Thursday 28 April 2016

Revelation #1 Resurrections

We can easily get in a muddle when sorting out the resurrections.  It's plural because the Bible speaks of two resurrections.  However if you don't know how to manage them, we can misinterpret the Bible and end up with all sorts of strangeness.  Rule number 1 with the two resurrections is it refers to the resurrection to eternal life and the resurrection to eternal condemnation.  The second resurrection only has one part to it but the first resurrection, has subsections.  So unless you categorize the resurrections you can be reading the end times wrongly.

Revelation is a book that is sectioned by Jesus when he instructs John in Chapter 1:19.  John was obedient and relayed what he had seen, Jesus Glorified, what is now, the church age and what must happen after the church age.  Basically:

What John had seen :  Chapter 1:12-18
What is now: Chapters 2 and 3
What will take place after: 4-22

So we can consider Revelation to be a chronological account of the church age and end times.  I will unpack some of the highlights of Revelation as we go on but for this article, what about the resurrections? Firstly we must note that the resurrection has in some ways already begun!  Jesus is the first-fruits of the first resurrection!  The next resurrection is the bride of Christ... the truly born from above saints!  This will occur at the 'harpazo,' the snatching away of the church.

Then there is a seven year period where Israel make a covenant with the Antichrist, who, according to 2 Thess 2 cannot be revealed until the restrainer is taken... that's the Spirit filled church!  many believe the church enters some or all of this seven year period.  If that is the case then the church will be able to ballpark the return of Jesus... something that will not be known to believers of the church age.  The Apostles believed the harpazo was at any time so the church cannot enter the tribulation.  This is one of many reasons and to digress would make this already epic article even more complex.

During this seven years 144,000 Jews are sealed to evangelize the whole world and people can be saved during this time.  Many are martyred for not following the Antichrist directive to take a mark on their forehead or arm /hand.  They are part of the first resurrection but not the Bride.  We have the Old Testament saints at the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ then the Tribulation saints.  Those who die during the Millennial reign are resurrected at the end of the Millennium as I will demonstrate.

The unsaved coming out of the Great Tribulation take part in the Sheep and Goats Judgement.  This occurs at the start of the Millennial Reign when Surviving Christians are divided from the unsaved.  The unsaved are killed.  So going into the 1000 year reign are:

Jesus (Gospels)
The Bride  with Resurrection Bodies (Refer to my article on the rapture?)
Old Testament saints (friends of the Bridegroom) with Resurrection Bodies (Dan 12:1-2)
Believers from the Great Tribulation, no resurrection bodies.

It is my understanding that Rev 20:5 answers the question of the resurrection of the dead Millennial believers. Its subject is about the 1st resurrection, describing the Tribulation saints as 'blessed and Holy' for being a part of it. The 'rest of the dead' are believers dying in the Millennial reign of Christ. Rev 20:6 The second death has no power over them seems to include the dead of v5. So in a nutshell, according to Rev 20:5 the millennial believers are resurrected at the end of the Millennial reign. Then at the end of the Millennial reign the dead who rejected Christ are raised for Judgement.  

Why is it important to create a model for the end times?  Many say it's just going to go down how God has decreed.  That's all correct!  But I'm excited that the Lord has forensically outlined the end of days so we can walk in the knowledge and security of his powerful hand.  

Gary Ward 

Wednesday 27 April 2016

A King and a Cripple

Many stories throughout the Old Testament describe the tender heart of God.  One of my favourites is the story of King David and Mephibosheth (2 Sam Ch 9.)  Mephibosheth is crippled in both feet and thus not really of service to the King.  In  our times where our roles tasks and functions seem to signify spiritual prowess, it is fitting to examine what was being exampled here.

David was keen to show God's kindness to someone from the house of Saul.  Remember that Saul pursued David to have him killed yet David made a true friend out of Johnathan, Saul's son.  Before we get into the story of Methibosheth - Johnathan's son - it is important not to miss this gesture.  David saw the entire episode of Saul's pursuit as part and parcel of God's will for him.  This is a key to being healed and restored after a time where God's people chase you down.  David had every reason to bring retribution upon the house of Saul yet he saw God's purposes in Saul being complicit to his times of brokenness.  David knew that it was the brokenness that rid him of his 'Saul' and made him remain 'David.'  So David embraced the painful process... something we would be wise to do.

In my bible notes I have verse 1 of 2 Sam Chapter 9 labelled "Kindness in the face of conflict." David was able to get a 'macro-view' of God's dealing with him and this was a key to him being able to show God's kindness to Mephibosheth.  In verse 6 Mephibosheth introduces himself as David's servant. He was placing himself under David's rule yet the likelihood of actually serving him was reduced by his handicap.  Today we have many people who have ailments and hindrances to mobility that can work on computers and do other useful and important jobs.  Not so much in David's day.

In verse 7 of 2 Sam chapter 9 David tells Mephibosheth, 'Don't be afraid.'  This was 'reassurance in the face of ruin.'  David restores land to Mephibosheth and gives him a place at the Kings table.  Bowing low, Mephibosheth asks why he is being treated this way, being a 'dead dog' and David further instructs Ziba, one of Saul's servants.  David creates an economy for them and places Mephibosheth as the Master of that house.  My notes record David had 'actions in the face of questions.'    David arranges 'provision in the face of prejudice.'  So what do we have when we put it all together?

David is a type of Jesus and Mephibosheth is a type of everyone who comes to Jesus in faith.  God, the perfect, Holy Father wants us to get to a place where we can say 'what is your servant that you notice a dead dog like me?'  We need to acknowledge our being part of a failed kingdom, the kingdom of self.  Secondly we need to recognise we cannot walk this out at all!  Think you can?  Then your measurement of God's holiness is WAY too low!  Thirdly we need to realise, and this is the big one, that God requires our sonship... and that has to be enough. To be invited by the King to eat at His table is the highest honour we can ever embark upon.  What happens when we realise we are an adopted son and invited to eat at the King's table?

We show kindness in the face of conflict
We give reassurance in the face of ruin
We respond with actions in the face of questions
We provide in the face of prejudice

We reflect God's kindness when we recognise Jesus the King still invites us cripples to eat at His table.   It is then we may be able to be used to further God's kingdom... when we have stopped all our works and come to Jesus as we are.

Gary Ward


Thursday 14 April 2016

About 'the Rapture...'

Perhaps the strangest doctrine that Christians have is that at some point dead people and believers who are alive will instantaneously disappear from earth and go to Heaven.  Many are walking away from the idea of a 'rapture.'  So we can be in line with what the scriptures teach, let's examine the case for a 'raptured church.'

Why?

Firstly, what's the reason for the sudden disappearance of the believers from the earth?  There are two sides to this coin.  One side is that this is the Resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15).  The other side to the coin is that the time of the gentiles is over (Rom ch 9-11) and God turns His attention back to Israel.  The gentiles were only ever a grafted in branch into the covenant God has made with Israel. Because they rejected Jesus, God rejected them.  Gentiles don't become Jews or even 'Israel.'  Both Jews and Gentiles become a new man in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).  God has to take those in Christ from the earth to allow the last period of time of history to have Israel bow the knee to Messiah.  And they do.

Re-popularisation of the Rapture

In 1830 John Nelson Darby and others re-popularised the doctrine of the raptured church.  Darby was way off on many things and probably said some strange things about the rapture.  Today people include the rapture as a false teaching just because Darby taught about it.  One reason this became popular in the 1800's was because many believed Jesus return would be in the 7th Millennium since creation.  2000 would place the church in the 7th Millennium and the Zionist movement was going strong around 1830 which pushed for an actual state of Israel.  For believers, in history much of the scriptures made no sense so the sniff of an actual state of Israel was exciting.  For the first time the Prophets and Apostles were possibly making sense... so believers looked more closely at the end time scriptures.  Thus the rapture doctrine was made front page news again.  Rather than inventing it, it was simply made popular by many and Darby was blamed as the 'culprit.'  By stating this in NO WAY makes me a Darby supporter.  He has so many doctrinal errors it would be a separate document to discuss.   I'm simply saying Darby didn't invent the doctrine.  Let's move on to those who came before Darby and were at 'ground zero,' then others throughout history writing about the rapture.

The Early Church Fathers and the 'rapture.'

If  Darby 'invented the rapture' then what on earth were the Early Church Fathers talking about?

Irenaeus 130Ad- 202Ad
from 'Against Heresies' 5.29

“Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance — in fact, as nothing;”(1) so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”(2) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”

Cyprian 200 Ad - 258 Ad
 Treatises of Cyprian

“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”

Ephraim the Syrian 306Ad-372Ad
On last times

Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord. 

Add to these heavyweights the Shepherd of Hermas (140 Ad), Brother Dolcimo (1240), Thomas Collier (d 1691) and John Askill (1700) who was sent to prison for his book on the rapture.  We also consider Morgan Edwards as directly preceding Darby in his assertion of the rapture.  We must also include Paul and the Apostles in this regard as they believed it could happen at any time.  


What does 'rapture' mean?

The word comes from the Latin translation (rapio) of the Greek word 'harpazo.'  This means to snatch away and is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  Phillip was snatched away in Acts 8:39.  So was Paul in 2 Cor 12:2 and 4.  Also Jesus Rev 12:5, Luke 24:50-51 and Acts 1:9.  Jesus also asserts no-one can 'harpazo' believers out of his hand in John 10:28-29).  So it is an entirely biblical concept to be 'snatched away.'

Old Testament

Can there be any other way to discern a 'rapture' event other than the enormous examples of Enoch and Elijah in the Old Testament?  Isaiah thinks so!  In 26:19 we are told two things, our bodies shall live, but will also rise!  The earth 'casts out' the dead!  Does Zeph 2:3 hint at being sheltered from the tribulation?  If so, how?  Psalm 27:5 is similar.  How does God hide people from a global tribulation if He doesn't 'snatch them away?'  Also check out Psalm 57:1, Psalm 83:1-3, Job 14:13, Isaiah 57:1. What do these passages mean?

Job 19:25-27, 1 Cor Ch 15 and 1 John 3:2 all speak of the Resurrection and include information on receiving a new body that is incorruptible.   If there is a resurrection, how does this happen without a removal of the person?  The resurrected believer will rule and reign on earth with Christ... if this is the case then Jesus returns to Earth to rule and reign at the resurrection.  Many believe this.  However, to believe this you have to take scissors and cut out most of the Prophets for they speak of a time of tribulation and restoration of Israel before the Lord's return.  We have to discard Jesus' words on the Olivet Discourse!  We have to discard Daniel 9 and his 70th week.  We have to deny that the Apostles were waiting for the Lords return imminently (Phil 3:20, Titus 2:13, Heb 9:28, Rev 22:20, 1 Thess 1:10; 4:18; 5:6).  If you want to turn a blind eye to the Prophets and Apostles you also have to discard Peters urge to regard them for 'wholesome thinking.'

New Testament

The clearest possible example we have comes from Jesus.  In John 14 we find Him telling the disciples what was going to happen.  Jesus is going to his Fathers house which must be Heaven. There are 'many rooms' in His Fathers house.  Jesus is describing a Jewish wedding where the groom goes away to build an extension on his fathers house.  He then returns and takes the bride to be where he is.  Jesus tells the disciples he is going the heaven to prepare a place for each believer.     He will then come to take them where he is... in heaven.   This is problematic for those who struggle with the rapture.  As we presently stand in history, no-one can deny Jesus is in heaven on His Fathers Throne. So half this has been fulfilled... "I am going to prepare a place for you...."  Next is the...' I will come to take you (His Bride) to be where He is.... heaven.  This explicit rapture reference cannot be explained away.  Paul told the Thessalonians clearly that we are snatched away.   He also told Timothy to be vigilant in view of his appearing (the rapture) and his Kingdom (the millennial reign).

Rapture Deniers

Rapture deniers simply allow their rational minds to walk away from clear doctrine, especially in our age where to be seen to believe irrational things is a detriment to intelligence.  Let's not forget that to be a Christian, you believe a dead man came alive again!  As we continue to see every human being die, that is FAR more weird than the rapture!  Some Christians who have been involved in churches that have taught real heresy struggle to believe the rapture.  This is because they develop a 'won't fall for that one again' mentality.  I can understand this.  However, babies and bathwater are strewn in order to not 'swallow and follow' everything.   As strange as it seems the harpazo, 'rapture,' is a clear teaching from scripture and through history was written about.

The end is soon

Jesus comes 'like a thief in the night' only to those who aren't watching for the signs of the end.  The signs are in place and this time is the only time we can truly speculate that, 'all the ducks are in a row.'  Israel has its land, Jews are streaming back.  This has never been the case until recent times.  We are in the final millennium and we can see the churches in Revelation 3 all exist today.  The falling away is taking place and the spirit of Antichrist is evident all around us.  Those who lived before us as believers couldn't make sense of the Prophets but now we can see clearly the order of events.

Make sure you are truly born of the Spirit (John 3) and truly in Christ.  He will come and snatch you away as the scriptures tell us so clearly.

Gary Ward.








Tuesday 12 April 2016

Dare I trust Him completely?

It is my own experience that I trusted God and it 'went wrong.' Is that true of you?  After it 'went wrong' it became problematic to completely trust God for a while.  It turns out that the 'went wrong' aspect of the circumstance was my invention.  It didn't go 'wrong' it went 'Biblically.'  God sets us up with circumstances that look like God didn't come through but again, it is our expectations that were violated, not God's plans.  Let's examine whether God has ever really let us down.

God wants to get us to a place where we unreservedly trust Him.  In that process we will find a clash of 'end result.'  My end result may be completely off key with God's.  God wants us to be in a place where we are not tracking the end result of our trust.  The idea is that we can literally stop assessing where God is taking us and simply 'walk in it.'  I have met many Christians and have done this a lot myself, "Give me a word Lord" while staring at an unopened Bible on my desk!   God has spoken. It's the Bible!

I'm sorry if this bursts anyone's bubble but the 'great cloud of witnesses' we are surrounded by is the list in Hebrews 11.  The author of Hebrews in Hebrews 12:1 asks the reader to consider the previous chapter and immerse ourselves into their lives and experience.  It's a nice idea that these characters are somehow crowded around you right now cheering you on along with past believers, but it isn't at all correct. They surround us in the sense that their faith is a multi-faceted confirmation that we are also to employ faith like they did.  They were so honed and shaped that they understood that to try to figure it out is futile. 'Just keep your eyes on Jesus.' is the way to walk well.  When we start to try to work it out is when we reach conclusions and camp around them.  When our conclusions don't correspond to the Lord's, we can get disorientated.  This is where many get off the bus in frustration, brokenness or even anger.  Disillusion and disappointment can be major factors that can lead to serious consequences.    Knowing how the Lord works by observing the bible characters is vital and can demonstrate that a slough of despond is actually a mechanism of God and you ARE in the centre of His will.

The Lord is the Lord of our reasoning.  He is also the Lord of our attempt to create formula.  It takes some time for all our self effort to come crashing down.  It may happen time and time again.  we may suffer greatly over God's jealous desire to have you calibrated to Him only.  In our western mindset we give ourselves to this because we see the importance of the mission. "Ill let go and let God because He can work through me in this dark world." That sentiment is noble and courageous.    However it runs the risk of mission something beautiful.  The primary reason the Father wants your gaze to rest on Him is because in doing so you will spare yourself the pain of self reliance. He loves you and wants you to be anchored to the one who can look after you.  He cares before He commissions.

So have you been around great failure?  Have you experienced the deep pain of loss in the walk?  It is the testimony of anyone who has been called to walk with the Lord that this will be part of it.  The cross shows us that it takes extravagant measures for God to have his will done.  As believers we signed up for 'the cross.'  Its purpose is to deliver us into the transformation of our core beings to be like Christ.  Been hurt? Suffered loss?  Experienced failure?  The Bible is clear we must walk on knowing this is all part of the process and no reason to question Jesus.

Dare I trust Him completely?  As we understand the way of the Lord as outlined in the Bible... Absolutely.

Gary Ward  


Friday 8 April 2016

How Jesus fixes us

The book of Romans tells us that we have three parts to our salvation.  Believing in Jesus we are Justified (chapters 1-5).  This means the wrath of God will never be out-poured on a believer.  Having been Justified, we enter the process of Sanctification (chapter 5-7).  This means our horrendous shortfall between God's righteousness and ours is addressed.  The last part of Glorification (ch 8).  I want to offer an angle on how Jesus fixes us in the ongoing process of sanctification.

All truly born again believers have two things occurring within their lives.  One is the flesh and one is the Spirit.  God lives in us but also our sinful nature.  Sanctification is when the Lord, little by little, has us face up to who we really are.  The Bible has already let the cat out of the bag and told us, in a nutshell, we are bad at being good.  It is a painful experience to face us to just how true that is.  On one hand we love the Lord but on the other we fail miserably at walking it out.  There are ways of becoming so distracted with the Lord's work that you never really face up to self.  It is possible to offset all who we really are into a religious circus and pat ourselves on the back for good works. That is in and of itself a rebellion towards God who asks us to 'Be still' before He can issue forth through us.

I am addressing those who have downed tools in the realisation that the Bible is true when it says we are to allow the Lord to work through us.  As we allow Jesus to conquer our wilfulness,  we become less predisposed towards choosing the flesh.  The sinful nature has been rendered neutral by the cross but our will to rebel against God and prefer the flesh over Him is the problem.  The Lord seems to have us become so utterly broken over our sinful behaviour that He is able to deal with our wilfulness.   As we 'do a Romans 12:1-2' daily, so we are subjected to His inner workings which are dreadfully difficult to experience.

We must be careful that we don't get slack about offering ourselves up to the Lord but also that we don't engage works to solve the problems for Him.  Jesus doesn't want good behaviour... He wants you to be transformed inwardly so you behave! 'Being good' is like presenting a polished garbage bin to Him - he knows what's on the inside!  This sounds like I'm saying 'behave badly so as to speed up the process?'  No! Just submit, yield, abandon to the Lord daily and ask God for wisdom.

If you want to be fixed by Jesus, that thought alone is an act of grace in your life.  If the longing to be more like Jesus has left you and your time is taken up with Christian mission then you need to reassess your walk.  All our tasks roles and functions issue forth from the way we are engaging our source, Jesus Christ, risen and glorified.   I spent many years with active churches feeling like I was doing the Lord's work.  Maybe the activity plays a part in the big picture.  One thing I'm certain of is that idea we were the cutting edge of the Lords will and purpose was certainly not the truth.  We hindered the Lord's plans by going out with a message yet not equipped to have His accompaniment.  Like a bad salesman, I was part of a church where we were experts on setting the stage - Camera, lights, ACTION!  But sorely lacking the accompaniment of God.  People made commitments to follow Jesus but heart-breaking realisation of sin and resultant repentance were absent.

Unfortunately the world sees the activity and applauds.  'Any movement is marketing' applies to business and churches!  Those who insist they will not move unless it is Jesus moving through them are seen as lazy or deceived.  'There's a lost world out there!' This slogan becomes the catch-cry of the busy.  The bigger problem, and the place where I think the Lord wants us is, 'there's a lost world IN HERE!' that needs fixing and it's biggest area of deception is thinking it isn't.

Gary Ward