Royce O. Kennedy
"ON EAGLES’ WINGS MINISTRIES"
“Faith’s Final Frontier.” July 2012. Part 3.
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be his from mine eyes.” Hosea 13: 14.
We ended part two of this series by highlighting the words that Jesus spoke and how they were so deep and profound to the carnal mind, that many of his disciples returned from following after him. But what we did show in no uncertain term is that our Lord’s teaching against death was offered in that context and the Jews understood it in the way it was meant to be interpreted.
As you can observe, each part of these studies come with bible verses underscoring God’s attitude and ultimate intentions regarding the last enemy death. We must understand that God did not invent death; neither did he introduce it to the dwellers in the Garden. But the difference between Adam’s body and that of Christ the second Adam is that Adam’s body was subject to corruption, where as Christ’s body could not see corruption. We are told that it was not possible with Christ.
That is because Adam was of the earth, earthy; but Christ was from heaven, heavenly, and there was nothing in him that death could feed upon like food. There was no place for death to dwell like a place of abode. Jesus said that the prince of this world comes, but he finds nothing in me. That means nothing that the adversary could use as an entrance or as a tool.
I heard the story of a time when a plague terrorized Ireland and people died in large numbers in so much that large areas of cities were under quarantine and nobody was allowed to come in or go out. But there was an elderly gentleman who wanted to go in and help. After assuring the authorities that his faith was enough to protect him from contracting the plague, they decided to test him by putting the germ on his arm under a microscope and to their amazement, the germ died as soon as it landed on the man’s arms. After seeing the demonstration, they allowed the man to go in and help, wearing no protective clothing whatsoever. The plague had no power over him!
Consider this! Jesus walked into hell as a man after his burial. There he conquered death and hell and took away the keys. When he came forth from thence he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. These are the exploits of the “Pattern Son” who is the head or firstborn among a family of many brothers. Every pastor, evangelist and teacher must quote from the bible, and I cannot put anything on paper in these writings that have not been sitting in scripture for more than two thousand years. So why do we devote ourselves to keep repeating what so many already know?
In both secular and religious life, repetition is the name of the game. Many companies and careers require refresher courses to meet the challenge of an ever changing world. Lawyers, doctors, school teachers, and many other professionals are required to constantly take refresher courses because of changing laws, tax codes, and other components that sustain the integrity of society.
However, the Word of God written on parchments and later translated and put on paper has not changed; and moreover, the God of the bible also does not change. Today we hear the term, “My sexual preference or orientation; my personal choice over my own body;” and a gradual lessening of the importance of scripture.
So, in essence, nothing that we teach or preach from scripture can be called “new” because it has been there all the time. Let us face the truth! From year to year we go to weekend retreats up in the mountains of Pennsylvania, or in the Ozarks, or camp meetings in Oklahoma, and in many cases, the same speakers attend each year.
A friend of mine in South Florida held annual conventions, and the few that I attended had the same guest speaker year after year. For the most part, we hear the same sermons, and sing the same songs during the worship service. But we are called upon to keep speaking the truth as reminders, and for those who possibly are new to a particular ministry.
Listen to Peter! “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” 2nd Peter 1: 12. We are admonished in Hebrews on this wise! “Wherefore we ought to give the most earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Hebrews 2: 1. But we have a strong suggestion in scripture how certain truths will unfold and be taught when the time is right. We have given two scriptural reasons why we keep repeating biblical truths, but there is even another reason for us to consider. Follow this closely and slowly please!
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1st Timothy 2: 3-6. So what is the total message that is to be spoken of or held as a testimony in due time or when the time appointed has come? The total message that is to be spoken at the appropriate time, and that time has come, is that God WILL HAVE (this is not a wish, hoping that somehow it will happen—this is a positive announcement of what shall come to pass) all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. A friend of mine in Orlando, Florida, asked on his radio program: “Does God wish for all men to be saved, but he cannot? Or can God save all men, but he won’t? Either way it is up to God, isn’t it?
To this end, and for that purpose, Christ gave himself a ransom for all—Ha! Yes! He did! But its message is to be testified or spoken or preach in due time. Paul spoke on this wise, “When the fullness of time was come—and, When it pleased God who separated me from my mother’s womb; and the heir, though he be lord of all, as long as he is a babe differs not from a servant or a slave, and is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.”
This is the reason why we cannot get upset or point fingers at those who did not speak of overcoming death until now. And even as we speak and write about this subject, people will continue to die and be buried, including wonderful saints in Christ whom we love and respect for the long years of labor in God’s vineyard. We offer them a happy home coming or “home going” at these times. But in the meantime, some of us are watching the tide changing and continue to feel new life growing within like a tender plant that springs up from a seed planted a few days before. For those who understand and will apply themselves, we are being changed from glory to glory into HIS image by the Spirit of the Lord. 2nd Corinthians 3: 18. The more we hear these truths, the more our entire being will respond.
This is why I love the hymn we used to sing in worship back in London. “Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty: Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.” God sent word to Israel by the mouth of Moses, saying, “And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house.
And when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up.” Deuteronomy6: 6, 7. Let us consider the learning process at this juncture.
How many times did we repeat our time tables in the first grade, and again in the second grade? How many times did you have to insist that your son or daughter brush their teeth and gargle with mouth wash, before they adopted it much like a second nature? We are children of habit and we inadvertently pull from that which permeates the environment in which we live. We do not break away and change our mindset simply by hearing something once or twice, or even after three times. Trash day comes around the same days every week, and yet we have to remind the kids to put the trash out by the curb so it gets picked up.
We insist that our children tidy their rooms and shower in so much, that by the time they leave for college, these basic requirements have already become a part of their nature, and they do them almost automatically, without invoking any extra motive or skill. We live in a world where sin is given much power, more so by the Church than anywhere else, thus generating corruption and death. The news headlines carry gruesome stories and pictures of people suffering and dying in far off places. Certain negatives in life have become so prevalent that they are accepted as the facts of life; and even believers in Christ are sometimes drawn into the lure of the merchants of sin, sickness, and death.
That is why even many preachers of the gospel have surrendered to the law of sin and death, that envelope the entire universe, and have taken hold of true believers in their grasp. The situation becomes worse if there is no one heralding a better message, and announcing that we can live on a higher plane. But a song writer expressed his ardent desires in this song: “My heart has no desire to stay, Where doubts arise, and fears dismay; Tho’ some may dwell where these abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.” Here is one of my favorite songs I used to sing while serving as pastor in West Palm Beach, Florida, and introduced it to a group in El Paso, Texas.
“We’ll sing, dance, and tell, the world of his life, Until Zion sees eye to eye. We shall restore, love creation more, and show them they don’t have to die. We all shall ascend and while living in him, we’re changed till with man it is well; Redeemed we do sing and we dance for the King; till there is not one man in hell.”
Here is another of my favorites from those days back in 1981-1986. “I’ve destroyed the yoke from off thy neck, opened up the prison door; Through the glory of this latter house, my creation is restored. I have loosed all the pangs of death, called you forth in victory; I have swallowed up the old, Zion shall behold me as I am.” As we said earlier, Jesus Christ gave himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified, preached, or spoken of in due time, or when the appropriate time comes to a receptive world.
God works on his own schedule and does not change it based upon man’s belief or the lack of it. I used to smile and even chuckle a bit when I heard preachers make the following remark on the radio, in the convention center in a big city, or in big conventions in large arenas: “Help me evangelize the world so we can hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus.”
Perhaps it is a nice pitch for boosting offerings for foreign missions; but it has no relevance to God’s word and divine purpose. As Paul stood up to address the people in Mars’ hill he outlined a part of God’s plan for the ages. “At the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he gave assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the dead.” Acts 17: 30, 31.
God does not adjust or change the schedule because someone backslides or rebel against Christ. He does not change the schedule so as to accommodate someone who is slow in believing, or until Cousin Mary and Uncle Jim, quit drinking and carousing long enough to hear the gospel message and decide to try it. God has already set the times and the seasons in place, and has allotted the number of years for each event to occur that impacts the life of mankind. Many call them dispensations.
Paul, who was like as one born out of due time (Prematurely—before his time) knew that the full revelation of the work that Jesus did in paying the ransom price for all men, was reserved for a time that would be later than his own time. Because of this insight or foreknowledge, the apostle pointed us to a time future from where he was living. He assured us of that time in the future by saying: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Please make a special note that it takes a living person to put on. A dead person would take up rather than to put on.
So when (alluding to a specific period of time) this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then (at that time) shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1st Corinthians 15: 53, 54. After I arrived from London by way of Kingston, Jamaica, on my first visit
to the United States, my Presiding Bishop told me how at first he began to preach and teach “End-time Revival” and quickly realized that the people were not ready to receive it. He put in on the shelf for a while, and when he went back some time later and preached it, people quickly embraced it. Those of us with years of experience under our belts know the importance of being in time, and on time. We work on God’s time, and it is not the other way round.
Royce O. Kennedy