THE RIVER OF LIFE AND TRUTH..... 

IS SWALLOWING UP ALL THE CARNAL RIVERS OF THE EARTHY REALMS..... 

AND THE THIRD ANGEL SOUNDED....  AND THERE FELL "A GREAT STAR" FROM HEAVEN....  AND THE NAME OF THE STAR IS CALLED "WORMWOOD".... 

“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters: and the name of the star is called "WORMWOOD": and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Rev. 8:10-11).

As the VOICE OF GOD'S TRUMPETS are sounding we see divine activity that originate out of the...." heavens of the spirit realm".... and enter powerfully into the symbolic earth and the sea realms of our natural lives.   It is the..... realm of the spirit..... where God dwells and from whence He moves to redeem and transform us in the "soul and body realm"!  

In the passage above a “GREAT STAR” falls from THE LOFTY REALMS of heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and falls upon the third part of the....." rivers and fountains".... of waters!  Not the literal springs and rivers that flow through earth’s mountains, plains, and valleys, of course, but the rivers of man’s human life.... the spiritual rivers of thoughts and words that flow through the spirit and soul of men......   and man’s fallible word rather than God’s divine life and heaven’s living word!  

Just as the Spirit of God and the living Word of God make up the wonderful “RIVER OF LIFE WITHIN” in the closing chapters of the Revelation, and flow out from THE THRONE OF GOD WITHIN, so the “spirit of the world” and the “word of man” comprise the carnal “rivers” and “waters” of the.... earth-realm..... which flow out of the carnal minds and hearts of mere natural minded men.

The “GREAT STAR,” burning as it were a lamp, is a "FIERY BURNING WORD".... of authority and power!  It is "THE LIVING WORD"..... Christ Himself..... who is the bright and morning "STAR" who is the quickening life giving Word of God, and descends.... coming down out of the heavens of our spirit to fall upon the our .....soulical rivers.... and upon the human well-springs of mere carnal imaginations, carnal knowledge, and worldly wisdom that flow within our earthly, natural, human life and identity.   

“Rivers” IS A SPIRITUAL THOUGHT in this passage of scripture and suggest the flow of these carnal ideas and beliefs as they are taught, propagated, and assimilated into the minds, hearts, and behavior of mankind.  These constitute the word and spirit that flow out of a carnal realm.... out of the SOULISH REALM of the unsaved soul......  Christ..... THE SPIRIT OF REVELATION AND TRUTH AND MIND OF CHRIST....  falls upon these with His blazing fiery word of divine Spirit and heavenly Truth and turns carnality.... the rivers of the natural mind to WORMWOOD and bitterness!   

By that bitterness.... SPIRITUAL DEATH..... is brought to that realm! The entrance of the TRUTH consumes man's carnal rivers of thoughts thus freeing the captives as the Lord appears..  Not only a third part of the rivers, but also the “fountains of waters,” that is, the..... water sources..... are rendered undrinkable.  The “fountains of waters” represent the sources of the ideas, concepts, philosophies, teachings, precepts, creeds, doctrines, traditions, ideologies,  observances, customs, laws..... all the wisdom of mere men and their intellectual, moral, political, and religious influences of this world which are the sources from which men draw the carnal wisdom of their life, their natural joy and refreshment, their ways of thinking, their image of themselves, their carnal consciousness and their understanding of the world, their vocations, life-styles, their hopes, dreams, and ambitions, and their relationships.    If ever a FIERY BURNING PURGING AND CLEANSING was needed, it is right here in the rivers of men natural thoughts and words!

The “GREAT STAR” is a spiritual symbol and speak of the LORD JESUS HIMSELF as he appears in the power of the Spirit of Revelation and Truth!  “And the name of THE STAR is called WORMWOOD: and…the waters became wormwood (bitter).”  This reveals as THE TRUTH APPEARS.... truth makes every lying word.... BITTER to our lives.... thus we are freed to never desire to drink from the cup of these carnal rivers again.   It is Christ Himself who causes the streams of our natural life, human understanding, worldly wisdom, and man’s religion to be "MADE BITTER WITHIN US"... THUS UNDESIREABLE!  “And many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”  THIS DEATH IS A SPIRITUAL DEATH..... When we die to something.... it loses it influence over us.... thus we lose our love for it.....  Oh, yes!   The very thing that we once loved and was once joy and life to us now becomes OUR DEATH TO SELF!  These things become .... BITTER .... to us as our love for the Lord and his truth advances WITHIN...... That is the divine wisdom and effective processing of the Lord in the lives of HIS CALLED.... CHOSEN.... THE ELECT OF THIS AGE!

The river of God is spiritual, the rivers of earth are carnal and soulical.  The river of God is the..... spirit of the word.....THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH MAKES THE WORD ALIVE IN US.....  the rivers of earth are the letter of the word in which kills what the Spirit of Truth is saying within.   The river of God is essence, the rivers of earth are form.  The river of God is living reality, the rivers of earth are lifeless shadows and deceptive illusions.  The river of God is truth and life, the rivers of earth are cold, dead facts in which there is no life!   There are many things that are true, but they are not the truth.  They are cold, dead facts, but they are not quickening life and power!  And now may I exhort you to flee from those things which are true but not Truth, as surely and swiftly as you would flee your home if you discovered it to be a den of rattlesnakes! 

We have a whole crop of doom-casters in the land today who spend their time and energy in nothing else but informing the Lord’s people of all the negative situations which are going to overtake our nation and the world!  Many of the Lord’s precious people are being fed a steady diet of messages, articles, books, and tapes about world conditions, politics, the situation in the Middle East, oil crisis, economic collapse, one world government, conspiracies of the Illuminati, Council on Foreign Relations, World Trade Organization, World Bank, European Common Market Beast Government, the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, cashless society, strikes, riots, war, terrorism, the great tribulation, supposed “safe areas,” food storage, living off the land, planetary conjunctions, pestilence, tsunamis, erratic weather conditions, wickedness, catastrophes, the end of the world, and a whole catalog of other fearful and frightening events which they imagine fulfill the prophecies of the book of Revelation, some of which will undoubtedly happen, just as they have happened historically through the ages, but many of which I tell you now are nothing more than wild and sensational speculations conceived in the darkness of the carnal minds of men who masquerade as end-time teachers and prophets of God, bewitching the saints.  The natural mind, my beloved, is certainly one of the well-springs and sources of the earthly “fountains of waters” from whence flow the “rivers” of carnal ideas, concepts, teachings, and imaginations of which the “inhabitants of the earth” drink and find a certain level of excitement, refreshment, and fulfillment.  

 Let every child of God who has had birthed within his bosom the beautiful hope of sonship turn the searchlight of sincerity and truth upon his pure heart and ask this one important question: Do any of the above mentioned things minister LIFE?  Does the knowing and study of them cause you to be more filled with the Spirit?  Do they enable you to put on the mind of Christ?  Do they work deliverance and overcoming power in your life?  Do they transform you into the image of the firstborn Son of God?  Do they flood your life with peace and joyful expectation in Christ?  Do they imbue you with spiritual wisdom and understanding, with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost?  Do they inspire you with ever-increasing faith by which you shall conquer every enemy and lay hold upon life and immortality?  Are they TRUTH, quickening, life-giving Truth, or are they, one and all, merely things that are true, or, perhaps, may be true, or may not even be true at all!  I have no hesitation whatever in telling you that all these streams of teaching are naught but carnal rivers flowing through the earth-realm!

THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES; for in them is filled up the wrath of God” (Rev. 15:1).

The word “plagues” is a most interesting word!  It is translated from the Greek word plege meaning “a wound caused by a stripe or blow.”  Plege..... is translated in the King James Bible as “wound” or “wounded” four times; it is rendered “stripes” five times; and is rendered “plagues” only in the book of Revelation "twelve times"

Thus, the “seven last plagues” may be characterized as the “seven last stripes” or the “seven last scourging's” or the “seven last chastening's” in which is filled up THE HOLY PASSION OF GOD to correct His children....unto repentance and victory in Jesus.   “Last” plagues in which the passion of God is “filled up” or “complete” signifies that these are the last or final dealings of God with a people that is designed by the loving Father to deliver his captive child.    Not the last in the sense that God will never deal with them again about anything, but last in that these dealings of the Lord will have completed His work in a people purposed to.... make right what is wrong .....  and transform them into all that He wants them to be.  That is the mystery!

Elwin Roach once wrote, “There is something else that "IS LAST".  There are seven of them.....  plagues.  They are the last seven plagues mentioned in the book of Revelation.  What a promising word!  They are full of the wrath (thumos of God meaning the passion) of God.  If we will notice, these plagues are poured out on men, UPON MEN'S FLESH.  Everything which is carnal will be subjected to the plagues!  It appears that seven plagues, seven days, seven colors of the light spectrum make up the "LAST DAY", and it swallows up every dark thing in its path.  It is like a tidal wave of fire sweeping over the earth.  There is nothing but stubble left in its wake…”

We must understand the concept of God's plagues are directed toward.... lies.... error... the lust of the flesh... the works of the flesh...the carnal mind of mere men working WITHIN THE INNER MAN .... spirit and soul.   If we see by the Spirit we will know that the only thing that flows from the love of God...."IS TRUTH"....Thus it is THE TRUTH.... which becomes a "devastating destruction" to every lie in which entangles in carnality and mark missing.... These all are God's works....  even the pouring out of his ...plagues.... are designed to set the captives free from the natural mind of mere carnal men.  Thus moving men from being dominated by the flesh and brought into the power of the MIND OF THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.... from carnality.... to spirituality....  From a man that sees externally.... literally.... naturally.... to a man that sees internally.... spiritually.... When God desires to kill the flesh.... he SENDS TRUTH.... therefore THE TRUTH.... like a plague destroys all lies and deception....  

When these seven “last plagues” have gone, there will not be any more flesh, carnality, or selfhood dominating in any of the Lord’s people.  This will ultimately be true for all men everywhere, as we see at the conclusion of the Revelation, but here it refers to the people of God who are still immature children and who are enslaved  in the carnal religious systems of man.  There is the same truth as it pertains to the individual — that is, each one of us in our journey into God.  The unproductive human identity — the flesh with its sinful disposition, the soul with its religious inclination, the carnal mind with its humanistic reasoning, planning, and scheming — all must suffer the seven plagues!  Make no mistake about it — God will touch everything in the lives of His people!  That is the final outcome of redemption, for He has redeemed us unto Himself and for His pleasure and purpose!  Consider the following order of symbols used in the pouring out of the vials.  They are poured out upon:

1.      The Earth.  (soulical religious realm)

 2.      The Sea.  (body, sensual realm, fleshly passions, wicked works, ungodliness)

3.      The Rivers and Fountains of Water.  (sources of ideas, concepts, culture, teachings, philosophies, doctrines, traditions, customs, carnal knowledge, worldly wisdom, the sources from which carnal men draw their life, their natural joy and refreshment, all that gives vitality to the programs of men.  “Rivers” suggest the flow of these ideas as they are taught, propagated, and promoted by human institutions and instrumentalities of all kinds)

4.      The Sun.  (the external light of the old heavens and earth — laws, rules, commandments, authorities, hierarchies, dominions of the old world of man — religion, science, business, finance, etc.)

5.      The Seat of the Beast.  (human heart, deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, out of which all evil emanates — also the corrupt seat of spiritual wickedness)

6.      The Great River Euphrates.  (the power that keeps God’s people enslaved in religious Babylon.  The Euphrates River stands symbolically for the separation between the kingdom of religious Babylon and our promised land of inheritance in Christ.

7.      The Air.  (the atmosphere created by man’s programs, promotions, and works — realms of understanding, feeling, sentiment, emotion, especially religious)

When the last seven plagues have finished their work there will be no more missing the mark, no more childish immaturity, no more deception, no more fleshly manipulation and control, no more mistakes, no more spiritual bondage, no more falling short, no more  sins of omission, and no more resistance to the will of God.  There will be no more cause for correction, chastisement, purging, or purification, no more need for gaining more understanding, wisdom, or maturity of stature.  Oh, my Father!  As long as there remains something of this human nature, Your passion (wrath) is so kindled against it that You do not let it have any rest!  For Zion’s sake You will not hold Your peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake You will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth!  You will have no rest, till You establish, and till You make Jerusalem a praise in the earth!  (Isa. 62:1,7).  Great is the mystery!

J Preston Eby... Tim Wray....

THE REVELATION OF THE SEA OF GLASS MINGLED WITH FIRE

“And I saw as it were a "sea of glass mingled with fire": and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on THE SEA OF GLASS having the harps of God” (Rev. 15:2).

The next scene that opens to the view of this prophet is one of victory.  Those who have witnessed the brilliant spectacle of a tropical sunset at sea have caught a faint idea of the glory the prophet here attempts to describe.  As the great sun sinks like a ball of blazing fire, the ocean itself seems to break forth into flames of glory; the mirror-like surface, touched with crimson, transforms the whole scene into a mingling of flood and flame.  So was the scene that opened in dimensions of spirit to the seer of Patmos!

Early in his visions, when John beheld the unveiling of Christ — Christ the Head and Christ the body — he also saw “a throne set in heaven” with God’s Christ upon the throne.  It is then that we read, “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…” (Rev. 4:6).  Ezekiel, in the first chapter of his book, speaks of seeing the color of the “terrible crystal” or in contemporary English the “awesome, shining, dazzling crystal.”  Crystal is pure glass.  When you hold it up to the light and look at it you see the colors of the rainbow and the reflections of beauty out of the purity of the crystal.  This is the purity of the walk of one who has been cleansed by the refining fire of God!  How can one describe such purity, such holiness, in words?  Ah, the wisdom of God is revealed from heaven in the vision shown to John — a sea of glass mingled with fire!  It is a sea, John beholds them, not as many, but as one; as a sea of glass mingled with fire, as thousands upon thousands of grains of sand that have been melted and molded together into a substance of transparency.  These are they that have come through the furnace of afflictions, tried as by fire, and they are filled with the divine Love of God and with the Holy Ghost and Fire.   How better could one express the spiritual reality of a cleansed, sanctified, transformed life!

We bear in mind the qualifying words, “as it were…”  “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire.”  If we have considered the matter as we ought, surely we realize that those believers who expect to go to heaven one day and literally stand upon a celestial sea of glass mingled with fire are certain to be disappointed.  What John saw was not an actual sea of glass, but as it were, that is, a vision, a symbol standing for reality.   The surface of glass cannot ripple or swell or wave as water in a sea here on earth.  Water bespeaks the emotions of the multitudes.  Here, then, we are shown a vast multitude standing in the glory of God knowing no anxiety, no fear, no envy, no hatred, no distress, no lust or demanding desires.  As surely as the raging sea represents multitudes of restless, clamoring, surging, sinning humanity, so does the exquisite sea of glass before the throne of God represent an assembled throng of quickened and transformed saints IN WHOSE HEARTS THE PEACE OF GOD RULES.  This great sea of redeemed men is calm and serene, tranquil and quiet, transformed “even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  Furthermore, the sea-dwelling beast has been dealt with!  The inner nature of man has been transformed, satan is bound, the sea is now calm.  In contrast with the hurricane and the tumult of winds and waves, we now perceive the effectual dominion of God — the peace and rest of the divine nature, undisturbed by earth’s changes and storms.  The sea of glass illustrates the ineffable calm of the divine nature — a mighty deep within of holy, divine love and purpose, of understanding and confidence, of righteousness, peace, and joy, upon which no wind blows, no tempest strives, no violent currents disturb its unfathomable depths.

Just how did this crystal sea become what it is?  John envisions this sea of glass twice.  In both of these descriptions, they are symbolical views of both a people and a state of being.  They have been as individual grains of sand — for glass is melted sand. Glass and sand exposed to heat — sand and fire! John beheld this sea of glass mingled with fire — having come through the furnace of testings, trials, and afflictions.  As the Lord says, “Behold, I have refined thee…I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10).  These have been perfected through their fiery trials!  “Tried with fire…and now they have been…found unto praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1:7).  In the image and likeness of Christ, they are bonded together in a divine union of life.  John sees the whole redeemed company, not as millions of individual grains of sand, but as one body, even as a crystal sea of glass!

Glass is sand that has been heated in the fire and is melted and flows together until each grain of sand loses its individual identity as sand.  These myriads of grains of sand are melted together into one piece of glass.  This makes them smooth, level, calm, serene.  This shimmering sea that John beholds is composed of a vast throng of the Lord’s people who have passed through the fires of tribulation, trials, testings, and provings, and have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, by the power of His indwelling life.  They can never again be affected, moved, tossed, disturbed, agitated, distracted, disquieted, bothered, or tempted by anything in those realms, for they have fully and forever overcome!  They are standing in their eternal victory over the fleshly, beastly nature of the carnal, human identity, and the spirit of this world, as well as the false religious image of the man-made church systems.

When the hour comes for a son of God to be tried as by fire, first your faith must be tried, your ability to trust God all the time and in every thing.  “…who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold testings: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto  praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1:5-7).  Your faith must be tried, and it must possess three qualities, praise, honor, and glory.  God won’t put honor on any unless they have become a praise unto Him, and God won’t put glory on any thing He cannot honor.  I wish you would get the tremendous importance of these words!  Your faith must be tried; then when you come forth unto the praise of His glory He will put some honor on you, and people will say, “Look how God can trust that man or woman.”  He puts honor on that faith, He will glorify it.  When?  Now, and at the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ within you!  This is the first step in the path of sonship to God!

Second, you are to be tried.  “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Pet. 4:12-13).  This is not the fiery trial of your faith now; this second trial is upon your character, your virtue, your life, your state of being.  Your very nature must be tried, of what kind of fiber you are, what kind of spiritual quality, whether you are a piece of second-growth hickory or just a piece of pine.  What is the matter with pine?  It works nice, the lathes can be run nearly three times as long turning out pine, as when working on hickory, but God cannot make sons out of pine people!  I have heard people say, “I became a son of God ten years ago.”  No, you did not!  It takes a long time to grow good hickory.  You have to grow in grace.  The temple of God continually groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord.  The body of Christ must be edified, built up until we all come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  You have to grow up into Him in all things!  You are a child of God, yes, but that doesn’t make a son out of you; that will start you out in the family of God, but you have to grow, and grow, and keep on growing to become a mature, manifest son of the Father!  

Third, your work must be tried.  “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.  If any man’s work abide which he hath built…he shall receive a reward.  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (I Cor. 3:11-15).  When your faith has been tried you think you are all through, but some more trials come on and you haven’t spiritual illumination to know the difference, and think your faith is being tried again.  Once you understand God’s ways you can see whether He is trying your faith, or your character, or your works, and this sacred knowledge will help you to stand!  Mere inspiration and revelation will not take you through these things.  You need your soul, your mind, illuminated. 

Paul tells us in the passage above that various kinds of works may be built up upon the foundation of Christ.  It is of great importance that we understand this potential and its outcome!  There are works of great spiritual content and value which are characterized as gold, silver, and precious stones.  These are enduring works, raised up by the nature and power of the Holy Spirit.  Then there are works with little spiritual content and of questionable value which are characterized as hay, wood, and stubble.  These are perishable works, raised up by the zeal of man, carnal, fleshly works which are pawned off as something spiritual and valuable for they are built up upon the foundation of Christ, that is, they are done in His name and professedly for His glory. 

            Nowhere are these combustible works, made to be burned in the day when men’s works are tried by fire, more evident than in the religious world of the carnal church systems of man.  The so-called “gospel” in this hour is fashioned to appeal to the carnal mind, offering men blessings, prosperity, instant solutions to problems, a miracle a day, ease and comfort, and all the good things of life, rapture out of tribulation, and in that glory-world above golden streets, harps, and wings to flit about a celestial Disney World with nothing to do and all eternity to do it in.  There are no enduring qualities in these works, for the benefits are all natural, physical, earthly, tangible, for creature comfort — not spiritual or heavenly!  I do not err when I say that if all the prayers and faith that are exercised daily for earthly things, blessings  of money, cars, homes, clothes, physical healing, comforts, and luxuries that pamper the flesh were stripped away from most believer’s prayers, their prayer lives would hardly exist at all!

All carnal, man-made church systems, programs, rituals, ceremonies, promotions, outreaches, and efforts are but hay, wood, and stubble before the consuming fire of God.  Through the years we have received a steady stream of letters in the mail telling of this great program and that great endeavor for God, with their pleas for financial help.  With glib tongues and plausible programs by which the world is going to be won for Christ, well-meaning people are urged to give to further grandiose programs hatched by kingdom-building (their own kingdom) preachers who live in wanton luxury upon earth, which programs are not the plan of God at all, but merely the product of an imaginative, scheming, and avaricious mind.  Through long centuries billions of dollars have been squeezed from God’s precious people, often fleeced from the poor and the widows, to build huge temples, cathedrals, church buildings, and institutions of various kinds; to promote innumerable programs and schemes to do this and that for God which, not only did God not ordain, but were in all truth a stench in His nostrils and an abomination before His face.

Whether it be carnal and deceptive operations such as those described above, or merely our own good works to be seen of men, our self-efforts to appear righteous and holy, or our human zeal to do something for God and be pleasing to Him, when all these good religious fleshly works are brought into the blazing presence of God who is a consuming fire they will one and all go up  in smoke!  “For the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”  What a bonfire that will be!  Oh, yes, my brother, my sister, every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it will be revealed by fire.  Even  all our good “kingdom” and “sonship” works, ministries, outreaches, books, preaching, conferences, and all the rest, shall be tried by fire!  EVERY MAN’S work shall be tried by fire!  That is the final test.  If the work abides the fire and comes out unscathed on the other side, that man shall receive a reward.  Those who truly stand the test in all things shall receive the prize — the HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS!  These stand upon the sea of glass mingled with fire, having the harps of God, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb!   These are they who shall reign with Christ.  Those whose works are all burned shall suffer great loss with embarrassment, shame, dishonor, reproach, humiliation and mortification.  Yet God in His rich mercy says, “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” This one will have nothing, no reward, no honor, no place, no position of responsibility in God’s great kingdom — how art the mighty fallen!  He will escape with only his eternal life!            

A sea of glass like unto crystal!  The figure is a striking one, and now in chapter fifteen of the book of Revelation he tells us that this glassy sea which spread before the throne of God was shot with flame, and upon it stood a host of those who had come victorious out of the conflicts of earth, and these have harps and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb — the song of deliverance, the song of the overcomer!  Here we see a picture of a people who are neither going through the sea, nor being tossed by it, because they have passed to the other shore, triumphantly victorious.  The message is clear — the crystal sea speaks of the nature in which they stand, and their walk has become stable and transparent! 

The sea of glass mingled with fire represents the purification that is necessary for every son of God who enters the throne zone.  It is not possible to partake of the realm of God’s sovereign, unlimited, omnipotent power and authority until we have passed through the crystal sea mingled with fire and been purged from all carnality and self-hood by the quickening radiance of Christ’s own pure and divine life.  By the regenerating power of the living water which Christ is we lose the scent of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  Every son of God is today passing through the sea of divine purification, into the state of transparency, which gives us access to the throne-room of God!

It is here that all the fickle emotions of the soul and the relentless passions of the body have been put under our feet until they toss us no more.  There is a great calm!  There is substance — a solid foundation — under our life and our walk, for we cannot fail to observe that God Himself possesses the same attributes as the glassy sea which surrounds His throne.  The sea before the throne is the very nature of God established within a people until they stand and walk in the power of it.  The sea is the emblem of mystery in many of the apocalyptic writings.  But here we are told that the mystery which surrounds the nature of God is no longer mystery to those who are able to see Him as He is.  The sea of glass is crystal clear with the light of truth!  The glassy sea is thus a beautiful figure for the perfect revelation of the grace, righteousness, and glory of God.

Those who stand upon the sea of glass have escaped from the imprisonment of self into the mind of Christ.  They have lost themselves so completely in the life of God that there is no longer any distinction between “I” and “Christ.”  They have reached the good beyond the good; the right within the right; the truth of which the truth we have known is but the shadow.  They have been lifted out of the tossing sea of human passion and carnal understanding into the eternal calm of Christ-consciousness.  These love without fear of losing, and worship without ceasing that which is the living God reflected in our own being — our very reality and state of being, being the homage we render unto Him who is the source and substance of all.

All who attain to the heights in God are moved to climb the steep and winding path that leads from the valley of the shadow of death to the everlasting heights of divine life and nature.  As we scale the heights of mount Zion we become what we seek!  We shall never enter upon the realization of any reality which is external to ourselves.  Knowing is being, and apart from being there is no knowing of the things of God!  Only those who can stand upon the glassy sea, are those who walk in the spirit and come off victorious in the conflict with the beast of the flesh and the carnal mind.  That means waging war with the foul and degrading desires of the flesh and the deceptive illusions of the old Adamic mind — even the “good” religious mind!  When the sea waves toss your little ship to and fro in the storms of life, lift up your eyes to the throne in the midst of which is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  Understand that that throne is here now — the power and dominion of the Christ within ourselves is strong and mighty enough to cause us to enter into our full heritage in God!  To follow Jesus to the heights of victory; to be privileged to gaze upon that infinite crystal sea, the manifested life, light, love, righteousness, and power of Christ in our very own spirits, is the vision John saw and has shared with us.  The reality is far greater than the symbol!

The following words from the pen of brother Carl Schwing resonate profoundly within my spirit today:  “A glorious visitation of the Holy Spirit draws near.  He is going to annihilate us.  This will be the true ‘Slain by the Spirit’ experience.  He is the consuming fire of God!  He will consume all that is left of ‘self.’  His holy flames will consume all the marks and traces of our religiousness and self-righteousness.  All of our fears and worries, doubts and failures, and all of our pious opinions and judgments of others will become dust upon the holy ground of the Lord.  This, the Spirit must do…for our Beloved would then take us unto Himself.  He is the most holy temple of God.  He will clothe us with the incorruptible garments of immortality.  He will give us to have life in ourself.  He will make us the lights of the world, lights that will dispel the darkness of the age.  All that sit in their pews of darkness will see our great light and shall know and serve the Lord of all.  And, they shall partake of the liberty of the sons of God.  He will appoint us to be the ‘freedom givers’ to all mankind, to all creation.  He will have us break asunder the gates of hell and set the captives free!  He will have us shout the everlasting gospel from Zion’s holy hill.  And all that are in the graves of earth and of the sea will hear the word of the Lord and come forth, unto judgment.  The Father’s judgment is with love and wrath, thus, His mercy will prevail and all, in their time and order, shall find reconciliation through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  The world has never known or experienced such love, mercy, grace, and power!  In the place where hell once dwelt, a garden will appear.  Eden will flourish again!  Flowers that are everlasting, with blossoms of mercy and scents of compassion, shall bloom profusely.  The sounds of sorrow and moans of despair shall be no more.  For, in the joy of redemption, the former inhabitants have gone to kiss the feet of God.  Hallelujah!”

I’m sure it would be thrilling to stand upon a literal, physical sea of glass and play a harp while waving a palm branch.  But that would change nothing within us!  How much more glorious to stand in that eternal calm where all warfare, strife, struggle, fear, temptation, and failure have forever ceased — far, far above our own soulish efforts, yet deep within our spirits even now!  When shall we behold that glorious expanse of righteousness, peace, and joy?  When?  Only when we ourselves become the perfectly manifest life, light, and love of God, eternally at one with Him, and with all that is His image and likeness.  This alone is real; all else is but seeming.  There is nothing beyond the crystal sea but the throne of God!

J Preston Eby.... Tim Wray.

OUR GOD HAS A WONDERFUL PLAN AND PURPOSE FOR HIS ENTIRE VAST CREATION

THE PLAN OF THE AGES

The revealed WORD OF GOD..... alone reveals God's secret plan and purpose of the ages.   It unfolds with unerring accuracy the ....mysteries of ages..... in the dim and misty past and points with unerring finger to the purpose of countless eons YET TO COME.  The main line Christian Church as we know it has been living in a fool's paradise, propounding pet doctrines, ranting and raving about an endless eternity with golden streets and harps and white nightgowns for some and crackling, searing, tormenting flames of eternal damnation and torment for others, but almost completely overlooking God's wonderful PLAN AND PURPOSE OF THE AGES.

Paul writes of this plan of the ages in Eph. 3:8-11. "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and make all to see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the ETERNAL PURPOSE which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

The word translated "eternal" in the phrase "eternal purpose" is the Greek word AIONON which means "ages." Young's Literal Translation reads, "And to cause ALL TO SEE what is the fellowship of the secret that has been hid FROM THE AGES in God, who the all things did create by Jesus Christ, that there might be made known now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly places, through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, according to A PURPOSE OF THE AGES, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord." The Diaglott renders verse 11 thus, "According to A PLAN OF THE AGES, which He formed for the Anointed Jesus our Lord," and Rotherham says, "According to A PLAN OF THE AGES which He made in the anointed Jesus our Lord."

It will be a wonderful day for you, dear one, when first your soul becomes enlightened with the revelation that God, before ever the world began or ever the ages were formed, looked forth from His temple of wisdom and omnipotence to chart with resolute care the course and purpose of every age.   Your heart will throb as you read the opening proclamation of Scripture, "In the beginning - GOD!” In the beginning of what? Not in the beginning of God, certainly, but in the beginning of His creation of all things, in the beginning of time, in the beginning of the orderly procession of the divinely destined ages.  

In the beginning stands God, omnipotent and omniscient, creating, sustaining and guiding all things and all people and all the ages of time according to the purpose of His own will.  No purpose ordained by God from the beginning can possibly go astray or be hindered by the efforts of devil or man. Oh, for the hour when all creation will grasp the beautiful message, "From Him everything comes, by Him everything exists, and in Him everything ends!" (Rom. 11:36).

As men with the aid of God's Word have gazed into the vista of the future, it seems to have missed their understanding that God says very little in His Word about eternity, while devoting many hundreds of passages to His will and works wrought through THE AGES.   "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds" (Heb. 1:1-2).   What tremendous statements we have here! God has spoken to us through His Son - literally, "spoke to us in Son," or, God spoke to us in One who has the character that He is a SON, revealing the realm and relationship of sonship to God. This Son is heir of all things and, blessed be God! we are joint heirs with Him. "By whom also He made the worlds.” Many people believe this refers to the creative act - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 

Actually, it does not refer to that at all. The word here for "worlds" is AIONAS. It means ages- "... by whom He made the ages." This goes beyond His being the Creator of matter and its arrangement into multiplied billions of stars, suns, and planets with their atmospheres and inhabitants. This lends purpose to everything. He is the heir who GIVES THE PROGRAM FOR THE FUTURE!  He framed the ages, He ordained the end from the beginning; not only did He create everything,  He did it for a purpose, and "known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18). Notice - the Amplified Bible says, "But in the last of these days He has spoken to us in the person of a Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the AGES OF TIME - that is, He made, produced, built, operated and arranged them in order!” "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." (Heb. 11:3), but it should read, "the ages were planned by the word of God."

God made, planned, and determined the destiny of all the ages by Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of this universe, and time and space, and there is purpose to it all. Abroad today is the idiotic notion that the universe is running at breakneck speed through time and space like a car that has lost the driver. The interesting thing is that when a car loses the driver there is a wreck, but this universe, even according to the scientists, has been running millions of years, and it has been doing pretty well, by the way. The sun comes up at a certain time every morning; it is very precise. The moon stays in a predictable orbit. 

As one of the men who works on the moon modules says, all they have to do is aim, and the moon will be there when the module gets there. This is not a mad universe in which you and I live. It has purpose, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who gives it purpose. HE is the architect and sovereign Lord of the ages. He FORMED THE AGES and appointed what should be done in each of them. I must, therefore, with utmost force impress upon all who read these lines that, if we are to comprehend God's great plan for the ages, we must raise our eyes far above the engulfing muck and sucking quicksand of Babylonish Church tradition handed down to us by the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth to keep God's people in bondage to eternal hopelessness. 

God has a plan of the ages! It was conceived by the omnipotent and omniscient Christ of God, the Creator and Redeemer of the world. Its successful conclusion is as sure and unfailing as God Himself is sure and unfailing. God never "flits" from one thing to another. He does not begin one work and then tiring of it, drop it and start another. He does not create what He cannot control. He is not the proverbial mad scientist who creates an UNCONTROLLABLE monster. The prophet Isaiah gives us the words of God wherein God declares, "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. 46:9-10). God's purpose is so unalterable, so fixed, so certain that He could declare from the very beginning just what the end would be, and that end will come to pass in just exactly that way.  Thus we must show you the divine results of these wonderful ages purposed in the heart of God.... HERE IS THE END RESULTS.... Clear as crystal.  

Eph 1:10

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:   

Simply put.... In the dispensation of the fulness of times.... meaning when the ages of time have completed and fulfilled God's will …. plan and purpose.... He will have gathered together.... "IN ONE.... THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF.... ALL THINGS.... in Christ Jesus our Lord.....

MARRIAGE  A SPIRITUAL WAY OF LIVING PART1

The Marriage Practice began in Eden. The Bible example is the Jewish Custom of Marriage. The Church of Christ is a lady separated for marriage with her husband Christ using the same Jewish Custom to Marry her. We will talk about it more in Part2.

Marriage is an institution, we as the body of Christ must fulfill to the glory of God. Not to please any man made custom, but be a living Expression of God in the sacredness of Marriage. We are not here to break the laws of God. We are here to fulfill it. A new nature that Expresses the life of God.

Any man that says that marriage is only for the family, the state and community does not understand Marriage. Marriage is the oldest institution approved by God and sanctioned by Nature. Marriage is spiritual. There is Marriage in everything that God created.

Marriage is soo important that cultures and laws of a state recognizes it's importance and made laws to guide and protect it.

Abraham understands the importance of Marriage that he choose a wife for his son from among his people. Seriously Marriage is more of a spiritual institution because God honors it

This blessings of God in marriage goes beyond pronouncement, is a way of life.  Husband and Wife must understand that God is involved and cares about our marriages. Even in the old testament Moses have to give them paper of divorcement. Jesus Christ Explained that in details in the new testament

Mark 10:4-9 KJV

And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. [5] And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. [6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. [7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; [8] And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. [9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

I want to show you a Mystery about Marriage that many overlooked for a long time. Take note of this word said by Jesus Christ. WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER LET NOT MAN PUT ASUNDER.

I know many will kick against this because of their broken marriages. We are not under any law, because Jesus Christ has Freed us from the condemnation of the law. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. What we have in Christ is a New Person coming to the knowledge of the Truth and living the life of the Father.

We as the Church of Christ, the body and wife of Christ is coming from a false marriage not joined by God. Unequally yoked together between spirit and soul, which have affected our lives, especially our marriages.

Every choice we made in ignorance is forgiven because we never knew what we were doing. Paul said we are not in bondage .1 Corinthians 7:15 KJV

But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases : but God hath called us to peace.

At the same time there are consequences of every bad choice. We must also learn to be patient with God facing these consequences. In what ever state you find yourself, there is grace to see you through.

Marriage that is from God, established by God will be favoured by God. This is the Marriage in Christ. We are the body of Christ. Our lives is hidden in Christ, we live in Christ, we move in Christ and we marry in Christ. Christ is the union joined by God that man cannot put Asunder.

We must come to the place where all our Realms are in Oneness with Christ. Only then can we have a union joined by God. Defragmentation of man and God is the root curse of broken homes. We may be matured in age but babies in the Mind and lacking Faith, virtue, knowledge, patience, Temperance and brotherly kindness.

How can divine Love have it's full work in our marriages when we lack all these. How can divine love have it full work in our relationship with one another when we lack all these.

 Divine Love is that point when the super natural is released after brotherly kindness. The Supernatural Grace  cannot be released in our relationships when these virtues are lacking in us. 

We judge in the defragmented state, we have reasons to abandoned our homes, our wives, our children. It shows you are a baby. You lack the divine nature.

Jesus Christ loved us so much, he gave his life for his church. He Sanctified her and received her unto himself then supernatural Grace is released to the Church.

Stop all these foolishness of this Adulterous generation. Abraham never went into the world for a wife for himself and his son. Why do you sentence yourself to bondage by being unequal yoked together with unbelievers.

What does it mean to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Example is the union of Adam and Eve. The union of sons of God and the daughters of men. If you must marry an unbeliever, let your love for Christ be more, so that divine love will release divine Grace that will change the unbeliever as long as the unbeliever is happy to be married to you. Don't be foolishly carried away like Ahab who was controlled by Jezebel.

Beloved be the example of Christ in an Adulterous world. Be the Light in a dark and wicked world. Let the Prince of peace come into your life, your marriages. Let Love project and release sovereign Grace. I love you all.

Shalom

THE "LAKE OF FIRE" IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION  IS A SPIRITUAL REVELATION OF THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF IN MANIFESTATION OF HIS FIERY PURIFING CLEANSING POWER

HERE IT IS... Heb 12:29.... For our God is a CONSUMING FIRE. Therefore everything in this world MUST BE DEALTH WITH BY HOLY GHOST FIRE AND CLEANSING POWER For our Jesus is A LIVING BREATHING HOLY GHOST FIRE Thus every once of the fallen.... carnal.... literal.... natural minded.... fleshy.... earthy realm of fallen nature and demonic character of the beast nature MUST BE CAST INTO THE HOLY FIERY PRESENCE OF THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF..... THEREFORE "ALL THINGS" MUST BE DEALTH WITH.... by the Holy Presence of the LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE which spiritually reveals all things shall be consumed into his holy glory and might..... Now this Lake of Fire and Brimstone is none other than the presence of the LORD JESUS HIMSELF in the power of the Spirit of the Lord himself.... dealing with and divinely judging everything that pertains to the carnal realms of wood..... hay and stubble....  

HERE IT IS AGAIN.... Rev 20:15

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. What and who is this BOOK OF LIFE.... yes Jesus is the LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE.... This is a spiritual revelation of the RESURRECTED life and glory of JESUS HIMSELF..... Now anything NOT found IN HIM.... LIKE HIM .... IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS... Must BE CAST INTO FIRE..... be burnt with and in HOLY GHOST PURIFING.... CLEANSING FIRE.... Which is the Holy Presence of Jesus himself.... ALL THINGS.... must be purified by fire.... ALL THINGS must be cleansed ....BY THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE.... For our Jesus is this fiery lake of holy ghost fire..... For we have been baptized into the Holy Ghost and FIRE..... and his holy power for the purpose of purification and cleansing.....  

HERE IT IS.... Deu 4:24

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Jesus sees his creation in which he created.... in which he shed his life's blood for.... living in spiritual captivity unto the lust an desire of the flesh realm..... THEREFORE HE IS JEALOUS FOR THE LIBERTY OF ALL CREATION..... Here is the power of his firey cleansing power and the manifestation thereof..... Rom 8:21.... Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

Deu 9:3.... Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; AS A CONSUMING FIRE he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee. Notice the fiery aspect of our God's nature is designed to bring divine righteousness judgment upon ALL FLESH.... ALL GREED.... ALL FLESHY LUST.... Notice his fiery life goes before us..... AS A CONSUMING FIRE he shall DESTROY DEATH.... THE REALMS OF SPIRITUAL DEATH.... all the realm of the dead in the spiritual grave ..... the realm of the spiritually dead.... SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE....   

In the natural world using fire was an important step in the CLEANSING process of civilization. The ancients learned to make bronze with fire, and later iron came.... BY FIRE. Today we make high-grade steel in huge blast FIERY furnaces. If properly controlled, fire purifies the elements it touches.... while separating the pure from the dross. Different heat levels are needed to purify certain elements. It takes a higher leve of the dealing of fiery dealings for some strongholds..... If there’s not enough heat, the element remains impure, but if there’s too much, the element is consumed.  

We, too, are like the elements that need to be refined BY HIS FIERY PRESENCE! What are the impurities IN US.... that need to be burned off.... THE FLESHY REALMS OF.... pride, lust, anger, intolerance, impatience, greed, foolishness, fear, doubt, negativity, hatred, unforgiveness, self-seeking, desire..... THE WORKS OF THE FLESH which control and dominate and rule the hearts of men..... MUST BE DEATH WITH BY THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE..... THIS LAKE IS A REVELATION OF THE ..... LORD JESUIS HIMSELF? Whatsoever is NOT LIKE HIM..... shall burn in his holy presence.....  

How much heat will it take to purify US.... a red flame dimension, a blue, a white? Would we be able to “take the heat,” or would we be burned up? HERE IT IS..... Malachi doubted that any of us could withstand the heat of God’s fiery presence and power! “Who shall stand when He appears? For He shall be like a refiner’s fire…” (Malachi 3:2).    

What fires are ignited in our souls as the Lord comes to His temple and sits in His temple as a refiner’s fire.... AS A CONSUMING HOLY PURIFING FIRE! The natural man can’t stand! THE BEAST NATURE CAN'T STAND IN HIS HOLY PRESENCE..... NO FLESH CAN STAND BEFORE HIM.... AND LIVE..... Thank God, the outer man of flesh is not pure enough to handle the all-consuming fiery presence of God! Our purification means the annihilation of our carnal, human consciousness! No matter how good we think our human life is, getting close to a holy fireball will consume us. That is good news! Adam is being consumed! THE WHOLE EARTH REALM IS BEING PURIFIED BY HIS GLORY LIFE AND POWER.... Every impurity of our old natural, human identity is being burnt out of us, going up in smoke! God is burning up one realm, cutting off a realm from us, so that we cannot live there any longer. THAT IS WHAT THE FIRST TRUMPET PROCLAIMS!

 OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE! We understand not why fire has been represented to us as something so terrible.... these misrepresentations have come from carnal.... literal and unlearned men..... , so frightening, so hideous that we should try to avoid it. If our approach and way back to God is through fire, as revealed by the "FLAMING SWORD OF HIS HOLY WORD AND PRESENCE" which is spiritually placed at Eden’s gate.... THUS REVEALING SPIRITUALLY UNTO US..... BEING CAUGHT UP INTO HIS HEAVENS OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION..... why do we always try to get out of the fire OF WHO HE IS? Why do we evade the HIS FIERY PRESENCE? Why expend such energy and effort to try and pray ourselves out of the fire? Fire, in the scriptures, symbolizes TWO SPIRITUAL things.... TWO SPIRITUAL REALITIES..... GOD'S HOLY DIVINE JUDGMENT AGAINST ALL FLESH and GOD'S HOLY PURIFING AND CLEANSING POWER.  

But God is not schizophrenic in His nature..... one side of His character disposed to forgive, heal, save, redeem, deliver, and restore, while another part of His nature is bent on vengeful destruction and sadistic torture of His enemies. His action in fire, like His action in grace, is pure, harmonious, and balanced, directed towards the purging that will lead to restoration and perfection. AS GOD'S HOLY PRESENCE APPEARS IN THE MIDST OF HIS HOLY TEMPLE...... HIS FIERY PRESENC CONSUMES.....THE SIN MAN.... THE FIRST MAN WHICH IS OF THE EARTH AND IS EARTHY BY NATURE AND CHARACTER.... THUS HIS HOLY PRESENCE.... PURIFIES... THE NEW CREATION MAN..... THE MAN IN WHICH IS THE LORD FROM HEAVEN..... THUS FIRE CONSUMES SIN... AND BRINGS FORTH HOLINESS AND GODLINESS.... 

 His fire cleanses the believer... THE NEW CREATURE IN CHIRST.... that He may qualify for God’s highest! His action of fire towards the unbeliever is to the same end, conditioning and preparing that one for good results, when, having been broken and purged from pride and rebellion, he bows low before the Saviour, humbly and penitently receiving the gracious FREE GIFT OF LIFE. The fire does not save him, but it removes the hindrance that separates him from the kind mercy of the Lord. ONLY THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF SAVES..... THERE IS ONLY..... ONE WAY TO THE FATHER.... JESUS SO WONDERFUL IS THE FATHER'S ONLY WAY.... Yet the preachers rant and rave, threatening unbelievers and dangling sinners over the eternal damnation of hells flames..... of hell fire..... 

Blessings All....

 WHAT IS THE "SECOND DEATH".... 

The book of Revelation is a spiritual book only to be understood by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.... He that has a spiritual ear.... let him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the Church. The Book of Revelation is communicated unto us by spiritual signs and symbols.  

In the introduction to this marvelous book the beloved John explains..... Rev 1:1.... The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.... The word "signified" is from the Greek SEMAINO..... meaning to indicate or communicate by means of spiritual signs and symbols. The meanings of all the symbols of the Revelation are given, either in the book of Revelation itself, or elsewhere in the Scriptures.  

The first things John beheld when IN THE SPIRIT.... was One like unto the Son of man, standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, holding seven stars in His right hand. The One like unto the Son of man is identified as the resurrected and glorified LORD JESUS HIMSELF.... for this One says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev. 1:10, 17-18). The other symbols of that first vision are interpreted as follows:..... The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels (messengers) of the seven Churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven Churches.... (Rev. 1:20).

Children in school learn what we call definitions. A definition is an explanatory statement which tells us exactly what a certain thing is....what it means..... as "an island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water." God also gives us definitions in His Word. He tells us exactly what certain things are. And in the Scripture just quoted He has told us exactly what the seven stars and the seven candlesticks are. Those are God's definitions. 

And in Rev. 20:14 God tells us exactly what the SECOND DEATH is. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH. Now let me make this a little plainer. Definitions of men can be given backward. For instance, the definition, "An island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water," can also be given thus: "A tract of land completely surrounded by water is an island." This is but another way of stating the same fact. It does not, in any way, change the meaning.  

Now let us use the same principle concerning the definition of the SECOND DEATH. The Bible states it thus..... Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. "THIS IS" the second death. Now let us turn this around for clarity AND true understanding. The second death..... IS death and hell cast into the lake of fire. Therefore we have exactly the same meaning either way it is stated. What is the second death? It is the first death and hell cast into the lake of fire! This truth and reality is very IMPORTANT. The second death is not merely the lake of fire. The second death is not men being tortured for ever in the lake of fire. The Holy Spirit has made it very simple and plain. The second death is the first death and hell CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. That is the Holy Spirit's definition, not mine.  

So we see.... the first death is a spiritual death.... a spiritual state of being.... being spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.... and hell being the realm of the unseen dead.... so we have a spiritual condition and state of being... and also a realm of the spiritually dead... being cast into the LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE.... 

Well what is the LAKE OF FIRE.... it is better asked.... who is the LAKE OF FIRE.... Do we know our God is a consuming fire... HERE IT IS.... Deu 4:24.... For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. Therefore we know by nature our God is like a LAKE OF PURIFING WATER..... a fiery Lake of purification and cleansing is our God. Thus the spiritual state of death and the spiritual realm of the dead must be cast into the HOLY LAKE OF OUR GOD'S FIERY NATURE.... thus consuming by holy firey words the death and hell of this world.... for all things must be tried.... BY HOLY FIRE.... all things must be dealt with by our holy consuming God....   

Now we can truly say.... HERE IT IS... Rev 21:4.... And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be NO MORE DEATH, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. How can we say "AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE DEATH.... because ... the first death and hell have been cast into the LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE.... Thus the holy presence of our God has consumed.... death... hell and the grave.... Now we can declare.... 1Co 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thus death and hell shall have no power over our Lord .... nor over his glorious creation.... and there shall be no more death.... For the last enemy to be destroyed IS DEATH.... as it is cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone....   

Blessings All.

 ETERNITY

Eternity is a person. 

Eternity is not an event. 

Eternity is not subject to time.

 Eternity is, Eternity will always be. 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and forever.

While many are daily walking out of time into eternity. Many are held bond in their religious chains. Enoch lived more more 6000 years ago. The bible confirmed that he walked with God until time was no more in him.

Elijah Soo walked with God until he was taken up by the chariots of heaven. Jesus Christ who is our head walked with God until mortality was completely swallowed up.

The Word of God is Life. The bible account are the manifestation of the Word. They are examples of men who received the Word in their heart and their acts by the Word. The Word of God is eternal. It will manifest it's life anything. 

If you believe what Enoch believed you will have the results of Enoch.

We are living in a season when men will receive The Word. Is a season many have developed unto the measure where they can receive The Word. We may not have so many in the time of Paul. But Paul was among those who crossed from time to eternity. We may not have many in the day of Peter. But He was among the few who received Eternal Life.

Many believe that Paul is in the grave sleeping. My beloved. You don't know what Eternity is. Neither do you know what Ressurrection is . Can Death bring forth Life??? No Sir. We are build upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Can the main building be stronger than the foundation ?

This space is not enough to express my heart on this topic. Let him who has ear hear what the spirit is saying.

Shalom