Balance, balance, balance is what God demonstrates as we adhere to a new thinking of God’s ways.When interpreting scripture,the idea of subjective experience can be a pendulum swinging into the opposite direction. So let me add this: when God shows you something, it is His way to have you read and study, and the reading and studying provides the information God assembles in your thoughts. However, that does not mean you have to interpret as you read—that usually comes later when God speaks to you His thoughts on the matter. In contrast, most Christians are content with man’s interpretation of scripture instead of knowing God through scripture. When we interpret scripture apart from knowing God, it results in the spirit of law, sin, and death. What I’m saying is this: we study scripture combined with the Holy Spirit interpreting within us; thus, we are to be scholarly revelators.
Currently, all of us believe some goofy doctrines; mainly, because of those who taught the law-type of teachings. As if a racing baton was handed down from generation to generation, we received the sayings of those who read scripture wrong.
History records a period disconnected from the traditions of the original apostles, prophets, and believers—a period many call the Dark Ages. We started all over, with few exceptions. What happened? We have been in a period of transition (concerning certain truths), much as in the time of Jesus. Before John the Baptist there was a gap of hundreds of years since the last prophet in Israel. It was part of the plan of God to have that gap, and it is part of the plan of God to have this gap. This time, Israel (a picture of the church) witnesses another John the Baptist (God’s present-truth message used to prepare God’s people) and another Jesus (a remnant church). Using symbolism we see a pattern God communicates.
(If you are new to symbolism, as in this previous paragraph, simply remain prayerful and studious, and God will use symbols to illustrate His ways to you. Symbols can be misused, though, but when you see them through the eyes of the Spirit, they portray an astoundingly detailed painting of the plan of God.)
I do not expect the immature church to grasp this message of “finishing” until a remnant (a picture of Gideon’s three hundred) of believers see and demonstrate it first. Allow me to qualify the definition of the term remnant church, as we use it in this application. When I say remnant I mean a people considered mature Christians. What is maturity? It takes a long journey to paint a picture that defines this popular Christian word.
Most Christians might progress a little, but are no-where close to God’s finishing line for their life. They have decided the meaning of their pet doctrines and their favorite scripture, refusing change. They are ones possessing the law. They are in a period of law! I am not saying they are categorically law oriented, though. The Temple Builders message is not about whether one is in the kingdom or out of the kingdom; it is about areas of our life amiss.
Are law type of Christians doomed to law? Some think so. I do not think so at all—that is, unless they go too far. I see a display of mercy that reaches to those bound by law—to deliver. I see a remnant people, a core group of believers, possessing the promised relationship of John chapter 14 to chapter 16. In that relationship they learned to hear a voice few have ever heard, a voice teaching scripture accurately, with no more controversies, no more misunderstandings, and no more debates. We yield to One of greater understanding. The remnant of God is a people preaching in the wilderness, a people laying down their life for their brother. Self-preservation and self-promotion cannot be named among them. Before we become a great witness to the world, we become a great witness to the church. This follows the pattern of the Early church, “to the Jew first, then to the Greek.”
