Day and Night
Luke 18:2saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
3“Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
4“And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5‘yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8“I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
There is no other end time plan. The cry for vengeance implies that those crying out day and night have been given injustice...like Jesus. The promise of being found faithful is to those who embrace this idea and gather others into THAT gospel. Anything less than the real gospel filling more and more of my dreams and expectations leaves me nice and clean for delusion. Deliverance, if not done with a vision of the Gospel that includes holiness and the cross will often lead to worse demonization!
Luke 11:23“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
24“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
25“And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26“Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
We live in a time of increasing demonic activity. We also live in a time of increasing glory. Glory, or the light of God's presence, if it is in fact increasing, actually REQUIRES an increase in holiness...a change in behavior, mindset, and approach to God...or else it isn't real. Is my stand for holiness increasingly evident...increasingly "salty"... visible...disruptive...true? Jesus is never going to ask me what my mom or dad thought about my stand for holiness, or my friends, pastor, or city... Jesus is the only one who will evaluate it, and He is right now.
The kingdom is coming and those hoping for it are responding to it in one of two ways: confusion/delusion or clarity/sobriety:
1 Thessalonians 5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
3For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
5You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
6Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
8But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
9For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Both camps will be together...growing right together... looking largely the same (although anyone who wants to see the difference can)... until fruit is born. The fruit is faith to stay in the hard place of truth in love which yields persecution. Persecution is the only way this is going down for those who are heaven-bound.
So this is the question anyone concerned about Jesus should be asking: where is the persecution for my testimony? Where is the evidence , the fruit, that I am wheat and not a tare, since the roots are intermingled and at first glance the visible part looks identical (the word translated tare here is "false wheat" or darnel)?
Many will be tempted into false, celebrated, unity. If you study the parable of the wheat and tares, you see two kinds of unity: false and true. The tares are bundled...given delusion (2 Thess 2, quoted below) that binds them together, while the wheat is also gathered. The unity that has Jesus at the center isn't celebrated and held up as victorious, but rather persecuted and those who are victorious shine as examples of what is possible with Jesus even in the face of persecution. We love this story when we read it in the Bible, but do I love it when it's unfolding over me in my city?
John 17 unity is united with the people Jesus was praying over in John 17! James, John, Peter...they were all hated by the spiritual crowd for their stand on unity.
Matthew 13:24Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25“but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26“But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27“So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Matthew 13:36Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
38“The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.
39“The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
40“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.
41“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
42“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Many will quit, and, as they get delusion because they didn't LOVE the cross and the truth that they could stand with Jesus, these same ones that turn away from the persecution and marginalization that those first believers walked through will actually think they are the church!
2 Thessalonians 2:9The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
Paul encouraged the Thessolonian church to "stand fast" in light of this truth because the warning of delusion being given is to the CHURCH! There is a multitude without number that will be brought in from the world. Jesus judges the church before the world.
Many in the falsely celebrated "united church" will find out they didn't stand fast, but rather measured themselves by how well they stayed in the group. Jesus doesn't measure unity by the ability to be in a group, He measures it by our steadiness in the face of the great pressure to divide from him for the sake of man's approval. Many want the group more than Jesus...most... At the very end they will hear the truth from Jesus himself:
Matthew 7:13“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
The group Jesus was speaking to LOVED the Messiah...they just ended up hating Jesus. If you love Jesus,then you love the hard choices He made, and you try to make them, too!
Matthew 23:2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Who is my tribe? Where is my cross? Teach me to embrace the truth, Jesus. To measure success and joy rightly:
Matthew 5:9Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
If I don't love separation/sanctification, then I really don't love the Sermon on the Mount. This is hard. This takes time. There is a serious cost.
Jesus wasn't trying to build a movement, He was quashing it...sifting them by truth... as they gathered around Him for the wrong reasons. Do I stand for the same reality. Do I love a savior, or do I love Jesus...the real one?
Luke 14:25Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29“lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30“saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Even in Paul's day, there were many Christians who were enemies of the cross. How much more so now. This isn't about "them" or "us"...it's about what I am actually standing for. If I am not actively standing for Jesus, then I am actually walking as an enemy of the cross. Who is following me? What is my legacy?
Phillippians 3:17Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.
3“Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
4“And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5‘yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8“I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
There is no other end time plan. The cry for vengeance implies that those crying out day and night have been given injustice...like Jesus. The promise of being found faithful is to those who embrace this idea and gather others into THAT gospel. Anything less than the real gospel filling more and more of my dreams and expectations leaves me nice and clean for delusion. Deliverance, if not done with a vision of the Gospel that includes holiness and the cross will often lead to worse demonization!
Luke 11:23“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
24“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
25“And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26“Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
We live in a time of increasing demonic activity. We also live in a time of increasing glory. Glory, or the light of God's presence, if it is in fact increasing, actually REQUIRES an increase in holiness...a change in behavior, mindset, and approach to God...or else it isn't real. Is my stand for holiness increasingly evident...increasingly "salty"... visible...disruptive...true? Jesus is never going to ask me what my mom or dad thought about my stand for holiness, or my friends, pastor, or city... Jesus is the only one who will evaluate it, and He is right now.
The kingdom is coming and those hoping for it are responding to it in one of two ways: confusion/delusion or clarity/sobriety:
1 Thessalonians 5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
3For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
5You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
6Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
8But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
9For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Both camps will be together...growing right together... looking largely the same (although anyone who wants to see the difference can)... until fruit is born. The fruit is faith to stay in the hard place of truth in love which yields persecution. Persecution is the only way this is going down for those who are heaven-bound.
So this is the question anyone concerned about Jesus should be asking: where is the persecution for my testimony? Where is the evidence , the fruit, that I am wheat and not a tare, since the roots are intermingled and at first glance the visible part looks identical (the word translated tare here is "false wheat" or darnel)?
Many will be tempted into false, celebrated, unity. If you study the parable of the wheat and tares, you see two kinds of unity: false and true. The tares are bundled...given delusion (2 Thess 2, quoted below) that binds them together, while the wheat is also gathered. The unity that has Jesus at the center isn't celebrated and held up as victorious, but rather persecuted and those who are victorious shine as examples of what is possible with Jesus even in the face of persecution. We love this story when we read it in the Bible, but do I love it when it's unfolding over me in my city?
John 17 unity is united with the people Jesus was praying over in John 17! James, John, Peter...they were all hated by the spiritual crowd for their stand on unity.
Matthew 13:24Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25“but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26“But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27“So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Matthew 13:36Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
38“The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.
39“The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
40“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.
41“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
42“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Many will quit, and, as they get delusion because they didn't LOVE the cross and the truth that they could stand with Jesus, these same ones that turn away from the persecution and marginalization that those first believers walked through will actually think they are the church!
2 Thessalonians 2:9The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
Paul encouraged the Thessolonian church to "stand fast" in light of this truth because the warning of delusion being given is to the CHURCH! There is a multitude without number that will be brought in from the world. Jesus judges the church before the world.
Many in the falsely celebrated "united church" will find out they didn't stand fast, but rather measured themselves by how well they stayed in the group. Jesus doesn't measure unity by the ability to be in a group, He measures it by our steadiness in the face of the great pressure to divide from him for the sake of man's approval. Many want the group more than Jesus...most... At the very end they will hear the truth from Jesus himself:
Matthew 7:13“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
The group Jesus was speaking to LOVED the Messiah...they just ended up hating Jesus. If you love Jesus,then you love the hard choices He made, and you try to make them, too!
Matthew 23:2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Who is my tribe? Where is my cross? Teach me to embrace the truth, Jesus. To measure success and joy rightly:
Matthew 5:9Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
If I don't love separation/sanctification, then I really don't love the Sermon on the Mount. This is hard. This takes time. There is a serious cost.
Jesus wasn't trying to build a movement, He was quashing it...sifting them by truth... as they gathered around Him for the wrong reasons. Do I stand for the same reality. Do I love a savior, or do I love Jesus...the real one?
Luke 14:25Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29“lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30“saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Even in Paul's day, there were many Christians who were enemies of the cross. How much more so now. This isn't about "them" or "us"...it's about what I am actually standing for. If I am not actively standing for Jesus, then I am actually walking as an enemy of the cross. Who is following me? What is my legacy?
Phillippians 3:17Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.
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