Hello, I hope you are doing well, receiving care and grace in the revelation of Jesus Christ. May you drink of the deep wells of Jesus and be enriched, cleansed, and healed, body, soul and spirit.
That you and I would thrive in the things of God and not be turned aside by the riches and glories of this world, having hearts on fire for Christ in the midst of a broken and dying world.
Who knows the “one” or “many” who may make heaven their home because of the aroma of Christ from us?
Treasures – Earthen Vessels or Worldly Courts, Choices and More Choices
I hope and pray your hopes and treasures, and mine as well, would lie in Christ – we would stay awake and not be among those who fall asleep and miss the promised “rest” of Christ.
The demands of this age and culture, including family and friends, can be exceptionally hard on those pursuing the things of God.
And those pursuing the things of God can miss the mark as well – in terms of fulfilling their responsibilities horizontally. It’s a dynamic among relationships only the care and grace of Jesus can remedy.
There are two kingdoms vying for our affections, passions and desires. The kingdom of this world is doing everything possible to capture our thoughts, our heart, and our eyes to the temporal things of this life.
The kingdom of this world wants you and me to be everything we can be “apart” from Christ.
The power of this age can be overwhelming. It can be subtle, hidden, and covert.
We live in a time the prophets of old and ministers of yesteryear desired to see. A time of great impartation of the Holy Spirit and revelation of Christ in grace.
A deeper and richer work of the Holy Spirit than ever before. Yes, an unprecedented and unsurpassed move of the Sprit.
The king of this world sees the kingdom of God approaching the threshold of his kingdom, and will do everything possible to deploy new troops, stratagems and tactics, to capture, ensnare, and distract the move of God headed his way.
It is incumbent upon you and me to stay close to the Lord, hidden in him, that we might apprehend what Christ has apprehended us for, and not be apprehended, ensnared, and captured, consumed with carnal appetites and desires.
We live in an age where almost every fleshly desire can be met and met quickly.
It is important for all of us to be reminded again of how easy it is to be sidetracked from the things of God.
Thankfully, Jesus Christ is here, now, in our midst, performing a unique and unprecedented work in the body of Christ and knows how to protect those he’s called and chosen.
My friend, I pray you and I would seek Christ with all our heart, desire, and passion. That we would look with expectancy and affection – a heart ignited for Christ – for the lover of our soul to come and take us unto himself.
We only have so much time to seek the Lord and to be sought and captured by him. The favor and grace of Jesus Christ is hovering over the church today – eagerly desiring to plant the seed of Christ in those looking for his appearing.
Are you wanting the seed of Christ planted in you? Do you want intimacy, connection and union with Christ like never before?
Now is the time to seek the Lord and inquire of him to come, and take you unto himself. Now is the time to say, “Jesus, I cannot live without you any longer, come, and prepare me to be your most intimate friend, lover and companion.”
This is for all of us, Christian and non-Christian.
We live in a time of great expectation and favor from God. It is a time to receive the care and delight of your heavenly Father in the deepest part of your being and in the richness only Christ can give.
If there ever was a time to make use of the resources of Christ, it is now.
Redemption, Now and Coming
I have a post coming showing we are in the latter part of the last days. I do not know how many more generations there will be before the Millennium.
I do know we need to receive everything we can from the Lord from the banquet he is offering to our generation.
It says of Noah when he fulfilled what God asked of him the flood came. (Hebrews 11:7)
And it will be said of the church in the last of the last days – when Christ has completed the work of Christ in his body, fulfilling righteousness – the man of lawlessness will be revealed flooding the world with evil and death – condemning those under his authority.
It’s not what countries in the Middle East do or not do that determines the timing of the Millennium. On the contrary, it’s the work of Christ in his body, bringing his body to completeness and fullness, that determines the timing and sequence of events in church and world history.
Types
The Scripture says what happened to Israel is an example to us. And that principle applies to the story of the first man and woman as well.
For example, the Apostle John, in his opening comments in 1 John reaches back to the garden. He says we have seen, looked, and touched the word of life, Jesus Christ, intimating the tree of life – Jesus Christ.
John is contrasting his relationship with Christ to Eve, who saw, pleased, and desired the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
John compares Eve’s fall to his connection to Christ and his redemption from the sin of Adam and Eve.
If Adam and Eve were created about 4,000 years before Christ, John’s opening comment connects 4,000 years of pre and post flood history to the opening of the New Testament period in Jesus Christ.
Think about this for a moment. In a few words John reaches back over 4,000 years to the time of Adam and Eve and wraps up the redemption of their fall in Christ.
(If you think I’m stretching things then I suggest you read 1 John 2:15 – 17. Here we see the same three temptations Eve faced as a warning to the church, you and me.)
The Scripture is full of “types” that lend consistency to the “place” man and woman find themselves and ultimately to the faithfulness of God in our failings and unfaithfulness.
Disobedient, One Final Lap (1 Peter 3:19-20)
The “disobedient” in Noah’s age are a “type” of the saints in the New Testament period who fall short in their journey pursuing Christ, they run out of time to complete the journey God has for them, or simply give up for whatever reason.
They fail to enter the “rest,” care and grace God has for them.
They are like Israel of old who fell in the wilderness, excepting Joshua and Caleb.
The “disobedient” are a type of the five virgins without oil, who must go and buy oil and miss the allotted time given to prepare and be made ready by the Lord.
They are type of the church of Laodicea who keep Christ at arms – length, not allowing him to the deep places of wounds and sins, unprepared when the allotted time is over, ultimately facing the anti-Christ system.
Noah, in contrast, is a type of the few who choose Christ in the depths of their being, allowing him to cleanse and heal their wounds, sins and brokenness as he determines, persevering and holding firm in their day of holy visitation.
Noah is a type of Joshua and Caleb, and in our age a type of the Church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7), who, having little strength, trust in Christ to preserve and protect them in their day of his “visitation” – cleansing and healing.
The “disobedient,” were to be a type of those who would hold firm and persevere in times of testing and discipline, to learn obedience from their heavenly Father.
They were to be a type, an example, to those called by Christ, to show what it is like to respond to the call of God, be chosen by him, and persevere through their sojourn in the wilderness.
They were to be a testimony of God’s goodness in times of severity and change – preceding a time of unprecedented transition.
They were to be an example of God’s faithfulness and power in grace to redeem even the most sinful of people, so sinful God set about to destroy his creation.
Their Failure
Instead, they fell short of the mark God set before them.
They failed in their obedience and pursuit of God.
They failed to receive the care and fathering they needed to endure and persevere in the quest God put before them in Noah.
Their failure resulted in the loss of their lives and further growth, maturity, and inheritance in God, including levels of authority and ruler-ship.
However, their failure did not result in the eternal loss of their souls, so it appears. (See my previous post in this series.)
Their loss, failure to obtain the promise of God in Noah and inherit the post flood earth, like Noah, did not nullify God’s faithfulness in their unfaithfulness.
They lost their body, died in the flood, but God’s faithfulness in Christ, though they broke the type, redeemed them for heavens shores.
Dying in the flood was not God’s choice for the disobedient.
The Lord gave them an example in Noah, to prepare an arc for the saving of them and their family. He gave them an example to follow that would exhibit faith and obedience.
At some level and in some manner the disobedient had heeded Noah’s call to righteousness. We do not know how far.
Were there deathbed (drowning) conversions? Did some start to build vessels as well? Did some repent at the onset of the flood?
You and Me
I pray we heed the examples of those who have gone before us and take every advantage and opportunity to not repeat the mistakes of those who failed to receive the promise of God’s rest.
May we shake sleep while it is still day and petition heaven’s throne to prepare us in fullness, in accordance with the measure of faith and spirit allotted to our generation.
Wrapping Up
Well Drake, what does it really matter, if what you say is true, the disobedient are ultimately saved – I might as well enjoy myself now, die in the flood of evil and give myself as a martyr when I’m forced to?
Because of Noah and his family’s obedience and faithfulness, they received the promise of God and life in a new world. They experienced the wonder and magnificence of God.
They are held up by God to all future generations – in the book of Hebrews Hall of Faith. Who knows what heavenly treasure, authority and ruler-ship awaits Noah in the Millennium and New Heaven and New Earth?
The disobedient, fell short of the calling of God, dying in the flood, missing the opportunity to propagate life and rule in a new world.
Israel of old, those who died in the wilderness, missed out on the opportunities and ruler-ship offered to Joshua and Caleb in Canaan’s land.
There are differences between Christians as well. The Church of Philadelphia will be at a higher place, connection, intimacy and union with Christ than the Church of Laodicea.
How that impacts the Millennium remains to be seen but suffice it to say the Church of Philadelphia has the promise of bride-hood.
The five virgins with oil tell the five virgins without oil to go to those who buy and sell. Those who choose the deeper things of Christ will be spared the wrath of the anti-Christ system during its most violent revealing, The Tribulation.
One final thought about the disobedient. Could it be possible that Peter, himself, related to the disobedient, having denied the Lord three times before the crucifixion, especially in light of knowing a criminal being crucified next to Christ acknowledged Christ on his own cross?
Maybe Peter is saying, look, don’t make the mistake those in Noah’s generation made and be so sure of yourself and in yourself, as I found out in great remorse on the day of my Lord’s arrest.
Blessings, Drake
