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 citizenship.

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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.

The person conducting the service should read or assign to be read Daniel chapter 7, followed by Revelation chapter 11, verses 15 through 19.

Commentary: The kingdom of this world is one kingdom, not many kingdoms. Only from the perspective of human beings does it appear as many kingdoms, nations, states. From God’s perspective, all nations of this earth form a single kingdom that is presently ruled by the prince of this world, this prince called by the prophet Isaiah the king of Babylon (14:4), making this single kingdom “Babylon,” the Babylon that will fall halfway through seven endtime years of tribulation, thereby hard linking the fall of Babylon with Satan being cast from heaven (Rev 12:7–10), establishing the link that Satan is the king of Babylon and the present prince of this world. This means that all who participate in governance of this world participate with Satan in governing the kingdom of this world and as such function as his agents, his ministers, his lackeys. But this will not be what those who participate in world politics want to hear or how these sometimes noble individuals want to perceive themselves: they want to think that they make or will make a difference when in the long run they will really make no difference.

The United States is presently embroiled in a rancorous election campaign—the nation overtly encourages all of its citizens to vote, to participate in electing its next president. The candidates have interesting personal histories, and there are compelling reasons to vote for one major candidate or the other. There are even reasons to vote for the minor candidates that have no chance of winning, let alone governing if perchance elected. But voting makes the person a party to Satan’s governance of the kingdom of this world … how much impact will a person really have when it comes to affecting the decisions of the Adversary or even of God?

From the shadow, a disciple can know who will win: the candidate that moves to the right, circling to the right as Alexander shifted right when facing Darius, will win this election. If John McCain moves to the right—he did when picking his Vice-Presidential candidate and he will in the present financial crisis—he will win the election. Why? Because the war that is presently being fought in the heavenly realm will be won by the demonic first king of the “kingdom of Greece” philosophically shifting right as Alexander geographically repositioned his cavalry so long ago, thereby requiring the Persian king to fight on rough and rocky ground.

Well, a person cannot be certain about an election victory in such a tight presidential race … not true! The shadow that occurred on the ground in the ancient world and that occurs in mental landscapes today accurately reflects what is presently going on in the heavenly realm—accurately reflects what cannot be seen with eyes or known by measurements. And that reflection places the presidential race within the larger framework of a worldwide culture war that will see ancient Greek values win total victory in the arena of ideas, which doesn’t mean that “Christian” values will prevail but that Greek values will as Greek beliefs prevailed within the early Christian Church.

The patriarch Abraham owned no land in this world other than the field with the cave in which Sarah was buried. He spent his later years as a squatter under the oaks of the Amorite Mamre. Obviously some sort of arrangement was worked out between Abraham and Mamre, but an arrangement that did not give Abraham ownership of the land.

Abraham chose to live in tents as he looked forward to the coming of the city of God. He chose not to become invested in a city of the Hittites, or of the Amorites, or of any peoples then occupying the land of Canaan, “invested” used in the sense of being a citizen of a city, or of a city-state [a polis] and thereby living in a so-called permanent structure, with neighbors, and the responsibilities of citizenship. By his simple statement of remaining in tents as a sojourner in the land of Canaan, Abraham claimed citizenship in the city of God. Plus, he created the type (or model/pattern) for disciples, the sons of God who dwell in tents of flesh while awaiting the coming of heavenly Jerusalem, the city itself representing their own glorification and eventual return following the coming of a new heavens and a new earth … glorified disciples will not merely “dwell” in heavenly Jerusalem, but will be this city that is the Bride of Christ.

Presently, disciples are the Body of Christ, with the glorified Jesus of Nazareth being the uncovered Head. As such, disciples are also the Body of the Son of Man—they are Christ; they are the Son of Man. Obviously, they are not the Head of either. They are not, today, glorified. They are not, when called, even acceptable sacrifices, but they become so through being called, justified, and glorified (Rom 8:30). They were, when called, foreknown and predestined to glorification (v. 29), the ultimate repudiation of democracy.

If the person is not foreknown and predestined and called to be numbered among the firstfruits, the person can do absolutely nothing to become one of the firstfruits: the person who is not first foreknown will not even want to be one of the firstfruits, and will certainly not be willing by faith to keep the commandments. This person might as well participate in the governance of this world, thereby striving to make this world a better place in which to live. Such people will be judged in the great White Throne Judgment by whether the “work of the law is written on their hearts” (Rom 2:15), and if these people will have brought forth fruit commensurate with the demands of the law to love neighbors as self, they shall stand before God and shall enter the kingdom after the Thousand Years. They are not today in an everburning hell, but in the dust of this earth or walking around as living dust. They are the dead about which Jesus said to let the dead bury the dead.

Too many Christians today sincerely believe that God doesn’t know what is going on here on earth; that if it were not for them, Satan would defeat God; that they must somehow do God’s job for Him as if He were a feeble old man unable to accomplish His purposes without their participation in the governance of this world … where do they get such nonsense! Do they truly believe that Satan can foil God, preventing God from doing what He intends? Do they believe that their vote on November 4, 2008, will alter what happens to spiritual Babylon? Can they prevent Babylon’s fall? Can they bring the kingdom of God to fruition by voting for morality? Can they turn California “Republican Red”? Or will their participation in American governance keep each of them mentally and especially emotionally invested in the kingdom of this world before this single kingdom becomes that of the Father and the Son halfway through seven endtime years of tribulation?

Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Rom 13:1–2). … Does Paul say that God today rules as the prince of this world? He doesn’t say this, does he? He says, rather, that authority in this world has been instituted by God, and instituted when God delivered the sons of Adam to the Adversary, or expressed in English as Paul expressed the concept in Greek: “For God has consigned all to disobedience [concluded all to sin], that he may have mercy on all” (Rom 11:32).

The saints at Corinth were confronted by sin within their midst, and these saints reveled in their tolerance & diversity: they were analogous to an imaginary San Francisco congregation that embraces gender-bending and homosexuality. Paul writes,

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. Are you arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you … you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Cor 5:1–2, 5)

How did Paul arrive at his demand: you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord? Is this not what the Lord did when Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of God (Gen 3:23–24)? Did not the Lord deliver humankind into the hand of Satan for the destruction of the flesh when He consigned all to disobedience? That is exactly what He did. And will God not once again deliver Israel into the hand of the Adversary when the angel tells Daniel, “‘He [the little horn] shall speak words against the Most High, / and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, / and shall think to change the times and the law; and they [a vague pronoun that could represent either the saints or times and the law] shall be given into his hand / for a time, times, and half a time’” (Dan 7:25)? Yes, God will deliver the Christian Church (spiritually circumcised Israel) into the hand of the man of perdition for the destruction of the flesh because of the lawlessness of the Church, with this delivery to occur at the beginning of the seven endtime years of tribulation.

Christians will NOT be raptured to heaven at the beginning of the Tribulation, but will be empowered by the Holy Spirit and then delivered into the hand of the lawless one. All who say otherwise are false teachers, false prophets, and servants of Satan himself.

But those American Christians who will vote on November 4^th will not today, nor will on the day of the second Passover liberation of Israel believe that they have been delivered into the hand of the Adversary for the destruction of the flesh so that when judgments are revealed they might be saved. They will, instead, believe that they are already saved, and they will proceed to do God a favor when they seek out and kill so-called Judaizers. They will earnestly believe that their god condones such killing of other Christians—and their god does indeed condone murder, for he has been a murderer from the beginning.

They serve Satan today, worshiping him, praying to him, believing him to be that long-haired Jesus familiar to all as a cultural icon representing a historical figure that never lived physically.

Perhaps four, now nearly five hundred years ago it was easier for a Radical Reformer in an Alpine Valley to understand that the prince of this world reigned through the auspices of the Christian Church than it is for a Southern Baptist in Missouri or a Jew in Florida or a Catholic in New Mexico to understand that the same prince of this world reigns today over this nation through the auspices of democracy—this same prince of this world reigns over every nation through his broadcast of disobedience. There is not anywhere that this prince doesn’t reign. He is the one ultimately responsible for tainted milk in China, and for governmental efforts to protect the public from this tainted milk. He is the one ultimately responsible for Barack Obama’s deceptive campaign ads and for John McCain’s exaggerated counter ads. So does he care which candidate wins? Both candidates will face the same problems and will have the same limited options for solving these problems. One would lean one way and the other would lean the other way, but in the end both will “feel” the spillover affects of the ongoing war in the heavenly realm and will move right as the spiritual king of Greece—the male goat of Daniel chapter 8—tramples the kings of Persia. But perhaps McCain is the only candidate truly able to move right. If this is the case, then McCain will win the election; for Obama cannot serve the king of Greece from the socialistic stance of the kings of Persia. Either he will circle right or he will not win. The outcome of this forthcoming election is just this simple if—and this is the caveat—we are nearing the end of this age as humankind seems to be.

If McCain moves right and on that basis wins this forthcoming election, then it can be argued that humankind is well into the generic period known as the time of the end, that short while before the Tribulation begins, that short while that will see the wealth of this world slip away so that spiritual Babylon lacks the ability to recover when dealt a below the belt blow that leaves the spiritual first king of Greece suddenly broken because he is first … the second Passover liberation of Israel will see the death of all firstborns not covered by the blood of Christ. This includes the firstborns of men and of sons of God, both human and angelic. The first horn of the king of Greek—the horn that appears as an erect penis on the humanoid image Nebuchadnezzar saw—cannot cover himself with the blood of Christ and as a result will be suddenly broken, something which he will not today believe, on the day of the second Passover. But then, humankind will not today believe that a second Passover liberation of spiritually circumcised Israel is even a possibility. Who wants to tread such precarious ground? Who wants to say that God will deliver the Christian Church into the hand of the man of perdition for the destruction of the flesh? Who wants to say that God, not Satan, will send Christians to their death, either physical or spiritual, for a time, times, and half a time or 1260 days? Isn’t the Christian God a God of love, not a God of death and mass destruction? So who is it that will stand with God when Trumpets of War are blown?

Certainly not the person who plans to vote on November 4^th … “home” is for those Christians who will vote someplace in this world, not in heaven. Voting is, for these Christians, defending their home and home base. And as a bee hive will vigorously defend its home so too will the establishments of these Christians.

Christians that participate in the governance of this world make themselves into spiritual worker bees, hard-working but impotent and willing to die to protect the establishments of this world.

If all authority is from God, including the civil establishments common to every nation, then God has placed the Adversary over human beings, not what Christian authorities would have disciples believe—and if God has placed the Adversary over both Christians and non-Christians wherever these sons of Adam might dwell, then God can end Satan’s reign whenever He wishes and can give the kingdom of this world to whomever He wishes, including to the Son of Man. And this is what’s seen in prophecy.

· If God has placed the Adversary over the sons of Adam wherever they dwell, delivering humankind into disobedience so that He can have mercy on all, what human organization or establishing authority isn’t of the Adversary?

· Is a 501(c)(3) corporation of the Adversary? It is, isn’t it? For the corporation is a creation of the State.

· Is any Christian Church really of God … Jesus said that the teacher who relaxes the least of the commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven whereas the one who teaches lawlessness will be denied (Matt 5:19; 7:21–23), and how many Christian teachers keep the commandments and teaches others to do likewise?

If the Adversary were to reign over the Christian Church, would the Adversary cause disciples to keep the commandments and teach them to others and thereby be called great in the kingdom of heaven? Not likely! So is it safe to state that every Church teaching disciples not to keep the commandments is not of God? Under the criteria Jesus established, it would be, wouldn’t it? If a Christian teacher tells disciples that the Law has been abolished, that disciples need not keep the commandments because Christ kept them, would not this teacher—by the criteria Jesus establishes—be a servant of the Adversary? He or she would, indeed, be of Satan! But this will be to the person fighting words.

Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world or from this world (John 18:36). If not of this world, then where is it? Does Jesus not receive the kingdom of this world when the Ancient of days sits in judgment of the four beasts or kings in the heavenly realm?

Rhetorical questions do not effectively convey the enormity of Satan’s reign over humanity … as the spiritual king of Babylon, Satan does not control merely one denomination, one school, one branch of government, one nation, one hemisphere, but everything! Satan would have Christian teachers identity the four beasts of Daniel chapter 7 as the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman empires, but these identifications are not right!! These four kings are the four horns that sprout up around the broken first horn of the king of Greece. These four kings are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Roman Empire is never mentioned by Daniel. Anyone who finds the Roman Empire in the visions of Daniel is a false prophet, said with no exceptions made.

Daniel’s vision occurs in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. It occurs as a dream, and he writes down the dream, telling the sum of the matter, not all of what he saw for he didn’t describe the body of the fourth beast (he saw this king, but as a deliberate omission he chooses not to describe the king beyond saying it had iron teeth). The appearance of this king’s body is of considerable importance, for the second beast of Revelation chapter 13 makes an image of this king’s body. And the number of this beast is known: Χξς or the tattoo of Christ’s cross.

The cross represents Death, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse … is it not apropos that Satan, the prince of this world, would have the image of Death serve as the representation of Christ? It is, isn’t it? What other image would better serve Satan’s purposes?

The kingdom of the world is not of this world or from this world, but is of heaven. It is given to the Son of Man only once, not many times. And this one time is halfway through seven endtime years of tribulation. So what is seen in Daniel chapter 7 is the 1260 days [the time, times, and half a time] before the kingdom is given to the Son of Man, the time period represented by Revelation chapters 4 through the end of chapter 12.

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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. All rights reserved."

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