Unveiling The Treasures of The World to Come
Minister: Pastor Emeka Egwuchukwu
Theme: The Prophets of the World To Come
“For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak” (Hebrews 2:5).
There is a world that is in subjection to the angels, but the world to come is not in their subjection because it is a world spoken of only by those who have understood it.
It is prophets that have been given the authority to reveal this world. The church at present is not yet speaking of the world to come because the present is more real to us.
Our present reality always opposes the declaration of the world to come. However, the Lord has set a time for the present to be taken away and also set things that must happen for the world to come to be revealed.
One of such things is that men of the world to come must be raised to speak of that world.
These men are the prophets of the world to come. They have the grace to see beyond tomorrow, into a world that has not yet appeared.
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
We can use this scripture in the context of having faith for things; however, Apostle Paul was speaking concerning a reality. Heaven and earth are seen because they are of the present.
The present arrangement is under the subjection of the angels, but the world to come is under a different authority.
Men can relate with the present world. Some men have even seen the visions of the present heaven and have come into the reality (life) of it.
The angels have the life of the present much more than every man, including Adam who was a living soul. Those who have the life of the present are called spirits (Hebrews 1:7). Man’s expression of life is the least in the order of the present (Psalm 103:21-23; 8:5).
The present holds so much power because it derives its authority from the heaven of the present.
This is the reason Satan has a great hold on the present world, because he also has installations of the present.
Satan does not want it to pass away, and the present reality itself wants to remain because of its constitutions, which is the life of it. The world to come embodies eternal realities which are to come.
To unveil the world to come, God must raise prophets of that world to declare it, though it has not been seen by angels, nor by men (1 Corinthians 2:9). Man does not have the eyes to see beyond the present.
Those with eyes, ears and heart of the present do not have the capacity to come into that which is of the world to come.
Even angels, who are creatures of the present have also not come into its realities, because if they have, they would not desire to look into it. The promise of the world to come is prepared for them that love Him (Romans 8:28).
What God prepared for those who love Him is not anything that can be found in the present because it will pass away (2 Peter 3:10). Many believers do not want this age to close.
This age does not just refer to the earth, but rather, a season over the earth. While the earth remains, this present age will pass, and there will come another age, which is the millennial reign of Jesus (Revelation 20:6).
However, many men, even believers, are still heavily invested in this present world, so much that they cannot afford to allow the present to go. Wealth, marriage, fame and material possessions all end here.
What many people know as life will end when the age folds up. The present has a stronghold in our souls, thus, God must move us to make us see that which is eternal.
Real prophets live ahead of their times. They don’t just foretell, but rather embody their message. They bear the reality of what they see as a burden of the Lord (Habbakuk 1:1).
The burden of the word of the Lord is the spirit of the word of the Lord that comes upon the prophets and takes hold of their lives to redirect it. The burden moves their lives contrary to the direction of the life of other men.
This is the reason prophets often go through immense pressure because of the burden.
Prophets carry the life (spirit) of their message, much more than just prophesying. A man does not speak of that which he has not carried.
Prophets of the world to come will have to bear the weight of the world to come, and this is why they come under intense pressure. It is not a choice they make.
Many genuine prophets have a deep desire to live a normal life, without the interjection of the Spirit, but God never allows them. We see this in our Lord Jesus, who was the first Prophet of the world to come.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The weight of the life is the spirit of the life of the world to come or the weight of glory of the world to come.
The present has its own glories, but there is the eternal weight of glory. This weight must crash into the realities of the present that we hold in our thoughts and mind for the present to give way.
The present will continue to hold sway and have its authority in our hearts without the intense pressure on the weight of glory on our souls.
All the men who walked with God towards the end of their course were brought under intense pressure (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). We see the examples of the prophets of the world to come in the example in Hebrews 11. It takes pressure for God to press out some things.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. [8] We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; [10] Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10).
God deliberately exerts pressure upon our earthen vessels because of the treasures hidden within us.
This treasure is the life of the world to come. God’s intention is that the earthen vessel would release the treasure that is hidden. The treasure must be seen in the present because that is what will wrap up the present.
This treasure in earthen vessels will attract the excellent power of God, which is the power of resurrection (Philippians 3:10). God is coming for these treasures in us. As we journey with God, we see ourselves coming under pressure because of the treasure in us.
We can be pressed hard on every side, yet not distressed. David encouraged himself in the Lord by fetching strength from within (1 Samuel 30:6).
We may be perplexed, not understanding everything because in our walk with God, we sometimes ask questions that He will not provide answers to.
There are times that as we walk, we discover answers to the question. In our journey, we do not throw up our hands in despair. There are times we are confused by the many contradictions that we experience. We must remember that it is because of the treasure. This is the making of the prophets of the world to come.
We may be persecuted, but we are not abandoned. Jesus said,“…in this world we will have persecutions…” (John 16:33). The persecution in the world is for everybody and not for a select few. Blessed are we when men persecute us (Matthew 5:11-12).
We must count it all joy when we go through sufferings (James 1:2-3, 5:11). We count them who endure blessed because of what such experiences will make out of them. Job was a kind of prophet.
Our confidence must be that in the midst of persecution, God is with us (Isaiah 43:2). God is always with us no matter how low we go (Matthew 28:20). God is in every pain that every child of His goes through.
The same way parents can almost feel the pain of the child through the connectivity of empathy, much more does God feel our pain.
There are times when we wonder if the Lord is with us in our times of suffering and pain. Our hearts must be consoled that He is always with us.
There are times we are cast down because we are wrestling with spirits that are threatened by the treasures inside of us.
At times, we may not see how the treasure we carry threatens them, but they can, which is the reason for the tussle. However, we must be unrelenting as we wrestle. The treasure within our earthen vessels bears us even in much contention.
There are times we wonder if there is a need for pressure or distress in our service to God. God would almost never answer such curious questions. The apostles had come into the reality of the world to come such that they could glory in tribulation(2 Corinthians 12:9).
It is only a prophet that can do such because he is seeing the reality of the world to come.
There is a passing away of the present world that must begin on the inside. We must be of the world to come in our inside.
The Lord will take care of the outside, but we must give due diligence to address that which is on our inside. Apostles James and John were examples of men of the world to come.
They made up their mind to partake of the cup of Jesus’ suffering (Matthew 20:22). The bearing in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus is for the life of Jesus, which is the life of the Father, to be revealed in us (2 Corinthians 4:10). This is what makes for the life of the world to come.
Our witty inventions as believers are inventions of life; it is in our ability to import life conversations that are in God. These are conversations that He wants us to live out. God is desiring prophets who will take these conversations and live them out. The dying is for life to be made manifest.
We cannot want the life of Jesus if we do not partake of the dying. In the days of our flesh, there should be a kind of life we should live. The spirit of glory has to exert pressure on us.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Prophets own the afflictions that come by virtue of the weight of glory.
We need to journey to a point where we can also have ownership of afflictions as the apostles did. A soul that is ashamed of these afflictions does not yet have a part in the fellowship of sufferings, and therefore cannot partake of the life of the world to come.
We must come to realise that the pressure of the present is just a moment when compared to the eternal weight of glory. It is like labour pain that precedes delivery of a child.
God’s wisdom is such that the pain of labour, unlike other pains, is never registered in the mind. In the same way, the revelation of the weight of glory swallows up all the pain, persecution and perplexity we experienced and makes all things new (Romans 8:18).
Message Ends
