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1 Corithians
15:50-55
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit
incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So
when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal
has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory. |
This scripture is
very deep and has been misinterpreted over and over again since it
became available in the Bible. In it
lies the ultimate reward the saints of God will reap if they hearken
to the message of the kingdom. By the spirit of God we will seek to
unravel the mystery locked up in this passages, we do this to give
understanding which is the key to entering God's favor.
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Before
we go on let us bear certain things in mind, we should recognize
the fact that Paul in His Letter to the Corinthians was simply
trying to convince them not to waiver in their faith towards the
gospel they first Heard from Him. The Corinthians had began to
doubt because the devil had entered and sowed a seed of
confusion and doubt among them, the same way He has done in the
Churches today. Paul Had to go on to assure them
on all He had taught them in the past, He assured them
that if they stand fast and continue in the faith they first had,
they would reap immortality which is the eternal life of God.
He said that flesh
and blood can not inherit God's kingdom, most people will think
this means that as long as you have a physical flesh body you can
not enter into God's kingdom. Some say and ordinary carnal man
can not be perfected, only His spirit can be perfected , in
other words we must die first to enter into the perfection and life
found in the kingdom of God. All of this thinking is nothing
but a lie of the Devil, He was a liar from the beginning and
will always lie because that is His Nature.
What does
Paul mean
when He says flesh and blood, He is simply talking about a
natural, carnal man who has not been regenerated by the spirit
of God. A man that walks after the flesh, reasons after His
carnal mind, a man who is energized and motivated by His
carnality is flesh and Blood. Jesus supported this when He says unless a man is born
again of water and spirit He can not enter into God's kingdom.
John 3:3-7
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a
second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said
to you, 'You must be born again.' |
You see it, flesh is
flesh and spirit is spirit, we must be born again of the spirit,
meaning a new spirit man has to emerge out of us. Jesus in the
days of His ministry in the flesh walked
in the power and reality of the kingdom even though He had a flesh body but His
real being was spirit. He was the word and the spirit manifested
in the flesh, He was led by the spirit, He was energized by
the spirit, His thoughts and motivations were all of the
spirit. Being born again talks about a
regeneration or a transformation from our earthly carnal nature
to a nature that is Heavenly or spiritual after God. We know from
the scriptures only those who walk in the spirit can please
God, only those who have been completely transformed can of
a truth enter into God's favor found within the walls of His
kingdom.
Romans 8:5-11
5 For those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God; for it is not subject to the
law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those
who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But
you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is
not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is
dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit
of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, He who raised Christ from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies through His
Spirit who dwells in you. |
Like
we read in Romans 8:5-11 if we still have a carnal
natural earthly mind we are enemies of God, Why is it so
? Simple the carnal natural man (Flesh and blood) can
not be subject to the laws of God. what is the
consequence of transgression of the law ? Death is the
consequence. So we see clearly why mankind is under a
curse and condemnation because they transgress the laws
of God therefore displeasing God. Jesus said clearly
that to enter into the kingdom every single Jot of the
law must be fulfilled in us.
Matthew 5:17-20
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law
or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but
to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till
heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one
tittle will by no means pass from the law till
all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks
one of the least of these commandments, and
teaches men so, shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means
enter the kingdom of heaven. |
We know
the ordinary carnal man can not fulfill this law. So what
does God do ? He sends the spirit of Christ to us who in
turn quickens and transforms us so that we being enabled by
the power therein can automatically fulfill the laws of God
and enter into favor with God. The spirit of God quickens
every dead part in us and transforms us into creatures of
love, we know love does not kill, it does not get jealous,
it does not steal, it does not covet, it does not blaspheme.
Love is gentle, patient, kind, generous, merciful,
benevolent and against all this the law does not stand. The
power of the spirit Christ that does this work in us is
called the power of the resurrection and the process of
making us alive in Christ Jesus is called the resurrection
from the dead.
Galatians 5:16-26
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; and these are contrary to one
another, so that you do not do the things that
you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of
the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry,
sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I
tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in
time past, that those who practice such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there
is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become
conceited, provoking one another, envying one
another.
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Our
victory is in Christ Jesus by His spirit we overcome the
law and sin no more and where is no sin there is no
death, do we get this.
1 Corinthians 15:56-58
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength
of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord.
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Most Christians
professing to be born again do not even know the meaning of the
word born again, they answer an alter call and say they are born
again, then they wait to die and go to heaven up in the skies
somewhere. All that is nothing but religious darkness, of a truth
by faith you are born again when you accept Jesus as your Lord
and savior but there is still a process of regeneration and
transformation by the seed of Christ deposited in you. The
spirit has to break down and remold the totality of our beings
so that of a truth a completely new creature after the image of
the Heavenly emerges. This transformation as we will discover
comes by the ministration of the word by the spirit of God.
Paul state
categorically that we have borne the image of the earthly but
the time has come that we bear the image of the Heavenly which
is spiritual.
1
Corinthians 15:47-49
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the
second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the
man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust;
and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who
are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of
the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly Man. |
Paul makes it clear
that the natural man or flesh and blood is corruption and He can
in no way inherit incorruption which is of the spirit man.
Reading further
into the Letter written by Paul to the Corinthians (1Corinthians
15:50-55) Paul says the transformation occurs during the
sounding of the last trumpet. Religion taught us that an angel
will descend from the Sky and blow a loud physical trumpet that
the whole world will hear then the dead Christians in their
graves will get up while those alive will be changed and fly up
to meet the Lord in the skies for 1000 years. That type of
doctrine is wrong, it is from the pit of hell designed to
deceive the Children of God, but thank God for His mercy
understanding is coming, we are getting to know the truth, Amen.
The systems of
religion also use the verses in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to
confirms their sayings, they call it the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you
sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God
will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For
this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we
who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and
with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall
always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one
another with these words. |
If
you study 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and compare it closely
with 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 you will discover Paul is saying
the same thing. The two portions of the scripture deal with
an awaking, a rising up or an ascending into a higher realm
of existence which is God's kingdom where Jesus reigns
supreme as king. Notice closely that this event (The
resurrection) occurs after a trumpet is blown.
THE TRUMPET
We
will look into the scriptures to see what this trumpet means.
The trumpet was used in the old testament to call the
Israelites to assemblies, to wars, to notify and remind them
of events. A trumpet is sounded for all to hear and can not
be hidden, It is meant to be clear and precise.
Levites 25:8-10
8'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years
for yourself, seven times seven years; and the
time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to
you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the
trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day
of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement
you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout
all your land.
Levites 23:23-25
23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak
to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the
seventh month, on the first day of the month,
you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of
blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You
shall do no customary work on it; and you shall
offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.' "
Numbers 10:1-10
10:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Make
two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make
them of hammered work; you shall use them for
calling the assembly and for directing the
movement of the camps. 3 When they blow both
of them, all the assembly shall gather before
you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 4
But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the
heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather
to you. 5 When you sound the advance, the camps
that lie on the east side shall then begin their
journey. 6 When you sound the advance the second
time, then the camps that lie on the south side
shall begin their journey; they shall sound the
call for them to begin their journeys. 7 And
when the congregation is to be gathered together,
you shall blow, but not sound the advance. 8 The
sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the
trumpets; and these shall be to you as an
ordinance forever throughout your generations. 9
When you go to war in your land against the
enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an
alarm with the trumpets, and you will be
remembered before the LORD your God, and you
will be saved from your enemies. 10
Also in the day of your gladness, in your
appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your
months, you shall blow the trumpets over your
burnt offerings and over the sacrifices
of your peace offerings; and they shall be a
memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD
your God."
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The
trumpets used in the old testament were normally made of
ram's horns or beaten metal like silver, today God uses another type of trumpet and that is the mouth
and voice of His servants. The Lord will use His ministers
in this last day to blow the trumpet with the message of the
kingdom. The message of the kingdom is a call to
reconciliation and fellowship in God, it is a call to
obedience of the faith in Christ Jesus.
Notice below in revelation 1:9-11 that John heard the voice
of Jesus in the spirit, the voice sounded like a trumpet.
What John saw was a revelation of Jesus in a way God wanted
Him to see at that point in time. The Lord Jesus is not
neccessary seen in that form, but God had a message and He
purposed at that point to reveal His son in that manner.. I
just wanted you to note the voice that sounded like a
trumpet, that same voice was the trumpet that Jesus sounded
throughout the days of His ministry in the flesh.
Revelation 1:9-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I
heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last," |
Notice also that in Isaiah 58:1 God tells Isaiah to lift up
His voice like a trumpet and tell the house of Jacob of
their transgressions
Isaiah 58:1
"Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a
trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And
the house of Jacob their sins. |
Always
remember that God uses the elementary earthly things of
the world to describe His thoughts, He uses the trumpet
to describes a clear message or voice from the mouths of
His servants.
So what is the
last Trumpet ? it is the ultimate message of salvation
that is going forth into all the earth today. It is a
message that the spirit of Christ is announcing to the
nations of the world to come into the kingdom of God and
partake of the mercy. The spirit of Christ makes this
call through His elect who can be referred to as
messengers of angels of God. The Arch Angel in 1
Thessalonians is nothing but the body of Christ
announcing the glad tidings of the kingdom and awaking
the peoples to the reality of God's kingdom. After this
call to salvation there is no other call because
the truth will then be known and understood by all. This
last Trumpet is a call that goes throughout the ages and
has been announced right from the days of Jesus.
God uses this
trumpet to call nations into His kingdom on mount Zion
as we see in Isaiah 27:13
Isaiah 27:13
13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet
will be blown; They will come, who are about to
perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are
outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship
the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. |
God uses this
trumpet to assemble all His saints in one in His kingdom
on mount Zion as seen in Joel 2:15-16
Joel 2:15-16
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the
bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the
bride from her dressing room.
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From the two
preceding scriptures we saw a call to the peoples to
gather into God's kingdom which is a spiritual
realm of higher elevation on a spiritual mountain called
Zion. This spiritual mountain is the dwelling place of
the king Jesus and all the hosts of Heaven, who are also
the clouds of God (Read the
CLOUDS, FIRE AND WIND).
When I say hosts of Heaven I am talking about the
Spirits of saints and angels that have been perfected
and dwell in the presence of God in Zion. What
Paul is simply saying is that at the sounding of the
kingdom message, we shall be united in one in the
heavenliest with all saints of God, both those who have
died and left the flesh and those who are alive and
still have the flesh bodies come together in one for a
fellowship that will last forever. This fellowship is a
divine fellowship, it is a fellowship of love, joy,
gladness and beauty. Paul talks about this ultimate
gathering into one in Christ at the end of the Age in
Ephesians 1:7-11.
Ephesians 1:7-11
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us
in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known
to us the mystery of His will, according to His
good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10
that in the dispensation of the fullness of the
times He might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth--in Him.
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As the
trumpet sounds those who have the spiritual eye (THE
SINGLE EYE
[Twinkle of an eye] ) and hearing ears are converted and
translated by the revelation of truth that come forth
from the sound of the trumpet. All the saints have to do
is listen and see the Truth coming forth from the throne
of grace and they are changed and set free from
corruption and death. That is why Jesus say mind how you
hear, He also says you shall know the truth and the
truth shall set you free.
To summarize
the last trumpet it is the ultimate message of God's
kingdom or the gospel as it is known preached to all the
nations of the world and ushering in a new world in
God's kingdom and bringing an end to this dispensation
of time. The gospel we have heard before now is nothing
but old women's tales , the lies of religion. What are
the lies ? The lies we heard from religion are (1) A Big
physical Angel will descend from Heaven and will should a
loud trumpet. (2) After the trumpet sound the physically
dead will rise from the graves and ascend into heaven.
(3) We that are still alive in the flesh will be
transformed into a new form after Jesus and the ascend
into heaven.
The Lord is
saying that as you hear this trumpet or message sounding,
as soon as you recognize it and discover your lost
identity begin to arise and take hold of the authority
you once had from the foundation of the world.
The trumpet is
saying repent and do the very good works of God kingdom
so that the peoples will see the glory of the Lord
manifested in you.
God keep you.
Trevor Eghagha
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