The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection is tactical surprise.
Weekly Readings
For the Sabbath of May 24, 2014
The person conducting the Sabbath service should open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them.
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If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:9–15)
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14.
If we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him—there is a qualifier: Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Whoever doesn’t have life is not necessarily heard.
Without the indwelling of Christ Jesus, the person does not have the Son—and whoever does not have the Son does not have eternal life, with John’s Jesus elsewhere saying, “‘And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent’” (John 17:3). Two deities that together function as one deity. Two deities that predate the creation: “‘And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed’” (v. 5). These two deities seen in John 1:1 as the Logos who created all things physical (John 1:3) and who was God [Theos — no definite article] and who was with or of [pros] the God [ton Theon] in primacy [arche] when this one, the Logos [’o Logos] entered His creation as His unique Son (John 3:16), thereby not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped, but making Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:6–7).
Note: men have the form of servants even though they are created in the image and likeness of God … it isn’t the fleshly body that was created in the likeness of God, but the inner self. It isn’t the inner self that is in the form of a servant, but the fleshly body. Thus, the fleshly body will never leave this world: “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable”(1 Cor 15:50 emphasis added).
The subject that has been under discussion is the partial hardening (in the form of a veil) that has come over Israel, physical and spiritual, until the fullness of the Gentiles come to God, with this veil going back to Moses who put a veil over his face so that Israel would not see what was being accomplished when it came to entering into the presence of God. Greater Christendom, the dead Body of Christ, cannot see what is being accomplished when it comes to entering into the presence of God. Even the Elect do not fully understand what it means to enter into God’s presence:
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of [YHWH], and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And [YHWH] said to Satan, "[YHWH] rebuke you, O Satan! [YHWH] who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of [YHWH] was standing by. And the angel of [YHWH] solemnly assured Joshua, "Thus says [YHWH] of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares [YHWH] of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares [YHWH] of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree." (Zech 3:1–10 emphasis and double emphasis added)
Entering into the presence of God is more than entering into heaven: having the right of access to God is a privilege not afforded to every angel, even though it seems reasonable to deduce that every angel must come before God at appointed times, the spiritual reality of all male Israelites being commanded to appear before the Lord three times a year (“Three times a year all your males shall appear before [YHWH] your God at the place that He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths” — Deut 16:16), and of Satan appearing before the Lord (Job 1:6; 2:1).
The difference between entering into the presence of God and of appearing before the Lord is the difference of Israel being assembled around, but not on, Mount Sinai and Moses ascending to the summit of Mount Sinai—
And to enter into the presence of God, a human son of God must have clean attire, with iniquity spiritually representing filthy attire.
As Christians we rise from bed and put on the garment of Christ Jesus’ righteousness, not by slipping arms in sleeves and pulling the garment of Christ over shoulders and chest, but by doing what is right; by choosing to keep the Commandments; by showing love to/for neighbor and brother.
Christendom didn’t understood much about God throughout its short life before it died with the death of the John (ca 100–102 CE), and dead Christendom since has gone far from God while embracing Middle and Near East paganism. Yes, dead Christendom has been on a long journey away from God, going to the farthest reaches of Tartarus where it pitched its camp, set its standards, picketed its steeds. Now, from its place in utter darkness, it awaits the coming of Christ.
The greater Christian Church is not born of God, doesn’t have the indwelling of Christ, and lies about what it means to be born again, thereby destroying the faith of its own offspring that would have worshiped God in spirit and truth if given an even chance … it isn’t yet time for greater Christendom to come to God. The veil that prevents Christians from understanding the things of God must remain in place until the fullness of Gentiles comes to Christ.
Jesus said,
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:24–26 emphasis added)
As a grain of wheat, Jesus died in 31 CE, thus giving life to His disciples, not to the entirety of greater Christendom. As now grains of wheat, His disciples died in the 1st-Century (in the case of John, at the end of the 1st-Century, John living into the beginning of the 2nd-Century for theological reasons), and through John, as a single grain of wheat, gave life to endtime disciples that are proportionally as few in number as 1st-Century disciples … if what Philadelphia teaches is correct, then everyone else in the world is wrong. If what Christ Jesus taught in the 1st-Century was correct, then everyone else in the world was wrong. Pious Jews could not accept this premise. After all, how can one man be right and everyone else wrong? That is not logical. So the one man, one voice, one ministry must be wrong, meaning that in the 1st-Century, Christ Jesus had to be wrong—and was according to rabbinical Judaism, that gives to Jesus less standing than does Islam.
Who will come to God in the Tribulation: a Christian in greater Christianity who has been filled with spirit (but not born of spirit) at the beginning of the Affliction? An observant Jew? An Islamist with his AK47 in the Endurance? The answer will surprise most everyone; for it is the Islamist that will become obedient to God when filled with spirit (when the world is baptized in spirit). It will be the Islamist who doesn’t “have to” convert for physical reasons when the Lord sets His hand to save the third part of humanity (from Zech 13:9); for any person “forced” into covenant with God will not long remain in covenant. Any person “converted” against his or her will is not really a convert. And in the Affliction, all who identify themselves as Christians will suddenly be filled with spirit and placed in the New Covenant, the Second Passover Covenant … 220 days later, the vast majority of Christians will rebel against God and will return to their present state of spiritual darkness.
Did not Paul as a grain of wheat die and from Paul come many stems of wheat, each bearing a seed head? The concept seems reasonable. But when did these grains of wheat coming from Paul sprout and grow? When does the seed coming from John grow? Not in the 1st-Century, for John lived into the 2nd-Century: John didn’t die in the 1st-Century so John could not be a grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies and from his death comes much fruit in the century when Paul dies.
Pause and consider Jesus’ words: whoever hates his life (loves it less than he loves God) in this world will keep it for eternal life, which would be a theological rejection of this world and all that is in and of it—
What would it mean for a Christian to turn his or her back on this world? No political campaigning even for just causes. No participation in the governance of this world. No military participation. No island getaways, not when every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree. No birthday parties. No Christmas parties. No New Year’s parties. No Valentine Day romantic getaways. No Mardi Gras escapades. No fast cars and even faster women. No ski chalets. No leaving it [whatever it is] in Las Vegas (nothing stays there anyway: it all goes home with the person).
John writes,
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)
If anyone serves Christ, he must follow Christ … among Christians, who follows Christ? Who lives in this world as an observant Jew without being outwardly circumcised? Even Sabbatarian Christians as they drift into the Sacred Names Heresy begin to circumcise the flesh. And unless the person serves Christ through having the indwelling of Christ, the person will not ask God according to the will of God.
It is not, today, the will of God to intervene in any perceptible way in the affairs of this world. So the grain that came from Paul lay without sprouting in fallow fields for roughly 1900 years. After all, in 2012, I raised corn (maize) that came from seed stored in a clay jar for 800 years [Anasazi corn]. Why couldn’t spiritual seed Paul sowed lay without sprouting until the time of the end? Apparently it did.
15.
The full inclusion of Gentiles comes about in a two-fold manner, analogous to Israel numbered in the census taken at Mount Sinai [the census of the second year — Num chap 1] and to the children of Israel numbered in the census taken on the plains of Moab [Num chap 26], with the Israel number at Sinai being analogous to greater Christendom being filled with spirit immediately following the Second Passover liberation of Israel, and with the children of Israel numbered on the plains of Moab being analogous to the third part of humanity that will be filled with spirit when the kingdom is given to the Son of Man and the world is baptized in the divine breath of God. And as only Joshua and Caleb remained of the nation numbered at Mount Sinai (Num 26:64–65) when Israel entered into the Promised Land, only a remnant of Christendom—the seven named churches and a single paired entity from every other Christian denomination (analogous to the seven pair of clean animals and single pair of every other species that entered the Ark in Noah’s day)—will remain spiritually viable when dominion is taken from the Adversary and his angels and given to the Son of Man (cf. Dan 7:9–14; Rev 11:15–18; Rev 12:7–17).
The full inclusion of Gentiles begins with greater Christendom, the nation of spiritual Israel that should be and should have been circumcised of heart prior to the Second Passover liberation of Israel, being filled with spirit (the spirit of God, pneuma Theou) at the Second Passover that will occur on a second Passover. Those who truly are [have been] circumcised of heart will have been born of spirit prior to the Second Passover; so when filled with spirit, they will not initially receive the indwelling of the spirit of God, but rather, they will experience barriers to dissipate that previously caused them to be as Paul was when he wrote that he didn’t understand his actions in doing those things he hated while not doing what he desired to do (Rom chap 7) … all Christians who have truly been born of spirit through the indwelling of Christ Jesus—the only way any Christian can be “born” of spirit—will be striving to walk in this world as Jesus walked prior to being filled with the spirit of God. Being filled with spirit as John the Baptist was filled with spirit does not equate to being born of spirit. And realization of this distinction is neither understood nor appreciated by greater Christendom.
A human person would be consumed by the “fire” that separates the supra-dimensional heavenly realm from the four unfurled dimensions of the creation, with apparently the Higgs boson imparting mass to the strings or spoken rings of the creation. It is this fire that was foreshadowed by the fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar—the fire of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace that should have consumed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan chap 3) formed the visible physical shadow and type of the usually invisible non-oxidizing fire that separates heaven from earth, with the principle that the invisible spiritual things of God are made known by the visible, physical things of this world that precede them (cf. Rom 1:20; 1 Cor 15:46).
A human person would be consumed by the bright fire that is the glory of God (from Ezek 1:26–28) if this fire were not contained within the person in a vessel that also came from heaven, this vessel being the indwelling of Christ Jesus in the form of His spirit [pneuma Christou]. But all of this is old news to those who are of Philadelphia.
The fire that separates heaven from earth is also the glory of God; thus in the “nothingness” that is typified by the Abyss, the presence of the glory of God represents “heaven” and “life” … where the glory of God does not exist, there is no spiritual life. The parameters of heaven are defined by the presence of the glory of God. Thus, to enter heaven necessitates entering into the glory of God, or crossing a boundary marked by non-oxidizing fire as the boundary of the human body is defined by skin. And where the skin of a human person is broken, the life essence [blood] of a human person spills from the body. If the wound is not tended—the bleeding stopped—the person will die. If the wound made to heaven when iniquity was discovered in an anointed cherub (and in the angels that believed him) is not repaired, heaven will also die through the bright fire that is the glory of God going out.
Human beings live via continuation of the dark fire that is the cellular oxidation of simple carbohydrates, with individual cells in the body having life of their own that is part of a common life and with dead cells forming fingernails and hair that are outside the skin. This common life is analogous to heaven.
The full inclusion of Gentiles expands to include all of remaining humanity when dominion is taken from the Adversary and given to the Son of Man—and it will be this last third part of humanity that comes to God nearly en masse:
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," declares [YHWH] of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land, declares [YHWH], two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people”; and they will say, “[YHWH] is my God." (Zech 13:7–9)
Jesus identified Himself, according to Matthew’s Gospel, as the shepherd to be struck (Matt 26:31)—
The human two witnesses represented by Moses and Aaron are not spiritual equals even though both suffer the same fate and the same resurrection, with these two witnesses being tasked to defeat Death, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse and the fourth beast of Daniel chapter 7, their victory over Death coming via their resurrection after three days … these two cannot be spiritual equals; for there is no spiritual equality within Christendom during the Affliction, the first 1260 days of the seven endtime years. For within Christendom in the Affliction will, again, be the Elect—already born of spirit—and will also be the remainder of Christendom, filled with spirit but not born of spirit.
A thing is not established by the testimony of one witness, even when that witness is/was Christ Jesus. A thing is established by the testimony of two or three witnesses; hence it will be the testimony of the two witnesses that establishes the defeat of Death, both here on earth for those not born of spirit and here on earth for those truly born of spirit. It is for this reason that these two become the enemy of humanity during the Affliction; for as Christ Jesus had to get Himself killed on a particular day, the two witnesses have to get themselves killed on a particular day. As Christ Jesus was killed in the spring of the year just before the Feast of Unleavened Bread—Jesus was sacrificed as the Passover Lamb of God on the First Unleavened, the preparation day for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (read Matt 26:17 in Greek, leaving out the extra words translators want to insert)—the two witnesses will be killed in the fall of the year, just after the Last Great Day if these days are not shortened for the Elect’s sake. They will be shortened (Matt 24:22); thus, the two witnesses will be killed midweek during the Feast of Tabernacles three and a half years after the Second Passover liberation of Israel and will be raised from death on the Last Great Day, the last day when the Adversary has lawful dominion over this world.
The cutting short of time will see the removal of about thirty days, the period represented by the difference between the Passover and the second Passover in the year of the Second Passover liberation of Israel, these thirty days then being reinserted in the allotted time the third part of humanity has to rebel against the Adversary in the Endurance of Jesus, a convoluted way of saying that the 1260 days of the Affliction are cut short by about thirty (30) days, and that the 1260 days of the Endurance are lengthened by the amount cut from the Affliction. Thus the rebellion of greater Christendom against God that occurs on day 220 of the Affliction forms the shadow and type of the rebellion against the Antichrist—the Adversary cast to earth—on day 250 of the Endurance, this asymmetrical pattern now causing Daniel’s 1290 days (Dan 12:11) being the 1260 of the Endurance plus the 30 days “borrowed” from the Affliction in cutting short the Affliction for the sake of the Elect. This cutting short and scabbing on will prevent the Adversary from knowing with certainty beforehand when he will be cast from heaven.
In a military campaign, there is tactical surprise versus a surprise attack: when troops are massed on a frontier, no surprise attack can occur across the frontier, for the presence of the troops negates total surprise. However, tactical surprise can still occur for when the attack is undertaken is not known by opposing forces. Such was the case in 2003 when Coalition Forces arrayed themselves against Iraqi forces: everyone knew an attack was imminent, but the ground attack of Coalition forces took the Iraqis by surprise; for the Iraqis expected any ground attack to be preceded by an air campaign, which wasn’t the case. Thus, Coalition forces were nearly fifty miles inside Iraq before Iraqi forces realized an attack was underway.
The Adversary who would kill or cause to be killed all flesh when the defeat of his kingdom of Babylon is imminent will be taken by surprise when days are cut short for the Elect’s sake … the allotted thirty day window for the Second Woe will be dramatically slammed shut very early into this Woe, and about this enough has been said.
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The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.
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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.