Jesus said those who abide in Him will bear fruit, and those branches that do not bear fruit will be cut off. What fruit are we to bear, and how do we know if we are bearing it? II Corinthians 13:5 exhorts us to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

This is a most important self-test that few Christians are aware of, much less do regularly. So before proceeding, we will examine a few biblical ways to take this self-evaluation of our spiritual state. This test is not difficult to understand, and it is an “open book” test. In fact, all the questions and answers are readily available, as we will soon see.

Self-evaluation is a discipline that virtually all high-impact people practice, and in the verse above, Christians are commanded to do this. This is a test to determine where we are in our walk, so we can take the next steps on the path of life. Doing this can greatly help us navigate this path, so we can clearly see where we are, where we are going, and what our next steps will be in our spiritual walk.

 Paul wrote in I Corinthians 11:31-32: “But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” It is much better for us to judge or discipline ourselves than for Him to do it. Remember the Holy Spirit is the Helper, not the Doer. Clarity makes everything easier, especially in how we judge ourselves, so He will not have to. It is much easier to fall on the Rock and be broken than to have Him fall on us and “grind us to powder,” as He said in Luke 20:18. Following Him is difficult enough without us making it more difficult. Instead, we need to follow the easier ways God has provided.

II Timothy 1:9 states that God “has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace…” The Lord not only saved us, but He also “saved us and called us with a holy calling.” Every Christian has been saved andcalled with a holy calling.

To fulfill our calling and bear the fruit we are called to bear, we must first know our calling. We learn this by seeking. He promises those who seek will find, yet many Christians have not even sought to know their purpose in Him. I have polled thousands of people in conferences and found less than 5% knew their purpose or calling. And those who come to conferences tend to be the hungriest, most devout believers. So, if only 5% of conference attendees know this, what is the percentage in the general body of Christ?

How well would you be doing if less than 5% of your body was functioning? This is the present state of the body of Christ. Is this not a primary reason for the weakness and lack of fruit in the body of Christ today? Yet we know from the Scriptures His church at the end of this age will be all it is called to be, and He will have the glorious bride He so deserves. The question is, will we be a part of it?

A friend of mine was telling me about some of the weddings he had performed and how one of them witnessed the greatest miracle he had ever seen. He went to check on the bride five minutes before the ceremony, and she was a wreck! He was sure the wedding would be delayed for hours, but five minutes later, the bride emerged and she was fine! Jesus likes to do miracles at weddings, but this miracle may have been even greater than turning water into wine. Could this be a prophetic picture of the church at the end of this age?

As Peter reminds us, a day is as a thousand years with the Lord, and a thousand years is as a day. This means He can do in a day what we think will take a thousand years. He can also do in five minutes what we think will take hours. Nothing is impossible for the Lord. So, His bride may currently look like a disaster, but that can change fast. Likewise, if we have wasted years or decades of our lives without even seeking to know our purpose, much less walk in it, that too can change fast, and we can still accomplish it. Still, there is no time to waste. 

© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.

As we pursue Jesus’ definition for His disciples, we learn it was essential for them to take up their crosses daily and follow Him. True discipleship is a life of sacrifice. It is a daily sacrifice of our own desires to serve Him. Still, to live for Him this way is the greatest, most fulfilling life we can live, regardless of how difficult. And rest assured, this will be the most difficult life we can live. It is a life contrary to all the ways of this world and all the people of this world, as well as of most professing Christians. It is not meant to be easy. It is not easy, but it is worth it.

       Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26) Our new life in Christ cannot be compared to our former life of living for ourselves. His ways are infinitely higher than ours, and there is no greater life we could live than to be His disciples. However, He is the Truth, and we must not lie to those considering following Him saying, “It will be easy.” We must instead be forthright in telling them, “This will be the most difficult life they can live, but also the best.”

Anything that eclipses our devotion to Christ is an idol. Yes, it is important to be a good spouse, parent, or worker. In fact, the greater our devotion to Christ, the more these are all elevated in importance because everything we do is for Him, and everything we do for our King requires our greatest devotion and excellence.

However, if the second commandment, to love one another, begins to eclipse our first devotion, to love God above all, our devotion to the second commandment will become defiled and our service to God tainted at best. If this continues, our devotion to others will become an object of worship in place of Him. He must be our first love and our first devotion.

Jesus will consider our marriages, professions, and everything else as part of our discipleship, if we keep them in proper alignment behind our devotion to Him. We keep these in order by doing all as worship unto Him. When we go to work, we do it for Christ—not for our boss, the company, or a paycheck. We do it for our King. In Christ, marriage and family are some of the greatest gifts we can receive from God, but they are also means by which we can learn how He leads and cares for His family.

When Jesus called His disciples, they all had to leave their jobs or professions. This is still a requirement to be His disciple. However, He may leave us in our job or profession as a part of our discipleship or curriculum for learning from Him. Still, a profound change must come to what we do and why we do it. Our focus and ambition in life can no longer be success in our profession or any advance or accolade this may provide. We should want to be the best in our profession because it is our service to the Lord, who deserves the best.

Thus, the best disciples of Christ are more likely to be successful because of their higher devotion. However, success must not be our main goal, rather learning from Jesus and becoming like Him must be our highest goal.

A disciple must also be ready to leave anything behind when called upon, including their physical life. For a disciple, our purpose is first and foremost to follow the Lord and to do His will. If, at any point, a disciple is called to leave their profession, they will.

For those who are content like most to “follow from afar,” there is certainly more benefit to this than not following Him at all. But they should not deceive themselves or others to think they are paying the full price when they are not. Was that not the sin of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? They wanted to be counted with those who were giving, while holding back a part of the price. Holding back was not the sin; lying was. We are all called to speak the truth in all things, especially to God.  

© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.

         When man sinned by disobeying God, a division came between man and God. A division was also manifested between man and creation. Creation rebelled against man, as man had against God, and it became difficult for man to cultivate the earth, as we read in Genesis 3:17-19:

“Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field.

“By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground.”

         Before the fall of man there was peace and harmony on earth between God and man and man and creation. When division came between God and man, it also came between man and creation, and then between man and man, as we see with the first two sons, Cain and Abel. Since the fall, people on earth have related to one another with strife, conflict, and division.

Periods of peace have been rare in human history. Division and conflict have been almost continuous. As we come to the end of this age, division and conflict are increasing and will increase until man is close to destroying all life on earth. As Jesus stated in Matthew 24:22, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved…”In His mercy, God will intervene in the chaos and conflict and return to set up His kingdom on earth and reverse all the consequences of man’s fall.

Isaiah 11 contains just one of many prophecies and promises of this ultimate restoration of earth to its original paradise. The divisions between God and man, man and man, and man and creation will all be healed, and harmony restored. We are told there will be such peace on earth in His kingdom, lambs will lie down with lions, children will play with cobras, and no one will hurt anyone else.

The biblical prophecies given concerning the coming kingdom of God are the greatest messages of hope the world has ever heard. This is the message, the gospel, the “good news” of the kingdom, which must be preached throughout the earth before the Lord can come. As He said in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

         The most important thing we can do to help prepare the way for the Lord and His coming kingdom is to preach this gospel of the kingdom. As many Bible teachers have stated, and I agree, this message has not really been preached on the earth since the first century. Parts of it may have been preached occasionally, but most of what has been preached has been a gospel of salvation, which is part of the gospel of the kingdom but not the entire good news of the kingdom.

         The gospel of salvation is so glorious it’s easy to understand why many become centered on it. No doubt we will forever be thanking God for our redemption. However, this aspect of the gospel is man-centered, not God-centered or kingdom-centered. Even in its man-centricity, what has been preached as the gospel of salvation is but a fraction of all the benefits believers have as citizens of the kingdom. Some have done more of this than others, but the gospel of the kingdom is mostly about the King. That is why the apostolic gospel preached in the first century preached Jesus and the resurrection from the dead (see Acts 4:2, 17:18).

         We would expect those just born again to be self-centered for a time, since newborn infants are certainly self-centered. However, as babies mature, they become less self-centered, and so should Christians. True maturity is living more for others than ourselves, but mostly living for the Lord and seeing Him receive the inheritance He paid for with such a great price. Thus, Hebrews 12:14 should be a basic devotion in our lives: “Pursue peace with all people, and the holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (NKJV).

One important factor for understanding biblical prophecy is what Jesus said in Matthew 11:13, “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.” Since the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord, we are no longer under the law for righteousness’ sake. However, we must not discard it since it is the primary source of prophetic revelation for the Lord, His ways, and the prophetic unfolding of His plan through the millennium. Therefore, let’s examine how the law prophesied, remembering the first-century apostles preached the gospel of the New Covenant from “the law and the prophets,” as did Paul in Rome in Acts 28:23:

“When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets…”

         Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Under the New Covenant, our righteousness is no longer based on keeping the law, yet Jesus said the law will not pass away until “all is accomplished.” We see how the prophecies of the law passed away when Jesus fulfilled the sacrifices of the law on the cross. We also see how the physical temple made with hands, which was a prophetic foreshadowing of the church, passed away soon after the church was born. We will cover more of this later, since this will also help us establish a timeline.

Continuing now with the theme of the parousia, or presence of the Lord, which will precede the Lord’s physical return to earth, let’s begin with one of the most important prophecies of the law concerning this. In Exodus, the Lord described the tabernacle and articles of furniture Moses was to construct for the Lord. The tabernacle of Moses, with all its rituals under the law, could be the clearest prophecy in Scripture of God’s plan. In it, we not only see the details of His plan but also a timeline for this age and for the age to come—the millennial kingdom reign of Christ on this earth.

         Perhaps the most important truth revealed in the furniture of the tabernacle for this present hour is the table of showbread. On this table the priests were to place twelve loaves of bread each representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were to be placed in two rows called “the bread of His presence” (see Exodus 25:30, 35:13, 39:36; Numbers 4:7). How does this relate to us now?

         In biblical numerology, two is often a symbol of unity, as in the two, Adam and Eve becoming one. That these loaves representing the tribes of Israel were placed in two rows spoke of their unity in the Lord as twelve distinct tribes yet one nation. They were also in unity because the table of showbread was set directly in front of the lampstand, which burned olive oil representing the Holy Spirit. Our unity can only come from the Holy Spirit as we abide in His light and anointing.

         The unity of the body of Christ will be one of the greatest signs and miracles at the end of this age. We can be certain if anyone’s prayers will be answered in the last days, it will be Jesus’ prayers. Since John 17 is Jesus’ last recorded prayer before His crucifixion, this may be the clearest revelation of the deepest things on the Lord’s heart both then and now. If we knew we would be executed the next day, would not our prayers reflect the deepest issues on our hearts? What was the main thing on His heart for His people in that prayer? Unity.   

         We can be sure this prayer of Jesus will be answered before the end of this age. Since this is one of the main things on His heart, should it not also be one of the main things on the hearts of those who are becoming one with Him? Those whose hearts are joined with Him will become part of this greatest of all miracles, and part of His coming kingdom which will put an end to all divisions between man and God, man and man, and man and creation. Thus, a major devotion should be to obey Hebrews 12:14: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (NKJV).

        We are continuing our study on the literal translation of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 concerning the end of this age. Jesus said immediately preceding His return, there would be a time of His parousia or “presence.” Other biblical prophecies indicate we are now in this time.

        If we are alive in this time, we have a high purpose. In these times deep darkness will cover the earth, but the light and glory of the Lord will be revealed in God’s people which will prevail over darkness (see Isaiah 60:1-3). To prepare for this, we must grow in the gift of discernment while recognizing and refraining from the spirit of suspicion which often masquerades as discernment.

        False discernment, rooted in suspicion and fear, seeks to turn us into “fault-finders” instead of messengers of redemption and hope. Just as the harvest is the maturing of all seeds that have been sown in mankind, the spirit that manifested in the Pharisees to oppose Jesus can control Christians who surrender to the suspicions of the Accuser. Philippians 1:9-11 is a key truth we must moor ourselves to in this time:

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

          “Real knowledge and all discernment” are rooted in love. We cannot correctly discern people if we do not love them. Likewise, we cannot discern the true conditions of nations if we do not love them. Love seeks redemption and restoration, not condemnation. The spirit of suspicion is not rooted in love. It distorts what we see and causes us to oppose the redemptive works of the Lord and the Lord Himself, as did the Pharisees. 

          This does not mean we should compromise the truth, sound biblical teaching, or His righteousness and justice which is the foundation of His throne. If we love truth and love people for whom the Lord gave His life, we will not compromise the clear teachings of Scripture on sin and wickedness nor their consequences. But we will do this in a spirit that seeks to redeem, not condemn, which begins with acknowledgement, sorrow, and turning away from our sins. Truly love will boldly confront sin with a redemptive heart and not a condemning one.

          We know from the Scriptures there will come a time when the patience of the Lord will run out and then condemnation will come. Then there will be a distinction between “sheep” and “goats.” Until then, we should not give up on people or nations no matter how wicked they now are. Let us resolve to overcome evil with good and do what we can to turn them to the Lord. As He taught us from Jonah, even when His word of conviction is shared with those with bad attitudes, it still has the power to save them.

          As I write, Russia is being condemned like Nazi Germany for the atrocities its army has inflicted in Ukraine. It is impossible to see what has been done by Russian forces and not condemn them. However, mark this: the greatest revival of this age will come from Russia, and some of the most powerfully redemptive movements of this age will come from Germany. This was the first prophetic message I received as a new believer, and it has been so well corroborated since, I have no doubt.  

        However, I can understand others doubting this prophetic scenario. These two nations have been sources of the worst evils ever perpetrated on mankind through Nazism and Marxism, and neither have behaved well of late. Still, we shall see in them the truth that those who are forgiven much love much (see Luke 7:47). As the Apostle Paul was the greatest persecutor of the church before his conversion, he was perhaps the greatest devoted servant of the Lord after. We will see the same in nations like Germany and Russia.

          Just as most Germans were deceived by Nazi propaganda, and many Russians are deceived by their nation’s propaganda, so has virtually every nation been deceived. Many who have been most deceived will wake up, like the Apostle Paul. He was struck blind so he could see. Let us likewise be ready to help those who will soon be awakened and established in the Truth and follow Him with the devotion He deserves. Let us not see people and nations as they now are but as they are called to be, and let us be ready to help them get there.

© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.