The Two Witnesses – The greatest invitation ever offered
Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. (6) And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
God threw this prophecy out there, and then for 400 years there is not another recorded word. This prophecy was an invitation. ALL prophecy is an invitation. God doesn’t tell fortunes, He offers futures. Love requires the choice to say yes or no.
The Malachi prophecy was an invitation to everyone who came after. One man said yes, and God knew who it was going to be before he was born! Just FYI, God isn’t into reincarnation. He is into resurrection. God is never going to reincarnate Elijah. He is going to resurrect Elijah on this day:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Elijah is coming with Jesus at the rapture…but God said He would send “an Elijah” BEFORE the great and dreadful (oooh…there is so much in those two words!) day of the Lord. What God did before Jesus came the first time, as a lamb, He is going to “double down on” before Jesus comes like a Lion. Right now, all of heaven is stirred with the drumbeat…the heartbeat… of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. What He said at the start has only gotten more intense:
Luke 12:49-53 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (50) But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! (51) Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. (52) For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. (53) Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
The division that touched earth in the days of Jesus’ public ministry….the “conception” of the Day of the Lord…is going to mature alongside all of creation. The wheat and tares, sin right alongside righteousness, mature together. Night and day prayer…which preceded Jesus’ first coming as Anna never left the temple, is going to mature to a global level with the entire Bride taking part in day and night prayer and worship.
God describes the process of Jesus taking over every kingdom on earth…the Day of the Lord…as like a baby being born. In fact, if you really study it out, God’s entire plan for the restoration of all things, from Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 21:3, is a birth process.
Dear Planet Earth, life has not yet started. It was put “on-hold” at the time of the fall and is in the process of being reborn in agreement with what God conceived in Genesis 3:15…it will be delivered in full at the time of Revelation 21:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Revelation 21:2-3 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
This entire rebirth is a process…like a baby being born. What is delivered is what God called “very good” in Genesis 1:31….God with mankind back in the garden on earth. This is God’s definition of life. Any definition of life that falls short of God’s definition is a distraction and a deception. Most of mankind, from Genesis to today, has traded true life for the lie: that this experience on earth without God is life. This short-sighted view changes our perspective of greatness. Many Christians trade what other Christians think of them for what God thinks of them. Many are deceived into applying the world’s standards for greatness onto God’s people. This is what the Pharisees did. They liked the spotlight. They liked being called leaders and would do just about anything to keep their position. They got the whole congregation believing this was the highest purpose in life. God sends witnesses to show otherwise. In the days of Ahab, Elijah was such a witness. The prophets of Baal can attest.
Every birth happens the same way. Conception, the first action…then small changes…increasing…the first pangs of contractions…more and more intense….more and more regular….then heavy labor…then the painful yet glorious birth. This is the process of life being born. The transition from death to life is INTENSE. The intensity is the indication that it is really happening…that transformation is really occurring. If there were no intensity, nothing would really be happening.
At the start of God’s final process to restore the earth…the coming of the Lamb... God prophesied a witness in Malachi, and then the prophecy was fulfilled in an INITIAL way. Elijah DID come to prepare the way. To bring repentance, which is agreement with God that life isn’t even possible without Him back here with us. This repentance…this witness of truth… restores to the generations a common focus, a denying of lesser life for the vision of real life, which is agreement with God.
God threw out the Malachi invitation, and a man was born who said “yes.” John the Baptist accepted the invitation and became the man who carried the Spirit of Elijah. He did this by turning from the culture the world was mired in…thinking delusionally that they were living real life, and by choosing life, turned many to agreement with God. He didn’t pick greatness as men defined it…He picked greatness the way heaven defined it. Out in the middle of nowhere, wearing some lame clothes and trading the Temple luncheons for an on-going fast:
Mark 1:1-7 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (2) As it is written in the Prophets: "BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU." (3) "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" (4) John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (5) Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. (6) Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. (7) And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.
John denied life the way everyone else lived it, to point to true life in order to make the PAINFUL coming transition…the “division” Jesus prophesied would be released in full when He came like a lion…survivable for as many people as would repent. God said through Malachi, that if it wasn’t for the witness of Elijah, no one would survive. In John 1, John the Baptist testified that He was not Elijah, but heaven said otherwise:
Matthew 17:10-13 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" (11) Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. (12) But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." (13) Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
So, here Jesus prophesied ANOTHER invitation…Elijah IS coming AND Elijah has come already, and he is John the Baptist. What God did initially before Jesus came, God is going to do in FULL INTENSITY before Jesus comes again. The intensity is going to a whole new level before our eyes. This is an invitation the entire Bride SHOULD BE responding to, but most have no idea that this is even an invitation. This is the greatest invitation ever issued to planet earth, and it was issued to THIS GENERATION.
John the Baptist baptized Jesus!…John lived in advance of Jesus, testified of Jesus, and carried the power of repentance before Jesus, and then introduced Jesus to the world…even baptizing GOD!
Matthew 3:12-15 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. (14) And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" (15) But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
So, here is John preaching fire and judgment. He meets face to face with the one who is bringing the fire, and the judge says “baptize me!” This is INTENSE. This is going to happen again…according to Jesus. The second time this happens, it will be way MORE INTENSE….there will be two witnesses instead of one:
Revelation 11:3-6 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. (5) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. (6) These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
Instead of one Elijah clothed in camels hair, there will be two standing in Jerusalem (sackcloth was often made of camel’s hair). The signs and wonders they will perform are like those of Elijah…calling down fire from heaven, stopping rain, releasing judgment. All of this to point the earth to the truth, that life is not possible apart from the light of mankind. This is an invitation. Those who choose to say yes will be made ready for the season of fire…those who chose to focus on life like the rest of the world will be wholly unprepared. They will miss the day of their visitation, like the Pharisees:
Luke 19:43-44 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, (44) and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
The two witnesses will not be reincarnated men of old. No people who are in heaven are coming back until they get resurrected bodies, I assure you. These two witnesses will be people like you or I… they will be “the least” who have chosen greatness. They will have, in the secret place, chosen to die to themselves more than any other person to ever live on earth. This prophecy is the greatest invitation ever offered. These are the ones who will sit at Jesus’ right and left…and it is offered to the last generation! This is what Jesus called greatness:
Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This is from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said holiness is greatness. Holiness can be summed up like this:
Matthew 22:36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (37) Jesus said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
This is what Jesus did. The One who had all the power…the power of life within Himself…all things created through Him…laid it all down because He loved the Father more…because He loved US as Himself. In agreement with the laws of heaven woven into the fabric of creation, this made Jesus the greatest man EVER:
Philippians 2:6-10 Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. (7) Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, (8) He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. (9) Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
This is the formula to become one of the two witnesses: trade every lesser pseudo life goal here…the pats on the back, the inner circle invitations…the seats where the leaders sit… for the goal of holiness…to be like Jesus…to drink His cup…to suffer His baptism. This will elevate you to His left and His right. Two people will say yes to this invitation in our lifetime. This requires forgoing the recognition of men. ACTUALLY giving your money away. ACTUALLY counting others equal to you, even when all evidence is to the contrary. Actually laying down your life goal that others might live in the glory you would desire for yourself. Actually choosing to not be offended by those offering your life, your reputation, your wealth on the altar of their own self-centered desire. Jesus confirmed that this was the formula the two witnesses would say yes to:
Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. (21) And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." (22) But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." (23) So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."
This is heaven’s definition of greatness. If I want to live where Jesus lives, I must live LIKE Jesus lived. Jesus is forever going to live in a single resurrected body. He is going to govern all of creation from a single throne. He won’t be at dinner with me and in the park with you at the same time.
Just like earthly governments, there will be some very near Him, and some very far from Him. There will be the “great” and the “small.” You choose where you will live forever by the degree to which you answer THIS invitation. Great and small servants will be in heaven. On one day, the choice to go after this invitation to the best of your ability will be seen as the wisest choice a person could have made. Forever after that day, the one thing that will shape the course of the rest of your life…trillions of years is just the beginning…will be how much you said “yes” to this invitation.
Revelation 19:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!"
Matthew 19:28-30 So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
And the two witnesses, those two who drank the cup, carried the raw power of God for 1,260 days (3.5 years), just like Jesus did in His earthly ministry, and died in Jerusalem only to be resurrected three days later…the same baptism of Jesus…will sit at the right and the left.
Revelation 11: 7-12 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (9) Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. (10) And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (11) Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (12) And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
THIS is THE invitation to the third transitional generation. The generation that will see Jesus split the sky. What will this generation say?
I say yes, God! Let me help the whole Bride say YES God…you deserve a wholehearted generation! I trust you to sort it out! How close will you let me come to your throne?! I want to find out!
Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."
He calls anyone who will listen. You choose yourself by saying yes…day after day.
God threw this prophecy out there, and then for 400 years there is not another recorded word. This prophecy was an invitation. ALL prophecy is an invitation. God doesn’t tell fortunes, He offers futures. Love requires the choice to say yes or no.
The Malachi prophecy was an invitation to everyone who came after. One man said yes, and God knew who it was going to be before he was born! Just FYI, God isn’t into reincarnation. He is into resurrection. God is never going to reincarnate Elijah. He is going to resurrect Elijah on this day:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Elijah is coming with Jesus at the rapture…but God said He would send “an Elijah” BEFORE the great and dreadful (oooh…there is so much in those two words!) day of the Lord. What God did before Jesus came the first time, as a lamb, He is going to “double down on” before Jesus comes like a Lion. Right now, all of heaven is stirred with the drumbeat…the heartbeat… of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. What He said at the start has only gotten more intense:
Luke 12:49-53 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (50) But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! (51) Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. (52) For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. (53) Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
The division that touched earth in the days of Jesus’ public ministry….the “conception” of the Day of the Lord…is going to mature alongside all of creation. The wheat and tares, sin right alongside righteousness, mature together. Night and day prayer…which preceded Jesus’ first coming as Anna never left the temple, is going to mature to a global level with the entire Bride taking part in day and night prayer and worship.
God describes the process of Jesus taking over every kingdom on earth…the Day of the Lord…as like a baby being born. In fact, if you really study it out, God’s entire plan for the restoration of all things, from Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 21:3, is a birth process.
Dear Planet Earth, life has not yet started. It was put “on-hold” at the time of the fall and is in the process of being reborn in agreement with what God conceived in Genesis 3:15…it will be delivered in full at the time of Revelation 21:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Revelation 21:2-3 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
This entire rebirth is a process…like a baby being born. What is delivered is what God called “very good” in Genesis 1:31….God with mankind back in the garden on earth. This is God’s definition of life. Any definition of life that falls short of God’s definition is a distraction and a deception. Most of mankind, from Genesis to today, has traded true life for the lie: that this experience on earth without God is life. This short-sighted view changes our perspective of greatness. Many Christians trade what other Christians think of them for what God thinks of them. Many are deceived into applying the world’s standards for greatness onto God’s people. This is what the Pharisees did. They liked the spotlight. They liked being called leaders and would do just about anything to keep their position. They got the whole congregation believing this was the highest purpose in life. God sends witnesses to show otherwise. In the days of Ahab, Elijah was such a witness. The prophets of Baal can attest.
Every birth happens the same way. Conception, the first action…then small changes…increasing…the first pangs of contractions…more and more intense….more and more regular….then heavy labor…then the painful yet glorious birth. This is the process of life being born. The transition from death to life is INTENSE. The intensity is the indication that it is really happening…that transformation is really occurring. If there were no intensity, nothing would really be happening.
At the start of God’s final process to restore the earth…the coming of the Lamb... God prophesied a witness in Malachi, and then the prophecy was fulfilled in an INITIAL way. Elijah DID come to prepare the way. To bring repentance, which is agreement with God that life isn’t even possible without Him back here with us. This repentance…this witness of truth… restores to the generations a common focus, a denying of lesser life for the vision of real life, which is agreement with God.
God threw out the Malachi invitation, and a man was born who said “yes.” John the Baptist accepted the invitation and became the man who carried the Spirit of Elijah. He did this by turning from the culture the world was mired in…thinking delusionally that they were living real life, and by choosing life, turned many to agreement with God. He didn’t pick greatness as men defined it…He picked greatness the way heaven defined it. Out in the middle of nowhere, wearing some lame clothes and trading the Temple luncheons for an on-going fast:
Mark 1:1-7 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (2) As it is written in the Prophets: "BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU." (3) "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" (4) John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (5) Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. (6) Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. (7) And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.
John denied life the way everyone else lived it, to point to true life in order to make the PAINFUL coming transition…the “division” Jesus prophesied would be released in full when He came like a lion…survivable for as many people as would repent. God said through Malachi, that if it wasn’t for the witness of Elijah, no one would survive. In John 1, John the Baptist testified that He was not Elijah, but heaven said otherwise:
Matthew 17:10-13 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" (11) Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. (12) But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." (13) Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
So, here Jesus prophesied ANOTHER invitation…Elijah IS coming AND Elijah has come already, and he is John the Baptist. What God did initially before Jesus came, God is going to do in FULL INTENSITY before Jesus comes again. The intensity is going to a whole new level before our eyes. This is an invitation the entire Bride SHOULD BE responding to, but most have no idea that this is even an invitation. This is the greatest invitation ever issued to planet earth, and it was issued to THIS GENERATION.
John the Baptist baptized Jesus!…John lived in advance of Jesus, testified of Jesus, and carried the power of repentance before Jesus, and then introduced Jesus to the world…even baptizing GOD!
Matthew 3:12-15 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. (14) And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" (15) But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
So, here is John preaching fire and judgment. He meets face to face with the one who is bringing the fire, and the judge says “baptize me!” This is INTENSE. This is going to happen again…according to Jesus. The second time this happens, it will be way MORE INTENSE….there will be two witnesses instead of one:
Revelation 11:3-6 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. (5) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. (6) These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
Instead of one Elijah clothed in camels hair, there will be two standing in Jerusalem (sackcloth was often made of camel’s hair). The signs and wonders they will perform are like those of Elijah…calling down fire from heaven, stopping rain, releasing judgment. All of this to point the earth to the truth, that life is not possible apart from the light of mankind. This is an invitation. Those who choose to say yes will be made ready for the season of fire…those who chose to focus on life like the rest of the world will be wholly unprepared. They will miss the day of their visitation, like the Pharisees:
Luke 19:43-44 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, (44) and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
The two witnesses will not be reincarnated men of old. No people who are in heaven are coming back until they get resurrected bodies, I assure you. These two witnesses will be people like you or I… they will be “the least” who have chosen greatness. They will have, in the secret place, chosen to die to themselves more than any other person to ever live on earth. This prophecy is the greatest invitation ever offered. These are the ones who will sit at Jesus’ right and left…and it is offered to the last generation! This is what Jesus called greatness:
Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This is from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said holiness is greatness. Holiness can be summed up like this:
Matthew 22:36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (37) Jesus said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
This is what Jesus did. The One who had all the power…the power of life within Himself…all things created through Him…laid it all down because He loved the Father more…because He loved US as Himself. In agreement with the laws of heaven woven into the fabric of creation, this made Jesus the greatest man EVER:
Philippians 2:6-10 Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. (7) Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, (8) He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. (9) Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
This is the formula to become one of the two witnesses: trade every lesser pseudo life goal here…the pats on the back, the inner circle invitations…the seats where the leaders sit… for the goal of holiness…to be like Jesus…to drink His cup…to suffer His baptism. This will elevate you to His left and His right. Two people will say yes to this invitation in our lifetime. This requires forgoing the recognition of men. ACTUALLY giving your money away. ACTUALLY counting others equal to you, even when all evidence is to the contrary. Actually laying down your life goal that others might live in the glory you would desire for yourself. Actually choosing to not be offended by those offering your life, your reputation, your wealth on the altar of their own self-centered desire. Jesus confirmed that this was the formula the two witnesses would say yes to:
Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. (21) And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." (22) But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." (23) So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."
This is heaven’s definition of greatness. If I want to live where Jesus lives, I must live LIKE Jesus lived. Jesus is forever going to live in a single resurrected body. He is going to govern all of creation from a single throne. He won’t be at dinner with me and in the park with you at the same time.
Just like earthly governments, there will be some very near Him, and some very far from Him. There will be the “great” and the “small.” You choose where you will live forever by the degree to which you answer THIS invitation. Great and small servants will be in heaven. On one day, the choice to go after this invitation to the best of your ability will be seen as the wisest choice a person could have made. Forever after that day, the one thing that will shape the course of the rest of your life…trillions of years is just the beginning…will be how much you said “yes” to this invitation.
Revelation 19:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!"
Matthew 19:28-30 So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
And the two witnesses, those two who drank the cup, carried the raw power of God for 1,260 days (3.5 years), just like Jesus did in His earthly ministry, and died in Jerusalem only to be resurrected three days later…the same baptism of Jesus…will sit at the right and the left.
Revelation 11: 7-12 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (9) Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. (10) And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (11) Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (12) And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
THIS is THE invitation to the third transitional generation. The generation that will see Jesus split the sky. What will this generation say?
I say yes, God! Let me help the whole Bride say YES God…you deserve a wholehearted generation! I trust you to sort it out! How close will you let me come to your throne?! I want to find out!
Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."
He calls anyone who will listen. You choose yourself by saying yes…day after day.
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