The saints of God, who have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, should be the most excited people in the world. For almost 2000 years, the church has served the King of the Jews and has been grafted contrary to nature into the True Vine. We are spiritually His chosen people, fulfilling His will by proclaiming the good news of salvation. Our future is star studded. We are going to be His eternal Bride and dwell in the foursquare city of New Jerusalem. Even though we are called a wild olive tree by Apostle Paul, we are not called less than precious by the Lord Jesus Himself.

His Gospel message of redemption has been preserved alive by His church and tens of millions have been redeemed from sin. The Scripture states, “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:15-16). For two millenniums, the only message of reconciliation has been declared by His called and chosen saints. Now, in the end of this age, we are about to behold the return of the Jews to the Messiah they rejected and shared in crucifying. These are the very people that God used to preserve the seed of woman until a virgin named Mary could hear God’s voice, be overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, and bear the Son of Man to be “Emmanuel, God with us.” Such a moment could not have occurred without the chosen people of Israel.

Jesus announced to a sinful Samaritan woman, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). The Jews were not better than the Gentiles because any Gentile could be redeemed by simply accepting the true God as taught by His people. In fact, two Gentile women were converted, became part of the lineage of the Messiah, and helped preserve the seed of woman. God is no respecter of persons. The Jews were not chosen because they were superior. The only superiority anyone possesses is the result of their being chosen, not the basis of His choices. God alone chose men and women who were pure of heart and willing to follow Him. The result was His chosen people. That was true in the First Testament and it is certainly true in the New Testament.

The hour has come for the Jews to be reconciled. Ezekiel spoke of this day for Israel and said, “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations…” (Ezekiel 38:8). Zechariah spoke of the same day, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:2). It is impossible to separate what has already happened to Israel from the rest of the story. How quickly the final moments of their spiritual redemption might occur cannot be set, but occur it will.

When the Rapture of the saints has transpired, the time of Jacob’s trouble must begin. It will be brutal beyond measure, but the darkness of the hour will only serve to create the spirit of grace in the hearts of those that escape. God Himself will act in that hour. “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). As the suffering Jews mourn for their Messiah, He will return to the place of His ascension. It appears that they will see Him on the Mount of Olives or as He enters the Golden Gate of the Temple Mount. What a statement! “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6). My imagination fails me to fully describe the glory of this moment.

After thousands of years of praying for the Messiah — only to reject Him when He appeared — they will look upon Him, see the wounds inflicted at the cross, and will say to Him, “the Lord is my God” (Zechariah 13:9). The church that has sacrificed much — sent some of its best to die as missionaries on foreign soils, served the King unto death, which was often premature, and fought to win the prize — should be shouting with joy that His own brethren are soon to be saved. Their literal city, Jerusalem, will escape its present bondage to become the capitol of the whole earth and the palace of the King of Kings. Hope is in the air!

Joseph R Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org

One of the most profound truths in Scripture is the total defeat of the devil. Actually, his defeat is historic, complete, and unquestionable. Even the devil knows he is defeated. The big problem is that most Christians do not understand this fact. Since Satan is still the “god of this world,” it appears that he operates as “business as usual.”

The signs of Bible prophecies that are either fulfilled or clearly being fulfilled leaves no doubt as to Satan’s demise. The Christian life should not be lived as someone striving toward victory. We do not live for the victory, but because of the victory. Our spiritual life is the result of a victory already won. The Son of God decimated every power of Satan, his destruction is complete.

We must learn to live our lives in this total victory while understanding that it is presently true only in the Spiritual realm. Satan’s defeat is not yet visible in the natural world of the fallen nature. The unclean system of the world is not yet cleansed of this dark and evil being. That’s the coming great judgment of the End Times that we see in the Book of Revelation.

Let’s review this victory that will soon occur. First, Satan will be cast out of the Second Heaven. This happens near the beginning of the Seven Years of Tribulation and after the Rapture. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”(Revelation 20:7-9). At that point, Satan is confined to the earth and can never appear before the Father again to accuse the Saints of God.

Then, at the end of the seven years he will be cast out of the earth into the “bottomless pit” to be tormented by the judgments of God. This will be his finality except for a short period at the end of the one thousand years when he tempts the natural people born during that time. John wrote by the exact words Jesus Christ gave him, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). This is his eternal abode and torments.

While we await this final defeat, we must learn to live in the Spiritual domain, not the physical. We have no defense against Satan in our flesh. If we live in the flesh, we will get decimated instead of the devil. Apostle Paul explained this carefully, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:8-9).

The average Christian today has never learned this incredible truth and the result is helplessness in both their walk with Christ and their prayer life. I feel angry at myself because I have failed to teach this level of spiritual victory. We should be storming the gates of hell when we are barely holding the fort. The present church world is more of a club than an army.

God’s faithful prophets warned us in Scripture to make no room for the devil. “Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2Corinthians 10:4-5).

When we face Satan in the Biblical provision of a Spirit-filled life, he is totally defeated. This kind of warfare is no longer just a privilege, but it is the only lasting victory for these End Times. Jesus Christ told us of this victory but our flesh is slow to learn. He stated… “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:18b-19). He even said, “…. If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6).

The person of the Holy Ghost did not come to tickle our fancy, but to empower His church to perfect victory. We are a spiritual army or we are defeated pilgrims spending years in the wilderness. Let’s become His army as we await His appearance in the sky.

Joseph R. Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org