The entire church age is a time of harvest. There have been many revivals, each a time of increased harvest. However, when the final harvest comes, it will be much greater and will end with the Lord Jesus returning to gather His church to Himself (Rev. 14:14-16).

The final harvest is fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. Some characteristics of the final harvest are:

• This harvest is the end of the age. It will be gathered in from all nations in the world, and it is the time when tares will be separated from the good grain (Mt. 13:24-43).
• The love, mercy, compassion and power of God will be demonstrated to every nation through proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom (Mt. 24:14). The glory of God upon the church will bring in the harvest (Is. 60:1-3).
• Implicit in the great harvest will be unity and restoration of power and purity in the church (Acts 3:19-21).
• There will be a Semitic ingathering including the regathering and restoration of the nation of Israel to faith in their Messiah (Is. 60:4-7; Rm. 9:1-8, 22-28; Rm. 11; Gal. 3:26-28; Ez. 36:16-28).
• The advances in communication technology, in concert with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on a world population of 6-8 billion persons will result in the greatest-ever harvest of souls (Mt. 20:1-16; Joel 2:24-32; 3:14).
• There will be great spiritual warfare, for darkness will increase in the world even as glory rises upon the church. It will be a time of tribulation as the Lord shakes the heavens and the earth (Mt. 24; Heb. 12:25-29; Hag. 2:6-7).
• Because of spiritual darkness, the world as a field will be difficult to harvest from (Is. 60:2; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Jude 14-19).
• Much of the harvest will come from afflicted and poor peoples (Lk. 14:16-24).
• A climax of the harvest and spiritual warfare will be when Satan is cast out of heaven into the earth (Rev. 12:7-12). There will be great deception in the world, but the heavens will be open, and great power and glory will rest upon the church.

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QUESTIONS:
(1) Can we expect to see many saved from the following groups: The Catholic church; Jehovah Witnesses; Mormonism; The occult; Islam?
(2) What will characterize those who are the least likely to embrace what God will be doing?

REFERENCES:
THE GLORIOUS HARVEST (F.O.L. Tract); CHILDREN TODAY, WARRIORS TOMORROW (F.O.L. Tract).

PERSONAL NOTES:

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OUR INHERITANCE AND REWARDS IN CHRIST

Our inheritance as believers is based on the work of Christ on the cross (1 Pet. 1:3-4). For this reason, since it is not based on our works, it is the same for all believers. The following items constitute our inheritance:

• We have received eternal life (Jn. 3:36; 1 Jn. 2:25; 5:13).
• We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rm. 8:9; Gal. 3:14).
• We are members of the family of God (Eph. 1:3-6; Gal. 3:26).
• Each of us are unique members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).
• We are citizens of the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13-14).
• We will experience a resurrection to immortality (Jn. 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:51-53).
• In the resurrection we will have a glorified body like that of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:49).

Our rewards as believers is based on our personal stewardship of the life of God we received at salvation. That is, how well have we worked with the grace and Spirit of God (1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 3:16-20; Phil. 4:13). The following are principles of these rewards:

• Jesus will bring them at His second coming (Mt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12).
• The following verses speak of rewards: 2 Cor. 5:10; Dan. 12:3; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; 2 Jn. 1:8; 1 Cor. 3:8; Mt. 10:41-42; 1 Cor. 9:17-18; Mt. 5:10-12.
• Rewards will determine our future glory and authority in the kingdom of God (2 Thess. 2:13-14; Lk. 12:35-48; 2 Tim. 2:11-12; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:12, 21; 22:3-5). This means that there will be “degrees of greatness” in the kingdom of God (Lk. 7:28; Mt. 5:19; 18:4).
• There can be a loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:15-17).
• The pathway to great rewards will be marked by faith, humility and obedience in our stewardship of the word of God (Mt. 13:11-12, 19-23).

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QUESTIONS:
(1) What is the significance of 2 Cor. 5:1-3?
(2) Why is the inheritance exactly the same whether one is a moral person who becomes a Christian, or one is the worst possible sinner who has been saved?

REFERENCES:
OUR INHERITANCE AND REWARDS IN CHRIST (F.O.L. Tract)

PERSONAL NOTES:

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We have an adversary with whom we are at war (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan was totally defeated by Jesus at the cross, and we are to enter into His victory (Col. 2:15; Rev. 1:18; Jn. 12:31-32).

The weapons we are to use are eight in number

(1) Our confession (Rev. 12:11; Heb. 10:23)

(2) The word of God (Eph. 6:17)

(3) The power and gifts of the Holy Spirit

(4) The blood of Christ and authority of His name.

(5) The spiritual armor provided for us (Eph. 6:10-17)

(6) Prayer, fasting and intercession (Mt. 17:19-21)

(7) Walking in righteous submission to God (Ja. 4:7)

(8) Worship and praise (2 Chron. 20:20-22; Is. 30:31-32)

The various attacks of Satan include deception, accusation, condemnation, despair, infirmities and hatred. The primary battleground is our mind, which along with our hearts, have to be guarded (2 Cor. 10:3-5). We are to clothe ourselves with humility, truth and the love of God. We must stand in the Lord’s strength, and not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11).

Satan’s hierarchy include territorial spirits (fallen angels) who have specific objectives of wickedness for geographic areas. They are authorities in the heavens. We are to know what territorial spirits are over our area, and in unity with other Christians, pray and intercede against these spirits.

Their agents on earth are demons. Their purpose in the strategy of Satan is to deceive, torment and afflict mankind; to keep people from knowing Jesus as Savior, and to hinder believers from serving the Lord. They are also referred to as evil or unclean spirits. Their realm of activities is the occult. Two occult activities of deception are sorcery and divination which are rooted in witchcraft, a control of false religion. Divination is knowledge or insight from demons, that is a counterfeit to God’s gift of the word of knowledge (Acts 16:16-18). Sorcery involves the many ways that evil can be impressed on human senses (drugs, spells, amulets, etc.).

Biblical evangelism will include, where necessary, the expelling of demons (Mt. 10:8; Mk. 16:17; Acts 8:5-7; Acts 19:11-12).

Demons are spirit beings with will, intellect, emotion and self-awareness. They seek to indwell physical bodies in which to express themselves, preferably human bodies but also animals (Mt. 5:11-13). Some of the many evil manifestations of their presence are: deafness, muteness, blindness, being crippled, perversions, fear, infirmities such as cancer, suicide, murder, hatred, gossip, depression, adultery, lying, divination, pride, religious spirit, etc.

There is a threefold emphasis in spiritual warfare:

• Keep our focus on Jesus and our relationship to Him; not on Satan
• Distinguish between the weaknesses of human nature and demon activity. When demons are present in a person, they are to be cast out if the afflicted person seeks deliverance and is repentant. We are never to fear demons (1 Jn. 4:1-4).
• Live righteously, avoiding sins, habits, temptations, associations and any such thing that could lead to the influence of demons. Be submitted to godly oversight of your life.

QUESTIONS:
(1) What is the significance of Rev. 12:11?
(2) Give an example of how each of our 8 weapons is used in warfare.
(3) Give an example of Satan’s strategy for evil that you have experienced.
(4) How important is self discipline in spiritual warfare?

REFERENCES: SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL (F.O.L. Tract)
THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT (F.O.L. Tract)
Matthew 24:1-51; CONFLICT OF THE AGES (F.O.L. Tract).

PERSONAL NOTES:

RESTORATION

Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. (Acts 3:18-21)

The times of refreshing have been the many revivals that the church has experienced since the dark ages. These have been periods where certain lost truths were restored (i.e. Justification, sanctification, water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, divine healing, etc.). However, Jesus will not return until all truth has been restored. Restoration speaks of an ascension in spiritual qualities. The spirit of Elijah, who mentored a greater ministry (Elisha) than himself, is a key principle in church restoration (Mt. 17:10-11; Mal. 4:5-6).

The following are truths that are in the process of restoration during this present time of renewal:

• The ministry of prophets and apostles.
• The inclusion of the fivefold ministries of Ephesians 4:11 in plural leadership teams of local churches, and the emerging of apostolic team ministry in translocal ministry.
• A move away from program based local churches to cell group (house church) structures.

  Restoration of the church will not only bring back truths of the first church, but she will have a greater maturity and glory than has ever existed! Great power, holiness, humility, unity and glory will mark the bride of Christ. Jesus will not return for a defeated church, but for a glorious, overcoming church! The following are some of the changes to come and characteristics of that church:

• The unity of believers (Jn. 13:34-35; 17:20-24; Eph. 4:11-16).
• She will be prepared as the bride for Christ (Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-9).
• The salvation of Jews, along with people from all nations, will make the church one new man in Christ (Eph. 2:12-16).
• The nation of Israel will be grafted back into the root from which they were broken off (Is. 11:1-2, 10; Rm. 11:1-6, 11-32).
• There will be a major transformation of the church from institutional structures to local expressions of the body of Christ. Jesus will be clearly seen as Head of the church, for the control of man will be removed (Co. 1:15-20). The distinctions of clergy and laity will be replaced by the Lord’s anointing on all members of His body for service.
• The period of restoration will be consummated during times of great tribulation and spiritual warfare that will mark the final harvest of souls before Jesus returns (Joel 2:23-25).
• The life of Job is an example of personal restoration (Job 1:13-22; 42:10-13).

QUESTIONS:
(1) How important is the sovereignty of God in these last days? (Ps. 22:28; 47:8; 103:19; Acts 17:26).
(2) Does God’s sovereignty reduce our need to pray and seek His face?
(3) What is the basis of Israel returning to the Lord? (Zech. 12:10).

REFERENCES:
THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE (F.O.L. Tract); APOSTLES AND PROPHETS (F.O.L. Tract);
GRAFTING IN THE NATURAL BRANCHES (F.O.L. Book);
GOD’S CALL FOR HUMILITY (F.O.L. Tract); CHALLENGE OF THE MESSIANIC MINISTRY (F.O.L. Tract.

PERSONAL NOTES:

THE LORD’S RETURN

What signs will mark the second coming of Christ? The following scripture offers an important answer to this question.

This Jesus will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)

Thus, He will not return in secret as a spirit being, but in the same glorified body with which He ascended to heaven. The following are other truths concerning the signs and manner of His return.

• His coming will be visible to all (Mt. 24:27)
• He will return in the clouds of heaven (Rev. 14:14-16; Mt. 24:30; Dan. 7:13).

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him... (Rev. 1:7).

• He will make His appearance with a shout, the voice of the archangel and with the sound of the last (i.e. seventh) trumpet. The dead in Christ will be resurrected in new glorified bodies, then we who are alive will also be changed into similar bodies, we will all be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we always thereafter be with Him (1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Mt. 24:31).
• The seventh trumpet sounds to end a great tribulation and to mark the beginning of a new age (Rev. 10:7; Rev. 11:15-18; Rev. 13; Acts 14:22; Dan. 7:21-22, 27). The “caught up” saints are described in the following scripture, Rev. 7:9-17.

....These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (V. 14)

• The time of tribulation will be a period of great darkness and deception in the world, but a time of growing glory on the church (Is. 60:1-3). It will be a time of restoration to the church; a time when the bride of Christ prepares herself for her Lord’s return (Rev. 19:7-8).
• It will be a time of great shakings by the Lord; everything that is not of God will fall. The Lord will purify His kingdom by gathering out the tares (Heb. 12:25-29; Hag. 2:6-9; Mt. 24:29; Mt. 13:24-43; 2 Thess. 2:6-12).
• We are specifically warned to avoid deception in the days leading to the Lord’s return (Mt. 24:4-13, 23-24, 36; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-5). This will be a time of testing, a time to overcome (Rev. 2:26-27; 3:12, 21; 21:7; 2 Tim. 2:11-12). The Lord is returning for a united, victorious, overcoming church!

QUESTIONS:
(1) What immediately follows the Lord’s return? (Rev. 14:17-19). See also: Is. 2:11-22; 24:17-23; Jude 14-15; 2 Pet. 3:1-13; Rev. 16- 19.
(2) What place does tribulation and suffering play in the purpose of God for the church in the last days?
(3) In the light of Revelations 21:1-4, what is the significance of Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelations 20?

REFERENCES:
OUR BLESSD HOPE - THE RETURN OF CHRIST (F.O.L. Tract);
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST (F.O.L. Tract); THE DAY OF THE LORD (F.O.L. Tract)

PERSONAL NOTES:

CONTENTS
STUDY OBJECTIVES
THE CREATION OF MAN
THE ORIGIN AND ISSUE OF SIN
THE PROVISION OF GOD
THE PROCESS OF SALVATION
THE PURPOSE OF GOD
THE END OF THIS  AGE