The Clearing Podcast - Where Eagles Fly

The Jewishness of Jesus –

At the same time that Rome turned Christianity into the official religion of Rome, the popes of that time created a new idea about how Jews and Gentiles relate to each other. Replacement theology came into existence.  No longer are Gentiles grafted into Israel.  Gentiles are replacing Israel as the people of God.  Messianic Jewish congregations disappeared. Eventually, all forms of Jewishness were treated as a punishable offense.  All the eschatologies from the fourth century on were created out of a background of replacement theology.  As God brings Jew and Gentile together in our day, and calls into being Messianic Jewish congregations all over the world, we Gentiles must now listen to the wisdom of our Messianic brothers and sisters in Christ—who are re-introducing the true hope of the second coming of the King.  It is Messianic Jews who are drawing us back to a biblical idea of the second coming of Christ, not to whisk us away to heaven by means of a secret rapture, but to restore earth to a heavenly condition.  “Thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven.”

Dispensationalism and “Left Behind” Theology –

John Nelson Darby, a member of the Plymouth Brethren, invented yet another eschatology that moved Christians back to a belief in the physical return of Jesus to reign on earth for 1000 years.  But before that happens, Darby claimed, Jesus would come back for a secret “rapture of the Church,” prior to, or during, a period of great tribulation at the end of the time of the Gentiles.  While Paul pictured (I Thess. 4:17) the “rapture of the Church” as the very final event associated with the return of Jesus, Darby proposed another rapture that is not actually described anywhere in the Bible.  Dispensational premillennialism historically may have been a necessary chapter in the story of God reintroducing the original teaching of Jesus about His coming “to restore all things.”  However, Darby’s unique eschatology does not picture Jesus returning to transform the earth, but to take Gentile Christians away to heaven—a different idea altogether from that taught by Jesus and the apostles.

Postmillennialism –

With the worldwide great awakenings of the 19th and 20th centuries, followed by the missions movement, there came a great hope that God was going to win the whole world to Christ, purely by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in spiritual awakening.  Thus, the Church would grow and grow and take over more of the world until finally, there would be a thousand years of Christian victory and world peace, through the advance of the evangelical Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Soon some Christians began to believe in a “millennial reign of Christ on earth, not through the Pope extending his power, but through the power of God in the Holy Spirit working through evangelicals.  This “millennium” was not going to happen by the physical return of Jesus, which would happen after the Church had won the world to Christ.  So this eschatology has been called “postmillennialism.”

Allegorical or Predictive? –

Beginning with Isaiah, we have prophecy that describes the rise and fall of earthly empires.  All of these empires were future to Isaiah, though to us, they are historical.  All of the prophecies of Isaiah except those that concern what is yet in the future, have come to pass, demonstrating that they were intended to be taken literally, not allegorically.  It is therefore irrational to suppose that the prophecies that have not yet taken place were intended to be purely allegorical—prophecies about Christ and the Church.

The Rise of A-millennialism –

Teachings 4-7 deal with the history of eschatology.  My teaching begins by portraying the rejection of the original idea–that Jesus will return historically to restore all things—in preference to a new doctrine, which has been called a-millennialism (which means “no millennium.”) Under this new doctrine, Jesus will not return to the earth, except to judge it.  There will be no restoration of anything, and no reign on earth for any purpose whatever.  The only reign we need to be concerned about is the reign of the Pope, who is the vicar of Christ on earth. This view rejects entirely the promises of the Old Testament prophets (one of which portrayed the Kingdom of God actually replacing the Roman Empire!) More recently, various Christian leaders have tried to restore bits and pieces of the original teaching of Jesus, thus creating new eschatologies in various parts of the Church during recent times. But now I believe it is time to restore the whole promise of the Second Coming in all its integrity, as the apostolic Church accepted it.

The Gospel of the Kingdom –

In Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul lists seven ingredients in the Gospel of the Kingdom, of which the salvation of our souls is only one.  The purpose of the Kingdom of God is not “salvation,” but that “Heaven and earth will be united under one head—Jesus Christ.” “Creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay” through the intervention of “the last Adam.”  “He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”  At the heart of the Kingdom of God is a new authority for transforming the earth around us. When Jesus returns, the renewing of all Creation will surge with new energy and power.  Just as Jesus took care of the problem of sin during His first advent, during His second advent, He will destroy all satanic deception.  Imagine what that will look like!

Recovering Apostolic Teaching –

God continually leads us back to the Bible to connect with His original vision as revealed to the apostles and prophets of old. Unfortunately, the Church lost the original vision of the Kingdom of God during the fourth century, when the Roman Catholic Church sought to supply the Roman Empire with an “official religion.” Christianity became no longer a Kingdom, but a religion, under the control of an official clergy. The Roman Church created a new eschatology that did not portray Jesus coming back at the end of an epoch of history “to restore all things,” as Peter had proclaimed. Now, in the name of Peter, the Church let go of the whole concept of Jesus returning to restore anything. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” became simply a religious prayer that we should pray as good Christians—with no serious expectation or promise behind it. But it is time to return to the faith of the apostles and prophets of the Church prior to the rise of Catholicism.

End Time Introduction –

The Kingdom of God operates not by human principles, but by God’s higher ways.  He trains us to wield authority as His Royal Priesthood, and to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The same is true as we move toward “Part B” of the story, the return of the King “to restore all things.”  As the present age comes to a close, it is important that we reconnect with God’s original statement of intent: He wants to bring all of Creation to reflect His original intentions.  The videos of George Otis show, in the 21st century, what this looks like, as God brings pieces of His Creation into divine transformation.  As we co-operate with Him to invite Him into our cities, counties and countries, we must remember that the Kingdom comes as a result of struggle.  In the end, the whole world will suffer “travail” leading to new birth.  The end result will be well worth the struggle.

Summary –

By tracking God’s mighty deeds of the past, we can draw some conclusions about the advance of God’s Kingdom throughout the centuries.  Acts 3:19-21 is the most concise biblical summary of the coming of the Kingdom of God.  It is a story with two historical parts.  The first consists of “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (v. 19).  It is this first part that we have been tracing in the “Glory Through Time” teaching. They appear like waves of revival through the centuries. God has called the Church to pray for these “times of refreshing,” which manifest the Kingdom of God. The second part is end-time promise: that Jesus is coming back “to restore all things” (v. 21).  In both periods, the Kingdom of God consists of presence plus pattern.  The pattern we have traced is the seven-part pattern we are calling the “by my Spirit” pattern, as over against the seven-part pattern we have called “power and might Christianity.”  As the Kingdom of God has been moving in a predominantly westerly direction, the “by my Spirit” pattern has emerged again and again through time.  Today, God is once again inviting His people to return to the original pattern of the Kingdom of God: “Not by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6).

Back to Jerusalem –

Through the influence of many praying westerners, the Christian faith spread through much of China.  However, the Communist movement resulted in the complete eradication of all Western churches—and the house-church movement resulted.  During this season, in the early 40’s, Jesus began to visit His Church with a spirit of prophecy.  One of the early house church leaders, Mark Ma, received a prophecy to the effect that the Christian movement had been proceeding in a generally Westerly direction for the last 2000 years (as I have tried to show in these teachings).  Now Jesus was giving the Chinese the responsibility to complete the circle around the globe “back to Jerusalem.” To equip the Chinese to complete this project, a huge spiritual awakening has taken place in China, sweeping millions into the Kingdom, and moving thousands of Chinese (and Koreans) into the Muslim countries to the West.  Now David Garrison, in his book, A Wind in the House of Islam, is reporting many more movements toward Christ among Muslims than all the rest of history put together—1400 years!  And they have only just begun!