11/25 Reading - Thoughts & Comments DX3

25-Nov Daniel 7-8, Acts 27-28, Psalms 141-145, Proverbs 25

Come on already! When will the judgment finally sit and bring an end to Satan's kingdom?

Dan 7:25-27 (KJV) 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

We are living in a time where believers everywhere are asking themselves seriously if this is the END TIMES.  When we talk about end times, we open ourselves up to a thousand teachings from different perspectives, different streams and different understandings.  Believers have been taught so many different things about the end times that I hesitate to ever enter a conversation with them in this subject matter.  Many quarrels break out among believers who are supposed to be united, because they can't come into agreement on pre-trib rapture, mid-trib, post-trib, no trib, no rapture, the second coming of Christ as the rapture, then the return of Christ with the saints as the third coming of Christ... it gets very wearisome to me personally.  My spiritual father told me that he asked God which of these theories was true, and God told him, "All of them are partially true but mostly wrong."  When I heard this, I settled in my heart to not be a fighter in this area.  As a pastor early on in my ministry, I had proven the point that I believed was true about the end times during a church service.   I did an excellent job at proving my point in a scriptural way, and I lost 5 good church members who could no longer walk with me because I violated their personal belief in the end times.  They would never allow me to speak into their lives again.  I guess I won the battle and lost the war.  A great lesson for a pastor to learn early in life, if he is going to be a successful leader.  

I would like to declare a point that believers will NOT fight about, but which most believers never think about, and they have a hard time grasping concerning the end times.  And that point is "WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE SUPPOSED SEVEN YEAR PERIOD THAT EVERYONE FIGHTS AND ARGUES ABOUT?"

Daniel has repeated revelations and dreams about the end times, the setting up and tearing down of kingdoms, and how things will work in later days.  He was a true prophet of the Lord, and as we read through Daniel I encourage you to take note of his dreams of the end times. They all carry a central theme which ends up giving the kingdom to the saints, but not without ACTION!

Today's scripture reveals 4 great kingdoms and the 4th is very powerful and boasts against the most high God.  And this 4th kingdom with iron teeth resists and fights against the saints for a period of time.  It's interesting that he actually overcomes the saints, defeats them, and wins against the saints - UNTIL..............        

The judgment shall sit and they (saints) will take away his dominion.  And the kingdom and dominion will be given to the saints of the Most High God, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.  This is a very powerful end times dream and interpretation given by Daniel.

The fact of the matter is that you and I can expect times in our lives when we are resisted by the devil, or by forces who are holding on to their dominion.  BUT when the judgment sits - the saints take away his dominion and the kingdom is given into their hands.  So here is  a good question:  When will the judgment sit?  Haven't the saints experienced enough resistance and wearing out?  Haven't the saints been in "his" hand long enough?  When oh Lord will you sit and judge this matter, and strip the devil of his dominion?

The FACTS are:
1.  God gave Adam dominion over the earth (not humans) in Gen. 1:26.
2.  Adam lost that dominion when he rebelled in the garden and fell to earth which became his permanent graveyard.
3.  Jesus Christ came to earth to die for all mankind, dragging adam and all men into death with him, so that when He rose from the dead, we all rose with Him in newness of life as Sons and Daughters of God.  Death no longer has mastery over us, and sin no longer enslaves us because we are NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST.
4.  You and I now have dominion over the earth once again, through Christ.  Yet Adam an the old natured boys still try to hold that dominion.  Principalities and powers, rulers of the air, and wicked forces of spiritual evil in the next dimension work through and use non regenerate adam-ites to do their bidding, speak their language, and maintain their dominion over the earth (and man, which God never gave them dominion over).
5. The evil entities of satan, one world order boys, governments, presidents, kings and leaders everywhere are controlled by the dominion of the old world.  They are attempting to rebuild a one world system that will issue centralized control, power, and will be worshipped by the masses because of the government, authority, and supposed life that the centralized, one world government gives to the world.
6.  The FACT is that "THE JUDGMENT SHALL SIT" is something that already happened 2,000 years ago when Jesus hung on the cross, saying, "IT IS FINISHED"!  
7.  We are dead to sin and the curse of the law, but we now LIVE in Christ and under the grace of God in newness of life, free from the old sin, bondage and DOMINION of satan's old system of control, bondage and death. We are free!
8. The judgment SAT 2,000 years ago when God brought all judgment upon mankind through His Son who hung on the cross for us all.  

So if the judgment has already SAT, what happens to the dominion of the 4th kingdom in Daniel?  Well, actually I believe that God is waiting for us to wake up and smell the coffee.  We must realize that the old system HAS BEEN judged and HAS NO AUTHORITY over us. He was stripped of his authority which he stole from Adam in the garden, and the authority belongs to Christ and His brethren (saints) who have been raised together with Him (that would be YOU AND I!).

Here are a few (certainly not all) scriptures that show the death, burial, resurrection, and the newness of life that has been given to all who trust in Jesus:

Romans 6:5-12 (NIV) 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Romans 6:14 (KJV) 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 7:1 (NIV)1 Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Romans 7:4-6 (NIV)4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

I believe that God is waking us up to the FACT that the judgment has already sat, and the dominion has already been given to the saints of the Most High God.  When we realize this (or make this real, real-ize), we will strip satan bare of the dominion that he has been holding onto for 2,000 years.  The saints of the most high God will possess the kingdom and the "old school" authorities will be forced to give up their hold, their reign, their positions and their schemes.

I"m not saying that there won't be a great battle between our old way of thinking and our new way of thinking.  The old authorities will not just lay down their dominion and walk away.  There will be times and seasons of great pressure, resistance, and spiritual warfare.  As Jericho walled themselves up against Israel, so will these principalities hide behind huge, walled structures that only God and man's obedience to Him will take down. But God HAS GIVEN us the land of promise, and the entire earth and all the inhabitants belong to Him - PERIOD.  If we are His heirs, then we are heirs of the promise, and heirs of all He owns.  WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD!

I believe that God will continue to open us up and cause us to understand what has already been done through the death on the cross.  We're actually going to be able to look forward into the future based on our history, and seize the kingdom for God based on what HAS ALREADY happened.  Many people say that God is getting ready to do something big.  Actually, many people in that mindset will say that through their entire lives, waiting for God to do something big.  But I believe that God HAS ALREADY done something so big, that He wrapped it up with a bow on top, and had His dear Son Jesus say, "IT IS FINISHED!"

Isaiah 30:20-21 (NIV)20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

There will be battles to win, revelations to grasp, and change that must come to our understanding.  Slaves must turn to kings, and children must grow up to become sons of God.  But the future is very bright and the times we live in are very exciting as we learn that THE JUDGMENT HAS ALREADY SAT!  There is only one thing left now for the saints of God!      

MONDAY'S READING:
26-Nov Daniel 9-10, Romans 1-2, Psalms 146-150, Proverbs 26