Might be hard to believe that if you live in one of the many drought-stricken areas we hear about all the time. But then we tend to look at the ‘natural’ more than we do the ‘spiritual’.
Jesus was often having to stop and explain to His disciples after sharing a message or parable somewhere what it ‘really meant’. Take the Parable of the Sower that is recorded in 3 of the 4 gospels. He used a ‘natural’ illustration of a man sowing some seed and what happened to that seed. It was later that when the disciples asked Him what that all meant, you begin to see clearly Jesus was talking about something else that took on a new meaning and understanding.
He actually refers to it as the ‘mysteries of the kingdom’ that are only revealed to disciples and not those on the ‘outside’. (Mark 4:11). In fact, He actually goes on to ask them this question: “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (13).
That might be a good hint that we spend time studying those three parable...or so it would seem to me? For example, look at Luke 8. Jesus told the crowd that after the seed is sown by the sower, that in some cases the birds of the air swoop down and devour it. We shrug and think...’yeah...that makes sense...seen that before.’ But then He later explains or ‘reveals’ to them that the seed was actually the word of God and ‘those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”(12)
Would you pause for a moment and let that sink in? Please.
If Jesus really meant what He said here...would you stop and consider just ‘how’ the ‘devil’ (our enemy/powers of darkness/demons) actually does that?
How do they ‘snatch or devour’ God’s word from our hearts? I think it’s obvious WHY they do it...Because if we take it to heart...and believe...and let it take root and ‘work effectively in us’ ( 1 Thess. 2:13)...we will ‘believe and be saved’. And before you say “Oh, I believe”, keep in mind that a seed produces fruit and fruit does not come about if we are not abiding in Him. (John 15)
So you see...Jesus started out with a simple ‘natural’ illustration...and then further explains to those who follow Him...there is more there than meets the eye. Welcome to the kingdom of God...a spiritual kingdom that does not ‘come by observation’. (Luke 17:20). Remember, God has ‘hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and reveals it to the babes’. (Luke 10:21)
Now look at Matt. 24:23- Jesus was explaining what it would be like prior to His return and how there would be much turmoil and division and deception. He says: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here...or there...do not believe it.”...He warns of false christ and prophets deceiving if possible the very elect. Then “See, I have told you beforehand.” (25). God knows we tend to live more by ‘sight’...based on things we see with the natural eye. And what is happening on the surface or the natural realm is often just a shadow of what is happening in the ‘spirit world’. ( I know...that comes across as sounding a tad uneasy to some...red flags, right?). Hence why I feel a need to provide much scripture for you to examine when I post these.
But Jesus warns, which Paul later echoed (2 Cor. 11:3-4), that people would end up following ‘another Jesus’. Later in the chapter, He describes this future time as being just like it was in the days of Noah. (37-39). People were just coming and going and living their lives and then “the flood came and took them all away”...and they never knew what happened until later.
That is what ‘floods’ do. They carry away...sweep away...whatever is in its path. And the scene is never pretty when the waters subside.
So keep in mind now this idea of ‘floods’ and being swept or carried ‘away’. We read in Revelation of a dragon that rises up to make war with the saints and the church. I’m guessing you know who the ‘dragon’ is. And in 12:15 we read that “the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.”
Is that not interesting? Now, as we read in 2 Thess. 2:1-3, Paul is writing about the ‘coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him’ but to hold tight ( so as to not be shaken) that this ‘day of the Lord’ will not come unless the falling away comes first.”
That term ‘falling away’ refers to the great apostasy, or revolt or ‘defection from the truth’. Eph. 4:27 advises that we “should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine’. That’s what bad teaching does...it ‘carries us away’ off that path I wrote about yesterday. Timothy was warned by Paul: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons...” (4:1)
Now if we have not really been taught or exhorted to ‘engage in this spiritual war with a spiritual enemy’...then he pretty much has run of the place, does he not? It’s as if we all just ‘fell asleep’ like those wise virgins in Matt. 25. And we know what happens when ‘men sleep...and enemy comes’ and plants his seeds of deception. (Matt. 13:25). Is it no wonder how Paul is often spurring us on to ‘wake up’. (Rom. 13:11-14; Eph. 5:14-15)
Again...stop and consider the various ways that this ‘enemy’ comes to ‘snatch the word from our hearts’. Because that is where much of the war centers around - doing all he can to keep you from believing and walking in the truth that you ‘might be saved’.
Jesus wrapped up His Sermon on the Mount talking about the difference between a wise man and a foolish one and how one built his house on the rock and the other, on sand. Do you recall what both houses were subject to? Yeah....a ‘flood’. It was not a matter of ‘if’ a flood came....it was ‘when’ the flood came’. (Luke 6:4-49). The ‘wise’ man was the one who actually ‘did the word of God’...not just a ‘hearer of the word’. James would later write that people who do that ‘deceive themselves’. (1:22)
You do know God used that ‘flood’ as judgement on the world back in the days of Noah. Peter would make the declaration that “the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? (4:17)
Judgment will begin first...where?
So when Paul talked about the ‘day of the Lord’ and there being a ‘falling away’ (from the faith), some of these old time prophets’ writings begin to resonate with us. (Peter exhorts us to read them as they spoke of this day (Acts 3:24). You might want to go read Amos 5:16-24 now. He even warns those who ‘desire the day of the Lord’ saying ‘woe to you’. (18). But don’t read past 17 that says “in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through you, says the Lord.”
Do you know what a ‘vineyard’ is a ‘type’ of? His church. He goes on to say how this day will be a day of darkness...people fleeing from ‘lions’ (who did Peter liken our enemy to in 5:8?). And 21-24 really hits close to home...rebuking His people saying He is weary of their ‘offerings of noise and songs and melody of instruments’. I feel I’ve been around long enough to make this observation...that in our church world...we can easily cross a line where we end up ‘worshiping our worship’ and not the Lord Himself. Look how Saul was rebuked in 1 Sam. 15:22 where God said ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’. We can easily fall into a trap where we get caught up in the manner and methods of how we express love to God in our services...but our hearts are far from Him. We profess to know him with our mouths but our actions deny Him. (Titus 1:16)
So Amos says exactly how God’s justice will come...like ‘running water and a mighty stream’ (5:24). Sounds like a ‘flood’ to me. Just like it was in the days of Noah. Sadly, many of us have been ignorant of God’s ways that have been around since the foundation of the world. He is a God who changes not. (Mal. 3:6). So when we read of this God of the OT, it seems foreign to us...hard to believe or identify with, given the ‘Jesus’ we’ve come to ‘know’. But when God brings judgement, it usually involves the ‘lowering of that hedge or protection’. The ‘hedge’ is usually placed or built around His vineyards for obvious reasons. (Matt. 21:23).
Now go read the entire fifth chapter of Isaiah and see if that does not fit in to where we are today and what you are reading here now. God had a vineyard...He was looking for good fruit...found only bad fruit...and He lowered the hedge. And here comes trouble. I mean...read the whole chapter. I’ll let you underline various statements that stand out...wondering if they will be the same ones I have highlighted in my bible.
The great ‘falling away’ is a real thing. And it sure is not the first time this has happened with God’s people. There was another good example centuries ago that might be worth looking at. And God willing, we’ll do just that tomorrow. But remember, just like those sleeping virgins in Matt. 25...God is sounding the alarm...wanting to ‘awaken’ us...because....He loves us and it’s not His will than any perish, but that all come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9)
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