Text: Isaiah 62:11-12
The message of salvation would stretch and culminate towards the end of the world. This teaching of salvation started from the time of Jesus and would continue even until the end of the world (Matt. 28:20). The teaching of the names of the Godhead would begin from the time of Jesus until the end of the world.
There is an end of the world that began in the first century AD to demonstrate aforetime those who would be coming at the actual end of the world. That age began with the early church and ended in the book of Revelation. The actual timing of the beginning and end is actually aligned with what is written in the books.
The beginning of church history was the first time when sons of great magnitude were harvested. Some of those men must have come into reward without a change of bodies. It is possible to come into reward without a change of bodies.
The "last time" is not a natural timing. God can impose His own timing upon a generation without closing the age. There would be no end of the world if the mysteries of Christ, the Father and God are not taught. Nuclear weapons and other world powers cannot end the world. God will not use man-made weapons to end the world. Until God proposes to fold up the earth, the age of the earth would not come to an end. It is when God finishes His work that the end would come.
What will end the world is salvation. Daughters of Zion are the church of the first born and are the only ones who can interpret this salvation. The daughter of Zion is of a higher status than Zion but can still be found amongst Zion. This daughter of Zion is one who is ready to begin to obey the laws of incorruption. She alone can sing the song of the Lamb; which is the praise that the sanctifier sings amidst the brethren (Heb. 2:12). Praise signifies the gates that result in entrance. Before we can gain entrance into the realm of God, we must do God's work. He would first show us His work and expect us to carry it out (Isa. 62:11). He “comes” to show His works; and He “comes quickly” to give His reward (Rev. 22:12). His work must have been obeyed for Him to come quickly for the purpose of rewarding those who have kept His work. His work are what make up the dimension of the Father. The Father is the work while God is the reward.
Similarly, faith and hope and charity are works. They are the works that make up Christ. Christ is made up of works that are to be done so that we can bring forth fruits that will qualify us for the next stage. The Father is a realm of work. It takes the work to interpret the reward. Without the work, one cannot have the capacity to receive the reward.
In the Old Testament, Jordan was an example of a portion just before entering the promised land. Similarly, Elisha wanted Elijah’s reward and had to follow Elijah and learn his works. The mantle of Elijah when he was taken was a type of reward. This mantle first touched Elisha at the beginning to make him follow Elijah for the purpose of works.
For Elisha to receive the mantle as a reward, he had to see Elijah being taken. For Elisha to see him being taken, some works had to be wrought in him. The works are what enabled Elisha to see him quickly. When God is coming with His reward, He comes quickly. This is why one must have received other prior comings to be able to see Him when He comes quickly.
The sons who would be brought to glory are those who have been sanctified and are ready to be taught by the Father (Heb. 2:10-11). It is because of the sanctified children that Jesus took part of flesh and blood so that “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death” (Heb. 2:13-14). The power of death is the works that the devil does.
This devil is also a maker of vineyards and he plants wild grapes for the purpose of killing those who have become sons. Judas Iscariot was not just possessed by a devil but had become “a devil” by reason of continuous commitment to evil (John 6:70). Devils are wise and can either be men or angels. An example was Alexander the coppersmith who did “much evil” to Paul (2 Tim. 4:14).
Death is a very high evil that completely kills a man and totally disables him from responding to God. This killing is a constructive raising. Satan’s intention is to plant his own tree of death beside the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden was a killer. In that tree resided the corruption of the fallen angel. The woman saw the edifice in the tree and was enticed by it (Gen. 3:6). What the tree preached to the woman as “becoming a god” was a reward. Similarly, the tree of life was also a tree of reward which God placed in the garden.
What Jesus did was to destroy death (Heb. 2:14). This is why Jesus would remain our own God even when we come into reward. We did not save ourselves, so we have to be grateful to Jesus for what He did. Jesus was the one who spilled His blood so that we can be begotten like He was; therefore, we should never regard ourselves as His mates. We must learn sobriety or else we would not be allowed to approach God.
What the devil preaches to make people evil is the fear of death (Heb. 2:15). This preaching is subtle and many men do not realize that they are bringing forth fruits after death. As men, death is more dear to us than sin. The intention of death is to separate us from God. Jesus died physically to know all the secrets of hell and death and be able to deliver men from them.
Jesus is the merciful and faithful High Priest who is to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Heb. 2:17). He is both a minister of the holy place and of the true tabernacle (Heb. 8:1-2). Jesus is the embodiment of the true tabernacle. True things belong to the holiest realm where the true God dwells. The priestly ministry of Jesus who is seated on the right hand is higher than His position as a Father who brings men from the sanctuary into the holiest.
What begins the Kingdom is entering into Christ which leads to the forgiveness of our sins (Matt. 6:11-12). A perfect forgiver is one whose sins have been remitted. It is only a perfect man that can really forgive others. Those who have been forgiven can then move on into the holiest to be tried. Jesus would not allow us to be tempted beyond the measure that we can bear (1 Corin. 10:13). He monitors this temptation so that it can do the work of delivering us from evil (Matt. 6:13).
Jesus is going to teach us till we are completely immune from evil. What is delaying us from fully becoming the sons of God is that we have not yet obeyed the love of God (1 John 3:1-2). This manner of love is going to be taught so that we can become God’s sons. This love is in the holiest and Jesus had to learn it to resist evil. At the cross, Jesus had to resist the evil of keeping His life.
In the beginning, Satan sinned as an entity of the holiest. Sin and death were not originally man’s properties; they were gotten from fallen angels. As men, we were not completed at creation and we have the ability to grow; unlike angels who are already set in a state they cannot change from. This is why the angels who sinned have been sentenced to the judgement of lake.
Butter and honey are meals of the holiest (Isa. 7:15). This meal is the strong meat that gives the ability to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14). The Hebrew church was about to forsake the entrance into the holiest and go back to the milk of the word. The entrance into the holiest is accompanied by the speaking of the blood (Heb. 12:24). What the blood speaks is a righteousness which combats the evil of the holiest. In the holiest, only God is good.
For a thing to be good, it must be true. Jesus has become the High Priest of good things to come. We must do this good for us to become the sons of God. This is why we need the butter and honey. Butter and honey are the milk and honey present in the promised land. They both enable us to choose good and refuse the evil; like Jesus who loved righteousness and hated wickedness (Heb. 1:9).
The blessed hope is the incorruptible and is only accessed by the works that go before God (1 John 3:3). The devil also has his own works which go before him. The reason why God unveils His works to us is to make us sons. As we see His works, we are to do the good and refuse the evil which is beside it. There is good and evil laid before us (Deut. 30:15).
God did not plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil; He only caused all the trees to grow. The enemy saw the planting of God and came to sow tares (Matt. 13:25). He did this on legal grounds to come and tempt man and leave him to make the decision to choose the tree of life or not. God tempts no man because He is good; it is evil that has the ability to tempt (James 1:13).
The good and perfect gifts of God are the lights which are supposed to help us to choose the good and refuse the evil. The good gift is the butter while the honey is the perfect gift. A man who has received both gifts cannot be tempted because a work has been wrought in him by God.
Balaam was an Old Testament prophet who still had the ability to be tempted and was eventually bought with money (2 Pet. 2:15). The season of temptation should be endured so that Jesus can deliver us from evil (James 1:12; Matt. 6:13). All the churches in the book of revelations were vineyards who were meant to bring forth fruits in the holiest. It was because of this that they were tempted with the things that tempt sons. The doctrines that disturbed them were doctrines that face fathers and are designed to stop fathers.
The first works and last works are the major things that were going to qualify the church at Ephesus to do the works of God (Rev. 2:5). Those who have reached the end of these works can no longer be tempted by Satan to do evil. This is why Satan would furiously persecute men who want to keep such works to the end.
It is when we are done with enduring temptations that we will keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21). And it is those who keep themselves that can no longer be touched or tempted by the evil one (1 John 5:18).