I’ve said it before and will say it again: God is not out to ‘get you’; But He did send Jesus to ‘get you’. (John 3:17-18) ...And what is so troublesome is many in the ‘church’ today...still don’t ‘get it’.

“But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.” (Jer. 13:17)

Who...did Jeremiah say was ‘taken captive’?

In the book of Isaiah, we read in chapter 5... a sobering passage that reveals how God deals with His ‘vineyard’, when He came looking for ‘good fruit’ but found only bad fruit (5:2-4). It says that God was going to ‘take away its hedge, and it shall be burned and trampled down’ (5).

Then, in verse 7 we are told who this ‘vineyard’ represents – the ‘house of Israel’, which is oftentimes, a picture or ‘type’ of the church (God’s chosen people).

Would you now please read vs. 13 aloud as we learn who are ‘taken into captivity’. Does your Bible say ‘God’s people’... have ‘gone into captivity because they have no knowledge’?

And in Hosea 4:6, a passage I quote here often, God made it known that it was ‘His people ...who are destroyed for a lack of knowledge’.

So let’s connect some more dots, or fill in more pieces to this ‘puzzle’ as we continue on in His word. In the book of Job, reading through the very first two chapters, we learn that God kept a ‘hedge’ around Job who was a righteous man, ‘blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil’ (1:1-2). When God ‘lowered the hedge’, who was then permitted to ‘attack’ Job’s body and all that belonged to him (with certain restrictions)? You can read 1:7-12 and 2:2-7 if you need a reminder.

When we read above, those references where God’s people are ‘taken captive’...exactly who...are God’s people taken captive by? Back in the OT, was it not usually the ‘enemies’ of God’s people that were brought in by the hand of God to ‘correct and judge’? (Hab.1:12).

So let’s now fast-forward to the NT, where Jesus clues us in to who is the one that actually does the ‘destroying’. In John 10:10, He refers to him as a ‘thief...who comes to steal, kill, and destroy’. Peter would describe this ‘enemy’ as a ‘roaring lion whom goes about seeking to devour’, after identifying him as ‘the devil’ (1 Pet. 5:8)

And in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, would you take a look at the advice he passes on to the young pastor as to how he should approach those who oppose him, reminding him that they have ‘been taken captive by the devil to do his will’ (2 Tim. 2:23-26).

Do you know why...these people might be ‘opposing’ him as he attempts to share the ‘truth’ with them? It’s because the ‘god of this age’ (Satan) has ‘blinded their minds from seeing the light of the gospel’, hence the reason they are ‘perishing’ (2 Cor. 4:3-4). And if you don’t think there is a spiritual force at work here, you might want to go back and be reminded of our own need  to hear the gospel ourselves; and you can begin with Acts 26:18. 1 John 5:19 and Rev. 12:9 would be good follow up verses to jot down as well.

Do you know what God uses this ‘devil’ and his fallen angels to do? They are the ‘instruments of His indignation’ that both Isaiah and Jeremiah speak of in Isa. 13:5 and Jer. 50:25...as they ‘carry out His wrath’ (Ps. 78:49-50). And what did Jesus come to ‘save’ us from? God’s wrath- Romans 5:9. Can I just tell you that getting ‘saved’ from God’s ‘wrath’ is a good thing, but what’s even better news is knowing how exactly God ‘saves’ us from His wrath. Jesus came to share the truth as to what He sets us free from, and it’s the one thing that ‘gives place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27). Care to take a guess? It’s ‘sin’...that we are set free from; and not just the ‘big ones’.

We are told that whoever the Son sets free, is ‘free indeed’ (John 8:32-36) and that we should ‘go and sin no more...lest something worse come upon us’ (John 5:14). Of course that does require a ‘new birth’ (John 3:3-7) where we receive a ‘new nature’ so that we can indeed go and ‘sin no more’. And look what John tells us in 1 John 5:18 – “we know whoever is born of God no longer sins...and the wicked one does not touch him.” (also 1 John 3:6-9).

Now here is where the problem comes in, that causes God to ‘weep when His flock is taken captive’ – the majority of us ‘believers’ were taught, and continue to be told ...that we remain as ‘sinners...saved by grace’...and will always continue to ‘sin...on this side of heaven’. There’s just one problem with that: It’s a deceptive lie that the devil has spread throughout the ‘church world’, and God is trying to awaken a sleeping church. (Matt. 25:1-13)

Call me a misguided ‘heretic’, but as long as the Holy Spirit continues to compel me, I will continue to simply share His truth with you here...with the hopes that many more will begin... to ‘get it’. See you tomorrow?