Following God
God is always taking a people from a people, or sifting out those who want to follow Him. He invites, and people begin following.
Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
Of all those who start following, only some will stay on track. This has always been true. The further we follow, the more narrow the leadership gets. This is because to him who much is given, much is required.
A good example is Moses. As we watch Moses lead Israel out of Egypt, we see many start heading to the promise land along with Moses. Some quit wanting the leadership of God along the way.
Real Israelites followed through the course of their lives. We hear about some of them in Hebrews 11. We see that simpling calling oneself Israel, even being born into a Jewish family wasn't the same as living into the true leadership of that identity. No one can replace Israel, but many Israelites walked away from what that identity means. In the time of Jesus we see a large population of those who considered themselves Israel, but Jesus was coming to sift Israel:
Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (12) His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Just before this bold statement, John showed very specifically that this was about religious identity verse obedient response. Jesus came to find out who from Israel wanted to follow Him as first fruits...as a Bride...as real family:
Luke 3:7-9 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. (9) And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
We know from the remainder of the Gospel that many in Israel would not move forward in the leadership of Jesus....in the leadership of Jehovah.
With the 11 disciples and the 120 in the upper room, God took a people from Israel, just as he had taken Abram from Ur of the Caldees, and Israel from Egypt. Those 120 were the first iteration of the Church.
Fast-forward 2,000 years. The church is in a very similar circumstance to Israel at the time of Jesus' first coming. Jesus came, demonstrated the heart of the Father, and then withdrew to see who wanted to follow. Just as Israel was sifted at the first coming, the church is sifted at the Second Coming. The world will be sifted at the end of a 1,000 year reign:
1 Peter 4:15-19 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. (16) Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. (17) For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? (18) Now "IF THE RIGHTEOUS ONE IS SCARCELY SAVED, WHERE WILL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?" (19) Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
Jesus, in preparing the churches for the events described in the Book of Revelation, doesn't write letters to warn the world. He authors letters to the church, each with an admonition to "overcome". The question should be "overcome what?". Overcome the tribulation that quickly follows the letters to the churches. The point of the tribulation is to sift out a Bride from the Church, NOT to sift the world, as many in the church assume. Certainly the world will be affected by the judgments, but that is primarily because the church is being sifted...just as the world was caught up in many of the events related to Israel reacting to her own sifting and the intense cost of missing her time of visitation:
Luke 19:41-44 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, (42) saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (43) For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, (44) and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
What is produced in this sifting, or shaking of all things described in Revelation are two main groups FROM the CHURCH. The end times mostly arent about believers vs. unbelievers. The end times are mostly about the tares being removed from the wheat. The tares are LIKE the wheat. They go to church, claim the name of Jesus, claim to want the same things...they simply don't do these things in an abiding relationship submitted to the leadership of Jesus. It is so hard to distinguish between tares and wheat that if someone tried to soon, they would uproot wheat WITH the tares:
Matthew 13:28-30 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." ' "
The entire end time sifting is centered on those who believe they are the church. This theme is CONSTANT throught he New Testament. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
The end time Harlot Babylon isn't some evil group produced by worldly desire that tries to seduce the real church. The end time Harlot, as the Bible describes it, are those who quit the leadership of Jesus and separate from those who dont quit. The spirit of the antichrist COMES OUT OF the CHURCH!
1 John 2:18-19 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
This is a very important distinction to make. Assuming the harlot is "those people" and the church/Bride are "us people" is a tragic mistake. Many will be led astray by this sort of thinking as well intentioned as it may be. The harlot will mostly be produced by this kind of thinking. The right approach is to let Jesus sift my heart over and over to see where I am abandoning his leadership for harlotry because I am too arrogant to see my self-will, or I am caught up in group thinking. Those who stay in the Bride separate from the wide road that many find. The Bride chooses the more difficult narrow road.
Jeremiah 3:14-16 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (16) "Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days," says the LORD, "that they will say no more, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.
This is the key to staying a Bride and avoiding harlotry: I keep returning to the leadership of Jesus. I shun every other strength. I speak the truth in love. I see where I am prone to deserting the leadership of Jesus and I keep contending to grow in obedience. Being a "bride" or choosing to stay loyal in the sifting of the events of our day doesn't happen accidentally to anyone. It only happens with a VERY intentional plan in mind and carried out in deed:
Luke 21:34-36 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. (35) For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. (36) Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Just like the multitudes in Israel were sifted and very few moved forward with the Lord, the same will happen in our day:
Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Matthew 22:9-14 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' (10) 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. (11) "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. (12) So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. (13) Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (14) "For many are called, but few are chosen."
This has always been true. Jesus is sifting even now.
Psalms 73:26-28 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (27) For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. (28) But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.
Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
Of all those who start following, only some will stay on track. This has always been true. The further we follow, the more narrow the leadership gets. This is because to him who much is given, much is required.
A good example is Moses. As we watch Moses lead Israel out of Egypt, we see many start heading to the promise land along with Moses. Some quit wanting the leadership of God along the way.
Real Israelites followed through the course of their lives. We hear about some of them in Hebrews 11. We see that simpling calling oneself Israel, even being born into a Jewish family wasn't the same as living into the true leadership of that identity. No one can replace Israel, but many Israelites walked away from what that identity means. In the time of Jesus we see a large population of those who considered themselves Israel, but Jesus was coming to sift Israel:
Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (12) His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Just before this bold statement, John showed very specifically that this was about religious identity verse obedient response. Jesus came to find out who from Israel wanted to follow Him as first fruits...as a Bride...as real family:
Luke 3:7-9 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. (9) And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
We know from the remainder of the Gospel that many in Israel would not move forward in the leadership of Jesus....in the leadership of Jehovah.
With the 11 disciples and the 120 in the upper room, God took a people from Israel, just as he had taken Abram from Ur of the Caldees, and Israel from Egypt. Those 120 were the first iteration of the Church.
Fast-forward 2,000 years. The church is in a very similar circumstance to Israel at the time of Jesus' first coming. Jesus came, demonstrated the heart of the Father, and then withdrew to see who wanted to follow. Just as Israel was sifted at the first coming, the church is sifted at the Second Coming. The world will be sifted at the end of a 1,000 year reign:
1 Peter 4:15-19 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. (16) Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. (17) For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? (18) Now "IF THE RIGHTEOUS ONE IS SCARCELY SAVED, WHERE WILL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?" (19) Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
Jesus, in preparing the churches for the events described in the Book of Revelation, doesn't write letters to warn the world. He authors letters to the church, each with an admonition to "overcome". The question should be "overcome what?". Overcome the tribulation that quickly follows the letters to the churches. The point of the tribulation is to sift out a Bride from the Church, NOT to sift the world, as many in the church assume. Certainly the world will be affected by the judgments, but that is primarily because the church is being sifted...just as the world was caught up in many of the events related to Israel reacting to her own sifting and the intense cost of missing her time of visitation:
Luke 19:41-44 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, (42) saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (43) For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, (44) and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
What is produced in this sifting, or shaking of all things described in Revelation are two main groups FROM the CHURCH. The end times mostly arent about believers vs. unbelievers. The end times are mostly about the tares being removed from the wheat. The tares are LIKE the wheat. They go to church, claim the name of Jesus, claim to want the same things...they simply don't do these things in an abiding relationship submitted to the leadership of Jesus. It is so hard to distinguish between tares and wheat that if someone tried to soon, they would uproot wheat WITH the tares:
Matthew 13:28-30 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." ' "
The entire end time sifting is centered on those who believe they are the church. This theme is CONSTANT throught he New Testament. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
The end time Harlot Babylon isn't some evil group produced by worldly desire that tries to seduce the real church. The end time Harlot, as the Bible describes it, are those who quit the leadership of Jesus and separate from those who dont quit. The spirit of the antichrist COMES OUT OF the CHURCH!
1 John 2:18-19 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
This is a very important distinction to make. Assuming the harlot is "those people" and the church/Bride are "us people" is a tragic mistake. Many will be led astray by this sort of thinking as well intentioned as it may be. The harlot will mostly be produced by this kind of thinking. The right approach is to let Jesus sift my heart over and over to see where I am abandoning his leadership for harlotry because I am too arrogant to see my self-will, or I am caught up in group thinking. Those who stay in the Bride separate from the wide road that many find. The Bride chooses the more difficult narrow road.
Jeremiah 3:14-16 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (16) "Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days," says the LORD, "that they will say no more, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.
This is the key to staying a Bride and avoiding harlotry: I keep returning to the leadership of Jesus. I shun every other strength. I speak the truth in love. I see where I am prone to deserting the leadership of Jesus and I keep contending to grow in obedience. Being a "bride" or choosing to stay loyal in the sifting of the events of our day doesn't happen accidentally to anyone. It only happens with a VERY intentional plan in mind and carried out in deed:
Luke 21:34-36 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. (35) For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. (36) Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Just like the multitudes in Israel were sifted and very few moved forward with the Lord, the same will happen in our day:
Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Matthew 22:9-14 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' (10) 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. (11) "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. (12) So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. (13) Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (14) "For many are called, but few are chosen."
This has always been true. Jesus is sifting even now.
Psalms 73:26-28 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (27) For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. (28) But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.
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