The majority of believers at some point in their Christian experience have been under the tutelage of some pastor or teacher. I am not denying that this is scriptural and needful. What I am asserting however, is that the pastor or teacher has also received their instruction from another. Oh, that they all were taught by the Holy Spirit, and that they had only received the pure milk of the Word to pass on to others. Throughout the body however, there is undeniably mixture. Truth mixed in with error: in understanding, interpretation, and application.
I was raised in an Assembly of God Church. If the doors were open we were there. As a child praying in a pew at close of service one night, the Lord baptized me with the Holy Spirit, without any laying on of hands or imparting. I spent countless hours sitting under the teaching of every Pastor and Evangelist that came through the doors, imparting their wisdom on what we were to expect in the last days. I received it all as being "from the hand of God" to me an ignorant sinner. It must be truth, they were men of the ministry, they had an inside track with God didn't they? As a good little 'Christ's Ambassador,' it was unnatural for me to even think of participating in secular activities, that were the norm for other young people in the '60's. We were separate. We had our own activities. We did not mix and mingle with the world any more than we had to, unless of course we could get them to come to our Church activities. Sound familiar to anyone?
That was a lifetime ago, and much has taken place over the years between then and today. But I still have vivid recollection of what I 'believed' and was taught to anticipate. We would do well to consider that 'good intentions' are a poor substitute for walking in obedience. Because of the very exclusion of the things of the world by the Church, I was grossly ignorant of and unprepared to face the real world. The biggest obstacle I had to face as I matured, was my own self-righteousness. We don't like to admit it, but there is a part in all who were raised in the 'sheltered' environment that I did, where we cannot even imagine how others can possibly do the things that they do. We think that we are walking in the fear of the Lord, when in reality all we are walking in is the delusion that we are incapable of committing such acts. It took many long years, and many painful experiences, for my Father to bring to light and remove my self-righteousness. And I praise and thank Him for each painful, excruciating moment.
At the same time, we should know that we can come out of the Church, as many are doing in recent years, but our leaving the building does not get the Church mentality out of us. We take with us the same thoughts, ideas, and expectations of our Christian walk that we received within those walls.
Ere I digress too far from the point, we must first receive light before we can walk in it. And once we have received; once the Spirit of God has opened our spiritual eyes and we comprehend a fundamental principal in the Word of God, we are then required to walk in it. We must be willing to surrender all that we have been taught, all that we once held as being Truth, and receive what the Father is showing us. This occurs when we read the Word for ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit to open our understanding, not by just listening to another tell us what it says. When we seek the Lord with our whole heart, is when we will find Him. He is the pearl of great price!
Second hand knowledge is not going to get you to where you need to go. You can obtain the acclaim and approval of men. You can possess great talents and charisma. You can heap up a mountain of works and accomplishments; and do so in your own strength and your own understanding. And in the judgment day, it is all for nothing, and will be consumed by the fire that is coming. Are you prepared to face the test? Is your knowledge of God based on hearsay, or are you grounded in a living, personal relationship?
Has God brought you to the utter end of self? Till you woefully acknowledge that "I am nothing!" Are you willing to lay down all that you ever thought you knew, and say, "teach me Lord?" Isaiah 55:8,9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
The misconceptions and outright, blatant error's being held by believers today are grievous to God. It is not a little thing, to be operating outside the place of safety. Many think and believe that they are fully complying with what God would have them to do. When in reality, they are complying with what men would have them do. They are pleasing men, not God. How can this be? Because we have been programmed to follow men; we have been complacent concerning our relationship with God. We have believed the lie that all that God requires of us is our Church attendance and support. We have accepted the requirements of men, without seeking to know the requirements of God. Our safety net has been in believing that the Rapture teaching is truth, and that we will be caught away in the clouds before the wrath and judgment of God takes place.
Isa 13:6-9 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty and Sufficient One will it come! Therefore will all hands be feeble, and every man's heart will melt. And they shall be dismayed and terrified, pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in childbirth. They will gaze stupefied and aghast at one another, their faces will be aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare]. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming!--fierce, with wrath and raging anger--to make the land and the [whole] earth a desolation and to destroy out of it its sinners.
This is what is coming, people. Do you doubt it? Who is removed in the Day of the Lord?
Mat 13:41-43 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of offense [persons by whom others are drawn into error or sin] and all who do iniquity and act wickedly, And will cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and wailing and grinding of teeth. Then will the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God) shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears [to hear] be listening, and let him consider and perceive and understand by hearing.
Jesus made the above statement of fact. Centuries before, the prophet Daniel spoke by the power of the Spirit of God, this warning:
Daniel 12:1-4 AND AT that time [of the end] Michael shall arise, the great [angelic] prince who defends and has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, straitness, and distress such as never was since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the Book [of God's plan for His own]. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and abhorrence. And the teachers and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness (to uprightness and right standing with God) [shall give forth light] like the stars forever and ever.
[Matt. 13:43.] But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end. [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great. [Amos 8:12.]
We are there people, these are the Last Days. This is the time of the end. It is not the end of the world, the world is not going to be utterly removed from God's firmament. Many of our fears and misconceptions are based on the erroneous teachings that have been compiled over the centuries, concerning this very time. We have been led to look upon these days with fear and abhorrence. We have a choice here folks. We can choose to believe God, rather than believing the fear mongers. The words that have been shut up in the Book, are being given forth. To them that have ears to hear!
We can choose this day, Whom we will serve. We can choose to be counted among the wise. Not wise in our own conceits, but wise in the knowledge that God is in control of everything, that there is a divine purpose in all that He does. That this great time of trouble and distress is to bring to an end mans fallen condition. To depose the prince of the power of the air and usher in the Kingdom of Christ....right here on this terra firma.
What is coming is the culmination of all the ages, the fulfillment of all the prophets, the establishment of the Kingdom of God, in this world. Are we looking with eyes of flesh, or with the eyes of the Spirit?
Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.
Luke 21:31 Even so, when you see these things taking place, understand and know that the kingdom of God is at hand.
Well, these things our Lord spoke of in the Gospels are happening, even now. Are our hearts filled with fear, or have we come to the place of rejoicing in all that He does? Have we grown beyond the concept, as it is presented today, that God is only love, to where we can willingly embrace that God is also Holy? That no unclean thing can enter His presence? Have we come to grips with the fact that we must first be brought low, before we can be raised up? Do we really understand that just as Paul stated in Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
Without the unction and power of the Spirit of God, we can do nothing that will stand (remain) through the coming fire. God is calling out today, the Holy Spirit is moving over the face of the earth. Men's hearts are being tried and tested; 'will we serve God, will we believe God, or not?'
There are many self-proclaimed prophets speaking soothing words of comfort and encouragement today. In fact there is an overwhelming glut of words flooding the airwaves and the printed page. It is up to each one of us individually, to spiritually discern between the many voices. We have the personal responsibility to know and recognize the voice of God, from the voices of confusion. We all desperately need to seek for spiritual discernment in this hour, lest we be deceived.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and lofty One--He Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent [bruised with sorrow for sin]. [Matt. 5:3.]
We are warned not to be puffed up, not to think we are farther along than we are, not to make assumptions. Sadly, for many, they are not seeking to know God because they have been told that they already have all they need. They have been taught that they will not have to suffer persecution, that they won't be here when tribulation comes. People have been duped into accepting religion in place of relationship.
Each one of us have come from different backgrounds. We all have different levels of understanding, based on our experiences. Yet we all share commonalities. We are all sinners saved by grace. We all are seeking to know the truth, to be set free. We do not get to pick and choose our callings, our placement in the Body of Christ. We do get to decide whether we will be obedient to what we know. We do determine whether or not... we will choose wisely, or foolishly. That is what having a 'free will' is all about. I pray that we may choose wisely.
Philippians 1:6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.
