The Church Triumphant? Probably not....

This article came about as a response to a letter from a friend who used this scripture (Isaiah 6:3) to express his view concerning the purpose of the Spirit-filled church- that the church will gradually conquer the world through evangelization ("The Great Commission") and rule it in Christ's name. 

My friend's comment:

Now, I had always thought that the chorus, “the whole earth is full of his glory”, referred to the wonders of the natural realm and its splendor.  With, perhaps a secondary reference to the unseen wonders of the spiritual reality that engulfs the physical universe. And, maybe more abstractly, a reference to the glory of God himself.

But I had never considered a glorious victorious church. If He resides in his saints, then his glory resides there too. Then for the earth to be full of his glory, it would have to be full of his saints. And that speaks of a victorious church, and triumphant Christian movement, and the establishment of Godly authority in all the earth. Which is, I believe, His plan from the beginning.

Has the church been filled with the Holy Spirit so that it can conquer the world for Christ? Are Christians the recipients of His power and authority, or have they only received the promise of ruling and reigning with Him? Is the earth full of His glory, as the power source to conquer the Devil, rule the world, wrap it all up in a nice bow and hand it back to Him when He comes, or is the earth full of His glory because He is everywhere present?  Does He actually have something else in mind beside the popular view known as Dominionism? I think so...

Context: The whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3.)

In this passage, Isaiah is in the temple shortly after his mentor, King Uzziah, dies. While there he has a vision of the glory of God.  It's a wonderful passage and well worth reading.  We know that Isaiah is actually confronted by the pre-incarnate Christ, because John refers to the scripture in his gospel - chapter 12:37 and identifies the glorious presence as none other than Jesus.  The Lord (Jesus) commands Isaiah to go to the Jews and preach a message of condemnation. The command is prefaced by the revelation of the absolute holiness of God, His unmatched glory, and His awesome power. Isaiah sees himself in the light of this revelation - "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." The Lord purifies Isaiah's lips with a coal from off the altar of incense and then asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Isaiah replies, "Then said I, Here [am] I; send me." We often use this as a call to missions ("here am I, send me to the nations"...) but that is not the context of the scripture.  The Lord is asking Isaiah to go and condemn Israel for her sins. We must read the the whole section to establish truth in context.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,     (Isaiah 6:3-11)

This is not a message for the victorious church, but the first pronouncement of the setting aside of the Jewish nation because of their apostasy. We see this message again in John 12:37-42

While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.  But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:  That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1) Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with [their] eyes, nor understand with [their] heart, and be converted, and I should heal them   These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.  (Isa. 6:3) Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [him], lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

Romans 11:8

(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

and Acts 28:26-28

And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers   Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.  Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and [that] they will hear it.

The idea of a triumphant, glorious church ruling the world for Christ is a wonderful vision, but I am afraid it does not match up with scripture. The mystery of iniquity is growing, not lessening, as the devil and his minions' cup of iniquity is filling up.  The false doctrine of  Domionionism (the church triumphant) as advanced by the New Apostolics, Rick Warren, Bill Hybells, C. Peter Wagner, Rick Joyner, Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Brian McClaren and others, has the unfortunate ability to turn us away from the prophetic reality of a literally interpreted bible.(1)

The sequence of events at the end of this age is very plain in scripture (unless you do a workaround and make everything allegorical - in which case we are faced with the problem of whose allegory is correct): The sin of man will grow in depth and horror, the Gentile church will be added to, one-by-one through personal evangelism until the last person to accept Christ in this age chooses Him and the "fullness of the Gentiles" comes in, the church will be taken out in the rapture, and then God will deal with His chosen people - the Jews- and at the same time, all the rest of humanity who hate him and are destroying the earth. The Kingdom the dominionists speak of will not be manifested through the church, but through the Jews, whose eyes will not be opened until they are surrounded by the armies of the Antichrist, all hope is lost, and they call upon Him who is their Messiah - the pierced One, Y'shua ben David, and say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" (Luke 13:35).  On that day, the Messianic Kingdom (what we refer to as the Millennium)  promised to David and Israel by God and proclaimed by the prophets will be established, and not before.

Now, as for His glory dwelling within those who believe in Him - absolutely true. This is the reason believers are new creations - sons of God - born again. Because when "we were dead in our trespasses and sins", God, by His great grace, saved us and regenerated His church by pouring His life into us, making our spirit alive to Him, and re-establishing the direct link to His presence. But as for the church winning the world for Christ, so that we rule as a stand-in for Him until He returns, I am afraid that is not the plan.  In spite of continual evangelical and "apostolic" calls for a great revival, particularly from the pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical churches who offer prayers for a revival similar to the "Great Awakenings" of previous centuries, we do not find that revival in scripture. The church has not been called to reign over the earth, but  has a different calling: to be seated in heavenly places, ruling and reigning with Christ in the heavenlies at the end of the age. (Ephesians 2:6, 3:10,  Philipians 3:14, Hebrews 3:1). Jesus has been glorified, but the church has not, and until the Body of Christ is released from sin-marred flesh by the resurrection/rapture, and becomes like Him "in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye" (Christ in us, the hope of glory), it can not be trusted with the job of ruling the world, even if it were called to that position, which it is not.  That duty has been given to Israel, and all nations will indeed come to Jerusalem and worship during the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth, and all men shall become aware that God's glory does indeed fill the whole earth.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14)

Many nations shall come and say,  

Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:2)

In that day, His kingdom will reign over all the earth, the day the prophets foretold when they spoke of God's relationship with Israel, not the church. The prophets did not have the faintest idea that there would be a church, or that the Gentiles would be given equal standing with the Jews.

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (Ephesians 3:4-6)

Jesus was a minister to the circumcision - the Jews, and was sent to confirm everything the prophets said about the Messiah.  He came to visibly and actually fulfill the promises of God to the nation of Israel: that they would be the premier nation of the earth and would rule over the Gentiles that remained after the tribulation in the restored Davidic Kingdom.  The proof of His Messiahship was delivered to the Jews during His ministry among them, by the miracles He performed and the words that He said.

Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you.  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:3-6)

When John the Baptist was put in prison by Herod and, alone and defeated, his faith in Jesus Christ began to fail him, he sent messengers to Jesus asking whether He was indeed the Messiah or should they look for someone else. Jesus confirmed His Messiahship by reiterating the signs and wonders He had performed in confirmation of the Prophets' descriptions of the coming King.

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples; And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me. John 11:3-7

Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises [made] unto the fathers: And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. (Romans 15:8 & 12)

Paul, on the other hand, was sent to the uncircumcision - the Gentiles:

That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:16)

This truth, pointed out by both Jesus and Paul, causes me to look at the four Gospels, not as the beginning of the New Testament, but as the summation of the Old Testament - the resume, if you will, of Him who was foretold by all the prophets - King (Matthew), Perfect Servant (Mark), Perfect Man (Luke), and God in flesh (John). The letters of Paul to the church are then the Gentile church's doctrine, reproof, and correction. Do we learn from all the rest of scripture? Absolutely (2 Timothy 3:16), but specifically and directly we learn the doctrine of salvation (Romans), position (Ephesians), and destiny (Thessalonians) from Paul.

So as for the church conquering the world for Christ, it's a nice idea, but not scripturally sound.  Men always want to take the glory for themselves and say, "Look what I did."  In fact, anyone who thinks that peace will come to the earth through the dilligent efforts of men is leaving one factor out of the equation: the inherent brokenness of man.  We are hopeless, helpless, useless and faithless, except when we have the Holy Spirit living within us to guide and direct, and even then we fight a constant battle to do the right thing.

The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

 Saved or unsaved, all men battle daily with the inherent evil that is in them by nature.  If you say you don't sin, you are a liar, and who would want a bunch of liars to run the world.  We already have that and it's not working.  This broken condition of man will never be remedied until The Prince of Peace returns to rule the earth with a rod of iron, and to change us physically as well as spiritually so that  evil and sin can no longer find a place to dwell in us. 

The good news is that this is exactly what the Bible says is going to happen.  Jesus will return and put all things under His feet, and cast Satan, death and hell into the lake of fire.  This will free men from the penalty of sin (death) the power of sin (evil activity) and the presence of sin (in a new heavens and a new earth where only righteousness dwells). In the meantime, the church needs to stop dreaming about some self proclaimed, self-exalted, glorious mission to rule the world, humble itself and get about the business of sharing the truth of the gospel with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

In summary, let me quote one of the most beloved bible teachers of the past century... 

"The church has not been left here to perfume the dungheap of fallen humanity, but to take out, one by one, those who would be saved from the coming destruction."    Donald Grey Barnhouse - The Invisible War.


(1) For a complete understanding of the dangers of Dominionism read "Dominionism and The Rise of Christian Imperialism" by Sarah Leslie.

The History of Man:
From Life to Death to Life Again
 
 The Story of Man and his place in the Universe starts with God

Part I.  Who is God?

God has existed always, from before time ever began and will continue to exist after time has ended. He is revealed to us as a unity of three perfect beings who together are one God: The Bible says.

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”     1 John 5:7, KJV.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Psalms 90:2, KJV.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”     John 1:1,2, KJV.

He is the Creator who made everything and still holds it together.  He is involved right now in His world. The Bible says:

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is served with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life and breath and all things to all.”      Acts 17:24,25, MKJV.

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”     John 1:3,4, KJV.

God created Earth as a beautiful home where He and His children could live together forever in peace. And in spite of its present condition He intends for that plan to be fulfilled: The Bible says:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”     Genesis 1:1, KJV.

"And the earth was (had become) formless and void."   Genesis 1:2*

“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (formless and void), he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”    Isaiah 45:18, KJV.

Something happened to the earth to cause it to fall into chaos. There was a rebellion in heaven led by Satan and one third of the angels, who wished to take the worship due only to God to themselves. The Bible says:

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Isaiah 14:12, KJV.




“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”    Ezekiel 28:18, KJV.

“And He (Jesus) said to them, I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning.” Luke 10:18, MKJV.

Because Satan was cast down to the earth for his sin, terrible judgment came upon God’s perfect creation: The Bible says:

“And the earth was (had become) without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”     Genesis 1:2, KJV.

God had to recreate His perfect earth. He created mankind to help Him in the restoration of earth and to put down the rebellion of Satan. He gave man authority over the earth and all things in it including Satan

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”    Genesis 1:28, KJV.

Satan hated the idea that man was to rule over Him. He determined that He would cause Adam to be separated from God and thus lose his position in God’s plan. The Bible says:

“For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than Elohim; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:”     Hebrews 2:5-7, KJV.