KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES 

"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

 THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 Part 15

HOW THE KINGDOM COMES

(continued) 

            I write today to the elect of God scattered abroad that our hearts might be prepared for the truths that concern the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  How is the Kingdom of God established?  Let me first say how it cannot be established.  When our Lord spoke of the Kingdom of God He said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  Jesus had just told the disciples where the Kingdom is and how the Kingdom does not come.  Before you can ever see the Kingdom you have to know how it’s not coming — because the first thing we try to do is build it by the natural.  The spirit of wisdom and understanding from God must deliver us from our confusion about how the Kingdom of God comes.  It cannot be established by force.  It cannot be established by law.  It will never be established by political action.  It is impossible for it to be established by the will, efforts, or programs of men or of governments.   

            As we consider these thoughts, may God almighty grant that His Spirit may instruct us in the way of truth and understanding.  When John the Revelator beheld the Lord coming upon a white horse, followed by the armies from heaven, he saw a sharp sword going out of His mouth “that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron” (Rev. 19:15).  In the midst of all the confusion and darkness of this hour the Spirit of God is calling out a people for His name.  He is training them in the school of obedience and refining them in the furnace of affliction.  He is stripping them of self-interest, draining them of self-will, plucking from their hearts all the deceptive ways of Babylon, causing them to abhor the vain efforts of the flesh.  These are putting on the whole armor of God, these are dwelling in heavenly places, seated with Christ; these are the army from heaven that follows the Word of God into battle.  From within, out of the innermost being, is arising a strong and mighty Word, the absolute truth about God and all things, beyond the superstitions, myths, folklore and fairy tales of religion, and by which every enemy shall be silenced.  “He cast out the spirits WITH HIS WORD” (Mat. 8:16).  This sin-weary world shall yet be governed by a glorious company of sons of God, every one in the image of Christ, every one a brother of Jesus Christ, every one infused with His life and invested with His authority, every one a son given “power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Lk. 10:19).  The whole earth, as Eden was, shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it! 

            These sons shall be able to raise their voices in mighty declarations of authority.  The authority is rooted in their own experience.  By the understanding of the Almighty they shall have conquered the dragon of sin and limitation and death in their own lives.  Then shall be fulfilled on the grandest scale ever the word spoken by the Lord, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk. 16:17-18).  Some people have thought this meant to be able to handle poisonous snakes without being bitten.  Others have supposed it meant that IF you accidentally took up a serpent, as Paul did on the island of Melita, there would be no harm.  But beyond all this, let me point out to you one of the meanings of the term “take up” in this passage.  Not only does the Greek word AIRO mean  to “take up”, it also means to “take away.”  It may just as well be translated, “They shall TAKE AWAY serpents,” not take up and handle them.  The ENTIRE SERPENT KINGDOM SHALL BE REMOVED, TAKEN AWAY by these mighty believers; yea, they shall slay the dragon that is in the sea!  And it begins now, on the personal level, in our own consciousness. 

            The Word of God comes riding upon a white horse, and the army of the sons of God follow Him, all riding upon white horses.  What a scene!  The horse is an animal that men ride.  It’s like a car — it’s a vehicle.  The horse in scripture is a symbol for THE BRINGING OF GOD’S PRESENCE AND POWER IN WARFARE.  It signifies STRENGTH AND SWIFTNESS IN BATTLE (Isa. 2:7; 30:16; Jer. 12:5; 51:27; Eze. 38:4; Hos. 14:3; Joel 2:4; Heb. 1:8).  “...I have taken away your horses (Strength)” (Amos 4:10).  On the negative side, whenever the word horse is used in relationship with fleshly humanity it signifies human strength.  Isaiah 31:1-3 informs us: “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots (that is human strength and human ability), because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong...they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!”  Again, “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are fleshly (strength), and not spirit.”  “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.  But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses (human strength and ability) and confound the riders on the horses (those who trust in human strength and ability)” (Hag. 2:22; Zech. 10:5).   

            On the positive side, wherever the word horse is used with righteousness, or divinity, or the Lord, or things heavenly, it means heavenly, divine or spiritual strength.  “And I saw heaven opened, and behold  a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war...and the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses” (Rev. 19:11,14).  That is, they followed Him in heavenly, divine, spiritual strength.  In Habakkuk 3:14-15 the prophet, reminiscing about Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, extols the triumph of Yahweh, exclaiming, “You pierced with his own arrows the head of the enemy’s hordes...You have trodden the sea with Your horses, beside the heap of great and surging waters.”  The meaning is clear — You have trodden the sea IN YOUR DIVINE STRENGTH!  Egypt had abundance of horses, swift and strong, but God had horses out of the spirit world.  They represented  the STRENGTH AND MIGHT OF GOD IN BATTLE.  They signify the almighty POWER OF THE SPIRIT.  With what simple words does the Holy Spirit teach us that the strength of the Spirit always exceeds and excels over the strength of the flesh!  Thus, horses are symbols given to us that denote the nature and work of the anointing that rests upon the sons of God.  Horses are figures of overcoming, invincible strength and power, signifying that wherever these horses go, WHATEVER IS IN THEIR WAY IS OVERCOME BY THEM! 

            When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven riding on a white horse He does not come alone.  Even before the flood, Enoch prophesied of this appearing of the promised One, and said, “Behold the Lord cometh WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS (or, holy myriads of Himself) to execute judgment upon all” (Jude 14,15).  John saw, and writes, “The armies, the ones in the heaven, were following Him” (Rev. 19:14).  Christ Jesus is the Head and the Leader as He goes before; His holy ones follow in His train, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, and these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.  They are represented as armies.  They come forth as a body of fighters.  He has many under His command.  The armies of the heavenlies are His, and He does battle with them, by them, through them, and as them, even “the called, and chosen and faithful.”  There is no infantry.  There really is no cavalry, for all of the horses are white, and every one who follows Him is of exalted rank.  It is an army of princes, a host of mighty dignitaries, kings and priests unto God.   Moreover, they have no weapons, except the sharp two-edged sword that proceeds out of HIS MOUTH, which is the Living Word of God.  They are dressed in white, for they are all righteous, cleansed by the crimson tide in which His cloak was dipped.  He comes as Warrior, Judge and King, and they share with Him in the same character.  They are warrior judges and kings with Him.  They are clothed in fine linen, pure and white, which is the righteousness of the saints.  They wear no armor.  They are immortal and incorruptible and cannot be hurt nor stopped. 

TYPES OF GOVERNMENT 

            In the world there are a variety of types of government.  There is the Republican form of government.  A Republic is a state in which the rule is conferred by the people to a certain portion of the people, elected  by the people to represent them.  Our country, the United States of America, is a Republic.  The sovereignty resides in our presidential, congressional and judicial representatives which we elect to represent us.  Then there is Democracy.  It is another form of government, which in its purest sense holds that the state should be held in the control of ALL the people.  In a pure Democracy every issue would be decided by plebiscite (direct ballot vote).  The United States and most other Western nations are called democracies because their representatives are freely elected by the people and many issues are also decided by plebiscite.  Not all Republican governments are democratic. 

            Totalitarian government is where one political party suppresses all opposition.  Some examples of totalitarianism are Nazism, Fascism and Communism.  In the days of the famed Robin Hood (A. D. 900-1300) we find the Feudal form of government.  Feudalism was a system of government by lords who owned all the land.  The people worked for the lord who owned the land and their lives were completely dominated by the lord over them.  These lords, in turn, were themselves ruled by a more powerful lord or king of the country.  Plutocracy is another power which rules this world — the rule of the rich.  In Plutocracy the wealthy class of people control the government and generally maintain their status by domination of the poor and by keeping them repressed.   

            And, of course, there is Monarchy.  An absolute Monarchy is where the king has total authority.  Many of the governments in Old Testament times were Monarchies.  England originally was an absolute Monarchy whereas now it is a Constitutional Monarchy where the king or queen has limited authority by law, with the prime minister and parliament running the government.  None of these forms of government is God’s form of government.  God’s form of government is Theocracy — the rule of God.  Theocracy is the government of the Kingdom of God and holds sway over all who have been given an abundant entrance into the Kingdom.  It is the rule of a loving Father-King in wisdom, knowledge, and goodness. 

            If one were asked to define history in a single sentence, he would be wise to say, “History is an unbroken record of the failure of human government.”  Almost any form of government would be perfect, if the governors possessed perfection.  The tragedy of human failure is resident in the fact that no government can be more perfect than the administrators thereof, who are generally no more perfect than the people they rule, indeed, in many cases less perfect.  Never at any time has there been a nation composed entirely of righteous people, not God’s ancient people, Israel, and not even the New Testament Church.  Even during the Exodus, when the children of Israel had witnessed mighty miracles by the hand of God, and they saw His visible presence in the pillar of cloud and fire every day, and heard His voice from the mount of the Lord, the great mass of the people were either actively or passively unrighteous.  When Moses was on mount Sinai, receiving the law of Yahweh, part of the nation of Israel was actively wicked, demanding that Aaron make them an idol god, the golden calf; most of even God’s own nation passively followed them into lurid licentiousness, wildly dancing in naked frenzy around their idol, and only Moses and the tribe of Levi remained faithful to Yahweh. 

NOT BY DEMOCRACY 

            “I believe in the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people,” I hear many people say.  You do?  No you do not.  Not one person who reads these lines who is an intelligent, honest, God-fearing person believes in it.  It is the most deceiving creed going.  You say that you believe in the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people.  You say that democracy is the most perfect form of government inspired by God and given to the founders of our nation.  Let us contrast life under democracy with the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Heaven.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22).  My attention was especially drawn to this passage recently and so I began studying each of those words.  I looked at the first word But.  And, odd as it may seem, that is a tremendous word here.  I know that Paul wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of wisdom.  Often he would write one thing, only to drive home his point with a punch line that began with a conjunction of but, or therefore, or so then, in his own way of saying, “on the one hand there is this, but on the other hand...”  So as we look at this passage we may ask, “If the fruits of the Spirit are these, then what is Paul saying on the other hand?” 

            Well, what is found  “on the other hand” is listed  in the previous verse.  Galatians 5:19-21, is what Paul called “the works of the flesh.”  This is what he writes: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”  It is interesting to note that every one of the behaviors that  Paul listed under the works of the flesh ARE LEGAL IN AMERICA TODAY!  Go back and read the list again.  These are all legal in America today — every single one.  In fact, they are the most prominent characteristics of our society here at the end of the century!  They fill our streets, our homes, our schools, our businesses, the television, movies, magazines, books, and even the Churches.   

            You see, when America was founded, it was based upon something that is quite a contradiction to the principles of the Kingdom of God.  It was based on freedom.  Now, don’t get me wrong, freedom is a very good thing.  But it is, in and of itself, a contrast to righteousness.  The laws of our land were established so that we could have the freedom to be able to do whatever we desire to do, go as far as we desire to go, be what we want to be, as long as it is not encroaching on another person’s safety or well-being.  Under freedom you have the liberty to do right, to do good, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.  But under freedom you also have liberty to do wrong, to sin — lust, fornicate, hate, practice witchcraft, be an atheist, get drunk, curse, watch pornography, lie, cheat, misrepresent, worship devils, etc.  The people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, have come to understand this.  It is an undeniable fact that crime of all kinds rises along with freedom.  There is freedom for the fruit of the Spirit, but there is equally freedom for the works of the flesh.  That is how “freedom” is! 

            Nobody, really, can tell us Americans, what freedom is.  Is not this the land of the free?  Nowhere in the world is there more freedom than we enjoy in this country, born out of a desire to be free.  For freedom we live and for freedom we die; not only for ourselves, but for others as well.  From countries where freedom simply does not exist, people, desiring to be free, have come to America, and even today it is clear that there is no end to the five hundred year escape to freedom.  Some come for freedom to manifest the fruit of the Spirit; most come to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  And something has happened along this road of freedom; not overnight, but slowly.  Our desire for all the freedom and all the liberty in the world, has now — whether we admit it or not — brought us to the point where it is killing us!  We have gradually turned from freedom to do good, prosper, and worship God, to freedom to do evil, with the result that we have become slaves of our own desires.  We have allowed ourselves unlimited freedom in the pursuit of pleasure, the complete satisfaction of all our fleshly senses: the lust of our eyes, our feelings, our hearing, our tasting and our smelling.  In the pursuit of pleasure we spend all our free time.  We cannot get enough of our movies, television, magazines, parties, smoking, drinking, carousing, drugs, rock, and sex.  Nobody can be allowed to spoil our pleasure!  All of America’s notorious ills have their root in the desire for freedom.  The freedom we have  in the United States is a wonderful system as long as we realize that this system is not a divine or godly system — nor is it even in the proximity of the Kingdom of God! 

            The kind of freedom we have in America is a spurious, deceptive, lying freedom.  Men are slaves to those things they are free to do.  Therefore, their freedom is bondage.  The only true freedom in the universe is the freedom of the Kingdom  of God.  Jesus said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!”  In Christ we are made “free from the law,”  because we are also “free from sin.”  “For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (II Cor. 3:17).  The hope of all creation is the liberty that is to be brought to all men at the manifestation of the sons of God.  It is not the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor that heralds freedom for earth’s teeming, oppressed masses.  No, my brother, my sister!  Rather, it is the body of Christ coming to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.   It is my hope in this writing to awaken the pure minds of God’s people to true understanding of freedom and liberty in the Kingdom of God.  “For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.  For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.  Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious LIBERTY of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19-21).  There is freedom indeed!  Freedom from corruption, freedom from sin, freedom from fear, freedom from lack, freedom from pain and sorrow, freedom from limitation, freedom from sickness and disease, freedom from ignorance and error, freedom from death, hell and the grave.  All that and much more is entailed in the “liberty of the sons of God” in the Utopia of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. 

            Let me ask you a straight question.  Are the majority of the people in your city saints or sinners?  I would not say that all men in El Paso are sinners, I would not say that all men in El Paso are liars, I would not say that all men in El Paso are on some level immoral, but I do not doubt for one moment that it would be safe to say that a good working majority are!  And it would not surprise me one bit if the same is true in your city, county or state.  Very well, do you want that majority to rule you?  Instead of that you try to get a man who is not with the majority and is better than the majority.  You want him to rule you, and not the majority. 

            You have been told that “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” is a divine form of government, given by the mind of the Lord to our founding Fathers.  Where do you find that in the Bible?  Nowhere.  The issue is one of authority: is it from God, or from man?  If God is the sovereign authority over all things, then His Word alone can govern all things.  If the ultimate authority is man, then all things must serve man and bow down to man.  The doctrine of “human rights” and “democracy” is the humanistic replacement for the rule of God by the Spirit.  Man is regarded as sovereign — and that is humanism, pure and simple.  All forms of government are needed in God’s great demonstration of human incompetence.  Little as we may like some of them, let us recognize God’s wisdom even in their faults, and be thankful for the lessons that they teach.  We speak of our present age of democracies as though they were something completely new.  That is not so.  Both Greece and Rome knew democratic and republican sway.  Every form of government that political philosophers can conceive has been tried in the past — and found wanting.  The evils of a democracy are perhaps fewer and easier to bear than the tyranny and suppression possible under other forms of government.  Yet that man would be blinded indeed to conditions as they are, who said that democracy had given the earth a perfect government in our day and time.  Americans have been fed the notion that democracy is the greatest, most superior form of government developed by man.  The testimony of God is against that.  The more one is ruled by God, the nobler he becomes, but the more one is ruled by man, the more base he becomes.  Today, man’s condition is a complete rejection of God’s rule.   

            In his comments on Jesus’ healing of the demoniac boy when He had come down from the mount of Transfiguration, George Hawtin has strikingly written, “It will not be necessary for me here to endeavor to convince anyone that the world is now struggling helplessly between the fires of tribulation and the waters of judgment.  Listen to the news any day at any hour and what do we hear?  More violence.  More killings.  More break-ins.  More robberies.  More conspiracies.  More defrauding.  More wars.  More terrorism.  More armaments.  More uprisings.  More rebellions.  More air crashes.  More earthquakes.  More tornadoes.  More volcanoes, more floods, and more mud slides.  More drug abuse.  And an ever-increasing number of children born either crippled in body or retarded in mind, and, worst of all, no good news anywhere.  The poor, sad, distraught, demon possessed world, groaning and travailing in pain, is waiting for the sons of God to reach the glory and honor of adoption, waiting for the transfigured family of sons to say, ‘Bring him to me.’ 

            “Far away in the depths of my spirit I hear the voice of the prophet Isaiah, saying, ‘And He will destroy in this mountain (the mountain of the kingdom of God) the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it’  (Isa. 25:7-8).  Oh what a song of joy there is going to be when the sons of God say, ‘Bring him unto me’!  And the poor, drunken, staggering, demon possessed world will as the demoniac of Gadara be devoutly following Jesus, clothed and in his right mind”   — end quote. 

            Let us now carry the thought of the contrast between democracy and the Kingdom of God a little further.  Government of the people, by the people, and for the people is the most selfish thing in existence.  Suppose I were to stand up and say, “I believe in the government of J. Preston Eby, by J. Preston Eby, and for J. Preston Eby,” would I be selfish or unselfish?  I would be a selfish brute.  How many millions of selfish people are there in the United States?   If that is a selfishness as applied to one man, then it is 265,000,000 times a bigger piece of selfishness applied to 265,000,000 people.  The government of a man by himself and for himself is the most brutal, selfish thing that you can find.  That is why in all our society we have so much “take” and so little “give”.  It contradicts the nature of God.  It stands in opposition to the principles of the Kingdom of God in the sermon on the Mount.  It is the antithesis of redemptive love.  God rules men out of His great heart of  sacrificial love.  In democracy men are always out to see how much they can get.  Just ask any woman who has a man of that kind for a husband.  “I believe,” he says to his wife, ‘in the government of myself, by myself, and for myself.  Now look out for yourself!”  That is the kind of man he is.  There is not a spark of nobility in that kind of man or in that kind of government.  That is a false principle.  You have been told that it is a grand principle.  It is no such thing. 

            If you are going to have the rule of all the people you might just as well govern a family by the children, or govern a factory by the employees and apprentices.  Government does not come from below, unless it comes from hell, and that government is Confusion — Babylon.  It is true — you may have good government under democracy if you have all good people.  You may have saintly government under democracy if you have all saintly people.  If the people were all ruled by God, for God, and the Voice was the Voice of an awakened and renewed spirit within, then God would rule.  But it is not so.  If you have mostly careless people, you will have careless government.  If you have a majority of immoral people, you will have immoral government.  If you have bad people, you will have bad government.  If the people are corrupt, you have corrupt government.  With carnal people you get carnal government and with sinning people — that is the kind of government you will have!  All democracies in the end are government of sinners, by sinners, and for sinners. 

            Certainly that explains in simple to understand language the present corruption in both our nation and our government.  The thing that needs changing in this dark world is the sinful heart of man.  Out of this dread fountain there stems all that is wrong in human relations.  God has filled this earth with every good and perfect thing that man can need.  It is all good, just as He pronounced it in that long ago beginning.  He has provided it in such abundance that there is more than plenty for all.  It is the selfishness and lust of the hearts of the few which result in hunger, privation and want on the part of the many.  There is beauty and grace in the entire creation, but the perverted heart of man twists these gifts of God into objects of lust and indulgence, violating the very purpose of creation.  The builders of the New World Order each are erecting their gossamer structures upon a rotten foundation.  Share the wealth, and in a few years the few will have it all back again.  Revise political trends and give power to the oppressed (as it was supposed to be under communism!) and they quickly become the oppressors!  Pass laws enforcing goodness, ethics, and morality, and after a short time enforcement becomes lax and as the new generation arises they will throw off the yoke that they hate.   

THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT 

            I tell you today that I do not believe in democracy — I believe in Theocracy.  And I have no hesitation in telling you that old Abe Lincoln’s prediction will ultimately come to naught when he said, “The government of the people, by the people, and for the people SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH...”  Oh yes, it will!  The word of God is sure:  “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan. 2:44).  The Kingdom of God is a Theocracy.  Do you understand what a Theocracy is?  Democracy is the rule of the people.  Theocracy is the rule of God.  It is DIVINE GOVERNMENT.  The word theocracy comes from two Greek words: THEOS, meaning God or divinity, and KRATEO, meaning to have power, to rule, to be chief or master of.  It is not the rule of political bosses of any kind or degree.  It is not the rule by votes.  That would be the people’s kingdom, not the Kingdom of God.  Democracy cannot be the Kingdom of God or even a simile of the Kingdom of God, because those in the Kingdom of God are born of God, led by God and controlled by God.   

            Theocratic principles are at entire and positive enmity with democratic principles.  In the Kingdom of God the people must not rule, or the Kingdom will go to the devil.  There is no voting in the Kingdom of God.  It is not a rule by military might.  It is not a dictatorship.  It is not parliamentarian or congressional rule.  It is not an earthly monarchy.  It is not the rule of the proletariat.  IT IS THE RULE OF GOD.  IT IS THE AUTHORITY AND ACTION OF THE HEART AND WILL AND PURPOSE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WHO SO LOVED THE WORLD.  We who stand for Theocracy believe that the gospel that the Church has given to it is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.  That which the Christ came to establish was the Kingdom of God.  Christ who came as Saviour, is now reigning on high as King. 

            “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ” (Rev. 12:10).  The Kingdom of God is the authority of His Christ.  The God who sits upon the throne is Christ.  The Theocracy has become a Christocracy.  Christ Himself is reigning.  I may have a Christocracy today right here within my soul.  I may acknowledge the Lordship of the Christ within that He may reign in my life, in my heart, in my will, in my mind, in my nature, and then as He reigns through me, a member of the Christ-body, I become part of that Christocracy.  This is such a beautiful form of government: God reigning through His chosen.  His love, power, righteousness, peace and judgments all flow through the priesthood that He has called and ordained.  In the beginning when God created the first man and woman and instituted marriage, He established this form of government.  It is for the home, it is for the church,  and it is for the world, when the time is ripe for it.  In Eden God shared His FATHERHOOD WITH MAN.  When God called Abram He shared His FATHERHOOD WITH HIM and made him the father of many nations calling him Abraham (Gen. 17:5). 

            What makes this order so different from a democracy is that the heads are not voted in, therefore they cannot be manipulated by the voters.  The difference between theocracy and dictatorship is that no man has authority in himself, it is not a carnal authority and he cannot be a boss and demand servitude.  But I would have you know that “the Head of every man is Christ... and the Head of Christ is God” (I Cor. 11:3).  That is the precise order of headship in the Kingdom of God.  In order for one to have and exercise the authority that belongs to the Kingdom, he must live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit.  He must be submissive and obedient to his one and only Head, Jesus Christ.  It is a spiritual authority, not a natural or carnal or organizational one.  If one fails to walk in the Spirit and be submitted to Christ his Life, no matter how many men or pastors or apostles he may be submitted to, he can shout long and loud but the authority of the God will not be there.   

            The business of the sons of God is to establish the Theocracy — the rule of God in the midst of men.  Only with the mind of the Spirit can we discern the rule of God.  Paul speaks of it in Philippians 3:20 where he says, “For our conversation is in heaven.”  The Greek word here translated “conversation” is POLITEUMA — politics!  Plainly he says, “Our politics are in heaven.”  Our politics are not out of the Democratic party, or the Republican party, or anybody else’s political party — our politics are right out of the realm of the Spirit  and Power of God.  Our politics are the RULE OF GOD BY THE SPIRIT.  In all of our life and relationships we have no other politics, no other agenda, no other authority, no other source of blessing to humanity. 

            Since the Church is a part of the Kingdom of God it was intended to function in the Theocratic Order.  You see this so powerfully in the beginning, in the book of Acts.  Notice how things were done by the Holy Ghost, by Theocratic principles.  “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul  for the work whereunto I have called them.  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them...they...being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed” (Acts 13:2-4).  “And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias.  And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand upon him, that he might receive his sight.  Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house;  and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.  And when he had received meat, he was strengthened.  And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:10-20).   

            All ministry in the house of God is of divine appointment, on whatever level it may be.  Only the Holy Ghost can do these things.  There is no such thing in the Kingdom of God as appointment to ministry by human authority or hierarchy.  Neither is there such a thing as a self-constituted ministry of a man’s own choosing.  None but God can make or appoint a ministry of any sort or description.  Even in Old Testament times Yahweh called Moses and appointed Aaron and his sons to the priesthood; and if a stranger presumed to meddle with the functions of those so appointed, he was put to death.  Such was the solemn result — the awful consequence of moving out of the order of God’s theocratic order.  “Every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God...and no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron”   “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are diversities of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (I Cor. 12:4-6).  “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him”   “But God hath set some in the church...”  “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and some teachers...” 

            This “church voting” is all nonsense.  I should just as soon ask a flock of sheep to vote where the shepherd should lead them.  I should just as soon expect an army to vote as to what general should lead them.  What army would ever be able to fight successfully, if all its officers, captains, majors, colonels, brigadier-generals, and commander-in-chief depended upon the votes of the soldiers!  I should like to know what kind of an army that would be.  If I were on the other side, I should like to meet that army, because I would put it to rout the first thing.  I should have no fear of an army where the soldiers elected their own officers and voted whether to go into the battle or not.  If they are not pleased today, they put them down tomorrow.  If the battle is going badly, they stop and take a vote whether to fight on.  They would change about thirty times a month.  I would know what could be done with them if I were on the other side.  The devil does not give a snap for the man-made and man-run church systems of this world where your ministers have to preach to please the people, or else have the people butt them out of the pasture.  Nice kind of thing that, is it not?  Nice mess you have gotten yourselves into, treating ministers as if they were cooks.  If they do not happen to season the doctrinal soup from the pulpit to your satisfaction, you say, “Go!”   And they have to go.  Nonsense! 

            In that harlot system which calls itself the church, they have been applying democratic principles to what is supposed to be a theocratic institution.  Every honest man must admit that the Church cannot be the Church of God if it is the Church of the People.  That would be the people’s Church, not God’s.  And that is exactly what it is.  It cannot be the Church of God, because those in the Church of God are born of God, called by God, led by God, positioned by God, nurtured by God, and controlled by God.  In the Church of God the people must not rule, or the Church will surely go to the devil.  Therefore, it has come to pass that in these church systems which have given up the rule to the people and to the devil, you have a most extraordinary condition of things.  You have Theological Seminaries which take young men from the universities and schools and make ministers of them by machinery, like so many sausages from a sausage mill.  The consequence is that the denomination owns him from that time on.  He goes from step to step, taking everything they say, swallowing it all, thinking as they think, acting as they act, and then at last he becomes their minister. 

            How is he called?  In many denominations it is about the same.  They generally go upon the same basis that the people have the right to call the minister.  Do you not know how the people call the minister?  In the first place they have to think of the minister’s salary.  If they go about it the best way, the committee will say, “We will get a first-class talker, a charismatic man with eloquence and charm.  He will attract crowds of people, fill this church, and boom the town.  We cannot afford to have any but a polished man.”  The consequence is that they go to the wealthiest business tycoon in the church  and say, “How much will you help us, Mr. Flesh-pot, to get a good minister?”   He takes enough time to get the cigar out of his mouth and silently damn them, and then he begins to think.  “After all, I cannot afford to let these fellows get just anyone, because I put $50,000 into that church last year, and this town must have a man who can talk.  Well, I will think about it.”  So he tells them he will think about it. 

            At last he sends off to some place where there is a promising young rising star, a fellow who is a go-getter and is talking away.  He is pretty bright.  Mr. Flesh-pot, who is chairman of the committee, and pays all expenses, brings the young fellow to town to hear him preach some trial sermons and see whether he is the man or not.  The question then becomes a question of salary.  The whole question of the call being from God is decided by the salary paid.  That settles the whole thing.  You do not expect it to be a call of God, if there is not more salary paid than you are now receiving.  Mr. Flesh-pot, who has not a spark of spirituality or godliness in him, rules the whole thing.  The committee must do as he says.  As a result a man is chosen who praises society, who charms and entertains, who lives in the world, who walks after the flesh, who minds earthly things, who will not damage any of the interests of Mr. Flesh-pot or any of the other “pots” in the church, who will be very gentle with sin and every carnal thing.  A meeting is called and this man is put before them, and the people vote upon it.  But the “primaries” have already been held and Mr. Flesh-pot’s nominee must be voted for.  What is the consequence?  Dumb dogs in the pulpit!  I would rather break stones in the street than to be a minister of that kind.  And I would rather eat pork and beans three times a day than to be dependent upon any people for a “salary” as one of Babylon’s hirelings, or be voted in by the people to anything. 

            Now I fully realize that the conditions are not quite that extreme in many Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations where the people love to think that they are true to the Word of God and are led by the Spirit.  But I have been there — and I know, and you know, that self-pleasing, pride, fleshly zeal, political manipulations, financial interests, clout of those who have money and control the purse-strings of the church, and a great number of carnal considerations are always involved where the people call the preachers and control the ministry.  The ministers of Babylon are hirelings, one and all,  and the people usurpers of the Holy Ghost.  I have found that the rule of the people in church affairs is a curse unutterable; that the minister loses his ability to walk in the Spirit, loses his sense of being a messenger of God, loses His capacity to function in the government of God, and becomes the mere mouthpiece of some wretched committee or faction representing some miserable party that has attained supremacy in the church.  They hire him as they would hire a cook, and kick him out when the cooking does not suit them. 

            Democracy will always produce, sooner or later, “man’s man” and “man’s plan” rather than “God’s man” and “God's plan.”  This is true in all societies and on all levels where Democracy rather than Theocracy is practiced.  Democracy in the church or Democracy in the United States government did not start in the Throne Room, will never have “rights” in the Throne Room.  It has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God whatsoever.  You see, I am undertaking the most unfashionable kind of thing.  I am undertaking to teach a democratic people to embrace Theocracy; to exchange the rule of themselves, by themselves, and for themselves with the rule of themselves by God and for God.  That is the route of sonship pure and simple.  All who receive the call to sonship sooner or later become thoroughly undeceived by the carnal church system and flee from it as a plague, for it has the horns of a lamb, appearing harmless and good, but it has the voice of a dragon (Rev. 13:1). 

            It is the mind of Christ that will order and govern the world in the Kingdom of God.  Every son of God will be imbued with the mind of Christ and from those holy omniscient minds the life and light and love and authority  and glory of the Lord will flow forth with a power that will encompass the earth with transforming grace and fill it to overflowing with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.  With great earnestness I pray that God will open your understanding, for it is of perfect truth that I tell you that no man can ever hope to reign in the Kingdom of Christ until his will has become one with the will of the Father.  Were it possible for one man to reign in the Kingdom while still possessing his own will in opposition to the will of the Father, it would mean the destruction of the Kingdom with confusion, strife and rebellion.   

            Sons of God, God’s Christ, are the instrument to bring the divine order of God into the lives of all men, for the Head of every man is Christ.  The will of God on earth is in truth the Kingdom of God.  God’s Christ shall also bring the divine order of God into society, into all activities and institutions, until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.  The story I read recently of the farmer who had a visit from the Christian holds much truth for us.  It seems that the farmer had a visit from a young man who constantly remarked of the beauty of the farm in this manner.  “God has just blessed you so much.”  Over and over again the young man could not resist praising God over the great beauty of this farm.  “God has given you so much in this farm,” he would say.  Being somewhat of a salty Christian, the old farmer finally spoke up concerning the zealous praise of the young Christian.  He said, “Well son, it is true that God has blessed this farm.  But, you should have seen it when God had it all to Himself!” 

            Ah, God could sovereignly and independently right every wrong and restore the whole creation to purity and soundness and beauty and incorruptibility in an instant with one sweep of His great hand, if that were His plan.  But God has a better plan!  He is processing a people to bring His peace, His righteousness, the beauty of His nature, His glory and His will to all men and all creatures, beginning on earth, and extending to the extremities of the unbounded heavens.  God has not chosen to bring forth the magnificence of Himself in creation independently and single handedly — the sons of God are the “farmers” He is raising up to establish the harmony of His purpose and the majesty of His Kingdom throughout all His domains.  The first area of land that He has given us to work over, and bring forth a crop unto righteousness, is ourselves.  Today God has chosen to bring His Kingdom to pass in all the earth through us.  Plant wisely, water faithfully, cultivate carefully, my brother, my sister, that there shall be an abundant harvest of salvation and righteousness unto the ends of the earth. 

            Jesus Christ preached the good news of the Kingdom of God.  He is Himself the King of this Kingdom and the sons of God are His joint-rulers.  He is the firstborn of many brethren who are kings as He is King and priests as He is Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  As George Hawtin has so eloquently written, “These are they who during their life on earth went unto Him without the camp of the world’s denominations and systems, bearing His reproach,  that they might be received and taught as sons of their heavenly Father.  Long ago amid the shadows of earth they heard and obeyed God’s call, ‘Come out of her, my people, and be separate; and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’  In their obedience God became their Father.  As a Father He instructed them, broke them free from the blinding traditions and doctrines of men.  He rebuked them as any loving father rebukes his children.  He chastised them as a father chastises his son, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  For if we receive not chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are we bastards and not sons.  As a Father He fed them, and He fed them on His Living Word of Life, they became partakers of the divine mind, the divine nature, the divine will.  The mind that was in Christ Jesus dwelt in them and as it increased they were thoroughly transformed by the renewing of their minds.  These are the kings, the priests,  and the judges of His glorious and eternal Kingdom”   — end quote. 

            God’s Theocratic government will yet break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, within and without.  And He doesn’t need your vote!  You don’t need to “believe” it to make it come to pass.  It is not going to happen just because enough people “want” it to!  No, it is happening and shall continue to happen in spite of all of us — the Kingdom is coming whether the world expects it or not!  The world wasn’t expecting Jesus two millennia ago.  The world wasn’t expecting the power of God that came at Pentecost.  The world wasn’t “believing” for the apostles to appear on the scene in the power and demonstration of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The world didn’t “want” the Church to arise in the midst of the earth and overthrow all the gods and temples and priesthoods of the pagans.  And the world isn’t planning on the manifestation of the sons of God.  As I listen to the ridiculous blather of politicians; weigh and compare the absolutely mind-boggling problems of this world against their sugar-coated promises, how THANKFUL I am that the security, prosperity, safety and protection of my family and our destiny do not depend on the feeble machinations of power-hungry men.  Yes, THANK GOD for God’s Christ, for His unfailing promises, for His answers to prayer, for His healing, delivering, miracle working power, for the wisdom of His ways, the righteousness, peace and joy of His Spirit, the understanding of His mind, the undergirding of His strength, the majesty of His glory, the authority of His Word, the inner stability of His substance, the love, purity, faith and might of His nature, the quickening, transforming power of His life — THIS IS THE POWER AND GLORY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD! 

            I believe in the rule of J.  Preston Eby by God  and for God.  Nothing else has any potential beyond this dismal realm of sin, death and the grave.  If it had not been that God ruled me I would have gone to the devil long ago.  I know just a little of my own heart, though it is abundantly true that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and the wise man wisely asked, “Who can know it?”  Yet I know just a little of my own heart and I have seen enough in the little I know to realize that I would have shipwrecked on some benighted shoals of sin, shame, delusion or death were it not for the rule of God in my life by the Spirit.  This is precisely why the Kingdom of God has to be within. 

            The gospel of the Kingdom of God is the gospel Jesus brought the world.  In every parable, in every simile in which He put His gospel before His disciples and the multitudes, He spoke of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.  The Kingdom of God is the whole aim and purpose of God’s great gift to humanity.  I proclaim to you today, as a minister of God, as an ambassador of His Kingdom, that God’s highest purpose in the earth is the establishment of the Kingdom — the Kingdom of God in every heart, the Kingdom of God in the home, the Kingdom of God in the workplace, the Kingdom of God between employers and employees, the Kingdom of God in the civic affairs of the city, the Kingdom of God in the government of the state, the Kingdom of God to rule in every nation and every land from sea to sea and from pole to pole.  God has sent salvation to save us from the kingdom of men and of devils.  The rule of men can never lift the world  out of the abyss of hate and war and poverty and sickness and sin and sorrow and death.           

            The Kingdom of God has been despised and hated by every government, by the politician, and by all carnal and corrupt men and women.  They all approve of a Kingdom that some day will come, but they want nothing to do with a rule of God that comes right now into their world and upsets and destroys the sovereignty of man.  They always strive to separate God from government, God from business, God from education, and God from social services.  They say you must not have religion in your politics, in your media, or in your business.  You must let the devil rule the government.  You must let the devil rule business.  You must let the devil rule your pleasures.  You must let the devil rule your schools.  You must let the devil rule the press.   

            The day is coming when the devil will not rule any more in any of these places.  The day is coming when there will be no more voting in America, no more elections, no more corrupt politics, no more national networks with their stars and superstar newscasters covering major conventions, no more convention halls decorated in bright colors, or delegates  wearing loud-colored casual or sports attire, many with outlandish oversized hats.  No more whoop-and-holler demonstrations, or thousands with balloons, like little children at play.  No more political signs and placards, no more of the usual politics being played secretly from smoke-filled hotel suites away from convention halls — the jockeying for selfish advantage, political gain and coveting of power.  No more polished speeches and lying orations promising everybody everything and delivering nothing. 

            The day is coming when the saints shall judge the earth; when the overcoming sons of God shall be given power over the nations to rule them with the iron rod of righteous dominion and transforming power; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.  Let all men know that it is the Almighty God who is the designer and architect of all the nations of the world.  The time periods and localities in which nations flourish have all been pre-arranged  by the will of Him who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).  The truth of this cannot be made any plainer than it is by Moses in Deuteronomy 32:8: “When the Most High divided the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”  Paul refers to this verse in Acts 17:26-27: “And hath made of one blood ALL NATIONS of men for to dwell  on all the face of the earth, AND HATH DETERMINED THE TIMES BEFORE APPOINTED, and the BOUNDS OF THEIR HABITATION; that they should seek the Lord.”   

            How plain it is that it was GOD who, from the beginning, set the bounds of habitation or the national boundaries of ALL NATIONS.  These boundaries were established in relation to Israel and with a view to their being able to seek after the Lord.  It is remarkable that the land of Palestine was originally reserved by the wisdom and goodness of the Lord for the possession of His special people and the display of the most stupendous signs and wonders.  The theater was small, but wonderfully suited for the convenient observation of the whole human race — at the junction of the two continents of Asia and Africa, and almost in sight of Europe.  From this spot as from a common center the reports of God’s wonderful works, of His mighty power and awesome glory, of the glad tidings of salvation through the obedience, suffering, and resurrection of His precious Son, of the wonder-filled outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as the faithful disciples of Jesus were set ablaze by the life and power of their glorified Lord, might be rapidly and easily wafted to every part of the globe.   

            Yes, God set the bounds of habitation for all nations and planted Israel at the crossroads, to the end that ALL NATIONS should seek after the Lord.  Out of Israel came the Christ; out of the Christ has come the Church, His bride (Eph. 5:21-33); out of Church shall come forth the manchild, the manifested sons of God, destined to bring blessed and glorious and ultimate deliverance to the whole creation that it might be fulfilled which God promised to father Abraham: “And in thy seed shall ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). ALL NATIONS shall be blessed!  Some still don’t believe it.  Some tell me that only the Church is to be blessed, or only some people in the nations are to be blessed, or that the Kingdom has nothing to do with nations — only some invisible entity in the spirit realm.  What a prospect!  From the very beginning God not only designed the nations of men that dwell upon the earth; He also planned and purposed to bless them — each and every one of them in their totality!  This speaks not of the blessing of Israel, nor the blessing of the Church,  nor of the blessing of the saints of God within the nations, nor the blessing of spiritual people in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; it is THE NATIONS THEMSELVES that must come under the gracious hand of God in blessing and quickening until every part and form and fashion thereof has been raised up into the Kingdom of God.  Hallelu-yah!  What a Saviour! 

            David, the sweet singer of Israel, intoned this hope in the spirit of prophecy:  “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us; that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among ALL NATIONS.  Let the people praise Thee, O God; let ALL the people praise Thee!  O let THE NATIONS be glad and sing for joy: for Thou shalt JUDGE THE PEOPLE righteously, and GOVERN THE NATIONS upon earth...yea, ALL KINGS shall bow down before Him: ALL NATIONS SHALL SERVE HIM” (Ps. 67:1-4; 72:11).  It is obvious that all nations do not today serve the Lord, neither do all kings (rulers) fall down before Him.  Communist China does not serve the Lord, neither do its rulers acknowledge Him.  Iran does not serve the Lord.  Iraq does not serve the Lord.  Great numbers of nations do not today serve the Lord, and few of their rulers fall down before Him.  But the day is surely coming when all nations shall be joined to the Lord and fulfill their obligations to Him as their Maker and Saviour.  If that day never comes, then I will have to tear my Bible to pieces and the Word of God will have to be relegated to the scrap heap of ancestral errors.  But the promise is sure: “Arise, O God, judge the earth: for Thou shalt INHERIT ALL NATIONS.  ALL NATIONS whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy name.  For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things” (Ps. 82:8; 86:9-10).   

            Many precious “fragments” reveal God’s ultimate purpose for mankind, when “ALL the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and ALL KINDREDS OF THE NATIONS shall worship before Thee, for the kingdom is the Lord’s and HE is the governor among the nations” (Ps. 22:27-28).  Almighty Father!  “Thy Kingdom Come!”

To be continued...