Watch This Video on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/322749207
*Photo Credit: Ashford’s great red oak as captured by Marty Aligata of the CT Notable Tree Project on December 2, 2017
Fruit That Remains By Ron McGatlin
The End of an Era of God
The end of an era is the beginning of a new one. Every day many older people die and are gone from this life. The same day many new people are born into life in the world. All of the millions of people who were mature adults when I was a small child have passed away. There is a continuing natural attrition of humanity and a daily birthing of new life on earth. In the natural scheme of life, generations come and go. Historians observing seasons of human life identify a lengthy season of some general commonality through many successive generations as an era or age of history.
Within the framework of an era, the wisdom and skills of each passing generation are usually of significant value when passed on to the new generation. However, when an era ends and a new era begins, many aspects of the old era do not carry on into the new. Some specific methods, tools, and skills that were useful and valuable in one era may be unfruitful in the next age of life.
The last generation at the end of an era may encounter major shifting of life-patterns that had been passed down through many generations. The first generation of a new era will need new methods, tools, and skills to successfully and productively function in the new season.
.
Traditional understanding and skills of the past era may be a hindrance in the lives of many who may have difficulty shifting into the new reality of life. Some people in the transitional generation may not make the shift and try to operate all their lives with the old tools of the past era. Others may make only a partial shift to the new, retaining some of the old ways all their lives. More than one generation may be required to cleanse the past ways from the people and plant the new ways of the new era.
As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.
Multitudes of followers of Christ worldwide are realizing that we are entering into a new era of spiritual reality on Planet Earth. As the past spiritual era comes to its end, much of what was productive is passing away.
.
2 Cor 3:11-12: For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.
.
A massive tree that has stood through generations and provided useful service and fruitfulness will eventually come to its end. The massive tree that began as a small sprout left to its natural course will grow old, die, and fall to the ground to decompose and enrich the soil for the tender young sprouts growing nearby. The many years of fruitful service are finished with the final major service of its entire structure being dissolved into enriched soil in which the new era can grow into fruitful service..
Our hearts may feel sadness as the familiar and even cherished structures of past life crumble and dissolve. The end can come suddenly, especially if the tree becomes diseased. The tree that has withstood many strong storms will weaken and become brittle as it grows old. It may break apart or be uprooted in the next storm that comes by.
.
Some structures that have served greatly in the past spiritual era are now coming to an end. Their fruit will remain only in the enriched soil provided by their dissolving that will grow the new spiritual era from the seed of Christ.
.
What is dissolving, and what is sprouting?
.
Since the late 1980s, God has been speaking through called and chosen apostolic/prophetic trumpets regarding the new era that we entered some time around the start of the new millennium. Many articles and books have been written and many more will be written bringing pieces and parts of the vast array of endings and beginnings of the new era. The changes in the new era are far too extensive to address in one article or even one book. Some general categories of significant change are:
.
.
- From the shadows of religious form and rituals to spiritual reality
- From dead religion to intimate spiritual relationship
- From studying about God to experiencing Him by the Spirit
- From knowing about God to intimately knowing Him and being known of Him
- From intellectually discerning the Bible to receiving revelation of the living written word by the Spirit
- From going to “church” to being the church (ekklesia)
- From a “church” growth emphasis to receiving the kingdom of God
- From striving to keep New Testament rules to living and walking in the Spirit
- From hoping to escape from the world to victoriously overcoming the world by the power of Christ in us by His Spirit
- From pastor-ruled clergy/laity “church” to gatherings under the headship of Christ by the Spirit with the spiritually mature ones (elders) training the immature
- From hierarchal “church” systems to relational apostolic networking
- From limiting spiritual function to a segment of our compartmentalized lifestyles to being led of the Spirit throughout every facet of our unified non-segmented lifestyles
- From an immature child of mixture (individually and as a corporate Body) to mature pure and holy sons of God, joint heirs with Christ Jesus
- From seeing the grace of God as a whitewash covering for our continued weakness and sinfulness to receiving the grace of God as empowerment to live holy lives
- From the beginning of wisdom in obedience by fear of God to the mature wisdom of experiencing the love of God
- From chasing after the things of God to resting in His presence and provision
- From a scattered people with spots of contamination and wrinkles of impurity to a pure and holy purified Body of Christ becoming the prepared Bride of Christ
This massive change is much more than a generational changing of the guard. It is in its final reality, the dissolving of the ways of life we have known and the coming of heaven’s ways of life. Great shakings will bare the foundations of life and expose their origin. Every area of life on earth must stand on the foundation of Christ Jesus. That which is built on the foundations will be built from the pattern of the rule of God from heaven.
.
Ultimately all human life and activity will be transformed including business, family, education, government, worship, and every facet of life. The cross of Christ – the precious shed blood of Jesus has purchased the redemption of the world. The resurrected Christ in whom is all the fullness of God, all authority, all power, all love, all wisdom, and all glory abiding in His holy people on earth is worthy and fully capable to complete the work of redemption of the world. Christ Jesus, the one through whom all things were created, came to earth sent of the Father to save the world.
.
Do not be discouraged when you see the crumbling and dissolution of the world around you. I have come to cleanse and renew My world and My people. Do not fear when the mountains fall and the seas roar as My pure and holy love invades the world of evil dissolving the vile from among the precious faithful of My choosing. Again, the heavens and the earth shall rejoice – Behold the Lamb in all His glory – My son in whom I am well pleased.
.
Isa 40:5: The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Num 14:21: but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
.
Psa 72:19: And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.
.
Fruit That Remains in the New Era
.
The usefulness of living trees of godliness mixed with religion and secularism that served in the past era has come to its end. Religion has become a tree with leaves and no fruit. When there is no fruit, there is no seed. The seed is in the fruit.
.
Mat 21:19: And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
.
When religious people pass away in this season of the barren tree being rejected of Christ Jesus, no seed remains on earth to transcend into the new era.
.
Seeds of Christ in fruitful sons die and sprout in the new era to bring forth the fruit of holy life in the kingdom of God.
.
John 12:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
.
Vintage-time Draws Near
.
Jesus spoke the following to the fruitless religious system leaders of His time on earth in His incarnate body. He is speaking the same today in His Body to the unfruitful “church” systems of today.
.
Mat 21:34-43: “Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.
.
Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
.
But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
.
They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”
.
.
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people bearing the fruits of it.
Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
OpenHeaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net