VINE FIG TREE
412314 Palm Dr. #107 5 Desert Hot Springs, CA 922405
“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And every one shall sit under his Vine & Fig Tree . . . .”
Micah 4:1-5
TheChristmasConspiracy
Part Two: Christmas and the Kingdom
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As we prepare to enter the 21st century, we look back on the most violent century in the history of the human race. Prof. R.J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii has calculated the number of murders committed by totalitiarian governments in the 20th century. Nearly a quarter of a million people have been killed by their own governments in this century. Did I say "million?" I meant "Billion"; with a "B". (The United States killed a quarter of a million people in the Gulf War alone!) Add to that the number of people killed by someone else’s government, and we find that a greater percentage of the human race has been deliberately killed in this century than any in recorded history. If we add the numbers of people who are murdered before they reach the age of one, we find that the current rate of killing is well over 5,000 people per hour. (More than four thousand people under the age of one are killed in the U.S.A. alone. Every day. China's forced abortion policy may triple that number. Do the math.)
Most of us are unaware of these murders, and most Christians are not even shocked when they hear about them. Many Christians seem to be glad when they hear about murder, violence, and chaos. They think this means that "Christ is coming soon." Most Christians do nothing to stop or prevent human destruction.
- The United States Supreme Court has said that it is "unconstitutional" to teach students that God says not to kill, steal, and rape. Most Christians say nothing. What do Christians do when these amoral children grow up?
- If your average Christian were to meet a dictator who was guilty of killing millions, that Christian would not attempt to convince the dictator to turn his nation into a Christian government, "a city upon a hill," as our Puritan forefathers dreamed; the dictator would merely be asked to "accept Christ" and go to heaven when he died, having been forgiven for all his destruction, past, present, and, yes, future. The dictator would continue being a dictator, the evangelist would move on to his next "convert," and both would just be waiting for "Christ’s soon return."
This is not right.
The First Christmas marks the beginning of Christ‘s Kingdom. Christ came not to get His People waiting, but to get them working to extend His Reign over all the earth.
The Prophets said three things must happen before the Messiah’s Kingdom would be established. All three of those things happened at the First Christmas.
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THREE PREREQUISITES FOR THE KINGDOM
1. The Binding of Satan
2. The Enthronement of the Messiah
3. The Anointing of Believer-Priests
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1
THE BINDING OF SATAN
And He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil and Satan,
and bound him a thousand years.
(Revelation 20:2)
Let's talk "hermeneutics" for a minute. (That's the science which studies the rules for properly interpreting a text.)
When the psalmist declared that every beast of the forest is the LORD'S, "and the cattle upon a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10), we should not expect to find the LORD bargaining with the rancher next door for hill #1,001. Yet many Christians today fail to apply the same kind of reasoning when they see the word "thousand" in Revelation 20. Many times in the Bible we have the word "thousand" used in a figurative sort of way (Psalm 84:10; 90:4; 105:8; and check 1 Corinthians 14:19 — if I've seen it once I've seen it a thousand times). It would take a very clear verse of Scripture — preferably from a non—symbolic passage of the Bible — to demonstrate that the never-ending (Isaiah 9:7) Kingdom of Christ — whenever it begins — is not to endure as long as the Byzantine Empire! Is it not reasonable to assume that the purpose of the "thousand year" picture in Revelation 20, far from limiting the length of Christ's reign to a handful of centuries, is designed to express the vast length of this age of peace?
We might consider another way of looking at this thousand-year problem: 2 Peter 3:8 says that a thousand years is to the Lord as one day. Does that mean that "the millennium" will last 365,000,000 years (not counting "leap-millennia")? [A note for preterists] [A note about "hyper-preterism"]
OK, back to our Conspiracy. Even in the Garden of Eden the Lord had promised that the Messianic Conspirator would crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15). The New Testament emphatically declares that Jesus of Nazareth dealt Satan a death-blow, terminating his power over the nations. The saints are even now tightening the chains. This is how we know the Kingdom was established: we see the binding of Satan. Let's look at it:
Christ's Victory Over the Serpent
Even during Christ's life on earth, Satan and his henchmen knew that the jig was up, and relished every last minute of freedom. Some particularly fierce demons (Matthew 8:29) even hoped to persuade Jesus that He had come too soon:
And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Some of the people who saw Jesus' power over the demons were going to accuse Him of casting out the demons by the power of Satan:
25 And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Matthew 12:25-29
Since this was obviously an exhibition of the power of the Holy Spirit, not of Satan, then according to verse 28 the Kingdom of Christ had at that time come. Indeed, for Satan and his thugs, the time had come: the strong man was being bound and his house readied for spoiling:
"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." This He said, signifying what death He should die
John 12:31-33
That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.
Hebrews 2:14
All people can now become co-conspirators with the Christ because Jesus in His triumph over death has rendered Satan impotent to deceive the nations; those demons and powers that held sway over the empires, nations, and kingdoms of the Old World Order have been spoiled, making room for the Kingdom of Christ:
And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them.
Colossians 2:15
In His victory over the Principalities and Powers, Christ inaugurated His Kingdom, in which the saints are personally victorious in Him. We now press for open, public acknowledgement of the success of TheChristmasConspiracy, and official repudiation of the Old Regime. Violent and selfish habits die hard.
The Saints' Victory over the Serpent
The reign of Christ in His Kingdom and the power of Christ over Satan and his pseudo-kingdom is extended by His saints. The battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15-16) is more than just a battle between the Person of Christ and the person of Satan. It is a battle between their descendants. Just as Satan would "lick the dust," so would his descendants:
And the nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lick the dust like a serpent. . . .
Micah 7:17
And just as the seed of the woman would bind the serpent so would those who are in Christ and conspire with Him:
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:29
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Romans 16:20
The saints of God should therefore be aware of their power over the Devil:
And the seventy returned again with great joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy Name. And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from the sky. Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:17-20
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:4; cf. Ephesians 2:2
The saints should thus be active in extending Christ's reign, replacing the so-called "New World Order"[11] with decentralized Patriarchy[12], dethroning the prince of the Old World's powers. Yet when the task is completed, all the glory will be His, not ours:
Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:24-25
The honor which the saints have of executing Christ's judgment (cf. Psalm 149:4-9) is the work of the Holy Spirit:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment . . . because the prince of this world is judged.
John 16:7-8,11
Thus is Satan bound, and thus "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).[13]
Although the Apostolic co-conspirators were all stunned when Jesus was executed by the State, we should not be. The prophets foretold it. Eveything in Jesus' life went exactly as planned. He pulled off TheChristmasConspiracy without a hitch.[14]
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2
THE ENTHRONEMENT OF CHRIST THE KING
The Prophets said that "the millennium" would not begin until after the Messiah had been anointed King and took the Throne of David.
The concept of Christ's Kingship is widely misunderstood in our day. Many hold the same anti-Scriptural views that were held by those in Christ's day, who rejected TheChristmasConspiracy and desired instead a rival Emperor and an army of bureaucrats and armed shock-troops to violently overthrow the existing political order and establish another top-down empire — with themselves at the top, of course. They really didn't want an end to oppression, they only hoped that the oppressors and the oppressed would simply change places. They wanted a king much like those of the demonic empires that had dominated human history up to that time. When they attempted to make Jesus the kind of king that would rule them from an earthly throne, He fled them (John 6:15). Politics[15] has no place in TheChristmasConspiracy. In our day He surely flees those who would limit His Kingship to the sinful methods of the Fallen Angel and his earthly political henchmen. We must not follow those Jews who sought to force Christ into an earthly throne in Jerusalem.
Let us postpone an inquiry into the nature of Christ's Kingship[16] and find out if Christ's Kingdom is the Grand Conspiracy foretold by the Prophets, and if Jesus can presently be said to be King.
Christ's Kingship Foretold
King David was told that his was not true Kingship; rather one of his descendants would be established as the True King (2 Samuel 7:12,13; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14). The Psalmist sang,
The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
Psalm 132:11
This descendant is also called the Branch, a stem out of the root of Jesse (David's father):
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jeremiah 23:5; cf. Isaiah 11:1-10
Christ's Kingdom Announced
Christ is everywhere in the New Testament spoken of as a King (Matthew 2:2; 21:5; 25:34,40; Matthew 26:64 + Mark 14:62; Luke 1:32,69; 2:11; 19:38; Luke 22:69 + John 18:37; John 1:49; John 12:13 + Mark 11:10; Acts 17:7; 1 Corinthians 15:25; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15; Hebrews 7:2,22; 8:1; Revelation 15:3; 19:6). But His Kingdom does not derive its power from the power of the old world, He does not administer justice from any earthly throne in the capitol of any nation, nor does He claim any one nation as "His nation" (John 18:35-36). This is what most Establishment theologians do not understand about TheChristmasConspiracy.
It should have been obvious to everyone who had read the conspiratorial propaganda of the Old Testament that Christ's Kingship would be completely different from David's kingship, and in fact, it was obvious, but the politically-minded, unspiritual, power-hungry Jewish hierarchy suppressed this knowledge. Because of this self-deception, the people of Jesus' day did not understand how kingship could be exercised without resorting to intimidation, violence, and coercion, and it was necessary to repeat continually that this Jesus, born of a peasant virgin, was indeed the Christ, the Son of David, the Promised King (Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-32; 21:9,15; Matthew 22:42-45 + Mark 12:35-37; Mark 10:47-48; 11:10; Luke 1:32,69; 18:38-39; 20:41-49; John 7:41-42; Acts 13:23; 15:15-16; Romans 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 3:7; 5:5; 22:16).
Christ's accession to the Davidic throne is at the heart of TheChristmasConspiracy, and was at the heart of Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost. When David prophesied of the coming King Who would sit on his throne, he had in mind the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ to the heavenly throne, which is called "the right hand of power" (Mark 14:62), and not to any finite, earthly throne in Jerusalem — or in Washington D.C. As Peter explained:
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. . . . This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses.
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, "The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool." Therefore, let all the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:29-36
Peter tells us that the secret of TheChristmasConspiracy is really no secret. Establishment theologians tell us to accept the legitimacy of the Old World Order and wait for Jesus to come again and take the throne of David[17] and become a U.N.-recognized Political Dictator, robed and crowned.[18] The Establishment hates TheChristmasConspiracy. They deny that Christ is now King. They want power in a coming kingdom of religious power politics. But no clearer statement could be hoped for to demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) and occupies David's throne as described by the Biblical Prophets. That the Conspiracy succeeded and the Messiah now sits at the right hand of God (the position of True Power and Might) is claimed of Jesus again and again in the New Testament (Matthew 26:64; Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3-13; 8:1; 10:22; 12:2). This is clearly the fulfillment of Psalm 110:1, one of the most quoted Old Testament prophecies in all of the New Testament, and is said to be so in Peter's sermon on Pentecost.
The very term "Christ" means "Anointed King," and for His co-conspirators to claim that Jesus was the Christ was a dangerous political act (Acts 17:7). Can any true Christian claim that Jesus is not the Christ, the Anointed King? But He is the Conspiratorial Christ, not the "christ" of the theologians of the Old World Order.[19]
Perhaps we can better understand the Spiritual reign of Christ by looking at the third element of the "millennium" or Kingdom of Christ: