The Day of The Vengeance of Our God

Part 1

Just knowing the scriptures does not mean that one has a revelation. And as Paul said, "Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 11 Tim. 3:7. And masses of people have learned the scripture, but have no revelation, making it dead and void. Many are looking for one spectacular event to happen. An event that can be seen with their natural eyes. But Jesus said that the kingdom comes not with observation.

This is why we need to stop for a moment to think about "THE DAY OF THE LORD." The bible speaks much about the Day of the Lord. Jesus spoke of it, Paul spoke of it, John spoke of it, and the prophets of old spoke about it too. Because God is Spirit we must come to terms of scripture being seen and interpreted in spirit and truth. Jesus spoke of natural things but did not mean them to be taken in a natural understanding, He meant them to be interpreted spiritually. When He spoke of Himself as being the "Bread that came down from heaven," it is a hard saying for carnal men. When Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth," we know that He wanted us to understand that spiritually. And He said, "You are the light of the world." Surely no one would interpret that naturally. When Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life." Could it be that everything that He said was and allegory or parable trying to get us to understand the spiritual things of God?

The 24th chapter of Matthew is one of the most talked about in the bible at this particular epoch in the history of the church. For people are looking for a physical, carnal event to happen. "For as lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be." verse 27.

Here Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. No t the end of the world. In the 3rd verse we read: "And as He sat upon the mount of olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be. And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world (age)."

The word "coming" should be interpreted PRESENCE, so that we could understand it as His appearing. Looking at the word "world," it does not mean the earth . It is the word "eon" or "aion" meaning "age". What age did Jesus come to do away with? He came to do away with the age of the Jew, and to fulfill the age of the law. He came to usher in the age of the kingdom of God. They did not understand this in the natural. Only spirit man can understand this. Today it is the same.

Someone would say now-God has never done away with the Jew. No, of course, H e has not done away with the Jew; but, if you read in Isaiah you find that God divorced that nation of the Old Covenant and brought in a New Covenant which is made up of Greeks and Jews, male and females, bond and free. God does not look upon one nation, He has no political national ties as His own. Matt. 21:43. Also: Ps.24:1, "The earth is the Lord and the fulness there of; the world, and they that dwell therein." God looks upon the entire race of mankind that received His Covenant in Jesus Christ, and the promises of God. If you will read the history of the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, you will find out that it happened exactly as Jesus said. In the year 70 A.D. history shows that Jerusalem was overthrown by Titus the Roman general and his army.

Now when Jesus said, "As lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be." vs-27. He comes as lightning. In the book of Revelation He says: "Behold He cometh quickly" or with light or as lightning.

What does lightning do? It brightens the dark places. What is light? The light in Genesis 1:3. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light . And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

This was not the sun, moon and stars. This was not a creation of the sun that gives light---that gives us our day time here on earth. This was a different kind of light that God created. For God did not create the sun until the fourth day or till the 14th verse of Genesis one. God was talking of a spiritual day. God called the light "Day." Remember Jesus saying, "As the lightning shineth from the east to the west so shall the coming of the Son o f man be?" He was speaking spiritually of His Day, His shining, or His appearing. He spoke of when He would appear to His disciples in John 14. "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you." When God appears in our lives He appears within our hearts in spirit form. In Matthew 24:36, "Bu t of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."

Here the Jews were listening to Him speak of the Day of the Lord. Why did Jesus say this? Is there a day or hour as we know days and hours? Why would He say that if He was speaking spiritually? These Jews had to have days for their feast days, feast of trumpets, feast of Passover, feast of Tabernacles , atonement. They wanted the very hour for everything. The hour of the high priest to go into the holy of holies, the hour when the Sabbath would begin. They lived and thought of natural days.

Yet while Jesus was talking of the Day of the Lord, those Jews, who observed holidays said, "Now Lord, when should we observe this day? What day of the calendar would this day be? Jesus said, "But of day (speaking of the day of the Lord) and hour knoweth no man."

So the Day of the Lord is not a time you can put on the calendar. "No not th e angels of heaven" because the Day of the Lord speaks of the redemption of th e Lord and Him appearing in our lives and the angels know nothing about that. They do not know what it is to be redeemed. Neither do they know what it is to have a relationship with God as man does.

Then Jesus next words were, "But my Father only." This is to be understood a s the highest realm there is in God. The Jews understood a father and son relationship. Jesus was born in the flesh-was a man of flesh, and when the Holy Spirit came upon and within Him at the baptism of John, He was a manifestation of God living in the flesh. That is why He was Christ Jesus-th e word Christ being interpreted Anointed or Holy Spirit, because it was Christ that was Jesus.

Paul never did say, "Jesus in us." But he did say, "Christ (anointing) in yo u the hope of glory." Col.1:27. But look, He said, "My Father only." He said no man knows the day of the hour, nor the angels. Only my Father-Who is the Highest. When you come to that point, you will know that Day, you will know that hour. It is a relationship with Father that no man knows. It was Paul third heaven consciousness, "which it is not lawful (possible) for a man to utter." Are you trying to look at it as a calendar event? The Day of the Lord that Jesus told them of is not a calendar event. It is not a specific time on the face of a clock or watch. It is the Spirit Day-it is the Father. Paul did not refer to the Day of the Lord as the Father consciousness. He described it as the third heaven or Paradise.

John in Revelation called it the Lord Day, or Spirit. Jesus called it Father because everything came out of the highest Power of God or Father, including Jesus who plainly said He came out of His Father and must go to the Father. Remember Jesus describing His appearing as the "lightning shines from the east to the west"? When lightning shines, there is no darkness. The darkness has vanished away. Jesus was speaking precious anointed words of life and the beautiful spiritual effect they have is to bring us to higher light consciousness. Jesus was speaking of a spiritual Day. In the book of Galatians Paul was trying to get them to understand their sonship to God the Father. They didn't get totally what he was saying. In Gal. 4: 8, 9, "Howbeit then when ye knew not God, ye did service to them which by nature are no gods. But now that after that you have known God or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. verse 10, Ye observe days and months and times and years. I a m afraid for you lest I have bestowed labor upon you in vain."

The Galatians had the same problems that Jews and people of today have, putting a natural interpretation on the things of God. I can see that is what is happening in the church world today. People are observing days, times, months, years and horoscopes.

Under the New Covenant, God does not do things according to the calendar of according to the rotation of the earth on its axis or causing the sunlight t o go around the earth. God does things by the Spirit. God does not observe 40 year periods, 40 day periods, 40 month periods any longer. Under the Old Covenant, He surely did. Now we come unto a New Covenant when God doe s things in the Spirit. For some this is very difficult, but we are speaking o f the Day of the Lord before going on the the "Day of the Vengeance of our God ."

What is the Day of the Lord? It is the lightning shining from east to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Then when lightning is shown it is shown in the darkness and God called the light "Day" and He called the "darkness" night.

Col. 1: 12,13, "Giving thanks to the Father, which has made us meet (qualified us, or made us competent) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in LIGHT." Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son."

When Jesus was speaking of the Day of the Lord, He was speaking of people coming out of darkness into the light of God. When Adam fell it was from a light body. Adam fell from light into the flesh body of darkness. Now throug h Christ we are entering back into light.

Let us continue with some more scripture, and one very familiar to most. 1 Thess. 4: 13, 14, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even to them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him."

Here He is not talking about natural things, he is not talking about cemetaries. He is talking to believers about those who have passed on into the invisible, even the Old Testament patriarchs too; how they were going to come into this glorious light of salvation when they lived in a time when there was no atonement. He is saying that you don't have to worry about the saints of yesteryear. If you believe that Jesus died and rose again, they that sleep, or slept in Jesus have also risen in Jesus Christ. You see, when Christ died, He went into death or Hades and brought the ones who were in "prison." 1 Pet. 3: 19, 20, 4:6. He preached the gospel to those of olden times who were great sinners, and "led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." Psalm 68:18, Eph. 4: 8.

Continued

Scott Paris 12/2000

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