A Time of Judgment: Judgment begins at the house of God

 

First the shaking (time of trouble)

Then the falling away (a time of testing),

Then the Judgment (the time of reward)

This posting is from the Brother Luke Show on Omega radio station 104.1 FM website: http://www.omegaradio.co.uk/Omega_Radio_104.1_FM.html aired on Sunday mornings 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. London GMT. Below I have enclosed my outline which The Holy Spirit, our Lord, inspired me to write in accordance with what is going on now in the world. This is feeding proper food which is ripe and in season: Giving the people what they need to know to profit and live a holy life.

A lot of people are having a hard time in the world today and they are wondering, where is their God? With all the up evil in the world, in the Middle East, and in the developed world, it is all over the world; we can look and see trouble. Wither you believe the trouble in the Middle East is manmade or divinely inspired it is trouble just the same. Even if you are one to think, O that trouble is so far away it will never affect me, no matter who you are in this world the price of oil does affect you in some form or another believe it or not.

The local church is not without its troubles to. In fact you may be one of those who have been shaken and now find yourself in a testing. The local church is under pressure today by money by leadership and in a chance of apostate. Some may be thinking of leaving one church for another. Some maybe have reached all that they can get out of one church and are seeking divine guidance where they can receive food for their souls. Still others may not feel right in their spirit and need to move on. One may be waiting for the Holy Spirit to direct their way, prayerfully asking for divine guidance. This message is for you. Consider the scriptures and remain faithful to the faithful-one, He will be a present help in this time of need, amen.   

Many of my Christian fellows are thinking and considering if they are doing the right thing and if they are in the right church. This is the testing of the Berean, the testing of nobility. Will the people look in the scriptures and test and see if the pastor they are sitting under is teaching the truth as spoken from God or is it something which is out of the mind of man. This is the question today.

We can see men who are misleading the church, there are so many it is almost not fair to single one name out: let’s look at Eddie Long for a start. Is he living out what God has called him to do or is he doing something he wants to do and thinks is right?  Scripture teaches, he needs to repent from his sins. There are many others also who are misleading the people: Harold Camping comes to mind. Did God tell him that the rapture was going to happen May 21, 2011 or did it come out of his own head? I think we know that God can not lie and Mr. Camping being a man is capable of lying, and the events which he prophesied, saying this is what is to come, this author cites these very words as evidence from which spirit he speaks from. I confess I also have sinned being a man; therefore I repent as all should. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So I can forgive these men, as a man but, I don’t follow them in the Spirit. They cannot lead me to the Promised Land.

These people who are not in truth need to repent and humble themselves to the engrafted Word once more learning to rightly divide the Word of God for themselves first before they present themselves to others as speaking for the Lord. Learning to live a life which is as written in, 1Timothy 3, which is the qualification for being an overseer: being a man of good reputation. Paul charged Timothy: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. These are the qualification and we would do well to follow them. We would do well to examine the fruit before we eat it.   

We need to check what is being taught to us, not just accept whatever comes out of the pulpit as the truth because a dressed up religious leader said it so-and-so, but rather we ought to look for ourselves and see if it is actually the truth, as written in the Word of God. Is it in context? Is it in harmony with the rest of the bible? Terry Mabery has written an excellent essay on this subject, I offer it: http://www.kc-cofc.org/39th/Lectures/2006_Manuscripts/Mabery_Bereans.pdf Here, Mabery talks about the Bereans received the Word with all readiness of mind and the fact that they examined the scriptures daily to see if the Apostle Paul was telling the truth. He concludes with application asking if we are doing this today as one of the elect.

The Apostle Peter says that we will be tested by fiery trials, as Peter would surely know because he was surely tested, even to the degree that Jesus had to pray for Peter: Luke 22:31-32. Jesus prayed that when he turned back he would help his brothers. As we are tested remember there are others who are going through the same things and still others whom we may be able to help after we have completed these fiery trials which are at hand. The fiery trial which you are going through at the moment has not taken the Lord by surprise. Like Peter, the testing of our faith is precious. He wants us to endure it and overcome it. Peter did in fact turn back and was able to help us his brothers over the years. His life stands as a great testimony for us to see. So even if you fall back or backslide, get back up and get back in line with the Word of God. Ask Jesus and he will forgive you. Testing is hard and it must be endured. I pray you endure it as a ready soldier in battle.

All over the world institutions are being shaken, The financial, the political, the religious, marriages alike are under testing. Will people fall away and stop believing? Will a man stop believing in marriage and walk away from his family? Will the financial institution be able to serve us and give us what we need? All these questions and more are running through the minds of many. But who is standing on the Rock? Jesus for many is the Rock. There is no better example of this than in Matthey 5-7 when Jesus gives us the Sermon on the Mount. He shows us that his teachings are a solid rock which we can depend on.

In the tempest what shall we do? Can we say peace be still? Will we search out the scriptures and find Philippians 4:4-9? Will we bring our thoughts into captivity? Scriptures teach: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. See 2 Corinthians 10. So will we go into our book of weapons and pull out the right weapon against the power of darkness and the powers of this world? I say yes we can!

So what are you learning? What is being taught in your local church? Is it food for your soul? Maybe it is time for your nobility to grow? Maybe it is time to know more than your teacher? Scripture says: Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers for I meditate on your statues. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. Psalm 119:98-100. Are we going to spend time in the scriptures when trouble comes our way? Are we going to find our answers in the Word of God? Are we going to find our peace? Yes we can.

Brother James says in chapter 1 of his epistle: Consider it pure joy. When fiery tests come we have a chance to demonstrate our faith. We can persevere, overtake and overcome. And when it is done we will lack nothing, being made complete in our faith. We have so many things going on in the world today and who knows what will happen tomorrow? Will the price of oil skyrocket? Will the Greek economy collapse? Will the Middle East be rebuilt, and in whose image? There are so many unanswered questions, but one thing is for sure, the Word of God will stand the testing and the Spirit of God will lead us out of these trials into the Promised Land. 

Peace be with you, if so you are in Christ Jesus.     

 Below is the outline I used on the Radio Show:        

Jeremiah 14

^{A wandering people}

¹⁰ This is what the LORD says about this people:

“They greatly love to wander;
   they do not restrain their feet.
So the LORD does not accept them;
   he will now remember their wickedness
   and punish them for their sins.”

¹¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. ¹² Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

^{The Prophets Lie}

¹³ But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries^[a] and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. ¹⁶ And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

This is what the Lord says: 

¹⁷ “Speak this word to them:

   “‘Let my eyes overflow with tears
   night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin Daughter, my people,
   has suffered a grievous wound,
   a crushing blow. ¹⁸ If I go into the country,
   I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
   I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
   have gone to a land they know not.’”

 ¹⁹ Have you rejected Judah completely?
   Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
   so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
   but no good has come,
for a time of healing
   but there is only terror. ²⁰ We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD,
   and the guilt of our ancestors;
   we have indeed sinned against you. ²¹ For the sake of your name do not despise us;
   do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
   and do not break it. ²² Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
   Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, LORD our God.
   Therefore our hope is in you,
  for you are the one who does all this.

Suffering for Being a Christian 1 Peter 4

 ¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And,

   “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
   what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

 ¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

1 Peter 4

·        Suffering in the flesh, as a Christian

o   There is today a spirit roaming around and influencing events in a testing. That testing is to see who will continue with Jesus as a disciple. The calling has been given and accepted by the disciple and now he has been walking with Jesus a while: Suddenly something hard to understand is happening and the disciple needs to stay with Jesus: Staying with Jesus is passing the test. John 6: 60

·        The Living of life for God in the Spirit

o   We disciples need to know that our hearts will be tested and we need to know to ask for help to overcome these trials. God is faithful in his promises. Psalm 103. We have to depend on the help of the Lord always in everything. We have to learn the Word of God and act upon it, living it, applying it to our lives. We have to do this in spirit and in truth, believing against what we see.

·        Fiery trials

o   The fiery trials come upon us universally. We don’t have to endure these things alone. There are others Christians who are enduring these trials also and we can tell the story and learn from one another, further we can pray one for another and receive help.

·        Judgement begins at the house of God

o   The believers will overcome these trials by the promise and power of God: He will help us. Let’s pray together. We are a building fitted together. One people. Let’s stay together, pray together, and win the kingdom together. We who are the elect are: One kingdom, with one King, made in one word, with one mind, living in one Spirit, with one God. Let’s all come together Jew and Gentile alike. Come together in one, Jesus who is the messiah, the God given Christ. 

John 6

 ⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

 ⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

 ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

 ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

   ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

 ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

 ⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Conclusion:

·        Compromise with the world leads to sin and Christians fall into apostate (meaning: somebody who renounces belief) John 6:66 as an example. They can’t suffer the hard teaching.

·        The church wants to be close to the world instead of leading the world to life in Christ Jesus; rather it seems the church is following the world to death in Satan. The church (we the people of God) should be leading the world towards holiness and love in obeying the message from God which Christ Jesus gave us. We are a Holy (Spirit filled) People and a Royal (like the Bereans) Priesthood, 1Peter 2:8-10.

·        Why are there so many false teachers and false apostles? It is because the nobility of the Bereans is not common: The scripture’s teach: Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true, Act 17:11. Do we examine the scriptures today to see if our preacher is true? Do you have the nobility of the Bereans?  

·        If you follow the crowd you will loose your way and wander in the world. Jeremiah 14. In the teaching of The Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7 Jesus teaches us to build our houses on his solid ground. Jesus is our rock: Jesus is the solid rock.

·        Even among the chosen there are false ones who are of the devil and who betray Jesus so we need to watch out and not walk in their ways, John 70.  There are foolish Christians who do not learn their lessons and may not repent. They will not be ready when Jesus comes. Some will not be allowed to enter into The Wedding Banquet because they were not ready and did not prepare before hand. There were five wise and five foolish virgins who wanted to enter the kingdom of heaven Matthew 25:1-13. Half of them did not enter the kingdom, and that is a lot, and it is because they were foolish and did not learn the ways of the Lord.

·          Our reward is waiting; wither for good or bad, what you have earned will meet you, both today and in the time to come in the kingdom. Judge for yourself, and if you find anything in your life not as it should be in Christ Jesus, admit it to God, ask Jesus for forgiveness and in accordance forgive others, He will forgive you, believe it, change your ways and don’t do it again but, rather to apply what the bible says and follow the Spirit of the living God. Then we will earn a just reward demonstrated by our faith in what God has said to us in scripture, proving what is the acceptable and holy will of God showing that we are in fact children of our Father, The one true God of Heaven. Revelation 22:12-21

Revelation 22

Epilogue: Invitation and Warning

    ¹² “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

   ¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

   ¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you^[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

 ¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

 ¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

 ²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

   Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

 ²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

The time of prayer: Lord let us hear what the spirit is saying to the churches, make us over comers by the power of your Word and your Holy Spirit, and my the grace of Lord Jesus be with us, God’s people. Amen.