February 2000

by Carole Forde

ll is not as bleak in the world as we perceive it to be. Dark? Absolutely! Gross darkness? Indeed! But such is exactly what our all-wise God said must happen in Isaiah 60:2! Things may seem to be completely "out of control"; but they are only being rendered "out of MAN'S control"!! The world is not now, never has been, nor shall it ever be, "out of GOD'S control"!! God’s people must have Faith in Him Who says: "The earth, and all that is in it, are the LORD'S; and also the world and ALL ITS INHABITANTS!" ( Ps 24:1 ) We can take comfort in the fact that our great God has never relinquished His Sovereign control to any other agent (whether man, beast, or devil).
                Our omniscient Creator foreknew everything happening in the world today as the precursor of His Kingdom to come. He said there would be a *"Great falling away (from faith in Christ- in the church) as the man of sin was revealed in the temple- that man of perdition (the carnal mind) that opposes and exalts himself above all that is called, or worshipped as, God- to show himself as god sitting in the temple of God." ( 2 Thess 2:3-4 ) But God asks ( 1 Cor 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16 ) "Don't you understand YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD?" It is within the heart of every man that the "Man of Sin" must be exposed before the "Day of Christ" can fully come!! Just as the Old Testament "Temple age" was swallowed up by the Christ-initiated "Church age"; so now, the "Church age" is being swallowed up into the more glorious "Kingdom age" that Christ is now establishing in the earth!! But, as always, His divine work is wrought first in the secret tabernacle of His people; and then it is manifested, through them, to the world. [*This has already happened!]
                 We have this confidence: "Greater is He (Who lives and reigns IN US), than he (who lives and only appears to reign) in the world"; ( 1 Jn 4:4 ) for that which our natural eyes see is not real; and what our spiritual eyes see is real! That’s why Father says His people must "SEEK FIRST (in every single decision we are called upon to make) the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness" that we may receive Godly Understanding, Knowledge and Wisdom! For only the Mind of Christ sees what is truly going on at all times in our lives. King David said to the Lord, "All my ‘times’ are in Your hands"! ( Ps 31:15 ) What did he mean? Eccl 3:3 says there are appointed "Times" for everything that happens in a man’s existence. And that includes a "time" for natural things to "Break down", and a "time" for spiritual things to "Build up"! 1 Cor 15:45 says ‘First comes the natural estate of man;and then the spiritual estate of (Christ in) man!" This metamorphosis that must take place in our lives requires a chastising work to bring it about. Heb 12:7-11 says, "The Lord chastens all whom He loves; and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, be comforted in knowing that God is dealing with you as His Son...but no chastening seems joyous at the time it is happening, but grievous and harsh; nevertheless AFTERWARD, it produces in those, who are thereby exercised, the spiritual Fruit of Righteousness and Peace!"
                 However unsettling the "breaking down" experience may be for our "OId man" of flesh, our "New Man" of spirit rejoices in it! The term, "breaking down", comes from the same Hebrew reference as "breach" which is used in two places. In 1 Chr 15:13, as David realized his great sin of letting the Ark of the Covenant be carried on a new cart (after the fashion of the Philistines when they had adverse possession of it) instead of having it carried on the shoulders of priests according to God’s Law, the time came for him to reap the chastisement of the Lord for his actions. David said, "The Lord has made a breach (breaking down) between us." But later in Isa 58:12 it is prophesied of Jesus Christ (and sons) "You shall be called, the REPAIRER OF THE BREACH, and the Restorer of the Paths (of Righteousness for all men) to dwell in." [The term, "build up" is from a Hebrew root meaning: "TO OBTAIN CHILDREN"! And this is the same word used in Gen 2:22 as "The Lord God took a rib from man and made (lit. "Built up; obtained children by" a woman."]
                How better to exalt the glory of the "Daystar arising in our hearts" ( 2 Pet 2:19 ) than in the midst of the greatest possible darkness! Man's darkened understanding is but a prelude to that glorious Sunrise which God has purposed in each man’s heart! God says "He made darkness His secret place"; ( Ps 18:11 ) and then He said, "I will give you the Treasures of darkness" ( Isa 45:3 ) He also tells us ( Ps 107:10-20 ), that as part of man’s chastening experience, He subjects him to "Darkness and the shadow of death until their terrible fears and blind stumblings make them cry out to Him for help; at which time He saves them from their distress; and brings them out of their darkness and shadow of death; and shatters the bonds (their"yoke of transgressions" Lam 1:14) that held them in bondage." How? "The yoke shall be destroyed by the Anointing!" ( Isa 10:27 ) Hallelujah! So the darkness in the earth today, and the gross darkness in the people therein, is actually a GOOD THING, for it heralds the RISING OF THE SUN (Son) in a tried and tested people!! And as the darkened, terrified people who have lost all confidence in the cold "neon lights" of the soulish church, shall behold the "TRUE LIGHT" of the Sons of God coming forth on the earth; they will rejoice and run to their Kingdom Light!!
                However the "diehards" of the old church order will hate and want to destroy these true "sons" [as the Pharisees hated Jesus] when their self-kingdoms are threatened with obsolescence. But carnal man's "religion" (the unanointed "Letter of the Law that kills", 2 Cor 3:6 ) is a poison that defiles the lifeblood of the church. It preaches vain tidings of SELF-supremacy over God; and God-subservience to men; which is not only a lie, and an impossible prospect, but is blasphemous!! True believers should RUN, not walk, to the nearest exit when they are told that God allows the "Natural man who cannot receive the things of the spirit, for they are only spiritually discerned" ( 1 Cor 2:14 ) to have the sovereign choice of whether or not he wants to accept Christ’s Atonement for his sins!! Some might say, oh no, it is the spiritual man that makes that choice. And that is true, but how could any spirit that is flooded with the Holy Spirit’s Light of Truth and is thereby able to see the Beauty of the Lord in his own heart, possibly refuse the gift of Sonship that is being offered from His own Father?!! In the face of such foolishness, all we can say is that we should be grateful for the Grace of Godby whom "ALL THINGS (even man’s heresies) work together for GOOD!" ( Ro 8:28 ) and instead of being disturbed by the "breaking down" of today's society; we should praise God for the "building up" of His Kingdom!! Amen.