“I saw thrones on which were seated

those who had been given authority to judge.

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded

because of their testimony for Jesus

and because of the word of God.

They had not worshipped the beast or his image

and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.

They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

(The rest of the dead did not come to life

until the thousand years were ended.)

This is the first resurrection.

Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them,

but they will be priests of God and of Christ

and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”^[1]

What is the first resurrection?

The first resurrection is the resurrection of those who overcame and remained alive for Christ to receive the authority to judge, together with those who are dead in Christ having been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God, where both groups will come to life to reign with Christ. Both groups will be given their glorified bodies at that time because they did not worship the beast or his image, nor took on the mark of the beast. They are true worshippers who worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Let’s call them the “first resurrectioners”. They are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. They speak of what they know and testify with the Spirit of Truth to what they have seen. Just as the Father and the Son spoke to us what They know and testify with the Holy Spirit to what They have seen.^[2] And what the first resurrectioners do know is that the Word of God is Jesus, who is the Truth,^[3] the only begotten Son of the Father whom Jesus had made known to them.^[4] And what they have seen is the power of the Holy Spirit in the W/word of God, for the words Jesus spoke to us are spirit and life.^[5]

The first resurrectioners are ones who fulfilled Jesus’ words in Mark 16.15 to go into the world to preach the Good News to all Creation. And in the process, they have lost their heads for Jesus and the sake of His Gospel, figuratively or plainly. Porcius Festus told Paul the apostle, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”^[6] Because Paul understood that if we disciples have lost our mind, it is for the sake of God.^[7] When you testify about the truth of God, it is too much for the world to handle. In their discomfort, they will say that you have lost your mind because they refuse to believe the truth.

As disciples, we need to “lose our mind” and change our motives under the counsel of the Holy Spirit, according to God’s purpose for us and not our purpose for Him. We who are one in Jesus should have the mind of Christ, and Christ in mind. And we who have faith in Jesus should bear the fruits of the Spirit with a mind of wisdom. So that we may do the things Jesus has been doing, and greater things we are called to do,^[8] lest we make our Lord out to be a liar and His kingdom to be a powerless charade. For who knows the mind of Christ if not the Holy Spirit? And who is the power of God if not the Holy Spirit?

Consider the reason why Jesus could not do any miracles in His hometown, even though He wanted to.^[9] It appeared that Jesus’ own hands were tied because the Holy Spirit was not willing to move. Perhaps the lack of faith in the people did not move the Holy Spirit. But the first resurrectioners must have faith that not only overcomes the world’s lack of faith but overwhelms the Holy Spirit, if it were possible. Except that it is, because all things are possible for God, especially the things that are beneficial and pleasing to Him.

It is not imperative that the first resurrectioners’ testimonies are accepted, for even the Jews rejected the Lord’s own testimony.^[10] Their rejection did not hinder the Lord’s work of salvation from being completed. Rather, it paved the way of His walk to the cross, though they did not understand it at the time. Every step of the Lord’s walk to the cross was designed and precise. It is like an actor in a play who knows the exact spot to stand on the stage, and the exact timing to deliver his lines. He knows each of his next scenes until curtain call. And in the Lord’s case, it was when the curtain in the temple was torn in two.

The important thing is that first resurrectioners persevere, hold their place in the battle, and fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.^[11] They fight in righteousness and justice in oneness of spirit and with the same sword that comes out the Lord’s mouth; the sharp double-edged sword that Jesus brought to the Earth for division instead of peace^[12] that will strike down all nations^[13] and the enemies of God.^[14] They know the right time to draw the sword and the right time to return the sword into its scabbard. And they are not afraid that all who draw the sword of truth will die by the sword of truth.

For the first resurrectioners have more than a mustard seed of faith, they have the knowledge of the power of unbroken faith in Jesus and His words. And they are fully equipped with wisdom, knowledge and understanding, courage, strength and patience, loyalty and passion, delight in His word, the love of God, and mercy for their enemies. They are not like the wicked, lazy servant who hid the master’s talent in the ground^[15] to bury the truth deep down inside themselves. Rather, they bring it into the light. They live by the truth, practise it and trust in it by remaining true to Jesus and His words. They know Jesus and they practise His words with the mind of Christ and heart of Justice to the degree of perfection, so that, whether they live or die, they belong to Jesus. And when they sin, God’s mercy flows over them as they have practised being merciful, perfect and compassionate by loving their enemies just as their Father is merciful, perfect and compassionate.

They rejoice and give unto the Lord the sacrifice of praise when they suffer disgrace and persecution in His Name, and they remain faithful to the T/truth of Jesus, even to the point of death. They have earned their place to take part in the first resurrection to the glory of God, as the Lord deems them worthy to reign alongside Him for a thousand years with the guarantee that the second death will have no power over them. They will have no fear or anxiety on Judgment Day, but will sit on thrones as kings and judges and co-heirs with Christ.^[16] The first resurrectioners are overcomers because of Christ.

Know the difference: There will be ones who reign with Christ for the thousand years of the Millennium, and after that, will live within New Jerusalem. And there will be ones who serve the Lord shoulder to shoulder as it is written in Zephaniah 3.9. Born and raised in the Spirit of Sonship and of the fear of the Lord, the first resurrectioners are mature sons and daughters of their Father who considered their lives as nothing when compared with the glory that is being revealed^[17]- and less than nothing when compared to the complete joy and glory of the realisation of their Father’s majestic empire of dreams. Leaving their houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for Jesus and His Gospel^[18] may not be an easy thing to do and it may be a daily struggle, but it is the fire in their hearts to see Jesus enthroned in Jerusalem on His holy hill that keeps them hot, and not lukewarm.

In truth, they are peacemakers for they want peace for God first and foremost before all mankind. And their loyalty is steadfast and prioritised in their Father. They seek glory not for themselves, but for the One who seeks it because they do not rob from God. The One who seeks glory is seeking to glorify His Son.

The first resurrection is indeed a high standard the Father has set because it is an honour and a privilege that will be bestowed on those He has called, elected and refined. It is beyond our wildest dreams and a ride of the greatest adrenalin rush when we have done nothing worthy to deserve this opportunity. God is gracious and generous. And the time is now to prepare yourself and circumcise your hearts to take on this role in God, for God. This train is stopping at the station only once. If you miss the opportunity, it will be gone.

The saints who are dead in Christ are waiting in Heaven for the day of glory. But the ones who are still alive on Earth should prepare themselves under the guidance and counsel of the Spirit of Truth to ready themselves for all that leads up to Jesus’ return by listening, testifying and remaining alive to meet our Lord on the Mount of Olives when His feet will touch this Earth again. They are living martyrs who hold onto Jesus’ words in John 11.26. They lay down their death to stay alive to greet Jesus upon His return to reign for a thousand years on Earth.

But the first resurrection is not for the cynical ones who say that the Bible is defiled because it is written by men, or ones who doubt the power of God to protect His own word. It is not for the complacent ones who think, “God is the Almighty, He can get it done Himself.” Neither is it for ones who do not understand that service is doing the will of the Father as a mature son or daughter in the Image of Jesus.

And the first resurrection is definitely not for ones who complain that the Bible is too arduous to read, or that the book of Leviticus makes them fall asleep. The book of Leviticus contains the spoken words of God mainly. Are you saying that God bores you and does not hold your interest? If you do not treasure the words of the Father when He delivered His Levitical Law to Moses, do you think that He would be pleased to elect you to be the first listeners to understand His justice in the ages to come? What a pleasure it would be to sit in the Father’s presence on the holy hill on New Earth and listen to His dictation of the entire volume of laws and understand the justice of the age that has finally come. What a delight to have complete understanding of God’s justice! What a privilege to enjoy such a gift!

The first resurrection is certainly not for ones who say that miracles are not for this time, or the Holy Spirit is too radical to be given freedom by the churches in their congregations. Or even that the Holy Spirit has left the church as a feeble excuse for their own lack of power, when it is a direct result of their disobedience of the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. How loosely the Name of the Holy Ghost is thrown around, but do we truly honour Him by giving Him time with His people? The Holy Spirit stands at the door and knocks, but how many of you have heard His voice and let Him in? Do His people patiently sit in silence waiting on the Holy Spirit? Or is His gentle voice drowned by songs and sermons of many words that have nothing to do with listening to Jesus at the standard to which we are called? If you do not include the Holy Spirit in your congregation when you gather together to worship the Lord, then you cannot begin to worship the Father in spirit and truth, and you can never fulfil Jesus’ command: “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.”^[19] Yet in all this He has been patient and gracious to us, the church, because He is intent on glorifying Jesus.

The first resurrection will not be for ones who are too embarrassed to speak in tongues in public, or are only half prepared and partially eager for the Lord’s return, but take it for granted because of their complacency, deficiency of desire and lack of knowledge of the word of God. Nether is it for those whose fire for the Lord is only lukewarm, for they will be spat out of His mouth.^[20]

The first resurrection is for ones who have set their minds on the things of God in full humility and Godly compassion. They have taken the time and effort to focus and persevere to hold on to Jesus’ teachings, even in times of despair and sorrow, and when it seems to cost them everything. They remember that the meagre price they pay is nothing compared to the full price paid by God when Jesus was sent to save the world.

Aiming for the first resurrection is not arrogance. It is ambition at its finest, because complete salvation is the fulfilment of every detail of God’s perfect plan of redemption through Jesus Christ for His glory, pleasure and honour. They understand that if they can accomplish what the Lord has pre-destined for them to achieve, they pave the way for their sisters and brothers as they freely give what they have freely received and achieved. It follows the principle of war decreed by king David in 2 Samuel 30.24: “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” It is not for the selfish and self-righteous who want to get ahead to lord it over their brothers and sisters or even leave them behind. This is not love. It is not the legacy of the royal bloodline of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.^[21]

The first resurrection will not be ones who are too distracted today by the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for the other things, to focus on His Son and His words to do God’s will to the end.^[22] The Lord said, “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.”^[23] Therefore, listen to Jesus: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”^[24]

If you have sisters and brothers fighting a battle alongside you, would you want them to be ill-prepared, fearful and distracted? Likewise, the Lord will also send back those who are afraid or faint-hearted, so that those who remain will not become disheartened.^[25] Therefore, repent of any cowardice or unbelief about the greater things of God. We were not saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ to let Him settle for second best.

But what of the ones who were given ample opportunities to enquire and search out the Lord’s will, but did not bother to do so? They will still be judged according to what they have received but failed to use. God’s judgment will always be more severe against the shepherds than the flock because, “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”^[26]

Woe to the shepherds who failed to teach the sheep of God’s pasture, His people,^[27] about the first resurrection and how to attain it. Instead they have muddied the clear waters of God’s words by making up false doctrines and visions such as the rapture and teaching people to aim for Heaven (or avoid Hell) as the highest goal of salvation. Anyone who prays and teaches the rapture instead of John 11.25-26 has gone directly against Jesus’ prayer to the Father, “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one.”^[28] Amen!

Answer me this: If the church was meant to be raptured and return with Jesus from Heaven, why then would Jesus ask us, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the Earth?”^[29] Isn’t Jesus asking whether He would find a faithful faith-filled group of brothers and sisters, who are also His friends, remaining on Earth to greet Him and His saints upon their return? How do you read Jesus’ words?

The goal of your faith

The first resurrection should be the alpha of the goal of your faith. It is the beginning of the greater things to come. Why would you want to lounge in Heaven when all the excitement and action will be on the Earth where Jesus reigns for a thousand years? What could possibly be the attraction of Heaven when Jesus is on Earth and the Father’s attention is solely directed on Earth? Why would anyone want to watch Earth from a distance, with a sinking feeling that you have missed your mark and judgment is pending?

Is the goal of your faith just to have a nice, easy life on Earth - eat, drink and be merry, and then die to go to Heaven? Heaven and Earth will pass away, but Jesus’ words will never pass away.^[30] So what would you have after Heaven passes away? Is it not a better choice to live in the word of the Resurrection, because it will never be taken away from us?

When you are reading the Bible, don’t you wonder what it was like to walk the Earth with Jesus as Mary Magdalene did, or walk the Earth with the Father as Enoch did? When you read Jesus’ words, do you wish you could have been there to hear His tone and watch His facial expressions? What stops you from desiring to come to know and understand more about the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent? And how would you come to know Them unless you seek Them in Their prescribed way, which is by listening to Jesus?

Ministry in Christ is not about building a bigger church, having the biggest chandelier in the foyer, or gathering the biggest congregation. Nor is life in Christ about tithing your income, doing good works, listening to sermons or attending mass and then going to Heaven. Heaven is not the end game. The Lord set the perfect goal for each of us to achieve in Him, if only we would step up and reach for it with both hands. It is the first resurrection and it begins with reigning with Christ in the Millennium. But you must listen to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit, for Jesus is your Teacher and the Holy Spirit is your Counsellor.

If you ask, “Why should I care about the first resurrection? Why bother when ‘all are alive in Christ’ anyway?” then consider how much the Lord has achieved in His finished work of salvation. Consider also what God has eHe has prepared for you to accomplish for Jesus and with Jesus? You are merely selling yourself short by being short-sighted and narrow-minded. Yes, aiming for Heaven is short-sightedness (lovely as Heaven is, I imagine). Why shouldn’t you first strive and make all the effort to participate in an opportunity of a life-time: To be with Jesus Christ on Earth, reigning as kings and lords who are one with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? This is the time to do it now. Today is the day. How can anyone not want oneness with Them? How can anyone shy away from it? Even if there were no rewards, why shouldn’t you strive to be as close to the Lord as much as possible? Is it about your relationship with the Lord, or is it about rewards for you?

How can a true son or daughter of God prefer the comforts of Heaven to the excitement of being with Jesus as He reigns on Earth for a thousand years? If the Father is so excited about justice for Jesus in His return, shouldn’t you be excited as well? If His Son’s return is always on His mind, shouldn’t it be constantly on your mind? What do you want in life, in this age and in the age to come?

The end of the age

The Lord told us that the events leading up to the first resurrection will involve distress unequalled from the beginning of the world until now.^[31] We will all experience emotional, physical and spiritual hardship in different degrees as surely as Jesus experienced distress to the extreme maximum from the time at the Garden of Gethsemane until He breathed His last on the Roman cross. His distress began before He was flogged and the nails pierced through His flesh and bones, for He had previously said, “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!”^[32]

The Lord asked His apostles James and John, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?”^[33] What is the baptism that Jesus was baptised with?

It was none other than the baptism of suffering,^[34] which saw God withholding mercy from His Son when He was given into the hands of men. Jesus’ impending death caused Him untold of distress because He knew the bitter cup of suffering^[35] that lay ahead of Him. Jesus knew that God would have to withhold mercy from Him at the hour when darkness reigns. Without the full suffering as the sin offering upon the cross that brought Him death, He could not be resurrected, and none of God’s Creation could be resurrected through Him.

However, have you considered that the distress Jesus felt in the Garden of Gethsemane was not so much for Himself but for the suffering of His Father and the Holy Spirit, because They were the Ones who had to hand Him the cup of His baptism? Have you considered that Jesus’ heart broke for His Father and the Holy Spirit that night when His sweat was like blood dropping to the ground?

The cup Jesus drank was the cup filled with the wine of the fury of God’s wrath against all mankind. He drank the last drop until He could say, “It is finished.”^[36] Only when He was finished could we access the New Covenant by drinking the life in His blood and partaking of the resurrection in His flesh for the forgiveness of our sins. So next time you hold the cup of the fruit of the vine in your hand, do so in holy reverence of God and consider the baptism by which you were spared. Instead, we received the baptism of the Spirit of our Father without cost from the spring of the water of life. Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit all paid the full price of redemption because God so loved the world He created. And Jesus so loved the Father, with whom He has always been.

According to the word of God, a time is coming and has now come when the pending storm of disasters will be released through earthquakes and hailstorms, famines, wars and plagues when the corresponding seven seals open, the seven trumpets sound, and the seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out.^[37] There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from Heaven.^[38] There will be wars and rumours of wars, but the Lord has told His disciples not to be alarmed for all these are the beginning of birth pains.^[39] He said that because He knew the Father would be sending the Holy Spirit in His Name to all believers and disciples. The power of the Holy Spirit would be entrusted to the elect of the Holy Spirit who are chosen from Jesus’ disciples,^[40] so that there will be ones who survive and remain alive on Earth during the coming days of distress without succumbing to the mark of the beast. They will preserve the Earth for Jesus to return and reign so that Scripture will be fulfilled.

A series of events must occur before the Lord returns and it will call for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.^[41] This applies to the saints who call out from beneath the altar, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the Earth and avenge our blood?”^[42] It also applies to the elect of the Lord who are asking now, “How long, Lord of Heaven’s Armies, faithful and true, until You return to establish justice on Earth and avenge the blood You poured out for mankind at Golgotha?”

These dreadful events must happen because the word of God must be fulfilled and the Scripture cannot be broken. If the words of Jesus are not fulfilled, God is made out to be liar, and this would have more catastrophic effects on God’s eternity than the sum of us. If the Scripture is broken, the devil, who is the father of lies, would have won. I imagine that nothing pleases Satan more than to delay Jesus’ arrival until there would be no Earth for Him to return to reign upon. This way, he would avoid being thrown into the Abyss for a thousand years.^[43] For in truth, Satan is like one who is on death row. He is like a ‘dead man walking’. So consider carefully how you pray. If you are praying against the earthquakes and pestilence, by your words you have established whose side you are on and who you gather with.

In the midst of the distress and havoc, Jesus said that many false Christs and false prophets will appear to perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.^[44] For with God, it will be impossible to deceive those who have been carefully listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and who have been adhering to the truth and the Spirit of Truth by the diligent faithful practice of Jesus’ words. Their ears will tingle and the hairs on the back of their necks will stand up when they hear lies and pretensions spoken by those who set themselves up against the knowledge of God under the pretence of compassion, humility and rightfulness.

“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things,” declared the Lord.^[45] False Christs and false prophets will deceive the inhabitants of the Earth when they perform great signs and miracles, which go against the disasters that God has decreed for the end times. These disasters are purposed to bring the world to repentance, and to set up the beast, the false prophet and Satan for judgment. “Peace, peace,” these false Christs and false prophets will say, when there is no peace.^[46] “Prosper, prosper,” they will say, when God has decreed famine and lack. By their accent of lies you shall recognise them, for they hate what God loves and love what God hates. Do you know what God hates, and what Jesus hates? It is as simple as doing a keyword search on “hate” in accordance to what was spoken by God.

Be wary of the ones who say, “You will have peace,” or, “No harm will come to you,”^[47] but leave out the word “repent” from the preaching of the Gospel. Repentance is the first thing Jesus called for when He began His ministry of redemption on Earth in Matthew 4.17 and Mark 1.15. It is the refusal to repent that holds so many back in coming to Jesus. And it is unforgiveness and unbelief in Jesus and His words that hinder believers from coming know Jesus Christ and the only true God. How often have you heard these words, “I am not a sinner. I try to do good and be good. Why do I need Christ? Why should I be judged?” So how much more palatable the Gospel of our Saviour would be if repentance and forgiveness was no longer preached at the pulpit? How much more can the nations be deceived when they do not believe all the words of Jesus?

Be dressed and ready for service

In truth, if you have not been listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to the degree of precision and faithfulness required of you, you will not recognise a lie or deception when you hear it. Just as a woman who exclusively drinks Evian mineral water can tell the difference between Evian and tap water. A person who does not know the word of God will mistake any word in the Bible for the words of God, for they never knew the real thing in the first place. Jesus did not say that man does not live on bread alone but on every word written in the Bible. He said, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”^[48]

But how perfectly would one, who lives and breathes and walks only on the razor’s edge of the word of God, be able to distinguish a lie from the truth, a liar from a man of truth, a deception from a vision, and a demon from an angel? Is that not the wisdom of discernment and training we urgently need for the coming days of distress? And does not this preparation start now? Or have you only been taught to prepare your way to Heaven, and that is all? Go your way, then.

If the be-all and end-all of the game plan is Heaven, why is Jesus coming back to reign for a thousand years? Is the thousand years figurative speech because you have misread the apostle Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3.8: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”? Understand that Peter was speaking in the context of the Lord’s patience. But Revelation 20 speaks of Jesus’ reign on Earth for a thousand years when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords on the present Earth for a thousand years. Then after the Millennium and after He has destroyed every dominion, authority and power, with the last enemy, Death, being destroyed, He will hand the kingdom to God the Father.^[49] Heaven and Earth will pass away and there will come a new Earth and new Heaven.^[50]

What king reigns for a day, really?

The sentence of Heaven or Hell is only an interlocutory judgment. An interlocutory judgment is an interim judgment, and can be overruled by a higher verdict. Heaven and Hell are not the final judgment. If it was, each person would not be judged before the Great White Throne.

Revelation 20.11-15 writes: “Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His Presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.”

Although Revelation 20 does not directly say that Heaven will give up the dead in it, it does say that both death and Hades gave up their dead, both great and small. Revelation 20.13 of the NLT writes: “And all were judged according to their deeds.”

All the dead refers to ones who did not partake in the first resurrection. Only the overcomers who had remained alive for Jesus,^[51] and those who were beheaded for their testimony for Jesus and those who were beheaded for the word of God throughout all the ages,^[52] have earned the privilege of the first resurrection. All those who are not partakers of the first resurrection will be subject to the judgment before the Great White Throne, where their share in the tree of life and in the Holy City will be determined. On that day their lips will be purified that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord, so that those who had not done so before will be given a final chance to receive the salvation Jesus wrought for them. Saved from the second death, which is the Lake of Fire, so as to be salvaged for the second resurrection. This is God’s mercy and grace to man.

Jesus said in John 11.25-26, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” Revelation 20.6 writes: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” Do you believe this?

How much of Jesus and His words have you believed in? A bit, some, or all of them? Do you pick and choose the easier teachings or the plausible words? Do you even know the full counsel of the word of God? Don’t you think it is important, since you call yourself a Christian? If you read only parts of a novel, do you think you would understand the entire plot? So what makes you think reading parts of the Bible is good enough and gives Jesus justice?

Do you believe that Jesus is only a Prophet? Do you believe that Jesus’ words are equal to the Mosaic Law and so you practise both? Do you listen to James above Jesus? Will you die the second death? Do you believe and want to know about the first resurrection, or do you just want to close off your ears? Is knowledge of the second death more than you can bear, because it throws you off completely? If so, shouldn’t it make you want to read the word of God to seek out the answers for yourself? Or do you just wave your hand as if this information, this truth, is an irritation to your way of life? What is justice? Do you know?

Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, but we know that many disciples turned back and no longer followed Jesus in John 6.66 when He opened up on the harder teachings of the drinking of His blood. This is because the new teaching directly contradicts the Levitical Law, and many disciples were zealous for the Law of Moses.

John 6.66 is the place where any one of us may turn away when the Holy Spirit opens up on the harder teachings of Christ or steeper revelations because we take offence and say, “This is a hard teaching. I will not accept it.” Do you think you are any different from those disciples who turned away? Do you know your personal John 6.66, if any? Remember Jesus said to the eleven at the Last Supper, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.”^[53] If the Holy Spirit takes the harder teachings of Jesus and makes them known to you, things that are difficult to accept because you cannot instantly see God’s full purpose and justice behind it, would you turn back and no longer follow Jesus? Would you turn away and be frozen in place? If you are not listening to Jesus solely in delight of your relationship with Him, how would you push through and overcome your personal juncture of John 6.66?

Therefore, striving to overcome and to partake in the first or second resurrection is a choice we must make for our Lord today, because He has revealed to us the secrets of the Kingdoms of Heaven and of God. I hope this answers any questions about why one should aim higher than Heaven to place your faith in the first resurrection. And I hope you are thinking about God’s heart when you answer this question, and not your own ambitions.

Salvation is not by works, it is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. This is the revelation given to Paul the apostle.^[54]

But to aspire to the first resurrection, you better work your butt off with perseverance and patient endurance in listening to Jesus, fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, and putting Jesus’ words into practice, including, but not limited to, loving your enemies in the prescribed way that He taught us, and loving your fellow disciples as Jesus has loved you. Unceasing repentance and forgiveness is paramount under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. We enter into this New Covenant, which is forged between the Father and Son when we eat the bread as His body and drink the wine as His blood in remembrance of Him. If we fail to practise forgiveness in obedience to Jesus’ commands under the New Covenant, we are not fulfilling our duty under the covenant as its beneficiaries. We cannot receive the forgiveness of God in one hand, and withhold forgiveness on the other hand. For that is unrighteousness.

All things happen by the grace and kindness of our God. But we should always be mindful not to become ones who say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” and risk Jesus telling us plainly, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!”^[55] Have you considered why Jesus would say this to a “believer”, claiming He never knew him? It is because this believer did not do the will of the Father in Heaven. What is the will of the Father? Read John 6.40 to begin with.

If you do not listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, how will you come to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life? Do you think that eternal life will be dished out in equal shares? If you do, then indeed there is no point in striving for the first resurrection, and I bid you well. Yet, do you think God, who is Justice, is blind? The world’s justice system has an icon that is blindfolded to depict its fairness. But I tell you the truth, God is not blind. He is watching. He searches our hearts and examines our minds^[56] to know our desires and motives. This is why God is the only eligible Judge of our conduct and deeds.

Salvation is so much more than avoiding condemnation to Hell and the assurance of Heaven. If it is, Jesus would not say that Heaven and Hell will pass away, but His words will never pass away. I do not know of a verse in Scripture where Jesus said that if you don’t believe in Him, you will go to Hell; and if you believe in Him, you will go to Heaven. Jesus did not say these statements straightforwardly. Therefore we must seek to understand why. Is it because the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins is not about the judgment of Heaven and Hell? Because we do not always have the things of God in mind, but the things of men, we often say and ask the wrong things, and we focus on the smaller picture because our view is smaller than God’s. Read Acts 1.6 when the apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” But Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”^[57] Jesus replied this way to direct their focus on to the Kingdom of God; that they are to preach the Gospel to all nations. And by doing so, they would understand that Jesus’ finished work of salvation is beyond the kingdom of any one nation, because He has authority over all nations.

Have you not read Isaiah 49.6 when the Father said to Jesus, “It is too small a thing for You to be My Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make You a light for the Gentiles, that You may bring My salvation to the ends of the Earth”?

So why has the church been preaching a fear of the Lord that has nothing to do with respect for the sovereignty and justice of God, but rather of intimidation and fear tactics? It is incomplete to only preach about Heaven and Hell. In doing so, we insult the Lord! Do we realise that by this, we have darkened God’s counsel with words without knowledge, and we have done an injustice to His justice?

If we had listened to Jesus at the standard to which we are called, we would not focus on preaching Heaven and Hell. Did Jesus ever say, “Believe in Me, or go to Hell?” How did we come to summarise judgment this way? The Lord spoke of entry into the Kingdom of Heaven: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.^[58] Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.^[59] I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”^[60]

Listen to what Jesus said to His disciples about Hell: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Hell.^[61] If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into Hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into Hell.^[62] Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in Hell.”^[63] And Jesus said this to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, who were hypocrites: “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell?”^[64]

Did Jesus die on the cross for our sins so that we may go to Heaven and avoid Hell? No. He came so that we may have life, and have it to the full.^[65] The focus of His teachings by the letter and the spirit was always on eternal life, not Heaven and Hell. Now this is eternal life: That we may know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.^[66] Anyone who preaches John 3.16-18^[67] with the focus on Heaven and Hell has missed the point completely. If we had listened carefully, we would focus on preaching eternal life, which Jesus said in John 17.3 is coming to know Jesus Christ and the only true God. Of course, I am not saying that someone who believes in Jesus would not go to Heaven. Rather, I am saying that the church has missed the focus of Jesus’ words on this issue because we disobeyed the Father by failing to listen to Jesus at the standard to which we are called. So, we have led the world astray with our lack of knowledge and understanding, and we are in truth, the blind leading the blind.

Church: When will you realise that it is not about getting into Heaven, or staying out of Hell? This was not the focus of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and it should certainly not be the focus of the ministry of the church. It is so clear that many mistakes are made because the church has not listened to Jesus. We have offended enough what little sense of righteousness there is in the world with words that were not spoken by Jesus, and by revelations that were not given by the Holy Spirit. I am not surprised that the world sees through the hypocrisy of the church. We ourselves do not worship the Father in spirit and truth, for we have failed to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The focus was, is and will be on eternal life, which is knowledge of God based on relationship. It starts with repenting and believing and listening to Jesus, and then hearing the Holy Spirit as He counsels us in our personal walk, as well as the church as a group. The question is not, “How do I get to Heaven?” Rather it is, “How do I come to know You, Jesus, and the only true God?” Eternal life is the bigger picture.

Consider carefully why there is the second death, which is the Lake of Fire. Hell is not the Lake of Fire or the second death.^[68] How can it be if the apostle’s testimony in Revelation 20.14 is true? It is written that the sea, death and Hades will empty their inhabitants on the day of the Great White Throne judgment. Then death and Hades will be thrown empty into the Lake of Fire. (Lake of Burning Sulphur and Lake of Fire are one and the same - they are both the second death.^[69])

Consider also why there will be humans who are referred to as ‘dogs’ who they are not permitted to go through the gates of New Jerusalem. There will be those who practise magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practises falsehood who live outside the gates. Though they will not suffer the second death in the Lake of Fire, their place is outside New Jerusalem.^[70]

Compare the two groups in Revelation 21.8 and Revelation 22.15. Revelation 21.8 writes: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery Lake of Burning Sulphur. This is the second death.” Then Revelation 22.15 writes: “Outside the city are the dogs - the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.”

What happened in between Revelation 21.8 and Revelation 22.15 that caused the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie, to be saved from condemnation to the Lake of Burning Sulphur?

The event in Zephaniah 3.8-9 happened, where the Lord declared, “Therefore wait for Me for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out My wrath on them - all My fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger. Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.” For as the Lord said in Joel 3.32, “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”

This day in Zephaniah 3.8 is the Day of Judgment before the Great White Throne in Revelation 20.11. To understand this, you must first understand what God’s judgment is. God’s judgment is simply a pronouncement of the truth. It is God telling you the truth about yourself. It is God’s testimony of man. So what is the universal truth for all men? We have sinned against God by disobeying His commands, beginning from His first command: “You must not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”^[71] How men accept God’s testimony of them on Judgment Day will determine their share in the Tree of Life and in the Holy City. As Jesus said in Matthew 12.37, “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

In our ignorance and disrespect of the Lord, we criticise God, saying God is cruel and His judgment is sinister. We fail to acknowledge that only He, who knows and understands the truth, can deliver judgment and bring justice to the purpose for which He created man, male and female, in His Image and Likeness. And this is the Father’s and Jesus the Son of Man’s right to judge mankind: We were made in God’s Image and Likeness – God who loves justice. So when They judge man, man is judged with justice in Their righteousness.

If you listen to Jesus and read His words carefully, you can decide whether the church has been incorrect to simplify God’s judgment as, “Repent and believe in Jesus and go to Heaven. If you don’t, you will be sent to Hell forever.” If “Christians” or “believers” are exempt from judgment because they made it to Heaven through grace, why would all the dead, great and small, still be subjected to the judgment before the Great White Throne, according to what they have done as recorded in the books?^[72] And why would Hades (Hell) give up the dead that were in them for judgment if their condemnation was already final?

If Hell is eternal and the final judgment, why would there be another judgment before the Great White Throne? John 3.16-18 is so much more than meets the eye, don’t you think? For what meets the eye is nothing compared to what pierces the heart. Don’t you want to know your Father’s justice, which is perfection in judgment? Why would you want to gloss over details of such majesty that God has hidden in the truth of the words of Jesus Christ, yet reveals them to us when we ask, seek and knock with hearts that burn to come to know and love the Lord?

Do you think that our Father has nothing further planned for you beyond Heaven and Hell, when He has set eternity in the hearts of men? Do you think the Holy Spirit is baptised into you by Jesus so that you may deliberately ignore Him and His commands and counsel, or exclude Him from the fullness of your worship and relationship with the Lord? Would God ever give us anything redundant? Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is a gift. Have you under-estimated the power of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins that is forged between the Father and the Son? Have you under-estimated God the Forgiver?

If two or three come together in Jesus’ Name, but do not allow the Holy Spirit to take over in prayers of tongues with open hearts and minds, or allow His anointing to physically manifest as He desires, or hear what He says to the churches and agree with Him by simply saying, “Amen Holy Spirit,” then they have not included Him in their program of worship. We are to worship the Father in spirit and truth, for Jesus said in John 4.24, “God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” And as Jesus taught us to pray in secret in Matthew 6.6, why do we gather in His Name to hold public prayer meetings?

But Jesus did teach us to agree with each other when we meet together: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on Earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in Heaven. For where two or three come together in My Name, there am I with them.”^[73] If we are taught to agree with each other, shouldn’t we also agree with the Holy Spirit, our Counsellor and Comforter, who prays with perfect wisdom, knowledge, insight and understanding through us? Do you have it in your heart to be a comforter to the Holy Spirit?

Living with the Holy Spirit, and Him living in us, is not about throwing His Name around and darkening His counsel with words without knowledge. We need to learn to listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit as He guides us into ALL truth, tells us what is yet to come,^[74] reminds us of everything Jesus said and teaches us all things.^[75] It is not just about what is to come concerning yourself, but principally about WHO is coming, and that is the soon arrival of Jesus Christ. This is forming an alliance with the Holy Spirit. It must be an alliance based on humble, submissive obedience and faithful loyalty from us to Him. Proclaiming His Name when your heart is not with Him and for Him, and when you have in mind the things of men, does not an alliance make.

Remember the Lord said, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”^[76] Yet how many of us truly know the Lord well enough to blaspheme Him? Do you know what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is?

If you never or rarely listen to the Holy Spirit, nor spend quality time with Him, and if you do not treat Him as your Best Friend whom you respect and adore; if you do not respond to His rebukes and accept His correction, and if you don’t feel like you cannot live without Him, then He may choose to not respond to you in the fullness of His Person and His power. His Person is His power, and His power is His Person. It is just that we have always grabbed the power to build subsidiary empires in God’s Name, and left out the Person of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit may never pour out His heart to you and make His thoughts known to you.^[77] Then you will not come to know Him personally. And if you haven’t come to know Him, then you cannot say that you love Him. And you will not miss Him until He is taken out of the way of the secret power of lawlessness,^[78] when wickedness will increase. For all too often we do not appreciate what we have until it is taken from us.

Have you been ignoring the Holy Spirit, individually in your daily life and corporately in church? If so, we must repent because the Lord instructed us to receive the Holy Spirit. If you have not been fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and listening to Jesus at the personal standard that you have been called, then you are not worshipping the Father in spirit and truth. And you are not a worshipper who the Father seeks.^[79] It is the Holy Spirit who will reveal to you your personal standard in listening to Jesus. How would you come to know the voice of the Holy Spirit unless you have listened to Jesus in the first place, so that the Holy Spirit can remind you of Jesus’ words?

Shepherds: If you have not fed the flock by teaching them to obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus and Jesus’ command to listen to the Holy Spirit, then repent as the Holy Spirit is convicting you in regard to righteousness.^[80] Be earnest and repent.

Amen Holy Spirit

The apostle Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way to reveal the man of lawlessness at the proper time when He will no longer hold the power of lawlessness back.^[81] “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”^[82] But the Holy Spirit’s elect, who have been discipled by the Holy Spirit Himself, will know the details of the plans of God that will unfold regarding the lawless one.

The false prophet is the man of lawlessness and the beast of the earth of Revelation 13.11. The false prophet is a man who will perform many great and miraculous signs. He will look like a lamb but speak like a dragon,^[83] and he will set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.^[84] Is the false prophet the antichrist, or just an antichrist, as written by the apostle John? An antichrist is not a man who does not believe in Jesus, the Son of God. Those who do not believe in Jesus already stand condemned according to Jesus’ words in John 3.18. Read 1 John 2.18-19: An antichrist is one who went out from us, the church or a fellowship, and did not remain with us. He is one who followed Jesus and then turned on Him, denying his own testimony that Jesus is the Christ. He is a liar. There is a difference between the deceived and the liars.

According to the word of God, believers will perish this way, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”^[85] In truth, the church of Jesus Christ sits in a perishing state from prolonged malnutrition due to the lack of knowledge of the Scriptures or the power of God.^[86] We lack deep understanding of the word of God and true fellowship with the Spirit of God. We fell so far from the mark because the disciples failed to listen to Jesus right from the word “Go.” And the church perpetuates the same mistakes in our failure to listen to Jesus. What with their holy water, rosary beads and bodyguards for famous preachers, how can the church stand, but be deceived when the deceiver comes with his attractions and razzle dazzle of counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles?

Men of God have always tried to control the Holy Spirit by not allowing Him His rightful place, and restricting His freedom by not letting Him have His way in His churches. In Acts 1.4-8, the Lord said to the disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptised with the water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit … You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” Yet in the first instance, the disciples already disobeyed the word of the Lord by failing to wait for the Holy Spirit. Before the Holy Spirit was baptised into them, the eleven took it upon themselves to appoint the twelfth person to replace Judas’ place in the apostolic ministry. They only had to wait for a few days for the Holy Spirit.

Did not Jesus teach them that the Holy Spirit would guide them into ALL truth and teach them ALL things? So why didn’t they wait for the Lord? The apostolic ministry belongs to Jesus Christ. Prior to the appointment of the twelve, did Jesus choose men by His own authority and then cast the lot among them? Rather, did He not go into deep consultation with the Father when He went to the mountainside and prayed the entire night?^[87]

The disciples designated two men, Joseph and Matthias. They cast the lot, and whoever the lot fell on, they called it the will of God and an act of God. But the word clearly says that the disciples, not Jesus or the Holy Spirit, proposed the two men.^[88] Common sense dictates that if you pick two candidates and cast the lot, it will fall on one of the two. What is so miraculous about that? Where is the Holy Spirit in that? Couldn’t they wait for the Holy Spirit’s arrival for the appointment of the twelfth apostle? By what authority did they have to designate an apostle? And who did Jesus have in mind as the twelfth? Do you know? Have you asked the Holy Spirit? How different would the state of the church be in terms of power and strength if the twelfth apostle was correctly appointed?

So how can it be said that God chose Matthias when he was clearly appointed by men? From Acts 1, men have ventured to displace the power of the Holy Spirit by not listening to Him or waiting on Him, and by not following His counsel. For the Holy Spirit was sent to us so that we are not left as orphans, but would grow under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth to mature into the stature of Christ as living testaments of the wisdom and righteousness of God our Father and Creator.

And so there will be a civil war in the house of God as surely as the Lord came to bring division.^[89] Soon will come the defining moment of a clear-cut division in God’s household between those who firmly acknowledge and faithfully practise the Father’s command to listen to Jesus and Jesus’ command to listen to the Holy Spirit, and those who disown the direct command of the Father in preference of the old written code of the Levitical Law mixed in with the decay of the traditions of men. This move is purposed by the Lord, the Good Shepherd^[90] who separates the sheep from the goats.^[91] He will differentiate between the ones who are loyal to the law and interested in blessings for themselves, and the ones who are loyal to Jesus and faithful in procuring blessings for His Father.

Question is: Which side will you be on, and will you be weighed on the scales and be found wanting?

Freedom

You may think that there is no difference between the Levitical Law and the words of Jesus because it is all comes from God. But a hasty over-simplification of the things of God never takes us into further understanding of Him, does it?

You may even think that because God, who is One, never changes. It is true that His Oneship never changes and His principles do not change. But if it is all the same, why did God send His Son and command us to listen to Him? Why would He tell Noah to build the ark, but Abraham to walk the land? What if Noah walked the land and Abraham built the ark against God commands? Why did the Father command Israel not to drink blood, yet Jesus commanded His disciples to drink His blood?

We were cut off from the Levitical Law when we obeyed Jesus to drink His blood and eat His flesh. We are cut off, yet still spiritually intact by a spirit of love of justice, righteousness and kindness under the New Covenant. The new wine replaced the old wine, and God laid another foundation since Jesus came to fulfil the law and the Prophets and all righteousness.^[92] The transition from the old covenant to the new was instantaneous. The New Covenant clicked into place smoothly and flawlessly, undetected by the naked eye. For who at Golgotha could tell that, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” bowed His head and gave up His spirit,^[93] the New Covenant was enforced and the old covenant was made obsolete?

Since we drank blood and disobeyed one command, then we have broken the entire Levitical Law and are under the curse of the disobedience of the law. But the Son has set us free into the new way of the Spirit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^[94]

Freedom is the distinctive feature of disciples who listen to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit. No rulers lord it over them spiritually, nor do high officials exercise authority over them except Jesus Christ their Lord. They follow Jesus and His teachings firstly and lastly with all their might. Their eyes are glued to Jesus, their ears are opened to hear the Holy Spirit and their hearts beat for the Father. Man’s voice has no place in them because their hearts are full to the measure of the pure words of God, which are overflowing unto the Father’s lap like precious gems. Words of men would be mere noise to them unless they feel the voice of God burning in their hearts. You can tell them from a mile away, for their freedom is offensive to those in the house of God whose commitment is everywhere but steadfastly in Jesus and His words, and to the Holy Spirit.

It is obvious. The freed ones have young children who can partake in the communion at any age. They do not have to take tests before being baptised in water. After all, it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that gives life when we are born again. In their congregations, the women do not have to sit on one side and men the other. Women are allowed to preach and their children are encouraged to practise ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit. Their freedom is in the Lord because God’s word is not chained. Yet it will be seen as unholy to those who have been too busy binding demons to bind themselves to the word of God.

Jesus came to turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother. A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man’s enemies will be members of his own household.”^[95] Within the house of God, there are enemies of the Father’s royal command: “Listen to Jesus.” They who are not with the command are against it, and they who do not gather in fulfilment of the command scatter. Yet Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, that we may be sons of our Father in Heaven.^[96] We are to imitate Him in His perfection, which is manifested in mercy and compassion to our enemies. This includes in-house enemies, for Jesus said our enemies are the members of our own household.

We are to always pray and encourage those who backslide from the command to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life.^[97] At the same time, we should not let anyone hold us back or slow us down in finishing the good race for the Lord, because at the end of the day it is still between you and the Lord, the Lord and the Lord. Jesus was preaching, healing the sick, driving out demons, cleansing those with leprosy and raising the dead in His ministry on Earth, but nothing deterred or delayed Him from His destined purpose, which was the work of salvation. So with us, we should do the same and always keep our eyes on the treasure. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.^[98] What is your treasure? What is your destination? Is your face resolutely set for Jerusalem to remain alive for Jesus by keeping His word^[99] to fulfil John 11.26 and to meet Jesus at His soon arrival? Or are you Heaven-bound?

The will of the Father is for all to come to Jesus and listen to Him, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in fulfilment of Jesus’ command. For it is not just about what you do or say, give or give up, but whether you have held onto Jesus’ teachings first and foremost as His disciples.^[100] The rest just flows as the Holy Spirit polishes you like a diamond in the rough. What you are meant to do or say, give or give up for Jesus will come gradually and naturally. The Holy Spirit takes you through those steps as He gives growth and matures you, and it is wonderful. It may hurt at times, but it is wonderful, because whatever God does to and for us is good. He is a good Father - the only perfect Father.

How can you hold to Jesus’ teachings if you do not direct yourself to His words and cry out for understanding? Do you think you are holding to His teachings by listening to a twenty-minute sermon and tithing ten per cent? Tithe all you want; or don’t tithe. But listen to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit before you do or say or give anything else in His Name. That is the freedom of the Spirit of the Lord - to tithe as the Holy Spirit guides you. Is it written that Jesus tithed? When did tithing become a central part of worship?

Does God look for givers who give out of obligation instead of love? He is not looking for worshippers who tithe in spirit and truth. He is looking for worship that is first established in your love of listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Whatever you do in His Name outside of the command, “Listen to Jesus,” may be counted worthless because the Lord can still say to you, “Away from Me you evildoer, I never knew you.”

The true tithe is not in your income. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”^[101] The true tithe is our holiness to God in our commitment of our whole heart and life to Them. We tithe our time, our lives and all our hopes and dreams to seek first our Father’s kingdom and His righteousness.^[102] And the true offering is the full return of love from sons and daughters, because what He gave the world was His Son - the One most beloved to Him.

True tithing is not even about percentages. It is an act of freewill. It is a gesture that overflows from the heart to the hands, which acknowledges this truth: All our fruitfulness comes from the Lord alone. Whatever you give to the Lord out of what you received from Him, is based on gratitude, appreciation, respect, honour, praise and awe.

Read Moses’ teachings in Deuteronomy 12.5-7: “But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put His Name there for His dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.” The Father has blessed us with His Son, who is the Resurrection and the Life. So this is what we return to God: Jesus in us and us in Jesus - in His fullness. Now that is the true “tithe” worth giving.

However, is true tithing taught in our churches? Is it taught by the churches that it is imperative for everyone, big or small, young or old, to read and highlight the spoken words of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the Bible, to listen to Jesus and put Jesus’ words into practice? Rather, haven’t we loved to highlight and quote the Psalms, Proverbs, Paul’s letters and even our church founders’ words before Jesus’ words? Is it written that they are S/spirit and life as Jesus said His words are?^[103] And when Heaven and Earth pass away, was it also said that they will never pass away?^[104] Do you know?

Is the church of Jesus Christ famous for listening to Jesus and powerful in testifying about forgiveness in honour of the New Covenant? Or rather, is the church of Jesus Christ renowned for asking for contributions? Why is this so? Why do unbelievers know more about the Levitical ten per cent tithing rule than the command to listen to Jesus? Does the church truly love these things more than Jesus? Therefore teachers of the law and shepherds of God’s sheep, repent.

Due to our continuing ignorance and rebellion against the Father’s command to listen to Jesus, there has been an increase of wickedness in the church as its sin is reaching its full measure.^[105] How will the church be judged for the sin of the world, which is that men do not believe in Jesus,^[106] because of its failure to spread and preach the Father’s command to listen to Jesus and its shocking inability to testify with the Holy Spirit? God, who is Justice, will hold accountable every sin of the world. The world should have been correctly warned by the church, His watchman. Therefore He will remit the world’s sin upon the shoulder of the church. This is the accountability of a watchman.^[107]

Are you discontented with the state of powerlessness of the church and are you looking for the power as it is written in the words of Jesus? Are you dissatisfied with a few hours at church because you want so much more from this life with God? Do you read the words of Jesus and cry out for understanding because it hurts to have gaps in your knowledge of Jesus and the word of God? Are you preparing yourself to survive the coming days of disasters, or do you have your hands up for a quick exit to Heaven when the days of distress come upon us? Will you be the Lord’s lampstand illuminating the way for others to find refuge in Jesus as you shine through the darkness and confusion of the coming days, whilst remaining alive to honour your King on His soon arrival?

The vengeance of a just and mighty God

Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, will fall and be destroyed when God avenges against her the blood of the saints and the prophets; for in her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the Earth as the nations were led astray by her magic spells.^[108] The Lord Almighty has reserved a separate cup filled with the wine of the fury of God’s wrath just for her. But before it happens, in His mercy and kindness, God your Father will say to the churches, “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to Heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”^[109] Then the great city of Babylon (a symbolic figure, which when revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, will shock and disgust you as surely as John was greatly astonished^[110]) will be thrown down, never to be found again.^[111]

Jesus said that immediately after the distress of those days, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the Heavenly bodies will be shaken.”^[112] Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all nations will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.^[113] There will be great rejoicing, praise and worship in Heaven^[114] as Jesus Christ our King makes His comeback to Earth to reign for a thousand years. And what a great comeback of glory and victorious justice it will be for all Creation and for those who have not only faithfully desired this day, but stood firm in their faith in Jesus’ words of John 11.26 to stay alive that they may witness and receive the return of the King!

This is the general sequence of the events that are to come as recorded in Revelation 18-21. Remember, the timeframe in the apostle John’s vision may not be clear in its revealing, but it does provide us with an idea of the timeline:

Revelation 18: Babylon the prostitute falls. With violence it will be thrown down, never to be found again.

Revelation 19: A great multitude in Heaven shouts praises to God for His just judgments and in anticipation of the wedding of the Lamb that will take place after the thousand years. Heaven opens, and the King of kings and Lord of lords, riding on a white horse, leads the armies of Heaven to Earth. The beasts, the kings of the Earth and their armies gather together to make war against the King and His army. But the beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the Lake of Burning Sulphur. The rest of them are killed with the sword that comes out of the mouth of the Rider on the horse.

Revelation 20: An angel seizes Satan and throws him into the Abyss for a thousand years. Those who are eligible to take part in the first resurrection reign with Jesus for a thousand years. When the thousand years are over, Satan is released. He goes and deceives the nations to gather them for battle. They surround the camp of God’s people, the city He loves. But fire comes down from Heaven and devours them. Satan is thrown into the Lake of Burning Sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. The sea gives up the dead that are in it, and death and Hades give up the dead that are in them. Each person, the dead and alive who did not make it into the first resurrection, is judged before the Great White Throne. Then death and Hades are thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is in fulfilment of Zephaniah 3.8: “I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out My wrath on them - all My fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger.” Then the Father’s mercy and grace reveal their true depth as He fulfils Zephaniah 3.9: “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.” “For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”^[115] Then, if anyone’s name is not found written in the Book of Life, he too is thrown into the Lake.

Revelation 21: Heaven and Earth pass away. A New Heaven and a New Earth come, and New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a beautiful bride for her Husband, Jesus. God has indeed made everything new, and even now is making all things new.

Make no mistake. Our Lord Jesus Christ, will return to reign as King on Earth for a thousand years with His called, chosen and faithful followers.^[116] He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who is called Faithful and True.^[117] His kings and lords will be gathered with a loud trumpet call from the ends of the Earth to the ends of the Heavens.^[118] And He will strike down the nations with the sharp sword that comes from His mouth and rule them with an iron sceptre.^[119]

The apostle Paul wrote that those who are dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever^[120] and will reign with Him for the thousand years. These are the saints who have been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.^[121] They are ones who have held onto their testimony and the greater testimony, which is the testimony of God that He gave about His Son.^[122] The saints have waited in Heaven for the unveiling of God’s majesty and have cried out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the Earth and avenge our blood?”^[123] This blood that God will avenge against Babylon is the blood of His saints, those who bore testimony to Jesus and the word of God, and is in the golden cup that she holds. It is the maddening wine of adulteries that she has been drunk with and has intoxicated the kings and inhabitants of the Earth.^[124] In one hour, her doom will come and her wealth will be brought to ruin as God takes righteous vengeance for the blood of His saints, prophets and apostles.^[125]

But what about the blood of our Lord and Saviour, the blood that was poured generously and freely into the cup of the New Covenant? Will the blood that was shed by Jesus, each precious drop of salvation which carries in it the gracious promise of eternal life, be avenged by His Father? How will God His Father correct the injustice suffered by Jesus? One drop of His Son’s blood would have been sufficient to sanctify and save the whole world. Yet in His mightiness to save and in His mercy, Jesus shed blood from the moment He was flogged and whipped, and from the crown of thorns that pierced and lacerated His scalp. And then unto His death on a cross where the Son of God was disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness.^[126] Even during His anguish in the Gethsemane Garden, His sweat was like drops of blood.^[127]

Jesus was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. But the degree of rejection, violence and cruelty inflicted on Him was purely of men, not of God. Psalm 22.6-8 writes of Jesus’ pain of suffering: “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see Me mock Me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.’”

As surely as it is God’s to avenge and God’s to repay,^[128] how will the Father take holy vengeance to avenge the blood of His beloved Son of the eternal covenant? The covenant of God called for the shedding of blood, for the life of a creature is in the blood. He gave the blood of His Son to the world to make atonement for our sins.^[129] The Israelites were commanded to abstain from drinking blood until the time came when He whose blood was sinless had been poured out for the forgiveness of sins upon a Roman cross, so that we may all obey the Law of Jesus under the New Covenant and serve in the new way of the Spirit. Then we are no longer under the judgment of the law, which is the old way of the written code.^[130]

However, do we treasure the Lamb of God to the full extent of the sacrifice made by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? Our forgiveness and salvation are gifts, for we did nothing to earn or deserve them. All we have to do is to repent and believe in Jesus. So do we cherish the New Covenant sealed by Jesus’ blood, which was poured out for us? Or is it something we take for granted and glaze over with a wave of our hand, “Yeah sure, whatever you say. Jesus died for me. What’s new?”

Where do you stand?

There were, are and will be ones who treasure each amazing gift from God. They are disciples of Jesus who love to obey the command to listen to Jesus. They love the One who gave the gift, more than the gift itself. They listen to Jesus and practise His words. They are taught well by Jesus because they listen attentively to the Holy Spirit. They persevere to overcome and remain alive on Earth, because Jesus said, “Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die.”^[131] And His word is truth. Jesus is the Truth.

There will be disciples of Jesus who strive to survive the distress of the end times by the power of the Holy Spirit that has been entrusted to them. For how else, except by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, will we survive this coming storm of unequalled proportions? Will it be by financial power, political power, or by technology? Do not be fooled again. It was our unfaithfulness to Jesus that caused us to abandon the testimonial power of miracles and the counselling of the Holy Spirit in the first place.

As Jesus arose on the third day in resurrection glory - so will the dead in Christ rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The sweet and mighty trumpet call will sound, and we will be changed in a twinkling of the eye. We will be raised imperishable, eternally cloaked in the regal robes of the immortality of the first resurrection. And we will be with the Lord forever.^[132] Tell me, are there any sweeter words than these? “We shall be with the Lord forever.”

So there will be ones who will love Jesus more than they love their father or mother or son or daughter.^[133] They have left whatever was necessary for Jesus and the Gospel because their faith is completely in Him and His words, and their trust is in God. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.”^[134]

Does this word seem hard to you? Did you judge God harshly here? Did you dislike or take offence at the “leaving” part, or the “persecution” part? The Lord guaranteed that we will receive a hundred-fold of what we give up in this age and eternal life in the age to come. In truth, what are we really giving up but time, since we know that we will get back what we “give up” in an incomparably far better form eternally? Isn’t that good maths? It is God’s maths! It only means that we cannot have what we want when we want it, but we should first follow Jesus and wait for God’s perfect timing. This indeed takes patience and trust in God.

Disciples who have chosen to be led by the counsel of the Holy Spirit to strive for the first resurrection will understand this.^[135] They will not boast to the Lord, “We have left everything to follow You! What then will there be for us?”^[136] They know that everything they have accomplished was first done by God, and then through them by God, and brought to manifestation by humble, obedient submissiveness to the Holy Spirit that they might even do things for God. So what is there to boast about?

In the process of following Jesus, listening to Him and being refined and matured by the Holy Spirit, they know better than to ask what the Lord has in store for them like a demanding child. They know what the Lord has in store for them and it is kept private in their hearts. By the fire in their eyes, you will recognise them. Their delight is in Jesus and His words, for whom they consider more than worthy to lose their heads as His witnesses. Their delight is also in repentance and forgiveness, because they know the covenant they live by, and by which they were spared. This takes true humility, patient endurance, perseverance and the good courage of the Lord. They will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony for they will not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.^[137] For they live by this truth: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake will find it.^[138]

Is this too dramatic for you? If so, it is because you have yet to fall in love with Jesus by listening to Him and consuming His words as if there was a famine inside your heart. Falling in love is dramatic. It is not for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed or the self-seeking.

Here is another facet of Mark 10.29-30^[139] for us to live by: We who remain in the Resurrection as His words remain in us will begin witnessing the resurrection of our dead hopes and fallen dreams. For there is nothing you leave behind or leave for dead in Jesus’ Name that He would not give back to you in the abundance of resurrection glory. It starts with sprinkles of resurrection in your personal life, which is like drops in an ocean. May it be a buried childhood dream to write a book or a forgotten desire to perform before thousands of people, the glory of the resurrection of the Lord will take hold of them. He will call out to them, “Come forth,” and the results will be far better than you could ever imagine.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Him will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. Do you believe this?^[140] Did He not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?^[141]

If smaller events of resurrection in your life are thrilling and touching for you, consider the way that the resurrection of His saints, prophets and apostles moves and excites the Lord, the Lord and the Lord? What honour - what glory - what majesty - what joy - what delight - and what a treasure to behold!

First resurrection: Two requirements

So if you are interested to be eligible for the first resurrection, you must learn these two requirements and you must watch out for the signs of the times. Indeed, it is a privilege to strive for. These are requirements to knowingly and faithfully fulfil if you wish to reign with Jesus on Earth for a thousand years. Is this not the ultimate desire of your heart and the aspiration of your walk with God? What is the great reward of your faith if it is not Jesus - the Man, the God, the Word, the Lord and the King - and to be one with Him forever? What else is there, but to never be cast from the presence of God again?

1a. To be an overcomer and remain alive for Jesus to be given authority to judge

The apostle John saw in the Spirit: “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.”^[142] These are ones about whom Jesus said, “Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations - He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery.”^[143] They are those who overcame and remained alive^[144] to fulfil Jesus’ desire of Luke 18.8 that when He comes He will find faith on the Earth, and to prove Him the Life He testified to be.^[145]

OR

1b. To be beheaded because of your testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God

The apostle John also saw in the Spirit in the same vision: “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God.”^[146] This second group is those who are dead in Christ, having been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. These are the saints who were beheaded for their testimony for Jesus and those who were beheaded for proclaiming the word of God throughout all the ages. They will return with Jesus to reign on Earth.

In the NASB, it is written: “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God.”^[147]

The AMP writes: “Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes for their witnessing to Jesus and for the Word of God.”^[148]

The NLT translates: “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God.”^[149]

So the fullness of Revelation 20.4 taken from the four versions is that must be because of the following:

· Testifying and witnessing for Jesus - of Jesus - to Jesus - about Jesus; and

· For the Word of God and for proclaiming the word of God.

Those of us who have practised the words of Jesus and witnessed the truth of those words, have been commanded to testify together with the Holy Spirit for Jesus, who is the Word of God in the flesh.^[150] This is the entirety or fullness of your testimony so that you may qualify to run in the race to be a part of the first resurrection.

As an exercise for yourself, look up the other versions of the Bible to further understand Revelation 20.4. Let the Holy Spirit open up His revelations to you. This is pivotal if you are serious about the first resurrection and being qualified to reign with the Lord on Earth for a thousand years. My Father is extremely serious about this, are you?

If we see that our testimony of Jesus and His word, in truth and in spirit, is our sword, then we can understand why the Lord said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. To testify of what you know and what you have seen (i.e. the truth), that yoke is easy and that burden light.^[151]

Do not be deceived. The work of salvation, which belongs to the Lord alone, is as complete as it is perfect. Do not think that we are called to add, decorate or amend His perfectly finished work, but we have been called to be witnesses of it. That is it. Whatever we do and whatever we say is to gain honour for Jesus who sent us to testify for Him with the Holy Spirit.

We cherish and respect the precious Holy Spirit because we testify by the power of truth and the truth of power, which we have received from on high. John’s baptism of water was a baptism of repentance for restoration, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a baptism for resurrection. For even the Lord had a baptism to undergo and He was distressed until it was completed. By one sacrifice, the Author of salvation was made perfect through suffering^[152] and He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.^[153] He was resurrected by the power of Holy Spirit and now sits at the right hand of the mighty God,^[154] and is due to return to reign on Earth for a thousand years.

2. Do not worship the beast or his image and do not receive his mark

The apostle John then said in the same vision, “They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.”^[155] Here, “they” refer to both groups above, for both groups refused to take on the mark of the beast and worship him; meaning they did not betray God.

The AMP expands Revelation 20.4: “Also I saw the souls of those … who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands.”

The second requirement is two-fold. To qualify for the first resurrection, we must not worship the first beast or his image, nor bear the mark of the beast on our foreheads and hands. All who refuse to worship the beast will be ordered by it to be killed.^[156] The mark of the beast is figurative of the spiritual sign and physical gesture of the effect of lack and powerlessness. The mark is figuratively on our foreheads and hands because it is in our thinking and actions. It can also be a physical institutional mark.

When the mark of the beast comes during the days of distress, how many in the church will succumb to the mark for survival because they have not listened to Jesus or practised His words, thereby showing themselves to be ones who could not be trusted by the Holy Spirit with His power? No wonder fruitless minds have concocted such useless theories of rapture. It is worse than an emu sticking its head into the sand.

I must warn you: If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which will be been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath; beginning first with ugly and painful sores. They will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or receive the mark of his name.^[157]

Why? Because for believers and disciples, if we worship the beast, we have in truth substituted Jesus Christ with the beast.

The attitude we must have is the refusal to worship the first beast or his image and to refuse his mark into our minds, flesh and actions. To inadvertently or unintentionally avoid the worship of the beast and the mark will not qualify you as one who fulfils this requirement. The required attitude is a fierce and blanket refusal to accept the beast, and to actively and deliberately reject and decline its ways. This must be based on freewill and knowledge. And yes, you will need a degree of power if you desire to survive the days of coming distress, so that you and will overcome any fear to not worship the beast and refuse to receive his mark.

Living in His grace and mercy should mean that you would rather perish than go against Jesus’ words: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”^[158] For, if you lose your life in your refusal to worship the beast or his image, you would not have forfeited your soul. Rather, you will have qualified for the first resurrection because you have lost your head by maintaining your testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God. This may not be an easy concept to grasp. The teachings on the first resurrection may seem heavy. But remember Jesus said to the eleven in John 16.12-13, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into ALL truth. He will not speak on His own; He will only speak what He hears, and He will tell you what is to come.” Could it be that the first resurrection and the second death are words that the eleven were not able to bear at the time, but the Lord later showed the apostle John through visions as recorded in the book of Revelation?

There is no “Rapture”

The battles that lead to the final battle and the final battle itself are not designed for the ignorant, the disheartened, the distracted and the disloyal. Your understanding of Jesus and His words, and your knowledge of the Holy Spirit must be driven by your love for Them, which you will need to obtain and sustain your courage and faithfulness. It is the core from where your testimony flows. It is the very foundation you have dug deep and laid out your life upon to consider that which you “gave up” for Christ as nothing, so that the only weight on your shoulder is your daily cross, and your only weapon is the sharp sword of the word of the Lord, which comes out of your mouth.

If the sheer thought of meeting the Lord at the Mount of Olives does not make your heart skip a beat - if the anticipation of seeing your King enthroned in Jerusalem on His holy hill,^[159] as all bow down and worship in silence, does not fill you to the brim with excitement - if you are not hanging out for the moment of the Lord’s return with your neck stretched and eyes bulging - or if you do not yearn for His return so much that you can almost hear the atoms in the air crackle and pop from the electricity of His nearness, then the final battle is not for you.

It is definitely not for those who are praying for the so-called “rapture” before the end times so they may avoid the hardship and terror of the wrath of their God. In the parables Jesus taught us, did not the master who went away on business put his servants in charge of the household? The master did not leave his household unattended. If he did, wouldn’t the thieves break in and rob his house?

Do you think God would leave His house and His Earth open to plunder by His enemies? Do you think the Lord a fool? He is God and His Name is Jealous. The Father is so jealous for the world that His Son laid down His life for its redemption. And Jesus is jealous for the world that His Father created through Him. And the Holy Spirit is jealous for the glory of the Father and the Son. Should we not be in total awe of Their Oneness?

If the church of Jesus Christ is taken out of the way before the end, then who is going to greet Jesus upon His return on the Mount of Olives? What then would be the greater things that we can do in Jesus’ Name? I tell you the truth, John 11.26 is one of the greater things we can achieve in the Lord. For the Son of Man died on the cross, but He said whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. He also said that if anyone keeps His word, he would never see death.^[160] Is it too much of a fairy tale for you? Where is your child-like innocence and imagination? Where have you placed your faith in Jesus and your trust in God?

It is easy to spot a church that thinks that the Holy Spirit will be staying and it will be “raptured”. It is the church that thinks it does not need the power of the Holy Spirit, albeit for a few healings and deliverance to bless itself with. No wonder that church does not listen to the Holy Spirit - it has already planned its retirement. So go. Be blessed and go.

Church: There is no pre/mid/post tribulation rapture where the entire church will be delightfully whisked away from the disasters and beamed up to Heaven in the twinkling of an eye. The “twinkling of an eye” that our brother Paul spoke of will occur at the last trumpet call, which is at the first resurrection when the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable.^[161] It is not a pre-tribulation trumpet call. Why would the dead in Christ be raised before Jesus returns? The word of God testifies that the first resurrection will occur upon Jesus’ return to Earth, and the souls of those beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and the word of God will come to life and reign with Him a thousand years.^[162] We need to get the timeline right.

The church has a huge problem and she knows it. Do the churches practise healing the sick by laying hands on them as Jesus commanded? Did Jesus ever command us to pray for the sick? No, He did not. He taught His disciples to pray in secret and to pray for those who persecute and mistreat them.^[163]

Can the churches deliver those who are troubled by demons by driving out the demons with one word? Do they constantly practise? A great concert hall does not a church make. A church should be a fellowship of believers and disciples who can drive out demons, speak in tongues fluently, pick up snakes with their hands with no fear of the enemy, drink deadly poison and not be harmed, and lay hands on sick people for healing, as they preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.^[164] Remember Jesus gave His disciples authority to drive out demons and to heal the sick, but He also said that these signs will accompany believers. Since churches cannot do these things, what tangible proof can we offer that we are believers and disciples of Jesus Christ? Is that justice for Jesus? Or do we make His words out to be lies by our disobedience? The wonders and miracles are just the signs that accompany believers! What of disciples who hold to Jesus’ teachings and remain in Him and His words remain in them?

But the church knows that the signs, wonders and miracles do not manifest consistently and constantly in its midst. That is why false doctrines such as “The Rapture” have been concocted and preached, which is a cowardly and disgraceful doctrine for any believer of Jesus Christ to follow. The Rapture is not the goal of our faith, and it is not what draws us into patient endurance and perseverance in Jesus’ Name. The Rapture is a quick exit plan to Heaven because the churches know they are not prepared for the coming disasters. It shows that churches do not know the righteousness and justice of our God.

Holy Spirit: We have a problem. We are stuck somewhere between the old covenant and the New Covenant, between the desert and the outskirts of Jericho. We crossed the Jordan when we accepted the blood of the New Covenant, and drank the Son of Man’s blood and ate His flesh. Jesus circumcised our hearts just as Israel was circumcised in the flesh at Gilgal. And He rolled away the reproach of slavery to sin from us, which is our forsaking of God.

Between the Jordan riverbanks and the walls of Jericho, we were given considerable time and ample opportunities to live the New Covenant, listen and practise the words of Jesus, and speak the languages of the Holy Spirit, to prepare us in His power for the battles ahead when the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way of lawlessness.^[165] But the church has not formed an alliance with the Holy Spirit so that it can bring the thick walls of Jericho down with a triumphant shout carried out in the prescribed way. The church wants to go to Heaven for a wedding feast and leave the Earth unattended – the very world that Jesus died to save. They plan to leave the Holy Spirit behind to do all the work, and the unbelievers to suffer the distress that will come upon the whole Earth as God’s punishment to them. Therefore, judgment will come harder on the house of God than on the world because the servant who knows his Master’s will but does not get ready will be beaten with many blows.^[166] Do not doubt God’s justice, and do not judge Him as cruel. Do not think of the Lord as only a happy-clappy God, but remember He can be as shrewd as a serpent and as innocent as a dove in His exercise of kindness, righteousness and justice on Earth.

Do you honestly think that being whisked away from the distress, which God’s wrath will bring because His love is a consuming fire that overcomes all sins, is worthy of these words of the elders, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”? ^[167]

When you read Revelation 9.20-21 and Revelation 16.11, do you think that the rest of mankind and men who are unrepentant refer to “non-believers” only? Consider how many “Christians” worship idols of gold, silver, bronze, wood and stone in the house of God? How many “Christians” have repented of their failure to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit? That is if the Father’s command to the disciples of Jesus Christ has been restored to them. And how many “Christians” store unforgiveness in their hearts? We live by grace under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. Shouldn’t we practise unceasing repentance and forgiveness before the Lord, the Lord and the Lord? Therefore, listen to Jesus. Be earnest and repent.

You ask, did not Jesus say that the Holy Spirit will remain with us forever?^[168] Yes, of course the Spirit of God will be with us forever. The Lord is merely taken out of the way of lawlessness for a specific period of time for a specific purpose: To glorify God. Haven’t you ever met parents who train and raise up their children to take over the family business completely? How then will the words of Jesus about our doing the greater things in John 14.12 be fulfilled?

Read Daniel’s prophecy regarding the end times: “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.”^[169]

There is a gap of 45 days, be it literal or figurative, which we may have to survive without the Holy Spirit on Earth. That is when we will need the power of the Holy Spirit deposited, developed and perfected in us for our survival on Earth, and not for our departure from Earth. Read about the two witnesses in Revelation 11.6: “These men have the power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the Earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.” These two men have the power of the Holy Spirit entrusted to them. It is not written that the Lord will do it for them. They have the power and authority to shut up the sky and turn the water to blood.

How much training and refinement of the Holy Spirit do you imagine it takes for mere men to be raised up to the full power of the Holy Spirit? It would take a lot of training and refinement to bring men to the maturity of the Godly nature, so that the fullness of grace and truth dwells and overflows from them, as surely as Jesus came full of grace and truth. The Father would not entrust a man with the full power of the Holy Spirit unless he can be trusted absolutely.

Listen then, for we the church have taken the great height from which we have fallen to a new low since the day we disobeyed the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. We abandoned the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit for Mammon. Jesus came full of grace and truth because we have a God who covenants to forgive sins. But we have broken faith with the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins because we live in and perpetuate unforgiveness to our enemies and fellow disciples. Understand that power was given to testify that the church exercises the authority to forgive sins in Jesus’ Name. A church should be a place where all who walk through the gates believe, know and understand that we have a God who covenants to forgive sins, and that covenant is forged between God the Father and Jesus the Son. We have failed to understand the enormity of this truth, and the eternal consequences of God’s generous grace, because we did not listen to Jesus at the standard to which we are called. When we listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, our attitudes begin to change. Our thoughts will be made obedient to Christ, and our desires will be led by the Holy Spirit. The joy of the knowledge and the gratitude of the forgiveness of our sins should be flowing from our hearts to our mouths constantly. Only then we would know the destiny from which we were spared. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and our God is the joyful Forgiver.

But the church has failed to set the standard of forgiveness under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. We tried to attain grace, truth and power from outside of the words and deeds of the Son of God, the only One who knows the Father and has seen Him. To acquire power, we replaced miraculous power and the counsel of the Holy Spirit with physical, financial, political and intellectual strengths that, even at the pinnacle of their peak, could not even vindicate one word of Jesus. For God will not let His Son be defamed when we have exchanged our glory for worthless idols. To attain grace, we built empires of charitable works that do not display the power of the Holy Spirit, and we submitted ourselves under the partial observance of the Levitical Law (but only the parts that suited us). To acquire truth, we read the Psalms, the Levitical Law, the Prophets and the Epistles without first and foremost listening to Jesus, and combined them with science and a body of human wisdom called logic that works overtime to deny the existence of God or the relevance of our Saviour, Jesus. No wonder the church in general is not united about evolution, or the truth of John 11.26 that it is possible to live and never die because Jesus said so. Since many do not believe Jesus’ words in John 11.26, the gospel of the first resurrection is not preached or taught. We have cast aside the full body of the words of Jesus and the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

The church does not take Jesus at His word.

Any doctrine that does not have in mind the things of God but things of men, and is not firmly based on the first words of Jesus’ ministry when He carried over from John the Baptist’s preaching of “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near,”^[170] to then proclaim, “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News!”^[171] to His last words in Revelation, “Yes, I am coming soon,”^[172] plus all His words in between, is a worthless idol in the house of God. The Prophet Jonah said it well, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”^[173] You forfeit the grace that could be yours when you fail to see yourself as the sinner that you are and the gift of life under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins, which is attainable by all through faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is no truth in you when you don’t admit that you are a sinner in need of salvation. And you have no fear of the Lord in you because you are ignorant of your final destination due to the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ.

For those in Christ, the full power of the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the fullness of grace and truth. The fullness of grace and truth in us will manifest full power. We are fighting the good fight and running the race not to attain full power for the sheer sake of it, or even for the Lord’s return. That is not the bigger picture. The focus should not be on full power, but on the fullness of grace and truth just as Jesus came full of grace and truth. Because full power is the physical manifestation of the One in whom the fullness of grace and truth dwells and overflows. If your focus is askew, you will say the wrong things and do the worst of things in the eyes of the Lord. And you may end up as an anti-Christ, for no one is above it. Nor is it beneath any man.

The bigger picture goes beyond the return of the King. The bigger picture is the harvest of mature sons and daughters for our Father who is good. The Father is after sons and daughters who are full of grace and truth, just like Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

Church: We are called to preserve the Earth with the knowledge, understanding and wisdom that we have received from on high, and by the power of the Holy Spirit entrusted to us, so that when the Son of Man returns, He will find faith and He will find many with faith and much more.

What type of faith was He referring to? The faith of new-borns in Christ? Or the faith of extreme disciples who not only take every word that belongs to Jesus as truth, but have endeavoured to prove them true by faithful practice? Men have extreme sports. The Son of Man should have extreme disciples. For it is not about being safe or non-controversial or non-offensive. That is irrelevant. It is all about Jesus and the vindication of His every word because Heaven and Earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away. This is justice for Jesus.

Did not Jesus say that we are the salt of the Earth?^[174] If the whole church is taken away in rapture as it so prays and desires, who will have authority over the Earth and subdue it before Jesus comes back? Will it be the new-borns in Christ, the unbelievers, or the false prophet? Would God be so careless as to leave Himself without at least two or three trustworthy witnesses on Earth?

Shame on you who read Jesus’ words, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you will be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you will be able to stand before the Son of Man,”^[175] and interpret them as a quick getaway route to Heaven. I have news for you. Among the seven churches the Lord spoke to in Revelation 2-3, only the church of Philadelphia was rewarded the privilege of being kept from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on Earth.^[176] That is because it kept the Lord’s command to endure patiently. It kept His word and did not deny His Name.

Are you a church that obeys Jesus’ commands, keeps His word and is true to His Name? If you are, then you have displayed courage and faithfulness, and the Lord may come to you with the same reward. But perhaps if you are this church, you may find it in your spirit to stay and fight for the Lord instead of retiring early. God’s grace is as boundless and amazing as His wisdom.

However, if you are a church with only a reputation of being alive because of your deeds, or if you are lukewarm, or if you hold onto the teachings of everyone else except Jesus’, including the teachings and practices of the enemies of God that have infiltrated His house of prayers – Jezebel’s, Balaam’s, Nicolaitans’ and Satan’s so-called deep secrets (his lies, deception and intrigue) - then it would dishonour my Father to reward you with the privilege of the first resurrection. A wicked and lazy servant does not glorify or please the Father.

Church, please, it is not that we are called to escape the tough times before it comes. Listen to Jesus! His word is law! He said to His disciples that we should always be on the watch and pray that we may be able to escape all that is about to happen, so that we may be able to stand before the Son of Man.^[177] This brings justice and honour to Jesus: To have waiting for Him His true disciples who are not cowards or traitors, but are His friends, brothers and sisters, and faithful followers. If the whole church is be raptured, who is going to greet the Lord and His saints upon His return? Who is going to guard our Master’s house?

If you still want to escape the end times, fine. It is of course your prerogative because God’s gift to you is freewill. If you prefer dying for your faith rather than living for your faith, then may I suggest that you strive to be deemed worthy in God’s sight to escape by doing everything you were told to do. This way you may at least stand before Jesus and say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”^[178] If you want to die before the end times, isn’t it better to go out by a death that will see you being qualified for the first resurrection by losing your head because of your testimony of Him and for His word and your refusal to worship the beast?

The battle of God is fitting for those who are craving the Lord’s return every minute of their lives. They are so desperate for Jesus to reign on Earth that they would get down on their hands and knees to dig the road for His return if it helped, even if their nails rip off and their fingers bleed into the soil. These disciples of Jesus are so desperate for the will of God to be completely done through them that they would rather die than to stand in the way. And because they do to others what they would have others do to them, they would destroy any plan that hinders and delays the fulfilment of the word of their God. The desperation comes from understanding the urgency that God Himself feels about Jesus’ reign on Earth.

For there is a no-nonsense, indestructible fervency in their hearts and spirits to bring the justice of God into its eternal victory and to witness God’s kingdom conferred on Jesus in triumphant glory. An irreplaceable, fervent zeal that is also a sense of urgency to set in place all that is needed to position each player in fulfilment of the word of God, so that Satan has not only fallen like lightning from Heaven as the Lord witnessed,^[179] but he will be thrown like lightning from the Earth to the Abyss,^[180] and after being released at the end of the Millennium, be thrown into the Lake of Burning Sulphur to join the beast and the false prophet^[181] It is a desperation that becomes a constant heartache in their daily lives, where the pain of separation from God can only be eased by the thought that each passing moment brings them closer to the time of Jesus’ return. Each sunset, each birthday and each New Year’s Eve as the clock strikes twelve, what they are truly celebrating and thankful for is the truth that they are getting closer to the promised time when Jesus shall return.

Once again, is this too dramatic or far-fetched for you?

The battles of God are not for those who do not desire the presence of Jesus in the flesh more than gold and silver, splendour and authority. The battles are not suitable for those who have not developed a yearning so intense that it gives off a scent of desire that is pleasing and private to their Father. It is a yearning to be reunited with their Heavenly Father on New Earth - to see His face, to smell His fragrance, to look beyond the unapproachable light in which He lives,^[182] and to understand the plans He has for His Son Jesus and those who love Him.

All that leads up to the first resurrection is for those who have such overflowing centred determination and sheer desperation for the Lord that they cannot help but open their mouths to passionately testify for Him. The Holy Spirit constantly refines them by the word of God and by His corrections, rebukes and discipline, so that stumbling blocks such as worldly fears, self-righteousness, unforgiveness, delusions of grandeur, distractions and selfish desires are skilfully and gracefully removed from them, each at the proper time. And the process begins by listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The words pour out from hearts that have been forgiven by Jesus and personally loved by the Father - hearts that know that the full price of eternal forgiveness was not paid for with their own flesh and blood, and hearts that do not find it a burden to practise forgiveness. For even if we crucified ourselves ten thousand times, we would not be able to save even one corner of the world, because we are not God’s only begotten Son who is without sin.

Will you be a disciple of Jesus who truly loves Him more than these? If so, everything and everyone else would pale in comparison to the increasing eternal love you have for your Father through Jesus. You would not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul^[183] because you know that your soul belongs to God.^[184] How does one get to this place? It is for you to know and the Holy Spirit to show you, when you begin to listen to Jesus as the forefront of your fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is with us like a Mighty Warrior^[185]

The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His Name.^[186] With justice He judges and makes war.^[187] Out of His mouth comes a sharp, two-edged sword with which to strike down the nations.^[188]

The Lord knows that we need the Holy Spirit for our ministry because we are called to minister in the power of the Truth, the Word of God, and in the power of the Spirit, the Person of the Holy Ghost. Our ministry in Jesus is the preaching of His Gospel and testifying for Him as His true and reliable expert witnesses. This is the full Gospel of Jesus Christ and the double-edged sword that comes out of His mouth, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned because he has not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son.”^[189] We cannot preach half the Gospel, that is, God so loved the world He gave His only Son to save it. The complete Gospel is God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to save the world through Him; for all who believe in Him receive salvation from the condemnation that leads to the second death. We cannot shy away from preaching His Gospel fully in case people take offence. His Gospel will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it.

We must testify by knowledge and not by faith alone. This is why Jesus taught us to hear His words and put them into practice.^[190] The practice becomes our daily life and produces our testimony. And we testify with power from on high, not in meekness or weakness, for even our weaknesses are made perfect by the power of the Holy Spirit.^[191] Our weaknesses are tools by which the Holy Spirit refines us and helps us overcome them, so that they are no longer stumbling blocks to us. True meekness comes from a state of power and strength exercised under perfect self-control and humility. It is not a fumbling weakness that comes from powerlessness and sin. Blessed are they who are meek like the Lamb who is the Lion of Judah, for they will inherit the Earth with Him.

The purpose of our ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit is not to complete the work of Jesus. His work of salvation is finished. To say of the contrary is to call Him a liar when He said on the cross, “It is finished.”^[192] Rather, our job is to testify about the Good News of the ministry of Jesus Christ: “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,”^[193] and “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”^[194] This is the Good News (and the best is yet to come): For the Lord’s work of salvation is finished and the Scripture has been fulfilled and it can never be broken.

Therefore, know for certain that the purpose of our ministry is not to finish the work of the Lord. Our ministry testifies to the finished work of the Lord as we stand with Him in His testimony about Himself and His Father when we preach the words of Jesus, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News!”^[195] and “Yes, I am coming soon!”^[196]

When the people repent and confess Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, we should immediately have them baptised into the Holy Spirit by Jesus, then teach them to obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. Give them a Bible and tell them to highlight the words of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as they fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Teach them to speak continuously in their new Heavenly languages so that the Holy Spirit can build them up. Teach them to keep their eyes on Jesus and their ears tuned into the Holy Spirit. Teach them to follow Jesus and obey everything He commanded us - and not anyone else.

Do not follow your pastor, or the up-and-coming television evangelist, or your Bible study leader, without first listening to Jesus. And do not follow any man who markets himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Follow Me.”^[197] He did not tell us to follow Peter or Paul or John or any of His apostles. And I will say this much: True and mature disciples who have received their seal of apostleship would prefer to be hidden in the Lord. For they are but fools for Christ, displayed at the end of the procession like men condemned to die in the arena.^[198] The last thing they desire is to gallivant around the world in search of limelight.

As we act in humble obedience, minister in truth and testify in power, we are the living testament of the only true God, the Father, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. If you do not listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you are not eligible to teach others to do so. Because when you do not practise what you preach or preach what you have practised, you are a hypocrite in God’s sight. How can you take the speck out of your brother’s eye, when all this time there is a plank in your own eye?^[199]

Therefore, shepherds and flock alike: Listen to Jesus carefully. Each person in the flock is personally responsible to the Father to listen to Jesus because the command came directly from the Father. And each shepherd working under the Good Shepherd has a duty to teach the flock to follow Jesus first and foremost. It is that simple. The Lord is not interested in a pyramid marketing scheme. Each believer and disciple of Jesus is called to follow Jesus so that they may mature as a son or daughter of God.

We are not called to remain as servants forever, but to grow to be mature sons and daughters of God who stand with the Son to serve the Father. We first believed that Jesus came from the Father and we believe everything He told us. We know that everything He said was exactly as the Father taught Him. We know that He is the Word of God, the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection and the Life, the True Vine, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb, the Gate, the bright Morning Star, the Alpha and the Omega, and the Amen. He is God’s Son and the Christ, the Last Adam. He is God’s sin offering for the world^[200] who brought us peace,^[201] but a sword to the Earth^[202]. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,^[203] the rightful sole Heir of God’s kingdom and the eternal King of glory. And we know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and we who remain in Him are in Jesus and He is in us.

We overcame a degree of hardness of heart and stubbornness of mind, and had a bit of sense to take the step of faith and now we know Him as the Truth, the only truth. And it feels right. It feels natural, it feels familiar and it feels so good to be in His presence. For if we speak of what we do not know, or have not seen, we are false witnesses. Our testimony is invalid and voidable. If we merely repeat the Lord’s testimony without supporting it, we darken His counsel with words without knowledge. It is hearsay and is not acceptable as evidence. And if we testify about Jesus without the Holy Spirit and His power, we are not declaring the truth about the power of the Kingdom of God and the Almighty King. For without the pre-requisite of knowledge and witness, our testimony is invalid. It will be thrown out of court and be trampled underfoot by men.

Once more and as always, it all goes back to the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. The Lord said, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father - and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them in also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”^[204]

To qualify as one who knows Him, you must listen to His voice. You must not follow a stranger but be able to recognise Jesus’ voice. We know we are Jesus’ sheep already because He has laid down His life for us, but do we accept His testimony about Himself? Do we judge Jesus by human standards? Do we believe Him when He said He came from above and has gone back to Father, and will soon return?

Church: Do we listen to the voices of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as our priority? Should we not heed the watchman’s warning to listen to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit as He tells us what is to come? And we certainly should not listen to false prophets, who are ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing.^[205] More importantly, when we believe and accept Jesus’ testimony, do we then obey His command to put all His words into practice? Do we respect Jesus’ words as law under the New Covenant? Or do we bury His words in the ground or drop them on the floor where the birds will come and eat them? When we accept the seed into our hearts, which is His word (the truth), do we let it grow and bear fruit, so that the beauty of truth may overflow from our hearts to our mouths to gladden up the heart of God?

If we never knew Jesus, we would never know the Father, for no one comes to the Father except through the Son. Note that Jesus did not say, “No one comes to God or the Creator or the Master except through Me.” He specifically said, “The Father.” This is about Sonship and Daughtership.

The Lord said to the crowd at the temple courts in Jerusalem who were questioning about Jesus and saying that He couldn’t be the Christ, “Yes, you know Me, and you know where I am from.”^[206] And He cried out to the Pharisees who did not believe Him, “You do not know Me or My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”^[207] Are you in either of these groups?

If we have listened to Jesus with due diligence and in exclusiveness of all else in the world that distracts us from our delicious closeness to Him - if we have been following His footsteps, listening to His voice, reading His word and putting it into practice: Congratulations! As surely as the Lord said to Philip, so He may say to us individually: “From now on, you do know Him [the Father] and have seen Him.”^[208]

This is the Law of Jesus that makes us eligible to testify for Jesus about the Father, as surely as Jesus was eligible to testify about the Father. By God’s authority, Jesus said, “If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”^[209] From that day on, you will be a personal witness of the Father because Jesus has presented you before the throne as a matured son or daughter. In that day you will no longer ask Jesus for anything. Jesus said that He will no longer ask the Father on your behalf. The Father Himself will love you because you have loved Jesus and have believed that He has come from God.^[210] You have just been granted a direct line to the Father.

So this is how we step out to testify for the Lord: The first foot by faith and the next foot by the knowledge that our faith procured, secured with the understanding that Jesus’ word is always the foundation on which we proceed from. We cannot withstand the enemy if we are hopping on one foot of faith. And we certainly cannot run a race on one leg without injuring ourselves. Who are the wise servants who put their faith in ALL the words of Jesus Christ and their time into practising His words? And who are the servants who will get to share in their Master’s happiness because they were faithful in all His house?

How far do you think you can go on faith only? Look at the general state of the church - we run on misplaced faith and grossly insufficient knowledge, understanding and wisdom because of the disobedience and ignorance of the command to listen to Jesus. Our faith is misplaced in doctrinal stumbling blocks and imperfect, perishing words of men. I tell you the truth, “Listen to Jesus” is not a new doctrine. It is a simple but important re-direction of our focus to the command of the Father given to the disciples of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. It is the command all believers and disciples of Jesus should have been practising in faithful obedience.

We, the church, have sinned against the Father when we failed to listen to Jesus, practise His words and carry out His commands. In our sorry state of disobedience, lack of repentance and dishonour of the Name of Jesus, we have become another problem to God, rather than God’s solution to a hostile world. And so the world blames our God for babies dying, the bird flu, hurricanes and rising nuclear unrest, when it is we, the church, who have not carried out our duties in the prescribed way given by Jesus. What strand of virus, strong winds or weapons of the world could stand against a church that could be entrusted with full power by the Holy Spirit? In our failure to listen to Jesus and carry out His commands, we have become worse than the world in the eyes of God.

Church: Face up to the truth. It is our fault the storm of the wrath of God is coming upon the whole Earth. Yet we even have the nerve to concoct a theory called ‘The Rapture’, which basically highlights the ignorance, cowardice and total misunderstanding of the righteousness of our God and Saviour. Wake up and repent!

The leakage of faith in Jesus and all His words led to the lack of practice of His words, which caused the leakage of power. So two thousand years later, the church of Jesus Christ has become a joke to the enemies of God because of the height from which it has fallen. We have fallen right into the depths of the strongholds of the enemy whose power is deception. At best, the church is fulfilling its duty to preach the Gospel to all nations, and for this I thank God for His grace and kindness. But there is no glory in “at least”.

Do you think that we can minister before God and form an alliance with the Holy Spirit based on faith alone? We are to speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen - just like Jesus, who testifies with the Holy Spirit. Faith and knowledge are the basic footwork of our waltz with the Father in His opera. Who gave man his mouth to speak and feet to run after God and dance with Him? If you have not learnt how to walk with God, you will never learn the rhythm of gliding and dancing with Him on His clouds of glory.

Although the Lord said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, it is not always an easy task to be a witness for Jesus. Ask the apostle Paul. The calling itself from the Lord is uncomplicated, but the opposition is strong and numerous. Persecution comes from within the house of God and the world, but mostly opposition comes from within ourselves and our struggle with sin as it crouches at our door.^[211] That is why we have the Holy Spirit with us, and why we are to receive Him to live in us, helping us to master sin and do what is right by God, for God, even as we testify for Jesus. But always remember, the focus is not on avoidance of sin but on the practice of righteousness and unceasing repentance. Avoiding sin is a futile exercise for it does not bear the fruits of unceasing repentance.

Humans are generally self-righteous and self-centred. We need to look no further than Adam who said about Eve, “This is now the bones of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”^[212] What a way to claim something for yourself, when there is nothing we have that did not belong to God in the first place, and nothing we can achieve that did not originate from Him. So what credit can man give himself except unceasing, sincere repentance before God and forgiveness of others to honour the New Covenant?

We need the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment so that we may be in constant repentance. Do not ever under-estimate the value of repentance. It is indeed a continuous process because we sin even as we practise righteousness. The treasure of repentance lies in your relationship with the Lord and your attitude towards Him. It is not about being obsessed with sin or holiness, but being in constant gratitude and awareness of the grace you have received through faith in Jesus Christ. Nor is it about human commands and teachings, which have an appearance of wisdom, but their false humility and harsh treatment of the body lack any value in the eyes of God. They are destined to perish with use.^[213] God will ensure this because they are not His ways, and thus not His justice nor His righteousness.

So why hide in a dark little room to confess your sins to one man? Rather, be in your room alone with God to confess your sins to Him in private. Why not repent and forgive others before the Lord, or do so before the whole congregation so that your brothers and sisters may practise Jesus’ commands to forgive sins and to love one another as Christ has loved you? Did Jesus command us to go into a little room and confess our sins to a man in secret? No, Jesus taught His disciples to pray to our Heavenly Father in secret: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”^[214]

True separation of holiness unto the Lord is our obedience in listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And true sexual morality is being faithful to the words and deeds of Jesus our Saviour. The rest falls into place as the Holy Spirit matures and gives us growth. Jesus said the Father is the Gardener who cuts off all the dead branches that are not bearing fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so that we will be even more fruitful.^[215] But it is the Holy Spirit who brings forth that new growth from the Father’s work, as He guides us and counsels us to grow us into maturity in Christ. Thank God for the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ that covers over a multitude of sins.^[216]

We are the Lord’s witnesses - this is our primary calling. But it is up to you to make the choice and ignite the fire to take your testimony to new heights and depths and widths, where you are ready and able to lose your head for Jesus and the word of God. Let the whole world call you insane - that would be a good sign. And indeed, have you not lost your mind if you are still praising the Lord - still keeping His word and remaining true to His Name and rejoicing when you suffer persecutions and hardships from all sides? Rejoicing because of these words of Jesus, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”^[217]

Yet how many of us rejoice at persecution and take the opportunity to practise forgiveness in accordance with the words of Jesus, which is law? Do you take offence because you think I am naïve, or because your heart is hard against grace and truth? Does it offend you that Jesus’ words alone are laws under the New Covenant because you are zealous for the laws of the old covenant?

Be inspired by the church in Smyrna to whom the Lord said, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”^[218] The reward from the Lord to the church of Smyrna is the first resurrection. The churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia were the only churches out of the seven that did not receive a rebuke from the Lord because they were living testaments of endurance, obedience and faithfulness to Jesus.

But regarding the Lord’s heart-felt question, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on Earth?”^[219] The answer from those who have gone the extra miles will be, “Yes, Lord! You will find faith when You return. You will find faith placed wholly in You and Your words. And You will find knowledge, understanding, courage, delight, passion, love, brotherhood, loyalty and much more, because the Holy Spirit helped us.”

So what does it take? What does it take to be trained into perfection? It takes holding on to Jesus’ teachings and obeying everything He commanded. It includes loving our enemies so that we may be sons of our Father in Heaven, who causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.^[220] Because the first resurrection is a reward for overcomers, whether they be ones who were martyred because of the word of God and for the testimony they maintained^[221] and were faithful even to the point of death,^[222] or whether they remained alive, doing His will to the end to attain kingship to rule over the nations,^[223] for they kept Jesus’ word,^[224] or those who attained to the full stature of the Christ to sit with Him on His throne.^[225]

And what does it take for disciples to be raised up in the full stature of the Christ? It will take the Holy Spirit’s counsel, an unparallel measure of absolute commitment, sacrifice and death to self, practice of unceasing repentance, forgiveness and perfection, depth of knowledge, understanding and wisdom about the words of God and the power of God, patient endurance, the Lord’s truth, strength, courage, passion and loyalty, and our complete trustworthiness, all driven by our love for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is strictly and solely built on a foundation of faith in Jesus and His words and the practice thereof. It is indeed a high standard that the Father has set, for the only standard He has set is Jesus.

If it seems difficult and overwhelming, it is because the Lord is Perfect and He is searching for the perfect pearl to set in His signet ring. We in Christ are that pearl, and the ring is His eternity. The Lord is not freely giving away these “front row seats”, because the first resurrection is such a high honour and supreme privilege that is only fit for His kings and lords who come from among His sons and daughters. Take your time and consider this about your God. Examine yourself and your plans for this life.

It is a right you are to take up in the manner and mindset of a mature son or daughter of God, the great and Almighty King of Glory, and it is an entitlement you inherit when you partake in the blood of the New Covenant. Remember, the harvest that God is after is a harvest of sons and daughters who are in the Image and Stature of Jesus, the only begotten Son. If the seed of desire is stirring in you - if these words “I am coming soon,”^[226] feel like fire shut up in your bones and you are melting with desire for Jesus - then lift up your heart to Him and confess it to the Lord right now. Give glory to His Name. Speak in tongues to let the Holy Spirit pray through you. Let His anointing wash over you. After all, it is between you and your Lord, and nobody else. And remember: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^[227]

There is no shame or condemnation if you do not make it for the first resurrection, but an eternal lifetime of regret if you don’t try. Since you know now, what is stopping you from believing in the greater things of the Lord? Why play it safe? Go for the Alpha and Omega and everything in between because it is your unbroken faith in Jesus that pleases your God.

Love your enemy

Jesus not only refused to worship Satan, He practised His own words, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven.”^[228] Jesus died for us while we were still hostile enemies of God. The Lord decreed, “Be merciful, just as your Father is Merciful,” and, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is Perfect.”^[229] Perfection is achieved through loving your enemies. This is God’s decreed way, and thus it is the only way.

So it is with us. We are not to fear the devil and his sons because we, who have the Holy Spirit in us, are the light of the world. Nor should we resist and hate them. But go and learn from your only Teacher what it means to show love to your enemies by preaching the Gospel to them and not resisting them. Love and forgiveness combined is a very powerful weapon because they filled the cup with Jesus’ blood of the New Covenant, which was poured out for the forgiveness of sins. It has the divine power to demolish strongholds.^[230] It is a weapon that our enemy has no means of imitating or withstanding because he knows not mercy, and neither love or forgiveness. Therefore we must practise unceasing repentance and forgiveness. We cannot hold any grudges against anyone, because by doing so, we violate the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins.

Know your enemy

In order to practise the Lord’s command to love our enemies, we must know who our enemies are. If you have accepted the Father’s command to listen to Jesus in your heart and by your actions, you would have received this understanding from the Holy Spirit: It is not about you. Nothing is about you. It is all about the Lord, the Lord and the Lord.

It is not about your enemies, your grudges or your battles. When you mature in the Lord by way of listening to Jesus and putting His words into practice in continuous repentance and forgiveness, you will come to a place where your enemies are no longer your enemies because your personal vendettas do not matter anymore. God’s enemies will become your enemies. It will be as personal as family business. Whoever wrongs your Father has wronged you. Whoever persecutes your Brother is persecuting you. And whoever dares insult your Lord, the Holy Spirit, is insulting you. You will walk in this word as Jesus walked in it, “Zeal for Your house consumes Me and has made Me courageous, and the insults of those who insult You fall on Me.”^[231]

The purpose of having our own enemies is for us to practise loving them, doing good and lending to them without expecting anything back, and in doing so, growing to the next level by practising the same towards the enemies of God, so that you may be a mature son or daughter of the Most High, who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.^[232] However, do be wise to remember these words of Jesus, “Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.”^[233]

How do we love our enemies? Do not think it is the lovey-dovey ways of the world. It is unrealistic to love someone who persecutes you as you would a loved one. This is how Jesus taught on the love of enemies:

· Pray for those who persecute you.^[234]

· Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.^[235]

And remember, Jesus taught us to pray to the Father in secret.

Know God’s enemies

Actually, forget your enemies. We should focus on God’s enemies in bringing justice to Jesus. Who is Satan? How much do we know about public enemy number one?

Sin is Satan’s specialty because he was the first one to rebel and forsake the Lord. In the Old Testament, it is written in the lament concerning the king of Tyre that Satan was anointed as a guardian cherub in the Garden of Eden. He was a model of perfection (not perfection, but only a model).^[236] He was perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him. His heart became proud on account of his beauty and splendour, and the only throne he saw himself worthy of was the throne of God. Through his widespread trade, he was filled with violence. And by his many sins and dishonest trade, he desecrated his sanctuaries.^[237]

Satan trespassed into the Garden of Eden disguised as a serpent to deceive Eve. He roamed the Earth and appeared before the assembly of God to accuse God of playing favourites with Job.^[238] He incited God against Job and also against David.^[239] Then there was war in Heaven when Jesus was on Earth and Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.^[240] Michael and the holy angels overcame Satan and his legions. Then the great dragon lost his place in Heaven and was hurled down to the Earth^[241] together with the angels he deceived to join in his rebellion. Jesus said in John 12.31, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” And he was.

Listen to what Jesus had to say about Satan, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”^[242] The devil knows that his time is short and he knows that his sons would betray him in a second if they had a chance. For Satan is not a good father. God is the only good Father. God the Father has a beloved Son who laid down His life for Him in unconditional sacrificial love. The father of lies would be hard pressed to find a demon who would lay down a jacket for him without demanding something in return, for he deceived them in the first instance.

How much discord and fear are now amongst the ranks of Satan’s armies of fallen angels since they have heard the Lord’s word, “The One who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be in the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”^[243]

So these are God’s enemies: The devil, death, the first beast that came out of the sea and the second beast that came out of the earth (the false prophet), Gog and Magog and all the sons of the devil, flesh or spirit. The sons of the devil can even be people in the house of God. You can be an enemy to Jesus if you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Listen to what Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”^[244] Was this a harsh rebuke when Peter meant well? Why did Jesus say this? Because Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him saying, “This shall never happen to You”, concerning His cross and resurrection. Peter’s words went directly against the plans of God. For even though he said them out of human compassion, it showed that he did not listen to Jesus carefully to have in mind the will of God be accomplished in the prescribed way.

In truth, believers of Jesus have said more false, hurtful and evil things about God out of ignorance, misunderstanding and self-righteousness than those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Darker and viler deeds have been committed by the church than by the world. God counts much less what this group of unbelievers say about Him because they don’t know Him nor profess that they do. For the church was called to be the light of the world, to shine the light out of the darkness. Do the lampstands of Jesus burn brightly in the world? Did not Jesus call the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “sons of Hell” in Matthew 23.15? So how many sons of Hell live in the churches today because of the darkness, decay and decadence that spread like a virus when we fail to obey the commands to listen to Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit at the standard that we have been called?

Why is Babylon the Great a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit and every unclean and detestable bird?^[245] Consider carefully why John was “greatly astonished” when the mystery of Babylon the Great was revealed to him.^[246] This is the apostle who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration and His death, touched the resurrected Christ and saw the ascension of the Son of Man. But regarding Babylon the Great, John was so astonished that the angel had to ask him why that is. Is it because he did not expect that something he helped start could end in such a mess that the righteous wrath of God would be released upon it? Do you think the current state of the church is pleasing to God? Do you think that God takes delight in punishing us for our errors? For the Sovereign Lord declares, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone. Repent and live!”^[247]

If you should ask, “If God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, why is His wrath forthcoming upon the inhabitants of the world?” Then I shall also ask you this question, “Should God have to live with our sins forever? Or should He deal with sin in His Creation in justice and righteousness, since Jesus paid the full price for the redemption of the world so that God will not carry any of our sins and their effects, or even the memories of sin, into His eternity?”

In order to practise the Lord’s commands to love your enemies and not to resist an evil person, yet still be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves, we must know the power and tools of Satan. Note that the Lord never told us to overcome our enemies. We are commanded to love our enemies by doing the things He taught in Matthew 5.43-48 and Luke 6.27-36.

However, Jesus gave us the authority to overcome all the power of the enemy.^[248] The One who overcame the world gave us the means to overcome the power of Satan, which is deception. Jesus said, “I will not speak with you much longer for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on Me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me.”^[249] As long as you remain in Jesus and He remains in you, Satan also has no hold on you. He can’t touch you. So how do we remain in Jesus? He said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.”^[250] Now do you see how important it is to listen to Jesus and put His words into practice? It is not only for your own edification and protection. It is your collection of testimonies to prove His words true, so that knowledge is added to your faith, for by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony you will overcome the accuser.^[251]

Know the tools of the enemy

The matter of Eve versus the serpent is a classic example of the devil working his tools of the power of deception, which are lies, doubt and flattery.

In Genesis 3, Satan’s first strike was to plant doubt in Eve’s mind. He said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

If you do not know the word of God at the standard to which you are called, one flicker of doubt and a moment of hesitation could get you in trouble. Eve misquoted God saying, “God did say, ‘You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”^[252] However, God made no mention about the position of tree in the garden, nor commanded them not to touch it.

Likewise, the serpent will come to you and say, “Did the Father really say to the disciples of Jesus Christ to listen to the Son? Did Jesus really say to the churches to hear the Holy Spirit? Did Jesus really teach you to love your enemies?” If you do not know the command, you may answer, “God commanded us to listen to the four gospels and the apostles in the New Testament.” Gotcha.

The devil’s second strike was lies. He said to Eve, “You will not surely die.”^[253] This was a lie.

The third strike: Flattery. The serpent appealed to Eve’s desire for gaining wisdom and said, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”^[254]

When Eve saw that the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was good for food, delightful to look at and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she reached out and took hold of what was not purposed for her and Adam at that time, for they had not yet eaten from the Tree of Life. So, Jesus, the Righteous One, became for us the Tree of Life.^[255]

If you should ask, “If God did not want Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, why did He put it there in the first place? Isn’t that like entrapment?”

The apostle Paul understood this about our God, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”^[256] Knowing the Lord, He would have given Adam and Eve the ability and training to withstand the temptation of eating from the tree. Adam and Eve were not children. They were workers in the garden. So it is not like putting babies in a cot with apples and oranges and a knife, and then telling them to stay away from the shiny object.

How do you see or judge God in this? Don’t you think that if God wanted to put His tree in His garden, He should have that right of enjoyment? Since He told you not to eat from the tree, then don’t eat from it. If however, you do eat from the tree, how can you turn around and blame God? That is absurd.

Three strikes, and Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. However, Eve had her revenge against the condemned one through her Offspring.^[257] Jesus crushed the head of the serpent when the crafty one struck His heel. And whoever believes in Jesus can fulfil the words of Jesus to pick up snakes with their hands,^[258] and His disciples can trample on both snakes and scorpions, and overcome all the power of the enemy.^[259] They will walk with heads held high because of the power that comes from holding onto the Truth, Christ Jesus, and putting their faith wholly in Him. They will be triumphant over the enmity that is between the serpent and his offspring and the O/offspring of Eve because God deserves to be glorified over and over again, especially in our repentance from our sin of disobedience.

What a marvellous day it will be when our God enjoys the resurrection of the Garden of Eden! I am looking forward to that day with much delight.

The mark of the beast

Revelation 20.4 should be read together with Revelation 13, particularly Revelation 13.14-18: “Because of the signs he [the second beast] was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the Earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honour of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the number of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”

The first beast is the system of lack that has enslaved every tribe, people, language and nation. It is the economy of the world, and not the economy of the Kingdom of God. It is so entrenched in us that we have traded it for the ways of the Lord - which are miraculous abundance and miracles in abundance. It started when Eve reached out for the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because she looked at what she did not have, and we inherited this weakness from her. For as soon as she coveted what she did not have and reached out to take of its fruit against God’s word, even what she had was taken away from her. But Jesus came to show us the way. He showed us that it is possible to shed the mark of the beast and take on the seal of God.

Ask yourself, when Jesus fed five thousand men, did He buy the fish and bread with eight months’ worth of wages,^[260] or did He use miraculous power to multiply five loaves of bread and two fish? When Jesus multiplied the fish and bread, did He then sell it to the people at a price? After He distributed the bread and fish, the people had their fill and they had twelve baskets left over. There was neither lack of food nor lack of miraculous power. And the Lord gave the double portion when He multiplied fish and bread to feed another four thousand men.^[261]

When the Israelites ate the manna that fell from the sky and drank water from a rock, did the Father ask for their gold and silver in return?^[262] Does not the Lord say, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life”?^[263] This is the economy of the Kingdom of God: Freely receive, freely give. Yet in the economy of the world, value is based on supply and demand. It is a system that preys on lack.

The second beast, who is the false prophet, will introduce the mark of the first beast so that no one can trade without it. God’s ways are not in lack or trading, but abundance by way of freely receiving and freely giving. The second beast will mislead and coerce people to worship the first beast and his image that was given breath so that it could speak, and will force them to obtain the mark in order to buy and sell for their survival and comfort in lifestyle.

The beast will stamp this mark on foreheads (our ways of thinking) and hands (our ways of acting). It is a direct attack on Moses’ words in Exodus when the Lord struck Egypt with ten plagues and set free the Israelites from the yoke of the Egyptians. Moses taught the people about the regulations of the Passover, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast … This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips.”^[264] The mark on the forehead and hand is the enemy’s direct assault against our God that we have not listened to Jesus at the standard to which we have been called. The words of Jesus are not on our lips. Yet this is all still within the control of the sovereignty of God. Is He not a God to be feared and revered? It will truly take an eternity for us to come to know the ALL of God …

So who will have the courage to hold the line and stand against the enemy to bring down its fortresses with a shout? Who will fellowship with the Holy Ghost to be trained to overcome all the power of the enemy and resist the mark of the beast? Those who have been too lazy to practise every word of Jesus and too stubborn or fearful to believe John 11.26, or those who have gone the extra miles to have His justice written in their minds and on their hearts? Which group will the Holy Spirit entrust with His power to turn wood to gold, bread crumbs to piping hot loaves, bloody sea water to clean water, a drop of petrol to a full tank and so on?

You call this hyper-faith? I call you a sell-out because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of my God, nor understand the desire and purpose for which God sent His Word and His Spirit. And you insult my Family. My Father never lets a problem manifest itself without speaking the perfect solution into you because He is a good God. He is so good, He is Perfect!

Would you need to buy and sell under the whip of the beast if you have taken on the nature of God to do miracles in His Name? Not so that you may make a name for yourself with a fan club or a fancy website, but so you may escape and survive the coming days of distress to stand before the Son of Man to greet Him at His arrival on Earth and fulfil John 11.26. Or would your crawl back to Egypt, betraying the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and re-enslaving yourselves for the memories of a few pieces of melon, leeks and garlic? Therefore, be earnest and repent.

There is an abundance of lack now because we have forsaken the Lord and renounced His ways. We have not listened to Jesus at the standard to which we have been called. And we have neither repented nor forgiven continuously. We rely on our own strength and methods and build our shoddy fortresses in the air. We turn our backs to our Father and hide our faces from Him, yet we still expect Him to bless us and answer our petty prayers whenever we want. “Oh Lord,” we pray, “Give me a job, a house and a car!” Much of the church acts like and is a childish brat who has no regard for the well-being and dreams of her Father, Brother and Lord.

We accuse God for everything that is wrong with the world, when He authorised us to overcome the world^[265] and empowered us to reject its depravity. We blame Him for everything that is wrong with our lives instead of looking at ourselves with hearts softened by repentance, and minds sharpened with the understanding of the word of God through listening to Jesus and hearing what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. For the root of the problem is sin in us, not God. God is never to blame. Not for famines, cancers, dying babies or hurricanes. Sin, together with our lack of repentance and forgiveness of sins, is to blame. We are nothing but sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, yet we are called to be sons and daughters of God Most High.

It is our unrepented sins and lack of forgiveness that give the enemy a legal avenue to disturb our lives, and hinder the fulfilment of God’s plans for the church to glorify Jesus. Please stop blaming Father for what is wrong in our lives and in the church. Rather, let’s examine ourselves. Repent and love our enemies and one another. Pray for your enemies in secret. Sanctify yourself by Jesus’ words. Be disciples who hold onto Jesus’ teachings, and love one another as He has loved you. Do not forsake or break faith with the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins.

And this is the biggest unrepented sin of the church of Jesus Christ: Our unbelief in Jesus Christ, that is, in ALL of JESUS, in ALL of His words, which is His way, His truth and His life. This stems from our failure as individuals to obey and teach the Father’s command to listen to Jesus and our failure as a church to obey and teach Jesus’ command to listen and understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches.^[266]

Church: Repent, for you are more like the world than the world itself. Woe to you, for you act like a brazen prostitute and lavish your favours on anyone who passes by.^[267] The church is like Israel in the days of Ezekiel when she did not conform to the standards of the nations, but had become more unruly than the nations around her. Israel did not follow the Lord’s decrees and laws in the Levitical Law, as surely as the disciples do not obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus, and the church does not obey Jesus’ command to hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. Israel suffered the punishment and the curses attached to disobedience of His commands under their applicable covenants, so what do you think the Father will do to all churches that have continuously ignored His Holy Spirit and disobeyed His command to listen to His Son? How much more severely do you think the people of the house of God deserve to be punished, who have trampled the Son of God under foot, and treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and have insulted the Spirit of Grace?^[268]

Church: Repent if you are weak-willed in relying solely on good works and on the words of men, rather than personally eating the words of Jesus and displaying the power of the Holy Spirit for the sole purpose of glorifying Jesus. The power of the Holy Spirit is not for the purpose of acquiring real estate. Stop setting up in the house that bears His Name abominable idols, which defile it.^[269] Do not separate yourself from the Lord and set up idols in your heart and put wicked stumbling blocks before your face and then go to a prophet to inquire of God, for God will answer you Himself by setting His face against you and making you an example and a byword, cutting you off from His people.^[270] Remove all the vile images and detestable idols within your temple. Do not devote your hearts to vile images and idols, or the Lord will bring down on your own heads what you have done.^[271] Do not trust in deceptive words that are worthless, and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!”^[272] Our current ways must be changed for they are neither righteous nor pleasing in the sight of God.

Church: The justice of God causes Him to judge His own people first.^[273] Repent! Listen to Jesus today and answer when the Holy Spirit calls.

Whoever said, “Greed is good,” attacks the words of Jesus, “No one is good - except God alone.”^[274] Since God is not greedy but He is generous and righteous, then greed is not of God and greed is not good. Why then is the church greedy for money? We live and thrive by a worldly system that is fuelled by greed, which rewards the conduct of self-indulgence. We call it success and lust for living. All the while, we think that this life is exactly how it should be, that this is the life. Did Jesus die for us so we can upgrade our possessions and pay our phone bills? We have all fallen short of the glory of God. Listen to Jesus and repent! Forgive one another of this sin!

Wickedness is what we signed up for when we sinned in disobeying the Lord and joined in the rebellion with the devil. For believers and disciples, disobeying God under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins is disbelief in Jesus, the Son of God, and all of His words. Wickedness is a heritage we received from Adam as his descendants; but through our repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, we are born again by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire. Then the image and the likeness we have of God since the day man was formed will be restored and resurrected.

The Image and Likeness of God in us is more than what we see in a mirror. His Likeness is all that constitutes goodness: Holy thoughts, eternal life, sexual morality, justice and righteousness, faithfulness, self-control, generosity, kindness, grace and mercy, truth, gentleness, peace, praise, humility and wisdom. It is the opposite of what Jesus said comes out of the hearts of men: Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^[275] So we must not only refuse to worship the system, we must also refuse to worship its mentality and character if we want to survive the days of distress and remain alive to greet Jesus in Jerusalem. I know it sounds daunting, but the Father did not send the Holy Spirit for nothing, if only we would receive Him. Jesus commanded the churches to hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is saying for a perfect reason. For He is the Spirit of Truth who guides us into ALL truth, tells us what is to come, and reminds us of everything Jesus has said.

By all means, make use of the current system of the world until it is no longer available to us as we enter into the days of distress and count down until Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. But do not worship it and do not serve money. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”^[276] So what is stopping you from kick-starting your mind in gear into the economy of the Kingdom of God and seeking deeper understanding from the Holy Spirit? Worship the Lord your God in spirit and truth and serve Him only, for you cannot worship God and serve money. Nor can you serve God and worship money, because what is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.^[277]

God knows we all want nice things, but nice things are not the best of all things. Imagine what God has in store for each of us in Jesus. Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming soon. And My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”^[278] So what have you done with Jesus’ words, which He personally sowed into your heart?

Therefore, take the hand of Jesus and wipe the mark of the beast from your forehead, and command your every thought be made obedient to Christ. Receive the Holy Spirit and worship the Father in spirit and truth.

To recap, the two requirements of the first resurrection are as follows:

1. Be an overcomer and remain alive for Jesus to be given authority to judge; or be beheaded because of your testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God; and

2. Refuse to worship the first beast and its image; and refuse to receive the mark of the beast on your forehead and hand.

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”^[279] How we may achieve these requirements brings us to the next chapter.

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[1] Revelation 20.4-6

[2] John 3.11

[3] John 14.6

[4] Matthew 11.27; John 14.6-7

[5] John 6.63

[6] Acts 26.24

[7] 2 Corinthians 5.13

[8] John 14.12

[9] Mark 6.1-6

[10] John 3.12

[11] Ephesians 6.17

[12] Matthew 10.34; Luke 12.51

[13] Revelation 19.15

[14] Revelation 19.21

[15] Matthew 25.14-30

[16] Matthew 19.28; Revelation 20.4; Romans 8.17

[17] Romans 8.18

[18] Matthew 19.29; Mark 10.29-31

[19] Revelation 2.7, 11, 17, 29; 3.6, 13, 22 NLT

[20] Revelation 3.16

[21] Revelation 5.5

[22] Mark 4.19

[23] Luke 12.47-48

[24] Revelation 3.19

[25] Deuteronomy 20.8

[26] Luke 12.48

[27] Ezekiel 34.31

[28] John 17.15

[29] Luke 18.8

[30] Matthew 24.35

[31] Matthew 24.21

[32] Luke 12.50

[33] Mark 10.38

[34] Mark 10.39; Luke 12.50 NLT

[35] Matthew 20.22 NLT

[36] John 19.30

[37] Revelation chapters 6, 8, 16

[38] Luke 21.11

[39] Matthew 24.6-8

[40] Acts 13.2

[41] Revelation 13.10

[42] Revelation 6.9-10

[43] Revelation 20.1-3

[44] Matthew 24.24

[45] Isaiah 45.7

[46] Jeremiah 6.14; 8.11

[47] Jeremiah 23.17-18

[48] Matthew 4.4 NLT

[49] 1 Corinthians 15.24-26. Also see Revelation 20.14

[50] Matthew 24.35; Mark 13.31; Luke 21.33; Revelation 21.1

[51] Revelation 2.10, 17, 25-26, 28; 3.5, 12, 21; 1 Thessalonians 4.1

[52] Revelation 2.10; 6.9; 20.4

[53] John 16.12-13

[54] Ephesians 2.8-9

[55] Matthew 7.22-23

[56] Jeremiah 17.10

[57] Acts 1.7-8

[58] Matthew 5.20

[59] Matthew 7.21

[60] Matthew 18.3

[61] Matthew 5.22

[62] Matthew 5.29-30

[63] Matthew 10.28

[64] Matthew 23.33

[65] John 10.10

[66] John 17.3

[67] “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son.”

[68] Revelation 20.14

[69] Revelation 20.14; 21.8

[70] Revelation 22.15

[71] Genesis 2.17

[72] Revelation 20.4-6, 12-13

[73] Matthew 18.19-20

[74] John 16.13

[75] John 14.26

[76] Mark 3.29

[77] Proverbs 1.23

[78] 2 Thessalonians 2.7

[79] John 4.21-24

[80] John 16.8

[81] 2 Thessalonians 2.3, 6-8

[82] 2 Thessalonians 2.9-10

[83] Revelation 13.11

[84] 2 Thessalonians 2.4

[85] Hosea 4.6

[86] Matthew 22.29

[87] Luke 6.12

[88] Acts 1.23

[89] Luke 12.51

[90] John 10.11

[91] Matthew 25.32

[92] Matthew 5.17; 3.15

[93] John 19.30

[94] 2 Corinthians 3.17

[95] Matthew 10.35

[96] Matthew 5.43-48; Luke 6.27-36

[97] Matthew 7.14

[98] Luke 12.34

[99] John 8.51

[100] John 8.31

[101] Matthew 22.21

[102] Matthew 6.33

[103] John 6.63

[104] Luke 21.33

[105] Genesis 15.16

[106] John 15.22; 16.9

[107] Ezekiel 33.6

[108] Revelation 16.6; 17.6; 18.24

[109] Revelation 18.4-5

[110] Revelation 17.6

[111] Revelation 18.21

[112] Matthew 24.29

[113] Matthew 24.30

[114] Revelation 19.1-8

[115] Joel 2.32

[116] Revelation 17.14

[117] Revelation 19.16, 11

[118] Mark 13.27; Revelation 2.26

[119] Revelation 19.15

[120] 1 Thessalonians 4.16-17

[121] Revelation 6.9; 20.4

[122] 1 John 5.9

[123] Revelation 6.9-10

[124] Revelation 17.6; 18.3

[125] Revelation 18.10, 17, 20

[126] Isaiah 52.14

[127] Luke 22.44

[128] Deuteronomy 32.35

[129] Leviticus 17.11

[130] Romans 7.6

[131] John 11.26 NLT

[132] 1 Thessalonians 4.16-17

[133] Matthew 10.37

[134] Mark 10.29-30

[135] Galatians 5.18

[136] Matthew 19.27

[137] Revelation 12.11

[138] Matthew 10.39

[139] “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.”

[140] John 11.25-26

[141] John 11.40

[142] Revelation 20.4 first part of verse

[143] Revelation 2.25-27

[144] 1 Thessalonians 4.17

[145] John 11.26; 14.6

[146] Revelation 20.4 second part of verse

[147] Revelation 20.4 NASB

[148] Revelation 20.4 AMP

[149] Revelation 20.4 NLT

[150] John 15.26-27; Acts 1.8

[151] Matthew 11.28-30

[152] Hebrews 2.10

[153] Hebrews 10.14

[154] Luke 22.67

[155] Revelation 20.4 third part of verse

[156] Revelation 13.15

[157] Revelation 14.9-11; 16.2

[158] Matthew 4.10; Luke 4.8

[159] Joel 3.17; Psalm 2.6

[160] John 8.51

[161] 1 Thessalonians 4.16; 1 Corinthians 15.52

[162] Revelation 20.4

[163] Matthew 6.6; 5.43; Luke 6.28

[164] Mark 16.17-18

[165] 2 Thessalonians 2.7

[166] Luke 12.47

[167] Revelation 7.14

[168] John 14.16 AMP

[169] Daniel 12.11-12

[170] Matthew 3.2; 4.17

[171] Mark 1.15

[172] Revelation 22.20

[173] Jonah 2.8

[174] Matthew 5.13

[175] Luke 21.36

[176] Revelation 3.10

[177] Luke 21.36

[178] Luke 17.10

[179] Luke 10.18

[180] Revelation 20.1-3

[181] Revelation 20.7, 10

[182] 1 Timothy 6.16

[183] Matthew 10.28

[184] Ezekiel 18.4

[185] Jeremiah 20.11

[186] Exodus 15.3

[187] Revelation 19.11

[188] Revelation 19.15

[189] John 3.16-18

[190] Matthew 7.24

[191] 2 Corinthians 12.9

[192] John 19.30

[193] Luke 24.46-47

[194] Revelation 22.12

[195] Mark 1.15

[196] Revelation 22.20

[197] Matthew 4.19; 8.22; 9.9; Mark 1.17; Luke 9.59; John 1.43; 21.19, 22

[198] 1 Corinthians 4.9-10

[199] Matthew 7.4-5

[200] Romans 8.3

[201] Isaiah 53.5

[202] Matthew 10.34

[203] Revelation 5.5 (Testimony of one of the elders)

[204] John 10.14-16

[205] Matthew 7.15

[206] John 7.28

[207] John 8.19

[208] John 14.7

[209] John 14.6

[210] John 16.26-27

[211] Genesis 4.7

[212] Genesis 2.23

[213] Colossians 2.22-23

[214] Matthew 6.6

[215] John 15.1-2

[216] 1 Peter 4.8

[217] Matthew 5.11-13

[218] Revelation 2.10-11

[219] Luke 18.8

[220] Matthew 5.44-45, 48

[221] Revelation 6.9

[222] Revelation 2.10

[223] Revelation 2.25-26; 20.4 first part of verse

[224] John 8.51

[225] Revelation 3.21

[226] Revelation 3.11; 22.20

[227] Matthew 19.26

[228] Matthew 5.44-45

[229] Luke 6.36; Matthew 5.48

[230] 2 Corinthians 10.4

[231] Psalm 69.9

[232] Luke 6.35

[233] Matthew 10.16

^[234] Matthew 5.44

^[235] Luke 6.27-28

^[236] Ezekiel 28.12-14 KJV / NIV

^[237] Ezekiel 28.15-18; Isaiah 14.13-14

^[238] Job 1-2

^[239] Job 2.3; 1 Chronicles 21.1 (also read the corresponding verse in 2 Samuel 24.1)

^[240] Luke 10.18

^[241] Revelation 12.7-9

^[242] John 8.44

^[243] Matthew 13.37-43

^[244] Matthew 16.23

^[245] Revelation 18.2

^[246] Revelation 17.7

^[247] Ezekiel 18.32

^[248] Luke 10.19

^[249] John 14.30-31

^[250] John 6.56

^[251] Revelation 12.11

^[252] Genesis 3.3

^[253] Genesis 3.4

^[254] Genesis 3.5

^[255] Proverbs 11.30

^[256] 1 Corinthians 10.13

^[257] Genesis 3.15

^[258] Mark 16.17-18

^[259] Luke 10.19

^[260] Mark 6.37

^[261] Mark 8.1-10

^[262] Exodus chapters 16-17

^[263] Revelation 21.7

^[264] Exodus 13.3-9

^[265] John 16.33; 1 John 5.3-5

^[266] Revelation 2.7, 11, 17, 29; 3.6, 13, 22 NLT

^[267] Ezekiel 16.30, 15

^[268] Hebrews 10.29

^[269] Jeremiah 32.34

^[270] Ezekiel 14.7-8

^[271] Ezekiel 11.18-21

^[272] Jeremiah 7.4-8

^[273] Ezekiel 9.5

^[274] Mark 10.18

^[275] Matthew 15.19. Also see Mark 7.21.

^[276] Matthew 6.24

^[277] Luke 16.15

^[278] Revelation 22.12

^[279] John 13.17