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Judging the Angels?
Kat:
Here are a few more places where Ray speaks of the kingdom of heaven and what it is.
http://bible-truths.com/lake6.html ----------------------------------------------
JESUS CHRIST—THE ROCK
"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which IS Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation…" (I Cor. 3:10-12).
We already saw that we are God’s building of living stones that are to produce garden varieties of spiritual fruit.
Paul gives us an even clearer description of this spiritual building process in Eph. 2:19-21,
"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are [being] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed [being connected together] grows unto an holy temple in the Lord: In Whom ye also are built together for an habitation [dwelling place] through [in] Spirit."
God’s Word portrays a far different and higher spiritual destiny than the Christian candy-coated heaven of a Disney World Magic Kingdom with pearly gates, streets of gold, fluffy clouds, and chubby-cheeked cherubs strumming their little harps while huge choruses sing rock-n-roll gospel music and the saints practice rapping with the angels in a land of endless mountains of chocolate and candy where everyone has his own mansion in which to live in the lap of perpetual luxury, laziness, and non-accomplishment, catering to the lusts of the flesh while delighting over a vision of countless billions writhing in unspeakable torturous pain of an eternal lake of fire. What a HELL that would be!
Maybe it is time we rid ourselves of all the fabled fantasies of pagan nirvanas. Saints are never going to a geographical location on a huge rock or planet in outer space called "heaven." There will never descend out of heaven a literal city with pearly gates or streets of gold. We will never live in such a literal, physical, material city! These are symbols, metaphors, and word pictures to describe SPIRITUAL REALITIES.
God’s kingdom is SPIRITUAL. All in God’s kingdom will be SPIRITUAL. And all this is being build on a huge SPIRITUAL ROCK—The CHRIST. Jesus Christ is the "Chief Corner Stone," the "Foundation," the "ROCK!"
http://bible-truths.com/lake8.html --------------------------------------------
"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17).
We can’t grow spiritually unless we eat SPIRITUAL FOOD. When we eat of Christ’s spiritual body, we grow spiritually; when we stop eating spiritual food we spiritually starve and spiritually die. If we eat spiritual food, we grow, we mature, we are "continuing in Christ’s word" and Christ word is spirit and therefore spiritual food.
What is our next reward if we "continue" overcoming?
"…and will give him a white stone and a in the stone a new name" (Ver. 17)
Now we learned that this stone is really a pebble which is a symbol for a ballot, which acquits us of guilt and justifies us, allowing for our admission or entrance into the Kingdom, signed and signified by Jesus Himself. If we continue to overcome, this white signed, ballot stone of entrance into the Kingdom is waiting for us with OUR NAME on it. Remember "as Jesus is, SO ARE WE…" His name is OUR name. If we continue to overcome, we will be given another great reward.
"And he that overcomes and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations" (Ver. 26).
Say, did you notice that most important phrase, "keeps my works UNTO THE END?" Do you suppose there was a purpose for adding those words at this place in the rewards? You know there was. We must "keep on, keeping on." We cannot look back. We cannot fail to continue in Christ’s words and works. We must take up our cross. We must suffer persecution. We must "fight the good fight." We must "keep the faith." We must "pray without ceasing." And we must make it to the end,
"And you shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures TO THE END SHALL BE SAVED" (Matt. 10:22).
THEN we will be qualified to have "power over the nations." But reigning requires that we be RIGHTEOUS. We must reign the nations with spiritual power, not with military might. Our motives and our love must be PURE.
"He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment" (Rev. 3:5).
The "white raiment" is the same "clean white, fine linen" of Rev. 19:8, "for fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" (Ver. 08). When we attain to this degree of overcoming, God makes an absolute promise to us:
"I will NOT blot out his name out of the book of life" (Ver. 5).
Just how high do the rewards of Jesus to the overcomer go?
"Him that overcomes will I make a PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF MY GOD" (Ver. 12).
A pillar is a main support in a temple. It speaks of a position of GREAT DISTINGUISHED RESPONSIBILITY at the Spiritual Headquarters of the entirety of the universe in Mt. Zion. But if He is going to give us ALL THAT HE HAS, He expects us to do as He DID and become what He IS.
"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me on My throne, EVEN AS I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne" (Ver. 21).
We are to overcome "even as" Jesus Christ conquered and overcame. What was it that Jesus Christ "overcame?" John 16:33,
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!"
Jesus Christ overcame EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE WORLD! And here is God’s command to the believer who would become an overcomer and conqueror in Christ Jesus:
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world [which MUST be overcome and conquered!]" (I John 2:15-16).
We are to also "overcome the world" just as Jesus did. Not by ourselves, but by Jesus "Christ IN us, the hope of GLORY." Christ lives His life IN the believer, and in the believer Christ will, "overcome the world," over and over again in each new believer. And then one day, Jesus Christ will say to YOU, "Sit with Me on My throne—We are going to save the Universe together."
We already read in Romans 8 that the whole creation is groaning for the manifestation of Sons and Daughters (saviours) to free this world from its vanity and corruption.
And so, there is ONE church, and all overcomers from that church receive ONE reward, the SAME reward, and that reward is CHRIST and all that His many symbols and names represent, all that He IS ("as He is, so are WE in the world"), and in the Kingdom of God as well. These are the highest and most glorious honors ever to be bestowed upon a man or woman of the human race!
"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches."
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,6142.msg49588.html -----------
HEAVEN OF THE HEAVENS
So what is the kingdom? We are the kingdom of God. We are the kingdom of the heavens. Where does God reside? In heaven. God resides in heaven, but it is not called the kingdom of heaven in the Greek, you can check Rotherham and all those, it’s kingdom of the heavens, plural. We are the temple of God. God resides in His temple God resides in heaven. We are the heaven in which God resides, where He dwells. But don’t get to haughty, because the Scriptures say, not even all the heaven of the heavens can contain Him.
2Chron 6:18 …Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
But never the less it is true, He does dwell in the heavens. But they can’t even contain Him, He’s bigger than that. But He does dwell in His heavens, we are His heavens, we are His spiritual kingdom. But it does not yet appear what we shall be, we only have the earnest, down payment of His spirit.
Eph 1:14 which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory.
We have the down payment, but John says we will eventually see Him as He is, because we will be like Him. We will be like Jesus Christ.
1John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
So we are the kingdom of God. Christ is going to return with a kingdom. What does He return with? What is the symbolism of how Christ returns? He returns on, what is He riding? A white horse. Is anybody with Him? An army. Are they walking? They are riding on white horses too.
Rev 19:14 And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
What is that army? The kingdom of God... IT'S US! We are coming with Him, He is going to gather US up. Gather up what? His army, His kingdom!
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mercy, peace and love
Kat
Heidi:
--- Quote from: gmik on June 04, 2011, 04:21:49 PM ---Whew.....awesome teaching!!!
Thanks Kat for all these "Ray-snippets" you insert in most of the threads! Its meat!
--- End quote ---
Absolutely the very best of meat cuts.......it was a great refresher.....thanks Kat!
Heidi:
"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17).
We can’t grow spiritually unless we eat SPIRITUAL FOOD. When we eat of Christ’s spiritual body, we grow spiritually; when we stop eating spiritual food we spiritually starve and spiritually die. If we eat spiritual food, we grow, we mature, we are "continuing in Christ’s word" and Christ word is spirit and therefore spiritual food.
What is our next reward if we "continue" overcoming?
God is really speaking to me tonight regarding keeping, keeping on.....I guess I have fallen into the trap of complacency......being spoonfed spiritually made me lazy to seach Gods Scriptures on my own....doing my own studying as well as being fed by Ray and this forum.
Grace:
--- Quote from: Heidi on June 09, 2011, 07:13:54 AM ---"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17).
We can’t grow spiritually unless we eat SPIRITUAL FOOD. When we eat of Christ’s spiritual body, we grow spiritually; when we stop eating spiritual food we spiritually starve and spiritually die. If we eat spiritual food, we grow, we mature, we are "continuing in Christ’s word" and Christ word is spirit and therefore spiritual food.
What is our next reward if we "continue" overcoming?
God is really speaking to me tonight regarding keeping, keeping on.....I guess I have fallen into the trap of complacency......being spoonfed spiritually made me lazy to seach Gods Scriptures on my own....doing my own studying as well as being fed by Ray and this forum.
--- End quote ---
I am so hungry for the spiritual manna. I knew years ago there was something that wasn't right about the teachings of the "traditional" congregations because they all had a literal teaching. I met only a few who had a spiritual teaching and even that was in error. It was through constant questioning the Father that He began opening up His word to me little bits at the time, teaching me from the things around me and bringing scripture to me in bits and pieces but never seeing it in a way I have the last few months and all of a sudden now it's coming really fast. I'm not sure I'm able to put it all together yet and there is so much I don't understand but, I can see now that He has been behind me and has gone before me through my entire life guiding me in the direction He wanted me to go through "causes" that were not of my own making. I never saw that before the way I'm seeing it now. The trip hasn't always been pleasant but in whatever He used it has been rewarding, even the parts I thought were bad. He knows my heart and He will get me where I need to go. That's one thing I am really becoming so sure of as never before. I didn't see that until reading Ray's papers and about John looking behind him. There are many things Ray has said that has stuck with me and the Father has used it to make some things so much clearer. That's all I can say about it. I've always been a worrier and tried to make things happen on my own, that's the reason why I open my mouth when I should be silent and maybe when I should speak I don't because I love the person who is blind and don't know how to help them but, I know the Father loves them and He is kind and merciful. I also see now that He is a consuming fire. It wasn't like I couldn't see it before but, didn't have an understanding of it all.
Grace
mharrell08:
--- Quote from: grace on June 09, 2011, 08:23:43 AM ---I am so hungry for the spiritual manna.
--- End quote ---
Just remember, while it is sweet in your mouth, it is bitter in the belly [Rev 10:9-11]. :D
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