The Path of Life, Part 12
We
know from Scripture that with unity there is a multiplication of
spiritual authority. There is the biblical testimony that one can
put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight.
The Lord also taught that if any two could agree, then it would be
done for them. Of course, this agreement is more than just an
intellectual assent to a matter; rather it implies an actual and
deep union between the two. This takes an investment in both the
matter that we are uniting about and the people we are uniting with,
but it is not superficial.
Just
as Elijah, a prophet and seer, was deceived into thinking he was the
only one left who stood for the Lord, when in reality the Lord had
many thousands more, we are not alone. The Lord has many more than
we know who are standing for His truth. However, even if we are
alone and we die for our stand, is there a better way to die? We are
seeing a remarkable miracle take place in the body of Christ in
America right now—the body of Christ is starting to come together
in unity. It may still be far from what our idealism would imply
unity is, but it is happening.
We
are coming to the greatest opportunity we have ever had to be who we
are called to be—faithful witnesses who esteem the truth of the
gospel more than their own lives. We will see those who we may think
are weak showing remarkable courage and strength. In the increasing
darkness, we will see the church arise in unprecedented light and
glory. We will see Isaiah 60:1-5 fulfilled:
“Arise,
shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen
upon you.
“For
behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the
peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear
upon you.
“And
nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
rising.
“Lift
up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they
come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will
be carried in the arms.
“Then
you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice;
because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth
of the nations will come to you.”
As
we see here, it is during the times of great darkness that the glory
of the Lord appears on His people. In verse 3, the light will win
and the nations will come to the light, not stay in the darkness.
As
we are told in Psalm 97:2, “Clouds
and thick darkness surround Him….” For
this reason, as we see the darkness and confusion of the nations
increasing, we should start looking for the Lord. As the Lord
exhorted us to “be careful how you hear” (see Luke 8:18), not
just what you hear, we should be careful how we see too. Who has
most of our attention—the Lord or the devil?
As
we have discussed, if we are to understand the times, we must give
much more attention to what Christ is doing than what the antichrist
is doing. It is right to understand the schemes of the devil, but
that should only be a small part of what we give our time and
attention to understanding. Have you noticed that most of the books
written on the Book of Revelation are about the antichrist, and some
are entirely about the antichrist? We are told in the first verse of
Revelation that this is “the
revelation of Jesus Christ,” not
the antichrist. How does our vision get so skewed?
To
be the light, we must have our focus on the light. This does not
mean that we will not be aware of the darkness and even have an
understanding of the schemes of the devil, but we will be changed
into what we behold, as we are told in II Corinthians 3:18:
But
we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
If
we behold the glory of the Lord, we will be changed into His image.
If we spend more time and attention beholding the devil, we will
become like him. Have you noticed how so many cult watchers start
taking on more of the nature of the accuser of the brethren than
they do the nature of Christ? Their original intent to protect the
body of Christ from deception may have been noble and sincere.
However, if they spend too much time looking at what the devil is
doing, they will start acting more like the devil than Christ. If
they spend more time looking at what is wrong rather than what is
right, they will get twisted with the error they’re beholding.
Many
have fallen to this trap of focusing too much on the enemy, and many
cannot hear anything negative. These are the ones the Apostle Paul
warned about “who only want to have their ears tickled” (see II
Timothy 4:3), or who can only hear what they consider to be positive
things. They too are doomed to being deceived. A key to walking in
the Light is keeping our attention on Him and letting Him direct us
to when and where we need to understand the schemes of the devil.
Another
key is that as we see in Daniel 2, when the empires of this world
are collapsing, the kingdom is growing. When everything else is
falling apart, we are building. Is what we are doing building or
tearing down?
[My comment: Today, The Bride Of Christ Is arising in every nation on earth. She will bring glory and honor to Christ Jesus her Bridegroom. We stand in the Victory Christ has already won. Hallelujah!]
No comments:
Post a Comment