So what happens to the believers in Christ whose garments have been stained or spotted? Why are they not walking in white raiment with Jesus?
When we proclaim our trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sakes, then the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us, in other words, GOD lives within us, for the purpose of helping us to walk in HOLINESS. If, instead, we walk by the flesh and walk right into willful sin, such as sexual immorality, we defile this temple (our body) which has become God's residence.
Are we truly aware of what defiling the temple means to God? We have studied (in the story of Hanukkah) that a certain Antiochus defiled the physical temple of God and is compared in scripture to the anti-christ. If we are not walking by the spirit of holiness, then by what are we walking? And if the Lord returns and we are found walking by the flesh (according to the lies of Satan, rather than in the truth) then what should we expect to receive from the Lord when He returns?
Our holy God will not stand for defilement of His holy place. Our bodies, once made holy, are to be kept holy, or we will suffer for it. Willful sin defiles the body because we were once washed clean from defilement through the blood of Jesus, and we have now allowed sin to defile the garment (the covering) that was once white as snow; we have not considered that which was done for us by Christ as precious and sacred.
That garment, as we saw in the last posting, is the righteousness of Christ. We are warned over and over again in scripture, that we are to walk carefully in that which we have been given, always guarding it from loss:
Paul told the church in Corinth to expel a believer from their midst who was involved in sexual immorality, and was completely unrepentant about it. Why would he do this if the grace that comes through salvation covers all of this man's sins? Or does grace only cover the sins we repent of or that we commit in ignorance rather than willfullness? Paul turns him over to Satan, to suffer in his body, in hope that it will bring him to repentance and save his soul. This is the Spirit of God in Paul stating such a thing, because the Spirit of God will do the same to each of us, if necessary. We Christians have to understand that this is the mind of a just and holy God that does not allow unrepentant sin to continue in us without suffering consequences; this is the mind of a loving God who has provided us an escape from sin through Jesus, and will now turn against us if we do not hold fast to that which He has given to us.
It sounds as though Jesus takes the individuals with spotless garments of white, and leaves behind the individuals who have spotted their garments with unrepentant sin. How do these individuals who have been (temporarily at least) left behind wash their garments to make them clean again?
It might be that scripture is telling us that a purging process is required; a process that brings unrepentant sinners to repentance because, sadly, they would not come to repentance quickly and humbly (as David did). These individuals need some strong persuasion to get past the will of their own ego or whatever it is that is keeping them from repentance. And Jesus knows just what they need:
The Egyptian Pharaoh of Moses' time is a good example of hardness of heart that comes about from one's self-will or ego. At one point, after the 8th plague of hail and fire mixed with hail, it appears that Pharaoh has actually come to acknowledge that the God of Moses is the one true God and he even acknowledges that he has sinned (Exodus 10:16). But pride causes him to step back from that declaration and become sin-hardened. Scripture says that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. I believe that means that the Lord had Moses do that which the Lord knew would cause Pharaoh to harden his heart: Moses did not allow him to save face in front of his own servants who have begged Pharaoh to listen to Moses and Aaron (Exodus 10:7). Pride was what hardened Pharaoh's heart, through the deceitfulness of sin, and he lost that which he had grasp of for one brief moment.
Some Christians, like Pharaoh, who have acknowledged God, will be written out of the Lamb's Book of Life because of unrepentant hearts. Some will dare to defy God's law, by rationalizing that they are intelligent or wise enough, as Solomon thought he was, to avoid the consequences of sin even if they play around with sin. To these, the message of scripture is clear:
REPENT AND BE SAVED...
...saved from sin and its consequences, set free and enabled to become obedient to God in every way, saved from the Great Tribulation, saved from being written out of the Lamb's Book of Life.
I have deliberately focused on unrepentant sins, such as sexual immorality, sins that I have actually seen the church of Jesus Christ walking in, and casually doing so. I want to sound the alarm to Christians who think they can walk like this without suffering terrible consequences.
Yet, whether we are in deep dark unrepentant sin or not, does walking in holiness, girded about with truth, allow us (the church) to walk as those who are more in love with the world than with Jesus? Will we be spared, also, who attempt to straddle the fence, or who call ourselves HOLY when we spend more time gossiping than we do in holy prayer? Or more time shopping, or more time with our electronics, or more time in recreation?
If we are Christians, then our lives are not our own. Our lives do not belong to us to do with as we please. We have a master to whom we are servants. We cannot go our own way, do our own thing, with little regard for our master, and expect to be saved from what is to come.
This is the warning that Jesus warned us with...the warning that preachers everywhere need to be speaking loudly to the lukewarm church in these latter days whose lamp is growing dim.
When we proclaim our trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sakes, then the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us, in other words, GOD lives within us, for the purpose of helping us to walk in HOLINESS. If, instead, we walk by the flesh and walk right into willful sin, such as sexual immorality, we defile this temple (our body) which has become God's residence.
Are we truly aware of what defiling the temple means to God? We have studied (in the story of Hanukkah) that a certain Antiochus defiled the physical temple of God and is compared in scripture to the anti-christ. If we are not walking by the spirit of holiness, then by what are we walking? And if the Lord returns and we are found walking by the flesh (according to the lies of Satan, rather than in the truth) then what should we expect to receive from the Lord when He returns?
Our holy God will not stand for defilement of His holy place. Our bodies, once made holy, are to be kept holy, or we will suffer for it. Willful sin defiles the body because we were once washed clean from defilement through the blood of Jesus, and we have now allowed sin to defile the garment (the covering) that was once white as snow; we have not considered that which was done for us by Christ as precious and sacred.
That garment, as we saw in the last posting, is the righteousness of Christ. We are warned over and over again in scripture, that we are to walk carefully in that which we have been given, always guarding it from loss:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:1-4)
Paul told the church in Corinth to expel a believer from their midst who was involved in sexual immorality, and was completely unrepentant about it. Why would he do this if the grace that comes through salvation covers all of this man's sins? Or does grace only cover the sins we repent of or that we commit in ignorance rather than willfullness? Paul turns him over to Satan, to suffer in his body, in hope that it will bring him to repentance and save his soul. This is the Spirit of God in Paul stating such a thing, because the Spirit of God will do the same to each of us, if necessary. We Christians have to understand that this is the mind of a just and holy God that does not allow unrepentant sin to continue in us without suffering consequences; this is the mind of a loving God who has provided us an escape from sin through Jesus, and will now turn against us if we do not hold fast to that which He has given to us.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. (Hebrews 3:12-14)
We must heed the warnings held in this passage of scripture: brethren, take heed, so that you will not be found to be departing in your heart from the living God with whom you are currently reconciled to, hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Isn't the write of Hebrews saying that we are made partakers of Christ IF we hold fast to the faith we had at the beginning of our walk with Christ? Which indicates conversely that IF we do NOT hold fast to that faith (by which we walk in truth and holiness by the Spirit of God), we cannot claim to be made partakers of (or one with) Christ.
So we must consider what it is exactly that happens if the Lord comes back for His bride and finds a believer in unrepentant sin, not a sin of ignorance that he has not even been made aware of (for it is clear that God's grace would cover that), but a willful sin that was done with foreknowledge that it is definitely without a doubt sin against God.It sounds as though Jesus takes the individuals with spotless garments of white, and leaves behind the individuals who have spotted their garments with unrepentant sin. How do these individuals who have been (temporarily at least) left behind wash their garments to make them clean again?
It might be that scripture is telling us that a purging process is required; a process that brings unrepentant sinners to repentance because, sadly, they would not come to repentance quickly and humbly (as David did). These individuals need some strong persuasion to get past the will of their own ego or whatever it is that is keeping them from repentance. And Jesus knows just what they need:
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:14)
For these saints, the purging process was "great tribulation" through which they "washed their robes (indicating that they already had the garment, but it needed cleaning) and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Many believe that these are Jews only that will be saved through the great tribulation. But the Word of God says that a multitude of Gentiles will be saved as well (Rev. 7:9-14).
In fact, Jesus says that some of us can escape great tribulation, but that there are conditions necessary to escape it:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36)
Why do we have to be accounted worthy? Aren't we worthy because of Jesus? Doesn't God just see Jesus and not us, not our sins done after we were saved? It sounds to me as though there is more required of us, as Jesus Himself said:
To whom much is given [the very life of Jesus Christ, God Himself], much is required [from those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ]. (Luke 12:48)
Interestingly, those words are spoken by Jesus right at the end of a parable about a wicked servant:
To whom much is given [the very life of Jesus Christ, God Himself], much is required [from those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ]. (Luke 12:48)
Interestingly, those words are spoken by Jesus right at the end of a parable about a wicked servant:
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. (Luke 12:35-40)
Let's break that passage down a bit because several things are said here that are not said by coincidence, but deliberately and prophetically as is all of God's Word.
First of all "Let your loins be girded about" is similar wording to Ephesians 6:14a:
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth...
If we are not walking in truth, then we are walking in deception, lies, SIN; we are Christians, but carnal Christians. If we are walking in (or girded with) truth, however, then we are walking in the garments of HOLINESS appropriate for one called to the priesthood of Jesus Christ, such as Aaron was clothed in:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother...He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments.. (Lev. 16:2-4)
Secondly, "and your lights burning" refers to the Holy Spirit, the oil by which the lamps of the churches burn...as the oil diminishes the light grows dim. We become light to the world depending on how we walk by the Spirit; walking by the flesh produces no light, only darkness. As we walk by the flesh instead of the Spirit, our lights are in danger of going out altogether.
Finally, in that passage from Luke, the "lord" (master) is not going to a wedding; he has just returned from a wedding (the wedding of the Lamb to his bride, the church) and is coming to "sit down to meat" (the wedding supper of the Lamb). He comes and knocks on the door expecting to find servants who are "watching" for his return. And when he finds such servants "watching" they are brought into the wedding supper to join in the intimacy of eating with him and his bride. [Eating is a very intimate thing in the scriptures and in Jewish culture...as at the Passover Supper with Jesus and His disciples. In Jewish culture, the food that we share, makes its way into our bodies, and becomes part of our body, joining our bodies together in a shared bond (symbiotic) because of the food. How much more relevant the Lord's Supper becomes to us once we are aware of that Jewish thinking?]
It appears from other scripture passages that the wedding happens during the Great Tribulation, and from this passage in Luke it appears that those who are saved in the Great Tribulation are then invited (because they now have the proper garments) to join in the festivities of the wedding supper of the Lamb.
What warning does Jesus give the church at Sardis, and to the church as a whole as well?
"If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." (Rev. 3:3b) This is clearly stated in the passage from Luke where servants had to be ready at the first watch, and the second watch, and the third watch ("watch" being the military term for the divisions of the night during which different soldiers were to guard or "watch") because they had no idea when their lord would return.
Let's break that passage down a bit because several things are said here that are not said by coincidence, but deliberately and prophetically as is all of God's Word.
First of all "Let your loins be girded about" is similar wording to Ephesians 6:14a:
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth...
If we are not walking in truth, then we are walking in deception, lies, SIN; we are Christians, but carnal Christians. If we are walking in (or girded with) truth, however, then we are walking in the garments of HOLINESS appropriate for one called to the priesthood of Jesus Christ, such as Aaron was clothed in:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother...He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments.. (Lev. 16:2-4)
Secondly, "and your lights burning" refers to the Holy Spirit, the oil by which the lamps of the churches burn...as the oil diminishes the light grows dim. We become light to the world depending on how we walk by the Spirit; walking by the flesh produces no light, only darkness. As we walk by the flesh instead of the Spirit, our lights are in danger of going out altogether.
Finally, in that passage from Luke, the "lord" (master) is not going to a wedding; he has just returned from a wedding (the wedding of the Lamb to his bride, the church) and is coming to "sit down to meat" (the wedding supper of the Lamb). He comes and knocks on the door expecting to find servants who are "watching" for his return. And when he finds such servants "watching" they are brought into the wedding supper to join in the intimacy of eating with him and his bride. [Eating is a very intimate thing in the scriptures and in Jewish culture...as at the Passover Supper with Jesus and His disciples. In Jewish culture, the food that we share, makes its way into our bodies, and becomes part of our body, joining our bodies together in a shared bond (symbiotic) because of the food. How much more relevant the Lord's Supper becomes to us once we are aware of that Jewish thinking?]
It appears from other scripture passages that the wedding happens during the Great Tribulation, and from this passage in Luke it appears that those who are saved in the Great Tribulation are then invited (because they now have the proper garments) to join in the festivities of the wedding supper of the Lamb.
What warning does Jesus give the church at Sardis, and to the church as a whole as well?
"If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." (Rev. 3:3b) This is clearly stated in the passage from Luke where servants had to be ready at the first watch, and the second watch, and the third watch ("watch" being the military term for the divisions of the night during which different soldiers were to guard or "watch") because they had no idea when their lord would return.
What will happen to those who have not kept their guard up, have not been looking for the Lord's return, and who do not come to repentance even through the purging process?
I believe we can understand conversely by what Jesus says in Rev. 3:5:
That statement goes against the doctrine of "once saved, always saved" because according to Jesus only those believers who "overcome" will not have their names blotted out of the book of life.
I believe that it takes a very sin-hardened person to remain unrepentant and rebellious to God. Once a believer knows Jesus, if he allows lust for sin to consume him, and remains unrepentant or even hardened against repentance, then what would God do with such a one if even a purging process cannot cause him to overcome sin because of his own self-will? I hope these are rare cases. I hope that for the most part, most of us, even those with past sins that were once worthy of stoning, sins that were committed after coming to Christ, have come to repent and thus our names will not be written out of the Lamb's Book of Life.
I believe we can understand conversely by what Jesus says in Rev. 3:5:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
I believe that it takes a very sin-hardened person to remain unrepentant and rebellious to God. Once a believer knows Jesus, if he allows lust for sin to consume him, and remains unrepentant or even hardened against repentance, then what would God do with such a one if even a purging process cannot cause him to overcome sin because of his own self-will? I hope these are rare cases. I hope that for the most part, most of us, even those with past sins that were once worthy of stoning, sins that were committed after coming to Christ, have come to repent and thus our names will not be written out of the Lamb's Book of Life.
The Egyptian Pharaoh of Moses' time is a good example of hardness of heart that comes about from one's self-will or ego. At one point, after the 8th plague of hail and fire mixed with hail, it appears that Pharaoh has actually come to acknowledge that the God of Moses is the one true God and he even acknowledges that he has sinned (Exodus 10:16). But pride causes him to step back from that declaration and become sin-hardened. Scripture says that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. I believe that means that the Lord had Moses do that which the Lord knew would cause Pharaoh to harden his heart: Moses did not allow him to save face in front of his own servants who have begged Pharaoh to listen to Moses and Aaron (Exodus 10:7). Pride was what hardened Pharaoh's heart, through the deceitfulness of sin, and he lost that which he had grasp of for one brief moment.
Some Christians, like Pharaoh, who have acknowledged God, will be written out of the Lamb's Book of Life because of unrepentant hearts. Some will dare to defy God's law, by rationalizing that they are intelligent or wise enough, as Solomon thought he was, to avoid the consequences of sin even if they play around with sin. To these, the message of scripture is clear:
REPENT AND BE SAVED...
...saved from sin and its consequences, set free and enabled to become obedient to God in every way, saved from the Great Tribulation, saved from being written out of the Lamb's Book of Life.
I have deliberately focused on unrepentant sins, such as sexual immorality, sins that I have actually seen the church of Jesus Christ walking in, and casually doing so. I want to sound the alarm to Christians who think they can walk like this without suffering terrible consequences.
Yet, whether we are in deep dark unrepentant sin or not, does walking in holiness, girded about with truth, allow us (the church) to walk as those who are more in love with the world than with Jesus? Will we be spared, also, who attempt to straddle the fence, or who call ourselves HOLY when we spend more time gossiping than we do in holy prayer? Or more time shopping, or more time with our electronics, or more time in recreation?
If we are Christians, then our lives are not our own. Our lives do not belong to us to do with as we please. We have a master to whom we are servants. We cannot go our own way, do our own thing, with little regard for our master, and expect to be saved from what is to come.
This is the warning that Jesus warned us with...the warning that preachers everywhere need to be speaking loudly to the lukewarm church in these latter days whose lamp is growing dim.
No comments:
Post a Comment