Jesus the Prophet

Jesus has many titles. We usually call Him the Savior, Lord, King, King of kings, Lord of lords, the Good Shepherd and many other names. But, one important title seldom used in the Contemporary Church is Jesus the Prophet.

Moses spoke to all Israel, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (Deuteronomy 18:15, NKJV).

In other words, Moses, the greatest of all hebrew prophets prophesied that the future generations of Israel would hear the voice of the Prophet whom God raised up from among the Jews. This Prophet is Jesus Christ.

In New Testament time Jesus is also the Prophet to Hebrew and Gentile Christians:

The writer of Hebrews said, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds ...." (Hebrews 1:1, 2, emphasis added).

Notice that, in general, all truth or revelation is prophetic, pointing to some future event, happening or person. God speaks to us through His son by the Holy Spirit in "these last days" (New Testament time) concerning things to come.

The Prophetic Ministry of Jesus

The prophetic ministry of Jesus is manifested throughout the Gospels and other New Testament Scripture.

Here are some examples:

1. Jesus identified His betrayer, Judas Iscariot

Jesus said, "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He" (John 13:18, 19, emphasis added).

Notice that the thing that sets apart Jesus as the Prophet is the ability to predict or foresee the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

2. Jesus predicted Peter's denial

Jesus said to Peter, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times" (Matthew 26:34).

3. Jesus said to Ananias (in a vision) concerning His plan for Saul

"Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:15).

The above verse describes the entire ministry of Paul which came to pass precisely!

The Prophetic Ministry of the Church

I believe the prophetic truth of the Bible is greatly neglected in many sections of the Church of Jesus Christ today.

Generally, the Church Universal is divided into two unequal sections. One is a small section that is tremendously concerned with prophecy and in many cases gone overboard and become extreme in implying or interpreting prophecies. They often make sensational predictions with fixing of dates. When one prediction fails they substitute the next. In a certain extent they undermine the confidence of Christians in the prophetic Word of God. This is very unfortunate. The result is the other section of the Chruch rejects prophecies alltogeter. They say the prophetic ministry has died with the 12 apostles.

A renowned pastor of the biggest Church in California (if not the biggest in the USA) was heard saying "biblical prophecy is a diversion" (Reference from "Prophecy Update Ministry).

Strangely, what some Churches believed is predicted by Peter:

"....scoffers will come in the last day, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation'" (2 Peter 3:3, 4).

The fact that people misuse something (gift of prophecy) that God has provided is no reason why we should not use it. Satan can cause almost any good gift of God to be discredited by its misuse. If the Church is deceived by this we are actually giving Satan the victory!

The Church needs Prophets

According to the apostle Paul the Church of Jesus Christ fails to mature, fails to "come to the unity of faith" and fails to become a "perfect man" because Christians have rejected some of the five-fold ministry gifts:

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, som evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ..." (Ephesians 4:11 to 14, NKJV, emphasis added).

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). If w do not use the prophetic side of the sword of God's Word we have blunted one of the edges of the double-edged sword. This I believe is one of the reasons why a section of the Church has been defeated by false doctrine of deceitful and cunning men.

We must understand that prophecy is an integral part of the Bible. It is one of the great distinctive features of the Bible that separates it from any other religious books of the world. There is no true prophetic ministry in any religion of the world.

The Church needs to take heed of Prophetic truth

The New Testament teaches us emphatically to take heed of prophetic truth of God's Word.

Peter said, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased'. We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:16 to 19, NIV, emphasis added).

Peter emphasizes to the tremendous importance of prophecies in the last days:

Take note of the following:

1. Peter's theme is the coming of Jesus in power and great glory (Matt. 24:30). The Greek word for the coming of Jesus is "parousia" indicating the physical return of the Lord Jesus with His bride on the Day of God (Please read my previous posting).

2. Peter gives a preview of what would be like when Jesus comes back. He is referring to the experience of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 17:1 to 9). Peter and two other disciples, James and John witnessed how Jesus "was transfigured before them, His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light" (verse 2). This is what Jesus would be like when He comes in His glory. Peter says this is not a stroy made up by him.

3. The strongest single testimony is not what Peter, James and John saw as eyewitnesses but what the what the prophetic Word of God declares. The word of the prophets is made more certain because Peter has already seen the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the first coming of Jesus.

4. Christians who pay attention to this prophetic Word are not in darkness but like "a light shining in a dark place". If we continue to seek and heed the prophetic Word a day will come when "the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts".

Conclusion

Seeing all the signs of the times coming to pass the Church cannot afford to remain in darkness. We need to heed of the precious Prophetic Word of God - God's final Authority.

The Days of Noah and the Days of Lot

Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives and His disciples came to Him and asked Him:

"Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3, NKJV, emphasis added)

The above indicates there are two separate coming events; the Day of Christ (Second coming of Jesus) and the Day of the Lord at the end of the age. According to the New Unger's Bible Dictionary the Day of Christ is the day when Jesus comes to take His bride (the true Church of Jesus Christ) as described in 1 Thess. 4:14 to 18. This event is commonly called the rapture. On the other hand, the Day of the Lord is not a single day, but a period when the judgment of God will be manifested at the closing phase of the Great Tribulation.

Amos gave a vivid description of the Day of the Lord:

"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!" (Amos 5:18, 19)

Where are we in God's Time-table?

A major problem arises when we read Matthew 24 or Luke 21 concerning the Signs of the times. It is not easy to understand that there are actually two events - the Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord. Many Bible teachers believe there is only one event - you can call it the Day of Christ or the Day of the Lord, there is no difference. After all Christ is also the Lord!

This calls for spiritual discernment. First of all we must understand that the Day of Christ precedes the Day of the Lord. Secondly, there must be a day when Christ returns to take His bride to the Father's House of many mansions (John 14:2, 3) for the Marriage Supper (Rev. 19) and then comes back again together with His bride to judge those who are left behind (not saved) at that time.

This is the revelation. Just as God had delivered Noah and Lot before He brought destructions to the unrighteous, God is going to bring the bride of Christ (the true and overcoming Church) to Himself before He brings destructions to the unrighteous in that period of time. Therefore, the Days of Noah and the Days of the Lot speak of the period of time just before the rapture or the second coming of Jesus. I believe we are living in this period of time. The true Church of Jesus Christ is a type of Noah or a type of Lot. God shows us this truth by giving us these two vivid examples. The Scripture says, every thing written is "for our admonition" (1 Cor.10:11).

Description of the Days of Noah and the Days of Lot

Just by studying the evil things that people did in the Days of Noah and the Days of Lot will give us a good picture of how close we are to the Day of Christ.

Evils in the Days of Noah

1. Contact between human beings and evil spirits

The story of the Days of Noah begins in Genesis Chapter 6 where we are told the "sons of God" took wives from the "daughters of men" (Gen. 6:2). In the Old Testament, for example in the Book of Job "sons of God" usually refers to the angels of God (Read Job 2:1 and Job 38:7). But, according to Hebrew Scripture the "sons of God" in Gen. 6 are fallen or evil angels:

"The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose" (Gen. 6:2).

Notice that good angels cannot marry or procreate (Matt 22:30). But in the Days of Noah evil angels and daughters of men (females born of men) produced "giants" or "mighty men".

Therefore, humanity in those days was infiltrated by satanic angels. This is the main reason why God brought the Flood and destroyed all except Noah and his household.

It is true that in the last days angelic intermarriages do not take place. But direct and unfettered contact between human beings in general ant the evil spirit world is also an abomination to God.

2. Evil Imaginations

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5).

I believe television is imagination in a box. There, we vicariously live out all our dreams and fantasies. There is always something for the imagination of everybody's heart.

3. Violence

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11).

4. Sexual corruption and perversion

"So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth" (Gen. 6:12).

Notice that Noah "found grace in the eyes of the Lord" and that he was a "just man and perfect in his generations" (Gen. 6:8, 9).

He was divinely warned of what God was about to do:

"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and become heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" (Hebrews 11:7, emphasis added).

Similarly, the Church of Jesus Christ, also being hire of the righteousness which is according to faith is also being warned of the destructions yet to come! Are we "moved with godly fear" and take heed?

Evils in the Days of Lot

1. Blatant and violent homosexuality

"Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who come to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.'" (Gen. 19:4, 5).

Notice that the men of Sodom not only desire sex with men, they want to have sex with the angels of God even if they might not be aware of it! The Scripture says these men are after "strange flesh" (Jude 6, 7).

2. Materialism

"Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire are brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:28 to 30).

Notice that there is nothing wrong with eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building. But, it is their preoccupation of these things that the Lord hates!

You need only one word to describe these people - Materialism

God is Shaking All Things

Very little is said today in many contemporary Churches about the judgment of God. The general attitude is it is not nice to talk about God's judgment. Many Local Churches have reservation about presenting God as a Judge. They believe this will offend or frighten people. When people are offended they will not listen to the Gospel. The Gospel is supposed to be "good news" but, judgment is always bad news. Because of this false belief, the need of repentance is also seldom heard of in the contemporary Church. Some Christians even have the notion that repentance is not necessary for born again Christians because their sins have been forgiven after they have said the "Sinner's Prayer"!

Our Savior is also the Judge

The Words of Jesus declared:

"And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that, sin, righteousness and judgment together is the basis of the foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. Hence, a Christian who does not believe the judgment of God is not led by the Spirit of God, but instead led by some deceiving spirit.

Peter has this to say about the Jesus the Judge:

"And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42, emphasis added).

Paul also said:

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30, 31, emphasis added).

God is Now Shaking All Things

Those who are now convinced that God is the Judge should take heed of what the writer of Hebrews said:

"See to it that you obey God, the one who is speaking to you. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, how terrible our danger if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: 'Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also'. This means that the things on earth will be shaken, so that only eternal things will be left. Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:25 to 29, NLB, emphasis added).

Notice that, all things which will be shaken include heavens, earth, sea, dry land and all nations. Only eternal things (things of the Kingdom of God) will remain unshaken.

These shakings are right before our eyes. The present end-time phenomena (frequent occurrences hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, flooding, extreme temperature and weather changes, wars and rumors of wars, lawlessness, famines, pestilences, diseases, plane crashes and other disasters) should remind us of the need of the unshakable eternal Kingdom that is offered to us freely.

We should also be reminded of what Jesus said about building our house on the rock:

"I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built" (Luke 6:47, 48, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, a person's eternal life in the Kingdom of God cannot be shaken if he comes to Jesus and hears His words and does them. This is precisely what James said:

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).

If we consider the above sayings of Jesus and James together, a person will be deceived if he disobeys the Word of God. Furthermore, his life will be shaken because it is not built on the foundation of the Rock (Jesus). A Christian who believes the doctrine of man and is deceived by man's unbiblical teaching and the teaching of false prophets (Matt. 24:11) belongs to this category.

Christian's Response

Peter, painting a picture of the Day of the Lord said:

"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, ... " (2 Peter 3:11, 12, emphasis added).

These verses of Scripture speak volumes. Notice the emphasis is not on what we can do for God or for His Church but what kind of persons should we be! God emphasizes on personal attitude, conduct and character.

The three important things required of God are: Be holy in conduct and godliness, looking for the Day of God and hastening the coming of the Day of the God.

1. Be holy in conduct and godiness

Paul said, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1).

Filthiness of the flesh speaks of sexual immorality, unclean habits and overcome by all forms of lust. Filthiness of the spirit speaks of the involvement of the occult, horoscopes, and false philosophies.

2. Looking for the Day of God

Paul said, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ ....." (Titus 2:11 to 13, emphasis added).

Christians are looking for the blessed hope when they are looking for the Day of God.

3. Hastening the coming of the Day of God

Two questions come to mind. One is, why do we need to hasten the coming of the Day of God and the other is, how do we hasten the coming the Day of God?

My answer for the first questin is, by hastening the coming the the Day of God we are shortening the period of suffering of humanity in this time of shaking (the beginning of sorrows - Matt. 24:8) leading to the "Great Tribulation" (Matt. 24:15 to 28).

The Gospel according to Matthew gives us a clue how to hasten the coming of the Day of God. There are many signs of the Lord's Second coming, but no one knows when. We should focus our eyes on the last sign.

Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14, emphasis added).

Therefore, the last sign is "The Sign" of His coming again. It depends on the completion and fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16 to 20).

Can a Church be under a Curse?

Many believers have an incomplete picture of God. They live with the notion that God blesses Christians and will never curse any Christian, let alone the Church. To them curses come from Satan and never from God! But, this is an incomplete picture of God. Furthermore, Satan deceives Christians and makes them feel guilty, but he has no power to curse Christian, unless God allows him. The Scripture clearly says that God blesses and curses His people (Deuteronomy 28). God pronounces His curses on many kinds of sins, even sins committed by "born-again" Christians.

The root cause of all curses comes from God's Universal Law of sowing and reaping:

"Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same" (Job 4:8, NKJV).

"Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed" (1 Sam. 2:3, emphasis added).

"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings" (Jeremiah 17:10).

"Do not be decieved, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Gal. 6:7,8, emphasis added).

The outworking of this Universal Law is very simple - He who sows righteousness reaps the blessing of God; he who sows wickedness or sin reaps the curse of God!

In my opinion, (you may disagree with me) there are two main ways by which God pronounces His curse on individual sinning believer, group of believers or the Church. One is independent of God and the other is anti-semitism.

Independent of God

Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trust in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5, emphasis added).

Notice that the word "flesh" does not denote the physical body. Rather, it denotes the nature each of us has received by inheritance from our common ancestor, Adam. Adam did not beget any children until he himself had trangressed God's commandment. The essential motivation of his transgression was not so much the desire to do evil as the desire to be independent of God.

The cause of the curse is when Elders, Pastors and leaders shepherd the Local Church trusting in their own strength and ability. When they do that (according to the above verse) their action indicates that their hearts depart from the Lord. Notice that this also indicates that at an earlier time these people's hearts were with the Lord. They have experienced God's supernatural grace and power, but then turn back to relying on their own natural ability. Their conduct reveals that they have more confidence in what they can do for themselves than what God can do for them.

Look around you and you will not fail to notice that this is the condition of many Local Churches, especially the denomination Churches. Church history also tells us that some historical denomination began with the grace of God, power and blessings of God. But, after a generation or two they became complacent, self-sufficient and carnal. They no longer acknowledge their dependence on God. They no longer make room for the Holy Spirit, but simply say that we can do it. It is this attitude which calls forth God's curse.

The outworking of this curse is described in the next verse:

"For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited" (Emphasis added).

In other words, an individual Christian or the Local Church under this curse will not be productive or fruitful or effective in their ministry. All that surrounds them is barren and dreary. They will not "see when good comes" because blessings and refreshing may come to others all around them, but in some mysterious way it always passes them by. They have only barrenness and frustration.

Paul wrote to the Galatians:

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth .... Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh" (Gal. 3:1 and 3, emphasis added)?

A Local Church that "makes flesh as strength" (instead of being led by the Spirit of God) is also in danger of opening its door for witchcraft.

Anti-Semitism

God has provided protection to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) - His chosen people by a promise:

"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3).

The Church are Abraham's children through faith and imputed righteousness (Romans 4:13 to 16). But, if through unbelief and failure to walk in the steps of Abraham and knowingly and unknowingly curse the Jew, the Church will be under the curse of God Himself!

There is a false teaching in some section of Christendom known as "The Replacement Theology" which advocates believers to believe that the Church has replaced the Jewish people as God's chosen people. According to this false teaching the Church is now the "Spiritual Israel" and God has given up Israel and all the blessings now come to the Church. In my opinion, Christians who advocate such false doctrine will not believe in any Bible prophecies of God's plan for Israel. These Christians are deceived and they are unable to discern the true teaching of the Scripture.

Read Romans 11 and you will understand what I mean.

Paul wrote, "I say then, has God cst away His people? Certainly not!" (Rom. 11:1). The Jew is God's people and always will be. I just cannot understand why any God-fearing Christian has the audacity to say that God has given up on the Jew. Well, any Local Church that believes the so-called "Replacement Theology" is under God's curse. That is why they are blinded!

The truth is there is no such thing as "Spiritual Israel" and you cannot find this in the Bible. The Church is a type of Israel and nothing more. There are 3 and only 3 types of people in the world - The Jew, Gentile and the Church. The Church consists of believing Jews and believing Gentile and they are called Christians. Study the Scripture and you will not fail to notice that God has separate plans for the unbelieving Jews, Gentile and the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Biblical Faith and Biblical Hope

In Scripture, faith has a close relationship with hope, but they are not the same. Many books have been written about faith but you cannot find many about hope.

The purpose of this message is to reveal the importance of biblical hope. But, faith and hope go together so closely that we cannot consider "hope" alone without mentioning "faith" also.

Ask any Bible teacher to define what faith is, you are likely to get this answer:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).

By using a combination of various versions of the Bible this verse might also be translated:

"Now faith is the assurance or confidence of the things we do not see yet, but hoped for because we have the conviction their reality".

In other words, our faith perceives something as real fact what is not revealed to our senses.

In my opinion, anyone who does not understand the difference between the functions of the Spirit of man and the functions of his Soul will have great difficulty in understanding the differences between biblical faith and biblical hope. Because of this, I suggest my readers should refer to my previous postings, "The Three Types of Man" (28 Feb. 2005) and "Christian's New Heart" (10 March 2005) before they continue to read this.

There are two main ways in which faith differs from hope:

1. Hope is anchored in the realm of the mind, but faith is anchored in the realm of the spirit (heart) of a Christian. When we are led by the Spirit of God, our spirit tells us (in exercising our faith) something which we hoped for as real fact, before this thing is revealed to our senses. Notice that our five senses are part of the function of our soul.

2. Hope is directed toward the future, but faith is extablished in the present. Hope is an attitude of expectancy concerning things that are yet to be, but faith is a substance (a confidence, something real and definite within our heart and spirit) that we possess here and now.

Paul gave a strikingly clear explanation of the above with his description of the spiritual armour required by the Christian solder:

"But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (1 Thess. 5:8, emphasis added).

Notice that faith, together with love (agape and supernatural) is found in the region of the breast (heart). But hope is pictured as a helmet, in the region of the head or mind. Thus, hope is a mental attitude of expectancy concerning the future; faith is a condition of the heart, producing within us here and now something so real that it can be described by the word "substance" hoped for according to Heb. 11:1.

The Importance of Biblical Hope

Paul said, "For we are saved by hope ....." (Romans 8:24, KJV).

In other words, what Paul meant is, no hope no salvation! Hope is an essential part of our salvation experience.

This is made clear when Paul described the condition of the unsaved:

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, being without Christ, without hope, and without God is the condition of the lost.

For Christian the picture is just the reverse. If we have Christ, then we have hope and we have God.

Paul put it beautifully concerning the mystery of the Gospel of salvation:

"To them Cod has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, if Christ is in you, you have hope. If you do not have hope, it is just as if Christ is not in you but separated from you. You may not be a lost soul, but you are not living in the full experience of salvation. Hope in your mind is an essential part of your salvation experience. It helps you to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12).

Hope in life gives us the patience and strength to endure hardship, calamities and all the other pressure and stress that come against us in life (especially so in this "endtime" hours). It does not give us a bypass around them, but gives us the strength to go through them.

Hope as our Refuge

The writer of Hebrews gives two beautiful pictures of hope, one of which is believer's refuge in time of trouble:

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged" (Hebrews 6:17,18, NIV, emphasis added).

Our confidence in God may be based on two absolutely sure and unchanging things - God's Word confirmed by His oath. Hope is offered as our refuge on the horns of the Old Testament altar - a person who flees to the altar in time of trouble will be saved.

Hope as our Anchor

The other picture of hope is found in the next two verses:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered ou our behalf" (Hebrews 6:19,20, emphasis added).

Notice that, hope as an anchor is eternal hope. It reaches out of time into eternity, into the very presence of God. In this world, we are like a little vessel on the sea; everything around us is temporary, impermanent, unreliable and changeable. There is nothing (in human wisdom) to give us real security and stability. If we are to have total and permanent security, we need an anchor that reaches out of time into eternity and fastens in our God - the Rock of Ages.

Finally, in Hebrews we read the following:

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23, NKJV).

God is faithful!

The Secret Place of God

This posting is an extension of my previous message "Eternal Security" posted on 22nd. Aug. 2005.

Let us study Psalm 91 again. The truth is, the promises listed in this Psalm are for Christians who fulfilled the condition given in the first verse:

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1, NKJV, emphasis added).

"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1, NLT, emphasis added).

In other words, only Christians who dwell or live continuously in the secret place of the Lord will find divine rest of total security. The secret place is not meant for someone who just runs to it in time of trouble. The important condition for having complete security is to find the secret place of the Lord and dwell with Him there. A person who dwells with the Lord must maintain a continuous intimate relationship with Him. Hence, such a person must be a true Christian.

This place is called a secret place because it is hidden and we need to find it. We must find the door that leads to the secret place.

I believe it is like seeking the Wisdom of God because as I said in my previous posting it is through wisdom we are able to find total and permanent security. Job gave a discourse on Wisdom of God which relates to finding the secret place.

"That path no bird knows, nor has the falcon's eye seen it. The proud lions have not trodden it. The deep says, 'It is not with me'. it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a report about it with our ears.' God understands its way, and He knows its place" (Job 28:7,8,14, 21,22,33, NKJV, emphasis added).

The above passages reveal 3 things to me:

1. The secret place is hidden from animals, birds of the air and all living things. The whole natural creation does not know it. The reason being, the the secret place is not in the natural realm, but in the spiritual realm. The spirit of man quickened by the Spirit of God will enable the Christian to find the secret place.

2. "Destruction and Death" is a person - the Devil. He does not know understand the secret place, let alone finding it; he only heard about it!

3. God alone knows the secret place and only He knows the way to it.

It is obvious form the above that we must first find God before we are able to find the secret place. The door to God is secret; it is covered up from the natural senses and reasoning. This door to God is the cross of Jesus Christ. The way to God is through the cross. The natural man (please read my earlier posting "The Three Types of Man") will not run to the cross. he recoils from it; he does not like it and he does not want it. But, behind the cross is the door to the secret place.

Listen to what Paul said to the Christians in Colosse:

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set you mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1,2,3, emphasis added).

Notice that the life of the true Christian is hidden with Christ in God now (in our daily walk in Him) and not in the next world! This explains why we have total security now and not only in the next world.

Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

When Jesus died He did not die for Himself, He died for us; He took our guilt; He took our condemnation; He paid our penalty; He died our death. When Jesus died we died. When we die, we pass through death, through the death of Jesus, through the cross into a new realm, a realm that is not in the naturarl world. A realm that natural senses cannot discern; a realm that natural creatures do not perceive. It is a realm in Christ.

Finally, let us take a closer look to the Scripture, "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God".

The realm in Christ means double protection - in Christ and in God. Nothing in the whole universe can reach and harm the true Christian except that they come through God and through Christ.

That represents total and permanent security.

Eternal Security

The quest for security springs from the universal craving of the human heart, irrespective of race, nationality, culture or social or economic status. Because of this, a major part of human activity in every country is directed to find security for the people. This is even more so when signs of the time are appearing everywhere in this period of time. There are more plane and train crashes; more floods happening in places never have any flood in history; more and stronger hurricanes or tropical storms. Then, there are sudden changes of weather condition. Earth quakes and many other calamities and disasters are happening everyday. More and more people are dying because of wars and unknown diseases without mentioning more cases of senseless killing and murder or taking of human lives.

In our contemporary culture there are various agencies, industries or organisations (private or public) in some way or other devoted to provide the people with some sort of security. One example is the insurance agency. But, the scope of providing security is limited. A person can insure himself against an accident. But, there is no way to be sure that an accident will not happen. He can insure against fire and theft. But, there is no way to be completely sure that fire will not break out and no theft will take place. There are security forces such as police and armed forces and army. The trouble is, the stronger the security measures of one nation autometically becomes insecurity of another nation. Then, there is the provision of Social Security and health program in some countries. We must admit that all these means of providing security are good and should be fully supported. But, they are all temporal and none of these means is able to provide total or permanant security. Man can provide limited measure of security in time but he is powerless to achieve real, permanant and total eternal security.

The Source of Eternal Security

I believe the source of true and eternal security comes from the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God speaking through the pages of the Holy Scripture offers the total divine security in time and eternity.

Solomon paints a beautiful picture concerning the call of God's Wisdom which is personalised in the first two chapters of the Book of Proverbs. Please read Proverbs 1:20 to 33.

It is good to consider the contract between one who listens to Wisdom and one who refuses the call of Wisdom:

"But whoever listens to me will dwell safely. And will be secure, without fear of evil" (Prov. 1:33, NKJV).

In other words, to give heed to the Voice of God's Wisdom is the key for us to dwell in safely at all times; to have total eternal security, without fear of evil.

"Because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you" (Verses 25 to 27).

The above is the alternative of not giving heed to the Voice of God's Wisdom, but instead disdaining God's counsel. This obviously is the road to ultimate calamity.

Foundation of Eternal Security

There are only two ways we can build our foundation on; one is on the Rock and the other is on the sand:

Jesus said, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock" (Matthew 7:24 and 25, emphasis added).

Verses 26 and 27 give the alternative of building the house on the sand which is a poor foundation. The result is total calamity.

Notice that, the key to building the house on the rock which provides total and permanant security is to listen to the words of Jesus and obey His commands. This calls for a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).

Peter said Jesus Christ is the "chief cornerstone" and believers are "living stones" of the spiritual house built on the foundation of the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4 to 6).

Understanding the Shepherd Psalm

The need of a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and to maintain an intimate relationship with Him is described in many passages of the Scripture. One of the most beautiful and the most familiar is the Shepherd Psalm:

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:1 to 3).

These 3 verses describe the type of security provided by Jesus throughout our life on earth. Notice that the security is total; physical, material and emotional. The all important condition is we must acknowledge Jesus is our Shepherd.

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

Jesus tells us very briefly who are the true Christians and what is the basic requirement for being a Christian. He says, only His sheep hear His voice and obey Him and do what He says. A person who is not His sheep is not a true Christian and will not hear His voice and follow Him.

Any Christian who fulfills this requirement is qualified to claim all the promises of the Shepherd Psalm.

The next 3 verses of Psalm 23 is the promise of Eternal Security:

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (verses 4,5,6, emphasis added).

Notice that when we acknowlege Jesus as our Shepherd it is His responsibility to provide us with total and permanant security in life or death. We need not fear death nor evil when we dwell in the Lord's House forever!

The apostle Paul put it this way:

"For I am persuaded that neither death or life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38,39).

Security in Time of Trouble

Psalm 91 shows the total security made available to Christians who fulfill certain conditions in time of trouble:

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord 'He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust' ........ " (Verses 1 and 2).

There are two conditions here. The word "dwells" speaks of the continuing position of our standing in God and maintaining a personal relationship with Him. The second condition is, we must acknowledge and make confidant confession to the Lord of our trust in God in our walk with Him by faith.

With these conditions fulfilled the Lord will deliver us from all the forms of trouble listed in other verses of Psalm 91.

These are the promises of God:

"I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation" (Psalm 91:14 to 16).

Light and Darkness

Jesus is the True Light and "in Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men" (John 1:4, The Amplified Bible).

In other words, Jesus is the Life and Light of men. If light gives life because Jesus gives life, then darkness gives death. Jesus said the reason that men loved darkness is because their deeds were evil:

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19, NKJV).

Notice that the natural men who do not know the Light are condemned because they love darkness rather than light.

Children of God must walk in the Light

"God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Therefore, to engage fellowship with Him Christians must walk in the light and not in darkness.

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In other words, in order for the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin so that we can have fellowship one another and with God, we have to walk in the light. It follows that a believer who does not walk in the light is not a true Christian and so he cannot have fellowship with other true Christians and with Jesus Christ! This believer is walking sin because he is not cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

What the Bible says about Light and Darkness?

There are at least 3 passages of Scripture where we find the contrast between light and darkness, just and unjust, clean and filthy and righteous and unrighteous.

1. God said to Abram, "Look now toward heaven, and count the the stars if you are able to to number them. So shall your descendants be" (Genesis 15:5).

I believe God was showing Abram more than the numbers of his descendants. God also said Abram's descendants are the light of the stars shinning in the darkness of the sky. The stars get brighter as the night gets darker and darker. Christians are children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 4:11) are going to shine out like the stars in their glory.

2. In the Song of Solomon, king Solomon gave a picture of Israel as God's betrothed bride:

"Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners" (Song of Solomon 6:10)?

I believe prophetically the above speaks of the true Church as the Bride of Christ. As human life finds its highest fulfillment in the love of a man and a woman, so spiritual life finds its highest fulfillment in the love of God for His people, and Christ for His Church.

Song of Solomon 6:10 depicts a very beautiful picture of the Bride of Christ. She is like the morning after a long dark night. She comes forth with the brilliant and the beauty of the rising sun. She is as fair as the moon. The unique function of the moon is to reflect the sun. Similarly, the unique function of the Church, as the betrothed bride, is to reflect the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ (Malachi 4:2). The moon is not constant, it vexes and vanes; so is the Church. In the Book of Acts we see the early Church as a full moon, reflecting the whole nature and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Church had the ministries and gifts as those of Christ when He was in His humanity at the time of the twelve apostles. But, in history the moon began to vane, and it became smaller and smaller reflected less and less of Christ. And then the moon was no longer there (lost her function of refecting the light of the sun). I believer that was during the Dark Ages!Then the moon began to appear again and reflecting a little of Christ but has been vexing and vaning. I believe at the close of this age only the true Church will be as a full moon again with all the ministries and gifts restored and she will again reflect the Sun of Righteousness. This will be the time when Christ will come and take the true Church as the Bride for Himself! Do not be deceived by any so-called prophetic Bible teacher or pastor who tells you that the every believer in Universal Church is the Bride of Christ!

3. An angel said to John who was banished to the isle of Patmos concerning the Church of Jesus Christ towands the end of this age:

"Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still" (Rev. 22:10,11).

Notice that the Book of Revelation is written for God's people, the Church. John was commanded not to seal this prohecy because it will soon be fulfilled. The angel told John, a time will come when there will be a line of separation and departure of ways among God's people. Those who are righteous will become more righteous; those who are holy will become more holy; those who are walking in the light will be brighter and brighter; those who are unjust will be more unjust; those who are filthy will be more filthy and those who are walking in dark will get darker and darker. The difference between those who are in darkness and those who are in the light will become more distinct as a testimony for all to see before the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the close of this Age

I believe at the close of this age there will be just two groups of believers in the Church (universal). One group will be the bride and the other will be the harlot! Every believer has to make a personal decision which group he or she will be found in. The decision is now! If you are not the bride then you are the harlot. The line of separation is clear and there is no grey area and there is no such thing as neutrality or compromise in the Christian walk. Salvation is not a static condition. It is a way of life that is progressive. A "saved" person is either going up or going down. He is either getting brighter or getting darker. He is either becoming more righteous or becoming more wicked. He is either getting cleaner or getting more filthy. He is either getting stronger spiritually or getting weaker.

Here are some references from the Scripture:

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like the darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Pro. 4:18,19)

"Yet the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger" (Job 17:9).

The Bride of Christ has the bridal attire. She has the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). She has the garments of praise and the crown of life and she receives many beautiful gifts (spiritual) from God. Jesus will give her "some hidden manna to eat and a white stone with a new name written on it" (Rev. 2:17). She loves her Lord and yields herself to Him. She loves the truth and obeys His commands. She overcomes persecution and remains faithful to her Lord until death.

This is how Isaiah pictured the true Church prepared as the Bride:

"Arise, shine; for your light has come! and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah 60:1,2,3, emphasis added).

Notice that the day will come when the true Church has the glory of the Lord in the midst of deep darkness covering the rest of the people. The day will come when the Gentiles (unbelievers) and Gentile kings will come to the light of the true Church. They will not go to the harlot church!

Why? I believe only the true Church of Jesus Christ has the answers they seek after! They are likely to say to the harlot church, "You have no answers for us; you are just like us"!

The Glorious Bride of Christ

The Bible clearly says that the Church that Jesus Christ is coming for will be a glorious Church. The Glorious Church is the Glorious Bride of Christ.

The word "glorious" comes from the Greek word "endoxos" which means splendid, noble, gorgeous and honourable. Therefore, in describing a Church in this way, the Glorious Church is a Church that is full of honour, splendor, beauty with the sense of being a bright and shining Bride of Christ - the Bride that is filled with the glory of God. It is a Church that has within it the manifest visible, tangible and personal presence of the almighty God.

John saw the picture of the Bride prepared by God for His Son, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:2, NKJV, emphasis added).

How the Church is made ready for the Second Coming of the Lord?

In my previous posting we discussed the process by which the Church becomes "a perfect man" (Eph. 4:13). Paul said the five "body building" ministries are necessary to equip the saints for the work of the various ministries; for the maturing and perfecting of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). The perfect Church is a fully grown and perfect man - the Church as His Body demonstrates Christ in all His fullness in every aspect, in every grace, in every gift, in every ministry. In other words, the Church must be equipped to manifest Jesus in His fullness. In my opinion, at the present time we manage to manifest to the world only a pathetic small part of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians Chapters 4 and 5 reveal several distinctive marks of the Church that God is preparing to take it to Himself. It must be glorious, filled with the manifest presence of God, holy, without blemish, coming in the unity of faith, coming to the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ in Headship and Lordship, and coming into perfect maturity of a perfect man.

It is interesting to study the prayer of Paul for the Church (Eph. 3:14 to 19).

".... may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God".

In my opinion, Paul's prayer will only be answered when the Church comes in the unity of faith.

Preparation of the Glorious Bride

A major part of Paul's ministry is to help God to prepare the bride of Christ:

"For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2, emphasis added).

To the Church in Ephesus Paul said, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wringkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25 to 27, emphasis added).

There are a number of important points in the above passage which deserve our attention.

1. The two processes of cleansing and sanctifying are closely related but are not identical. It is possible to have purity, or cleanness, without sanctification, but it is not possible to have sanctification without purity, or cleanness. In other words, things that are sanctified are also cleansed. Therefore, cleansing is an essential part of sanctification but not the whole of it. As an example, the blood of Jesus also cleanses us from all sins.

The apostle John said, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Here John speaks of the cleasing power of Christ's blood, shed upon the cross, to redeem us from sin. We conclude that God's provision for spiritual cleansing always includes these two divine agents - the blood of Christ shed upon the cross and the washing with water by His Word. Neither is complete without the other. Christ redeemed us by His blood so that He might cleanse and sanctify us by His Word.

2. Paul makes it plain that all believers who are redeemed and cleased by the blood of Jesus are not yet qualified to be the bride of Christ. Only those Christians who have gone through the full process of cleansing and sanctifying will be in the condition necessary for their final presentation to Christ as His Bride - a glorious Church, "not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing .... boly and without blemish" (Verse 27).

3. The means by which Christ uses to cleanse and sanctify the Church is "the washing of water by the word" (Verse 26). It is God's Word which is the means of sanctifying and cleansing; in this respect the operation of God's Word is compared to the washing of pure water.

Notice that, even before Christ's atoning death upon the cross had actually been consummated, He had already assured His disciples of the cleansing power of His Word which He had spoken to them:

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).

We see , therefore, that the Word of God is a divine agent of spiritual cleaning, compared in its operation to the washing of pure water.

Notice that the Word of God means the pure and uncompromised Word of God. I believe any preacher, teacher or pastor who deliberately compromises the Word of God for any reason, is against the will of God to prepare the Church to be the Bride of Christ!

Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me ..." (Matthew 12:30).

Perfection of the Body of Christ

Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church is perfect and He desires His Body to be perfect, fully grown up, mature, complete and lacking in nothing.

I believe before a perfect Church can be materialised there are two areas of perfection we need to look into - perfection in ministries and Christian's personal perfection. We have discussed the last one in my last posting (25th. July 2005).

Perfection in Christian ministries to others

As I mentioned in my previous posting one of the objectives of Paul's ministries is to "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus".

Paul was speaking about the revelation of the mystery of God to the saints:

"To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:27,28, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, there are three related ministries used by Paul in his plan to "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus". These are preaching (proclaiming) Christ, warning (admonishing or counselling) and teaching of Scriptures. These are the basic three ministries of the Word.

Now, let us see what Paul said about Epaphras:

"Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (Col. 4:12, emphasis added).

If we put the above two passages of Scripture in Colossians together the four basic ministries for the perfection of every Christian believer are - Preaching, counselling, teaching and prayers. Therefore, the most basic activities/programs of any Local Church must include these four basic ministries!

Perfection of Christ's Body

Jesus said, ".... and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

Clearly, the builder of the Church is Jesus and He is the Architect who supplies the perfect blue-print for the building of His Church. He uses human materials. The fact is, the best architect can give the best blue-print but very often it is difficult to find the right type of human materials for the New Testament Church. Any Bible teacher can write about "Purpose Driven Church" or "Purpose Driven Life", the fact remains that good materials make a good and strong Church. But, inferior materials make a weak and inferior Church. In other words, godly believers make a true Church and ungodly believers make an ungodly church. Homosexual believers make a "harlot" church. Christ's Church is only as good as the believers who are the Body.

I believe this is the reason why God's first emphasis is on the character of the believers. Paul understood God's way and he began Chapter 4 of Ephesians with the primary emphasis on believers' character:

Paul said, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephe. 4:1,2,3, NKJV).

In other words, those who are called (chosen) by God as Christian believers must at all times walk with the right character - in humility, meekness, unselfishness, gentleness and mildness. Be patient with one another and making allowances for one another's faults because of the agape love for one another. Do the best to ensure walking in unity and harmony and in peace in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Church Building Ministry

Let us look closely at the first 16 verses of Ephesians 4 which I believe, lay the basic principles and purposes of the Church building ministry.

Verses 1 and 2 describe the basic character requirments of Christians with emphasis on humility - "lowliness and gentleness". It is interesting to note that Paul also emphasized on the humility of Jesus as an example in verses 9 and 10, "Now this, 'He ascended' - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all thing". Notice that these two verses are in parentheses, signifying additional phases included in the original language.

The principle of humility was given by Jesus Himself, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:12).

Peter said, "Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, ..." (1 Peter 5:5).

Solomon said, "... And before honor is humility" (Proverbs 15:33). In fact this was precisely what Paul said about Jesus in Philippians 2:5 to 11. He was exalted because He humbled Himself first, not only because He is the Son of God.

Verses 4, 5 and 6 are the 7 basic unities of the Church. Believers are united as one because there is one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Father of all.

Verses 7, 8 and 11 are the diversity of Christ's gifts to men. These are the so-called five-fold ministry gifts - apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors (shepherds) and teachers. Notice that unity comes first before diversity. In these ministry gifts Christ gave Himself back to His Church by the Holy Spirit according to His will. In other words, what makes a man a pastor is not Seminary training, is not Bible School graduation or because he wants to be a pastor. It is because Christ the perfect Shepherd is in that man. For without Him a self-appointed pastor can do nothing. The truth is that many Christians fail to understand that Christ is the perfect embodiment in all the mininstry gifts - He is the perfect apostle, perfect prophet, evangelist, perfect pastor and perfect teacher.

Verses 12, 13 and 14 give us the functions and goals for which these ministries are set in the Church. Notice that these ministries are needed until all Christian believers (all the existing denominations) come into the unity of faith and full knowledge (and full acknowlegement) of Christ. Until the Church becomes a "perfect man" with the fullness of Christ.

In my opinion, the Chuch has a long way to grow into a "perfect man". Therefore we still need all these ministries. Many Local Churches have no apostles and prophets and the leadership assume that the days of the apostles and prophets are over - a very sad situation! The outcome of this ignorance is, members of the congregation "are like chrildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting" (Eph. 4:14). Is our Lord, Jesus Christ coming back for the Church under this condition?

Verses 15 and 16 give us the climax to the Church building process. The spiritual truth is, there is no competition in the Body of Christ. The whole Body "joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (verse 16).

In other words, the Church is never in a static condition. Every member of the Body does his part according to the measure of Christ's gift to enable a progressive growth into a climax - a perfect Bride for Christ!

A Christian's Personal Perfection in Christ

At first glance, the word "perfect" gives an impression that to be perfect means you will never say or do anything wrong or never make any mistake. This is obviously quite unattainable.

The word "perfect" in Scripture comes from Greek word "teleios", which means mature, fully grown up, complete all-round, nothing deficient or defective. Notice that a person can be fully grown up but can be defective in some area of his body. Or he is mature but may not be complete. Therefore, a more accurate description for a perfect person means, a person who is fully mature and grown up in "full personality" - in body, soul and spirit in the sight of God.

To be perfect is a command of Christ. If personal perfection is not attainable Jesus would not have commanded His people to be perfect.

Jesus said to His disciples, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as you Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48, NKJV, emphasis added).

The word "therefore" indicates that the meaning of being "perfect" is revealed a few verses earlier. In the context, Jesus said that a person is considered a perfect person if he:

"Loves his enemies, bless those who curse him, do good to those who hate him, and pray for those who spitefully use him and persecute him" (Verse 44).

In my opinion, the ultimate goal of personal perfection is that divine love, agape love or the love of God is manifested in the character and personality of a person. Without the love of God in a person it is quite impossible for him to love his enemies. In this message we shall examine the Scripture to find out whether it is true that divine love is the ultimate goal of our personal walk with God.

Paul's Teaching on Perfection

Paul's ministry is not only to preach Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church, but also to present every man perfect in Christ:

"I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His Body, which is the church. Him we preach, warning everyman and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfection in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:24,28, emphasis added).

Paul admitted that he had not attained complete maturity yet. There is still something lacking in him:

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected: but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me" (Phil. 3:12, NKJV, emphasis added).

The next few verses in Phil. 3 and 1 Cor. 9:24 to 27 show that Pual compared himself to a man running a race and heading for the finishing line. He was not going to stop until he got there. He would not look behind but did all he could to reach there. In order to do that he needed self discipline and self-control. Towards the end of His ministry Paul did see the finishing line and he ran for it!

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I hve finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:6).

Peter's Teaching on Perfection

In the Second Epistle of Peter beginning from verse 2 to verse 8 of Chapter 1, Peter gives a vivid picture of a Christian's walk to perfection by faith in the promises of God. By grace God has given every true Christian His divine nature - the nature of God (2 Peter 1:4).

Christian walk is a walk of faith. Beginning with faith there are actually seven steps to Christian perfection - Virtue, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly kindness and Love (verses 5 to 7). Without faith, no one would be able to take the first step!

1. "Virtue" comes from the Greek word "arete" meaning exellence, be trustworthy or being faithful. Exellence is revealed through faithfulness. An example is:

Jesus said, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much" (Luke 16:10).

2. "Knowledge" means knowlege of God, His Word and His Will. The opposite of knowledge is ignorance. God's people must not be ignorant of the "signs of times", "God's timetable for the nation of Israel and the Church". Every Christian needs to know that God's purposes for men cannot come to their full consummation unless Israel and the Church are included.

3. "Self-control" or "temperance" comes from the Greek word "egkrateia". It is one of the nine-fold fruit of the Holy Spirit. I believe we can view self-control and endurance or perseverance together as "bottle-neck" of our walk with God. If we fail to make through these then we can make no further progress. Take as an example of Paul in 1 Cor. 9:24,25 as an athlete running a race:

"And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things ...." (1 Cor. 9:25).

"temperate in all things" means having self-control.

Notice that we are not to compete with our fellow Christians, but are competing with the forces that oppose us and keep us from obtaining the prize. The forces can be lust, fleshly desire or fleshly appetite or moodines.

4. "Perseverance" comes from the Greek word "hupomone" meaning endurance, patience or constancy.

The writer of Hebrews said, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise" (Hebrews 6:11,12, emphasis added).

"For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise" (Hebrews 10:36, emphasis added).

In other words, we need endurance to do the will of God in order to recieve the promises of God.
5. "Godiness" comes from the Greek word "eusebeia" meaning peity, holiness, devout and well-reverant.

In my opinion, a godly person or a person with godliness means the presence of God is with such a person. In other words, when such a person is with you, he makes you think of God.

Paul wrote to Timothy, ".. exercise youself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (1 Tim. 4:7,8, emphasis added).

In other words, godliness requires excercise to develope. Godliness excercise is more important than physical bodily exercise because there is promise of the life both now and and eternity! I believe all spiritual exercise are towards godliness. Examples are prayer, Bible study, Scripture memorisation and fasting.

Jude wrote Christians, "...to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 15, emphasis added).

Notice that "ungodly" is mentioned 4 time which indicates that all true Christians need to cultivate godliness.

6. The phrase "Brotherly kindness" comes from the Greek word "philadephia" meaning fraternal affection, brotherly love or love of the brethren. This is the love for our fellow Christians.

Many of us assume that we love our fellow Christians. But, if we are honest enough many of us are likely to admit that it is not easy. In my opinion, this is one of the most severe tests in our Christian walk. But, the Scripture is very clear, through the new birth we are in covenant relationship with our fellow believers and so expected to love one another. Peter said, to love our Christian brothers is an act of obedience:

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart" (1 Peter 1:22).

To love one another is a new commandment of Christ. It is also the most powerful method of evangelising the world:

Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34,35).

7. "Love or Charity" comes from the Greek word "agape". It is the love of God or God's kind of love. God loves the world with agape love (John 3:16).

Paul said, "For when were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6,8).

That is the reason why Jesus commanded us (His disciples) to love our enemies, love sinners, love the ungodly with agape love (the love of God) if we want to be perfect! (Matthew 5:43 to 48).

When was a Disciple called a Christian?

My readers should read my earlier postings "True Disciple and True Christian" (28th. March 2005) and "Paradigm Shift for the Body of Christ?" (11th. April 2005) before they read this. This posting is the extension of the earlier postings with some new revelations.

In most comtemporary Local Churches, the purpose of a discipleship program is to make or teach Church members to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words, to the contemporary Bible teachers, Church members are not disciples unless they are trained by a series of man-made "training package" or man-made system or rules.

The purpose of this message is not in any way to criticise any Local Church having a discipleship program. This is strictly a Bible study message.

The difference between a Disciple and a Christian

The Nelson's Bible Dictionary defines "disciple" as "a follower of Jesus", and "Christian" as "an adherent or follower of Christ". Clearly, there is very little difference between a disciple and a Christian except that being an "adherent" of Christ indicates that the Christian is a serious and more committed follower of Christ. In other words, a belivever being a Christian has grown to a higher level of maturity than a disciple. Therefore, if a person is not a disciple, he is also not a Christian. If he is not a Christian, there is no way we can make him a Christian. If he is a Christian, then he is automatically a disciple - a logical conclusion.

The Scripture reveals an important difference between a disciple and a Christian. Please read Acts 19:1 to7.

Paul found some disciples in Ephesus. They have not heard of the Holy Spirit and said they were baptised with John's baptism of repentance. Then Paul ministered to them and baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus (baptism in water). When he laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. The implication is that, before water baptism a believer is a disciple. After water baptism the disciple is qualified to be a Church member when the Church was founded. Notice that in early New Testament Christianiy, disciples are water baptised before they join a Church.

Making of Disciples

The Bible commands believers to make disciples (not Christians or Church members) of the unbelieving world:

Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, bapitizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19, emphasis added).

"And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch" (Acts 14:21, emphasis added).

Notice that, disciples are made by the preaching of the Gospel which is "the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). About three thousand disciples were made after Peter's first sermon (Acts 2:41).

When was a Disciple called a Christian

There are three questions we can ask. When was a disciple called a disciple, when was a disciple called a Christian and when was a Christian called a disciple? The last is an invalid questian. The only valid reason why a Bible teacher or a pastor tries to teach Church members how to be disciples is, he is assuming that believing members in the Local Church are not Christians. Not only they are not Christians but not disciples as well. All Church members must be Christians. It is true that Church members have different levels of maturity, but, all of them are Christians.

In the New Testament a disciple of Christ is called a "disciple" at one time and called a "Christian" at another time. In Gospel Time all disciples (including the apostles) and followers of Jesus were called diciples. When the first Church was founded, disciples were called Christians. Since then all Church-going water baptised disciples are called Christians.

Notice that, you cannot find the word "Christian" in the Old Testament Scripture. The word "Christian" occurs three times in the New Testament, and all three times appear after the Christian Church was founded:

1. Luke recorded, "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26, NKJV, emphasis added). In other word, the disciples were not called Christians before the first Church was founded in Anotioch.

2. Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:28).

3. Peter exhorted, "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed" (1 Peter 4:16).

Other Names for Disciples and Christians

1. Disciples are those who are taught or instructed:

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples" (Isaiah 8:16).

2. At Romans time, a Christian means a slave of Christ as Caesarian a slave of Caesar

3. Before the Church in Antioch was founded (prior to the adoption of the name Christian), disciples called themselves as "believers":

"And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women" (Acts 5:14).

They were also called "saints" (Acts 9:13,32,41) or "brothers or brethrens" (Acts 6:3). These names continued to be used after disciples adopted the name "Christians".

The Importance of Discerning Times and Seasons

Jesus said to the multitudes concerning the discernment of time:

"Whenever you see a cloud rising out to the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time" (Luke 12:54,55,56, NKJV, emphasis added)?

In the context, "this time" mean the time when the Messiah should appear. Jesus said, God's people who fail to discern the time of such an important event are hypocrites. In fact, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they "did not know the time of your (God's people's) visitation" (Luke 19:44)!

To discern the times is an improtant command of Christ. It is the spiritual responsibilty for children of God to discern the times.

Times and Seasons

Solomon "the preacher" listed 14 pairs of opposites in the book of Ecclesiastes:

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill , and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.

It is not always the right time to do any of those 14 things listed above. It is not always right to speak, it is not always right to build up and not always right to plant. I believe to a very large extent success in life depends on doing the right thing at the right time. But, the question is how are we, as Christians going to know when it is the right time to do a certain thing? Or, how are we to know what to do at a certain time? I believe the answers to these questions largely determine whether we are going to succeed or fail in life. Similarly, the answers also determine whether the Church, as the body of Christ is walking in the will of God, or out of the will of God.

The Mystery of Times and Seasons

I believe He who holds the key to the mystery of times and seasons is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shows the individual Christians and the Local Church what to do at what time. There is nothing we can do effectively for God without the Holy Spirit. There is no system or any set of rules that will work to please God without to Holy Spirit. The tragedy is, without the Holy Spirit the Local Church is likely to do what seems right to the leadership.

A common practice in the contemporary Church is that, when the leadership has discovered a "success formula" they will keep on following this formula. Other Local Churches are likely to follow the same "success formula" of another Church. As I said in my previous message every Church congregation needs ongoing visions and "fresh olive oil". What worked perfectly well 20 years ago, may not be workable now. Also, what works well in one Church congregation may not works the same ways with another congregation!

I believe in discipleship and the making of disciples because it is a scriptural principle. But, if the Church makes it a system or a set of rules suggested by men, it will not work better than any other religious system or set of rules which has gone before. You will find that different men suggest different sets of rules in discipleship. It will not accomplish the purpose or will of God without the soveraign direction of the Holy Spirit. The biggest mistake of the Local Church is, trying to make it through without the Holy Spirit. God forgives us but He will never proper us.

The Holy Spirit is the administrator of the entire wealth of God's Kingdom. He is the steward and administrator of our inheritance. He imparts divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding to any Christian who has the ears to hear.

Daniel said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding" (Daniel 2:20,21, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge and He gives wisdom and knowledge to those who have understanding so as to enable them to discern the right time and season to do the will of God.

Consequences of failing to discern Times and Seasons

After the Babylonian exile, it was time to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God spoke through Haggai, the prophet to Zerubbabel, the governor and Joshua the high priest saying:

"The people says, 'The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built'" (Haggai 1:2).

But God said it was the right time to rebuild the temple and it was not right for the people to dwell in these own houses when the temple was in ruins (Verses 3 and 4).

The Lord said, because the people refused to discern the time to rebuild the temple the following things happened:

"You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to to put ino a bag with holes" (Verse 6).

"You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. The heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit" (Verses 9 and 10).

To me, it sounds like a "financial curse" upon God's people. The rest of the Book of Haggai says that, the people received the message from Haggai. They changed their way and began to prosper. The people responded to the words of the Lord's prophet. That changed the destiny of God's people.

"Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper" (2 Chron. 20:20, NKJV, emphasis added).

I believe there is a parallel truth applicable to the New Testament Church. In other words, the Lord is also speaking the same thing to His Church if Christians fail to discern times and seasons. God is trying to get a message to the Church. If the Church of Jesus Christ fails to receive God's message, we must be ready to face the same consequences!

An important thing to note is that God did not speak to the people directly. He spoke through the Prophet (Haggai), to the Governor or king (Zerubbabel) and to the Priest (Joshua).

In my opinion, the Local Church needs all these three ministries - prophet, king and priest to discern times and seasons, in order to do the right things at the right time and to walk in the perfect will of God. These three ministries are also needed to restore or rebuild every Local Church.

It is interesting to note that the Lord has also given these three ministries to one person in every Christian home - the father! Every God-fearing father is responsible and accountable to God to discern times and seasons in order to ensure his family does the right thing at the right time.

I believe God reveals an important spiritual principle here - Wherever God builds, He calls for all three ministries; Priestly, Prophetic and kingly (government).

The Local Church needs Divine Visions

Solomon said, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelations of God), the people perish; ...." (proverbs 29:18, The Amplified Bible).

The word "vision" comes from the Hebrew word "chazown" which means a dream, a mental sight, revelation or oracle.

The truth is that, all God's people both in the Old Testament and the New Testament need visions. In my opinion, the type of vision that the Local Church needs to seek is a continuing, on going, relevant revelation of God's will and purpose at any given time and in any situation. In other words, the Church of Jesus Christ always need to be hearing from God and to do what He says.

The writer of Hebrews said, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe" (Hebrews 1:1,2, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, in Old Testament time God spoke to His people through His prophets of old. But, in the last days, or at the present time Jesus spoke directly to Christians through the Spirit of God. It follows that any Christian Group or Local Church fails to hear from Jesus when He has spoken, there is something wrong somewhere!

The following verses of Scripture show that God wants His people to hear His voice and obey what He says at all times:

Moses said to Israel, "If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth" (Deut. 28:1, The Amplified Bible).

God said to His people through Jeremiah, "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you" (Jeremiah 7:23, NKJV).

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27, NKJV).

In other words, Jesus Himself says that those who are known by Him will follow Him when they hear His voice. It is obvious that only a true Christian will hear His voice, because any person who does not hear His voice is not his sheep. If the Christian fails to hear his voice he cannot follow Him and He does not know him. Therefore the true Church must be able to hear Him continuosly and able to discern the revelation or vision given by Him at any particular moment of time.

I believe God has an on-going vison for any particular group or congregation of the Local Church, and any particular ministry, at any particular situation. God usaully gives a different vision for different Local Church groups at a particular time under different situations. What is a correct vision for a group is not necessarily correct for another group. Each Local Church needs to seek fresh visions from God to do God's will. In other words, there is no such thing as a "success formula" for all Local Churches to follow!

What happens when there is no Vision

Let us look at a situation in the Old Testament to see what happened when God's people failed to hear from God.

A good example is at the time when Samuel was called:

"The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions" (1 Samuel 3:1, NIV, emphasis added).

Notice that there were not many visions before Samuel was called because the Lord was silent. During the time of "Judges" the nation of Israel has sunk to a low ebb in which moral authority was no higher than self-will. The inspired Scripture sums up it up with a disappointing epitaph - the last verse of the Book of Judges:

"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" Judges 21:25, NKJV).

I believe when God's people start to do what is right in his own eyes, the end result is backsliding. Israel had the Law, they had the tabernacle, the priesthood and everything that religion could offer. None of these things kept them from backsliding. It is the same with the Church. Any Local Church group that does not have visions will backslide, in a religious way - they are missing God. They do what is right in their own eyes and not what is right in God's eyes. They seek after man's teaching and man's method because they lack spiritual discernment.

Lampstand and the Olive Trees

We need to understand that everywhere in Scripture Lampstand typifies the Church and Olive Old typifies the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Olive Tree typifies the source of the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah saw a vision of a lampstand with two olive trees beside it (Zechariah 4).

"Then I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees - at the right of the lampstand and at the left?' So he said, 'These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth'" (Zech. 4:11 and 14, NKJV).

The lamp depends on the oil to give light. A continuous supply of fresh olive oil flows from the olive tree is needed to keep the lamp burning. In fact, verse 13 says that the oil is so fresh that it actually comes directly out from either sides of lampstand.

Now, let us refer to the book of Revelation. John described the two witnesses in Chapter 11 in this way:

The angel said to John, "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth" (Rev. 11:3,4, NKJV, emphasis added).

I believe the "olive trees" speaks of the prophetic function in relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the prophetic function of the Local Church that keep the fresh oil flowing into the lampstand to give light to the world. In other words, we the Church must not live on "stale" vision or revelation, not on stale bread and stale activities.

God has something new to say to the Church today! Do we have the ears to hear?