“..Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which
are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly me….. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleths
righteousness..”
Matt.13: 24-30; 37-43. In the interpretation given, of the parable of the wheat and Tares,. the FIELD IS THE WORLD (KOSMOS) – ‘the system of things’. The GOOD SEED – WHEAT are the TRUE DISCIPLES – Children of the kingdom. The TARES are the EVIL ONES – Children of the devil – the enemy that planted them. The HARVEST is the END OF THE WORLD

SO WHAT THEN IS THE END OF THE WORLD?
“Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be AT THE CLOSE OF THE AGE” Matt. 13:40 RSV. The Greek word used here is SUNTELLEIA, which means the consummation of a dispensation. That means the harvest is the bringing to an end the age of evil works under the power of Satan. It is this understanding of the words of Jesus, referring to the close of the age, that made the disciples to ask the question “ …. What will be the sign of your coming and the close of the age” Matt 24:3 RSV.

Since the word “coming” in the Greek is “PAROUSIA” which means “PRESENCE”, literally it should read,
“What will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things”? Math 24:3. In other words, all the signs
(symbols?) He gave in the entire Chapter 24, are the things that signal the conclusion of the age of evil, realizing
that, He also spoke of His presence, till the end of the age when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of
people of all nations…. Teaching them to observe all the things I have command you. And look! I AM WITH YOU
ALL THE DAYS UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM OF THINGS (close of the age).” (Math. 28:19-20). Int. Linear Trans.
Keep in mind again that he was dealing with the Jewish system then, so that age ended at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Again realize that it took some forty years after the death and resurrection of Christ for these things to be written and even before the fall of Jerusalem. They were still observing some Judaistic temple worship even after the Holy Ghost has been poured out hence Peter and John were still going to the Temple and healed the man by the gate. Acts was written between AD 62-63 , That’s some years before the fall which is the total end of the Jewish order of temple and sacrificial worship.

And you know what? He is here with us right from the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2.), right from when He asked the disciples to “wait for the promise of the Father”. (Acts 1:4). For the Apostles saw Him come, in the upper room. And His presence in the saints, shall be intensified at the conclusion of things, just as the Spirit puts it
“And to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in FLAMING FIRE, INFLICTING VENGEANCE UPON THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD AND UPON THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the PRESENCE of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when he comes on that day to be GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS.. (The reapers – angels)” 2 Thes 1:7-10
RSV.
Again let us understand that, this was a promise to the saints in Thessalonica as vengeance because of the persecution they were facing by Paul, so if they never realized this promise that means Paul deceived them, and if they did get a fulfilled promise, that means the Lord really came in Vengeance. This is why it’s important to understand the various comings of the Lord in the scriptures, when and how he came, and to whom and for what purpose, for he who comes to us as a judge, also comes as the Bridegroom. They are not the same comings but the same person. The letter of 2 Thes. was written in AD 50-51

UNBELIEF, THE COMMON SIN OF THE ‘AGES’
From 2 These 1:5-10, we have been able to see that, the wrath of God awaits those who know not God and refused to believe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes to be glorified in His saints, which also corresponds to the harvest of the age. Math 13:40. The weeds being the wicked unbelievers.

SO HOW LONG HAS THIS UNBELIEF BEEN AROUND AND WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF IT?
In Math 12:22, is a record of the story of Jesus healing a blind and dumb fellow and how the Pharisees derided Him by saying “This man is only expelling devils because he is in league with Beelzebub, the Prince of devils”. In Verse 32 we are told, Jesus said “And whoever says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME” RSV. “..neither in this world, neither in the world to come” KJV. “not in this system of things nor in that to come” Int. Lin. Trans.

Looking at the above scripture and the various translations so compared, one might think that, it is referring to the
age of the Jewish law and that of the Grace that will be ushered in by the Christian era, while that is the true, the fact remains that this really goes back to the wilderness world, that is the nature of the people’s heart towards God, and the New Order, that will be introduced thereafter. Now look at it, why did He make the statement? “…He said this because THEY WERE
SAYING, HE IS IN THE POWER OF AN EVIL SPIRIT.” … “30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.” kjv Mark 3:22-30.

So you see, “the world” there refers to the age of unbelief in the power of God, knowing that the promise and plan
of redemption was made unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Gen 15:13, Acts 7:17, 26:6. Therefore these promise and the miracles performed on their behalf by God, in the wilderness through the Holy Ghost, their hearts was still hardened. Hence Stephen told them “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, YE DO ALWAYS
RESIST THE HOLY GHOST: AS YOUR FATHERS DID, SO DO YE”. Acts 7:51, Matt 21:33-41.
And this their inability to acknowledge the power of the Holy Ghost made it impossible for them, to enter into the rest of God.
“For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did
not meet with faith in the hearers–, as He has said, –as I swore in my wrath. They shall never enter my rest….
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and THEY TO WHOM IT WAS FIRST PREACHED
ENTERED NOT IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF.” (Heb.4: 3-6).

And it was this world of unbelief, which extended to the time of Jesus; and so He spoke to the Pharisees who will not believe on Him for healing a blind man. “ ….If ye were blind, ye should have no sin, but now ye say, we see, therefore your sin (unbelief) remaineth.” See John 9:39-41. In other words, as long as your sin (unbelief) remaineth, you cannot acknowledge the Holy Ghost, which is the outworking, and saving power of God. The work of the Holy Ghost is to” … Convince the world of the meaning of sin, of true goodness and of judgment. He will expose their sin because they do not believe in me;” Jon 16:8-9, Philips.

SO WHAT IS THE ETERNAL SIN (DAMNATION) ACCORDING TO MARK 3:29?
“If any of you should see his brother committing a sin (I don’t mean deliberately turning his back on God and embracing evil), he should pray to God for him and secure fresh life for the sinner. IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMMIT SIN THAT IS A DELIBERATE EMBRACING OF EVIL and THAT LEADS TO SPIRITUAL DEATH – that is not the sort of sin I have in mind when I recommend prayer for the sinner…. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, if they shall fall away (apostatize), to renew them again unto repentance; SEEING THEY CRUCIFY TO THEMSELVES THE SON OF GOD AFRESH, and put Him to an open shame”. I Jn. 5:16, Heb. 6:4-6. Philips, KJV.
But why is it impossible? It is because “if any one sin deliberately by rejecting the saviour after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by Christ’s death; there is no way to get rid of it… Think how much more terrible the punishment will be for those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God and treated His cleansing blood as though it were common and unhallowed, and insulted and outraged the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to His people.” Heb. 10:26-29. Tlb.
Meaning the only way to get forgiveness is to acknowledge the Holy Ghost as the saving power of the Father. And if this can be done, then that sin is forgiven. So the constant rejection of the Holy Ghost is the unpardonable sin otherwise there is no sin that is not forgivable through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus.

To be continued…

(c) 2015 – Dr. David O. Ogaga

Dt.32: 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee

8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.      

9 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance…..

Acts 17: 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

“And hath made of one blood”. All the families of men descended from one origin, or stock however different their complexion, features, language, colour etc. maybe. All men originate from one common parent. And that is exactly what the word ‘blood’ is often used to denote in scriptures, that is race, stock, kindred.

So the above scripture completely proves that all the human families are descended from the same ancestor; consequently, all the variety of complexion, etc., is not to be traced to some other causes other than that they were originally different races created.

Prophet Malachi lend his voice to this when he said…

Such a scary number that is most preached about, when men are to scare others into submission to religious faith.

Men have said it’s the computer bar codes on products, others an individual that shall rise up on the face of the Earth, microchips in human bodies, and yet others, maybe the Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Henry Kissinger, Hitler, Saddam Hussein etc. etc, manifesting as the Anti-Christ. But just what is this Number 666?

Somebody says , is it not the number of man? Yes, but it is not the number of an individual but the corporate man without Christ. You see, man was created on the sixth Day of the creation week.(Gen.1:26-31) Therefore the number of man is the number six, just like seven is the number of perfection or completeness, which also is the number of God, even as Eight is the number of Jesus, a new beginning.

Anyway, let us start with this scripture.