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"ON EAGLES’ WINGS MINISTRIES"
Until The Restitution of All Things! May 2016 Part 1
“And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive (retain or hold) until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:20, 21. King James Version. “Then he will send you Jesus, your long heralded Christ, although for the time he must remain in Heaven until that universal restoration of which God spoke in ancient times through all his holy prophets.” J. B. Phillips Translation.
“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”1st Corinthians 15:25, 26. KJV. “For he is destined to reign until God has put all enemies under his feet; and the last enemy to be abolished is death.” J. B. Phillips Translation. Some of you have been on my mailing list ever since the inception of this paper in 1985. This means that you should be well aware of the truths we express. But I am sure that in recent years some have had difficulty in wrapping their arms around the truths we share.
This series shall not be different! What we shall be doing here, is to look at creation from a panoramic perspective: meaning that every aspect of creation will come under careful scrutiny in the light of the scriptures. Some of what I will be sharing in this series, I have been hearing while still in Sunday school; not as revealed truth, but mostly in congregational scripture reading in Church. As for myself, for many years after I entered the ministry I carefully mentioned some of the hard scriptures, and absolutely avoided others. But I must confess that recently my spirit is being stirred concerning these truths, and I feel compelled to share them with you as a series of bible studies.
Across the broad spectrum of the Christian landscape, emboldened by the cultures of other countries, people see the world as possessing two different realities: one is good and the other is bad. They also see two facts wrapped up in the reality of physical death being contrasted against the living. Most of all, those who have died have posed the biggest challenge for Christians of various religious persuasions; in so much that those beliefs have affected the ordinary person on the street. To these people, death is “taboo” and the moment the breath leaves the body that loved one becomes scary and should immediately be avoided. Even in the “Deliverance Ministry” and the full scope of the Pentecostal Ministries, spirits (demons) should simply be rebuked and banished to outer darkness, or be sent back in chains to the devil in the nether world.
The common mantra being heard among the Deliverance and Pentecostal ministries is this: “I rebuke you and bind you, thou spirit of sickness (blindness, nervousness, blood pressure etc. etc.) and I send you back into outer darkness. Be thou confined to the pit where you belong.” But on the flip side of the coin, Jesus did not bind those spirits that were already in prison. Instead, he went into their abode and brought them out of captivity; and led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Ephesians 4:8. There has never been a ministry that was committed to the needs of those who dwell in the spirit world. We will take a stroll through that realm of spirit in this series.
But before we go any further, let me explain that the title shown above is taken from Acts 3: 19-21. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord: And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive (detain or hold) until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouths of his holy prophets since the world began.” This speaks of the culmination of the ages; but before we get to that part of this study, we will be obliged to go back to the very beginning in Genesis chapters 1, 2, 5, 6. Because this is a unique subject that has not been preached and shared publicly across the broad spectrum of the Christian faith, I will try to offer the truths in a chronological order, linking Old Testament types, shadows and prophecies to New Testament fulfilment. I must tell you that even though I have been in the minister from 1957 and was ordained in 1968, I have never preached on the entirety of the truths that will be presented herein.
Let us look at two glaring facts that have embodied themselves deep within the mindset of Christians worldwide. One major belief that has saturated the Church and is being preached and shared in books and at seminars; camp meetings and mid-week bible study, is that Christ will soon appear in mid-air to catch away his church. People are at the point of great anxiety in the church at the very thought of missing the Rapture. To these multitudes (based upon their beliefs) being left behind leaves no escaping the Great Tribulation. Many preachers, including my own pastor while I was yet a new convert emphasized his belief that those Gentiles to be saved after the Rapture will have to join the Jews, and come through the Great Tribulation. But all of this can be called a great fabrication, or the misplacing and misunderstanding of scriptures.
The closet the bible comes in referring to the great tribulation is found in Revelation 7:13, 14. “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation (not the great tribulation) and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Throughout the New Testament each mention of tribulation is related to a specific time and people, but never a worldwide “Great tribulation.”
Imagine the scene and the mindset for a moment. It is like people leaving town in a hurry because a gunslinger is fast approaching the outskirts of town. In the thinking of many saints of God, the only solution for earth’s problems is for Christ to return in power and as “Big Brother” wrestle power from the devil and after the dust settles he will say to his people who were hiding from the battle in some remote place; “Come ye blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you.” The church is being groomed to be an escape artist: but to the contrary, instead of running away before the evil day sets in, here is Paul’s approach. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13.
Paul offers no hint of escaping the evil day. Running away was not his style: it was not a part of his mindset or his DNA. But for masses of Christians these days, a quick exit by way of being caught up into heaven just before indescribable suffering and pain break forth upon the earth is the main reason to keep their eyes fixed upon the eastern skies. Many times in sermons I have asked: “If you run away from the evil day: when you get to heaven how will you, with a clear conscience sing before the throne this song. “By and by when the morning comes, when all the saints of God are gathered home, we’ll tell the story how we overcame: we will understand it better by and by.” But if we run away (be caught up from earth, thus missing the evil day, how will we be able to sing that we overcame?”
I do not watch “Church Television” or others coming out of Virginia Beach or out of Texas, or Anaheim, California. So I cannot be sure of the soundness of this statement: but while we are being bombarded with sermons, broadcasts, books and even movies about leaving for heaven, little or nothing on a large scale is being said about a people who will sound the trumpet in Zion and herald the good news that creation at large is being delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. All that we have said so far; can serve as an introduction in which we touched lightly on what we shall be discussing hereafter. Even before man set foot on this terrestrial plane, God had already determined and destined what his responsibility would be. Like a foreman down at the building site assigning tasks to each of his workers, God assigned a special task for the man and the woman. He predetermined that after this man and woman passed on from the earth, their offspring would take up their mantle and in due time finish the job. Alas! In due time brings the task right to our doorsteps in this our day.
Because God’s word will not return unto him void; but will accomplish that for which it was sent, his will and command have become our destiny, and over the past few days, I am feeling a sense of urgency more than at any other time during my years of service in his vineyard. So God concocted in his own mind what the man and woman he is about to create will be commissioned to do. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 1: 26. After this, we learn that God brought all these life-form creatures to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever name he called them, that was the name of them. I think he also gave the nature to correspond with each name; so that an ass does not act like a sheep: and a goat does not behave like a lion. Notice this part of a verse: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth: and subdue it.” (verse 28a.) Thus we see that man’s task as assigned by the Creator is to subdue the earth. If we fast forward from this point through the time of Daniel the prophet, to the times of Christ and the apostles, and even to the last book of the bible, we will notice that it is still God’s intention that man will subdue the earth. Not merely the earth in terms of the dry land, but the whole created universe. So what did man accomplish in carrying out the mandate that he received from God?
We are told that Adam lived 930 years, but we are given no account of Eve’s demise. So Adam did not complete the task that he was given! As we move forward in considering the offspring of Adam and Eve, not much is recorded in terms of them subduing the earth. In fact the condition and moral fortitude of earth deteriorated to such a dismal state that mankind was swept away in the flood that occurred in B.C. 1656. So instead of subduing the earth, and replenishing it with God-fearing people, in less than two thousand years all flesh was wiped from the face of the earth. Here is what the biblical narrative said. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Like it is today?) And God looked upon the earth, and. behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:5-7,11-13. But what happened to the original command that he gave to Adam and Eve? Let us remember that God does not take back his word. Thus, we read: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not tither, but watereth the earth, maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10,11. But let us connect the dots so far! Adam died 930 years before he even began to rule over the earth. Within another 726 years, the end of all flesh came in the resulting flood. We are left with the all-important question: “What happened to God’s original command given to Adam and Eve, in the light of the fact that his word will not return unto him void?
Actually, on the other side of the flood God renewed his command with Noah. “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Genesis 9: 1. Thus, we conclude that the flood was merely an interruption and a pause to God’s original plan for man and his place in the interest of creation. The omniscient God must have known the lifespan of both Adam and Eve; and the fact that both would see their demise in a brief period of time. As time evolves and moves along the corridors of the ages, taking man along with it, God’s original plans for his entire creation also moves along in all its true significance..
We must also conclude that God in his fore-knowledge knew that it was not Adam and Eve who would eventually subdue the earth and rule over it. At this juncture we can insert this caveat, that Eden and all of its history only pointed to New Testament realities and now include US. Romans 5: 14 reads thus: “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses (and the laws and the prophets reigned until John the Baptist—so death reigned from Moses to John) even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who was the figure (TYPE) of him that was to come.” So when put in its proper context “Come let us make man in our own image and likeness” did not come to fruition in the person of Adam; for he was only a type of the Christ who should come. What do we learn here? We can comfortably infer that the command given to Adam was really meant for a people who would walk the earth thousands of years after Adam himself. God calls things that are not as though they were; and he tells the end from the beginning.
Therefore at this point in time, we can be assured that God’s command to rule over the earth and to subdue it is still relevant as if spoken only yesterday. Added to that, is the fact that God currently does have a people destined by God’s predestinated will to walk the earth and bring his plans to fruition. As we go along in this series, we will bring into focus all the varied elements and characters relevant to the creation itself that is on tip toe, waiting to be ministered to by a people that God is in the process of raising up. The airwaves and individual church gatherings are saturated with sermons addressed to the Jews as being God’s chosen people. But little or nothing is being said about the fact (the truth) that Israel of old was only a type of God’s New Testament Church and in fact they are called The Church in the Wilderness. “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” So the O.T. call for Israel to be a peculiar people above all peoples upon the earth, an holy nation, a kingdom of priests, all heralded the birth and coming forth of His glorious church—and not literal Israel over in Palestine today. Peter joined the refrain in saying: Ye also, as lively (Life-giving) stones are built up a spiritual house, and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1st Peter 2:5. From the Garden until now, God’s plans stand firm and true: and we can join Paul in saying, “When the fullness of time was come!”
In His Service—Royce
Please remember to express your wish to remain on my mailing list if you have not contacted me over the past 12 to 18 months. Thank you.