So Job lost property, and family and stock and everything he had in goods and loved ones, except his wife. He looked up and said: “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Why did he say this? Why, because the devil could not have done it without the consent of God. Then the devil said, “You let me at him, personally, and he’ll curse you.” God replied, “You can afflict him but you can’t kill him.” The enemy can’t touch a hair of our head without the God’s consent. Then, afflictions beset him and he went down with the miserable sickness of being covered with boils. His friends came and said: “You must have committed some awful sin to have this affliction come upon you.” And Job answered: “Did you ever read anywhere of the righteous being cut off?” Then his wife said, “Job, you might as well give up; curse God and die.” He answered: “You talk like a foolish women.” Then he looked again to God and said: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Then God said: “That’s enough. Leave this man alone.” And we read how God gave Job more than he ever had after this trial. That’s what is meant by the words, “Count it all joy when ye enter into divers temptations.” If we go through faithfully, like Job, we’ll come out richer than before. But, we must make sure we’re not tempted of our own lust and be led into sin. There are some temptations that we never get out of. We never get out of temptations, where we’re drawn by our own lusts and lead into sin. But again, there are temptations, given for the trying of our faith, that are more precious than gold. Peter said, “Count it all joy when you fall into that kind of temptation.” First of all, we didn’t come into it by lust and we know we’re being obedient to God---right when it came, and that God has allowed it to come, and also that the devil will be shown up before it’s over. Then, when the trial is over, and we’ve passed through it in victory, we’ll have more spiritual riches than we had before.

Let’s go back to the vial. The vial was poured out on the sun (the New Testament) to put the power in it again. What is the power that God has put in the New Testament? We begin to study the eternal things of God in the light of His eternal Word and the scripture seems to open up and have a new meaning. Now the devil’s power is broken and Christ alone is King.

HIS REIGN IS BEFORE HE COMES AGAIN

Revelation 11:15, “And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this earth are become the kingdoms of our Lord. While the millennialists are dreaming of a day to come He’s already reigning. Thank God. He is reigning now and will reign forever and ever. 1 Cor. 15:24-25, “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power for He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet. (26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

Now, we know that when Jesus comes again, He will break the power of death---so, He will have to reign over all other enemies before that time. He will put all other enemies under His feet before death. When’s He to do it? Psalm 110 tells us when. This is David talking: “The Lord said unto my Lord (or God said to Christ) sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” When is He going to put them under His feet? He’s going to do it while He’s still sitting at the right hand of God. He’s there right now, and He’s going to sit there until He puts his enemies under His feet. And how is He going to do it? The Lord shall send the rod of they strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. But when did He get them put under His feet? Why, when He arose from the dead! He has already broken the power of death and has all things put under His feet. Ephesians 1:20, Paul spoke of the power, which he wrought when He raised Christ from the dead, set Him at His own right hand, far above all principalities and powers, and dominions, and above every name that is named, both in this world and in the world to come, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. The Head is already up.

And you hath He quickened. (Now He’s lifting the body). We don’t have all things under our feet, but our Head, Jesus Christ, has. He said He would send the rod of His strength out of Zion and set the message and the commandment to the Church; Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Now, we go right back to the Church. The symbol is a woman and a man child. There had to be two symbols because the church became the bride and so broke into two worlds. Part of the Church remained here on earth. And part of them, were martyred and went on to Glory. So, it had to be a dual symbol. The man child, (or new converts) the church brought forth, were caught up to God and to His throne. But what was that man child supposed to do? Why, rule all mankind with a rod of iron. But he was caught up to God and to His throne. Let’s turn to the letter written to the Church of Philadelphia in the period of time, A.D. 1880 and the reformation. All the Revelation points to it. He gave us the same rod that the man child was supposed to use, who was caught up to the throne---the Word of God.

Psalm 110:3, And He said, Rule thou in the midst of thy people. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. The reason they have shrunk from the duty of taking God’s Word and letting it be the deciding and ruling factor is because the spirituality is at a low ebb in their lives. The Psalmist said: Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. May God help us to see, as never before, that the kingdoms of this world are the Lord’s and not only that, but the fifth chapter of Matthew, in Jesus’ sermon on the mount, He said: “The meek shall inherit the earth”---and it’s already happened. His Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Paul says that the children of God are heirs of God. You have to be a child to inherit. The meek inherit this earth---and the next one! The earth was made for holy men. God’s just letting sinners (in mercy) live on it, however, it is ours by inheritance. In the Revelation 15 John said: “He saw a sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 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 the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of Moses and the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are they works, Lord God, Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou king of Saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.”

Here are people who have gotten the victory over all these kingdoms that the devil has used here. Standing on the sea of glass. There’s a symbol of God’s people gathered back together on the Word, and standing on the Word of God. “And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” What is the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven? The Church! There are two testaments and two tabernacles. There was a tabernacle built in the Old Testament and the tabernacle of the testimony is that built in the New Testament.

THE CHURCH MADE VISIBLE TO THE WORLD, OR THE TEMPLE OPENED

Paul tells us in Hebrews the 12th chapter, that it was built by Him who speaks from heaven. And he said: “After these things I saw the temple opened up.” Now, what does it mean to open up the church today? Why, it means to get it to where people can see it. They’ll never see the church, as long as God’s people are divided and these kingdoms are reigning. They’re going to have to get together on the Word, with victory over every false religion---mingled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, and then, we’re going to have to be happy about it---lose our apathy. Those people were happy. God said, I looked and after that, the temple (the Church) was opened up! People can’t see spirits. The church is something visible---standing together on God’s eternal Word, that even the world can look upon it, (in that sense) and see something tangible in unity. He said the temple was opened up. Why hadn’t the temple been opened up before? The reason we have a temple “here” is to keep us from going into false doctrine. There won’t be any but the redeemed “over there”.

Let’s go back to typeology a moment. God had Soloman build a temple. Bible students agree that it was a type of the Church in all its glory. Go back in history: Israel had wandered into Babylon and God moved on Cyrus to loose the Israelites and let them go back to Jerusalem, and through such leaders as Zerubbabel and others, they rebuilt the temple for God, which is a type of this evening light temple (Church). When God called the people back from Babylon and fitly framed them together, He built something that the world could see. When Christ came, He didn’t come to Solomon’s temple; neither did He come to Zerubbabel’s temple. Herod wasn’t a Jew, but he had married a Jew and he wanted to tear down the temple and rebuild it, but they wouldn’t let him, however, they did permit him to start making changes. He took the furniture out of the Holy Place. He seemed to think no one would ever get that far, so, there was no need of any furnishings in there. Then, he built a room for the women on one side and a room for the men on the other side. There had been only one way to get into the temple---by way of the laver and altar, but he put a door from each of the men and women’s rooms, to the inside into the temple. So, he now had three ways to get into that temple. When Jesus came and looked at it, He found that you didn’t even have to carry your sacrifice to the temple any more. Why, because there were people sitting in the temple enclosure, selling them! . They could just bring their money and purchase one after they arrived. They set up their booths and stands in the temple and it became a place of money exchanging.

Then Jesus came. The prophet said that He came to His temple, suffering. When He saw the condition the whole place was in, He took a whip and started in to clean the whole thing out. Then the people asked Him, “By what authority do you do these things?” They seemed to realize that there was authority in the act for they could only obey that voice when it spoke. Later on, He said: “Your house is left unto you desolate.” (This is not my Father’s house, but yours!)

We had Solomon’s house, (temple) as a type of the morning church, and Zerubbabel’s as a type of this evening light reformation when God called His people back. But what is Herod’s temple a type of? Why, it is a type of confusion that we’ve gone through when everything is just fixed up for the convenience of men. They have today, in the so-called church, their women’s organizations and their men’s organizations, and through that, push them on through, into the membership of the church.

The seventh angel sounded and the Word of God once more began to go forth with power and the temple was opened. The true temple, the Bible Church began to be opened to the people of God and they could see once more the Church in its fullness and glory. And when people see it, they will come to it---not a geographical location, but a divine revelation and understanding. Revelation 11:19, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple, the ark of His testament.” What was the ark of His testament back in the old tabernacle? It was a symbol of the presence of God.

When Joshua started to lead the Israelites across the Jordon, what did he tell them? “When you see the ark move, fall in line and follow it.” John said that when the seventh angel sounded, (and it sounded in our day) and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament, a symbol of the presence of God. What more do we need, to stir our hearts to obey the call to march and follow the ark? Is not God in our midst? Is not the truth opening up the temple and making it plain to a sleeping church? This is our day. This is our opportunity to follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth! [ The End ]