts to do what will never and can never be done by human effort. Man attempted to take many differing groups with separate emphases and bring them together above or outside of their respective emphasis, denomination, or belief system on the basis of their common desire for unity. This was simply a new emphasis.
True unity in the Spirit will only come through adult sons being glorified together with Christ. Unity will come only on the basis of being one with Jesus Christ, and not on the basis of any other emphasis, even unity. “And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23 emphasis added).
The glory about which Jesus spoke to the Father can be defined as the Father’s good opinion of THE SON. It is this glory, the Father’s good opinion of Jesus, that Jesus shares with those who have been united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is their union with Christ that causes their life to be hidden with Christ in God, and allows the Father to see in them, not themselves, but THE SON with whom He is well pleased. These were predestined to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. These will be perfected in one, and it is through them that the world will know that The Father sent His Son Jesus. As these adult sons are brought to the place of glorification with Christ, they are allowed to share with Christ in His glory, which is the Father’s good opinion of the Son, and it is this glorification that brings the true unity of the Spirit in those who have come into this experience with and in Christ. This is the only source of true unity, the kind of unity that will make the world know Him who is The Truth, and it is a unity based solely upon union with Jesus by His Spirit, and not on any external or secondary emphasis. Note well that it is not a unity based on common belief, even belief in Jesus, but much deeper, a unity based upon union with Jesus as He shares with us His glory as heirs and co-heirs with Jesus THE SON.
Political ActivismAt this crisis point in our nation and culture, many Christians have become very concerned and have asked, “What can we do?” Many are turning to political activism or educational endeavors in order to restore our nation to “its Christian roots.” Make no mistake, political activism on the part of good or righteous people does have some positive effect on culture, but not much, when compared to the need. For those who fear the direction that we as a nation are headed, or for those who search for the fulfillment of a personal need to be a positive influence in the world, political activism may, to a certain extent, alleviate for a time those fears, or fulfill some of those personal needs, but in the context of this high and holy calling to which we are called and predestined as sons, political activism is a poor and shallow diversion for those who do not have eyes to see nor ears to hear what the groanings of the Spirit are in this hour. It is little more than a diversion or a distraction from what we are called, not just to do, but to be in the Earth.
The Lord is angry with all the nations, including this great nation (Is. 34:2). God is not interested in having on Earth a “Christian Nation”, but rather, the Kingdom of Heaven. We have had two hundred years of a “Christian Nation” filled with a huge majority of people in every generation (including the Christian populace) that have never truly come under the dominion or the rule of Jesus Christ. For most, that is perfectly acceptable, as long as we are safe, healthy, and free to pursue the American dream. However, that has never been acceptable to Jesus Christ. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He desires to fulfill in this age what He purposed from the dawn of creation, and that is to establish the domain of Heaven, the rule of Christ on Earth, in and through man. A nation that is founded on Judeo-Christian principles is not the same as the Kingdom of Heaven where Jesus rules utterly, and incidentally, only those who have entered into His kingdom, where He rules exclusively on the throne of their hearts, can clearly see that fact and clearly see the difference between embracing the Christian philosophy and coming under the rule of Jesus Christ.
Political Activism may have a positive effect upon our nation, but that is not our goal. Our goal, as Jesus taught us to pray, is “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as in Heaven.” That will never come through political activism, but through the rule and reign of Jesus Christ, established in the Earth through adult sons that have been glorified together with Jesus Christ.
Before you invest too much of yourself in political activism, let me tell you what the Lord has shown me that He is going to do. Bear in mind, I don’t know the time frame. I, like many who have gone before, believe that He will do this in my time, but like those many who have gone before, I could be wrong about that. The Lord is allowing or unleashing a great spiritual storm of evil upon the Earth, the effects of which are clearly seen all around us. This storm is multifaceted, including political, economic, social, moral, climatic, ecological, etc. God’s purpose behind this great storm is to completely destroy all that man has made in his pride and abilities, and to destroy the ability of the world systems to perpetuate and to sustain themselves. This is to usher in the rule of Christ on Earth. He will be the stone cut out without hands that will smite the great image on the feet, that will destroy all the Kingdoms of this Earth, and that, with His reigning sons, will become a great mountain that will fill the whole Earth, and of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea. The domain of Heaven is coming to Earth, but it will take a total and utter collapse of all that is not of Heaven, but that is earthly, sensual, devilish, and of man’s making in his independence and rebellion to God.
If you so choose, you can produce a very small measure of good through political activism, but to attempt to stem the winds and waves of this cataclysmic world-wide spiritual storm through natural efforts is like standing in the gale and the storm surge of a category five hurricane and cursing it’s wind and waves. If that is the course you choose, I appreciate your efforts, and I thank you, for they do help us as Americans to some extent and on a one level, and I wish you all the best in your endeavor.
Let us repent of turning to the world for entertainment, perspective, or wisdom. Let us repent of listening to the world’s voices, allowing the spirit of this age to infect us with the leaven of the world through media, entertainment, print, empty diversions, or vain pursuits. Lord, give us clean hands and pure hearts. Let us not lift up our souls to vanity. Let us set no unclean thing before our eyes. Let us repent of taking the arm of the flesh in an attempt to effect spiritual change. Let us repent of equating USA with the Kingdom of Heaven, patriotism with Christianity, or preaching our nation’s Christian roots with evangelism. Let us repent of being seduced by a natural “morality” that has no true righteousness that is from God by faith in Christ (Phil. 3:9), but is an empty hypocritical copy that loves and makes concessions for its own sin and yet hates and condemns the sins of others.
The voice of conservatism is not the voice of God. The voice of the right or of morality is not the voice of God. Don’t be seduced by voices of the world that say the “right” things. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” Those who know Jesus, know His voice, and will not be led astray by voices of the world that proclaim biblical truth or Christian voices that proclaim partial truths. They will not follow the voice of a stranger, even though that stranger proclaims truth, for they know that THE TRUTH is a Person.
Strong DelusionThe enemy sees this approaching threat to his kingdom on Earth, and he has recognized that there is no way he can stand before and oppose the ever growing ever expanding kingdom of heaven and the progressive purification of God’s reigning ones. So, he has determined to do what he has done countless times throughout history in order to stop a coming and expanding move of God in the Earth: he has decided not to fight it, but to join it. By joining it, his hope is to discredit it and pervert it, and therefore derail, delay or limit it.
There is a strong delusion in the kingdom movement or organic church movement that is extremely insidious because of its subtlety. There is an antichrist spirit at work in the kingdom/organic movement that is as real and as deadly as the antichrist spirit that has been at work in the organized church that the Kingdom of God is here to replace.
There are false apostles or deceitful workers in the forefront of the organic/kingdom movement. A leader cannot lead others where they have not gone themselves, so the one absolutely indispensable prerequisite for a leader is that they have had the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ, as I described earlier. These self-sent leaders not only will not profit God’s people, but their books and sermons contain leaven that is so destructive because the nature of leaven is that it works through the entire loaf.
These leaders only know Jesus second hand through the teachings, writings, and experiences of others, therefore the slight and subtle leaven you may notice but dismiss is far more insidious than a lack of development or maturity. In back of that leaven is something more diabolical that you can imagine. In back of that leaven is a false christ, a jesus that is not the real Jesus, but a golden calf made in their own image: an anti-christ.
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He shall be revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jo. 3:2). Every man will have one of two experiences. Either they will have the revelation of Jesus Christ and see Him as He really is, and be changed into His likeness from glory to glory, or they will make a jesus in their likeness. Beware of wolves. Beware of leaven. Beware of false workers and false apostles (not false brothers, incidentally) who have created a christ in their own image. These are propagating, not tons of false doctrine, but a tiny diversion from the truth; a tiny pinch of leaven, and in back of that pinch of leaven lies the false jesus that they are propagating, and this false jesus is all encompassing in their lives and ministries. It is an anti-christ spirit; a lying seducing spirit that is bringing doctrines of demons intended by the enemy to pervert and discredit this expanding move of God. Beware.
The enemy will not prevail at all against His Son or against His sons. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand” (Dan. 12:10). Pray, pray, pray!