“DIVINE ORDER OF THE CHURCH” Part 4, JANUARY 2019

“TILL WE ALL COME IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTO A PERFECT MAN.”  Ephesians 4: 13. AND THESE ALL, HAVING OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT THROUGH FAITH, RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE: GOD HAVING PROVIDED SOME BETTER THING FOR US, THAT THEY WITHOUT US SHOULD NOT BE MADE PERFECT.” Hebrews 11: 39,40.

 t this point in time, we are no doubt obligated to pause for a moment to reminisce over the past year, or any portion of it that is most relevant in your health and well-being. Perhaps this is a moment in which you are inclined to say thanks to someone special, and friends that shared their love and understanding during the past year. The song suggests that if we count our blessings and name them one by one, we will be surprised by what the Lord has done. I say to all my friends and those who support this ministry, THANK YOU in the name of our Lord. Your prayerful support in word and deed is always appreciated.

 During this chapter of our study, we are going to pay keen attention to the role or impact time (thousands of years) figures into God’s ultimate program for us and his creation. We will be surprised to notice that even from ancient times, God has woven all things together into what can be classified as a single package. We will see that time does not negate, or rending null and void God’s master plan that was put in place IN HIM before the world began. We are given a short word of assurance concerning the creation’s wellbeing as far as God is concerned. It was written a long time ago: “Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” Job 14: 15.

 It is for this reason we are told of a universal deliverance that encompasses man and beasts; and for man, it signifies the redemption of our body; when indeed, we shall be given a body like unto the glorious body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Romans 8: 22-23. Philippians 3:20, 21. Look once more on the scripture being used as the caption for this study. It tells us that those who embraced the promises of God through faith, died without obtaining the promise. Thus, it is as if God placed them “on hold”, suspending his dealings with them as humans because he has some better thing for us, and on that basis, they cannot be made perfect without us (or before us as far as time goes.) But who are we talking about in this statement? When did they live, and how long ago did they pass on to the other side? Let us highlight some of the names catalogued in this biblical chronology and put their years alongside their names—for clarity and for the appropriate impact related to each story.

 The writer of Hebrews went to great length to pend the names of those he wished to write about. We now have the luxury of being able to read the names and take a close up view of the persons behind the names. We begin in Hebrews 11:32: “And what shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; Of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets.” Although we cannot offer exact dates and years in which these people lived, we can offer the appropriate year in which each one lived and can be assumed as follows: Gedeon lived about B.C. 1249: Barak about B.C. 1296: Samson B.C. 1141: Jephthae B.C. 1161: David and Samuel both lived in the same period: B.C. 1063. But what does all of this say to us today? Connecting the dots, we refer back to what the writer said in verse 39. “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: But why were they put on hold up to this present day, considering that they had so much going for them? In God’s master plan: God having provided some better thing for us, that they (after waiting more than two thousand years—and counting) without us should not be made perfect. (or complete.)

 At this juncture, let us take a closer look at the scripture. If they without us should not be made perfect (complete) it suggests that they and us will come into that place of perfection together. We can learn from this scenario that God’s schedule as it pertains to “time” and the people having to live and die within any particular time frame are only like milestones along a highway. For instance, God speaks of a thousand years, or his mercies that are ministered to the people who live and die within those years. But in addition, we need to bear in mind that while people are born, live and die within those year, the foundational truths spoken by God himself

Do not change a single iota of God’s truths. This brings us back to the exhortations of Paul in his pastoral letters. He wrote saying:

 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For this corruptible MUST put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1^st Corinthians 15: 50-53.” Why is this truth so important? What is the ultimate truth that we cannot afford to miss? “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. It stands to reason that those who are waiting, and cannot be made perfect without us, “being changed to possess like bodies as they already have.”

 As we read, our conversation is in heaven from which we look for our Savior Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Phil.3: 20, 21. The truth we need to take away and hold close in faith is that although Paul did not live to be among those to be changed in a moment, that truth has not changed by elapsing time. The same holds true for the physical change that will come upon God’s people. Time will not rob Paul of his crown of life that he will receive on that day. It took about 7,000 years for the promised Messiah to show up in Jerusalem on his way to the hillside of Golgotha.

What I want to emphasize is that those who crossed over after preaching and teaching events that they themselves thought would occur in their lifetime, their passing has not changed the pending events, for themselves or for us. From among the crowds of those spirits of just men being made perfect, time is not a present factor. They cannot be made perfect without us, because God has prepared some better thing for us. Let us pause for a moment and rehearse this in our mind so as to extract the truth and see the mighty act of God in how he deals with us and creation at large. These people to whom we refer lived almost two thousand years prior to Paul’s writings in Hebrews 11. I WANT YOU TO BE STUDIOUS in wrapping your arms around what we are discussing in real time. We are told that all of these ancient people saw the promises of God. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11: 13.

But as we assumed a while ago, each of these people lived nearly two thousand years before the book of Hebrews was written. But in spite of the long years that have elapsed nothing changed in God’s Master Plan that was put in place before the foundation of the world. It is amazing to think that in spite of the long years, those “departed” loved ones have not gone into oblivion and covered under the sands of time. While they wait for us to “come in” they presently join us in Mount Zion. “But ye are come to mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God (speaking of the church of Jesus Christ) , the heavenly Jerusalem (the same one that John in Revelation saw coming down to earth out of heaven) and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly  and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect (or being made perfect.) Hebrews 12: 22, 23. We are given so many scriptures to underscore and substantiate these truths that we are studying. These are not newly inserted in our bibles. They have been there since the bible was printed; and many of us, as preachers, have preached sermon after sermon; much to the delight and blessing of the congregations. However, as we pay much closer attention to the truths that we have missed over the years, it is as if we are making new discoveries which are not new by any stretch of the imagination. It is as though the Holy Spirit has opened a new door into these truths.

 But there is another issue of paramount importance for us to consider and be made to understand. Paul said, they without US including himself, should not be made perfect. Put a marker here and turn to Ephesians 4 again! Notice with what mindset Paul wrote. “Till WE ALL come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4: 13. Once again, we see Paul including himself in God’s grandiose act with his Body of believers. Is Paul talking out of turn? Has he missed the truth even for a moment?

I don’t think so, when we consider that the stalwarts of faith listed in Hebrews 11: 32, were put on hold as if in a time capsule –as if suspended in time until the others (the US that Paul spoke about, should come into their rightful place.) From Paul’s perspective, we can assume that the apostle saw the time of fulfilment when together as IN ONE, all of God’s people will ascend into that predestinated realm of perfection for which even the creation itself is waiting for. We are given a brief account of God’s plans for the ages, and Peter referred to part of it in one of his letters. It is import for us to pay special attention to the time factor involved in this account. Speaking of our salvation that was not known to the prophets of old, we are told how they sought to know more about it.

Peter adds this thought: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, or to be revealed at the end of time, or in the last days. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto US they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1^st Peter 1: 3-5,10-13.

Here is another connection in support of this truth. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. When he shall come to be glorified IN HIS SAINTS, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believe) in that day. 2^nd Thessalonians 1: 7, 10. “And to those who look for him shall he appear the second time without sin (not to deal with sin) unto salvation (full salvation.) Meaning the salvation of the whole man: spirit, soul, and body: to those who are looking for him. Hebrews 9: 28. It will be helpful if we revisit some scriptures that were highlighted in previous writings, for the sake of remembrance and review.  The point of this exercise is to tap into the mindset of the apostles around the time that Jesus died and shortly thereafter. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians offered a short out line concerning the words of Christ to his disciples as they sat at supper, shortly before he was betrayed and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.

Paul repeated Christ’s words, saying: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, ye do shew the Lord’s death until he come.” 1^st Cor. 11: 26. Thus, the disciples digested the idea of showing forth the Lord’s death on a frequent basis. (By serving communion)

As we enter the birth of what we call “The Apostolic Church” being born on the day of Pentecost, the thought of Christ’s early return burned brightly in every heart. My conclusion, (and mine alone), is that with the belief in the imminent return of Christ, they went from house to house breaking bread and worshipping in the Holy Spirit. Not only that: they sold all their belongings and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Here is what the biblical narrative said! “And all that believed were together and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Acts 2: 44-46.

I believe that this demonstration of open charity was predicated upon the belief of the imminent return of Christ. The underlying factor among the disciples was that since Christ would return very soon, there was no need to stockpile things and put away as much cash as possible. Here is how Paul approached the subject of Christ’s imminent return (I will quickly modify the points by saying that Paul and the other apostles did change their understanding of the matter as expressed in their later writings. But for the time being, Paul wrote on this basis. “Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art though loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But this I say, brethren, the time is short (and that is more than 2018 years ago) it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep as though they wept not. And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” 1^st Corinthians 7:27-31. What was Paul’s rationale for speaking thus? He concluded that time is short!    

Peter’s belief was based on this wise! “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefor sober and watch unto prayer.” 1^st Peter 4: 7. James wrote: “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:8. The writer of Hebrews said: “Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25 In other words, you cannot afford to miss church, for Christ could come the day you are absent. At this particular time in the midst of the apostles, the ongoing belief was that Christ would return in their day. Paul was so convinced of this that he included himself in many of the great events that will occur “just around the corner” so he wrote: WE shall not sleep, but We all shall be changed. The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be changed. Paul included himself in these groups because he thought at that point in his ministry that Christ would surely return in his life time. As we have shown, both Peter, James and Paul entertained the idea of Christ’s imminent return. As history shows, even from the first century, different groups at different times, sold their belongings and climbed to mountain tops to await the return of Christ to earth, because of the misinterpretation of scripture. Timing is of the essence!!