All through the New Testament the apostles still spoke of the coming of the Lord, and the appearing of the Lord to the believing community saying things like: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient: stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
We are all familiar with the passage in 1 John that tell us that “Every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God..” And “We have this treasure in an earthen vessel.”
I think that most of us would agree that he has come in our flesh. He is the light that lights every man coming into the world. So, Jesus Christ has come in our flesh. But Paul tells us in Romans that our flesh is dead, or our body is dead because of sin. We have a body of death – it continually ages, and progresses toward ultimate death and dissolution if not resurrected. But then he asks, “ who will deliver me from this body of death? Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He continues on to enlighten us to the reality that, “if that same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwell in you, it shall also quicken or make alive your dead body, or your mortal body.” And how does that happen?
By getting INTO your flesh.
Please know that I am not talking about our carnal flesh being made immortal, but by the brightness of his appearing, all carnality is consumed. We are His flesh manifested then.
What I am trying to highlight for us is the word INTO as opposed to the word IN. As an example, you can have water in a glass but the water is not into the glass.
The appearing of the Lord that the apostles were excited about and still talking about even after his coming at Pentecost was not his first appearing IN OUR FLESH, but his appearing INTO OUR FLESH.
“In the beginning was the Word – the Word was made flesh – IN HIM was Life and the Life was the Light of men.” Or the Light that was IN HIM was the Life. Jesus even made this distinction - about what was IN him. Jesus said he could do nothing of himself, but that it was the Father in him that doeth the works.
But Peter, James and John were invited “after six days” to ascend a high mountain with Jesus and it was there that he was transfigured before them. The Life that was his Inner Light now out-rayed him and the Inner and the Outer were as ONE. He turned himself inside out! Peter writes of this experience and this is what he says of that day and that experience in the high place:
“2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
Peter is trying to make known to his listeners that, “ this is no fable, guys, this is the COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, I was there, I am a personal eyewitness of the event of the coming of the Lord INTO FLESH. And it was majestic!!!
So, all the apostles still taught and spoke of the coming of the Lord even after Pentecost, which was the downpayment of his coming in us. Remember when he was consoling the disciples about his departure in bodily form that was soon to take place, that he encouraged them that as he was now with them, he would send the Comforter and would be in them by the spirit. And true to his word, on the Day of Pentecost, it says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. He did just what he promised, he was now in them as Spirit as he had only been with them as the singular man Jesus.
But you do recall that it was only 120 that were persuaded to wait together for the promise of his coming although he had appeared to over 500 of his brethren after his resurrection? And it is still only a remnant that are persuaded in this day to believe into full salvation of spirit, soul and body.
His First Appearing:
Heb. 9:26 “He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages APPEARED to put away and abolish sin by his sacrifice [of himself].
This is what Jesus(our Pattern) did and we as his body have been doing as we, too, took up our cross and followed him. The shedding of blood for the remisssion of sin. Our life experiences, many times cause us suffering which in turn brings us to a repentance or a turn-around in our life for "he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin." Or we are healed from our misperceptions and errors of thinking (sin) as our minds are renewed and our spirits quickened. We then become a more compassionate priest having tasted of infirmity ourselves.
The Second Appearing:
Heb. 9:28 Even so it is that Christ having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and once for all, will APPEAR A SECOND TIME, not carrying any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are (eagerly, constantly, and patiently) waiting for and expecting him.
He is coming to be Glorified in his saints! "When he comes to be glorified in His saints. (That is, on that day He will be made more glorious in his consecrated people) and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in all who have believed - who have adhered to, trusted in and relied on Him - because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed [and confirmed in you lives] With this in view we constantly pray for you... Thus may the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified and become more glorious through and in you, and may you [also be glorified] in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Anointed One." 2 Thess. 10- 12
So, in that light, I share some further passages about his coming and his appearing that the apostles continued to share after Pentecost:
Tts 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Jam 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jam 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
1Cr 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 2:19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1Th 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
1Ti 6:14 That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
2Ti 4:1 I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
Glorious blessings,
Karen
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"At the closing of this article I am deeply impressed to share the following vision received by an old prophet of God many years ago, one of the Lord's pioneers of this Gospel of the Kingdom in these last days. He wrote: "In that vision which lasted all night, the most wonderful vision I ever had, in which I saw the sons of God in action all over the world, ministering to the multitudes in every tongue and nation, to all people, I saw both men and women ministering. I saw them standing, suspended in mid-air, in the midst of a busy intersection of a large city, with all traffic stopped, and thousands of people seeing them with their eyes, and hearing them with their ears, regardless of distance, and without the aid of mechanical devices. I saw them speaking to a people of one language, and in a moment's time I saw them transported to another people of another language, speaking to them in their own language, having power over all mechanical devices and natural laws, so that they could cause every activity to cease, and every eye to be fixed upon them, until their message had been delivered.
"I saw them walk upon the water; and I saw the terror in the faces of the wicked, at the sound of their voices. I saw the professing Christians fall upon their faces in true repentance, crying out for mercy, and I saw them being genuinely converted. I saw the skeptics being convinced, and the blasphemy of the wicked, as they would rail and mock, only to be struck dumb or blind at just a word from the manifested sons and daughters of God.
"The vision lasted all night, as in my spirit I was living in that future time, when God will be manifested in fullness in His sons and in His daughters, while my body was back there in bed alongside my wife. Sometimes the scenes would make me weep and I would sob, my body shaking violently with pain and agony, whereas another scene would cause me to laugh with holy laughter, as I witnessed the genuine repentance of the shallow Church members.
"I'll never forget the vision of the young girl (the daughters of God) who spoke with the voice of many waters. Human language could never describe the quality of her voice. All I can say is, it was so filled with love and compassion, it would break the hardest stone, and at her command, every infirmity, every sickness, every blindness, every lameness was healed; every one was made perfectly whole, even those who had been lunatic from birth.
"Sister Britain got no sleep that night, and finally when the dawn was ready to break, she asked me why I didn't get up and write the vision. I did try, but could not hold my hands on the keyboard of the typewriter. Some unseen force held them aloft over my head. I walked the floor and wept, and begged the Lord to permit me to write some of the visions I had seen, to preserve them in black and white. At last He did, and I wrote just a very few of the visions I had seen, for a large book could not contain them all.
"What did the experience do for me? That vision set my soul aflame! Should I publish what I had written? What would people think of me if I did? Surely they would think me mad! I was just getting started in the writing and publishing ministry, and surely, I thought, that one message would cause all men to lose confidence in me! Finally with tears streaming, I said, I'm going to publish it, regardless of the cost. I know it's true! I know it's going to come to pass! And though all men turn against me, I'm going to publish it anyway! And so we did. We then waited anxiously to hear the reaction of the people. To our surprise, the message thrilled their hearts. THEY BELIEVED IT! They still believe it!" -end quote.
From:
http://hisremnant.org/eby/articles/kingdom/looking/looking7.html
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