DIVINE ENCOUNTER (RENEWAL FELLOWSHIP)

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TOPIC: THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS    II TIM. 3:1       

PART 12   

THE FULFILMENT OF GOD'S MYSTERY AS A SIGN OF THE LAST DAY

             "But know this, that its the last days perilous times shall come" 2Tim.3:1 KJV.

            "And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon ALL FLESH... " Acts 2:17 . And it shall come to pass in the last days, the MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOUSE SHALL BE ESTABLISHED IN THE TOP OF THEMOUNTAINS and shall be exalted above the hills; and ALL NATIONS SHALL FLOW UNTO IT" Isa.2:2. As we are finally coming to the end of our meditation on the subject of " the signs of the last days", though there is much more to be considered; I will want to draw our attention to the prophetic event of the period in question `last days' right from the days of Pentecost, that we are now experiencing. In the book of Revelation, we have the seven trumpets sounding, which actually speaks of seven messages the last of which will be heralded in the last days by the last messenger. Here we shall consider the effect of the sound of the seventh trumpet as can be seen in Revelation Chapter 10.  

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET OF THE SEVENTH ANGEL IS THE MESSAGE OF PERFECTION  

            In verse 1- 2 of Rev. 10, we are told a mighty angel with a little book in his hand had his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth (in other words, this angel has dominion over humanity the sea (Isa.57. 20, Jude 10-31) and the Adamic nature - the earth lCor.15:47). "...And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth (Amos 3:8) and when he has cried, (a great shout) seven thunders uttered their voices" (V.3). Here the thundering speaks of the voice of God that shatters every opposing power in creation and eventually releases the glory of God Ps.29:3-9. In other words, God brought forth a message to John " And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not". (V.4). The reason why he was asked not to write the message was because the time for the fulfillment of those messages had not come then. "And the angel (Christ Jesus) which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven" (V.5). This angel who is in complete control of all realms of creation - the air, land, sea - is about to take an oath by Him who created them, which is the highest authority in the universe that guaranteed the infallibility of the message he is about to declare. Compare Gen. 14:22, Ezk.20:6. "And sware by Him that liveth forever and ever ... that there should be time no longer" (V.6). In other words, there will no longer be any delay in the fulfillment of the words so uttered. See Ezk.12:28. "But IN THE DAYS of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets" (V.7). Honestly speaking, there is a lot to be considered here. How long is this voice to be sounded? What is the mystery of God that should be finished? The fact that the voice of the trumpet - message of the angel "shall begin to sound" shows that it will cover a long period of time whose timing is in God's hand. Just as with the case of the trumpet that sounded long on Mt. Sinai, Exo.19:13-16. These periods at which the voice will be sounding is termed "IN THE DAYS" which corresponds to the topic in question - "IN THE LAST DAYS" which is actually the days of the voice of the Son of God as he begins to give forth the word of perfection through his body, the church. And so we read. "In many separate revelations - each of which set forth a portion of the Truth - and in different ways (you see why they have been seven trumpets?) God, spoke of old to (our) forefathers in and by the prophets. But IN THE LAST OF THESE DAYS He has spoken to us in (the person of a) Son..." Heb.1:1 AMP. So right from when we begin to hear the spirit within us, that is when we entered into the day of the voice of the seventh angel. At this stage, we have left the sixth day of man's struggles to survive with all the attendant voices and messages of partial truth about life and the hereafter in the ages past, into the voice of the last messenger of the covenant Christ Jesus (Heb.1:1, Mal.3:1-3) which actually began with the release of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost - "In the last days I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh".  

THE VOICE FINISHES THE MYSTERY OF GOD

            "We are told that "...when the seventh angel blew his trumpet, then God's veiled plan - mysterious through the ages ever since it was announced by his servants the prophets - would be fulfilled". (V.7 TLB). This is why in V.6 we are told that there should be no more delay in revealing that hidden secret of God's plan from the ages. By implication, this message of the seventh angel reveals the secret of God's plan. So what has been God's plan from the ages past? Again we read "I (Paul) commit you (Gentiles) to God, who is able to make you strong and steady in the Lord just as the Gospel says, and just as I have told you. This is God's plan of salvation for you Gentiles kept secret from the beginning of time. But now as the prophets foretold and as God commands, this message is being_ preached everywhere, so that people all around the world will have faith in Christ and obey Him..." Rom.16:25 TLB. So we find that what was hidden was the secret plan of salvation in Christ even among the Gentiles who were not in the covenant of Moses. Simply put, it is the Gospel of salvation of all mankind in Christ. This is further made plain in Eph.3. "I Paul, the servant of Christ, am here in jail because of you - for preaching that you Gentiles are part of God's house. No doubt you already know that God has given me this special work of showing God's favour to you Gentiles as I briefly mentioned before in one of my letters. GOD HIMSELF SHOWED ME THIS SECRET PLAN OF HIS. THAT THE GENTILES, TOO ARE INCLUDED IN HIS KINDNESS... In olden times God did not share this plan with his people, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to His apostles and prophets. And this is the secret; that the Gentiles will have their full share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's Sons; both are invited to belong to His Church, and all of God's promises of mighty blessings through Christ apply to then both when they accept the Goodnews about Christ and what He has done for them. God has given me the wonderful privilege of telling everyone about this plan of His, and He has given me His power and special ability to do it well Eph.3:1-7 TLB. I hope this is clear enough. The mystery now being revealed is the salvation of all mankind through the Gospel of Christ. For "...the Gospel of Christ... is the power of God unto salvation...." Rom.1:16.  

WHAT WILL BE THE FINAL OUTCOME OF THIS MESSAGE?  

            Then the seventh angel blew His trumpet (the message of the kingdom of God , through His corporate body the Church Matt. 24:14). And there were loud voices in heaven, (among those dwelling in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Eph.2: 6, Col. 3:1) . "The power to rule the world now belongs to our Lord and His Christ, and He will rule forever and ever". (Rev. 11:15 NCV). For "ALL the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall bow down and worship before you. For the Kingship and the Kingdom (of this world) are the Lord's and He is the ruler over the nations" Ps.22:27-28 AMP. So you see, this is coming to be as the message of the kingdom of God all over the world goes forth. But you see. Just as "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed, ...which indeed is the least of all seeds (so small and insignificant) but when grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof' Matt. 13:31-32, even so is the message of the kingdom. It is so insignificant among the popular preachers of the Gospel. Received only by a few. Why? Because it is only by revelation that one can preach it and such a one has to be called to it as well. Paul never got it by theological study, it was by revelation, a special grace from God to certain individuals. Come to think of it. John himself got it by revelation for it was contained in A LITTLE BOOK in the hand of the seventh angel (Rev. 10:8-11) which was a special message from God to John. We are told, he was asked to take it and eat (see Job 23:12 , Ps. 119:11). What was the result? It was sweet in his mouth, and that is what the revelation of the message does to the people of God because of the victory that it carries with it over all realms of creation to the believers - the church. But at the same time it was bitter in his stomach because of the persecution that will follow this revelation. Come to think of it, when you begin to comprehend the plans of God, then you are getting ready for trouble with the religious world. Paul said he was in jail because of that. Eph.3:1. To the outside world, you could be rejected, as a matter of fact, to them you are a mad man, just like Paul (Acts 26:24) and even the Master Jesus (Jn.10:20). So people of God, one of the major signs you should be looking for at the last days is the spirit of revelation coupled with "aloneness" (ostracized) as a result of separation with persecution even a hundred fold as well (Mk.10:30) as you begin to reign with Him. Are you still prepared to continue? Will you still defend the faith? But hear the word of the Lord "Fear not little flock; for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Lk.12:32). Amen.

To be continued OGAGA O. DAVID

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