The church of Christ is the prophetic voice of God to the nations of the world.

The church is the vessel that announces Gods statements to the world.

When the Lord does things in the earth, the church is required to announce the event before it is event.

But also the church is the prophetic presence in the earth that releases the event of the spoken word of God.

When the church speaks the event of the spoken word in the earth, then the event is released into the earth.

The bible says that the lord does nothing unless he first reveals it to his servants the prophets, which now is the body of Christ.

When we come into this body, which is Christ, we come to the living testimony of Jesus, who is the spirit of prophecy.

Karl Bath calls the church militant and triumphant, the triumphant has gone on into glory, and is with Christ now in the heavens, but still continues in the ministry and office of the body, but now in the place of glory.

The militant is still in the earth, in the battle with the rulers of this age.

But both the triumphant church, and the militant church are still joined through the head of this body, which is Christ.

These cloud of witnesses that surround us are one with us, they are not sitting on the clouds of heaven. They continue to be the church. They have just left this natural world.

This church, which is his body, is the temple that is growing.

This temple is the habitation of God, but yet not completed.

The heaven side is complete but this side of glory is still in the process.

The bible says that they that surround us are waiting for us.

This body will not be fully completed until we all meet in the air.

This event is the D-day for the human race.

The greater David returns to rule the nations of this world; the supplanting powers of evil are finally removed from their place of authority.

The Church under the authority of Christ is now in this place of governmental authority.

Sept16/11

There is this strange hostile relationship between the church and the powers.

The event of Pentecost was the beginning of this hostile relationship between these two entities.

The prophetic fulfillment of Pentecost was the opening of the door for the church into this arena, which prier to it was only understood by the Lord.

This event was the direct result of the ascension of the Lord to the right hand of power, which resulted in the release of the spirit into the body of Christ, which is the church.

This event was the open door to the church into this arena, which is the cosmic conflict of the ages between the Gods of this age and God of heaven.

The event of the Holy Spirit was the event of power, but also warfare.

Now these powers had another reality in their sphere of operation, which is the church.

These powers have been in direct conflict with the church since the Lord ascended the throne.

This is the world that we enter through new birth; yes it is a very wonderful reality, but it is also a very hostile environment.

This is the sphere that the book of Joshua represents.

When we come to our Jordan experience, it takes us to the book of Joshua.

We are now on resurrection ground under the government of the Holy Spirit.

The Land of promise is before us, it is given to us through Christ, but the only problem is that the powers that hold this land are still in possession of it,

We begin our phase of spiritual conflict with the rulers that hold this heavenly country.

Though these powers were defeated at the cross they still remain in the positions of government authority.

By the churches presence in this present world, the statement is made to the powers that they are not the true Gods of this age; there is another reality in their sphere that is in direct opposition to their world governmental dominance over the nations.

These powers full well know that this country has been given to the church.

They understand that one day they will be cast out, and the church will be left to attain their vacant thrones of power.

This is the destiny of the church; this is an eternal destiny for all the ages upon ages that are ahead of us.

We the church are now living in the same reality of David and Saul, even though Saul knew that one day David would inherit the throne, he could not stop persecuting David.

Saul was in constant aggression against David.

Little did Saul know that this persecution was to prepare David for ruler ship?

In Gods hidden mystery, which these rulers cannot understand, is that their evil against David was really their undoing?

This is the mystery of the cross; the powers have no knowledge of it. It is a strange unknown language to them.

They are blind to this reality that was demonstrated at the cross by the greater David.

Remember that the Lord himself talked about giving authority to his church, some over 10 cities, some 5 and so on.

This should not be strange language to us it is very scriptural.

This age is very important; it is the age of training, preparation for rulership with Christ.

When his eternal kingdom is revealed in power and great glory, then the church will be revealed with him.

This is the time of the great inheritance, the word say it is a event that all, who are the church, past, present, and future attain together.

Now the King and his men went to Jerusalem against the jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, you shall not come in here, but the bind and the lame shall turn you away: thinking David cannot enter here.

Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion that is the city of David. Samuel 5-6,7

When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. Colossians 2-15

Man lost something through the fall of Adam; the bible isn’t clear on exactly what we lost, some writers speak of some kind of spiritual state that once was common before the transgression of Adam.

Somehow through the fall, man came under the dominion of the principalities and powers of this present darkness.

This realm was taken over by the fallen evil forces of this dark world, it became known as mystery Babylon, this mystical city is still a present reality now, and has much influence in this fallen dark world, many write on these things, but I haven’t found much that I felt was very sound, the only person that I feel had any real insight into this mystery was the late Jessie-Penn-Lewis, the book war on the saints is considered a classic.

I don’t believe that the Lord has given that much insight to the church regarding this reality yet, but I do believe as we approach the close of this present evil age, God will give more light as the church needs it.

What the Lord did at the cross is he captured the spiritual city of Babylon, and laid the foundation of his heavenly city the new Jerusalem, right in the midst of his great eternal enemies.

The bible says that he’s ruling and reining now in the midst of his enemies, its like a stronger force overtaking a weaker one, they are still here, but they are under his great sovereign rule.

One of the reasons that the Lord left them here is that now he uses their evil to mature his saints.

Yes these forces are evil, vicious, wicked, full of hate, but they are under his heavenly leash, they are given much liberty with the wicked, and they do tempt his saints greatly, but we must know that he is absolute Lord of all.

Sometimes it seems that the Lord gives them way to much liberty toward us, but God knows how much we are able to endure.

The Lord will leave these forces here until the church; the eternal city, comes to maturity.

When the church is complete, then the Lord will remove their place from the heavenly realms of authority, and the church will be ready to govern throughout the ages to come.

But now we as the people of the Lord are in this great ageless battle of evil and good, light and darkness.

Don’t mistake this fact, they are under his great sovereignty, but they are still full of hatred toward Gods chosen ones.

These evil fallen beings are very intelligent; they could destroy us with evil very quickly, if the Lord was not our defender.

The Lord allows these beings to attack us often, many times working through the wicked of this world, and sometimes ones who are very close to us.

Know this, they can not destroy us, we must endure their assaults for the season given them, but if we hang on and not react to the events around us, we always come through into newness of victory.

This will continue to be the churches lot in this present age.

I have read of many mature saints as they near the end of their earthly life, they come under the most severe assaults.

The assault on A B Simpson was so severe that he thought that he was lost, many of his brethren had to pray him through to the other side.

The prophetic kingdom of heaven is a reality now; much of the present Christian church is waiting for the coming of this kingdom, but the truth is it has already arrived. The event of the cross of Christ was the event, which revealed this kingdom. Remember when the lord said, there will some standing here that will witness the birth of this kingdom.

This statement was made to his disciples.

This is were much of the present Christian faith is in confusion, large segments of the church are waiting for the rebirth of the Roman Empire, believing this has to take place before the kingdom arrives. I really don’t see any scriptural support for this conclusion.

The book of Daniel is very clear.

Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break al these in pieces. And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potters clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; bur it will have in it the toughness of iron mixed with common clay. Daniel 2- 40,21

And in the days of those kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

This is as clear of a statement regarding the coming kingdom as can be found in the scripture.

History will not repeat itself; the Roman Empire came and went, it was the world power at the time of Christ. It is very clear the kingdom came at this time.

The problem is that this kingdom is not of this present earthly realm, it is a prophetic reality hidden in the realm of this natural world.

I know that some day this invisible reality called the kingdom of heaven will become a visible manifestation in this natural realm in which we presently dwell.

But now it is a hidden reality to all humans, unless we truly are born into this reality.

The kingdom has come if god gives us revelation to see it, but if one does not see the prophetic reality of it, then you have to say that is has not come.

Remember that the lord is ruling and reining now, not at the second coming but right now. At the cross the Lord ascended the throne of power, he said all authority in heaven and earth has been given over to him.

The second coming, which is the visible display of this kingdom, comes when he has put all power and authority under his feet.

At this point of history this kingdom is at war with the rulers of this age, of which Paul says are coming to nothing.

Once we truly enter into this arena called the kingdom of heaven, then we come into realms of intense conflict with the powers of this present age.

I hear a lot of people craving the power which is revealed through this kingdom, but little do we know that to truly come to this place is to truly come into horrific assaults on ones position taken.

This kingdom is in a death grip with the rulers of this present age, this battleground that we enter through a true new birth opens us up to the battlefield.

This world is not for the faint of heart, the assaults, which are released at us, are at times staggering.

Every inch of ground is contested; the enemy of this eternal kingdom does not give up an inch of ground without a tremendous battle.

We are living in the days of Joshua, the battle is escalating, and the intensity of this warfare is going to be the greatest right before the visible display of this kingdom.

I believe many do come to this kingdom but they are not prepared for the extreme conditions.

Yes it is a place of great power, but it is measured by great conflict.

Many are not willing to go on once they see the cost that is required. And many are overtaken by their personnel sins, which are an area of target for the enemy.

The powers of the air know us all very well; they know the places of our weakness and hidden sins.

I remember what Pastor Robert Thompson said.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but don’t you know! There is war in heaven.

And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the wave, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21-25,26,27

Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah saying, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. Haggai 2- 21,22

The coming of the Lord is the event, which triggers the shaking of the powers from their places authority.

This event triggers great convulsions in the natural world; it looks like the whole order of creation is rocked by this apostolic release of power.

Everything that we presently know as reality will be turned upside down.

The natural expression, which will be convulsive, is the invisible reality of war in heaven.

And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there has not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great a earthquake was it, and so mighty.

And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath. Revelation 16-18,19

And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. Revelation 17-18

This harlot of revelation is first the powers that rule this world; secondly it is the earthly expressions of this power. It’s not some institution it’s everything that expresses this heavenly reality.

Many biblical expositors try to make this harlot of revelation something that has a fixed point in this world.

There are many fixed points that express this reality, but the force of propulsion lies with the heavenly powers that rule this cosmos.

This is where we have to start.

If we try to point to something in the world and say this is Babylon, it becomes a headless body.

Babylon is very much alive in this world, but we have to realize that it is only an expression of the reality of the heavenly.

Babylon is first the world spirit. Behind this spirit is the prince of the powers of the air; he is the energizing force that is released into the nations.

We hate to believe this but we live in a world that is dominated by his image.

The human race is only just racing into the full development of antichrist.

Antichrist is not something that is coming he has been here since the beginning, what we are witnessing today is the full development of this figure, we already worship his image.

The number 666 is just really only the full development of this man of sin.

He dwells in Adam; this is his arena of operation. If you live in Adam you are under his jurisdiction.

Adam is a slave to this spirit, it’s like Adam is one with this reality.

This world outside of Christ is chained to this man of sin, they are forced into doing his will, and they can’t break free from the chains that hold them.

The only escape is through the cross, which is regeneration into the new humanity, which is Christ.

Mankind has now become a beast; he is something totality other than what God created.

We are living in a time when we are calling evil good and good evil.

This world spirit is growing in leaps and bounds. Who knows what the full expression will really look like when fully developed.

I remember a dear old brother speaking to me one day, he said the world is looking and waiting for the man of sin to arrive on the scene, he said don’t you know that he lives in us?

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. And the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk the wine of her passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues. Revelation 18-1,2,3,4

How can one close ones eyes at the fact that the demons themselves have taken over the rule of the world, that it is the powers of darkness who have here made a awful conspiracy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1932

This present world, which we live in, is governed by principalities and powers, rulers of this darkness, hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

These powers that are the regulators of Gods good creation, are the very foundation of all systems and life.

These powers were put in place to be the structures of all creation.

These powers make up the fabric of this life.

They are what propel and energize this creation.

They regulate all creation events, as in weather, society, institutions, morality, and every such thing, which makes up the fabric of this life.

They are the hidden invisible realities that give movement to the all of things.

Without these powers creation would not be creation.

Behind this visible world, is this invisible phenomenon.

Its like a hand inside of a glove, we naturally see the glove, but inside the glove is the hand that gives movement to the glove.

We as Christians have been raised up believing in a Devil with horns and a tail, also little demons running around tormenting people.

I’m not saying there isn’t any reality to these things, but the picture is so much more than we know.

These powers are an organic part of creation.

They still in their fallen condition fulfill the purpose of their being.

The truth is creation would not be creation without their position in it. It would disengage into complete chaos.

But the truth also is that they are fallen creatures, which are in rebellion to the will of their creator.

They were created to serve man, but the reality is, they fell from this position as servants to Man and creation, to now as seeking to be served.

They have reversed the role in, which they were created.

Now instead of leading man to their God, They lead him astray against their God.

They have now become the Gods of this age.

In their lust and pride, they demand worship from the humans they were created to serve.

These powers make up the fabric of the fall of man. Humanity is now the expression of these powers.

Man now expresses through his actions these invisible realities,they truly are now the Gods of this age.

We have been duped by believing their cunning lies of deception; so God gave us over to their wickedness.

Now the human condition is other than God created; we now bare the image of these powers.

They have truly hijacked this creation through their deception.

They are hard taskmasters demanding great sacrifice from us; all we have to do is look at the world around us and see the affects of their work.

They promise freedom through their lusts, but we know through experience, they deceive and lie to us.

The poison of their evil fruit is in full bloom in this world.

They have turned us from the creator, to the creature; we are now worshipers of lust, money, greed, hate, and pride.

This truly is the spirit of antichrist.

Antichrist is here now, we need not wait for him to enter the scene of history, he is alive and present now.

The very foundations of this present world system is antichrist.

We are at this time in salvation history just witnessing the full expression of this world spirit.

God is a God that is unfolding his eternal purpose in present time.

Present time is in subjection to his spoken thought regarding his salvation history with man.

The great stresses of the faith is being able to adjust to new unveilings of divine revelation, knowing that what we are leaving has been given and blessed by God for a season.

I think this is probably one of the hardest events that we face when confronted with, are we able to leave our safe place of spiritual comfort and follow the new unknown path, which is presented to us?

The history of this world is in subjection to Gods providential direction; history does not dictate its own direction, God dictates history.

History answers to Gods eternal purposes regarding his eternal kingdom.

God’s eternal kingdom is a prophetic reality now; present reality does not witness this eternal reality yet.

Every time God brings forth eternal prophetic reality, this triggers present historic event.

God isn’t making plans as history unfolds; history unfolds because of Gods plans.

When God speaks eternal prophetic reality into present time, there is always a time space before the word given, and the present historic display.

When we hear Gods prophetic eternal word, we come through faith into the event of the word, before the event becomes historic.

The spoken word of God gives us access into the event before history sees the event.

That’s were our faith is tried. Can we live in the event, which is revealed to us, while everything around us says there is no visible display of this?

Heroes of the faith have been people that were brought into this tension of time. Living in a time that was not yet the time.

This is the historic faith that is ours, Gods ways have always been like this, even our Lord had to endure this kind of tension.

This seems to be Gods way of trying our faith, can we hold onto this ground by faith, which has been revealed, or are we going to say it’s to hard and go back to the ground that we know, which is real and now, but also disappearing?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
For by it the men of old gained approval. Hebrews,11-1,2

This present life is the training ground of the Church, which is his body. The destiny of this church is in the eternal ages to come, not in this present evil age. Like King David running from Saul’s jealous evil hatred toward him, so the church is in the wilderness of this present world, vulnerable to the assaults of the evil one, but knowing that this false kingdom has already been judged. They are patiently enduring in the midst of his enemies; waiting for the day when he comes, who’s right it is to rule. The lord teaches us very clearly, you are not of this world, even as I am not of this world, John said, love not the world, neither the things of the world, if you love the world, the love of the father is not in you. The New Testament is full of these warnings regarding these things. Somehow man has made Christianity an earthly thing. The true church does not dwell in the earthly realms of this world, but in the Eternal heavenly realms of the age that is to come. The true church is his eternal predestined body that will reveal the glory of God to his creation. Every member of this elect Church has already been chosen; the Lord knows all their names long before earth’s history reveals them. They were selected in him before the foundation of the world. They were chosen not because God saw they would respond to his mercy, they were chosen simply because God selected them out of his good pleasure. All they that were chosen, were called, all they that were called, responded to the irresistible grace of God. He came out from eternity to find them. He laid down his holy life for them. He bore their eternal punishment instead of them. He paid every debt they owed because of their sins. When he arose from the dead, they rose with him. He waits in eternity while present history reveals them. When they are born into this world, he is with them. The path they walk he has prepared for them. The discipline they endure, he has specially chosen to them. In the fires and devastation’s of their lives, he is with them. All their enemies that hate him are under the hand of his sovereignty. When they come of age, he reveals them to his father. When their earthly life is over they awake in eternity in him. When he is released from heavens, they are released with him.

The further one progresses in the faith and the more developed the new man becomes in you; you start seeing things that our human life just cannot comprehend. The new man who is the Christ, which is growing in us, is not us, it is in us but it is not us, it is the life of the eternal Son of God, it will always be his life. This life that he gives to us is called the truth. It reveals things to us that we naturally are not capable of seeing. Jesus said, you shall know the truth and it will set you free, this life is the truth. To grow in this life is to grow in truth. This new man is a different kind of creature. It is foreign to this world, it doesn’t go along with the program of this life that is ours. It has its own direction. It does things much different than we are used to doing, it doesn’t follow our human life. It leads, as soon as we try to control this life, it recoils from us, or it assaults our human direction. It simply will not be used or manipulated by us. This life dwells in the heavenly realms. It is here in us, but it dwells in the heavenlies. This life is the revealer of the mysteries of heaven. It shows us things, which are to come. This life is a stranger to this world. It does not belong to its systems. This life is not wanted in this fallen rebellious world. It draws out evil against it. The fuller this life becomes your life, the greater the assaults become against it. This life draws out the Gods of this present age. It becomes a very real agitation for them when we truly begin to live by this life. This life is invincible, indestructible, nothing can stand against it. To come to this life, is to come to the conflict of the eternal ages. This life exposes the prince of the powers of this present world. It reveals his secrets, shows his lies, and exposes his servants. The deeper this life becomes your life, the clearer you begin to see. It’s like peeling away layers of lies that cover the soul, every layer reveals more freedom. The whole work of the powers of this present age is to get us to stop living by this life. If we choose not live by it, the powers will leave us alone, they couldn’t care less about us. All they are worried about is this eternal life, who is the Christ. The more you live by this life, the greater the antagonism against your position becomes. This life is here in testimony now, but some day when the Lord returns, it will be here in fullness.

Once we truly come into new birth, Paul says we receive our new man, which is Christ. Christ is Gods full representation of a new humanity. The fullness of God is in Christ. He is the meeting place of God and man. In Christ we find a new world that is not known to us by nature. As we have come into this present world through Adam, so by new birth we come to the world that is Christ. We see this natural world, which we live in through Adam. But we don’t see this other world, which is more real than this one. For this world, which we live in, is the reflection of the other. This other world, which is a different dimension, is hidden to us since the fall of Adam. Because the event of the cross of Christ, now in this life we are given access to this otherworldly, magical, mystical, beautiful, powerful place, which is the fullness of Christ. In this world that is Christ the father has elected us into an eternal destiny with his Son. But this other destiny is only found in the house of God that is Christ. Through the revelation of Calvary we step into this otherworldly place, which is alongside of time and space, which has been prepared for us. In this present world we know each other by what we are in this life. But in this other world we know each other by our eternal destiny, which has been given to us by the gift of God. We look at each other in this world and see common people, nothing really special, but once we are given true spiritual sight, we see people in a much different light. We judge people in this world by who and what they are; this also is very much the standard that is in the church. But in Christ we are judged by who we are in Christ. The measure of Christ’s authority given to us is our judgement and measure. Everything that we are in this life is fading away, but what we have been given and are in Christ will go on into eternity. The beautiful thing is that what we are eternally destined for, it does start in this life; our eternal ministry begins now, once we receive our new man, who is Christ, we start this journey.