Parable of Return
This parable that Jesus told is about Christians in the days leading up to His return. Right now, all over the earth, messengers are proclaiming the day:
Matthew 22:2-8 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
The truth of the end-times...the last 7 years leading up to Jesus' return...is very intense. There are two main dynamics that will mark this generation:
1. The Good news: a great harvest is coming. A ton of people who are NOT in the Church right now, or who were in the Church as kids and drifted away, are coming in to the wedding. Many of them are going to see the truth of the day as it is announced, and prepare themselves for the days ahead by wholeheartedly getting themselves in agreement with God with their energy, their dreams, their time, and their money. They will thrive through all the events of Revelation, and take part in the rewards of the harvest that others sowed the seeds of!
Matthew 22:9-10 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
2. The Bad news: there is going to be a great falling away. Many who are in Churches right now, have been sowing the seeds of the final harvest, prophesying, casting out demons, healing the sick...active Christians...are actually going to get offended by the intensity of what is coming, betray their brothers and sisters, false teachers will continue to get louder and louder...and sadly, many will not endure...they will quit right at the time of victory. Why? Because they wouldn't take the time to step outside of the "demands" of their own lives....the farm, the business, the vacation schedule, the family events...and say "wait, something very important to Jesus is happening all around me, I need to understand this and connect with it fully...I need to get ready for the crazy intense wedding described in Revelation!"
Luke 14:16-21 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
This attitude of putting off connecting with what God is doing, especially in the generation all of creation has longed to see, is seen by God himself as a rejection of the invitation. This will lead to the great falling away. It happens in this order: trouble IS coming, whether you believe it or not; those "unready" (those who take a "wait and see"...casual...approach) will risk being offended by how hard it is going to be ; they will succumb to the world and actually betray the Body of Jesus (this same thing happened in Nazi Germany, North Korea, Russia...when the government makes it illegal to be a Christian, these ones will not be ready to stand against threats of harm to them and their families and will actually betray each other), and false teachers will add greatly to the confusion...this calls for endurance to make it victoriously through....the endurance happens now, in the time of "getting ready":
Matthew 24:8-13 All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
This MUST happen BEFORE Jesus returns:
II Thessalonians 2:1-3 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
These are the ones who fall away: those who refuse to believe something really bad is about to happen...those who refused to let the invitation to the wedding radically change their plans...actually alter their schedule. God takes very seriously those who claim nothing bad is going to happen when something really bad is about to happen...teaching the wrong thing in this generation has HUGE consequences:
I Thessalonians 5:1-3 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Amos 9:9-11 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN to us.’(emphasis mine) “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. (The way you get ready is agreeing with God about rebuilding the Tabernacle of David...24/7 prayer to music)
Every time Jesus spoke of His return, He said "watch," "pray", and "be ready":
Luke 12:40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
Matthew 24:37-39 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Rejecting the invitation happens in those moments when you realize there may be something to all of this and you say to yourself "I'll make time for that soon." That is what most of the rejection looks like...making your life here...absent Jesus....more important than His intense plan to come here!
It will never get more obvious that the end-times are happening. If you took someone from 1950 and plopped them in to 2013, they would be screaming from the roof tops "Jesus is about to return!"...but because few are sounding the alarm, most people think "I'll do something when it is more obvious..."
Rampant murder, theft, sexual perversion, demonized entertainers in the mainstream, corruption throughout governmental systems, devastating natural disasters, wars and rumors of war...intense events surrounding Israel...if that isn't enough for you...nothing will be.
Matthew 22:2-8 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
The truth of the end-times...the last 7 years leading up to Jesus' return...is very intense. There are two main dynamics that will mark this generation:
1. The Good news: a great harvest is coming. A ton of people who are NOT in the Church right now, or who were in the Church as kids and drifted away, are coming in to the wedding. Many of them are going to see the truth of the day as it is announced, and prepare themselves for the days ahead by wholeheartedly getting themselves in agreement with God with their energy, their dreams, their time, and their money. They will thrive through all the events of Revelation, and take part in the rewards of the harvest that others sowed the seeds of!
Matthew 22:9-10 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
2. The Bad news: there is going to be a great falling away. Many who are in Churches right now, have been sowing the seeds of the final harvest, prophesying, casting out demons, healing the sick...active Christians...are actually going to get offended by the intensity of what is coming, betray their brothers and sisters, false teachers will continue to get louder and louder...and sadly, many will not endure...they will quit right at the time of victory. Why? Because they wouldn't take the time to step outside of the "demands" of their own lives....the farm, the business, the vacation schedule, the family events...and say "wait, something very important to Jesus is happening all around me, I need to understand this and connect with it fully...I need to get ready for the crazy intense wedding described in Revelation!"
Luke 14:16-21 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
This attitude of putting off connecting with what God is doing, especially in the generation all of creation has longed to see, is seen by God himself as a rejection of the invitation. This will lead to the great falling away. It happens in this order: trouble IS coming, whether you believe it or not; those "unready" (those who take a "wait and see"...casual...approach) will risk being offended by how hard it is going to be ; they will succumb to the world and actually betray the Body of Jesus (this same thing happened in Nazi Germany, North Korea, Russia...when the government makes it illegal to be a Christian, these ones will not be ready to stand against threats of harm to them and their families and will actually betray each other), and false teachers will add greatly to the confusion...this calls for endurance to make it victoriously through....the endurance happens now, in the time of "getting ready":
Matthew 24:8-13 All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
This MUST happen BEFORE Jesus returns:
II Thessalonians 2:1-3 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
These are the ones who fall away: those who refuse to believe something really bad is about to happen...those who refused to let the invitation to the wedding radically change their plans...actually alter their schedule. God takes very seriously those who claim nothing bad is going to happen when something really bad is about to happen...teaching the wrong thing in this generation has HUGE consequences:
I Thessalonians 5:1-3 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Amos 9:9-11 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN to us.’(emphasis mine) “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. (The way you get ready is agreeing with God about rebuilding the Tabernacle of David...24/7 prayer to music)
Every time Jesus spoke of His return, He said "watch," "pray", and "be ready":
Luke 12:40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
Matthew 24:37-39 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Rejecting the invitation happens in those moments when you realize there may be something to all of this and you say to yourself "I'll make time for that soon." That is what most of the rejection looks like...making your life here...absent Jesus....more important than His intense plan to come here!
It will never get more obvious that the end-times are happening. If you took someone from 1950 and plopped them in to 2013, they would be screaming from the roof tops "Jesus is about to return!"...but because few are sounding the alarm, most people think "I'll do something when it is more obvious..."
Rampant murder, theft, sexual perversion, demonized entertainers in the mainstream, corruption throughout governmental systems, devastating natural disasters, wars and rumors of war...intense events surrounding Israel...if that isn't enough for you...nothing will be.
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.