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The Comings, Revelations and ManifetltatiOl1.s

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By: Elder Don Ellis November, 2008

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John 14:18: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

In this article I will seek to prove that the bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ does come in the Spirit to instruct, guide and comfort and as our High Priest, rule over the Kingdom of God (or Heaven).

1Timothy 6:15: "Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords"

In this scripture there is ample proof as it says "times" that he makes his presence known as a Potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

John 14:3-18: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (14:4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (14:5) Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (14:6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (14:7) /fye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. (14:8) Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. (14:9) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (14:10) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (14:11) Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the vety works' sake. (14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto

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you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (14:13) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that willI do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14:14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (14:15) Ifye love me, keep my commandments. (14:16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (14:17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (14:18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 11

As Jesus begins to instruct his disciples (as in John 14:12), he promises the disciples greater power and works because he goes to the father. In John 14:3­14 he promises to answer our prayers. In verse 16 he promises as our High Priest to pray or intercede that the Father will send another Comforter that will abide forever; this is the Spirit of Truth. Verse 18 explains that he will not leave us comfortless but he himself, in Spirit as the Holy Ghost, will come fulfilling his promise in verse 3. The preparation of Heaven is Christ sitting down in the throne of God to make intercession for us. What a great blessing this brings to the church that keeps his commandments and shows their love for Christl He that shows this love for Christ will also be manifestly loved by the Father.

John 14:23: "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 11

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If this child of God will love his words, obey them and learn to be meek and lowly, the Father will love him. Then the Father and our Christ and Saviour will both love him and make their abode with him. Abode in Greek is #3438, "mone": a staying residence, the act of the place abode, mansion ­thus fulfilling verse 23. What a wonderful promise is given to his New Covenant people! They will have the truth thus fulfilling his promise in the following scripture.

John 14:26-29: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (14:28) Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. (14:29) And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 11

Luke 4:17-21: "And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, (4:18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel • to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (4:19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (4:20) And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. (4:21) And he

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began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. "

This is Christ's first appearance to prove his promises of his comings and his nearness to his disciples. To fulfill this scripture of future manifestation, his very power and presence come when the day of Pentecost was fully come. This great manifestation of Spirit is the presence or "coming" of the Lord.

The promise of his continued coming to bless us is found in 1at Peter 1: 13 and proved in verse 21 : "(13) Wherefore gird up the loins ofyour mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (21) Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."

Galatians 4: 19: liMy little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

The Galatian brethren had departed from the Spirit and turned to law having fallen from grace. Paul begins to labor even as a woman travailing with pain and labor in birth. Paul is laboring in birth until Christ be formed in them. The Greek meaning for "formed" is: to participate or receive, to accept, use or to be a partaker, receive.

John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

Acts 3:18-20: "But those things, which God before j I

had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. (3:19)

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Repent ye therefore, and be convelted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (3:20) And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:"

These are manifestly the "comings" of our Lord in Spirit and are the very power of his Kingdom as Jesus tells the Pharisees, "But If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto you."

1st Corinthians 1:7..8: "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ: (1:8) Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day ofour Lord Jesus Christ. "

If we wait in strong belief for his coming, he will come in due time. God cannot lie but will fill his promise.

1st Corinthians 4:4-6: "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. (4:5) Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things ofdarkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the healts: and then shall every man have praise ofGod. (4:6)And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think ofmen above that which is written, that no one ofyou be puffed up for one against another"

Many times the Disciples of Christ will not know what to do in the decisions of the church. It is complicated and we do not know what to do or say

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or vote. Obey God and do nothing before the Lord comes. He will bring to light; makemanifest the council of the heart. And, these burdens of indecision will be taken away and everyone will have praise to God. Peace will prevail.

In 2nd Thessalonians, the apostle is glorying and yet worried about the condition of this church as all pastors of the true church ought to be, fully realizing the power of Satan and the weakness of the flesh. He is thankful in verse 3 that their faith has grown exceedingly and their charity toward each other has abounded knowing full well that this condition in God's churches only brings on persecutions and tribulation. He sees that these things are the righteous judgment of God that they might be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which they also suffer. He is not speaking of a works system whereby you qualify yourselves to be in Heaven, but rather is speaking of the New Covenant Kingdom where Christ is the King.

2nd Thessalonians 2:1-7: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (2:2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (2:3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son ofperdition; (2:4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2:5) Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2:6) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. (2:7) For the mystery of iniquity

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doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. "

Satan begins to use the weakness of our flesh to tear down this charity and faith and in the flesh we begin to be lifted up with pride and self esteem and to rule in the church after our carnal knowledge. The only remedy for this is in verse 8, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming ... " All of this wickedness is often times scarcely noticed as it seems reasonable to the carnal mind. When the Lord comes in his powerful Spirit and the brightness of his coming, he consumes it with the Spirit of his mouth (which is the power of the true gospel) and the brightness of his coming. As a people that endeavor to worship God in truth we should depend upon and look forward to his spiritual comings. Our prayers should be "even so Lord, come quickly."

James 5:1-9: "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you (5:2) Your riches are co"upted, and your garments are motheaten. (5:3) Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. (5:4) Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is ofyou kept back • by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. (5:5) Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. (5:6) Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. (5:7) Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman

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waiteth for-the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (5:8) Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (5:9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door."

These comings of the Lord are not speaking of the great final resurrection of our dead bodies. We look forward to this as we have a Saviour who redeemed us unto God by his shed blood. This is through grace and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The Lord himself will raise the dead and we shall meet him in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This cannot be changed. For this we do not need the Lord to manifest, or come in Spirit, in our warfare with Satan.

2nd Peter 3:4: "And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. "

In our waiting for help from God we become impatient and forget that with God all of his promises are yea and no lie. All of his words by his prophets have been truth. This is proven in Acts 3:18, "But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth ofall his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled."This is also shown in Acts 3:24, "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. "

Revelations 2:5: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will

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remove thy candlestick out ofhis place, except thou repent."

The comings of the Lord are so needful and he comes for different reasons. He reveals himself, manifests himself and also comes in judgment. In the seven churches in Revelations, he is walking among the candlesticks showing his omnificence and his care, being mindful of their condition. In the church of Ephesus, they are a very active church but following the attitude of law judging different people but without love. They once loved God but had fallen from loving God feeling that they were qualified to just run things as they saw fit. The candlestick is a figurative way the Lord feeds the church to keep their faith and love bright. When we forget where our strength comes from, he reveals that it comes from the candlestick. Zechariah 4:1-3 talks about the candlestick, "And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out ofhis sleep, (4:2) And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick al/ ofgold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: (4:3) And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof." Our punishment is then to tell us we have fallen from loving God and his commandments and if we do not repent, he will take away the candlestick. When this happens, the church begins to die. The people in this kind of church will see it dying yet never know what causes it. They will think they are doing right. They will blame other things and people and yet the church will still go down. What a great grace blessing it would be for the Lord to come and raise up

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preachers that will tell them exactly what has caused this deadness.

Isaiah 8:13-17: "Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself,' and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. (8:14) And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock ofoffence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (8:15) And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. (8:16) Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, (8:17) And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house ofJacob, and I will look for him. "

Isaiah is teaching us to wait yet trust in him and let him be your bright hope for things to be made right.

Isaiah 59:1-2: "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear (59:2) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Hebrews 10:32-38: "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, afterye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight ofafflictions; (10:33) Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. (10:34) For ye had compassion ofme in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. (10:35) Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. (10:36) For ye have need ofpatience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (10:37) For yet a little while, and he that

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shall come will come, and will not tarry. (10:38) Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

Mathew 24:42-43: 'Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. (24:43) But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."

There was a great change coming from the old Mosaic Covenant to the New Covenant - or the Kingdom of God - where the law of God is put in the mind and heart. Many would fail to change while others entered into the kingdom of God and rejoiced.

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The Comings, Revelations and Manifestations

of the Lord

By: Elder Don Ellis November, 2006

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