4/18
Shadows, Clouds, Idolatry, Traditions, Substance and Reality - Part 1
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
As usual, what we present is simply that which we believe we have received from the Lord at this point in time. It is presented for your edification exhortation, comfort, and hopeful application. Revelation without application becomes only information. Certainly what the Church does NOT need today is more information. We have been saturated with information for many long years. You might want to get a pencil and paper and write down the chapter and verse of a few scriptures which I will only reference but not turn to. We should always keep in mind that the word of God is timeless and independent of race, culture, gender, geographical location and everything else.
There are many opposites in the natural world. For every thesis there is an antithesis. For every head of a coin there is a tail. For every front there is a back. If we see a front that has no back, then that front is an illusion. Then we have hot and cold, plus and minus, positive and negative, and many more examples.
In the spiritual realm, we know that God is love (1 John 4). Jesus said,
Note the 5 "I wills" in the devil's declaration. Jesus won the victory, the battle over the devil at Calvary, but the war, the Armageddon, still continues between the body of Christ and the devil. Whether or not there will be a natural, physical war called Armageddon between natural men is neither here nor there. The real war is between the devil, or the Antichrist, and the members of the body of Christ. That war is being waged in the minds and wills of professing Christians. Jesus prayed to the Father, "Not my will but Thy will be done" (Luke 22:42). Any time we believers insist on our will being done, we slip over into the kingdom of darkness and become a lawful captive. Hundreds of thousands of professing Christians repeat every Sunday "The Lord's Prayer," part of which is "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven;" and then go back to their own will the next six days of the week.
Another of the devil's tactics is to counterfeit the works of God before they actually manifest themselves in time. For example: the first Adam before the last Adam; Cain before Abel; from Genesis 10:21, Japheth was the elder of Noah's three sons, but the lineage of Jesus came through Shem; Ishmael before Isaac; Esau before Jacob; natural Jerusalem before the heavenly Jerusalem. In the Book of Revelation, John saw the false church (Babylon) in Chapter 17 before he saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ in Chapter 21.
The lies of the enemy are another of the devil's tactics that many professing Christians fall for. Jesus said that in the last days that many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many (Matthew 24:11). Peter, in 2 Peter 2:1, said there shall be false teachers among us. Jesus said, in Matthew 24:5, that "many shall come in His name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many." One of the very few true prophets I have ever met says in an admonition in his website,
In general there is no life in simply pointing out what men call "negatives." However, that is what the Lord told Jeremiah to do (root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down) prior to building and planting (Jeremiah 1:10) ... four "negatives" followed by two "positives." I believe that this series of perhaps six messages is particularly important. Jeremiah's ministry was to the Judah of his time, and to the spiritual Judah (charismatic community) over all of time. Each of these messages may be intermixed with the so-called "negatives" and the so-called "positives."
There is nothing "negative" about the word of God. Sometimes there are just too many weeds that must be removed before good grass can be planted. I believe that we live in such a time. This is a time when everyone is going to his own place (Acts 1:25 and Revelation 22:11). This is a time when many exhortations, both in the Old and New Testaments must and will be repeated. This is a time when:
Here is another of the many conditional promises of God. If we will ... then He will ... In order to "hearken to the voice of the Lord" (His rhema word to us), we must be able to hear His voice speaking to us. In order to do that which is right in His sight (not our sight) we must know that which is right in His sight. This is a time when:
Has the Christian community today come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD gives to us? Have you and I come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD gives to us? What is that rest? It is the rest from all of our perhaps good-intentioned works of the flesh. (See Hebrews 6:1, which speaks of repentance from dead works.) The Book of Hebrews, Chapters 3 and 4, speak of the rest that we are called to enter into.
What is that inheritance that the Lord gives to us? It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is living and walking in the Kingdom of God.
The word "inherit" means "to come into possession of belongings from someone else" or "to come into possession of something as a right." In Scripture, at different times three different men asked Jesus the same basic question, namely, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" In Mark 10:17, "there came one running" to ask that question. The fact that he came running indicates it was of utmost interest to him. In Luke 10:25 a certain lawyer asked the same question. (A lawyer in those days was not like an attorney in our days; he was a man who taught about the Mosaic Law.) And in Luke 18:18 a certain ruler asked the same question. There is no reference in the Bible that indicates that any of the three ever accepted Jesus as their Lord. More importantly, all three men were looking "eternal life" straight in the eye and did not know it. Likewise, just before the crucifixion of Jesus, Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" even as he was looking Truth straight in the eye.
In the New Testament we see two related, but different, Greek words, translated as "everlasting" and "eternal." "Everlasting" denotes no end of time, excludes any interruption or is permanent, and is used mainly where something future is spoken of.
The word for "eternal" carries the idea of quality of life as well as quantity. Eternal life is independent of time and has no end. Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time.
In the first Adam, all of mankind rebelled against God and were banished from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Every human being born into this world is born a sinner, not because we have sinned, but because we were born. David said, "In sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The gift of eternal life comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ, who is Himself "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). However, we should not make seeking eternal life our goal. Rather we should seek the Giver of eternal life ... even the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God, by His amazing grace, restores our access to the tree of life. This access is provided through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Right now, every sinner is invited to know Christ and to receive eternal life. The Lord says, in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
How can anyone know that they have eternal life? First, confess your sins before our holy God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, and He rose again the third day. Therefore accept God's provision of a Savior on your behalf. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Believe this good news; trust the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). This must be more than simply repeating a few words. It must be a cry from our heart.
In John 17:3, Jesus prayed, "Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Jesus equates "eternal life" with a knowledge of God and of the Son. This life-giving knowledge of the Father and the Son is a true, personal knowledge, not just a mental awareness. There is no knowledge of God without the Son, for it is through the Son that the Father reveals Himself to His chosen people (John 17:6). The Apostle Paul, after 30 years of ministry, said, "That I might know Him" (Philippians 3:10).
Some on Judgment Day will claim to be followers of Christ but never really had a relationship with Him. To those pretenders, Jesus one day will say, "I never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23).
Eternal life is something that Christians experience now. Believers don't have to "wait" for eternal life, because it's not something that starts when we die. The focus of eternal life is not on our future, but on our standing or abiding in Christ. Eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in Christ. Jesus, in John 10:28 says, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The believer "has" (present tense in the Greek) eternal life. (Also see John 6:54, which says the same thing.)
It is also true that "in THESE days" there is no king in spiritual Israel, but every man does that which is right in his own eyes. This is a time when:
Why do the Lord's people not know His judgment? for two major reasons ... first, because the judgment of God is not preached from the pulpits; and second, because we Christians have lost our sense of individual responsibility to hear from the Lord our self in that we say, "Let the pastor tell us what God is saying. That is what we pay him to do." This is a time when:
My people in Verse 26 are the chosen people of God. This verse particularly applies to modern-day Judah, the charismatic community, which has been blessed abundantly, but which in large part has been deceived by those who set snares, set a trap, and catch men (believers).
Dozens and dozens of men in positional authority (it is easy to list specific names) have become great (in name only) and waxed rich and fat by making merchandise of the gospel, by preying on those with little discernment, and robbing the saints of millions and millions of dollars (by seducing the people of God to contribute to "their" ministry) so that they can build their personal empires. It never ceases to amaze me how professing Christians can continue to support false teachers by their presence and by throwing so much money to charlatans.
Now what I will share next is a real tragedy. Do you want to know the fastest way to become a millionaire? Just start a church in your garage. Start with a handful of people and preach good, prosperous blessings. In less than five years you will be a millionaire. That is because so many people are looking for answers in this troubled world. One pastor of a mega-church in the south followed that procedure about 34 years ago. He held his first service in front of only eight people in the cafeteria of an elementary school. In 2018 his net worth was reported at 27 million dollars. He also got his flock to buy him a 77 million dollar jet aircraft so he can "spread the good news faster." He said in an interview that he sometimes gets up to $100,000 for a single appearance on his packed schedule of speaking engagements. And of course you can buy any of his 30 books for between 7 and 30 dollars each. He has written several books offering followers his advice on how to get out of debt and take lessons from the Bible in building wealth so they can better live as Christians. If that man does not repent, one day he will receive the judgment of God. That is just one of many such examples.
We are rapidly approaching the time when:
Now let us consider some lies of the enemy that try to keep us from accepting and appropriating all of the wonderful Truth that is in Christ Jesus. We will start with shadows. A shadow is the least real of all objects. There is no reality, no substance in shadows. It is caused by anything that blocks or obscures the light. A shadow may be caused by a person, by a building, by a tree, or by the natural, carnal mind. The proximate cause of the shadow may be deliberate (all shadows caused by Antichrist are deliberate); or the cause may be from ignorance (lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, lack of discernment, etc.).
Death has a shadow, but no substance or reality for a believer because a believer has eternal life, the life of Christ. The words, "shadow of death," occur 20 times in Scripture, 10 of them in the Book of Job. One of the most familiar of such verses is,
The devil still has the power of death over those who have not been born again. But the devil can kill only the physical body. He does that through his lies and his deception. He is a murderer. But if we Christians are walking in the light that we have received and submit our self to God, the devil has no power over us (James 4:7).
Granted, it is very difficult for any professing Christian to arrive at that place in his life. Actually, it is impossible except by the power of the Holy Ghost working within us. But I guarantee you that if any man will continue to walk with the Lord, the day will come when he will be able to say, in truth, that which Paul said in
There are many opposites in the natural world. For every thesis there is an antithesis. For every head of a coin there is a tail. For every front there is a back. If we see a front that has no back, then that front is an illusion. Then we have hot and cold, plus and minus, positive and negative, and many more examples.
In the spiritual realm, we know that God is love (1 John 4). Jesus said,
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me"
(John 14:5).Jesus also said, in John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
The word "the" makes something unique. Indeed, the Lord is definitely unique!
We also see opposites in the spiritual realm. What is the opposite of love? hate. What is the opposite of light? darkness. What is the opposite of life? death. What is the opposite of the truth? a lie. What is the opposite of the Way? every wrong direction. What is the opposite of Christ? Antichrist. So the devil is the antagonist or opposite of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, in
We also see opposites in the spiritual realm. What is the opposite of love? hate. What is the opposite of light? darkness. What is the opposite of life? death. What is the opposite of the truth? a lie. What is the opposite of the Way? every wrong direction. What is the opposite of Christ? Antichrist. So the devil is the antagonist or opposite of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, in
John 8:44, that "the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
So the first attribute of the devil is that he was a murderer from the beginning.
1 John 3:11-12 says, "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."
The Lord said, in Isaiah 14:12-15, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Note the 5 "I wills" in the devil's declaration. Jesus won the victory, the battle over the devil at Calvary, but the war, the Armageddon, still continues between the body of Christ and the devil. Whether or not there will be a natural, physical war called Armageddon between natural men is neither here nor there. The real war is between the devil, or the Antichrist, and the members of the body of Christ. That war is being waged in the minds and wills of professing Christians. Jesus prayed to the Father, "Not my will but Thy will be done" (Luke 22:42). Any time we believers insist on our will being done, we slip over into the kingdom of darkness and become a lawful captive. Hundreds of thousands of professing Christians repeat every Sunday "The Lord's Prayer," part of which is "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven;" and then go back to their own will the next six days of the week.
Another of the devil's tactics is to counterfeit the works of God before they actually manifest themselves in time. For example: the first Adam before the last Adam; Cain before Abel; from Genesis 10:21, Japheth was the elder of Noah's three sons, but the lineage of Jesus came through Shem; Ishmael before Isaac; Esau before Jacob; natural Jerusalem before the heavenly Jerusalem. In the Book of Revelation, John saw the false church (Babylon) in Chapter 17 before he saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ in Chapter 21.
The lies of the enemy are another of the devil's tactics that many professing Christians fall for. Jesus said that in the last days that many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many (Matthew 24:11). Peter, in 2 Peter 2:1, said there shall be false teachers among us. Jesus said, in Matthew 24:5, that "many shall come in His name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many." One of the very few true prophets I have ever met says in an admonition in his website,
"In 1950 at a Church Seminar, during a Scripture lesson, the congregation was suddenly electrified. The front doors burst open behind the audience. A well-dressed man with a two-foot beard, Bible under arm, hands raised as if he were God's man of faith and power for the hour, rushed into the meeting. With a booming voice, expecting eulogies, he shouted, "I am Jesus!" I remember saying to the congregation, "If you believe this you are in trouble!"
From my own awareness and experience, I am quite certain that literally hundreds of thousands of professing Christians have run after the counterfeit prophets and teachers. Why? partly because of ignorance or lack of true knowledge or lack of discernment and partly because of a lack of patience. In fact, I believe that another lesson that the Lord is trying to teach us through this coronavirus pandemic is patience. The natural man does not possess the patience which comes from God. Sometimes we Christians don't fare well in that category either.
Hebrews 10:36, "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
In general there is no life in simply pointing out what men call "negatives." However, that is what the Lord told Jeremiah to do (root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down) prior to building and planting (Jeremiah 1:10) ... four "negatives" followed by two "positives." I believe that this series of perhaps six messages is particularly important. Jeremiah's ministry was to the Judah of his time, and to the spiritual Judah (charismatic community) over all of time. Each of these messages may be intermixed with the so-called "negatives" and the so-called "positives."
There is nothing "negative" about the word of God. Sometimes there are just too many weeds that must be removed before good grass can be planted. I believe that we live in such a time. This is a time when everyone is going to his own place (Acts 1:25 and Revelation 22:11). This is a time when many exhortations, both in the Old and New Testaments must and will be repeated. This is a time when:
And [Moses] said, If thou wilt diligently hearken [be obedient] to the voice of the LORD Thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26
Here is another of the many conditional promises of God. If we will ... then He will ... In order to "hearken to the voice of the Lord" (His rhema word to us), we must be able to hear His voice speaking to us. In order to do that which is right in His sight (not our sight) we must know that which is right in His sight. This is a time when:
8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. Deuteronomy 12:8-9
Has the Christian community today come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD gives to us? Have you and I come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD gives to us? What is that rest? It is the rest from all of our perhaps good-intentioned works of the flesh. (See Hebrews 6:1, which speaks of repentance from dead works.) The Book of Hebrews, Chapters 3 and 4, speak of the rest that we are called to enter into.
What is that inheritance that the Lord gives to us? It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is living and walking in the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 25:31-34, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"
1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
The word "inherit" means "to come into possession of belongings from someone else" or "to come into possession of something as a right." In Scripture, at different times three different men asked Jesus the same basic question, namely, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" In Mark 10:17, "there came one running" to ask that question. The fact that he came running indicates it was of utmost interest to him. In Luke 10:25 a certain lawyer asked the same question. (A lawyer in those days was not like an attorney in our days; he was a man who taught about the Mosaic Law.) And in Luke 18:18 a certain ruler asked the same question. There is no reference in the Bible that indicates that any of the three ever accepted Jesus as their Lord. More importantly, all three men were looking "eternal life" straight in the eye and did not know it. Likewise, just before the crucifixion of Jesus, Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" even as he was looking Truth straight in the eye.
In the New Testament we see two related, but different, Greek words, translated as "everlasting" and "eternal." "Everlasting" denotes no end of time, excludes any interruption or is permanent, and is used mainly where something future is spoken of.
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The word for "eternal" carries the idea of quality of life as well as quantity. Eternal life is independent of time and has no end. Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time.
In the first Adam, all of mankind rebelled against God and were banished from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Every human being born into this world is born a sinner, not because we have sinned, but because we were born. David said, "In sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The gift of eternal life comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ, who is Himself "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). However, we should not make seeking eternal life our goal. Rather we should seek the Giver of eternal life ... even the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God, by His amazing grace, restores our access to the tree of life. This access is provided through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Right now, every sinner is invited to know Christ and to receive eternal life. The Lord says, in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
How can anyone know that they have eternal life? First, confess your sins before our holy God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, and He rose again the third day. Therefore accept God's provision of a Savior on your behalf. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Believe this good news; trust the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). This must be more than simply repeating a few words. It must be a cry from our heart.
In John 17:3, Jesus prayed, "Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Jesus equates "eternal life" with a knowledge of God and of the Son. This life-giving knowledge of the Father and the Son is a true, personal knowledge, not just a mental awareness. There is no knowledge of God without the Son, for it is through the Son that the Father reveals Himself to His chosen people (John 17:6). The Apostle Paul, after 30 years of ministry, said, "That I might know Him" (Philippians 3:10).
Some on Judgment Day will claim to be followers of Christ but never really had a relationship with Him. To those pretenders, Jesus one day will say, "I never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23).
Eternal life is something that Christians experience now. Believers don't have to "wait" for eternal life, because it's not something that starts when we die. The focus of eternal life is not on our future, but on our standing or abiding in Christ. Eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in Christ. Jesus, in John 10:28 says, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The believer "has" (present tense in the Greek) eternal life. (Also see John 6:54, which says the same thing.)
1 John 5:9-13: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Now that we have seen the significance of our inheritance in Christ and the eternal life that all true believers have now, let us look briefly at a truth that is at least as important, if not more so, namely what is the Lord's inheritance? Paul, in
Ephesians 1:16-18 says, "I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"
Again we ask, what is the Lord's inheritance?
First of all, we know that God is love. But love does not exist in a vacuum. Love is incomplete without an object or objects to love. In the natural realm we use the word "love" in a variety of different contexts. We say, "I love my new car; I love my house; I love my dog; I love chocolate; I love fried chicken or pizza or ice cream." We also say, "I love my spouse; I love my children; I love my church." But as a generality, we love that which is like us. We know from Genesis 1:26 that God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." No verse in the Bible says that God loves angels. Why? because they were not made in the image of God, after His likeness. So God loves the true believers who are made in His image, after His likeness. That "making" is a process in a believer called sanctification. Now it is true that "God so loved the world ..." God loves the sinner but hates the sin. But God knew before the foundation of the world who would receive His Son. Therefore God is bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Why? So that He might have fellowship with many sons and love each son for an eternity. The Father will have such a family of sons.
First of all, we know that God is love. But love does not exist in a vacuum. Love is incomplete without an object or objects to love. In the natural realm we use the word "love" in a variety of different contexts. We say, "I love my new car; I love my house; I love my dog; I love chocolate; I love fried chicken or pizza or ice cream." We also say, "I love my spouse; I love my children; I love my church." But as a generality, we love that which is like us. We know from Genesis 1:26 that God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." No verse in the Bible says that God loves angels. Why? because they were not made in the image of God, after His likeness. So God loves the true believers who are made in His image, after His likeness. That "making" is a process in a believer called sanctification. Now it is true that "God so loved the world ..." God loves the sinner but hates the sin. But God knew before the foundation of the world who would receive His Son. Therefore God is bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Why? So that He might have fellowship with many sons and love each son for an eternity. The Father will have such a family of sons.
Jesus said, in Luke 12:31-32, "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Note that Jesus said "little flock." That means two things ... it means little in our own sight and little in numbers. Jesus never worked with a multitude. Today if you see a lot of Christians going in the same direction, look at it carefully again. According to the PEW Research Center a few years ago, there are at least 500 million evangelical professing Christians in the world and at least 75 million evangelicals in the U.S. If all of those folks are walking with the Lord, then Jesus must have already returned to earth, which of course is not true. Moreover,
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.Proverbs 21:2
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25.
It is also true that "in THESE days" there is no king in spiritual Israel, but every man does that which is right in his own eyes. This is a time when:
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the LORD. Jeremiah 8:7
Why do the Lord's people not know His judgment? for two major reasons ... first, because the judgment of God is not preached from the pulpits; and second, because we Christians have lost our sense of individual responsibility to hear from the Lord our self in that we say, "Let the pastor tell us what God is saying. That is what we pay him to do." This is a time when:
26 For among My people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Jeremiah 5:26-29
My people in Verse 26 are the chosen people of God. This verse particularly applies to modern-day Judah, the charismatic community, which has been blessed abundantly, but which in large part has been deceived by those who set snares, set a trap, and catch men (believers).
Dozens and dozens of men in positional authority (it is easy to list specific names) have become great (in name only) and waxed rich and fat by making merchandise of the gospel, by preying on those with little discernment, and robbing the saints of millions and millions of dollars (by seducing the people of God to contribute to "their" ministry) so that they can build their personal empires. It never ceases to amaze me how professing Christians can continue to support false teachers by their presence and by throwing so much money to charlatans.
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Jude 11
Now what I will share next is a real tragedy. Do you want to know the fastest way to become a millionaire? Just start a church in your garage. Start with a handful of people and preach good, prosperous blessings. In less than five years you will be a millionaire. That is because so many people are looking for answers in this troubled world. One pastor of a mega-church in the south followed that procedure about 34 years ago. He held his first service in front of only eight people in the cafeteria of an elementary school. In 2018 his net worth was reported at 27 million dollars. He also got his flock to buy him a 77 million dollar jet aircraft so he can "spread the good news faster." He said in an interview that he sometimes gets up to $100,000 for a single appearance on his packed schedule of speaking engagements. And of course you can buy any of his 30 books for between 7 and 30 dollars each. He has written several books offering followers his advice on how to get out of debt and take lessons from the Bible in building wealth so they can better live as Christians. If that man does not repent, one day he will receive the judgment of God. That is just one of many such examples.
We are rapidly approaching the time when:
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.Revelation 18:1-4
Now let us consider some lies of the enemy that try to keep us from accepting and appropriating all of the wonderful Truth that is in Christ Jesus. We will start with shadows. A shadow is the least real of all objects. There is no reality, no substance in shadows. It is caused by anything that blocks or obscures the light. A shadow may be caused by a person, by a building, by a tree, or by the natural, carnal mind. The proximate cause of the shadow may be deliberate (all shadows caused by Antichrist are deliberate); or the cause may be from ignorance (lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, lack of discernment, etc.).
6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. Song of Solomon 4:6-7
Death has a shadow, but no substance or reality for a believer because a believer has eternal life, the life of Christ. The words, "shadow of death," occur 20 times in Scripture, 10 of them in the Book of Job. One of the most familiar of such verses is,
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
Hebrew 2:14-18, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted."
The devil still has the power of death over those who have not been born again. But the devil can kill only the physical body. He does that through his lies and his deception. He is a murderer. But if we Christians are walking in the light that we have received and submit our self to God, the devil has no power over us (James 4:7).
Jesus said, in Matthew 16:24-26, "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"Paul said, 2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
Granted, it is very difficult for any professing Christian to arrive at that place in his life. Actually, it is impossible except by the power of the Holy Ghost working within us. But I guarantee you that if any man will continue to walk with the Lord, the day will come when he will be able to say, in truth, that which Paul said in
Philippians 1:21-24, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you."
A few more verses about shadows.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.Colossians 2:16-17
1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer.4 For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.Hebrews 8:1-5
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. Hebrews 10:1
James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
God's nature is unchanging and His promises are secure.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17).
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