The Teen Tree of Life

The Angelic Conflict - Part 15!   Operation Footstool - The Baptism of Fire May 7, 2006  

BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit as you read this booklet ( EPH 5:18 & I John 1:9).
IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that
decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (John 3:16 & Acts 16:31).

 

 

         “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28) shows that God the Holy Spirit has assigned to every man, with the gift of Pastor-Teacher , his own congregation. A Pastor-Teacher that does his job properly will study and teach the Sacred Scriptures according to the I.C.E principle. What is the I.C.E. principle? The I.C.E. principle states that a Pastor-Teacher will interpret the Word of God according to isagogics which is the historical setting of the passage. Secondly the Pastor-Teacher will interpret the Bible categorically which is the systematic theology (the organized, sequential study of God) developed from combining Scripture with Scripture. Lastly the Pastor-Teacher will interpret the Bible exegetically which is going back and studying the passage from the original languages. Likewise, every born-again believer has been assigned to a Pastor-Teacher. The most important decision a human being can make, in this life, is to believe on TLJC “so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (Jo 3:15). The most important decision a believer makes is the choice of a Pastor-Teacher. Apart from submitting to the authority of the Pastor-Teacher that God the Holy Spirit has assigned him to, it is impossible to grow spiritually or to glorify God during the angelic conflict. This is how God designed the process and in order to grow in God’s grace and knowledge we MUST do it God’s way. Any other way is merely human effort and will not succeed.

          The ultimate triumph of the angelic conflict is operation footstool. This prophecy is so important that it is quoted 6 times in the New Testament. ‘But to which of the angels has He ever said, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’” (HEB 1:13) is a rhetorical question because this was never said to an angel but only to the God-man, TLJC, as “The Lord says to my Lord; Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet” (PSA 110:1). TLJC quoted this passage to the Pharisees who could not understand that TLJC, their Messiah, could be a member of the human race at the same time. Specifically, in the passage, God the Father is talking to God the Son, telling Him to sit at His right hand, which is the highest place of honor in the entire Universe, until God the Father makes God the Son’s enemies a footstool for His feet, or eliminates all of His enemies. “Then He said to them, ‘How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?” (Luk 20 41-44) was directed to the Sadducees who do not even believe there is a resurrection. Every time TLJC asked this question, those to whom it was directed didn’t have a response as they denied His Messiahship. The answer is simple. King David recognized Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, but at the same time, TLJC would have to be born true humanity, and would come from his seed or his line. It is such a source of great comfort and confidence to know that seated at the right hand of God is a member of the human race who truly loves us, intercedes for us, knows everything that we are going through and sympathizes with us. He is truly our best friend.

          Operation footstool has 2 phases, one at each end of the Millennium. The 1st phase takes place at the 2nd Advent and includes 2 categories of judgment. The 1st category is that of Satan and the fallen angels. “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time” (REV 20:1-3). The 2nd category of judgment involves all unbelievers who are alive at the time of the 2nd Advent of TLJC. This is known as the Baptism of Fire. At this time, TLJC will take all of the unbelievers and throw them off the Earth into Hades. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left” (MAT 24:40) describes the parable in which TLJC takes the unbeliever, and the believer will be left on the Earth to start the Millennial reign. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (MAT 3:11-12) said John the Baptist describing the Baptism of Fire. The wheat are the believers and the chaff are the unbelievers. The 2 categories of unbelievers that will be judged at the 2nd Advent are the Jews and the Gentiles. The reason there is a differentiation of unbelievers is because the Tribulation is part of the Old Testament where this distinction existed. In fact, the Tribulation is the last 7 years of the Old Testament, which were promised to God’s people according to God’s timetable. Remember: Operation Footstool begins when TLJC touches foot on Earth at His 2nd Advent. The 2nd phase of operation footstool takes place after the Gog revolution at the end of the Millennium where Satan is released from prison and initiates the last revolt in human history. “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore” (REV 20:7-8). Subsequent to this, fire will come down from heaven and destroy all those who revolted, Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever and ever, and the Great White Throne Judgment will take place where all unbelievers during the history of the human race will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Remember: Operation Footstool ends at the end of the Millennium.

          Believers often wonder why we need to learn about times that we are not going to be here for. Primarily, we are to learn the whole Word of God so we can be ready to give an answer or defense for what we believe. For the believer, God has a tremendous future which can’t even be imagined. BUT there is no more exciting time to be alive in than the time in which we are living in right now which makes redeeming the time most important.