Rick Joyner's Blog, page 3

The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War, Part 3

 

What I was shown in my dream was specifically for “The American Republic,” but I was also shown that many of the same battles we will be fighting will also be common to many nations. Basically, these battles in the nations are for determining whether they will be a “sheep” or a “goat” nation. The Great Commission was to disciple nations, not just individuals, not just teaching them to believe all that He commanded, but also to obey all that He commanded.

 

The Reformation was a major step forward in recovering biblical truth, but its emphasis was more on believing the right things than actually doing them. All nations have fallen short of their purpose, including Israel, as the Scriptures make clear. One reason the nations have fallen short is because there is so little demonstration of what actual obedience to the truth looks like by the church. This is why “judgment begins with the household of God” (see I Peter 4:17).

 

As heaven’s perspective on history and current events can be very different from ours, our basic devotion must be to see with The Lord’s eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. This was what The Holy Spirit was given for, and this is how we are led into “all truth.”

 

Most of us have witnessed spiritual battles that resulted in everything from church splits to divorces, and God was on both sides. God hates divorce, and He hates war. He usually has sons and daughters on both sides, and in many ways He can be on both sides. He’s not confused about the issues, but He is for people more than politics.

 

God is not a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative. We can be right in our political beliefs, but be wrong in spirit. We can likewise be wrong in our politics but have a right spirit of love, faith, and humility that pleases The Lord more than those who have right politics. This is why, to the confusion of many historians, there can be evidence of divine favor on both sides during a war. Abraham Lincoln discerned that our Civil War was God’s judgment on both sides. This might explain why the Union was obviously on the right side of some of the crucial issues being fought over, but the Southern armies experienced some of the greatest revivals in American history during the war.

 

Perhaps The Lord moved so mightily upon the Southern armies because “where sin abounds grace does that much more abound” (see Romans 5:20), and He was seeking to change their hearts on the issues. Perhaps it was because it is often true that those who can be right on issues are wrong in spirit, and God will always resist the proud and give His grace to the humble. It was likely a combination of both. The point is that we like to have all issues neatly in black and white, but human issues are far more complicated than that. We are in desperate need of heaven’s perspective. The higher the place that we can see from, the more sense it all makes.

 

In the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, both sides were fighting for parts of the divine mandate. It was the arrogance of the victors in both of these wars that blinded them to just and righteous issues for which the other side was fighting. Neither side was totally right or wrong, but the victors disregarded the consideration that the losers might have been right about some of the issues. Such is human politics. Since the victors always write the histories of such conflicts, the just issues on the losing side are often buried after the war. We can bury them as deep as we want, but when they are a divine mandate they will not go away. Rather, they will rise again and be in our face until they are resolved by our obeying them.

 

It is also easy to see how these same principles might apply to all human relationships. We can win an argument because we are mostly right, but be wrong about some of it. Those issues will very likely surface again later, and often as a bigger problem. The revelation of the great conflict of our times includes principles that may illuminate the basis for our conflict in other more personal relationships, such as our families, jobs, or neighborhoods. We cannot expect to resolve the great national and international conflicts if we cannot solve them in ourselves, our families, or in the church.

 

When I spoke to a number of senators and congressmen in Washington a few years ago, entreating them to show courage, one of them took me aside and said, “You would see a lot more courage in Washington if we saw any in the church.” He was right.

 

It’s been said that “Courage is the first principle of leadership, because without it nothing else will stand.” We have come to a time when courage is rare, and that makes it even more valuable. Perhaps this is why the cowards are the first to get thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the Book of Revelation. We may think that love and faith are more important, and they are, but courage is the evidence that one has love and faith.

 

As we are told in I Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails.” This could have been interpreted as “Love never quits.” We will quit for any other reason but love. This is why the foundation of those who will be on the winning side will be love for their country and for their countrymen. However, most of all it will be love for God who has given us something so wonderful, even if it yet has flaws.

The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War, Part 2

         Heaven’s perspective of war can be very different than our human perspective. We tend to see the battles, which side prevails, and then which side exerts its will over the other. Heaven tends to look at them as how justice or injustice prevails. War is an ultimate evil, but war is inevitable until the end of this age, just as we see them right to the end of the Book of Revelation.

         There are times when an even worse evil would prevail without war, and so there are righteous wars. In these it would be unrighteous, and even evil, not to fight for what is right. However, in most wars there is a mixture of good and evil intent, prosecution of the war, and outcomes. In this age, there will be a mixture of good and evil in virtually everything. Because of this, if we wait to have perfect motives or perfect conditions, we will likely not do anything. The best solution to an issue can be just a little better than the worst solution. It takes wisdom to know what to do, but it often takes even more to know when to do it.

         I fully understand that without having the experience that I had in the dream, you are not likely to have the level of conviction that I might have about some of these things. Some you may agree with inherently, and some you may disagree with. However, because of the nature of this dream, I must be bolder than I’ve ever been about some things I am going to share.

         The first part of this dream I was given was for understanding the strategy that will be successful in this war. There will be champions raised up that will go out to attack the specific evil strongholds in our nation. These evils were things like bigotry, greed, selfish ambition, hatred, rebellion, pride, etc. In the dream, all of these evils were in trees, which speaks of them having roots and branches. To defeat them, one must not waste time flailing at the branches, but rather put an ax to the root of the tree.

         America is not the kingdom of God or the New Jerusalem. I have searched our history for evidence that we had a special covenant with God, and I have not found it. Men have made covenants with God for the nation, but that is not the biblical criteria for a covenant God is obligated to, even if made by a leader of a nation. Every covenant of God originated with God not man, and there is a clear and supernatural demonstration that He made the covenant. I may have missed it, but I could not find this in our national history.  

         That being said, there is much evidence that America was dedicated to God. Dedications can originate with man, and everything dedicated to God is holy, or sanctified. There are special benefits and judgments that come with a dedication. The favor of God is worth more than any earthly treasure or other resource. However, because everything dedicated to God is holy, a nation dedicated to God cannot do some things other nations may be able to get away with.

         Purpose is the greatest favor of God that we have received for this dedication. We were given a purpose to be a nation that demonstrated the liberty and justice that all people were created to have. It is written that “where the Spirit of The Lord is there is liberty” (see II Corinthians 3:17). This is why The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was put in the Garden. There could be no true obedience unless there was the freedom to disobey. Freedom and free will is at the core of what we were created to be.

         Our founding documents are not Scripture, but they were inspired by God in order to reveal and lead us to our destiny. It is because we have this calling that when we drift from it, troubles come. Having a clear vision of our destiny and getting back on the path to fulfilling it is crucial to our continued existence.

         Our discord increases the more we deviate from our purpose. As discussed, one of our basic purposes as a nation was to establish a place where it is understood that “all men are created equal” and also practiced. In heaven, this, not independence, was the main issue with the Revolutionary War. Because our main purpose was compromised and hypocritically disregarded after the Revolutionary War, the Civil War became inevitable. If the American Republic had really believed that all men were created equal, then slavery, and even discrimination based on race, could not have remained possible.

         The Civil War may have eradicated slavery, at least in its most diabolical form, but it did not go as far as establishing that “all men are created equal.” This is just one factor in our mandate that has yet to be fulfilled. We can be thankful for the progress that has been made in eradicating discrimination in America, and there has been notable progress, but it is still far from the place we are called to be. We have now come to the point where increasing conflict is inevitable until we recover a clear vision of the mandate we were given as a nation and resolve to fully obey it.

         What does that look like?

The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War

     On December 14, 2018, I had a dream about various attacks coming upon our country. I was also shown those who would be sent out to counter each one.

     In the dream, I was waiting in line to be sent to fight one of these enemies when I was approached by an angel and told that I had a different assignment. I was then taken to a large device that was showing “A History of The American Republic from Heaven’s Perspective.”

     As I watched this, I saw that if I walked across the face of this device, to my right the times progressed toward the present. I decided to go to the end to see heaven’s perspective on what was happening now. When I came to the present, there was a sentence written in brilliant glowing golden letters: “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War is inevitable, it is right, and it will be successful.”

     From what I had seen as I walked to see the present, I understood why this Revolutionary/Civil War was “inevitable” and why it was “right.” As I stood pondering this, feeling that this might be the most important revelation I had ever been trusted with, I woke up. I felt that I had been given access to this history of “The American Republic” from heaven’s perspective, and that I would be going back to it for more understanding to help us prepare for what is to unfold.

     We are already in the first stages of “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War.” I know this leads to many questions, such as: What are the sides? What are the issues? What is right about it? Most important of all, what does success in this war look like from heaven’s perspective?

     As the saying goes, “If we do not change our direction we will end up where we are headed.” We don’t have to be a prophet to see that we’re headed for civil war. Even so, before the dream I felt that we still had a long way to go before it became “inevitable.” In the dream, I saw that we had already crossed that line and it is now upon us, so we must change our strategy from trying to avoid it to winning it. To do this, we must have heaven’s view of what winning looks like.

     From heaven’s perspective, we did not win the Revolutionary War. From heaven’s perspective, that war was about more than just gaining our independence—it was about liberty and a revolution in the government of men that would establish and maintain liberty and justice for all. Some significant things were accomplished in this war, but there were also some very basic ways that it fell far short of what heaven viewed as successful. If the Founders had truly believed that all men were created equal—what they declared to be the reason for seeking independence—then slavery would not have been possible and the Civil War would not have been inevitable.

     If the Civil War had been successful according to heaven’s perspective, then there would not have been a need for such things as the Civil Rights Movement or many of the conflicts we are still fighting. The Union may have prevailed in crushing the rebellion and ended slavery, which was essential, but it did not prevail in a way that established justice and equality for all. We will not accomplish our purpose as a nation until there is justice and liberty for all. This is why both the Revolutionary War and Civil War must be fought again until there is a “successful” conclusion according to heaven’s perspective.  

     In the American Republic, liberty and justice are not just skewed because of race, but they are also perverted by wealth, fame, politics, and other factors. If liberty and justice are distorted at all it will be in both directions. The wealthy may be able to afford lawyers that can get them out of just about anything, but their wealth can also make them targets. The same is true of the famous, the politically strong, etc.

     Heaven does not expect anything on earth to be perfect in this age. In fact, the Scriptures state that even the best on the earth is but a shadow of the heavenly, and the best on the earth now will still be but a shadow of what is to come. However, when we are in the shadow of something, we are very close to the real. The American Republic is called to be much closer to liberty and the justice for all than we have yet attained. We are called to be an example of these to the nations, not an example of the dysfunction of government that we have now become.

     We must also have heaven’s perspective on war. We tend to think of war as pitched battles between standing armies, but what is unfolding will not be like the Revolutionary War or the Civil War in that way. There are some parallels with those wars that will relate to our times, but many will not. However, this does not mean that what we are now facing will be easier. The whole world is entering the most trying times there has ever been. What we will be given to face them is a sure hope from above that the outcome will be “successful.”

     For at least the first part of this year, I will be elaborating on the things I was shown in this dream.

The Second American/Revolutionary War

     On December 14, 2018, I had a dream about various attacks coming upon our country. I was also shown those who would be sent out to counter each one.

     In the dream, I was waiting in line to be sent to fight one of these enemies when I was approached by an angel and told that I had a different assignment. I was then taken to a large device that was showing “A History of The American Republic from Heaven’s Perspective.”

     As I watched this, I saw that if I walked across the face of this device, to my right the times progressed toward the present. I decided to go to the end to see heaven’s perspective on what was happening now. When I came to the present, there was a sentence written in brilliant glowing golden letters: “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War is inevitable, it is right, and it will be successful.”

     From what I had seen as I walked to see the present, I understood why this Revolutionary/Civil War was “inevitable” and why it was “right.” As I stood pondering this, feeling that this might be the most important revelation I had ever been trusted with, I woke up. I felt that I had been given access to this history of “The American Republic” from heaven’s perspective, and that I would be going back to it for more understanding to help us prepare for what is to unfold.

     We are already in the first stages of “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War.” I know this leads to many questions, such as: What are the sides? What are the issues? What is right about it? Most important of all, what does success in this war look like from heaven’s perspective?

     As the saying goes, “If we do not change our direction we will end up where we are headed.” We don’t have to be a prophet to see that we’re headed for civil war. Even so, before the dream I felt that we still had a long way to go before it became “inevitable.” In the dream, I saw that we had already crossed that line and it is now upon us, so we must change our strategy from trying to avoid it to winning it. To do this, we must have heaven’s view of what winning looks like.

     From heaven’s perspective, we did not win the Revolutionary War. From heaven’s perspective, that war was about more than just gaining our independence—it was about liberty and a revolution in the government of men that would establish and maintain liberty and justice for all. Some significant things were accomplished in this war, but there were also some very basic ways that it fell far short of what heaven viewed as successful. If the Founders had truly believed that all men were created equal—what they declared to be the reason for seeking independence—then slavery would not have been possible and the Civil War would not have been inevitable.

     If the Civil War had been successful according to heaven’s perspective, then there would not have been a need for such things as the Civil Rights Movement or many of the conflicts we are still fighting. The Union may have prevailed in crushing the rebellion and ended slavery, which was essential, but it did not prevail in a way that established justice and equality for all. We will not accomplish our purpose as a nation until there is justice and liberty for all. This is why both the Revolutionary War and Civil War must be fought again until there is a “successful” conclusion according to heaven’s perspective.  

     In the American Republic, liberty and justice are not just skewed because of race, but they are also perverted by wealth, fame, politics, and other factors. If liberty and justice are distorted at all it will be in both directions. The wealthy may be able to afford lawyers that can get them out of just about anything, but their wealth can also make them targets. The same is true of the famous, the politically strong, etc.

     Heaven does not expect anything on earth to be perfect in this age. In fact, the Scriptures state that even the best on the earth is but a shadow of the heavenly, and the best on the earth now will still be but a shadow of what is to come. However, when we are in the shadow of something, we are very close to the real. The American Republic is called to be much closer to liberty and the justice for all than we have yet attained. We are called to be an example of these to the nations, not an example of the dysfunction of government that we have now become.

     We must also have heaven’s perspective on war. We tend to think of war as pitched battles between standing armies, but what is unfolding will not be like the Revolutionary War or the Civil War in that way. There are some parallels with those wars that will relate to our times, but many will not. However, this does not mean that what we are now facing will be easier. The whole world is entering the most trying times there has ever been. What we will be given to face them is a sure hope from above that the outcome will be “successful.”

     For at least the first part of this year, I will be elaborating on the things I was shown in this dream.

The Second American/Revolutionary War

     On December 14, 2018, I had a dream about various attacks coming upon our country. I was also shown those who would be sent out to counter each one.

     In the dream, I was waiting in line to be sent to fight one of these enemies when I was approached by an angel and told that I had a different assignment. I was then taken to a large device that was showing “A History of The American Republic from Heaven’s Perspective.”

     As I watched this, I saw that if I walked across the face of this device, to my right the times progressed toward the present. I decided to go to the end to see heaven’s perspective on what was happening now. When I came to the present, there was a sentence written in brilliant glowing golden letters: “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War is inevitable, it is right, and it will be successful.”

     From what I had seen as I walked to see the present, I understood why this Revolutionary/Civil War was “inevitable” and why it was “right.” As I stood pondering this, feeling that this might be the most important revelation I had ever been trusted with, I woke up. I felt that I had been given access to this history of “The American Republic” from heaven’s perspective, and that I would be going back to it for more understanding to help us prepare for what is to unfold.

     We are already in the first stages of “The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War.” I know this leads to many questions, such as: What are the sides? What are the issues? What is right about it? Most important of all, what does success in this war look like from heaven’s perspective?

     As the saying goes, “If we do not change our direction we will end up where we are headed.” We don’t have to be a prophet to see that we’re headed for civil war. Even so, before the dream I felt that we still had a long way to go before it became “inevitable.” In the dream, I saw that we had already crossed that line and it is now upon us, so we must change our strategy from trying to avoid it to winning it. To do this, we must have heaven’s view of what winning looks like.

     From heaven’s perspective, we did not win the Revolutionary War. From heaven’s perspective, that war was about more than just gaining our independence—it was about liberty and a revolution in the government of men that would establish and maintain liberty and justice for all. Some significant things were accomplished in this war, but there were also some very basic ways that it fell far short of what heaven viewed as successful. If the Founders had truly believed that all men were created equal—what they declared to be the reason for seeking independence—then slavery would not have been possible and the Civil War would not have been inevitable.

     If the Civil War had been successful according to heaven’s perspective, then there would not have been a need for such things as the Civil Rights Movement or many of the conflicts we are still fighting. The Union may have prevailed in crushing the rebellion and ended slavery, which was essential, but it did not prevail in a way that established justice and equality for all. We will not accomplish our purpose as a nation until there is justice and liberty for all. This is why both the Revolutionary War and Civil War must be fought again until there is a “successful” conclusion according to heaven’s perspective.  

     In the American Republic, liberty and justice are not just skewed because of race, but they are also perverted by wealth, fame, politics, and other factors. If liberty and justice are distorted at all it will be in both directions. The wealthy may be able to afford lawyers that can get them out of just about anything, but their wealth can also make them targets. The same is true of the famous, the politically strong, etc.

     Heaven does not expect anything on earth to be perfect in this age. In fact, the Scriptures state that even the best on the earth is but a shadow of the heavenly, and the best on the earth now will still be but a shadow of what is to come. However, when we are in the shadow of something, we are very close to the real. The American Republic is called to be much closer to liberty and the justice for all than we have yet attained. We are called to be an example of these to the nations, not an example of the dysfunction of government that we have now become.

     We must also have heaven’s perspective on war. We tend to think of war as pitched battles between standing armies, but what is unfolding will not be like the Revolutionary War or the Civil War in that way. There are some parallels with those wars that will relate to our times, but many will not. However, this does not mean that what we are now facing will be easier. The whole world is entering the most trying times there has ever been. What we will be given to face them is a sure hope from above that the outcome will be “successful.”

     For at least the first part of this year, I will be elaborating on the things I was shown in this dream.

The Coming Year—Unity and Shaking

         2018 was a remarkable and wonderful year—2019 will be even more so. Every year from now on will be more so, but key elements of a great spiritual critical mass will begin to come together in the coming year. This will begin a spiritual atomic-like explosion in 2020. What are the elements that are coming together for this to happen?

         The first will be a growing relationship and union with The Lord. Many have begun to experience the greatest times they have ever had in their relationship with The Lord. For those who seek Him, this will continually increase.

         There will also be an increasing unity and cooperation between individuals, ministries, and movements. We are told in Proverbs that two are better than one, and a cord of three strands is not easily broken. Therefore, wherever two or three begin to unite in purpose, there will be a multiplication of power and fruitfulness. The demonstration of this will cause a cascading affect that will draw others into the great movements of the future. This will release more definition and focus to the body of Christ than it has had in generations. This is the beginning of what over the next decade will eclipse the experiences of the first-century church.

         As this is taking place in the Spirit, the fracturing and divisions in the natural will also increase. The verse that I was given for this was Hebrews 12:25-29:

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

for our God is a consuming fire.

         Following The Lord in all that we do is no longer just an option. It will be increasingly costly to disregard the word of The Lord or His guidance in our life. This is because of His love for us, as was emphasized earlier in Hebrews 12. He must prepare His people for the time when not heeding His voice can be devastating or even fatal. So the discipline and consequences of this will increase in speed and degree. However, the fruit of obeying will likewise increase.

         The national, cultural, religious, and economic fault lines will all become increasingly unstable, and the tremors will grow throughout the world. Major shaking will break out where it was thought to be stable and secure. The right interpretation of the signs of the times is to disengage from those things that can be shaken and resolutely give ourselves to the kingdom that cannot be shaken. If we have built our lives on The Rock, no worldly storm can bring it down. Those who have built their lives on The Rock will begin to pull many from the shifting quicksand of this world.

         Keeping Him first in our devotion and affection—and seeking first His kingdom in every major decision—is the most important principle in how to build our lives on The Rock. Those who do this have nothing to fear from the times, but rather they will grow in the righteousness, peace, and joy that is the nature of the kingdom.

         We are now entering “the harvest” that is the end of the age. The greatest move of God there has ever been is now upon us. The greatest ingathering into the kingdom is just beginning. There has never been anything like it before, and there will not be anything like it again. These are the times that all of the righteous of old and even the angels desired to see, and we are here to live in them.

         The deep darkness that is now spreading over the people will only make the light appear that much brighter. Just as the greatest prophets arose during the greatest times of Israel’s apostasy, great champions are about to be released throughout the world preaching the good news of the coming kingdom. The result will be that the nations will come to the light (see Isaiah 60:1-5). Don’t ever forget that the light will ultimately win, the truth will ultimately prevail, and we too will prevail if we walk in His light and His truth.

         I was given a series of dreams at the end of 2018 in which I was shown that some lines have been crossed that will have significant consequences, especially for the United States. I will begin to share these at our upcoming New Year's Vision Conference and in the Word for the Week next year. Some of these things may be shocking at first, but we must see them, be prepared for them, and understand that they are “inevitable, right, and will be successful.”

Citizens of a Higher Realm—The Book of Revelation

 

The walk of faith is not meant to be easy. In fact, it is meant to be impossible. We cannot do it in our own strength or wisdom. The faith walk will have us continually living outside of our comfort zone and our control.  The old nature, which demands to be in control, will rebel and fight this. Even so, as the Apostle Paul put it, “to be at home with The Lord is to be absent from the body” (see II Corinthians 5:6).

 

We see in Scripture that Satan and his hordes have been cast down to the earth. Not only do we fight our own old nature, but we are also in a constant battle against all of the evil forces in the universe! When the angelic majesties look down at us feeble human beings in this mighty and even impossible struggle—and see us yet fighting on, being thankful to The Lord, and constantly praising Him and seeking to obey Him—they marvel and consider that those who overcome all of this are certainly worthy to be their judges.

 

We know from the sure testimony of Scripture that those who endure to the end do win. Not only is the battle going to be over, the reward for those who fought the good fight is beyond our present comprehension. For now our goal is not just to fight to win, but we win by just fighting if we do not stop. The Lord can end this battle and win any time that He chooses. He allows the fight to go on for our sake. His ultimate victory is not just dispatching the enemy, which He could do at any time by just the flick of His little finger. His ultimate purpose and victory for this entire age of human struggle against evil is what it makes these frail human beings into. So it is not just what we do that is important, but what we become.

 

So we have been cast into an impossible situation so that we will come to know and trust The One for which nothing is impossible. The fall of man came because our first parents wanted to be in control, having the same knowledge as God, and being able to trust themselves. We have recovered from the fall when our whole desire again becomes knowing God and obeying Him, and putting no confidence in our own wisdom or strength.

 

Few walk the true walk of faith because it is so hard. It requires us to see what others cannot see, and as it was said of Moses, trust the One we see that others cannot see. Ultimately, it will require what the Apostle Paul grasped so that he did not put any confidence in the flesh, or outward things, but only in The Lord. That is what it means to mature into the new creation we are called to be—we lose all of our confidence in the old creation because we see that it is but a shadow of the real, the spiritual.

 

So we do not lose our confidence when we walk by faith, but we redirect it to the One who is infinitely more trustworthy. When we put our confidence in any natural identity we are obviously still carnal and living far below what we are called to live in. For this reason, even though the Apostle Paul had such a remarkable Jewish lineage, he considered that “rubbish” compared to knowing Christ. So will everyone who has truly grasped who He is and who we are called to be in the new creation. Those who have their hope fixed on the old Jerusalem cannot have seen the New Jerusalem.

 

This does not mean that we should not know the prophecies, purpose, and destiny of the old Jerusalem, which are important for accomplishing our purpose in this age. Even so, to put our hope in the old is to miss our own ultimate purpose. It is the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God that was the city that the patriarchs saw and placed their hope in, as it for every true sojourner since.

 

Paul was a Roman citizen and this gave him great advantages in the natural. He used this at times to get out of trouble, which was not wrong. Similarly, it is not wrong for us to use the benefits of our national citizenship or other associations as long as we do not allow our hope or trust in them to eclipse our trust in The Lord and our citizenship in His “holy nation.”

 

Again, it is important to see God’s purposes in Israel and in the earthly Jerusalem, but not when we allow them to eclipse our identity in Christ and the New Jerusalem. When we see The Lord, it is hard to be impressed with any human, regardless of their position. When we have seen where He sits and the majesty He has, it is hard to be impressed with any human palace. Even so, we give honor to whom honor is due. We must continue to take our human citizenship and responsibilities seriously even though they may be very boring compared to our King and His kingdom. However, we can be sure that those who are overly captivated with the natural have not yet seen the heavenly.

 

We must be born again by The Spirit to see the kingdom, but unfortunately not many who have been born again actually see it. We can and we must walk in the reality that we are called to, which is to be messengers proclaiming the coming kingdom, not a past one. We must do this from our position of being seated with our King in the heavenly places, the only place of clear vision into both realms.

A Revolutionary Message—The Book of Revelation

 

Why did The Lord send Peter to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles? Doesn’t it seem that He got this mixed up? Having been a disciple of the great teacher Gamaliel, Paul would have been much more respected and better received by the Jews than Peter, a simple fisherman. On the other hand, Peter would have been much more acceptable to the Gentiles than Paul, a “Pharisee of Pharisees” as the Gentiles despised the Pharisees. Why would The Lord send each of them to those to whom they would be naturally offensive? Perhaps it was because it would be impossible for either to fulfill their purpose without The Holy Spirit.

 

There has been nothing as revolutionary in history as the Gospel. True Christianity is profoundly different than any other religion or philosophy on earth, and it produces a culture that is different than any other. This is why Christians in the early church stood out so dramatically. Today, it is hard to distinguish a Christian from anyone else in the culture, even in basic behavior and character issues. Something very significant has been lost.

 

A factor is likely how the Gospel was changed from how He came to save us from our sin to Him coming to save us from our troubles. Almost every message preached today is man-centered rather than God-centered. It is all about what He will do for us and very little about what is required of us. Maybe this is the result of how The Great Commission has been changed from making disciples to making converts. Now it is difficult to even find true disciples according to The Lord’s definition of what His disciples would be like.

 

Could this be because of the shallow way that people are born again? A study was done decades ago about the way a person was born possibly having a major impact on the trajectory of their life. When the birth procedure “drug them and tug them” was devised (drugging the mother and tugging the baby out so that there was little pain for the mother), the generation subjected to that birth procedure became the drug pursuing generation of the 1960s and 1970s. It was all about doing what made you feel good and avoiding pain.

 

Today, evangelism has often been reduced to preaching a message of shallow belief and all of the great things God will do for us, and asking people to just lift their hand to “give their life to Jesus” while everyone else has their head bowed in order to not embarrass them. Then we wonder why only about 5% of these converts are added to the church and go on to actually follow Jesus. In the first century, 100% of those who gave their lives to The Lord were added to the church, and from that moment on their faith was proven by persecution and the threat of execution.

 

Were the Christians of the first century so radically different from Christians today because they were so radically changed when they were “born again,” having been called to a radical commitment? This radical commitment was demonstrated in the lives of the apostles who preached to them—lives that had been so cast into total dependence on The Holy Spirit that they spiritually begat others who walked in such total obedience. As The Lord established in the beginning, each would reproduce “after their own kind.”

 

If we were born into The Lord by such a shallow message, and have existed in a shallow Christian culture, we might want to ask the question Nicodemus did of The Lord when discussing the proposition of being born again: “Can a man enter again into his mother’s womb?” or “Can we be born again, again?” The answer is “yes.” To be convicted again of our sin, or of our shallow devotion and obedience to The Lord, can bring about a repentance and an even more radical transformation to our lives than when we made the previous superficial commitment.

 

If we are truly disciples of The King of kings, then our life will be dominated above all things by a devotion to learn of Him, to do His will, to become like Him, and to do the works that He did.

 

As the popular saying goes, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Why not make it another new beginning, with a new resolve to no longer live for ourselves but for Him—to do all things for the sake of His Gospel, and to love not our own lives even to the death, so that we might truly live?

Heavenly and Earthly Seed—The Book of Revelation

     Continuing with our theme of the heavenly and earthly seeds of Abraham, Paul wrote in Romans that there has been a partial hardening of the Jewish people until the “times of the Gentiles are complete.” Then he declared that “all Israel will be saved.” The indications concerning what is required for the times of the Gentiles to be completed are things such as the bride of Christ being made ready and the grafting back in of the “natural branches,” which includes “all Israel being saved.”  

     To date, there has been a partial restoration of Israel to part of their Promised Land, and only a tiny percentage of the Jewish people have come to know Jesus as their Messiah. Neither would anyone claim that the church has come to her place of readiness, declared to be “without spot or wrinkle.” Obviously, the “times of the Gentiles” are not yet complete. So one of the signs we should be looking for is for both the church and Israel to start moving resolutely toward their fullness. A Messianic leader once said to me, “We wish that the church would get its act together and become what it is called to be so that Israel can become what she is called to be.” This was from a man of understanding. The church should also have the understanding that we cannot come into our full purpose without Israel.

     Fundamental to our understanding of these coming to their fullness is linked to why Revelation does not mention the restoration of Israel. This Revelation that Jesus was given to give to His bondservants culminated with the New Jerusalem, not the old. Once we grasp the new creation we are called to be, it will eclipse any identity that we have in the natural. Only then will we be able to keep the main thing the main thing—our identity in Christ Jesus as Paul explained in Philippians 3:2-8:

Beware of the false circumcision;

for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…

     For any who grasp the new creation, and have seen the New Jerusalem, it is no longer possible to put confidence in the flesh, or have our main identity in it. When we have been born again by The Spirit into the family of God, what earthly family or association could ever compare to it? Those who put their confidence in such things as their earthly lineage or tribe could not have grasped the high calling of God in Christ, or even the new creation we are called to be.

     Francis Frangipane used to say that he “used to be Italian until he got born again.” However, we all know that he is still Italian. Jews are still Jews and the Irish are still Irish. It is not wrong to have an identity in our tribes and cultures, but it is when we allow our natural associations to eclipse the new creation identity that we have in Christ. When that happens we are living more by the vision of “the seed of Cain” who was “a tiller of the ground,” or earthly minded.

     One Messianic leader told me that about 80% of the members of his movement were Gentiles seeking to be Jews. He appreciated their devotion to their movement, but he was concerned that they had so little confidence in their identity in Christ that they would need to try to become something they weren’t. No one who has been born again and grasped who they are called to be in Christ could ever put their confidence in the flesh, or earthly lineages.

     That being said, it is crucial for the church to understand God’s plan for natural Israel in order for her to come into her full purpose. To really see it we must view it from the heavenly perspective of the New Jerusalem. It is likewise crucial for natural Israel to comprehend God’s purpose for the church so that she can come into her purpose. Both obviously have a long way to go in this, but we can expect these revelations to come soon if we are in fact coming to the end of this age.

     Throughout history, possibly every doctrine has been taken to extremes by those who started to major on the minors. We will never become the church we are called to be if we start worshiping the temple of The Lord instead of The Lord of the temple. Israel will likewise not become what it is called to be if they allow their vision for Israel to eclipse their worship of The Lord. We must see the glory of The Lord to be changed into what we are called to be, and we must do this without the veils of prejudices and the overemphasis of truths in place of The Truth Himself.

The New Jerusalem—The Book of Revelation

 

It is apparent that the New Jerusalem, not the old, is the focus of the Book of Revelation. We need to know the purpose of both to understand God’s purposes at the end of the age and for the age to come. I saved the last few weeks of this study to address the place of both and seek a clearer understanding of this crucial subject.

 

         A majority of the advancing church seems aware of and committed to restored Israel’s place in God’s plan. However, this is not the case with much of the institutional church. It also seems that only a very small percentage of Messianic Jews seem to understand the church’s place in God’s plan for the end of this age or the age to come. Their overwhelming focus is on the present Jerusalem, and only a few seem to grasp the “Jerusalem above,” or the “New Jerusalem” that is the focus of the Book of Revelation’s conclusion. This is not so surprising since very few Christians do either.

 

         Just as many Christians wrongly apply some of the promises made to natural Israel to the church—a foundation for what is called “Replacement Theology”—many Jewish believers (and many Christians) wrongly apply promises or prophecies concerning the New Jerusalem to the old. I call this “Replacement, Replacement Theology,” as they replace many of the church’s purpose with natural Israel. Being able to distinguish these is crucial for understanding the end of this age and the age to come.

 

         Consider that there was a period of about two thousand years when God dealt almost exclusively with or through the Jewish people. Now there has been nearly two thousand years when most of God’s work was to and through the Gentiles, which is called “the times of the Gentiles.” Many wrongly assume that when the times of the Gentiles is completed, we will revert to another time of the Jews, but that is not the case. It will be a time when the Jews and Gentiles are united in the “one new man” the Apostle Paul spoke of to the Ephesians. Many from both camps talk about the “one new man,” but it is apparent that few understand it.

 

Israel’s restoration is a miracle and its implications are so huge that it is understandable that many have allowed this to eclipse their understanding of the coming New Jerusalem, which we are told is the bride, the wife of The Lamb. Many Messianic Jews have an understanding of the church’s place in God’s plans, but it is at least as shallow as the understanding many untaught Christians have about Israel’s place. We cannot truly understand Israel, and the present Jerusalem’s place in God’s plan, without understanding the “Jerusalem above,” or the “New Jerusalem” that is the focus of the conclusion in Revelation.

 

It should not be so surprising that few Messianic Jews seem to grasp the place of the New Jerusalem since very few Christians do either. The vision of both is still mostly earthly. Both Christians and Jews have much to learn about the other, and we need to do this because our ultimate destiny is linked. Neither of us can get to where we’re supposed to go without the other, and our ultimate destiny is to be “one new man,” not two.

 

          I have a great respect for Messianic movements. Many would be included in a list of the most courageous people I know. Many of their brethren, the Jews, hate them and persecute them, especially those in Israel. Many Christians consider them at best a forgettable anomaly. The New Testament confirms the place of Messianic Jews as being both believers of Jesus as their Messiah, and yet being called to maintain their Jewish culture and identity. We see this distinction being honored often in the New Testament, and it is one Christians need to understand and honor.

 

         Many evangelical Christians are pro-Israel for biblical reasons, and they also love the Messianic movements. I expect to see all Christians moving in the present purposes of God do this before the end of this age because it is so essential to understanding our own place in these times. However, it is much rarer to find Messianic believers who know, love, and teach God’s place for the church. In fact, there seems to be as high a percentage of Messianic believers who are anti-church as there are Christians who are anti-Jewish (and there are many of these). There are reasons for this on both sides, but they are not good reasons, and both sides must overcome them.

 

         As a Christian leader with a fairly sizable reach, I am often contacted by Messianic groups that want to “partner” with me. I’m always open to any kind of partnership that will further the kingdom, but I am especially open to these because it must happen. When I ask how they see this partnership working, the answer has been focused, with but one exception, 100% on ways we can support them or contribute to their projects. There seemingly is not even a thought about how they can help us or contribute to what we are doing.

 

When I asked what we would get out of this “partnership,” some offered that a way to help us is for them to come and teach our people about God’s purpose for Israel. Now I believe that teaching is important, but I also know how many Christians feel worn out and used because of it, with little or no reciprocation. Most Messianic Jews are just as much in need of a revelation of God’s purpose for the church.

 

         Now if the above were business proposals, no one would take them seriously. However, I do even though they are (for now) almost completely one-sided. When it was prophesied in the Book of Acts that a famine would come upon the whole earth, the church prepared for this not by hording, but by taking up an offering for the needy brethren in Israel. As we are taught in the Book of Romans, those who have received so much spiritually from the Jewish people should be willing to help them with physical needs.

 

         Giving is one thing, but when someone proposes a “partnership,” I still do a very serious “due diligence” before I join with anyone in such a serious relationship. Like any sound organization, I have it spelled out very clearly what the performance in this agreement looks like. Those who do not do business with such clear intent don’t last long, and neither do ministries or churches. This is not my ministry, but I am a steward of The King of kings. So seek to do a better job managing such things for Him than I would do for any organization or government.

 

Now most “partnerships” offered to me by Christian ministries have been the same kind of one way street, being almost entirely about what we can do for them with little or nothing offered concerning that they can do for us. I just take this as an indication that we all have some maturing to do before a true joining is possible. However, as the times progress such unions will not only be possible, they will be essential for any of us to accomplish our full purpose.  

        

The most serious partnership we could ever enter into on this earth is going to come between the church and Israel. It seems both sides have some maturing to do before we are ready, and working together in any way that we can is one good way to get ready for it.