KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ...when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day" (II Thes. 1:7-10).

We are living in a time when the truth about the Lord's return is missed by many of the Lord's people, misunderstood by others, and misinterpreted by multitudes. The promise of the Lord's coming is intended to be GOOD NEWS. Yet many people react in fear to the very thought of the coming of Christ, for they associate it with the end of the world, which to them means complete disaster. The picture most people have of the judgment is vividly portrayed in Michael Angelo's picture of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel at Rome. The central figure in that celebrated masterpiece is that of our Lord seated upon a throne, with all the host of heaven gathered about Him, and trembling humanity arraigned before Him. The countenance of the Divine Judge is not at all what we are accustomed to associate with Jesus. It is wonderful in its beauty and majesty to be sure, but there is not a hint of mercy or compassion in it. On the contrary, it is menacing and awful in the extreme, as, with uplifted hand, the Omnipotent Saviour consigns to hopeless perdition the multitudes who are falling away downward upon His left hand with every expression of anguish and despair. The only suggestion of pity or compassion the scene contains is to be discerned in the face of the virgin mother, who stands close to her august Son while the fearful sentence is being pronounced; there is none in the face of Christ Himself.

The subject of judgment is a large one in the Bible, running through scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and it is so manifold in meaning, purpose, and application that it eludes simplification. The judgments of God run deep and are so vast and multi-faceted that they lie completely beyond the comprehension of the carnal mind and beyond the grasp of mortal man. As exclaimed by Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS, and His ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33). David prophesied, "...for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth" (Ps. 96:13). Paul urged the Athenians to repent "because He hath appointed A DAY in which He will JUDGE THE WORLD in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). Judgment is inseparably related to the coming of Christ and His Kingdom. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom" (II Tim. 4:1).

Through the cunning of the adversary, both the world and the popular church have been robbed of the blessed assurances of the time when God's RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS break forth in the earth. Most people know that the Bible tells of a "judgment day," but the average person, believer or unbeliever, regards it only with a certain sense of fear and dread. Because of this FEAR there is, to them, no more unwelcome tidings than that the Lord is coming to JUDGE THE EARTH. Many tremble inwardly at the thought of God's judgments, and in this mind put them far from them, preferring not to even hear the subject mentioned. At various times in the past many people have become terror stricken when some unusual event or a terrible calamity has occurred, because they have supposed that the event signaled the finale for our planet with billions of people suddenly thrust into eternal damnation. They have absolutely no idea of the wonderful blessings in store for a sin-weary world under the glorious reign of the sons of God filled with all the nature, wisdom, glory and power of God!

There are many who preach what they call the "end-time message" who capitalize on this emotion of FEAR: "Christ is coming to judge and YOU ARE NOT READY!" That message sounds like something exasperated mothers shout as they shake their disobedient children: "You just wait until your daddy comes home!" Many souls have been scared into the altars and have lived in dread of the end of the age and the coming of the Lord ever since. One day, they expect, they will suddenly be yanked up through the air, taken to that great woodshed in the sky, and given the spanking of their eternal life. The threat of the Lord appearing as Judge is somehow supposed to produce righteous living among the saints. Yeah, "JUST WAIT UNTIL YOUR DADDY (Jesus) COMES HOME!"

Then there are those who seem to be consumed with teaching and preaching about the terrible conditions that mark the end of this age: war, famine, pestilence, lawlessness, immorality, the antichrist, the mark of the beast, the great tribulation, persecution and trouble. Their main passion seems to be what the church system, the world bankers, the Jews, the Illuminati, the Russians, the politicians and the wicked in general are doing in the world. Their whole life is absorbed in discussions about who is the antichrist, credit cards, Social Security numbers, bar-code marking systems, laser-tattooed identification numbers, conspiracies, wilderness hideouts, survival camps, and all sorts of carnal preparations for getting through the "great tribulation." Still others want to talk about the horrors of AIDS, or some other manifestation of this dark hour. But I do not hesitate to tell you, beloved, that it is a total waste of time and effort to continually analyze the negative realm and curse the darkness. If we are really genuinely concerned about the darkness of this night, let us get up off our spiritual lazy bones and hasten to follow hard after the Lord. Pursue HIM with all your might! Let us repent of all our foolish preoccupation with the works of darkness and our fear of the night and turn our eyes to the light of His glorious face. Christ is the ILLUMINATION OF THE NEW DAY. And only as we walk with Him can the curse and bondages of this present darkness be turned into the glad morning of peace, righteousness, and life we all long for.

Judgment is God's strange work. He uses it as a tool in His redemptive and restorative processes. Men make it the end. But judgment is always a means to an end - never THE END! No matter how an unbeliever is dealt with, whether he dies as a result of his sin, or by the direct judgment of God; whether he be cast into hell, or turned into the lake of fire - THIS IS NOT HIS END. All men will be raised up either into a resurrection of life or a resurrection of judgment (Jn. 5:29), but for the latter THIS IS NOT THEIR END. All judgments are limited - confined to a day, or to the limitations of prescribed ages. "Because He hath appointed A DAY, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained" (Acts 17:31). "And the smoke of their torment doth go up to AGES OF AGES; and they have no rest DAY and NIGHT (time periods), who are bowing before the beast and his image..." (Rev. 14:11, Young's Literal). The Concordant Literal New Testament reads, "And the fumes of their torment are ascending FOR THE EONS OF THE EONS. And they are having no rest DAY and NIGHT..." God's great goal lies BEYOND THE AGES, on the OTHER SIDE OF TIME, for "He planned for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages (the end of all time periods and ages) to UNIFY A-L-L  T-H-I-N-G-S AND HEAD THEM UP AND CONSUMMATE THEM IN CHRIST" (Eph. 1:10, Amplified). GOD ALL IN ALL is the grand goal (I Cor. 15:27-28). God does not reach His goal during any of His judgmental or disciplinary measures wrought out in time. These only break and mold and prepare His creatures for it. Let us not confuse the process with the goal. The process involves JUDGMENT IN TIME. The goal is ALL THINGS GATHERED TOGETHER INTO CHRIST - IN ETERNITY.

The end of divine Judgment - no matter its form, no matter its subject - is to bring the whole universe into harmony with His will, nature and glory. How optimistically did the holy prophets and apostles regard the coming of the Lord in judgment! Note the expectation in Isaiah's spirit as he announces: "Yea, in the way of THY JUDGMENTS, O Lord, have we waited for Thee...with my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early: for when THY JUDGMENTS are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isa. 26:8-9). Here Isaiah assures us that the day when God's judgments are in the earth will be a most glorious and desirable day, a day in which the inhabitants of the world W-I-L-L LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS! How opposite to the idea entertained by many that when God's judgments come in the earth the inhabitants of the world will be sent into oblivion or eternal damnation. If the desire of your heart is anything like the desire of my heart, this is a blessed thought and a wonderful assurance: the inhabitants of the world WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS! How my ransomed soul yearns to behold such a thing! Every time I scan the headlines of the morning paper I am seized with an intense longing that the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Oft times as I watch the evening newscast my spirit is mightily moved within to intercede earnestly that the inhabitants of the world WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. As I drive across our great land; as I walk the streets of our cities and towns, observing the condition of those about: neighbors, friends, relatives, strangers, the young and the old, my spirit groans with unutterable supplications that the inhabitants of the world will LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS! What a marvelous provision of our all-wise and loving Father that, to this very end, He has ORDAINED JUDGMENT to come forth in the earth. Bless His name!

There are some good people who have conceived of the idea that the God of this universe is a Person of ALL LOVE expressed only through GOODNESS and MERCY. They do not want to think of Him as One who would punish individuals and nations. They do not want to think of Him as a God of fiery indignation and judgment. They do not want to think of Him as One who is capable of administering a fiery retribution on those who trample under foot His holy laws and abuse His spirit of grace. To these people God is a onesided Being - a God of pure love and goodness, but not a God of wrath. Now, just think for a moment: If He were such a Person, He would be a God without character. Our God is a God of holiness who hates sin. He is a God of justice, whose very nature demands that He must punish and correct sin.

It must be quite convenient, and soothing to one's conscience, to have a God who will always overlook sin, and who will never punish or correct the erring. But such a God would only exist in the figment of the imagination of a deluded soul. Such a God could never be a reality; and a God who is truly holy and altogether righteous would never eternally condone that which is so totally antagonistic to His nature and character. In order for God's righteous Kingdom to be fully manifest there must be judgment and retribution against all that is evil in God's universe.

We have met some brethren in this end-time move of the Spirit who have exaggerated the bright side of the love of God out of all proportion to its other aspects. The love of God has been presented in such a way that it is a weakness rather than a strength. It has been presented on the sunny side of the street with nothing on the other side ever mentioned. There is a "love" of God preached that has become such a one-sided, mushy, gooey, sugar-sweet thing that it contains nothing of the vital and vigorous concern of a Father for the best interests of a son - it would never love enough to chasten, scourge and correct that son! They have perverted love, making it sickening rather than stimulating, causing it to slop over on every side like a sentimental feeling rather than expressing an abiding concern for the object of love.

All those who make God's nature and activity only gentleness have taken one side of the truth and allowed it to get out of balance. Gentleness without austerity becomes soft and characterless. Mothers who dote on their children in this way often raise criminals. The kind of person who is all sweetness with no steel in him is not inspiring. He has the same effect as eating too many chocolates. And the offspring of this false doctrine is one of the most unlovely by-products of Christianity - the "spoiled brat" Christian. He is the man who thinks God has given him a privileged claim on life. Nothing bad should ever happen to him now, he should never be sick, never have to suffer or do without, he should have the shiniest car, the finest home, the best job, the most elegant clothes and every desire of his carnal heart with never a care in the world nor a cross to bear.

The kind of God we have revealed in the scriptures is a God of both love and judgment. He is not a nebulous nonentity of sentimentalism. He is a God of character. We thank God today that He is a God of love and mercy - and there would not be one of us alive today to breathe His fresh air, if it were not for His amazing love toward us. But those who do not want to believe that God will administer a sufficient amount of corrective judgment upon the disobedient and rebellious, should be reminded that God is exactly that kind of Being. In the very cradle of human history, we find God pronouncing a curse upon our first parents on account of their transgression. He even pronounced a curse upon the earth itself on account of their sin.

After a while sin abounded in the earth, in that antediluvian era, and we find God executing judgment on the whole human race in the dreadful flood which destroyed all flesh, except for Noah and his family who "found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Upon the wicked nation of Egypt, God sent not one but ten, of the most severe judgments of which only divine justice could conceive and execute. Pharaoh knew the hopelessness of effort when the Almighty is against one's schemes. God can take the wheels from the chariots of the mighty, and give their proud power to the overwhelming waters. Upon the wicked, idolatrous nations of Canaan, God caused the judgment of war to fall, wiping out more than twenty great kingdoms in one sweeping purge. In like manner, God sent His judgment of destruction upon the haughty Babylonian empire; then upon the Medo-Persian empire; and later, the Grecian empire; and later still, upon that kingdom of iron, the mighty Roman empire. Because of their sins they were destroyed.

Nor did God spare His chosen people, the Israelites. Because of their unbelief and idolatry, and witchcraft, and rebellion, and haughtiness of spirit, God sent upon them the judgment of the captivities. "It is a FEARFUL THING to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). Napoleon confessed in his humiliation and with his shattered army, "The Almighty is too strong for me." Nothing prospers if God's vote is against it. Evil may seem to pay for a day, but in the long run it is crushed and broken and bankrupt. If you believe history, you must believe that God is a God of judgment!

Let every man and woman of God who treasures the beautiful hope of sonship know that there is the DARK SIDE OF GOD'S LOVE! If a person refuses to surrender to the will and way of God the Great Physician will put His child on the operating table. He will use the surgeon's knife when He sees a tumor of self-will or a deadly virus of carnality sapping our spiritual lives, or when He sees the cancerous growth of sin. The two-edged sword CUTS DEEP. It is a sharp sword and leaves the soul wounded when it cuts, as Jacob was wounded while wrestling with the Lord. He rebukes and chastises whom He loves, and if necessary He will proceed to the most desperate actions - indeed, HE WILL KILL YOU TO SAVE YOU! (I Cor. 5:5).

There is going to be a unique and different unfolding of this One we call Jesus Christ! For He is about to go forth bringing His judgments to the whole earth, to the entire bestial order that the carnal mind of man has erected. In the book of Revelation we see the Christ riding forth on a white horse with the armies of the sons of God following in His path, "judging and making war." In Rev. 6:16 it is called "the WRATH of the LAMB." What an amazing divine paradox! The "Lamb" of God who "takes away the sin of the W-O-R-L-D" on the one hand, and the "wrath" of the Lamb on the other hand. The Lamb - precious embodiment of meekness, mildness, lowliness, gentleness, patience and sacrifice - coming upon the world for which He died in the hot fury of wrath, until men are found fleeing from the wrath of the Lamb!

Can this be the same Jesus? The very thought seems incongruous. The two ideas seem completely incompatible and hopelessly unreconcilable - and they are until we understand the PURPOSE of the Lamb's wrath. The Lamb does not suddenly undergo some fundamental change, laying aside His Lambhood, transformed like the proverbial werewolf into something altogether contradictory, now Himself an executioner instead of a Saviour. Nay! It is not the wrath of One who has transmuted His Lamb nature, for it IS the very W-R-A-T-H OF THE L-A-M-B! This wrath, therefore, is strikingly unique - not unappeasable rage or beastly savagery inflicting unrepairable destruction and damnation upon mankind - but corrective, redemptive judgment to break the rebellion of men, and RESTORE ALL INTO HIMSELF AGAIN. That, my beloved, is the Divine Vengence of Love - the wrath of the Lamb!

This dual nature - the meekness and wrath of the Lamb - makes Him what He is, both the SAVIOUR and the JUDGE of the universe. In His redemptive activity His face is set against sin. Nothing can ever alter that. He will go to all lengths to turn men from evil, and restore them into harmony with the mind and heart of God. The sheer simplicity and sincerity of His passion is enough to melt and win the most sophisticated or the hardest of men. The wrath of the Lamb is beyond our understanding. But the seer of Patmos was shown the unveiling the wrath of the Lamb. I want to declare that God is going to come forth in these last days in a revelation of Jesus Christ with the judgments and wrath of God. This shaking and purging will affect the very Church of the living God. The hour is come when judgment must begin at the house of God, but the whole earth will reel violently under the overflow.

It is that STERN and TENDER hand of God which makes the Lion and the Lamb dwell together in the saints. As he walked the lonely shores of Patmos, the apostle John found himself borne away into the realm of the Spirit. In spirit he beheld a wonderful sealed book which no man could open. The symbolism of this book, and the message it conveys, is too much for us to discuss in this writing. However, John was brought into a place where he could see the intention of God to write His nature in the lives of a people. As he gazed in astonishment at the sealed book he was strangely moved to tears, and as he wept he heard one of the elders instruct him to dry his tears, because "the LION of the tribe of Judah" had "prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof" (Rev. 5:5). The beloved prophet stood transfixed with wonder as he looked, and, lo, "in the midst of the throne... stood a LAMB as it had been slain" (Rev. 5:6). Let us look at these two highly significant names - "the LION of the tribe of Judah" and "a LAMB as it had been slain." There are many beautiful names of our Lord, each given to teach us some facet of His Person, nature, and work. Through these divine titles our finite minds grasp, a little here and a little there, something of the Infinite One who works His strange and wonderful work within us. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" speaks to us of the kingly character of our Lord. This official title takes us back to the familiar prophecy recorded in Gen. 49:8-10. Jacob was giving his last blessing upon his sons, looking forward to the then future history of the tribes of Israel; and to Judah he said, "Judah is a LION'S WHELP ... the scepter shall not depart from Judah ... until Shiloh (the Christ) come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

Jesus is the Lion sprung from Judah. He overcame, in the trials of life, in the temptations in the wilderness, in the agonies of the garden, in the terrors of death, and in the bonds of the grave. He hath ascended, leading captivity captive. He is the Victor now over law, and sin, and death, and hell, and the whole kingdom of darkness. He who appears in the Revelation as a Lamb, is the same whom the elder had just described as a Lion. The two titles seem to be incompatible! What more opposite than the monarch of the forest, in strength and majesty, inflicting terror and death, and the Lamb, in its uncomplaining meekness, in the hands of the sacrificer. BUT THE TWO PICTURES DO NOT CONFLICT. They complement each other, and combine to bring out what could not be otherwise so well portrayed, and yet what the truth of the matter requires.

It is by His sacrifice as a Lamb slain, that He comes to the qualifications for the further office of a Lion, to assert and enforce His supremacy. "He was led as a LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth" (Isa. 53:7); but He is yet to "send forth judgment unto victory" (Mat. 12:20). As the Lamb He hath "borne our sorrows and carried our iniquities," and stands in the midst of the throne with life and blessing and glory for all; but it is reserved for Him, as Judah's Lion, "in righteousness to judge and make war," and enforce the power of His sovereignty upon all that stands in resistance against it.

This is certainly a word for us today. God has purposed to reveal every aspect of His purpose through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God the Father had a purpose in Christ even before redemption, way back in the beginning, spoken of as "the eonian purpose." So we are living this very day in a progression. God is marching on. He wants to reveal Himself and unfold this glorious One that we call the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, the tremendous unveiling in the form of symbols and signs that came to the prophet on that far-away Isle, is today FULFILLED SPIRITUALLY within the people in whom the Christ dwells. Let all who read these lines know for a certainty that it is the glorious CHRIST WITHIN who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the slain Lamb that lives in the throne. You will never understand the mystery of the Lion and the Lamb until you understand that Christ is in heaven, and heaven is within us, for the Christ of glory eternally and gloriously lives out His life in His body, His people. It is within His elect that He must come forth as both the Lion and the Lamb in the midst of the throne, in the POWER of the Kingdom of God within. The Lion is the omnipotent power and the sovereign authority of God in manifestation, whereas the Lamb is the inward quickening and sustaining life of God.

There is a two-fold working of God in the lives of the Lord's apprehended ones. First, SELF must be dethroned, and in the accomplishment of this Christ is a Lion, clothed with power and majesty and terribleness. As the Lion He will crush every bone in the body of your self-life and tear away and consume every morsel of your flesh. But as the Lamb He wondrously imparts of HIS LIFE that you may live by the Spirit. The Lion is Christ warring, devouring, conquering all that pertains to the nature of old Adam. The Lamb is Christ AS OUR LIFE, that we may appear with Him in glory. But further these same qualities and characteristics must be fulfilled in the elect as we are conformed into His image, made ONE IN HIM. The company of the sons of God shall bear both the image of the Lion and the Lamb. The kingly strength and regal authority of the Lion nature shall function through the sons in perfect unity with the gentle and ministerial character of the Lamb. These two streams of the divine nature, working together as one, in judgment and mercy, shall flow mightily and great, and will cause the very earth to shake, will move heaven and stir hell, and bring the triumph of God's Kingdom among men. When the effective dealings of God through the Lion are BALANCED by the merciful and gracious administrations of the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb then lie down together in the Kingdom of God where there is peace and joy and righteousness for evermore. Thank God! He is preparing His LION AND LAMB COMPANY, those blessed ones made one with the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb on Mount Zion. This glorious ministry shall prevail in the earth and restore all back into God again.

Only with the correct understanding of the purpose and results of God's judgments can we enter into the rest of God in these turbulent times. Many are agitated in these dark days, their hearts failing them for fear in-looking after those things which are coming upon the earth. The apostle Paul saw believers who were distressed by the terrible afflictions, tribulations and wickedness in the world, and he invited us to join him in entering into the rest of God. "And to you who are troubled REST WITH US, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty messengers, in flaming fire taking vengence on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Thes. 1:7-10). What a word! REST WITH US when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven... in flaming fire taking vengence! Let us therefore enter into the rest of God and cease worrying about all the problems, injustices and tyrannies of men, for the Lord shall soon bring judgment on the whole order, removing it to make way for the expansion of His glorious and righteous Kingdom. The whole earth eagerly and with bated breath awaits the manifestation of the glory of the Lord. God is not going to bypass the mode of operation He has chosen of working through human instruments. He comes in judgment - and in the process He comes TO BE GLORIFIED I-N  H-I-S  S-A-I-N-T-S AND TO BE ADMIRED I-N  A-L-L T-H-E-M THAT BELIEVE. He shall come forth mightily through His people as the Lion in judgment to crush the carnal inventions of man, but He shall reign ultimately as the Lamb in blessing and peace and glory. Hallelujah!

We have been led to think in terms of the first coming and the second coming, whereas the Bible speaks in terms of the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ. Our God does not talk about the "first coming" and the "second coming" - He talks about the on-going revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For example, let us take a look at that thought in Micah 5:2, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall-He come forth unto Me who is to Rule in Israel, whose GOINGS FORTH have been of old, from everlasting."

Notice, His "goings forth." The plural is used. The goings forth of the Lord speak about the Lord Jesus Christ! Now, the idea of "goings" has to do with the onward marching of God - the unfolding of the purpose of God, step by step. This is what is indicated here. This is what history is all about, the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, the marching forward of God, the ever-increasing unveiling of Himself to man. The unfolding of end-time events and God's order for the ages to come, which are the main contents of the last book of the Bible, are called "the Revelation of Jesus Christ."

The pages of the Old Testament are literally sprinkled with the accounts of the Lord's comings, beginning in Eden's blessed Garden and continuing through all generations of old. We dare not lose sight of the fact that our Lord has already had many comings, many appearings. We have limited the comings of Jesus strictly to two because of the harlot church system's unscriptural terms "first coming" and "second coming," but the truth is that He came; He continued to come. He comes; He continues to come. He will come; and He will continue to come! There are numerous "comings" and "appearings" of the Lord in the New Testament. BUT THEY DO NOT ALL REFER TO THE SAME EVENT. The word "coming" is very often used in the scriptures of a visitation or manifestation of the Lord to judge or bless or accomplish some aspect of His plan and purpose among His people and in the earth. One would think, listening to the preachers rant and rave about "THE second coming of Christ," that every time the Lord says, "I will come," He is speaking of one specific, particular, singular event sometime out in the dim and misty future. I would be remiss if I failed to tell you that this is a great error.

Rev. 2:5 tells of a coming of our Lord. "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I WILL COME unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Since Jesus had gone, a coming of Jesus would be a return. So what does the Lord say? He warns the Church at Ephesus that if it does not repent, "I WILL COME ... QUICKLY!" "I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." "Candlestick" means lampstand. A lampstand is for holding up a light. Now what is the use of an assembly of believers? This is the purpose of the Lord's people - "YE are the light of the world." Christ tells these people that if they do not repent HE WILL COME TO THEM IN JUDGMENT, swift and effective judgment, and remove them from being an assembly of light-bearing children of God. It was a coming that might not take place! Jesus said, "I will come if you don't repent. What would prevent this COMING? Ephesian saints repenting! The Ephesian Church was an active and patient and doctrinally sound Church. But it lost its first love for Christ, the pure, virginal love for Him and for Him alone, mingling fleshly interests with their devotion to Christ. Sadly, the Ephesian Church never repented. So God allowed the light to go out. Later on the darkness of Mohammedism swept over the land where this Church had been located. There is no lampstand in Ephesus today, for there is nothing but the ruins of a once great city. In Ephesus there is no Church at all. The sight of the ancient temple is now a marsh, inhabited only by frogs. Ephesus, of course, in keeping with the pattern of the book of Revelation, was merely a TYPICAL CHURCH, and the Lord's solemn warning signal flashes out to this day to be heeded by every man and movement that is of the Ephesian spirit and character: "Repent, or I WILL COME unto thee quickly!" Is this, then, THE so-called "second coming" of Christ? Assuredly not! But it is His coming nonetheless. It is His on-going coming in judgment beginning at the house of God!

It is my deep and considered conviction that just as the "coming" of the Lord is progressive - past, present, and future - so is the unfolding of the "judgment day" past, present, and future. The question follows - When did the judgment day begin? Jesus answers the question in the plainest of language. "For the Father judgeth no man, but HATH COMMITTED all judgment unto the Son" (Jn. 5:22). "And Jesus said, For judgment I AM COME into this world" (Jn. 9:39). "N-O-W is the judgment of this world: N-O-W shall the prince of this world be cast out" (Jn. 12:31).

It is high time that the saints look into some of the things they have been taught. We have been told some funny stories. The preachers in the church systems love to speak loudly and preach long about what they term "the FINAL judgment." But the term "FINAL judgment" never appears once within the pages of God's blessed Book! In fact, the word "final" never appears there at all. It is a word that has been added to judgment and taught to the people as a divine revelation of an event that is supposed to transpire somewhere out in the future. The Word of God does not teach that there is a "final judgment day" at some future time. The pen of inspiration has blazoned with unmistakable clarity the truth: "Be ye also patient; stablish your hears: for the COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH. Grudge not against one another, brethren, lest ye be condemned (judged): behold (look!), THE JUDGE STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR" (James 5:8-9). Oh yes, the Judge IS HERE! even now standing before the door of your mind and heart. Some of the modern translations bring out the truth so beautifully: "Be patient, ye also; establish your hearts, because THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD HATH DRAWN NIGH; do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves shall not be judged. Look! THE JUDGE IS ALREADY STANDING AT THE VERY DOOR" (Young's Literal & Amplified Bible).

The judgments of God are first and foremost not external, but internal; not future, but on-going. The Word of God, history, and our own experience shout aloud the truth that the soul's verdict is even now being written moment by moment, not by recording angels in heavenly books on some distant shore, but by each man himself on the fleshy tables of his own heart. This present life is to each of the consecrated ones his "day of judgment" - his day of trial, testing, proving, chastening, his day of being brought to perfection in Christ. The apostle Peter's words are in harmony with this: "Judgment must BEGIN at the house of God!" (I Pet. 4:17). Let all men know that the hour has come when judgment must begin at the house of God. JUDGMENT BEGINNING AT THE HOUSE OF GOD! This does not imply a sudden visitation of catastrophes, calamities, and troubles, but it means that there will be a concentration of divine instruction and discipline, as the Father purifies each individual, until He can gather to Himself a FIRSTFRUITS.

It should be plain even to a child that the judgment day began with the coming of the Judge. The Judge is WITHIN YOU because the Christ is WITHIN YOU! It takes no extraordinary intelligence nor any exceptional spirituality to reach that conclusion. Let us stop putting the judgment beyond the cemetery and believe what God's Word really says about it. To all who wait for a judgment day in some future time or age I now say, as our blessed Lord has said, "N-O-W is the judgment of this world: N-O-W shall the prince of this world be cast out" (Jn. 12:31). Far too many Christians want to put it out at some final end, but either Satan is being bound and chained in your life today or he will never be eradicated from this planet. NOW shall the prince of this world be cast out! It is happening now and shall continue to happen in God's progressive unfolding of His judgments through the ages until that wonderful consummation when God becomes ALL-IN-ALL!

"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee," saith the Lord (Lk. 19:22). On that far-away Patmos, in august symbol and awesome sign John the Revelator in spirit beheld "the dead, small and great stand before God; and the BOOKS were opened: and ANOTHER BOOK was opened, which is the BOOK OF LIFE: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books" (Rev. 20:12). As you meditate upon this significant passage, dear one, allow the Spirit of God to reveal truth to your heart. We have entertained such carnal notions when we come to the book of Revelation. The Holy Spirit must teach us the very first principle of this book - the book of Revelation is a book of SYMBOLS - and no symbol is ever to be taken in its literal form. It is significantly wonderful that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is not a four-legged lion, nor is the Lamb in the midst of the throne a four-legged lamb! The Lamb has seven horns - not literal horns, of course - for the horns are mere figures representing the seven-fold spirit of power and life which emanates from the mind and nature of the Lamb. I am sure my readers understand the simple truth that the various beasts in the Revelation are not literal beasts, the cities are not literal cities, nor is the great harlot a singular physical woman who sells he body. One and all are but symbols and figures of deep spiritual realities, positive or negative, as the case may be. May I reverently inject another thought? The "dead" who "stand" before God and are "judged" out of the "books" are not the physically dead in the outward cemeteries, nor are the books such as you may have in your library. If they were, the principle of the book's symbology would utterly fail. If the Lamb who opens the "book" in chapter five is not a four-legged Lamb, it should not be difficult for anyone to understand that the book is not a two-covered book! And if that "book" is one of Revelation's wonderful symbols, does it not logically follow that the "books" in chapter twenty are likewise word-pictures in the form of symbols?

The first key to understanding the book of Revelation is the fact that the book is, in its entirety, a book of symbols. Any other approach will leave you hopelessly lost in a sea of confusion or muttering like a mad man about things utterly ridiculous. "I saw the dead, small and great," John declared. When Jesus came this world was spiritually a cemetery. ALL were dead! NONE were living "To be carnally minded IS DEATH," is the Spirit's own graphic and accurate definition of what it means to be dead (Rom. 7:6). "And you hath He quickened who WERE DEAD in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). To the spiritually dead the apostle commands, "Awake thou that steepest and arise from THE DEAD, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14). Let us with pure minds and an understanding quickened by the spirit of revelation from God consider these meaningful words, "And I saw the DEAD... stand before God." I saw the DEAD -- S-T-A-N-D! And immediately the "books" were opened.

Heaven keeps a record of the deeds of men, and all the thoughts and emotions under which they act. Myriads of human beings have lived and died of whom the world knows nothing; but the lives they lived, the deeds they wrought, the thoughts and passions they indulged, still stand written where the memory of them cannot perish. Not a human being has ever breathed earth's atmosphere whose career is not traced at full length in the books God has ordained. Yes, O man! O woman! whoever you may be, your biography is written. An unerring hand has recorded every item, with every secret thing. There is not an ill thought, a mean act, a dirty transaction, a filthiness of speech, or a base feeling that ever found entertainment in your heart, but is there described in bold letters, by its true name.

Where is the record? and what are these "books" where the secrets of your heart are meticulously inscribed? My words may come as a shock to some, but I do not hesitate to assert that they are nought but the BOOK OF YOUR OWN NATURE - THE GENETIC PATTERN OF YOUR VERY OWN B-E-I-N-G! In the sight of God you, and each and every man and woman on this planet, are a book; and indelibly inscribed within your mind and character is everything that YOU ARE. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" (Mat. 12:34). When your mouth speaks, the message inscribed in your inner nature is exposed and read by all who hear. Every outer action is a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a page of your book - the book which you are - known and read by all men. And think not, O man, that should your earthly body be laid in a silent and motionless tomb, that the Almighty must then resort to some celestial scrolls wherein heavenly angels have faithfully recorded your every thought and deed. NO! All is accurately recorded in the law of your own life, deep within the recesses of your own nature, in your spiritual and soulish condition and state of being, and to deal with you in judgment God has but to "stand you up" and prompt you to speak or act - and immediately you will manifest exactly what is inscribed in the constitution of your inner life. At once your "book" will "open," each line being made clear, and you will be judged by the things written in that book WHICH YOU A-R-E. When God, either now or in ages yet unborn, lays His mighty hand upon you, my friend, and summons you to STAND before Him, your book will open, and you will not then manifest anything other than what you are, for "the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature (dead or alive, visible or invisible) that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with who we have to do" (Heb. 4:12-13).

Without doubt, God is the great "book opener." I shall never forget an occasion many years ago when the Lord pressed this message home to my heart. In those days I was accustomed to changing the oil in my car. It never ceased to amaze me how a simple ten minute job could invariably turn into a disastrous hour-long ordeal! This certain day I had a few extra minutes, so determined to utilize them by changing the oil. I crawled under the car and proceeded to try to remove the oil plug. But it refused to cooperate. It simply would not budge. I pushed on the wrench with all my might; I grunted, groaned, and moaned as the minutes passed into an hour. The plug refused to yield and by this time was becoming damaged. Exasperation laid hold upon me. At that point I became exceedingly agitated and began to act very un-godlike. And just as soon as my rage reached its most explosive pitch, and what was manifested was all of ME and none of HIM, I saw two feet walking slowly by the car. The feet belonged to my neighbor. I knew that this neighbor was aware that I was a minister of the gospel! Suddenly I realized that my "book" had just been "opened" and my neighbor had been permitted to read a very ugly chapter! My heart smote me. Oh God, no! How ashamed I was that this man had read such a sordid scene! Humiliated and convicted (judged), at once I laid down the wrench and breathed the earnest prayer, "Father, FORGIVE ME! Help me somehow to get this oil plug out." No sooner were the words uttered than the Spirit whispered the words of wisdom, "Go to the other side of the car and pull instead of pushing." I crawled out from under the car and obeyed the prompting of the Spirit. In less than a minute the plug responded and the black oil flowed out. The message is clear - I could have drawn upon the Spirit earlier and prevented all the trouble - but God wanted to put His finger on something in my life! He opened my book and for me it was a "judgment day"!

The grand purpose for this "opening of our book" is so that all that is written therein may be exposed, revealed, displayed, and brought to judgment, dealt with by a concentration of divine discipline and instruction, as the Father processes each individual. The procedure is simple but very effective. The person abiding in some realm of death is caused to "stand" before God - brought directly into relation to the countenance and dealing of God. God arranges the circumstances, puts him into a situation, and his "book" is "opened" - the inner condition uncovered, the secrets and intents of the heart manifest in such a measure and expressed to such a degree that there need be no other record of his state appealed to. As it is written, "God shall bring EVERY WORK into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:14), for, "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Rom. 2:16). Ah - you will despair and shrink before God's judgments until you clearly understand that God does not open your book to destroy you - but to DELIVER YOU! God brings no man to judgment apart from the opening of his book. It is a divine law - God can never deliver you, nor any man, until the corruption in your heart has been drawn into outward manifestation, exposed, to be dealt with by God's stern and tender hand. When the inner nature erupts in some outward uncleanness, DO NOT DESPAIR! Thank God for exposing the deceitfulness and wickedness, cast yourself upon the tender mercies of the Lord, and yield yourself under His mighty hand that victory may be obtained in YOUR EARTH. We must never be discouraged when the motions of the flesh and the carnal mind overwhelm us, but neither should we become complacent about it, for God will send forth judgment unto victory however long it takes and however severe the dealings. He will never terminate His judgments until every man is conformed into the image of the glorious Son of God.

"And another book was opened, which is the BOOK OF LIFE" (Rev. 20:12). This must needs be opened too, for the book of life is the nature of the Lamb inscribed by the Spirit in the life of the New Creature. The book of life is called "the book of the life of the Lamb" (Rev. 13:8). If I were to give you a book entitled THE BOOK OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, you would understand at once that it is a biography or an autobiography of the life of the first president of the United States, George Washington. That book should contain everything you always wanted to know about George Washington! Every detail of his life would be there: where he was born, who his parents were, where he was raised, the schools he attended, who he married, how he became general of the army, and finally president of our great nation. In the same way, THE BOOK OF THE LIFE OF THE LAMB is the autobiography of God's Lamb, the expose of who He is, what He is like, and what He does. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Son of God is contained in this wonderful book of the life of the Lamb! It is not a literal book, of course, for the sons and daughters of the most High are the LIVING RECORD AND REVELATION of the life of the indwelling Lamb. It was to the apostle Paul that the revelation was given that the book of life, the book of the Lamb, the book of the Son of God is A PEOPLE. "Forasmuch as Y-E are manifestly declared to be THE EPISTLE OF CHRIST ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit GIVETH LIFE" (II Cor. 3:3,6). See also Heb. 10:8-11.

How pitiful that the people of earth for the most part have never read this beautiful EPISTLE OF CHRIST, this glorious BOOK OF THE LIFE OF THE LAMB. They have poured over the books of religion, the books of hypocricy, the books of fleshly wisdom, forms of godliness, dead doctrines, empty rituals and ceremonies, and man-made rules and regulations. But precious few have ever even seen the BOOK OF THE LIFE OF THE LAMB! Oh! What a wonderful gospel shall fill the earth beneath and the celestial realms above when God opens His holy book of life! The book of life is that blessed company of the sons of God, elect, chosen and transformed into the image of Christ throughout the ages. This book is being carefully written word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, and chapter by chapter in the nitty-gritty of our daily experience with God until the full revelation of the Christ shall be written therein. Time's clock is striking the hour and the time is drawing wonderfully nigh for the manifestation of the sons of God, the opening of God's book of life people, and what a manifestation it shall be! All creation from time immemorial has groaned and travailed for the manifestation of of God's sons, to deliver creation at last from the bondage of corruption. (For more on The Lamb's Book of Life see link below.)

God has a MESSAGE for the world - the revelation of Jesus Christ! This message is being written in flaming words of glory upon the pages of the lives and hearts and minds of men and women who are dying to that impudent and death-dealing devil of self, in order to walk and live by the spirit of HIS LIFE. I am terribly at a loss of words to express the glory of God's BOOK OF LIFE COMPANY, but I can assure you that once it is fully ready, prepared and finished it shall become the world's "best seller" throughout the ages to come! As the pen is mightier than the sword, so this book, above any that has ever been written by the finger of man, shall alter the course of history, and the dark covering that has been cast over the minds and hearts of the people for ages and dispensations will be completely destroyed by the flood of transforming light and wisdom and knowledge and glory and power shining forth from the living pages of God's eternal and incorruptible BOOK OF LIFE!

Next to Part 38

Table of Contents