**A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 21 **
We cannot understand why God would allow some Christians to escape the Great Tribulation while leaving others to go through it until we understand God’s ultimate goal for His Church.
Sometimes we are so focused on our own goals and what we want that we don’t realize that God is working in our lives to achieve His higher, and more perfect goals.
“My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans. Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and don’t return there without watering the earth, making it conceive and yield plants and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater, so is my word that comes from my mouth; it does not return to me empty. Instead, it does what I want, and accomplishes what I intend.” —Isaiah 55:8-11 (CEB)
When we understand God’s goals, then we can work together in cooperation with Him to achieve those goals.
This will help to bring peace and contentment into our lives as we finally begin to walk with God instead of working against what He is doing in our lives and pursuing our own goals which may conflict with His goals.
The Body of Christ Must Reach Perfect Maturity
You may have been taught that there is a 5-fold ministry in the Church, but you may not have been taught *why *God put these ministers among us.
“He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ”—Ephesians 4:11-15 (CEB)
God’s goal is for the entire body of Christ to attain perfect maturity in the image of Christ. He is working to achieve that by bringing each individual to perfect maturity in the Body of Christ.
“For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.”—Romans 8:29 (AMPC)
This is God’s goal for you and for me: perfect maturity in the image of Christ. This is His goal for each individual. This is what God is working to achieve in your life. Success in achieving this goal depends on your cooperation with what God is doing in your life. It all depends on the choices you make every day.
Jesus’ command to us is to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NIV).
That word, “perfect,” means to be “full grown,” “an adult of full age,” “fully mature.”
“That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”—2 Timothy 3:17 (KJV)
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”—Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
“Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.”—Deuteronomy 18:13 (KJV)
“Now may the God of peace [the source of serenity and spiritual well-being] who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood that sealed and ratified the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing to carry out His will and strengthen you [making you complete and perfect as you ought to be], accomplishing in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”—Hebrews 13:20-21 (AMP)
The Urgency of the Hour
The original church leaders understood the urgency. We have only a short time to cooperate with God to achieve God’s standard of perfect maturity in Christ.
The apostles understood that it was their responsibility to help bring each individual to perfect maturity in Christ. That is what they strove to do.
“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”—Colossians 1:28 (NKJV)
“We are glad when we are weak and you are strong. That is what we are praying for—your maturity.”—2 Corinthians 13:9 (ISV)
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”—Colossians 4:12 (NKJV)
“Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us stay true to what we have already attained.”—Philippians 3:12-16 (AMP)
“We continue to pray night and day most earnestly that we may see you face to face, and may complete whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your faith.”—1 Thessalonians 3:10 (AMP)
The Harvest Must Be Fully Ripe
Jesus uses the metaphor of a harvest to describe the end of this age.
“the harvest is the end of the age”—Matthew 13:39 (NKJV)
The harvest must be allowed to remain in the field until it is fully mature and ripe.
As Dan Cummins correctly points out in his book Until the Harvest, wheat comes to maturity in the field before it is harvested. It does not ripen *after *harvest, but before.
“Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.”—James 5:7-8 (NLT)
We are approaching the end of this age very rapidly. When the end of this age arrives, there will be no more time for us to mature. Time is up. The harvest must take place whether we are ready or not.
“Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. **And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”—**Mark 4:26-29 (NLT)
Those who are not mature when the firstfruits of the harvest are taken *before *the Tribulation will be left in the field to be brought to maturity *through *the Great Tribulation period.
Jesus describes these believers in the parable of the sower. They are so caught up with the cares and distractions of this life that the fruit of their lives never reaches maturity.
“And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).”—Luke 8:14 (AMPC)
The Bride Must Be Made Ready
“From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.”—Psalm 50:2 (NLT)
Jesus is returning soon. He is returning for His Bride. She must be ready when He returns. There will be no second chances. As we see in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, when the bridegroom comes, those who are ready will go in with Him to the wedding celebration. But for those who are not ready at that time, the door will be shut.
Jesus is not returning for a bride who is half-ready; who is stained with the corruption of this world; who is in agreement with the devil; or who is compromising with sin. He is returning for a pure bride who is without stain or blemish.
“Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless.”—Ephesians 5:25-27 (AMP)
Jesus will have a bride who is perfect and complete, without spot or wrinkle or stain, even if He has to put her through the heavy-duty wash cycle of the Great Tribulation to clean her up!
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”—2 Corinthians 7:1 (NKJV)
This is a work of the Spirit. Spiritual maturity is not something that we can accomplish independently through our own efforts, but we *can *accomplish this as we cooperate with what God is working to do in us.
“Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?”—Galatians 3:3 (AMP)
We cooperate with God’s work in us by meditating on God’s Word to let it transform our souls, and by responding to the circumstances of life in ways that please God. In doing this, we walk daily in agreement with what God is doing in our lives.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.”—Romans 12:2 (ISV)
