HOLINESS REVIVAL MOVEMENT WORLDWIDE
DAILY DEVOTIONAL EVERY WORD OF GOD FOR DAILY LIVING
BY PASTOR PAUL RIKA
Intl Director, HOREMOW
TOPIC: THE PLACE OF THE CHURCH AGE IN GOD’S PROGRAM
Date: Monday June 8
Text: Luke 1: 26 – 33
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Key verse: Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
You will understand that God at first began with the Old Testament saints: the Israelites as a nation; and the Bible says that salvation is of the Jews, but the Jews rejected Him. Then the Lord said “Go ye into the world…” and at that time the church was born. Paul described the gentile church as being grafted into the main stem of the tree. As an illustration, the church of Christ is like the boy’s quarters in a building.
A man was building a house but whatever happened, he couldn’t continue with the building and he quickly decided to build the boy’s quarters. According to him, “After I have built the boy’s quarters, I will move into it and then continue with building of the main house.” That was what happened. The Lord was dealing with Israel as a nation, but because of their rejection of Christ’s offer of salvation, He then turned to the gentiles, the church. After He has gotten the church to Himself, He will return back to Israel.
We are informed of the seventy (70) weeks of Daniel’s vision. “Seventy weeks shall be accomplished ….” Actually sixty–nine (69) weeks have been accomplished and it remains just one week. That is the one week that will witness Christ’s return to the world to be the King of Israel after the throne of David. That one week is what we are all waiting for. Nevertheless, that one week will not meet the believers on earth. God would have accomplished His program with the gentiles and the church; and would have carried them out of the earth into heaven in the rapture.
It is then He will return to Israel and those who died in righteousness in God before Christ or before the church age shall remain in the grave because their souls shall not resurrect at the rapture, for they are not part of the church age. But when Christ shall finish His program with the gentiles briefly, He will return to the Jews and the Jewish saints shall resurrect at that time.
Thought for the day: God has His timetable of events He is executing on earth.
Song for the day: When You come to collect Your people, remember me O Lord
Bible reading for the day: 2 Chronicles 26-28; John 17
©elijahben
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