Last Days Steve Jones

This is a hard word for some, but please listen. Just consider that God has an eternal desire from the ages that is culminating right now in these last days. The church represents that culminating desire. We are not to simply be waiting and watching but are urged to be ready and watching.
Growth and maturity in the church where Christ is formed in us is how we are ready, whether we die or are raptured. The eyes of the Lord are searching for this maturity, for the presentation of “every man full-grown in Christ;" (Colossians 1:28)

To the the Galatians Paul described this process as travailing "again in birth until Christ is formed in you," (Galatians 4:19)
“Again” means that they went after something other than Christ so “again” he struggles for them to mature which includes: Christ in you, being full grown in you, formed in you, and even “again”formed in you if we have wandered away from maturity. Where is this full grown, mature Christ in your community?

"And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." (Revelation 12:5) ((you can read Revelation 2:26-27 assuring us this is also overcoming believers)
This full grown Christ is the man-child in Revelation 12. The great woman is all the believers throughout all the ages. All of her is not going to be complete or mature, but out of her this “man child” is the desire of God through the ages: “Christ in you…formed in you…full grown in you, the hope of glory!”
The arrival of this man -child in the heavens, prompts Michael and the angels to cast Satan and his followers from having any more access in the heavens. He can no longer accuse us because there we are standing before the Father fully formed in Christ. Satan is speechless. Praise the Lord!
This is what God is longing for as a culmination of all things.

Satan and his host are angry, the antichrist is possessed and havoc ensues during the last 3 1/2 years.
God will care for Israel and believers that remain on the Earth who were not mature. He has a whole millennium to care for them and eventually deal with the enemy. Then every man will be brought into the new Jerusalem as a ready, mature, woman bride.
Most believers don’t like this interpretation.
The goal here is not that you agree with a particular interpretation, but that we see that God’s desire/purpose will be wrought out in time. This means to mature, to be full grown, and to grow up into him in all things is needed now. Regardless of an interpretation, we should set our mind to think upon this need for maturity as believers.
He is looking for this maturity and we will all stand before the judgment seat. May we be found watching and ready.

"And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality." (John 1:14)

"This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and I heard the voice of someone speaking." (Ezekiel 1:28)

Christ in us has a Hugh Hope. It is the hope of glory! Glory is a word we use to describe the expression of God. We can’t just put this glory in a future tense as if it’s something we’re going to experience one day in heaven. Nor can we file it as the doctrinal endgame: justified, sanctified, and then glorified! Glory is not simply part of a process. Glory is a Person (Christ) and glory has a place for His shining (You)!. Christ in us has a present day active hope that has a moment by moment goal of conforming us more to the image of God’s Son. That is Glory! Paul rejoiced in sufferings, prayed, struggled, admonished and taught every saint not only for a future glory, but for a present day manifestation of that glory.

He said to the Corinthians: "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The glory comes from the beholding of the Lord in you. Just sit yourself frequently in front of this Christ in you! Talk, cry out, love, rest in Him. We will start to reflect Him, His glory in our living. What does this glory look like? Well, Ezekiel had a strange way of describing the glory of the Lord, but it’s really an awesome example. Please read Ezekiel chapter 1. What we see is heavenly creatures before the throne moving by God’s Spirit with the impulses of God, without hesitation. What we see according to verse 28 is the appearance of the glory of God in the heavenly’s. Praise the Lord we can see this glory of God in a human being, Jesus. No human being ever has moved perfectly on the Earth with every impulse according to the Father. Jesus did! And now this Christ, with all of his impulse to please, the Father, in every thought, every feeling, and every will, this Christ is in you the hope of glory! Surely you see this. Christ in you is your only hope of glory! While walking in this godless world, there is one distinct way to glorify God before you leave it. It is Christ in you the hope of glory. Do not miss out on this wonderful, glorious revelation.

Christ in you the hope of glory. I would say most believers have this underlined. Why is it underlined or highlighted? What does this mean to you?
This meant everything to the apostle Paul. This is why he prayed without ceasing and rejoiced in all his sufferings, this is why he was “announcing, admonishing to every man and teaching every man in all wisdom “ This is why he “labored and struggled” (Colossians 1:28-29)
He wanted the saints “to know how great a struggle” he had for them. (Colossians 2:1). That this Christ would be known in them, and grow in them.
Christ is actually not a name but a title. It means the anointed one or the Messiah. Think about what it meant for Paul, who was historically a devout, pharisaical Jew, to utter these words, the “Messiah in you, the hope of glory!”No Jewish person would ever think that way religiously. They were looking for the outward Messiah.
And then who does he say this to, gentiles! Gentiles to the devout Jewish religious person, even to this day are dogs and swine, unclean. To even think that the Messiah could live in a gentile would be heretical. What transformation took place in Paul’s life! He was no Jonah for sure. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and proclaim repentance to the gentiles, or God’s wrath would fall upon them. Jonah ran away from God, he didn’t want to go, and finally we know, God got a hold of him in a dramatic way, and caused him to go preach repentance to the Gentiles of Nineveh. And guess what? They repented and God spared them. Oh this made Jonah feel sorry for himself and his situation. Paul, on the other hand, not only shared the revelation of Christ in the gentile, but he labored, admonished, wrestled and struggled that the Gentiles saints might know that the Messiah has come to live in them.
Christ, coming and living in the believers spirit is such a foreign concept to Christianity even today. They want the Saving Jesus but resist the Christ who wants to be all and in all. That costs too much. We may want to give up the struggle. Oh saints, don’t give up. Christ in you is the only hope of glory. Christ in you and in all the believers around you is the only hope of glory. Fight the good fight, announce Him, admonish every brother or sister at every opportunity. Speak in all wisdom and revelation of the full knowledge of Jesus Christ. Not just a partial knowledge. Not just a saving knowledge. But a knowledge that this Christ in you is the hope, is the joy, and is the life of every believer in all things. Labor, wrestle, struggle that Christ might be formed in your life and in the church

"So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer." (2 Corinthians 5:16)
This verse indicates that Christ “from now on” is not merely known historically. And actually, from now on, we don’t know any man merely according to the old creation. Now that we are in Christ, we are new creations, and we perceive everything from that perspective. (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The new creation is that we are in Christ and he is in every believer.
Praise the Lord for the historical manifestation of Christ! We need the Gospels, but the Christian life is more than merely imitating the historical example of Jesus.
Paul’s apostleship to the churches, therefore, reveals that Jesus is actually in the Saints.
Paul’s apostleship began unlike the other apostles. He saw Christ in the body, in the spirit. The way this apostle knew Christ is the way we know Christ. Of course all the apostles experienced Christ in this way after his ascension, but this was Paul’s exclusive, subjective enjoyment of Christ. And, this is mine! Yours! And this is what he shares with all the churches to enjoy! He describes this enjoyment as the riches of Christ
If we are to know Christ today, according to the revelation of God‘s word, we must know him in our spirit, and in the body. This is the way God intended for us to know him from eternity past. This revelation, Paul says therefore, completes the word of God.
This means there’s nothing else that can be added to the church for us to experience the church. There is no new expression of the gifts, no new manifestation of the Spirit, no new, charismatic, preaching,no new revelation, no new program, no emotional experience, etc. that can exceed what Paul reveals to us.
This is why he says "To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," (Colossians 1:27). This is why he says he labors diligently and prays fervently that the eyes of the Saints would be opened.
This is the goal of the new creation, you in Christ, and Christ in you!
It is not only Paul’s writing, and sharing that completes the word of God, but it is also our appreciation, our enjoyment, and our living out this rich truth that completes the word of God. This revelation is intended to capture you and catapult you to live in the realm of this new creation thus manifesting our part in the completing of the word of God.

It is certainly “Pauline” of Paul to write about suffering. You can find a laundry list of his personal sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11, and in chapter 12 regarding his “thorn in the flesh” the Lord responds, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness”. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me." (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Here in Colossians 1:24 he rejoices in his sufferings. That’s not natural! Who talks like this? But this is his declaration especially after sharing the revelation of our Christ in chapter 1.
Notice he says “Now”. This is a present tense statement meaning right now while writing this, in this environment, in prison, in chains, NOW in the middle of this suffering I just rejoice because out out of this present suffering I see it is for your sakes so that the life of Jesus may be imparted to you .
Did you know that as a believer, living under the revelation of this Christ in you, all of your suffering is a supply for the body? ALL suffering! Of course the big items are what we think of in regard to suffering, but Saints, as long as you remain in this flesh, and like Paul seek to crucify it, you will suffer daily. The flesh and Satan will oppose such a Christ life. Just recognize every frustration , every obstacle, every reaction to life’s problems that exposes the flesh is a suffering in this present world, and in the middle of it just say Now, right now I rejoice in this struggle because this will turn into a supply for the body. This is not a natural response for our flesh, but this is normal for the gaining of Christ in all things.
Dear brother and sister,, everything that comes your way, is an opportunity to take the cross, and say, NOW I rejoice in this suffering, I take it, I die to this self, and thus turn a suffering loss into a joyous occasion because life is supplied in you, and to the Saints, Amen.

“To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death," (Philippians 3:10)

"By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he obtained the testimony that he had been well pleasing to God. But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:5-6)
So God is well pleased, happy with the saint who lives by faith. Jesus said his desire is to find such persistent, diligent faith on the Earth when he returns. (Luke 18:8)
Faith is our response to revelation. Paul’s ministry was opening the eyes of the sinner to receive Jesus. Then he spends 13 epistles opening the eyes of the church that they would see that the Christ in them is their hope of glory. Faith should be our response. In Colossians 2:5-6 Paul states he is joyous in his spirit as he is seeing their order. The order means what we see in verse 6, which is the Colossians saints having a steadfast faith in Christ, evidenced in their receiving him as Savior, and now that same steadfast faith is needed in their Walking in Him.
Colossians 1:23, “continue in faith”follows on the heels of what Paul just revealed in the previous verses: the incomparable Christ who is all, and in all, and desires, to have preeminence in all things, especially the Saints and the church. In other words, they are to walk by faith in light of this revelation.
Hebrews 11 says Enoch by faith, lived in light of what was revealed to him. Well, he did not have a Bible, but he had family members who were living almost up to 1000 years old. This means he knew it was important to outwardly cover our naked bodies. Or more importantly, he knew that blood had to be shed for the remission of sins inwardly, as seen with Adam, Eve, and Able. And then he saw, when Enos was born, that men began to call on the name of the Lord. Surely he did all of these things. He also had revelation from Adam‘s testimony. Did you know that when Enoch was born Adam was 782 years old?! That means Adam was able to share revelation about God with his great x6 grandson for over 150 years. God had a walking fellowship with Adam in the garden. Is it possible with the blood offering that man can walk with God every day even outside of the garden? He began calling on the name of the Lord, not just at the altar, but in every step of his life. Enoch by faith walked for 300 years in his daily life. Whatever revelation God gave him, by faith he diligently pursued God. This please God so much that God raptured him off the earth. Wow!
Enoch is highlighted for a reason. Well, we certainly have revelation. Christ is showing us that he is in us and he is our only hope of glory! The church today knows that Christ is in them objectively. At salvation, we describe the need to ask Jesus to come live in our heart! Where has he gone. Nowhere. Subjectively we need to believe that he’s in us to live out of us. We need to continue in faith , do not be moved away from the hope of the gospel.
The same way you received the Lord, walk in him , by faith, because without faith, it’s impossible to please Him, and God is a rewarder of those who steadfastly are walking in the light of the revelation he has given unto them.
We have so much light , so much revelation. Do you believe it? Walk in it!

"Therefore let us ( after looking at all, the brothers and sisters, who lived by faith) … put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us, Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…" (Hebrews 12:1-2)