THE GLORIOUS LAST DAY CHURCH! Peggy Kannaday All Nations will be able to Pray in Unity! THE GLORIOUS LAST DAY CHURCH! (1769 words) The Lord is building His house; the glorious last day church. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalms 127:1). Jesus is looking for a temple not made with human hands (Acts 7:46-50). In this seventh church age (the current Laodician Church Peri- od), Christ is looking for a habitation where the laborers have entered into His rest and have ceased from their own works. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For He has entered His rest and has Himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall ac- cording to the same example of disobedience" (Hebrews:9-11). Jesus is talking to our last day believers when He says in Rev. 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." In this verse the emphasis is on hearing HIS voice first. Many are hearing their own voices, the voices of others, the voice of the world and even the voice of the enemy. In verse 20b, He says that IF WE OPEN THE DOOR, He will come in. He will never force His way into our hearts. We must welcome Him and give Him a warm invitation to come into our lives. In verse 20c, He states that He will then be able to come in and break the Bread of Life with us personally. To sup with us is similar to the meals He had with His most intimate disciples. He wants that type of relationship with us now. He wants to restore that close fellowship that was first ordained in the wonderful Garden of Eden that He initially prepared for man. He must wear the crown at this time- He must be allowed to enter into His holy temple and take His seat upon the throne of our hearts. The Kingdom of God is located ONLY where the King is allowed to reside and assume His rightful place as sovereign King and Head of His Church. The last day church will be an overcoming church by grace and yieldedness to Him. This church will be the essence and epitome of what God desires in His temple, because He will build this church Himself, and He will indwell and empower it. In Matthew 21:13 when Jesus tried to purge His temple, He said that "My house shall be called the House of prayer". He desires prayer to be of utmost importance in His house. In John 4:23-24, He said, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth." He wants a worshiping temple. Previously, the Lord came as a babe and a lamb to redeem mankind, but in this age, He will come as a King, and the Lord of hosts (armies) to bring in the true Kingdom of God and replace the efforts of man to gain supremacy and perfection in the church. Through the prayers and overcoming power of the saints in total submission to Him, the overcoming church will claim its power and position as the restorative work of the Holy Spirit is manifested throughout the world. Jesus Christ desires to purge His temple (individually and corporately), as He did when He walked into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers. He wants to cleanse our temple and to scourge the strongholds of the enemy in our lives. In this last day church, we must become living "Light Houses", literally becoming beacons for those in the darkness of this world, and those lost in the stormy seas of life. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp, and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house" (Matthew 5:14-15). We will shine to the extent that he is allowed to live His Life through us. "In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men." As Adam and Eve became one entity, so the last day church will become One in each other as we are yielded to the Godhead (Trinity) through the power of the Holy Spirit. A house divided against itself cannot stand, but a house in unity with the Lord as Head, can not only stand but triumph gloriously. God is preparing such a church now, "That He might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing but that she shall be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27). This is authentic church growth; initiated, maintained, and perfected by the King and Lord of hosts who has been given all power, regency and dominion over ALL things by the Father and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Real church growth is summed up in the words, "Christ in us, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). It will be the church that Jesus prayed about in John 17:20-21, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; That they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." Jesus also prayed that we would be made perfect in one (John 17:23). Dearly beloved, the Lord is now grooming the laborers for His harvest, and He is making ready an overcoming army of saints. He is also preparing us for an unprecedented close relationship/communion with our precious Bridegroom to be wed and united with Him for all time. 1. He is seeking a place in us, His temple, where He can take His rest on the throne of our hearts. We must first cease from our own labors and selfish ambitions. 2. He can only come into a holy, sanctified temple. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). 3. He is ordained to take and is looking for His rightful place of authority as King and Lord over every area of our lives and the church. The promise he gives us in Rev. 3:21, that he who over- comes will sit in His throne as He overcame and sits in His Father's' throne can only be accomplished by our first allowing Him to sit on the throne seated in our own hearts and lives, and in the church. He is calling. He is waiting. Will we open the door and invite Him in? The last day church has the greatest promise, but it also has the greatest responsibility. No other church is promised to sit with Christ on His throne. We are so priviledged to live in a day when God is restoring that intimate fellowship that was lost by the fall of man and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. This church will be the crown and apex of all previous churches in history. The prophet Joel foretells it all. If we turn from our sins and seek God at this crucial hour of decision; all that has been lost will be restored to us by the agent of the Holy Spirit and to the extent that we yield to Him and enter into His rest. Joel 2:17-18, and 23-26 states, "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, 0 Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God.' for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you.' and my people shall never be ashamed." We see that the leaders in the church repented first, and they cried out to God to spare and deliver the people from the hand of the enemy. Jesus counsels us in Rev. 3:18-19, "to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." In Revelation 3:17, He says that the last day Christians will be so deceived that they will say, "I am rich and have need of nothing." Jesus says that the last day believers do not know that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Many Christians today see themselves through carnal eyes and thus are blinded to their own Spiritual condition. Our Spiritual eyes must be opened starting with our leaders, who then must intercede for the people of God and all mankind. Then God will restore all that has been lost, but first we must see with His eyes and pray with His heart. He has so much to share with us, and the world will then know that He alone is Lord of all. He is coming for His Bride, the Church. This Church will be such that the gates of hell will no longer prevail against it. He is preparing His glorious Church, a holy, pure and yielded sanctuary for His sovereign reign and rule. Hallelujah!