We are living in the last days – or rather the last of the last days. Bible prophecies are being fulfilled right before our eyes. The great shaking (both physical and spiritual) as prophesied by the Prophets that will happen just before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is happening now! If your faith is being put to the test and shaken because of the much talked-about false “gospels” of “The gospel of Judas” and “The Da Vinci Code” this message is for you. I believe this is the beginning of the “spiritual storm” which is part of the great shaking. This message concerns only spiritual shaking.
The writer of Hebrews said that our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29) and this is what He declared:
“Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven” (Heb. 12:26).
“Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:27, NKJV, emphasis added).
“A kingdom which cannot be shaken” is a spiritual Kingdom where Jesus is the Lord and King. Those who serve God with reverence and godly fear will not be shaken!
A Message for the Church
God is shaking everything so that Jesus is the only unshakable power left on earth. Those who are truly His and live in Jesus Christ and maintain an intimate relationship with Him will not be shaken.
Jesus is warning us, the Church, with the parable of “Building on the Rock” that there will be a flood of iniquity, a flood of apostasy and a flood of demonic activities in the days to come. The false “gospel of Judas” and “The Da Vinci Code” are just the beginning of the flood.
All Christians must take heed of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in The Gospel According to Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave a warning in the form of a parable in Chapter 7.
“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: 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. 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: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matt. 7:24 – 27, emphasis added).
Two Kinds of Christians
Jesus said there are two kinds of Christians who build their house on different foundations. The house they build could be the same. The difference is the foundation. One builds his house on the rock and the other on the sand.
We are here talking about the spiritual life of Christians. We are talking about the spiritual house that Christians built. We are talking about the condition of the heart and our walk with the Lord. Christian life is never static. We are always building something one way or another; on the rock or on the sand. If you are busy in your Church life, you are busy building something!
Building on the Rock
“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” (Matt. 7:24, emphasis added).
Jesus was talking about obedience here. He was talking about Christians who are walking in total obedience; who are doers of His Word and not hearers only (James 1:22).
There are two kinds of obedience – one, out of the love of God and the other, out of the fear of consequences of the wrath of God. For example when Israel was under the Law, they obeyed (tried to anyway) God’s Law because of the fear of breaking God’s Law which would bring death. Therefore, it is possible to obey God and His Word and still grieve God! This is the kind of obedience that is born out of the wrong motive. This is the kind of obedience that makes God weeps instead of pleasing Him!
It is possible for the Church to have this type of obedience. Churches have man-made religious and denomination laws. Christians obey God legally, according to technicality. True Christians must allow God to show them what He wants them to do without relying on man-made rules and regulations. We must do away with legalism. We should not forget to obey and to please the Head of the Church – Jesus Christ. It is impossible to please God by obeying man-made rules. It is impossible to find the will of God by following legalistic laws.
God is looking for people with whole-hearted obedience to Jesus. Jesus Himself obeys the Father with total commitment and does things that please Him.
Jesus said, “….that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:28, 29, NKJV, emphasis added).
Jesus also said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34, emphasis added).
A Christian who pleases Jesus and does His will is the one who builds his house on the rock. Jesus is the Rock (Exodus 17:6). The Foundational Rock (God the Father) is what Jesus Himself built on – to love the Father and to please Him with all His heart and nothing else matters. We build on the rock because we want to please Jesus and do His will.
We are building on the Rock when we cultivate and maintain an intimate relationship with Him. If we do that we are able to walk through fire, through flood, storm and rain without being shaken. We will not be shaken by false Christs and false gospels.
But, you can’t have an intimate relationship with Jesus unless you are willing to obey Him and do His Will. This is how I define the will of God – His will is His pleasure and His pleasure is His will. We give Him pleasure when we please Him by doing His will.
Enoch was taken by God without seeing death because he pleased God (Hebrews 11:5).
Paul said, “… even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4).
Building on the sand
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who build on the sand” (Matt. 7:26, emphasis added).
Jesus was talking about disobedience here. Now, who is this foolish man? He is a believer, a so-called Christian, who fails to do the will of God. Jesus talked about such a person a few verses earlier:
“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. 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 You name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7: 21 – 23, NKJV, emphasis added).
The following is my observation:
1. I do not believe the people who made these claims of working miracles in the Name of Jesus were lying. They had actually done what they claimed. But being able to prophesy, cast out demons and work wonders in the Name of Jesus does not necessarily prove that a person is one of God’s elect.
2. There are many such people in the Church – Pastors, preachers, evangelists, and teachers of Scripture. It is easy to pick them out. They are always busy laying hands on the sick, casting out demons and working miracles. They are busy because Church members seek after them!
3. We need to be reminded that there is Power in the Name of Jesus. The Scripture says, “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:9). This is logical because if these gifts are revocable, they will not be called a gift, but a loan! People got healed and received miracles because God answered their faith and not the “faith” of the one who laid hands on them!
4. These people have the formula. They come to Jesus for deliverance, for power but they do not come to know Him. They are very busy people and very active for Jesus. You see them running all over local Churches. They appear to be full of compassion for human needs. Outwardly, these miracle workers have been serving the Lord, but in their innermost character God had discerned something described as “lawlessness”. This expressed itself in attitudes such as pride, arrogance, self-seeking, covetousness and personal ambition.
5. They don’t know how to wait upon the Lord. The idea of producing Christian character and waiting upon the Lord and to get ready for the coming spiritual storm is foreign to them.
6. They have not given Jesus their heart. They give Him their mind. They have a concept of Jesus; but they have not been broken and yielded to Him completely.
Conclusion
The fearful statement made by Jesus is:
“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” (Matthew 7:21, NKJV, emphasis added).
Notice Jesus has given us the condition for entering the kingdom of heaven. The condition is:
Christians must be obedient and do the will of God. The Kingdom of heaven is meant for those who obey God and His Word. Christians who build their house on the Rock will enter the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, those who build their house on the sand will not be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not only they are not Christians but they are lost as well. In the sight of our Lord Jesus Christ these people are not saved! They were saved at one time, but failed to remain being saved.
Jesus said, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:23)!
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