Agreement
In a time of judgment it is important to get the Lord's heart. That is the point of judgment: to save people into agreement with God.
Many in the church make the mistake of thinking God is mostly concerned with His people suffering no temporary loss, discomfort, or pain. That is simply not the case.
-God corrects sons, it's the mark of sonship
-God prunes FRUITFUL vines, so that they beat more fruit
-God begins judgment in His own house. The most prepared place to respond to judgment is the place God judges first.
1 Peter 4:16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
17For 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?
God's judgment IS His mercy. It's His patience. It's His love.
If God wasn't patient, there would be no such thing as incremental judgment. There would be instantaneous anhiliation instead.
Judgment isn't slow torture...it is specifically designed to keep people from suffering eternal continuous torment in a lake of fire forever.
The point the Bible makes over and over is that if I embrace the judgment God warns of, and respond to it in humility, then I'll be fine. If I resist the judgment God warns of, I make the judgment much worse.
This is the basis of a City of Refuge...or finding the safe place in the storm of end time judgment. The first thing that is required is faith. If I dilligently seek God, He rewards it.
Every time God releases judgment, He provides for a safe place for the faithful.
Faithful doesn't = 'I think positively and assume no judgment is pointed at me. '
Faithful = humility that expresses itself in embracing the truth that I deserve judgment, but if I seek the Lord He will spare me.
Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
If you think you have faith in God but you don't have faith in the fact that He is judging the earth and requires a response, you are deceiving yourself...the truth isn't in you.
1 John 1:8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
This statement was made by John 80 years after the resurrection. He included himself as a sinner needing truth and confession.
Judgment is unfolding all around us. Some are making it worse for themselves, some are making it easier. It all depends on the attitude towards judgment.
Jeremiah 28:10Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.
11And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13“Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.”
14‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”
15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.
16“Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.’ ”
17So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
If I want to be ready for Jesus, then I want to repent. The kingdom is at hand.
Many in the church make the mistake of thinking God is mostly concerned with His people suffering no temporary loss, discomfort, or pain. That is simply not the case.
-God corrects sons, it's the mark of sonship
-God prunes FRUITFUL vines, so that they beat more fruit
-God begins judgment in His own house. The most prepared place to respond to judgment is the place God judges first.
1 Peter 4:16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
17For 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?
God's judgment IS His mercy. It's His patience. It's His love.
If God wasn't patient, there would be no such thing as incremental judgment. There would be instantaneous anhiliation instead.
Judgment isn't slow torture...it is specifically designed to keep people from suffering eternal continuous torment in a lake of fire forever.
The point the Bible makes over and over is that if I embrace the judgment God warns of, and respond to it in humility, then I'll be fine. If I resist the judgment God warns of, I make the judgment much worse.
This is the basis of a City of Refuge...or finding the safe place in the storm of end time judgment. The first thing that is required is faith. If I dilligently seek God, He rewards it.
Every time God releases judgment, He provides for a safe place for the faithful.
Faithful doesn't = 'I think positively and assume no judgment is pointed at me. '
Faithful = humility that expresses itself in embracing the truth that I deserve judgment, but if I seek the Lord He will spare me.
Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
If you think you have faith in God but you don't have faith in the fact that He is judging the earth and requires a response, you are deceiving yourself...the truth isn't in you.
1 John 1:8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
This statement was made by John 80 years after the resurrection. He included himself as a sinner needing truth and confession.
Judgment is unfolding all around us. Some are making it worse for themselves, some are making it easier. It all depends on the attitude towards judgment.
Jeremiah 28:10Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.
11And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13“Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.”
14‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”
15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.
16“Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.’ ”
17So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
If I want to be ready for Jesus, then I want to repent. The kingdom is at hand.
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.