Gen. 3:8-9 π Ex. 19:17 π Dt. 5:4-5 π Isa. 1:18 π Dan. 2:21 π Dan. 7:25 π Mt. 13:41-42 π Mt. 24:4 π Mt. 24:5 π Jn. 7:27-28 π Jn. 17:20-23 π 1 Cor. 5:10-11 π 2 Cor. 6:17-18 π Eph. 4:3 π 2 Ths. 2:3 π 2 Ths. 2:4 π 2 Ths. 2:11-12 π 2 Tim. 4:3-4 π Jas. 4:8 π 2 Pet. 3:13 π Rev. 2:6 π Rev. 2:15 π Rev. 3:20-21 π Rev. 7:13-14 π Rev. 12:11 π Rev. 12:12 π Rev. 13:16-17 π Rev. 14:9-11 π Rev. 17:5 π Rev. 18:4 π Rev. 22:12 π Rev. 22:17 π Rev. 22:20
At the end of the Revelation to John, Jesus says,
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work…
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears [what the Spirit says to the ekklesias] say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
“He [Christ Jesus] who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” ( Rev. 22:12 , 17 , 20; top )
If ever we needed to see in a text who is speaking, who is being spoken to and what is being said, this portion of the Revelation would stand as one of the more paramount passages for our day. First, let us sort out who is speaking:
- Christ Jesus speaks as Lord and King over His people.
- The Spirit of God and the bride (the people of Christ) speak in unity.
- Those who hear the Spirit of God speak.
With these three entities in view – the Lord, His Spirit and His people – let us note what is being said: “Come!” This call from God is as old as the garden of Eden after
“Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
This command to come before God was given again in Moses’ day.
“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.” (
Ex. 19:17
) But later Moses would remind the people,
“The
This call was repeated through the prophet Isaiah:
“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the
Jesus Himself gave this same call: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ( Jn. 7:27-28 ) And James wrote, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” ( Jas. 4:8; top )
Those who find themselves surrounded by “Christian” idolaters or find themselves under the influence of the “church” are called to “Come out from among them and be separate” so that God will truly be their Father and so that they won’t receive the judgment that befalls Mystery Babylon (the spirit of false religion) who is the mother (the Roman Catholic “church” of the 3rd and 4th centuries and following) of prostitutes (the daughter denominations formed in protest to the mother’s unrighteousness who practice religion for profit) and of abominations (the practices of paganistic, idolatrous, lawless, false religion incorporated as true worship of God – see 2 Cor. 6:17-18 , 1 Cor. 5:10-11 , Rev. 17:5 , 18:4; top )
It is easy to see in these Scriptures how God is calling men to return to Him through the redemption offered in Christ Jesus. It is only slightly more difficult to recognize that those who follow Christ Jesus are graciously entitled and enabled to extend that call to other men so that others might come into and fill the Father’s house. What seems to elude most followers of Christ is that He is waiting for us to run out of options and call on Him to return.
He is not, as the Dominion Now teachers wrongly proclaim, waiting for us to so structure His kingdom that all He has to do is show up and take over. He is not even waiting for us to attain to the unity of the Spirit ( Eph. 4:3 ) whereby we finally and actually practice the oneness for which Christ prayed so long ago. ( Jn. 17:20-23 ) Most likely that unity will not be fully attained until the worldwide kingdom of Satan forces us to finally and forever choose between pleasing self (by following false religion or mammon, etc.) and pleasing God (by pursuing only what is right in His eyes – see Rev. 12:11 , 13:16-17 , 14:9-11 , etc.; top) These miraculous transformations surely must accomplished by a “renewal” or “fresh outpouring” (in truth only our deeper penetration into the divine realities already accomplished in Christ) of the Spirit of God.
What Christ is waiting for is His people to open the door of their hearts (some even of their “churches”!) and say, “Come in and be my Lord and my King.” ( Rev. 3:20-21 ) He is waiting for them to grow weary of their worldly wealth, their high-tech toys and gadgets, their political clout and power, their lawless and self-centered practice of “Christianity,” their idolatrous following of “pastors” and various other spiritual gurus. Many, even most, of these who practice such things will never surrender them and will be given over by God to strong delusion so that on judgment day there will be no question or doubt that these deserve eternal judgment. ( 2 Ths. 2:11-12 ) These will be the backbone of the apostasy, the great falling away that occurs before Christ’s return. ( 2 Ths. 2:3; top ) Those who truly belong to Christ and God must finally and forever see that there is no solution to their own and this world’s problems and deficiencies other than Christ Himself returning to rule and reign with a rod of iron.
The unified call of the people of Christ will not occur as a result of some man’s ministry whereby he goes around the world (neither in person nor by TV or internet) preaching the need to call upon Christ to return and save us from the effects of a rapidly dying world – though there may indeed be such a counterfeit movement or resurgence of that message. No, the Spirit will stir the bride to call upon her Husband and that stirring will cut across all humanly drawn lines.
The responsibility and requirement upon each one of us is to take care of our own laundry. ( Rev. 7:13-14 ) God is not raising up new “leaders” who only end up building their own kingdom in the name of Christ and God. He is not bringing forth any more “men of God for the hour” who calculate the veracity of his doctrines and “theology” based on the number of sycophants and groupies who routinely seat themselves at his feet and reward him handsomely for his skills in eloquence, rhetoric, sophistry, homiletics and hermeneutics by which he both soothes and stimulates his flock’s ears. ( 2 Tim. 4:3-4 ) After all, this man claims to have the anointing of God by which he has both the spiritual expertise and the rightfully delegated authority to stand over the people. ( Mt. 24:5 , Rev. 2:6 , 15; top ) – and his large “church” or congregational following surely confirms the validity of his “ministry” “in the Lord.”
The closing of the age is about deception. ( Mt. 24:4 ) Those who think that the deceptions will not be deeply embedded in the practice of following Christ or that the deceptions will not be effective on both a world-wide scale as well as on a personally-tailored individual front have severely underestimated just how determined their adversary is to survive by changing the times and seasons that will mark his demise. ( Dan. 7:25 , compare 2:21 , 2 Ths. 2:4 , also see Rev. 12:12 ) The adversary’s most deceived victims don’t believe in a devil and they believe themselves to be free, the masters of their own destiny, a destiny firmly targeted on and inviolably guaranteed an eternal future of rewards and bliss with God. Is it any wonder that there will be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth when the tares are removed from this world and cast into eternal darkness? ( Mt. 13:41-42; top )
No one wishes these things upon anyone but these things must come to pass or else God is a liar and we are among men most deceived. Indeed, these things must come to pass or else we will never experience that kingdom where righteousness dwells (remains, abides, stays, is not corrupted by deceit and unrighteousness – 2 Pet. 3:13; top )
Let he who has ears hear the call of the Lord – and let he whose ears are attuned to the Spirit of Christ and God call for the return of our Husband, Lord and King.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!!!
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