THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

Bringing glory to God. The glory of God is realized a sinner raised out of a dead state and renewed to life because of a previous promise (John 11:40). God is revealed through Jesus Christ as One Whose glory is realized in man's ransom, redemption, healing, and restoration (Rom 5:2). The greatest picture of this is symbolically accomplished in a threefold communion service. Jude 1:24-25

Eph. 2:7  "in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  The ultimate goal of God's plan for the world is wise, gracious, and good--a redeemed society of holy persons. <ages to come> Eternity future. This is the first of two "in order that" statements (cf. Eph. 3:10 for 2nd). This amazing verse states that one of the predetermined purposes of the BRIDE is this pearl of great price, the ransomed church of God, THROUGH ETERNITY, will manifest His glory, grace, and power. The ultimate meaning of life the apostle shows not to be discovered in the present life, that it does not lie in the realm of earthly things. By argument and teaching, declarative and illuminating statement, he proves the ultimate meaning of Christian life lies far beyond the present age, in those measureless ages that are to come. There the saints are to fulfill their ultimate work as they become the messengers to angels and the ages to come of the grace and wisdom of God. These soldier saints in this world are only in preparation for higher, larger, nobler and fuller service. Her final work will be the manifestation of the wisdom, grace, and power of the Godhead to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places done in spiritual bodies.

Eph. 3:10  "in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places." This is the second of the "in order that" statements (Cf. first in Eph. 2:7) The ultimate meaning of life after being saved to the apostle shows not to be discovered in the present life, that it does not lie in the realm of earthly things. By argument and teaching, declarative and illuminating statement, he proves the ultimate meaning of Christian life lies far beyond the present age, in those measureless ages that are to come. There the saints are to fulfill their ultimate work as they become the messengers to angels and ages of the grace and wisdom of God. These soldier saints in this world are only in preparation for higher, larger, nobler and fuller service. We are making known the wisdom of God to those mentioned in 1 Peter 3:22. How many of us thought as though we were of such a high vocation, that we carried such importance with God's program? Mans purpose was intended as a medium for divine manifestation, one through whom because of his likeness to God, it would be possible to express Himself to other creatures more perfectly. The angels curiosity has already been revealed in 1 Peter 1:12. Verse 11 in that chapter speaks of the glories that shall follow. We play a part in those glories being revealed. The angels observe us (Eccl 5:6; 1 Cor 4:9; Eph 3:10), a fact which should influence conduct. Man is made "a little lower than the angels," and in incarnation Christ took "for a little while" this lower place (Psa. 8:4-5; Heb 2:7) that He might lift the Christian into His own sphere above angels (Heb 2:9-10).

Rom. 5:2  "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." The glory of God is realized in man's ransom, redemption, healing, and restoration. The "glory of God" is defined in John 11:40 when associated with verses 25-26. The N.T. usage has its meaning not in my opinion but finds its meaning in "reflection or image." The realization of the purpose of His love in all that His hands have made. The glory of God is a sinner raised out of a dead state and renewed to life because of a previous promise (John 11:40). God is revealed through Jesus Christ as One Whose glory is realized in man's ransom, redemption, healing, and restoration (Rom 5:2). The greatest picture of this is symbolically accomplished in a threefold communion service. See note on Jude 1:24-25

John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." To finally afford pure worship to God which id defined by Christ to be in spirit and truth. The worship of a people forevermore determines their character and their conduct. And when men come before Him they see Him as He is and immediately fall down.

1 John 3:1-2 "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is." To realize at last a glorified body with perfect vision, a heart of pure love, and a mind that evaluates things as they truly are.

Rev. 21:2  "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." To realize a new residence appropriate for the new body attained after resurrection located on this earth that we might serve Him (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) as Adam at the beginning. This Heavenly Home will change its location at the close of the Millennial Kingdom. Many say it is above the earth while others think it is on the earth. Above during the Millennium and on the earth at the close. The location changes.

PRECIOUS PEARL VALUE

PRECIOUS PEARL VALUE

Continued from article PERFECT EYES

“And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God….This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” 1 Pet. 2:4, 7

Turn with me once more to another Scripture, 1 Peter 2:4, 7. Here again while the figure of the pearl of great price is not to be found, the great facts of which it is a figure are set forth per­fectly. "Unto whom coming, a living Stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious." Mark that word "precious." "The precious Stone," this is spoken of the Lord Himself. "Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house." I omit the rest, because it describes the issue, and I go to verse 7, which describes the process. "For you therefore which believe is the preciousness." What preciousness? His preciousness. The Christ of God is here described as being precious, and you may read all values into that word. In character, precious; in conduct, pre­cious; in all the facts of His great personality, precious. All the things God values center in Him. Rejected of men, but precious to God is He.

We come to Him, says the apostle, and are built up. "For you which be­lieve is the preciousness;" that is to say, all that is precious in Him, is communicated to us who believe. That is the whole story of the development of Christian character. To the last, to the unending ages of eternity, I shall never have anything of myself of which to boast in the presence of God. I shall always boast in the values that have been made mine by communication—the values of the Christ char­acter. Anything excellent in us is the Christ-life realized in us. He is pre­cious, but unto you that "believe is the preciousness." That does not mean that you hold Him precious in your affection; but that the precious values in Him are communicated to you, and we who come to Him worthless and base, are changed into worth and pre­ciousness because He communicates to us His own infinite value. Such is the story of the pearl. It is first of all base, a worthless thing, harming the life to which it comes. And here is a most remarkable and exquisite figure of what happens in the building of the Church of Jesus Christ. We "were no people "—I still quote from Peter, and he is quoting from Hosea—we "now are the people of God;" we "had not obtained mercy," we "now have ob­tained mercy." How has the change been wrought? We came to Him worthless, and it was in our approach to Him that He was wounded and harmed, injured and bruised. Yet the answer of the injured One to that which harmed, was that He made over to us in the mystery of His harming, all the virtues and glories of His own character. As the pearl is the outcome of a hurtful thing transformed into beauty and innocence by the communi­cation of the life it hurt, so the Church of Jesus Christ in its entirety consists of such as wounded Him, and yet from that very wounding, and because of it, there has been, and is being communi­cated to them His virtue, His grace, His glory, His beauty. He Who for the moment in the parable is the mer­chant, is infinitely more than the mer­chant. He is not only the One Who sees the possibility of the precious jewel, but He Who transmutes the unsightly thing into the thing of beauty, he impure thing into the thing of in­nocence; the One Who has lifted out of the troubled sea of human sorrow, a people that shall flash in glory forever upon the bosom of God, the chief medium through which He shall manifest His grace and His glory in all the ages a come.

This is the subject of the Ephesian Epistle. The parable is silent about that final issue, because it is only dealing with this age, but we may follow the pearl in imagination until it flashes upon the bosom of some potentate. If we reverently inquire what becomes of the pearl that Jesus finds, we may turn to the Ephesian epistle and there see its destination. Paul first of all prays that these Christians may know "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints," a phrase rich and gracious and glorious in meaning. Notice carefully Paul did not pray that they might know what the greatness of their inheritance in God was, but what was the greatness of God's inheritance in them. The thought is not that the saints are made rich in God, but that God is en­riched in the saints, that in them He gains something for His possession. I dare not say that if it were not the teaching of the whole epistle, and I dare hardly say it if it were but the suggestion of a verse. But mark the argument of the great Ephesian epistle, and see to what end it works out. In it Paul distinctly teaches us in what sense God gains in the Church. He tells us that the Church is to be the medium through which His grace, His goodness, His love are to be made known to the ages to come. The Church is to be that through which the unborn ages will know the grace of God and the love of God. A little further on in the same epistle, he tells us that the Church is to be the instru­ment through which angels, principali­ties, powers, the unfallen intelligences of other worlds, will learn the wisdom of God. This Church, redeemed, purchased, purified, glorified, is forever more to be the instrument through which the grace of God and the wisdom of God will be made known to ages and to principalities and to powers, until we get to the close of the letter, and Paul with one flash of light says—and reading, think of the pearl of the parable—"Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it; that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

The pearl of great price is found in the midst of human wreckage, is gathered out of it, exalted, and made the medium through which in coming ages the infinite truth of God's grace and wisdom shall be revealed. Thus does God gain in the Church. He gains nothing of essential glory, but He gains a medium through which He may manifest that glory. He gains nothing of essential grace, but He gains a peo­ple, through whom His grace shall be revealed as could be in no other way.

PERFECT EYES

PERFECT VISION

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matt. 13:45-46

Christ has seen perfectly the definite and specific "mystery" of the Church. He knows the outcome of the threefold sanctification process He is engaged in with the Pearl of great price.

In this parable Jesus shows that the chief, though not the final value of this kingdom age is that during it there is to be gathered out and presented to God that which will be the finest, fairest, and most stunning jewel that will ever flash upon His bosom in all the ages of eternity. I know full well how imperfect these words are, and yet I have no other method in which to clothe the thoughts. Out of the mystery of sin, and out of the mystery of evil, and out of the mystery of this age in which the Kingdom values seem to be so fluctuating and uncertain, there is yet to be found and gathered the chief jewel of the Father's house, the most glorious thing for His possession which shall reveal to the ages to come, and to unfallen intelligences the grace and glory of God. Among the treasures of this age the Church of Jesus Christ is ultimate. The finding of the Church, in this as in the previous parables, is not accidental. Its discovery includes discernment of it, the indication of it to others, to fallen eyesight, and the obtaining of it. The merchant came, not seeking promiscu­ously, but bent on finding this very pearl. Remember, no figure can ever convey all the infinite fact, and looking at it in its infiniteness we see the limitations of the picture, and its inability to represent the whole truth. We see Christ discovering this precious pearl, the light and then mark very carefully the words made use of here concerning Him here "having found of one pearl of great price”, sold "all" that He had, and bought it. May I change that, and read, very liter­ally, "Having gone away, has sold all that He had, and bought it.“ This does not for a moment mean that He went away from the earth to buy it, but that He went away from Heaven to buy it. We are looking at the Kingdom from Heaven's standpoint, not from earths. Earth has never seen the precious pearl, has no conception of it. The pearl has not yet found itself. The Church never been seen by the eye of mortal man. We catch glimpses but the Church itself has never been truly seen. But Christ has seen the Church and with the ability to see it in its perfected state, at rest with the Father Who is ever aware of the completed work of the Godhead with sinful man who has yet to see as He sees (1 John 3:2). "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." And that is not all we shall see much better with perfected eyes and minds to comprehend what we are seeing.

REST

REST

There are 4 Mentioned in scripture.

The 1st one offered to Israel but not accepted through faith (Heb. 4:2). The 2^nd one offered by Christ and accepted by the true believer in Matt. 11:28; Heb. 4:3. The 3^rd is the eternal one mentioned in Heb. 4:9 whereby the resurrected and perfected saint is at One with His God (Heb. 3:14) typified by the 4^th Sabbath rest at the end of the work week.

(Heb 4:9 KJV) "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."

The rest in this verse is not the rest mentioned so frequently in this section. Rather it is Sabbath  rest, from the Greek sabbatismos, occurring only this once in the New Testament. Thus the people of God not only may enjoy the spiritual rest promised by Christ in this life (e.g., Matt. 11:28 entered into by faith in the work of Christ mentioned in vs. 3) but also may look forward to the eternal rest in the new earth which was typified by a weekly Sabbath rest in Israel. The resurrected and perfected saint accomplished through the completed threefold work of Christ and symbolized in the 3-fold communion service of the Church spoken of in John 13.

The latter not only commemorated the completed work of creation but also anticipated the completed work of redemption and reconciliation. That coming rest will not be one of inaction, of course, for His servants shall serve Him there (Rev. 22:3), but rather one of perfect fellowship with God and freedom from the presence of sin. Our present weekly rest on the Lords Day continues this observance even more effectively than the sabbatismos of Israel, for it commemorates both His creation and His resurrection, the two finished works of Christ, until He comes again.

PURCHASED

PURCHASED

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”  Matt. 13:44

The King purchased, not the treasure only, but the whole field.

Carefully notice the passion which lay behind the purchase—"In his joy." Notice, moreover, the price paid—"all that he had." Notice, finally, the purchase—"He . . . buyeth that field."

First, then, how came that joy of heart in the finding of the treasure? The question can only be answered by asking another. What was the treasure, the finding of which filled Him with joy? It was the certainty of the possibility of setting up the government of God. That was always the joy of Jesus, It is His personal word, and “I delight to do Thy will, O my God." (Psa. 40:8) Concerning that thought we may get light from the great classic passage in the letter to the Hebrews. The writer had been speaking of the men of faith who had seen in the dim distance the city of God, of the men who had turned their backs upon the failure all about them, and lifted their faces towards the light of God's great city. Having spoken of such he wrote: "Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and File-leader of faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising shame, and bath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:2) What was the joy? That of the certainty that after the passion should come the fulfillment of purpose—the building of the city of God, or, in other words, the realization in the world of the Kingdom of God. For that joy He sold all that He had. The joy which constituted the strength of the Cross was the joy of leading back to God in reconciliation that which had wandered from Him. He came down into the world, and knew its possibility, knew its hidden treasure; but He knew that it was bound by chains of gold to the throne of God, and that its anthem could only be perfectly sung as it realized its fundamental relationship, and answered it in full surrender. He recognized that every man was capable of worship, and the whole social order capable of a perfect realization, and the whole world capable of singing the anthem of God's praise. The joy of that certainty was the strength in which He "endured the cross, despising shame."

The man in the parable sold all that he had. The equivalent to that in the case of Jesus is: He "emptied Himself," and made Himself of no reputation. Who "endured the cross, despising shame." By this infinite sacrifice He purchased the whole field. The whole world is redeemed, waiting to be claimed. That sacrifice was necessary. Had Jesus Christ remained an ethical Teacher merely, He could not have set up God's Kingdom. There must be the intrusion into the ruin of a new regenerative dynamic. He must change the nature of the dog before it can appreciate holy things, He must re­fashion and absolutely change the na­ture of the swine before pearls will have any value. He bought the whole field at cost.

I should like to say one word in this connection concerning the word bought or purchased. Never read into this word as it represents the work of Jesus anything merely of a commercial nature. To do so is to bring yourself into inextricable confusion. We shall ask from whom He purchased the field. I have even heard it said that He pur­chased it from the devil. Never! He never granted the devil's right to it. He never paid to the devil any price for the possession of the world. Then I hear it said that He purchased it from God. He was God. There was never the slightest difference between Himself and God. He did not attempt to persuade God to any new line of action, or to any line of action out of harmony with His own nature. It is impossible to read into this merely a commercial explanation. There is a use of the word which is more in harmony with its intention here. A man finds himself overwhelmed by robbers, and, speaking afterwards of the peril, he declares that he determined to sell his life dearly. That is the true figurative use of the word. Or another man, who has rescued some precious thing at the cost of suffering, declares he has purchased it at great price. We know that in neither case is there the thought of purchase by commercial interchange, but that of securing the desired thing by strife and tears and pain. In that sense Christ purchased. We "were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold "—that is commercialism—"but with precious blood . . . even the blood of Christ." (1 Pet. 1:18-19) That blood was not handed over to meet the demand, nor even to persuade God. That outpouring of blood was the material interpretation of that passion of God, through which the world in which the treasure was hidden might be redeemed by passion, at the deepest heart of which is joy, and the expression of which is pain. Joy and pain made the purchase.

COULD CHRIST RETURN THIS YEAR?

COULD CHRIST RETURN THIS YEAR?

The biblical answer to this burning question is - yes and no! Yes, He could return from heaven at any moment now to meet His true Church - His body and bride - in the air. And, therefore, no - He will not come down to the earth during the next twelve months. His return to the earth will occur seven years after the Church has been caught up to heaven.

Why does the Bible make this distinction? Because the second coming of our Lord, just like His first coming, It is a complex series of events covering a number of years. Think for a moment of the first coming. It began with the miraculous conception of the God-man in the womb of a Jewish woman about 4 BC. Then came His birth, growth, public ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven - requiring more than a third of a century.

So also, the second coming of Christ will cover a number of years, beginning with the resurrection of dead Christians and the rapture of living Christians (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Then, for the Church, there will be a period of examination by her Bridegroom to determine gain or loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:10-15), culminating in "the marriage of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:7-9).

In the meantime, on the earth, a number of spectacular things will take place, requiring eighty-four months, or seven years (Rev. 11:2-3), before He sets foot again on this planet (Zech. 14:4). Two witnesses will suddenly appear in Jerusalem, one of whom will be Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6, Rev. 11:3-6). After they have led the nation of Israel back to God (Matt. 17:11), they will be killed by the Antichrist (Rev. 11:7-13). But during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation period, 144,000 of their disciples, from the twelve tribes of Israel, will take "this gospel of the kingdom . . . to all the nations" (Matt. 24:14; cf. Rev. 7:3-8; 14:1-5).

As soon as the Church is removed from the earth (John 14:1-3; 2 Thess. 2:1-8), the "little horn." (i.e., "the Antichrist," or "the Beast") will be launched by Christ Himself into his steady march to global dominion (Dan. 7:8; Rev, 6:1-2). He will make a firm covenant with the majority of Israelis for a seven-year period (Dan. 9:27) and lead them to international prestige. At this time peace is finally declared (1 Thess. 5:3).

After forty-two months, the Antichrist is killed (presumably by the King of the North; (Dan. 11:40-45; Rev. 13:14), but he rises again to mortal life and kills his arch-enemies, the two witnesses (Rev. 11:7-13). He then turns against Israel (which is by now a basically converted nation; (Isa. 66:8; Rev. 12:1-6, 13-16), stops the temple sacrifices (Dan. 9:27), sets up "the abomination of desolation" in the temple of God (Matt. 24:15, KJV), and demands worship of himself with horrible consequences for those who refuse to submit (Rev. 13:11-17). Under Satan's direction, he will gather the armies of the world to challenge the Lord Jesus Christ at His glorious second coming to the earth (Psa. 2:1-6; Rev, 16:12-16; 19:19).

By means of these complex events, God will prepare the Church, the nation of Israel, and the Gentile nations for His glorious one-thousand-year kingdom on earth.

But when will all of this begin to happen? We wish we knew - but our Lord warned us about setting the date! "But of that day or hour no one knows, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone" (Mark 13:32). Now think of this statement! Our Lord knew that the exact date was unknown to all mere humans, and to all of heaven's angels, and even to Himself (during the non-glorified phase of His incarnation)! The Lord Jesus had set aside the independent exercise of certain attributes of greatness (such as omniscience) at His first coming (Phil. 2:5-8; Luke 2:52). But He remained totally divine and totally sinless, and He received from His Father a perfect understanding of the temporary limits of His knowledge (John 5:20).

This year could see the beginning of Second Coming events! For believers today, this is the blessed hope, for we know that "when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2). But for all mankind, our Lord gave this urgent warning: "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. ... What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!" (Mark 13:33, 37).

To which we should joyfully reply, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20).

SHALL HE FIND FAITH

SHALL HE FIND FAITH

"I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

The reference is not to personal faith but to belief in the whole body of revealed truth, the faith. And the answer to that question is yes and no. His Second coming involves two parts to be explained in the next article titled "COULD CHRIST RETURN THIS YEAR"? In the first part He comes to rapture those He finds in the faith. In the second part of His return He finds 144,000 thousand Jews who are witnessing to the whole world of the true Messiah. At the time of His 2 part coming He finds apostasy rampant. (2 Tim 3:1-9) Apostasy, "rebellion" (2 Thess. 2:3) is the act of professing people who deliberately reject revealed truth as to (1) the Deity of Jesus Christ, and (2) redemption through His atoning and redeeming sacrifice (1 John 4:1-3; Phil 3:18; 2 Pet 2:1), the true believers having been raptured (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Seducing spirits and the doctrine of devils control the minds and hearts and therefore reign at this time (1 Tim 4:1, 2 Tim 3:1-4:4) add to the description of the era. Perilous are those times described. “Perilous” could also be translated “fierce” or “furious.” It is used only one other time, in connection with the demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes, describing them as “exceeding fierce” (Matt. 8:28). The world will become increasingly violent and dangerous as the end approaches.