Kingdom Truth: Volume Twenty-four

The Bible speaks of two kingdoms that will come to the earth, one governed by Antichrist and the False Prophet and the other governed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Both kingdoms are being advocated in our day. Christian people think they will always be able to detect the false and embrace that which is of God. This is not true. The deception of the last days is able to delude and entice far beyond the ability of the average Christian to detect or resist.
The false day star, Satan, is already rising in the hearts of those who would imitate the Lord Jesus, who would seek His power and attempt to imitate His love, joy, and peace, but who are not willing to die to their self-love so they may come into complete union with Him.
God is invisible. He hides Himself and we are commanded to seek Him. Although He remains mysterious and inaccessible, God has issued a testimony of who He is, what He is, what His will is, what His ways are, what His purpose is, what pleases Him, and what displeases Him. We can see that this testimony, the Divine witness of God, is all-important. Apart from it mankind is ignorant and stands in peril of being destroyed by Divine judgment and wrath.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only true Witness of God. We can behold the invisible God in the Person of Christ. We can learn about God from who and what Christ is. We can learn about God from what Christ says. We can learn about God from what Christ does. What Christ is, says, and does constitute the witness, the testimony, the expression, the Word of God.
He who does the will of God abides forever. He is a faithful and true witness because God in Christ has entered him and the true Light now shines from him. The hidden, invisible God has found another witness of Himself. Another place of abode in the Father’s House (which is Christ) has become occupied for eternity.
There are three ways by which we overcome the accuser of the brothers: by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and by loving not our life to the death. The second of the three ways, the word of our testimony, always proceeds from the Holy Spirit. There is nothing human in the testimony that overcomes the accuser.
The human being can tell about the testimony but the testimony itself is given by the Spirit of God.
Typical Christian preaching in our day presents the Christian salvation as a ticket to Heaven. A few "key verses," such as Romans 10:9,10, are lifted from their contexts and used to "get people saved." Numerous people have "come to Christ" in just this manner, including the present author.
The "ticket to Heaven" approach to the Divine redemption has been of benefit until the present hour. However, the nearness of the Day of the Lord is bringing with it a renewed understanding of the salvation that is in Christ, a much broader perspective and one that embraces all that is presented in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
There are many voices in the land crying for repentance. Lethargy and sin in the churches are widespread. In some instances the Christian homes are not much different from those of the world. The parents spend their time with the television. The young people are out late at night without a chaperone.
We think the way grace is preached has a lot to do with this appalling condition. We are told we should do good and serve the Lord, but if we do not we will be ushered into Paradise by grace. Only a few of the most dedicated believers will be moved to repentance if it really doesn’t make that much difference in our destiny.
There are several Divine objectives of the plan of salvation. The New Testament tells us what we must do to attain each of the objectives. It may be noted that God is the one who has given the plan and the necessary virtue, wisdom and power.