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(5.)
End Times Of The Last Days
By Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
This booklet presents both quotes from booklets by Bill Britton as well as
commentaries on these quotes. Bill Britton (now deceased) was a leader of the Manifest Sons of
God movement.
By Bill Britton:
"We are living in the end-times of the last days. The Bible tells us (11 Corinthians 4:4) that
Satan is the God of this age. And Hebrews 2:5-8 says that God has allowed this present age to
be in subjection to fallen angles, but that the government of the coming age will be by the sons
of God, the Body of Jesus Christ. The time has now come for this age of darkness, during which
Satan the prince of darkness has ruled to come to a close."
"The "coming new age" is" the day of the Lord and "the day of the Lord" is the seventh day."
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God
ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all of His work which He
had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it because that in it He had rested from
all His work which He created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)"
"God worked for 6 days bringing His creation to perfection. He was not discouraged with the
imperfect, incomplete creation after the 4th or 5th day. He just kept working until it was
finished."
"All of God's work was finished after six days, when He had a man prepared to take over the
government of creation (Genesis 1:26-28)."
"On the seventh day God rested, while man went to work taking care of His creation."
One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (Peter 3:8).
Biblical genealogical records inform us that Adam and Eve were created almost 6,000 years ago.
Orthodox Jews as well as Christian Creationists, people who literally believe in the bible account
of creation and who are opposed to the theory of evolution, are the foremost believers in a literal
belief in this genealogical record indicating how old the human race is. I believe that there is a
reason for this genealogical record being in the Bible, but I do not believe that it should be taken
literally. It was written to let us know when the seventh one thousand year day (the seventh day),
or the day of the Lord, would be at hand.
Therefore, we have now come to the end of six of God's 1,000 year days. He has been working on
His plan, and is now putting the finishing touches on it. He is now preparing some of His
prophets to usher in the next 1,000 year day, the seventh day. When these prophets reach
perfection within a sinless realm of holiness, the seventh 1000 year day will have arrived,
and they will then begin to rule and reign over all the earth with Christ. They will have
been prepared, as was Adam, to take over the government of creation.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia this next 1,000 year day, or the seventh day, represents
eternity. It says in the Catholic Encyclopedia that Saint Augustine taught that: "...the Sabbath
of one thousand years after the six thousand years of history is the whole of eternal life". Or
in other words, the number one thousand is intended to express perfection, and the last space
of one thousand years must be understood as referring to the end of the world." "This
explanation of the illustrious Doctor was adopted by succeeding Western theologians..."
Note: the words "end of the world" refer to when the earth is finally delivered from its "bondage
to corruption", "transform", "renovated", or "restored to the purity of its origins". And this
will occur at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Therefore the prophets that God is
using to usher in the next 1000 year day are also, and more importantly, ushering in the second
coming of Jesus Christ.
It also says in the Catholic Encyclopedia that a "one thousand year" period of time is also to be
understood as the space of time from when Jesus defeated Satan by His death and resurrection to
when Satan is cast from his throne to the earth. The scriptures refer to this period of time as
the time when Satan is imprisoned in an abyss. This space of time last up until the time of
Satan's end-time wrath, and Satan's end-time wrath will last for a short period of time. And
this short period of time immediately proceeds the second coming of Jesus Christ and the
establishment of the definitive expression of the kingdom of God on earth.
Satan�s end-time wrath will begin when God's end-time prophets reach perfection and start
ruling and reign with Christ. The second coming of Jesus Christ (when He appears to all of
human kind) will occur after Satan's end-time wrath. And after Satan's end-time wrath, Jesus
Christ will be returning to a dominion that has been completely made ready for Him.
In Rev. 20: 7-9 the word of God tells us that Satan will be released from the abyss and then all
hell is going to break loose on earth. This end-time wrath of Satan is called the "evil day" in
Ephesians 6:13. And this same scripture tells us that we should "put on the full armor of God";
that we "may be able to withstand in the evil-day".
And the "evil day" just recently became imminent because the coming of God's seventh 1,000 year
day just recently became imminent. And those of us who will have "put on the full armor of God"
by the end of these six 1000 year days of human history will have taken dominion back from Satan
and begun the process of ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ, the king of kings. When we begin
to rule and reign with Christ, we will be "at rest" because, having "put on the full armor of God"
we will have completely laid down our own labors, and the strength of the natural man. And in
doing so, we will have enabled God to be Lord of His creation.
In the Bible these "clothed with the full armor of God" faithful followers of Christ are
collectively called the "overcomer", the "man child", the one who shall rule and reign on
earth with Christ. With the rising of this company of saints to the realm of perfection a
warfare begins such as the world has never seen. And then after a short period of great
tribulation the final manifestation of the Second Coming will occur and then Jesus Christ
will return to a dominion that has been completely made ready for Him.
"In Hebrews 4:1 we read that there is "a promise being left us of entering into His rest".
Verse 4 says: 'That God did rest on the seventh day from all His works.' Then it goes on to
say that we too can enter His rest. It says that Israel did not enter into rest, the promise
land, because of unbelief. Then the Bible plainly states that Joshua did not bring them into
rest when he took Israel across the Jordan into Canaan, showing us that the real rest is still
ahead of us. Verse 9 states: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. And it
still remains, ready for us to enter."
"The seventh day, God's Sabbath day, is not a day of the week. The Jewish Sabbath was only
a shadow of the real, prefiguring the true Sabbath, which is the fullness of Christ. When
we come into the fullness of Christ, we will have entered the day of rest."
"Israel thought they had provided God a place of rest, when they built the temple. But Isaiah
made it very clear that the temple made with stones was not God's resting place: "Thus saith
the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where is the house that you
build unto me?" "And where is the place of my rest?" (Isaiah 66:1) This scripture is quoted
by Stephen in Acts 7:49 when Stephen told the Sanhedrin that God does not dwell in temples
made with hands. He is telling them that Christ, the One they crucified, is the real resting
place of God, the house that God lives in. Coming into the fullness of Christ is coming into
God's Sabbath." And I would like to add these words to Bill Britton�s statement: And the
"day of the Lord", God's Sabbath day, is the 1,000 year day, or in other words the day of
eternity.
What Is The Next Age Like?
"Hebrews 6:5 says: 'For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of
God and the mighty powers of the age to come.' So we know that there are mighty powers reserved
for the next age, the age that we are about ready to enter into. Jesus said that after the
'strong man' is bound, then we begin to spoil his 'goods'. The strong man, Satan, will be
bound and cast into hell at the time of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
and we will then clean up the terrible mess his government has left. Glorious miracles will
abound, in fact, they will be the order of the day, the norm for the hour. There will be
absolute dominion by the Sons of God over all the natural and created forces, as well as
over all the powers of darkness."
"This chapter in Hebrews makes it plain that the Sabbath day is not just a mosaic law concerning
one day in the week, nor is it the natural land of Canaan that the Jews looked forward to entering.
The Sabbath of God is a relationship to God, a place in God where He is absolute Lord and where
the fullness of God is manifested in His people. God will not stop working until He brings it
about. In the creation of this world, God worked for six days bringing into being this creation,
and he did not stop working until He had His creation as he desired it, including the creation of
His man who should rule this world. But that Adamic creation is only a small picture of the greater
glory that He is bringing about in these past 6,000 years or six "days" of man's history. By the
end of these six "days" of labor by the Lord He will bringing forth a new creation man who will
rule and reign with Christ. In Hebrews, there is a divine exhortation for God's people to awaken
to the absolute necessity of laying down their own labors and the strength of the natural man and
letting God be Lord of His creation. This is the doorway into God's Sabbath rest."
The Third Day:
The church just recently became 2,000 years old. And because "a thousand years is as one day to
the Lord", the church is therefore just a little more than 2 "days" old. And it has therefore
entered into its 3rd millennium, or 3rd "day".
"When Jesus was living on this earth He was a living temple in which the new covenant
operated perfectly. But they crucified Him, destroyed that temple from off the earth.
When the Jews asked Jesus for a sign (John 2:18-21) Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up. Then saith the Jews, forty and six years
was this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days? But He spoke of the
temple of His body."
"What Jesus is saying to them is: 'You go ahead and destroy this house that I have built for
God to live in on this earth, you kill my physical body, but in three days I will raise it
up.' Jesus was killed and his body was put in a tomb. And then after two days He arose from
the tomb and appeared in His resurrected glorified body. But his resurrected glorified body
was never established again as a temple on this earth for a habitation of God. He never went
out in His resurrected body to preach the gospel or heal the sick and manifest the Father.
After appearing a number of times to some 500 of His disciples over a period of 40 days, He
ascended with that body into heaven."
So what temple (or body) was He referring to when He said "in three days I will raise it up"?
And what did He mean by the terminology "in three days"? Remember, "a thousand years is as one
day to the Lord," so the "third day" is the third millennium of church history. And the temple
(or body) that He is, at this time, raising up to be a habitation for God is His body on earth,
the church. At this present time Jesus is raising His church up into the realm of perfection. He
is raising it up now so that God will have once again a perfect habitation to live in, as He did
when Jesus lived on earth.
Jesus said: "Go you, and tell that fox (Herod), behold, I cast out devils, and I do curse today
(from the beginning of the first year of church history to the year 1,000...or, the first "day")
and tomorrow (from the year 1,000 to the year 2,000...or, the second "day") and in the third day I
(or, my church on earth) shall be perfected." What Jesus was saying is that after the second
millennium of church history His church on earth would be perfected. So He is, at this time, in
the third millennium of church history,...or, in the third "day", raising His church up into the
realm of perfection.
Jesus died and was buried and then in the beginning of the third day after His death and burial
He was resurrected from the dead. And it is in the beginning of the third 1,000 year "day" that
the "first resurrection" will occurs. In Rev. 20:2 the word of God says: "Blessed are they of the
first resurrection the rest of the dead will not live again for a thousand years." (Note: This
"thousand years" is to be taken to mean the short space of time when Satan's end-time wrath is
being manifested on earth.) When we were baptized we were cleansed of all sin; we were perfect,
we were "alive" for the first time. But within a short period of time after our baptismal experience
we sinned, and therefore we symbolically "died". But those of us who will reach the realm of
perfection in the beginning of this third 1,000 year "day" will "live again". We will, at the
time when we reach perfection, "live again", and because we will have entered a lasting sinless
realm of holiness we will, therefore, transcend the death principle and our bodies will therefore
be restored to a perpetual youthful state of existence. But for those who are now living and who
will not reach perfection at this time, they will either literally die or stay in the aging and
dying process and not be (if they die) resurrected or (if they stay in the aging and dying process)
put on bodily immortality until the "thousand years" are finished, or until the end of Satan's
end-time wrath, or, in other words, until the second coming of Jesus Christ.
"It is the hour of the perfecting of His body, the hour for the House of God to be raised up. It
is the hour once again for the perfect demonstration of that new covenant. This time, not in the
body of Jesus, but in a many-membered body, His church on earth. This many-membered body is the
place where God will once again live on earth. There will be a people who live to please the
Father, even as Jesus did. They will go about doing good, and healing all who are oppressed of
the devil, as Jesus did. They will cover the earth with the message of the Kingdom."
Who will qualify to be counted amongst the members of this many-membered body? Will it include
all Christians? Or, will it only include all Christians who are of God's true church, the
Catholic Church? Or, will it only include members of the true church who have received a
calling from God to attain onto the realm of perfection? The Bible says that the five fold
ministry of the Church only last until the coming of the prefect man, until every one in the
Church has come to perfection. That will not happen until after Satan's end time wrath, or
when Jesus appears to establish the definitive expression of the Kingdom of God. But for a
short period of time before the coming of that many-membered perfect man, there will be a
first-fruits expression of that perfect man. This will occur when I, and others who will
soon be joining me, reach the realm of perfection by the end of this present age of darkness.
At that time, we shall, with the blessing of our Holy Father, transcend and go beyond the
five-fold ministry of the Catholic Church. I am, therefore, at this time, the true church,
"the body of Christ" within the true Church. I am now (and when others join me, we will be)
the "I" (or, "the body of Christ") that Jesus Christ our Lord was referring to when He said:
"in the third day I shall be perfected.
In Revelations 20:2 the word of God says: "Blessed are they of the first resurrection the rest
of the dead will not live again for a thousand years." When we were baptized we were buried with
Christ (we died) and when we came up out of the baptismal water we went from death to life; we
were dead but now we live. But we are still, in away, dead, our bodies are still in a mortal
state of existence. And we will not live again until we are "resurrected", or put on bodily
immortality. Those of us who will be counted amongst those of the "first resurrection" have
received (or, will soon be receiving) a calling from the Lord to be the first Christians to
reach the realm of perfection, or bodily immortality. We will, therefore, "live again" in the
near future.
Creation's Restored Government:
"When God spoke in Gen 1:26 to make man in His image, He added, 'And let them have dominion.'
The Psalmist said, 'Thou madest him (man) to have dominion over the works of thy hands, thou
hast put all things under his feet.' The writer of Hebrews reminds us in chapter two that we
do not yet see all things under man's feet."
Humanity lost its dominion to the fallen angles, but God has promised that all things would be
put under man's feet in the beginning of the third millennium, after a 2000 year age of darkness
had passed."
"The turmoil, chaos, and pain in this present age is the result of the government of this world
being in the hands of the 'prince of the power of the air', the 'ruler of darkness of this
age'."
But in the restoration that comes with a glorious out-pouring of the Lord's Spirit, an end-time
out-pouring that brings about "the manifestation of the sons of God," the devil will be cast out
of his place of authority, lose his dominion, and after a short while of rebellious behavior on
earth, be bound and cast into Hell forever. This world will then see a true restoration of the
earth as God intended for it to be.
"Those sons who walk in the Spirit will rule in the Spirit and will control the forces of
nature as well as the forces of government. This is a hard saying, and cannot be compared with
our present day form of government. But it shall come to pass. The prophets saw it, the apostles
taught it, the Lord Jesus spoke it, and I believe it! Keep pressing on! The Day of Christ is
at hand! The call is still going forth. Submit to God and die to self, that you might be
filled with, and manifest, all the fullness of God!"
Click Rainbow Family Ministry to view sixth chapter.
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