THE CHURCH CAN ALSO REIGN OVER SATAN...

We need to remember the song: “He keepeth himself in the love of the Lord and the wicked one toucheth him not.” The enemy can’t even tempt us unless God permits him to. When the sons of God came together to offer themselves to God, the devil came too. God said: “Where did you come from?” “Oh, walking up and down and to and fro on the earth.” God said: “Have you considered my servant, Job? Have you noticed what a good man he is?” “Yes, but you have a fence around him.” “Well, just to show you that this man is pure gold, I’ll take the hedge away and let you take anything he possesses, but you can’t take him.”

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!

Chapter 33

THE TEMPLE OPENED...

We know one thing we must steadily war against: the enemy of our souls, trying to hold us away from repetition. I don’t mean vain repetition, but when God inspires the same truths over and over, it’s not vain repetition. If we’re not careful the enemy of our soul will say, "our people know that"---and he's shielding people from truths that they need to know in a greater way. So, pray for us, as we go into this 15th chapter of the Revelation.

Revelation 15:1-5, "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. 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. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty: just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, 0 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."

Could we direct your eyes to that fifth verse again? “After that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." We want to deal with the thought of the open temple, and some steps necessary for the temple to be opened up. As we bring you into this and lay a foundation of what God has laid upon our hearts. There are some things we need to realize from God's eternal Word, to know what John says here, and what he's expressing to us. We must remember, (if we’d go back to the beginning) that John was on the Isle of Patmos and Christ appeared unto him and dictated seven letters to be sent to the seven churches. That covers the first three chapters of the Revelation. The fourth chapter, we find, when he finished the letters, John heard a voice as a trumpet saying to him, come up hither. And he was caught up to heaven in the spirit. Now, don't get excited about that--Paul was caught up to heaven in the spirit. The only difference between John and Paul was that Paul saw so many marvelous things that he was afraid to tell it. He said it wasn’t lawful to tell it, perhaps nobody would believe it, but John didn’t know any better than to just tell it. John saw the vision in heaven, and we want to say again, that's why we use charts. When God gave John the Revelation, He didn’t tell it as a story. He showed Him pictures and said, “Write what you see.” God gave John a panoramic view of the church, from the day of Pentecost when she was empowered and sent forth, showed forth all her enemies, and how she overcame them clear through to the end of time. So, when John began to talk about things that happened in heaven, such as war in heaven: remember, there never was war in heaven; John saw it in a vision. It was things he saw in heaven, (in the vision) that were to take place here on the earth. Therefore, when we begin to talk about something happening in heaven, remember, John is merely writing what he saw in the vision. Unless we get that straight in our mind, we’ll go out over the country---like so many people are; talking about things that happened in heaven.

There wasn’t anything happened in heaven---He saw the vision as he was caught up in the spirit into heaven---but it was something that was to take place in the reign of the church down here. When we begin to talk about John saying that, we say, the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven opened up---and we want to understand what He's talking about. John said after these things happened, I looked and behold (he was astonished) the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Now, know that in the Bible there are two testimonies, or two testaments. There were two testaments---and a temple built by each. God had Solomon build a temple and here in the New Testament there’s a New Testament Temple. Paul said in 2 Cor. the 11th chapter, he feared, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, or the simplicity of the Gospel. There’s no need for all this confusion. There was an old covenant and there’s a new covenant---an old testament and a new testament. There was a literal Israel under the Old Testament and there is now, an Israel (spiritual) under the New Testament. There are two mountains---Paul said in Hebrews 12:22: We’re not come to Mt. Sinai where the law was given but we're come to Mt. Zion, the city of the living God, the New Jerusalem, the church of the Firstborn. Mt. Zion is the (spiritual) New Jerusalem.

SPIRITUAL JEWS...

Now, if we’re of the New Testament, we have new Jews---Romans 2:28-29, Paul said, He’s not a Jew any longer, who is one outwardly, neither is his circumcision that of the flesh---but he is a Jew (now) who is one inwardly, whose circumcision is that of the heart, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, we have new Jews. We have been circumcised with the circumcision without hands. Well, if we’re new Jews, we have to have a New Jerusalem to go to. New Jews cannot go back to the Old Jerusalem, so we’ve got a New Jerusalem. What is it? It is Mt. Zion, the city of God, the church of the firstborn. What is the church of the firstborn? Acts 20:28, The Church of God, which He purchased with His Own Blood.

Someone asks, “Don't you believe the Jews are going back to Jerusalem?” Just as fast as they can go---but we have to learn, what a Jew is, and which Jerusalem they’re going to. I mean no disrespect, but we must learn that God doesn’t care where the literal Jews are, a bit more than, where the Indians are. They (the literal Jews) had their opportunity. They must come now, not as a people, but as individuals---just as any other sinner and repent of their sin to ever be a part of the New Testament Israel. May God, help us to understand. So we find, Paul took the two mountains---Mt. Sinai (where the law was given) and he said you are not come there, but you are come to Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem: the church of the firstborn---the general assemble and church of the firstborn. And we want to tell you that those people who have already come “there” have never got off the earth yet. Now, he went on to say, Refuse not him that spoke from the earth, and spoke of the punishment that should come if we refused him that spoke from the earth, but now He speaketh from heaven. So, when we talk about the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven being opened up, we’re talking about the New Testament Church being opened up where people can see it. The expression of being opened up is nothing more than it being opened up before the minds of the people as something visible that you can see and come to. I’m sure you'll agree that in this day, in which we are living, the vision of the church is very obscure. But I thank God it can be opened up and people can see it. Do you think the New Testament Church is the temple? The Bible says it is.

In Eph. the 2nd chapter, the 19th verse, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household, of God: and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." That’s just a spiritual temple. Well, let's look a little farther. We know it’s a spiritual house, but John said he saw it; it opened up before him.

But that temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven is the church over in heaven. No! Look in the Revelation, the 21st chapter, the 22nd verse, where John began to hit at the heavenly phase of the kingdom or the church, and he said he saw no temple therein. Why? Why didn't he see a temple therein in the heavenly phase? The temple or church is given here to keep us separate. God has always ordained his people be separate. The temple is here to keep us separate, but over in heaven John said he saw no temple therein. Why? We won't need to be kept separate because only the redeemed will be over there. But here we have many people that are coming under the name of religion and Christendom that are mixing right in, so God has to have a called out place, a temple, where He builds just true material together to make up the temple where they are separate from all other religious works and organizations---where men can see and understand.

THE CHURCH IS VISIBLE...

When we begin to line this up and we begin to consider the steps necessary for the temple to be opened up where a man can see it---John said in this 5th verse, "And after that I looked," after what? After these other things had taken place. What are we going to have to have tonight for the church to be opened up where people can see it? Are we actually going to stand up here and preach and say the church is visible? That’s exactly what we’re going to do. It’s been an “invisible something” too long. There are Brethren running around and talking about it being an invisible something. Well, if it’s an invisible church, it has invisible elders. They can never anoint you with oil and lay their hands on you. The church is very visible when certain conditions are met, and as these conditions were met before John, it became visible right before his eyes. He could see her, not that he had not seen her before. No, he saw the church in the morning time; he was part of it. He preached it, he wrote about it, but he saw it in the vision opened right up before his eyes in all visible clearness, when certain conditions were met. "And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:" Now what are the necessary steps? Well, here in this 15th chapter of the Revelation, verse 2: The first thing necessary for the temple to be opened up where men can see it, is the sea of glass mingled with fire. The sea of glass is a symbolic expression of God's Word, Old Testament or New. We like to answer all the symbols in the Word of God, unless we use some history to prove the period of time, but the symbols are answered, right in God's Word.

Again, the first thing we have to have, is a sea of glass mingled with fire. This is a symbol of God's eternal Word, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The fire is the Holy Spirit. Where did we get that “glass part”? 2 Cor., “We with open face beholding as in a glass (as we look in God's Word beholding the Glory of God) are changed into THAT SAME image from glory to glory.” James 1:25, said the Word of God is like a mirror, a looking-glass that men look into and see themselves. Go back in Exodus the 38th chapter, in the Old Testament temple, or tabernacle, and there the sea of glass--what was it? It was the laver, which was a type of the washing of regeneration by the Word of God. So, if we ever have the church opened up or the temple opened up where people can see it, something is visible.

Once again, one of the first things necessary, is that we’re going to have to have the Word of God, preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, a sea of glass mingled with fire. That means something! In the 21st chapter of the Revelation, when it was describing the church, (not heaven) the Lamb's wife, the bride, the church: it said her light was as clear as crystal. That will take some clear preaching! Right here, is where the first snag got in the wheel. We believe there’s not clear enough preaching on the church. The preaching has not been crystal clear! When it talked about a sea of glass mingled with fire it meant it was preached so clear under the anointing of the Holy Spirit that people could look right into it. That’s what brings the clearness. Her light was as clear as crystal. Just what I said in the beginning...there’s one thing keeping us from preaching a clearer light, we’re afraid of repetition. We take too many things for granted---that people see things when they don’t see them. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit. If He says preach It over, we should preach it over. And if he says preach it over again, then preach it over again.

The sea of Glass is the truth preached clear---crystal clear, where people can see the church in the Bible. They have to see within the Bible, there’s only one church---that Jesus only built one church. In the midst of all this confusion in “Christian America”, (supposed to be) where the billboards are painted with "Go to the Church of Your Choice"! We need to learn about the one of God's choice, because He’s not coming back after the Church of our choice---He’s coming back after the Church of His choice!

It’s going to take some old time Holy Ghost preaching---and it will not be a thirteen minute essay. We have a job on our hands---to take people who are in confusion and blinded and got everything else on their minds, but the church. And the truth of the matter---it takes preaching and clear preaching. First of all, to take away that which they have, and show them it’s not truth. Then, after you’ve emptied their minds, then, you have to lay the real thing in there, and tell them what truth is---and that’s quite a job. Sermonettes are for christianettes. So, it’s going to take the Word of God preached crystal clear.