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4. Reign of Righteousness

"The Coming Reign (Rain)
of Righteousness"

I believe what I envision in this article will happen before the rapture experience of 1 Thes.4:16-17, the day of the Great Tribulation and the literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Seek First His Kingdom

It is a time of great revival throughout the earth as God administers His mercy and judgment as the gospel of the kingdom is preached to all nations. 

It is a time when He places His glory on the church, the church being defined as all those who have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in their hearts, as she is spread amongst the nations. During the time known as the "beginning of sorrows" as foretold by Jesus in Mathew 24:8.(KJV). 

It is the time of the breaking of the Sun of Righteousness upon the world, which speaks of His manifest glory being restored (Mal.4:2) to earth. 

• "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt.6:33). 

In previous articles, I wrote of walking in the high calling of Christ, living in the realm of His manifest glory, entering the realm of the heavenlies, and serving the Lord in the high places of the world. We are to walk with Him, who is high and lifted up and who inhabits eternity. 

This article is meant to encourage seekers of this heavenly realm to realize that we must walk before the Lord in His righteousness and His holiness with great responsibility and accountability. We are to walk in such high places in lowliness of spirit and the fear of the Lord. 

Those who walk in His glory must walk in obedience to the Father's will as revealed in His Word. Righteousness and truth must be made real in our innermost being, our motives having been purified through His refining fires, and such righteousness must be manifested in our words and our deeds.

Authentic Prophets

We must walk in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS instead of self-righteousness and unrighteousness. We are entering a day when false Christs and false prophets will abound, showing great signs and wonders to convince us of their authenticity. 

They will be quite religious and say they are of God and are sent by Him, but their words and deeds will reveal them. We are always to judge proclaimed prophets by their fruit. 

• "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits" (Matt.7:1516). 

These will not be energized by the power of the Holy Spirit and consequently will lack the fruit of the Spirit. 

• "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control:…" (Ga.5:23).

The apostle John gives a very clear word in determining who is of God and who isn't. We should judge our own life by this scripture also to determine whether our lives are continually in subjection to the Word of God; this is so we may not go astray and our ministries cease being of God.

• "Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and He cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother" (1Jn.3:7-10).

The word here is "practice." The one who practices sin has a lifestyle of sin that shows contempt for the Word of God and an attitude that is void of true repentance. He may appear outwardly religious, but his deeds will not line up with his words. His heart will not be right, and he will lack the nature of Jesus.

Those who practice righteousness will have an obvious open lifestyle of godliness and spirits that are transparent and without guile, for that is the nature of Jesus. If a righteous man struggles with sin in his life, he shows a contrite spirit and is quick to confess his sin before God and man. 

Thus the practicing of righteousness, His righteousness, and a love for the brethren are the qualities of a man who is truly serving the Lord. Those who serve the Lord will be true to the letter and the Spirit of the Word of God, especially the commandments of Jesus. 

In this text of John, he places us behind the veil of the holy of holies of the tabernacle of Moses; that is speaking spiritually, not literally. It is the realm of perfect love and righteousness.

 He writes that one cannot practice sin from this position because of the overwhelming conviction of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is not saying one cannot commit a sin, but that one cannot practice sin as a lifestyle.

As certainly as the power of sin hopelessly draws us down into a realm of sin, the power of His righteousness in us will hopefully draw us up into a realm of righteousness. 

The Lord promises that we can walk on streets of gold; this speaks of a walk and a talk in God that is divinely inspired by the power of an overflowing everlasting life. This life is to flow like living waters out from our innermost being. 

The evidence of one walking behind the veil will be to walk and a talk in Jesus' righteousness, a righteousness that works through the Spirit of love, manifesting the fruits of the Spirit. Jesus said many shall come forth in the latter days showing great signs and wonders. 

Some will be of the Lord, for the gospel of the kingdom will be preached with power. But many will not be of God, their motives and spirits will not be right, and their performances will be theatrical, purposed to draw people to themselves and their own kingdoms. 

The signs and wonders of God are purposed to awaken people to a supernatural increase of their faith in God. They are also manifested to bestow His compassion on people and to confirm the ministry of the Word of God, which is purposed to bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. 

We will have to use the plumbline of His righteousness and His 3 Word to determine who is of God. The fruit of the Spirit (Ga.5:22-23) must be evident, and the minister must have a servant's heart and not that of a stage performer. 

The only way not to be deceived is to walk in Biblical righteousness. Much of the righteousness we see in the church today is self-righteousness, and that will not stand the trials and temptations that are coming on the earth in the latter days. 

So seek Him and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS today. When you find it, it will be an ark of safety in any storm. The righteousness of God was first revealed to man through the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Law was good, but it was difficult to keep because of the weakness of human nature. 

We seem to be burdened with a body that is by nature lawless. During the age of the Law, God blessed those who kept it and considered keeping the Law as righteousness. 

Jesus came forth with a revelation of God's righteousness that was even more perfect and stringent than the Law of Moses. And that righteousness is found by keeping His commandments as given in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt.5,6,7). 

Take some time to read these chapters and familiarize yourself with them; these commandments are somewhat difficult to understand and seemingly impossible to keep. I believe in the days ahead, the Lord will draw and enlighten His sons and daughters to these commandments, to better understand them. 

He will show us how we can walk in these commandments as a practicing, practical lifestyle, and He will give us the power to do so. He wants us to understand that only by this type of lifestyle will we overcome the adversities that will come upon the church in these latter days. 

The following is the degree of righteousness he desires for people who will walk with Him in the heavenlies. 

• "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you…. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Mt.5:38-42; Lk.6:27-28). 

A Supernatural People

Now, who with a carnal mind can do such things consistently as a lifestyle with the power of the flesh?; this is absurdity and foolishness to the natural man and contrary to human nature. 

However, He is calling the church to become a supernatural people motivated by the power of the indwelling divine life of Jesus Christ, a life that resides in every believer. 

God WILL have a people who will walk in this realm of righteousness consistently and overcome all the evil the world and the devil can throw at them. Such overcomers will be a visible testimony of the Lord's life and will be plumb lines by which to measure the many false prophets coming on the scene s; only.

Flesh can't duplicate this; only the Spirit of Christ can. The wisdom of God is foolishness to man; those in His kingdom who keep these commandments will overcome those in the realm of darkness who war against His kingdom's purposes. 

It is a blessed and joyful life for those he so securely harnesses that they will be able to walk in these commandments, in word and deed, as a lifestyle amid adversity. 

The Commandments from the Sermon on the Mount are, to the church, what the Law of Moses was to the children of Israel. They are to govern our lives in thought, word, and deed. They are the perfect expression of the Law of love. 

Christian people, the Bible is overflowing with laws, rules, regulations, and commandments. And I agree they should be kept if they apply to us to the best of our ability. But if we keep these Laws while not being motivated and walking in the Law of love, we are missing the boat. 

Let's get our hearts right with the help and grace of God and start walking in His righteousness before we judge the unbeliever and our brethren in the church who fail to live up to our standard of righteousness, which is in many cases, just plain outright self -righteousness. 

Jesus confronts us with the futility of our flesh, living up to God's righteousness by giving us commandments that are, for the most part, impossible to keep; thus, he provides a Savior who will impart His righteousness into our hearts by faith.

He calls us out of the world (and sometimes the church), up into the heavens where a new heart enables us to walk in a righteousness that is not of this world. Jesus' commandments place restrictions on our motives as well as our behavior. 

The Law was concerned with what we do; His commandments are concerned with what we are and what we do. Our heart condition is judged, and sin is confronted in our thoughts and desires. 

These commandments are kept because we have had a supernatural change of heart. God desires us to have truth and lawfulness in our innermost being. 

When we, as Christians, learn to walk continuously in Jesus' commandments by the power of His righteousness dwelling in us, we will be qualified to judge the world who doesn't keep the Law of Moses. 

Apart from Jesus, they can't keep the Law. They sin because they are sinners; it's their nature to do so, as it was ours before we came to the Lord. The Christian is supposed to have a new nature, so let us walk in that successfully before we become judges of men's hearts.

God is calling us into a higher realm of righteousness that is fit for His kingdom. When we can keep the commandments of the Lord given to us from the Sermon on the Mount, we will have obtained kingdom righteousness. 

The purpose of keeping them is to remain free from man's bondage and that the world will see our lifestyles and good works and glorify our Father in heaven. 

There WILL be people who will reveal our Father's love, mercy, and judgment by their thoughts, words, and deeds. Walking out of these commandments consistently is impossible apart from being motivated by His resurrection life. 

This life must flow forth from our innermost being from within the realm of the most holy place. When we are confronted with the command of the Lord to keep His righteous commandments and realize how lofty and heavenly His righteousness is, we are likely to despair. 

We ask, 'Who could possibly walk in such a high standard of righteousness all the time?' In exasperation, we cry to the Lord as His disciples did, "Then who can be saved?" However, the Lord of mercy will lift and enlarge our faith and say, 

• "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God" (Mk.10:26-27).

Yes, the righteousness the Lord commands of His sons and His daughters seems beyond what we can now do. The Sun of Righteousness (Mal.4:2), the enabling power of His manifest glory, is rising with healing in its rays; this is the start of restoring His glory to the earth.

Spiritual strength, sustenance, and wisdom will flow from this realm, helping us keep His righteous commandments as a steady and stable walk and lifestyle. 

As we discover this realm of righteousness, God will quicken our spirit, soul, and body, supernaturally energized by His Life, and we will be better able to walk and talk in kingdom righteousness while yet in the flesh.

We will truly manifest His nature and righteousness to a darkened and sin-bound world to the glory of God the Father. I believe many of us are now pressing in to enter this realm. We seem so far away at times. 

There are days when I despair over my own duality and carnality that seem to cling to me like Lazarus' grave clothes. I mention this because I know many of you can identify and need encouragement knowing you are not alone; this is where many seeking God's high calling are in this hour. 

We are to die to the carnal nature, but all such dying is in vain apart from a life-giving resurrection. As with Lazarus, Jesus gave Lazarus' dying a purpose. And it will be so with us.

Keeping the Sermon on the Mount

We need to encourage one another in the Lord, not to continue in our carnality, but to raise our expectations of what God can do in us, for us, and through us that we may have hope. 

We need to look to Him with our failures, for He will raise us up to higher ground if we stay contrite before His throne and mercy seat. The righteousness necessary to keep the Sermon on the Mount should be our focus and goal. As we seek it first, all else will be added unto us. 

Righteousness is defined as conforming to a standard of right and justice, virtuous, morally right, and equitable. Righteousness is the inherent quality of Jesus' life, the very nature of God, and proceeds from his throne by the Holy Spirit in accordance with His will. 

The righteousness of God is above, beyond, and alien to natural Adamic man. Through the fall of Adam, mankind separated himself from the righteousness of God.

Mankind's perception of true righteousness is distorted. He can only rediscover it anew through the person and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our human nature has a certain sense of righteousness that falls short of the righteousness of God. What we call right, justice, and equitable may vary from person to person and from culture to culture. 

If we look to our human nature to determine the meaning of righteousness, we become lost in the darkness of our subjective opinion. Man's basic nature of rebellion and self-will blinds him to the true objective standard of God. That is why the Word of God, as revealed in the Bible, is so precious, even though some say it isn't perfect. 

The scriptures show us the way to God, our heavenly Father, which is so important in becoming true sons and daughters of God. We are to be living epistles read by all men, which may be the only "Bible" some people will ever read. 

It is important that we know our Bibles, but it is more important that we truly know the God who wrote the Bible. The revelation of both is necessary if we are to experience the righteousness of Christ truly. 

Man by nature lives in unrighteousness and self-righteousness; this falls short of the righteousness of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day revealed the blindness of human nature's righteousness and judgments. 

They judged the Prince of Life, the embodiment of the perfect righteousness of God, to be worthy of death because He judged their unrighteousness and self-righteousness as falling short of the righteousness of God. 

They were blind because their legalistic self-righteousness was devoid of the true love of God and man. They were hardhearted and hypocritical and were devoid of His Holy Spirit. 

They sought to condemn people into Perfection, whereas Jesus knew legalistic Perfection could only come through the impartation of heavenly righteousness and the ministry of the love of the Holy Spirit. 

They were a perfect example of Adamic man's distorted view of righteousness and his blindness in his decrees of judgment. The standard of righteousness that God the Father uses to judge the world is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. 

He has been decreed to judge all mankind, and His standard of righteousness is perfect and cannot change. He is the measure of all things, the perfect revelation of the righteousness of God in human form. Only He is the perfect King who can judge with perfect mercy, judgment, and truth. 

And only those who have partaken of His nature and have His mind will be qualified to be kings unto God who are competent to judge the world with Him. Such kings will judge with righteous judgment from the throne of God in the kingdom of God. 

They will have discovered how to walk in His righteousness and come under His headship and authority in thought, word, and deed. 

• "Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming; for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness" (Ps.96:12- 13 7 13).

Righteousness must be established on earth, for the love of God decreed it. It is written in our Bibles, and it will come to pass. It is sometimes difficult to understand how all this will unfold in the world as it is today. 

But He is starting now by first recreating a people unto godliness through the Spirit, a people who will qualify to share His throne of spiritual authority. 

He is calling a people out of the world to escape the evil rampant through the spirit of the world and will redeem them, wash them, and press them that they may be perfect at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

God will not allow the wickedness of man, as will manifest in the latter days, to prevail. He shall cause the righteousness of Christ to overcome all evil and establish the eternal kingdom of God even through the Great Tribulation. 

A new day is dawning that is ushering in the kingdom of God. His glory will be known by all men and women who have been blessed to enter His kingdom. And this glory will eventually cover the whole earth. 

• "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab.2:14). 

Jesus is establishing a kingdom of righteousness, and eventually, ALL the righteous, as He judges them, will enter into it. 

• "Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Mt.13:43). 

Man is now seeking to establish a political, religious, and economic world order based on his distorted view of righteousness. In the midst of this, Satan attempts to establish a kingdom that will put mankind into bondage by gaining control of this so-called new world order. 

Such an order will fail because God will not allow it to succeed. The righteousness of Christ and the kingdom of God will prevail and overthrow the devil's kingdom. Jesus and His hosts will bring it to an abrupt end. 

• "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth;… (Amos.9:8).

God loves us too much to let the devil and Adamic man to prevail. He has a better plan of salvation for mankind that will be fully revealed through preaching the kingdom's gospel to the world before he comes.

The efforts of man will only produce oppression and death. God's plan is to restore and enlarge the blessings of the Garden of Eden and restore to man the fountains of living water and the right to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. 

• "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the lamb, in the middle of its street. And on the other side of the river was the Tree of Life…." (Rev.22:1-2).

As the Christian people rise and walk in the love and righteousness of God as revealed in the Sermon on the Mount, the world will truly see the joy and glory of the kingdom of God experienced through His kingdom people.

True global peace and harmony will only come as men's hearts are changed, and they start to walk and talk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Only through the Prince of Peace will man ever discover true peace...

Jesus was given authority to judge because he has lived life in the flesh and has overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. As the Son of Man, He is compassionate and merciful to our human frailties. 

As the Son of God, he has the righteousness, love, wisdom, and truth to judge according to the will of the Father, who knows all things. 

• "I can do nothing on my own initiative, as I hear, I judge and My judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of Him who sent me" (Jn.5:30).

Jesus hears from the Father, and because he does, he decides what true righteousness is; what is just, what is morally right, what is equitable and what is acceptable to the Father, and what is not. And because he hears from the Father, He does not judge according to appearances, but He judges with righteous judgment. 

The Father alone knows all things concerning a person's life and searches the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus judges not to please His own will but that of God our Father's will as He hears from Him all things pertaining to a person's life. 

The righteousness of Jesus Christ is perfect righteousness, and because we can become partakers of His perfect divine nature, we can be perfectly righteous also. 

The process of becoming perfect begins when we are born again and continues until we become perfectly conformed to His image. For this to be so, we must first behold His glory, so Perfection is impossible until He comes back a second time, thus filling us with His glory.

Such glory will expel all the darkness in a person's soul... The command of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is "Be ye therefore perfect (mature, complete, without defect, flawless), even as My Father in heaven is perfect" (Mt.5:48).

The life of Christ within us is perfect, and when we are made perfectly dead to our carnality, and His glory shines upon us, and resurrection life comes shining through us, we thus reveal the Perfection of Christ. 

All attempts to become perfect by self-will are religious dead works and will fail, and attempting to become perfect in self-effort is unhealthy because it's an impossibility. 

Perfection becomes possible when we fully become captive to the power of His righteousness, thus becoming slaves to righteousness (Rom.6:19), in thought, word, and deed. We are to become slaves to righteousness. 

It is possible to do so in this church age as we walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal.4:2) as it breaks the far horizon and the glory of the morning star arises in our hearts. (2Pet.1:19) 

• "For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification" (Rom.6:19).

The Heart-Cry of God

The heart-cry of God today is not for bigger churches with greater works and miracles, but rather for perfect righteousness to be established in and demonstrated through a willing people. Because He is perfectly righteous in us, we eventually can be made perfectly righteous also. 

Righteous words and deeds will flow forth from us with great ease if His love from within perfects us. We will blossom with the fruits of righteousness because it will be in our nature to do so. Jesus is establishing a righteous nation from among a called out people from all nations of the earth. 

His righteousness will bring peace and order to a world that is dangerously close to global disorder and anarchy. The veneer of civilization, as we have known it is very thin. 

Seemingly, we are in relative peace at this time, but sin and all its consequences are straining the peace order of our nation and the world. There are many prophesies of impending judgment that I don't dispute; such judgments are real.

However, such judgments are to be corrective in nature, a chastisement, to bring this world to its spiritual senses. God isn't finished with His plan of salvation yet. And we must see the glorious hope on the other side of these judgments. 

Jesus came to save the world, not destroy it. It is mankind and his ways that are destroying the world. Usually, God's judgments are simply a result of God withdrawing His grace which is even now restraining the works of men of violence. We are taking the grace of God for granted. 

He is the one holding this world together, and we ought to praise Him and credit Him for His restraining hand upon the evil ones in the world today. However, the grace of God is given through prayer. The church's lack of prayer and the world causes little grace to come through the heavens to earth. 

Consequently, evil prevails, and judgments are experienced; this is happening in today's world. The church needs revival so that prayer and grace may abound. 

Through prayer, an intervention of God's grace will occur, and His hand will be moved to restrain evil in today's world, more than what is being restrained now. The scriptures are clear that His mercy prevails over His judgments. 

God delights in giving mercy but is grieved when giving judgments, as righteous as they may be. He came to destroy the sin while saving the sinner, and such judgments are, for the most part, purposed to bring men to the end of their folly to repent and receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

The calamities of the latter days are clearly described in the Bible in the twenty-fourth chapter of Mathew. I believe we are just entering this time. It will begin with the revelation of many antichrists (Mt.24:4-5). An antichrist is anyone who says "I am the Christ" other than Jesus. 

We must know Jesus by His WORDS so as not to be deceived. The troubles ahead of us are not necessarily all God's judgments but are just the fruit of man and his ways. 

Jesus has been given a kingdom, and during the trials of the latter days, He intends to reveal the power and purpose of His salvation as was prophesied by the Old Testament prophets to bring forth this kingdom.

Mathew is quite clear the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in power before the end comes (Mt.24:14). So I will write of the hope I see amongst the judgments and turmoil of the latter days. 

In the darkness of the latter days, His righteousness demonstrated through a willing people will intervene into the affairs of men to save and comfort many. God intends to bring an end to the ways of human nature and will put down all that is inconsistent with His righteousness, love, mercy, and judgment. 

I want to give a balanced perspective of both the depth of the Lord's mercy and the severity of the Lord's judgments. I believe we will see a demonstration of both in the near future. 

The day of the Lord is near, and it is both a time of light and darkness as the Lord prepares people to enter His kingdom. The truth is no one knows how events will transpire exactly, so we need to know Jesus better; He will give us peace in any storm. 

And, through it all, a victorious church will enter His kingdom whether you believe pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. Jesus said in the last days, nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; this speaks of modern nation-states rising and doing warfare with other nation-states. 

It also means the kingdom of God will rise and do warfare against the kingdom of darkness, contending for the souls of men. God is even now preparing a holy spiritual army who will fight with spiritual weapons to bring forth the blessings of the kingdom of God prior to His literal coming. 

He will intervene upon the calamities of men to show mercy and save souls. 

• "And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion (those walking in His glory and authority) to judge the mount of Esau(man's carnal ways); and the kingdom shall be the Lord's" (Ob.1:21).

God will not abandon the world to the spirit of the world but will bring forth salvation that will show men the way into His kingdom even in the midst of His judgments. 

Righteousness WILL be established on the earth, and there WILL be a church who will shine with the light of the glory of God's righteousness before the great tribulation. 

• "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake (the overcoming church, the city of God), I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning" (Isa.62:1).

Let freedom ring….. Righteousness will spring forth from the nations as the name of Jesus is exalted, and His army of saviors set men free from the works of the devil and the power of darkness. 

• "For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations." (Isa.61:9) 

In the midst of judgments, righteousness will be established. 

• "…For when the earth experiences Thy judgments the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isa.26:9) 

We are on the threshold of the pouring out of His Holy Spirit of righteousness as has never before. 

• "And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon my bondslaves, both men and woman, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy" (Acts.2:17-18).

This outpouring of His Spirit will be a rain of righteousness that will fill the hearts of men and women and refresh the spirits of those who will be called upon to receive the Lord Jesus Christ that they may be saved.   

• "So, rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you rain, the early and later rain as before" (Jo.2:23).

It is evident that the world will soon recognize it needs a Savior and genuine salvation in an unprecedented way. This Savior will be revealed to be Jesus Christ, the Lord who inhabits the heavens and pours out His salvation through a glorious army of saviors. 

This outpouring will be sent to the uttermost parts of the earth and will fall on all mankind. 

• "Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness; let the earth open (the earth of men's hearts) and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it. I the Lord have created it" (Isa.45:8).

The righteousness that is coming will be a sovereign creation of God. The Old Testament prophets prophesied this latter-day outpouring. 

• "Sow with the view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until he rains righteousness on you" (Hos.10:12).

A Rain of Righteousness

Love, life, and liberty will be poured out upon mankind, dousing the flames of hatred, lust, fear, pride, and greed that threaten to devour the world in the immediate future. The church will shine with the salvation of the Lord in the world's darkest hour.

Let us seek the Lord and cry out that a rain of revival, renewal, and restoration soon comes from the presence of the Lord to prepare the church and the world for a coming time of storms and darkness. 

Pray that the Lord brings forth bright clouds, that is, brilliant ministers who will bring light and refreshment of spirit to strengthen us for the days before us. 

• "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field" (Zec.10:1).

 Such servant "clouds" will have the righteousness, love, judgments, and commandments of God written in their very nature. They will exalt the Lord Jesus in all things. The Spirit of righteousness will radiate from their lives into the lives of others, thus helping them to walk in the same righteousness. 

• "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel (also the church, which is the Israel of God [Ga.5:16]); after those days, declares the Lord, I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jer.31:33). 

All the commandments given by the Law and the Prophets can be summed up with having a wholehearted love of God and our neighbor. The fulfillment of this Law of love is the righteousness that the Lord desires of us. 

• "And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that he had answered well, asked, 'What commandment is foremost of all?' Jesus answered, the foremost is 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other greater commandment than these "(Mk.12:28-31NASV).

There is a simplicity in Christ that we do well to remind ourselves. If we are not walking in love in all circumstances, we are out of the will of God. When our duality of flesh and spirit cease, and we become wholehearted towards the Lord, His commandment-keeping ability will be energized and released in us. 

He knows our need for power to be enabled, and He will give it to those who have a willing spirit who ask Him for it. Walking in love amid evil will bring great glory to the Lord. 

The Lord wants a people who will be ambassadors from heaven, revealing the true nature of Jesus Christ, consequently manifesting the nature of the Father, showing the world the joy of kingdom life lived through kingdom commandments. 

Those who DO His commandments will be able to enter the city of God and partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. 

"I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that DO His commandments that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Rev.21:13-14).

God intends to recreate us unto godliness that we may partake of this fruit and live forever unto Him. To partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life speaks of experiencing unimaginable joys in eternal life. It is the knowing of the intimacies of God's divine nature. 

This gospel of the kingdom message will be taught to the whole world by the overcomers in the church prior to the Lord's return. 

• "And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Mount Zion), to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths, for the law will go forth from Zion (by those who share His throne), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (His church, the city of God)'" (Isa.2:3).

God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and righteousness will spring up from the nations even in the midst of judgments. Those who overcome by keeping His kingdom commandments will know great joys and victories. God will pour out His mercy in an unprecedented way in these latter days. 

He will heal our spirits, souls, and bodies to perfect and thus prepare us to enter His kingdom. Those who remain unrepentant after an outpouring of His mercy will be fed judgment while being called upon to repent. The storms of the latter days will be intense and persecution strong, but God will teach us how to overcome in all situations. 

We are not to be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. The joy and freedom of walking in His perfect will be greater than what we can now imagine. Jesus finishes His discourse from the Sermon on the Mount with this serious exhortation. 

• "Therefore, everyone who HEARS these words of Mine, and ACTS upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock; and the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall; for it had been founded upon a rock. And every one who HEARS these words of mine, and DOES NOT ACT upon them will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall" (Mt.7:24-27).

The keeping of Jesus' kingdom commandments is our 13 rock. If we build our lives and ministries on this rock, we are certain to have a joyful and successful walk in the Lord during the great and awesome days ahead of us. Let us seek Jesus. 

He can make it possible by recreating our hearts and mind and imparting great grace into our lives. I believe the righteous word of the Lord to the church and the world in this hour is 

"Repent." We need to let Him change our lives that they may be pleasing to Him. We need to do it corporately, and we need each other for encouragement. He wants us to focus on personal righteousness that proceeds from the Spirit of love. 

It is a righteousness and love that embraces the revealed righteousness of God as written in our Bibles. Jesus said, 

• "If you love me, you will keep My commandments." (Jn.14:15).

The keeping of His commandments is the evidence of our love for Jesus. Many of us still fall short, but a soon coming intervention of His Spirit into the world will help us. 

The Bible has many commandments and exhortations to obey, and we should be diligent in keeping those commandments that apply to us as Christians today. Some do apply to us, and some don't apply to us. It takes corporate church wisdom to know the difference.

Legalisms and licenses will put us in bondage, but His righteousness and love will set us free. He wants to heal us in our innermost being, where sin dwells, and replace it with His righteousness. 

We need the ministry of the Word and healing anointing of the Holy Spirit to be able to walk in the righteousness He desires for us. The light of the Sun of Righteousness is rising, and as it shines on us, it will reveal all truth. 

It will expose all the unrighteousness and self-righteousness that is hidden deep within our hearts. This truth will set us free. Only that in our lives that is of HIS (Christ's) righteousness will endure. As we turn toward the Lord and repent of what is in our hearts and our deeds, He will bring great healing to our lives. 

The reason he came was to heal the broken, the bound, the bruised, the blind, and the beggar with His love. If we are among that crowd, great hope and great joy are at our door. Righteousness must reign, and righteousness must rain. 

It is the destiny of the kingdom of God on earth to find its fulfillment through us. Seek the kingdom and His righteousness first, and you will have treasures that will endure throughout eternity. 

How to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

It Only Takes A Short Prayer To enter into the kingdom of heaven; we need godly righteousness. We do not have godly righteousness by human nature. So God provides a solution by giving us His righteousness through Jesus Christ simply by believing in and trusting in His name. 

To enter into the kingdom of heaven, you need to be born again and born of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-8). Pray this prayer with an honest and sincere heart, and you will be saved. The seed of His righteousness will be planted in your heart so you can be born-again; by grace, through faith, all that call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The name of the Lord is Jesus. 

• "Dear Father, I accept your righteousness by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through having faith in His name. I believe He is the Son of God, the one and only Christ, and that you raised Him from the dead that I may have Eternal Life. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for my sins and cleansing me with Your life-blood. I pray, Lord, that I may receive a full salvation, discovering all that is prepared for me and that I will not fall short of your highest calling. Baptize me in your Holy Spirit and give me the revelation of my heavenly Father. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. 

Welcome to the global fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ by becoming part of the corporate Body of Christ. Seek to become obedient and faithful to the Head of this Body, Jesus Christ the Lord. 

Brian McGrath

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