Our desire is that the Holy Spirit, who is the Divine Revealer and Interpreter of Christ and His truth, may impart to your hearts a sober, spiritual and sanctifying receptivity of His Word

[Guest guest]

>

> Dear All,

>

> As messengers and believers of the Last Judgement and Resurrection

> we have all the evidence and enlightenment directly from the Spirit

> of God, as well as the freedom, mandate and blessings of Her

> incarnation Shri Mataji to spread the Good News of the Kingdom of

> God. Let's spend the rest of our lives fulfilling the deepest

> desire of Shri Mataji to help emancipate humanity.

>

> We should realize that " the eschatological aspect of the kingdom

> possesses for Jesus supreme, absolute interest and is not a mere

> fringe, as it were, of His consciousness, nor a mere accidental form

> for expressing the truth that the religious and ethical forces must

> revolutionize the world. "

>

> If you truly want to be that religious and ethical force that will

> revolutionize the world to the eschatological aspect of the kingdom,

> then be prepared to spend all your spare time, energy and attention

> on fulfilling it. As i have said, we have all the evidence and

> enlightenment from both the Spirit of God and Her incarnation Shri

> Mataji to spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God. All you need

> do is point seekers to the websites. That is all you need to do.

> Nothing else - no lectures, meetings, talks, conversations,

> arguments, or public programs. From the relaxed atmosphere of your

> home you can refer seekers to the http://adishakti.org site and

> help Shri Mataji fulfill the Eschatology of Jesus. It cannot get

> easier than that as the full and complete message of the Comforter

> is openly declared. You will be doing exactly what is expected of

> you by the Savior, Holy Spirit and God Almighty - spreading the

> Good News! Period!

>

> regards to all,

>

> jagbir

>

 

" Our desire is that the Holy Spirit, who is the Divine Revealer and

Interpreter of Christ and His truth, may impart to your hearts a

sober, spiritual and sanctifying receptivity of His Word — abasing

self, and exalting Christ! Our intention is to unfold and illustrate

the Lord Jesus Christ in the relation in which He stands to His

people — to unveil His glory, beauty, and fullness — to define the

close bond of union that unites to Him all His people — and to bring

you into a more personal realization of what Christ is to you, and of

what you are to Christ. " (Octavius Winslow)

 

Our objective is to set before the Christian pilgrim some reflections

which may prove challenging, consolatory and encouraging — as he

journeys up from this bleak, arid, wilderness world, leaning on his

Beloved.

 

May God's blessing attend our humble effort to minister comfort to

the downcast, strength to the weak, and courage to those who have set

their faces towards their glorious eternal home.

 

www.gracegems.org/

 

 

The Book Of The Last Days.

 

" The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show

unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent

and signified it by His angel unto His servant John—who bore record

of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all

things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the

words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written

therein—for the time is at hand! " —Revelation 1:1-3.

 

The TITLE of this last and most wondrous of inspired books is 'the

revelation (uncovering, unveiling) of Jesus Christ'.

It is He who " unveils, " and it is He who is here unveiled to us, and

who shines out with transfiguration-brightness before the Church's

eye. The spirit and sum of this book is 'testimony to Jesus' (ch.

19:10). He is its Alpha and its Omega. We find Him everywhere—in

description, in song, in symbol, in prediction; in things past,

present, and to come. Here Christ is all and in all. This last book

completes the " unveiling " which was begun in the Gospels and carried

on through the Epistles. The last fragment of the veil is here taken

from His face. We see Him as He is, on the Father's right hand, on

the throne, through the rent veil. The heavens are opened, and we see

Him (as Stephen did) in His present glory and in the glory of His

second coming.

 

Which God gave unto Him.

This unveiling is given to Him by the Father that He may give it to

us; for even on the throne is He subject to the Father (1 Corinthians

15:28), waiting on His will and doing it. This revelation is God's

gift to Him, and it is His gift to us; becoming thus doubly precious,

as a gift worthy of God—worthy to be given to Him, and worthy to be

given by Him to us.

 

To show unto His servants.

" Show " is the word used in the case of Moses—'the pattern showed to

you in the mount' (Exodus 25:40; Hebrews 8:5); and is almost always

used in reference to things submitted to the eye. They are sons, yet

servants also; both of these names of honor belonging to Him who was

both the Son and the Servant of the Father (Romans 1:1; Philippians

1:1; Revelation 7:3, 22:3). This book, then, consists of the things

shown by Christ to His servants.

 

The things that must shortly come to pass.

He had said, " This generation shall not pass away until all these

things happen " . The word is the same, signifying, not to be

fulfilled, but to be or begin to be. So here it is the things that

must shortly (or quickly) be—the things just about to be, that the

Lord shows to His servants. And what He has shown to us it becomes us

to study. These things are the unveiling of Christ, and of earth's

future, in connection with Him, both in grace and glory, both in love

and wrath. These are some of the things which the angels desire to

look into, and in carrying out which they are specially 'ministering

spirits;' and it does not become us, whom they chiefly concern, to

slight them. Seeing that God has revealed them, we may conclude that

they are neither too high nor too low for us, but worthy of most

earnest thought. The tendency of the present age is to set aside

prophecy as specially belonging to the supernatural, and therefore

incredible and impossible to comprehend. Let us stand aloof from this

incredulity, and welcome the prophetic word as all the more precious

because supernatural and specially divine.

 

And He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.

More exactly the words run, 'and He signified it (having sent it by

His angel) to His servant John.' This 'unveiling' is of no common

importance; for mark the steps by which it reaches us. The Father

gives it to the Son; the Son summons His angel (perhaps the angel who

once and again ministered to Him on earth, as in Gethsemane); this

angel descends from heaven with it, and makes it known to the prophet

(ch. 22:16). All the agencies in heaven and earth are thus brought

into connection with it. How valuable its contents must be when such

pains are taken with its transmission! Shall we slight that book

which has been thus attested and honored?

 

Here being those references to angelic agency of which this book is

full. God takes us (as in Daniel) behind the scenes, and shows us the

living instrumentality through which the movements of earth and the

judgments of divine righteousness are wrought. We look into the inner

and invisible world, and see angels there at work, executing God's

purposes—the 'angels who excel in strength;' who 'do His commandments,

hearkening to the voice of His word;' His 'hosts;' His 'ministers

that do His pleasure' (Psalm 103:20-21). ANGELS have far more to do

in the affairs both of the Church and the world than we generally

conceive. Ever at hand, ever waiting and watching, ever working, they

help, they protect, they strengthen, they deliver, or they smite,

they destroy, the inflict the judgments of God. In this last book of

the Bible there is more of angelic ministry, both for good and evil,

than in any other; as if men would need more to be reminded of this

in the last days; and as if, when Satan comes down with his hosts,

having great wrath, Michael and his hosts were to have more to do

than ever; as if, in the battle of the great day, their numbers

required to be reinforced, and their reserves brought up, to meet the

multitudinous foe.

 

Who bore record of the word of God.

It is the same JOHN who said, 'In the beginning was the Word,' that

now is written to by his Lord. He who testified of his Lord on earth

now testifies of Him as He sits in heaven. And we know that his

testimony is true. The Word spoken of in the Gospel, and the Word

revealed in the Apocalypse, are one (Revelation 9:13); both of them

revealing wonderfully the Son of the Father, the one in His grace,

and the other in His glory. To believe this 'record' is to become a

son of God; for it is faith that introduces us into the heavenly

family. He who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

 

And of the testimony of 'Jesus Christ'.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, no less than of the

four Gospels. To make known the divine contents of these two glorious

names—Jesus and Christ—was John's special mission, both at the

beginning and at the close of his life. He is a witness for Jesus

from first to last. It is not merely of the eternal Word that he

testifies, but of the 'Word made flesh,' 'God manifest in flesh,' the

bearer of sin, the 'Savior of the world,' the Anointed of the Holy

Spirit.

 

And of all things that he 'saw'.

Here also the Gospel and the Revelation are similar. In the former we

have what John saw of Jesus on earth (John 19:35 'he who saw bore

record') in the latter, what he saw of Jesus in heaven. The earthly

grace and the heavenly glory are thus proclaimed to us on like sure

authority—that of an eye-witness, an inspired eye-witness, whose

testimony has in it all that is true and certain, both in God and

man. It is all true. Not only do the water and the blood bear

witness, but 'the Spirit bears witness' (1 John 5:6); the testimony

of God is greater than all the testimony of man (1 John 5:9). The

reception of this testimony by the sinner, is life eternal.

 

Blessed is he who 'reads'.

What God calls blessedness must be great; and that word 'blessed' is

used by Him very frequently in the Old Testament and New. In this

book it occurs seven times (1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7,

22:14), as if the fullness or perfection of blessedness were

contained in what this book reveals. The word " reads " refers to the

public reading in the church (Luke 4:16; Acts 15:21; Colossians 4:16;

Revelation 5:4). The reader even in his public reading finds

blessing. God blesses him in so doing. Into him as well as out of him

flow rivers of living water. Most wondrous book! It begins and ends

with blessing on those who read it and give heed to it. How much has

the Church of God lost by her neglect of it! It may be hard to be

understood; but the privilege of reading it and keeping its sayings

remains the same. Surely the Holy Spirit knew what He wrote, when He

pronounced blessings on its readers and its observers! Not to gratify

the curious; not to suit itching ears; not to encourage human

speculation or restless guesses; not to excite the excitable, or

furnish materials for poetry; but to feed the Church of God; to be a

light in a dark place; to set up a line of beacons along the rocky

and stormy coast of the Church's perilous voyage; to be her chart and

compass in the last days; to make man wakeful, happy, and blessed; to

bring us into sympathy with the mind and purpose of God—these are the

objects of a book in which Father, Son, and spirit are all engaged.

 

And those who 'hear' the words of this prophecy.

Those who are but listeners receive the blessing too. To hear the

voice of God speaking to us in grace, though to the world in

judgment, is blessedness. 'Open ears' are the least that God can

expect when He speaks. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! The

words spoken are so full of God, so full of Christ, so full of the

Spirit, that in listening we are blessed. His doctrine drops as the

rain, and distills as the dew. 'Blessed are those who hear,' are

among the opening words of this wondrous Revelation; and 'let him who

hears say, Come,' are among its closing ones. The result produced

upon the hearer by the reading of these prophecies should be to make

him say, " come! " 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus!'

 

And 'keep' those things that are written therein.

'If you know these things, happy are you if you DO them.'

The 'keeping' and the 'doing' are the consequent of the 'hearing.'

The 'keeping' of Christ's word is what is specially enforced here.

For the Revelation is a thoroughly practical book, meant to bear upon

our daily life, to guide the Church, to warn kings and kingdoms, to

lift us out of the region of the visible into that of the invisible!

'Keep the words of this book' is Christ's message to the Church and

the Churches. But how shall we 'keep' them if we do not study the

book? Whether we fully comprehend it or not, let us study it. Each

perusal will give a new insight into its visions; we shall take on

the mold and impress of its truths, even unconsciously, in the simple

childlike reading of it.

 

For the time is at hand.

Coming judgments, coming glories, a coming Judge, and a coming

kingdom—these are some of the things held up before our eyes. In

regard to all these we are bidden to 'watch.' When and how they are

to burst upon our world, and to awaken the slumbering church, we know

not. The time has always been concealed. It is uncertain. It may be

soon. " Of that day and hour knows no man. " " Awake you who sleep, " for

the time is at hand. The trumpet is always ready to sound; the last

storm is always just on the point of breaking. Christ is

always 'coming.' The end of all things is at hand. Whether we are

able to reconcile these words with the delay of so many centuries, it

matters not. The words were meant to be words of warning, on account

of the suddenness of the final crisis. In looking forward from a

human view-point, and measuring the times and seasons by a human

standard, the above expression may seem 'hard to be understood;'

looking back upon it hereafter from the eternal view-point, we shall

see how it was always near.

 

Here let us stop short and gather up the following LESSONS, taught us

in these verses by the Spirit of God—

 

I. God wishes us to study Christ. Again and again He opens out

His 'unsearchable riches,' and gives us another and another view of

the 'unspeakable gift.' Study His person; study His work—the wisdom,

and the power, and the love of God are there! Study all His fullness,

and, as you study it, drink it in! Study the cross; study the

resurrection; study the present majesty of the ascended and

interceding Christ; study His coming glory as Judge, and King, and

Bridegroom. There is none like Him—neither shall ever be. He is the

chief among ten thousand; the only perfect One; the all-perfect One;

the representative of the invisible Godhead; the doer of the Father's

will; the accomplisher of the Father's purpose—both of vengeance and

of grace.

 

II. Christ wishes us to study Himself. 'Look unto me,' He says in

this book. Jesus showed to His servant John the things concerning

Himself, that the Church in all ages might see and know these things.

He unveils Himself in His glory, and says, Look on me! Here Christ is

all and in all; and He would gladly teach us here what that all is,

and what that in all implies.

 

III. Christ uses 'human' messengers. He is head over all things to

the Church, and He makes use of all things as His servants, saying to

one, 'Go,' and he goes, to another, 'Come,' and he comes. Though

invisible now and in the heaves, He uses human agencies still. He

speaks through men; He teaches through men; He comforts through men;

He warns through men. 'We beg you, in Christ's stead be you

reconciled to God,' are words which show us how He stands towards us.

 

IV. God uses 'angelic' messengers. In the government both of the

church and of the world He makes use of angels. They are ministering

spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of

salvation. Jesus comes Himself to John; yet the Revelation comes to

John by an angel. How the angel communicated with John we know not.

Who he was, whether Michael or Gabriel, we know not. But it is an

angelic messenger that is made use of here. This whole book is full

of angelic agencies and ministries. God lifts a little of the veil,

and shows us angels at work in conducting the affairs of earth. This

is the book of ANGELS—for the word occurs in it seventy-six times.

They minister to man; they execute God's judgments; they do His will

here; excelling in strength, and able to counteract the power of

Satan and his angels.

 

V. God annexes a 'special blessedness' to the study of this book. Few

believe this; fewer act upon it. The Apocalypse is too many like the

Sibyl's books, or the Iliad of Homer. The so-called philosophy of the

age is undermining the prophetic word, reducing it to a mere

collection of figures, or symbolic representation of principles or

abstract truths. Prophecy as the direct prediction by God of what is

to come to pass on earth is set aside, and the prophetic books are

studies merely in reference to their poetry or their lofty ideas.

Blessedness in studying them is seldom thought of, even by many

Christians. Yet the word of God here stands true. Prophecy is a sure

word, and it is as blessed as it is sure. Woe to him who slights it!

Blessed are all those who meditate on it, seek to know it, and take

it for guidance and counsel in the evil day!

 

www.gracegems.org/19/r01.htm