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Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Monthly Archives: March 2009

Investing in the Kingdom of God: Revisiting the Good Samaritan Parable

17 Tuesday Mar 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Study

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

allegory, compassion, despised, forgiveness, hated, heavenly rewards, investment portfolios, investments, love, mercy, metaphor, righteous "good" works, Samaritan, spiritual gifts, world travelers

“Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, ‘What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?’ The man answered, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ‘Right!’ Jesus told him. ‘Do this and you will live!’ The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”(Luke 10:25-29, NLT)


In order to know whether or not the Body of Christ is benefiting from the CHURCH’s God-given spiritual resources, believers must know whether or not they have made a sound investment in the Kingdom of God—know whether or not they have accepted and followed the best investment plan that will earn them their sought after heavenly rewards. Christ teaches His believers that the best investment plan that will earn them their sought after heavenly rewards is the Kingdom of Heaven plan. Following the Kingdom of Heaven plan is the only way that believers can achieve God’s global perspectives, which are that His sons and daughters worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, evangelize and disciple the entire world, and minister to and fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

To this end, Christ also teaches His believers that they must have in their spiritual investment portfolios the kinds of treasurers that will be stored up in Heaven. Thus, their spiritual investment portfolios must have in them ONLY the loving, merciful, compassionate, and righteous “good” works that they have done for Christ. In other words, Christ’s believers must have invested their God given spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of Heaven by using their spiritual gifts to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, to lead spiritually lost individuals to Christ, and to admonish, encourage, and exhort (to come beside and support those called by God) believers in Christ.

Now, for believers to know whether or not they lovingly, mercifully, compassionately, and righteously are correcting (admonishing) and/or teaching others about the need to have their sinful and evil seeds uprooted, and for believers to know whether or not they concurrently are uplifting and encouraging spiritually immature and/or mature believers to invest their holy, righteous, and good seeds in the Kingdom of God, these believers need to revisit the Good Samaritan Parable. Although the Good Samaritan Parable makes multiple points of connection between the narrative and its meaning, Christ primarily is teaching about the kinds of godly characteristics (investments) Kingdom of Heaven individuals must sow/make. He teaches about Kingdom of Heaven investments by comparing the Good Samaritan’s godly characteristics to the behaviors of a certain priest and a certain Levite. This Good Samaritan Parable, therefore, not only answers the “certain” lawyer’s question about his neighbor but also answers the certain lawyer’s question about eternal life.

The setting for this Good Samaritan Parable is the time of Christ’s final journey to Jerusalem (cf. Luke 9:51-56). To prepare for His appearance in a Samaritan village, Christ sends His messengers ahead of Him into the Province of Samaria, which is located in the center of Israel. In Samaria, Christ’s disciples are to make sure that the Samaritan villagers are ready for Christ’s arrival.

When the Samaritan villagers refuse to receive Christ, because His travel plans included going to Jerusalem, His disciples, James and John (the sons of Zebedee, a.k.a., sons of thunder), respond to the Samaritan villagers’ refusal with righteous indignation. These two disciples seek Christ’s permission to punish the Samaritan villagers for the way they were disrespecting Christ. Instead of dignifying His two devotees’ cry for vengeance, Christ decides to enter another village.

While He continues His journey to Jerusalem, Christ teaches all of His disciples (the original 12 plus the additional 70) about His heavenly purpose to save men, rather than to destroy them (cf. Luke 9:51-62 and Luke 10:1-24). Christ’s final journey to Jerusalem, then, is about the Lord intentionally spending His last days before His crucifixion looking for people in need of His help, which is why He goes to where the “certain man” in the Good Samaritan Parable has fallen. For this reason, Christ’s life and ultimate death, burial, and resurrection are ALL about His heavenly mission to rescue and care for dying mankind—humans who are half-dead (born to experience the first death but who could avoid the second death of being permanently separated from God).

By Divine Design, in the context of Luke 10:25, as Christ’s Judean ministry ends and as His final journey to Jerusalem draws near to completion, it is at this time that a “certain lawyer”—a student and an interpreter of the Mosaic Law—engages Christ in a discussion about the Law. Christ uses this opportunity to highlight for this “certain lawyer” and his Pharisaical supporters (cf. Matthew 22:34) the unholy and unrighteous behaviors of a “certain Jewish priest” and a “certain Jewish Levite.” Christ also takes this time to enlighten His entire audience about the holy and righteous behaviors of a “certain despised Samaritan.” Thus, through Christ’s teaching, readers learn that He not only is educating His the first-century Jewish audience but also His twenty-first century Holy Bible readers.

The “expert in religious law” (Luke 10:25, NLT) or “certain lawyer” (in the KJV) is either a Scribe (one who is a teacher of the Mosaic Law) or a Pharisee (one who is a career devotee of the Mosaic Law who mainly emphasizes the conscientious fulfillment of that Law). At any rate, this “certain lawyer” asks Christ: “Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life” (Luke 10:25b)? Christ, who is filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 10:21, NLT), knows that this “certain lawyer’s” objective is to set a trap for Him. That is why Christ asks this “certain lawyer” to tell Him his interpretations of the Law that pertain to eternal life (cf. Luke 10:26). In doing so, Christ foils the certain lawyer’s objective by putting this religious law expert in the very hot seat he sought to put Christ.

To Christ’s Luke 10:26 question, this “certain lawyer” responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18b. These Scriptures are found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Holy Bible, which are attributed to Moses; these five books also are called the Torah Law. Quoting the Torah Law, the religious law expert confidently answers Jesus with: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27, NLT). Christ then tells him that he has given the correct answer; however, in an attempt to justify his own evil wishes to tempt Christ, the “certain lawyer” asks Christ this follow-up question: “And who is my neighbor” (Luke 10:29b, NLT)? In a response to the religious expert’s first and second question, Christ gives the illustration of the Good Samaritan—an illustration about an involved neighbor who invests wisely in the Kingdom of God and, thus, obtains eternal life!

By showing the obvious differences between the certain Samaritan’s actions and the two certain Jewish religious leaders’ actions, Christ proves that the Good Samaritan’s treatment of the physically and spiritually beaten, robbed, undressed (stripped of grace’s covering), and fallen (subject to sin and mortality) “certain man” is better than the treatment this “certain man” receives from the two Jewish religious leaders. Allegorically, Christ (the GOOD SAMARITAN) is comparing the godly characteristics that He displays during His final trip from the Promised Land’s sin city (Jericho) to the Promised Land’s city of peace (Jerusalem) with the Jewish priest and Levite’s displayed ungodly characteristics. In doing so, Christ proves that His characteristics far exceed the Jewish priest and Levite’s hypocritical righteousness, holiness, and goodness, because their response to the beaten, robbed, undressed, and fallen “certain man” was anything but godly behavior (cf. Luke 10:30-37). Indeed, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Christ is saying that He is the ONLY One of these three men of God who is able to have “…compassion on…” (Luke 10:33b) the beaten, robbed, undressed, and fallen “certain man.” Ironically, Christ also is saying that His kind of compassion is what initiates the Passion of Christ.

At the beginning of the Good Samaritan Parable, Christ says: “…A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road” (Luke 10:30, NLT). This Jewish “certain man” (KJV) symbolically represents the fallen Adam and the fallen Israel. This spiritual Truth is brought out through Christ’s allegory about this beaten, robbed, and fallen Jewish man.

Allegorically, the parable’s certain Jewish man symbolizes the seed of the first Adam—all men (and women) who have inherited Adam’s sin nature. For sure, the people in Christ’s day understood the word “man,” as used in the Good Samaritan parable, to mean “man,” “mankind,” or “men,” as well as “Adam.” Likewise, the people in Christ’s day also understood that the word “man” represents the rebellious and disobedient nation of Israel. Not only is this certain sinful Jewish man representative of a twice-fallen son of God, (the fallen first Adam and the fallen nation of Israel, as a whole), but also he is the prodigal son who has been seduced into leaving Jerusalem (God’s city of peace) for Jericho (a sin city). When the “Jewish man” (NLT) or “certain man” (KJV) allegory is extended to mean the “prodigal son,” then the word “man” also represents every human being who, while traveling through this world, is exposed to the risks and vicissitudes of daily life. Since humanity indisputably personifies the “prodigal sons and daughters” analogy, this parallelism is the reason why the Good Samaritan Parable’s meaning is relevant to 21st century individuals.

Now, where the first Adam is concerned, Christ’s “certain man” metaphor presupposes (takes as fact) that the Good Samaritan Parable’s Adam (Jewish man/certain man) is the same Adam (son of God) who is kicked out of God’s Garden of Eden—God’s place of tranquility and peace from which the first Adam was to rule the whole world. As a result of the first Adam’s sin, Satan is permitted to rob him of his earthly right to rule this world. Thus, when God evicts this first Adam from the Garden of Eden, this Adam’s offspring (mankind) ends up traveling from one sin city (Jericho) to another. Along the way, this first Adam falls prey to spiritual and physical beatings—his judgment that ultimately ends with him being left alone to die.

Similarly, Christ’s “Jewish man” or “certain man” metaphor also presupposes (takes as fact) that the rebellious and disobedient Israelites (sons of God) have been robbed of their right to live in and rule over their own Promised Land. Historians write about the many Gentile nations that have conquered Israel, and these historians also reference the inestimable number of Hebrews whom these Gentile conquerors have carried off as their own “property.” Moreover, Jesus’ “Jewish man” or “certain man” metaphor also predicts a future banning of Hebrews from Israel, which happens in 70 A.D. and again in 135 A.D., when the Jewish people not only are robbed of their rights to control Israel but also are cutoff (exiled) from their Promised Land (more specifically, cutoff from Jerusalem, the city of God’s peace). Therefore, as a nation, Jewish people have wandered the world, traveling from one sin city to another. They not only have been dispersed throughout the world, but also they have been left vulnerable—susceptible not only to falling prey to spiritual and physical beatings but also to being left to die alone.

What’s more, the spiritual Truth as illustrated through Christ’s ironic comparison of Himself to a certain despised and rejected Samaritan presupposes (takes as fact) that Jesus is the Jewish second Adam who has been sent from Heaven (the place of everlasting bliss and the home of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, and the redeemed) to sojourn in a sinful land located in the center of the world. This comparison also presupposes (takes as fact) that this second Adam—God’s only begotten Son who comes in this world through Jewish roots—is to die in Jerusalem (God’s city of peace) for the sins of God’s fallen sons. He then is to be resurrected, and thereby regain dominion over the Earth that God had intended for the first Adam.

Therefore, the Good Samaritan Parable, which is Christ’s answer to the “certain lawyer’s” eternal life and neighbor questions, also reinforces the lessons the Lord teaches to His disciples about His ministry being that which concentrates on saving men, instead of destroying them. The parable shows how ONLY the holy, righteous, and obedient Son of God can provide the WAY for fallen humanity to be receive, once again, God’s Grace covering. Furthermore, the analogy of a certain involved, neighborly Samaritan and a Jewish second Adam is quite significant, considering how the term “Samaritan” almost always is used in Christ’s day as a derogatory word—a name of contempt and reproach to the Hebrews (cf. John 8:48). This traditional animosity between the Hebrews and the Samaritans explains why Christ’s disciples, James and John, become so angry with the Samaritan villagers that they wanted to wipe these Samaritans off the face of the Earth. Ironically, Christ uses this known hatred for Samaritans to show how someone who is despised of men can end up being the very person who not only invests His spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of Heaven but also fulfills God’s global perspectives and in so doing receives eternal life.

Now, the Samaritans are the Jewish people’s hated neighbors and the rivals of Jewish theocracy, primarily because Samaritans are only part Jewish, from their mother’s side of their family. This part Jewish fact is why the majority of the Jewish individuals in Christ’s time never accepted Christ as God’s Son. The fact that Christ does not have a legitimate earthly father whose ancestry is Jewish is the reason why the Jewish religious leaders, and their followers, call Christ a “Samaritan” (cf. John 8:48). In other words, they use the term “Samaritan” in the same manner that contemporary believers use the offensive word that is equivalent to the phrase “illegitimate son.”

When Christ Himself ironically uses the term “Samaritan” in connection with someone who does “good” instead of evil, His intention is to show that the Good Samaritan’s actions toward the certain Jewish fallen man are in keeping with both the letter and the intent (spirit) of the Mosaic Law, concerning loving “…thy neighbour as thyself…” (Leviticus 19:18b). For sure, the Jewish “certain lawyer,” and his Pharisaical supporters, know that the parable’s Good Samaritan demonstrates loving, compassionate and righteous actions that honor God, who blesses persons who bless His chosen people (cf. Genesis 12:3). The religious law expert also knows that behaviors that violate God’s commandments and behaviors that dishonor God’s character are not only sinful but also subject to God’s wrath. For this reason, it is these ungodly behaviors and characteristics that should be despised, and NOT the people who commit them. That’s why Christ, through the Good Samaritan Parable, also is teaching that people neither should despise other humans nor think more highly of themselves.

Christ’s parabolic illustration speaks deeply to our human souls about how we all have needed, and that some of us today still need, to be supernaturally rescued. Since we all need to be made godly pure and righteous in our spirits, souls and bodies, this is the reason why we should despise the “behaviors” of the Jewish priest and Levite and judged their “behaviors” as being impure, unloving, unmerciful, and uncompassionate. Because the despised Samaritan actually stops to help a hated neighbor and rival (a certain Jewish man), Christ uses the Good Samaritan’s actions to teach us that these actions are godly characteristics (mercy, forgiveness, love, compassion, and neighborliness [friendliness, consideration, kindness, hospitality, and so on]) that we must pursue instead of following the culturally accepted ethics of “looking the other way.”

Indeed, in spite of the fact that the Good Samaritan is the last person Christ’s Jewish audience would have expected to help the parable’s fallen man, the Jewish lawyer confirms that of the three men in the parable it is the despised Samaritan who is more like God. Christ’s own words confirm the irony of a hated Samaritan showing more love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, and hospitality than the full-blooded Jewish religious leaders, when the Lord says that by: “…chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity” (Luke 10:31-33, NLT).

The Lord’s irony is so clear, because He shows us the big discrepancy in what the Jewish religious leaders teach as opposed to what they actually practice. The priest and Levite in this parable only come across the fallen, half-dead man by chance! Neither the priest nor the Levite is out looking for people who are in need of their help. For sure, they have not made a conscious decision to search for this man. Moreover, even after they come upon this “Jewish man” or “certain man” by chance, they make NO effort to put into practice the godly characteristics, which they have studied in the Law and taught in the Temple.

Now the priest in Christ’s Good Samaritan Parable is a descendant of Aaron, or a High Priest. Ironically, even though he is a High Priest, he does not have the power or authority to lead anyone to salvation. This priest, therefore, only has the Mosaic Law to offer this fallen certain Jewish man. This truth is why he meets the “Jewish man” or “certain man” by chance instead of on purpose. Because the Law could not meet the physical and spiritual needs of this fallen certain Jewish man (neither could show mercy to nor provide forgiveness for the fallen man’s sins), this High Priest has to pass by the fallen certain Jewish man, for CONDEMNATION is ALL that this priest could offer him.

Likewise, the Levite (or “temple assistant” in NLT) represents the three Levitical families, minus the High Priest descendants of Aaron. The Levites are priests who help the High Priest during Temple worship services. As such, the Levite’s expertise in the areas of Temple sacrifices, offerings, and incense burning also could not meet the physical and spiritual needs of the fallen certain Jewish man (could NOT provide any cleansing, atonement, or healing for this sin-filled man, and could NOT give eternal life to this disobedient and rebellious man). This truth is why the Levite comes upon the “Jewish man” or “certain man” by chance instead of on purpose. Ultimately, this Levite also has to pass by this certain Jewish man, for the BLOOD of SACRIFICED ANIMALS (doves, goats, bulls, heifers, and lambs) is ALL that this Levite could offer him.

Christ’s Good Samaritan illustration, therefore, teaches that the Jewish Law and the Jewish sacrifices, offerings, and/or incense burnings could NOT provide the original Grace (Glory) that once covered the first Adam who, rightly, had been stripped of his spiritual covering. The Jewish Law and the Jewish sacrifices, offerings, and/or incense burnings also could NOT provide the love, healing, mercy, forgiveness, regeneration, repentance, restoration, reconciliation, salvation, or sanctification that everyone who has fallen into sin needs in order to escape the death sentence—God’s appropriate judgment for sin. In short, the Jewish Law and the Jewish sacrifices, offerings, and incense burnings could NOT rescue (save) anyone or provide eternal life for anyone!

With this truth about the parable’s priest and Levite in mind, it should be easier to understand Christ’s detailed answer to the certain lawyer’s first question. Through Christ’s vivid descriptions of the Good Samaritan’s actions, Christ is telling the certain lawyer, his Pharisaical supporters, and all mankind that, unlike the priest and Levite, the Son of God is the ONLY One who is able to heal, save, and give eternal life. This fact is made evident through the healing process Christ (the Good Samaritan) uses on the parable’s certain Jewish man’s wounds—wounds that symbolize the pains of life, the travails of the soul, and the afflictions caused by diverse sins and vices.

Without doubt, it is ONLY Christ, the certain Samaritan, who can be both the final High Priest and the final sacrificial Lamb. He is the Head of the CHURCH and Lord over Her. That is why Christ is able to offer this certain Jewish man (and EVERY person) physical and spiritual healing, agape love, compassion, forgiveness, regeneration, restoration, sanctification, and eternal life. Christ makes this Truth clear, when He teaches that it is the Samaritan’s (Christ’s) own mercy, love, and compassion (bowels that are moved with deep, inner sympathy) for the fallen “Jewish man” or “certain man” that trigger the Samaritan’s (Christ’s) need to go “…to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine…” (Luke 10:34a, KJV).

After Christ (the Good Samaritan) kneels down beside the “Jewish man” or “certain man,” He pours healing “oil and wine” into the fallen man’s wounds. Then He dresses the fallen man’s wounds with His bandages of righteousness—with His love, faith, and hope bandages. In the New Living Translation, both “oil and wine” are referred to as “medicine.” The medicinal oil, then, is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the medicinal wine is the blood of Christ, which also is the New Testament Gospel of salvation. The Good Samaritan’s actions, thus, symbolize the initial regeneration of mankind’s spirit (being born again) and Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The anointing of the Holy Spirit’s oil—healing medicine—not only causes fallen mankind’s human spirits to be rejuvenated so that individuals will be receptive to receiving an eternal-life offer, but also the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s oil sanctifies (gradually hallows, makes holy) believers’ bodies and souls, after believers are obedient to the Will of the Father concerning surrendering their lives to Christ’s Lordship.

The healing that comes from the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s oil is the progressive transformation of believers’ bodies and souls, an ongoing conversion. He is changing (sanctifying) each old “man” into the new creation—changing each believer into the image of Christ and bringing each person to his or her final end of wholeness and perfection. This wholeness and perfection are better known as glorification, an instantaneous change from corruptible to incorruptible that will occur at the moment of the Rapture. Finally, the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s oil seals each true believer unto the day of redemption (until the moment he or she enters into the prophesied eternity with God).

What’s more, since Christ, as the Good Samaritan, is mankind’s final High Priest, and because He sacrifices Himself as the Passover Lamb, He becomes the final sacrificial Lamb. As such, His atoning blood or “wine” once and for all eternally cleanses condemned sinners of all of their sins and unrighteousness so that they can receive salvation and an eternal life with God. For these reasons, it is essential that humans come to know and understand that everyone’s eternal life with God comes from developing a loving and obedient relationship with Christ, through whom every sinner who accepts God’s saving grace is rescued from his or her spiritual dilemma—from fallen man’s sins and the wages thereof that every unregenerate, unrepentant unbeliever inherits because of the first Adam’s fall from grace. For sure, no one will ever be able to love God or any neighbor with any measure of pure, spiritual love, if that person has not been made a partaker of God’s saving grace.

For this last reason, the bottom-line answer that Christ (the Good Samaritan) gives the certain Jewish lawyer concerning who is his neighbor is also crucial to developing a loving and obedient relationship with Christ. Christ tells this interpreter of the Law, and today’s Christians, that a neighbor is any person who shows mercy, love, and compassion to every fallen individual with whom he or she comes in contact. Since Christ is the “certain” hated “Samaritan” (cf. John 8:48)—the rejected One who saves the parable’s fallen and beaten Jewish man’s life by being merciful, loving, and compassionate enough to take the time to meet the certain fallen man’s spiritual and physical needs—every believer has no other recourse but to do the same. When a person has accepted Christ as Savior and, therefore, is saved by Christ’s sacrificial work, that individual must be like Christ rather than like the religious leaders (priest and Levite) in the Good Samaritan Parable. Without a doubt, because the priest and Levite only have an outward religiosity, for inwardly they are spiritual naked, this spiritual nakedness is why they are totally unresponsive to the beaten, robbed, undressed, and fallen man’s spiritual and physical needs.

Jesus is our example. As Christ does, we, His believers, must do. Being an involved neighbor who lovingly shows mercy and compassion for every person (every neighbor) is what Christ maintains we should be doing. This Divine Truth is seen ever so clearly when Christ (the Good Samaritan) tells the “certain lawyer” to “…Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37b, KJV). Christ is instructing this interpreter of the Law who thought that he could tempt Christ with his questions on eternal life and neighbors that he must do the same as the Good Samaritan (as Christ). Christ also is telling His twenty-first century believers that they, too, must do like He has done—they must be Good Samaritans (neighbors) to every person, including their enemies or most-hated rivals.

Like Christ, we must take the time to attend to our neighbors’ physical and spiritual needs. We must take the time to seek out people who are in need and then deal with their needs/wounds. We must deal with every fallen, stripped, beaten and left to die sinner or backslider we meet by first and foremost offering each needy or wounded person our physical help. Next, we must minister to each person’s spiritual need to have the Holy Spirit’s oil and Jesus’ blood heal that person—to regenerate (to give that man or woman’s spirit new life from above), so that this person can receive salvation, deliverance, restoration, and sanctification.

We then must go the extra mile by lifting the needy/wounded person up from the ground and placing this individual’s burdens on our own shoulders. Like Christ, we must bear the infirmities of the weak, which Christ confirms when He describes what the Good Samaritan does after He pours oil and wine into the “Jewish man” or “certain man” and then bandages up his wounds. Our Lord says that the Good Samaritan (Christ) put the “Jewish man” or “certain man” on His donkey, a beast of burden that symbolizes Christ’s body, which bore our sins, took our places on the Cross, and endured the most horrendous physical abuse so that we ALL could be healed of our ailments and diseases.

We, thus, accomplish bearing the infirmities of the weak when we take on the responsibilities of getting beaten, robbed, undressed, and fallen individuals to a sanctuary where they can rest safely. When we see that people in need get to an “inn” located in a non-threatening environment like Jericho and its vicinities, then we will be just like the Good Samaritan who takes the fallen man to an “inn.”

The English word “inn” as used in Luke 10:34b is translated from the original Greek word, pandocei’on, which is transliterated as pandocheion. A pandocheion is any public house that is open to all people, like a wayside inn, a public shelter, or a hospital. “Inn,” however, also symbolizes Christ’s CHURCH—the spiritual haven where all ethnic groups (world travelers) can receive the necessary aid that will help them so that they will be able to continue their earthly journey that is taking them to their eternal home.

Therefore, unlike Jericho and its nearby communities, which represent some of the world’s deadliest locations, and unlike Jericho, which literally is the “lowest” city in the world, since it is both the place where some of the most miserable people in biblical times lived, as well as the city that is 800+ feet below sea level, the parable’s “inn” symbolizes any kind of place that offers safety and acceptance to everyone who wishes to enter its doors. Specifically, the Good Samaritan Parable’s “inn” symbolizes Christ’s CHURCH, the earthly refuge that offers EVERYONE relief from life’s distresses without having any regard for ethnicity; political, social or denominational predispositions; or any other distinctions. That’s why we should try to get the physically and spiritually needy/wounded persons we are helping into a local church where they can get the unadulterated Word of God. At the least, we should get the physically and spiritually needy/wounded persons to a safe haven like a Christian homeless shelter, or a halfway house, or a hospital, and so forth.

Then, we need to provide them with material, financial, emotional, and spiritual support until they have recovered fully from their needs or wounds, realizing that our giving will become the treasures we lay up in Heaven, where we will be compensated. At the judgment seat of Christ in Heaven is where we will receive our interest (our rewards) for the works we have done for Christ here on Earth, whether good or bad (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Christ makes our evangelistic and discipleship callings and our responsibilities to the needy very clear, when he says, in the Good Samaritan parable, that this Samaritan (Christ) put the fallen man: “…on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host; and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee” (Luke 10:34b-35; cf. Revelation 22:12, KJV). In essence, Christ is saying that we, like the Good Samaritan (Christ), must stay with our injured persons and personally take care of them during their first night spent at the “inn.” The implication here is that Christ, Himself, lovingly spent His last day with sinners and, after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, left them in the care and keeping of the CHURCH until He returns. Christ’s (the Good Samaritan’s) actions, therefore, teach His disciples, and apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and other spiritual leaders in Christ’s CHURCH, that they are responsible for providing the adequate nurturing and preserving of any delivered and redeemed soul, just like the parable’s “innkeeper” is responsible for the “Jewish man” or “certain man.”

Before the crucified, buried, and resurrected Christ ascended up into Heaven, He puts His believers in charge of the Great Commission and the daily development and revitalization of His CHURCH, duties that are represented in the Good Samaritan Parable. Moreover, when Christ gives the “host” or “innkeeper” in Luke 10:35 two pence, an amount that equals 2 denarii, and then tells the “host” or “innkeeper” that if what He has given is not enough to pay for the care and keeping of the “Jewish man” or “certain man,” He will repay the “host” or “innkeeper” when He returns to Earth, which is a reference to Christ’s Second Coming.

In Christ’s day, 1 denarius is the equivalent of a full day’s wages. Therefore, the 2 denarii not only symbolize the financial, material, emotional and spiritual support that we must give to needy individuals until they are completely restored, but also the 2 denarii symbolize the CHURCH Age. As Apostle Peter tells us, 1 day is as a 1,000 years with the Lord (cf. 2 Peter 3:8); thus, the 2 denarii represent the 2,000 years of the CHURCH Age, or Age of Grace.

Now, the Scriptures make it clear that Christ can return to Earth at any time within this current 2,000-year period of Grace. Believers, thus, know that Christ’s Second Coming also will be in stages: (1) the end of the CHURCH Age Rapture (when Christ meets His Bride in the air); (2) the end of the world wheat and sheep (Tribulation saints) and tares and goats’ (Tribulation unbelievers’) separation, which, like the Rapture, happens in the clouds, only this time, just prior to (3) Christ’s triumphant, powerful, and visible bodily return to Earth, specifically on the Mount of Olives (cf. Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

After the true CHURCH is raptured, believers immediately will stand before the judgment seat of the Lord where He will judge (evaluate) all of the works believers did for Christ. At that time, based upon the quality of their service to the Lord (their treasures laid up in Heaven, such as “…gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble”), believers will receive Christ’s rewards (compensations) and/or suffer the loss of rewards when their works are consumed by fire (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 22:12).

Additionally, at every stage in Christ’s Second Coming, He comes ready to reward every person according to his or her completed works (cf. Revelation 22:12). To this end, the Word of God declares that our compensation (reward) will be great in Heaven, if we have consented to Christ’s Lordship, have been good stewards of our resources, and have allowed the Holy Spirit to train us in righteousness and holiness (teach us how to live a righteous and holy life) while we are yet in our unglorified bodies (cf. Matthew 5:12; Matthew 10:41-42; Matthew 25:20-23; Hebrews 11:24-26).

Therefore, if we ever hope to perfect our godly worship and our Body of Christ fellowship to the point that we genuinely are worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth and sincerely are loving, uplifting, and encouraging each other, and if we ever hope to be successful at winning the lost for Christ, we must follow Christ’s teachings and emulate His life. We must copy the biblical ensamples (exact duplicates) of Christ’s life that are found in God’s Word. Furthermore, when we gladly and freely invest our God-given resources in the Kingdom of Heaven, we will become the kind of believers who cherish every opportunity we are given to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the needs of this world’s unsaved populace.

When our spiritual portfolios have in them the kinds of treasurers that will be stored up in Heaven (the kinds of works that we will have done for Christ that will not be those of wood, hay, and stubble [straw], which God’s Holy Fire consumes), our spiritual portfolios will have ONLY loving, merciful, compassionate, and righteous “good” works that the power (dunamis) and authority (exousia) of God cause us to do. For sure, consistently making sound investments in the Kingdom of Heaven by doing neighborly acts of love, mercy, and compassion will mean that we will have the appropriate righteous “good” works that our spiritual portfolios must have in them. Anything less than having our spiritual portfolios full of ensamples (exact duplicates) like those found in the Parable of the Good Samaritan will be unacceptable.

Heaven and heavenly rewards should be true believers’ goals. Thus, if there are faithful believers among us who are meeting God’s global perspectives’ goals by investing wisely in the Kingdom of Heaven, we will notice that these believers will be seeking after and doing what Christ is saying we ALL must seek and do.

These Holy Spirit-filled believers will be taking advantage of every daily opportunity they have been given to deposit some encouragement in believers while simultaneously admonishing those who need to be corrected. Furthermore, these believers will be taking advantage of every local and worldwide opportunity they have been given to bring their saved carnal brothers and sisters, and the unsaved unbelievers, into the full knowledge of who they are in Christ. Moreover, to achieve these goals, these believers will be managing their investments in four ways: (1) with their humility; (2) with their unity (harmony); (3) with their generosity, which they are sharing with true Body of Christ members, and with the spiritually lost and weak worldly individuals (respectively, natural unbelievers and carnal believers); and (4) with their love and compassion for all.

Finally, anyone who is not investing in the Kingdom of Heaven is someone who either hasn’t been steadfast in his or her commitment to Christ, or he or she has NOT consistently accepted and followed Christ’s best investment plan that will earn the sought after heavenly rewards—or both. These rebellious and disobedient believers, thus, should heed Christ’s words that He speaks at the end of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. To be sure, Christ (the Good Samaritan) is saying to people who have ears to hear and eyes to read the Gospel message that He is communicating through said parable that any person who is not doing righteous “good” works like those the Good Samaritan does should “…now go and do the same” (Luke 10:37b, NLT)!

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The Disconnected Sign of the Times

12 Thursday Mar 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

aloof, anonymous, connecting, decretive will, detached, discipleship tool, disconnected, disobedience, evangelistic tool, Internet, preceptive will, social networks, technology, threshold believers, unrighteous works

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35, KJV).

 

Isn’t it ironic that in this modern age of technology there are far too many professed Christians who are using their Internet access capabilities for the primary purpose of remaining “disconnected” (detached, aloof, or anonymous)? Instead of using the Internet as a way to connect their faith in God and the CHURCH (Body of Christ) with the entire world (e.g., using the Internet as a global evangelistic and discipleship tool), many Christians are choosing to NOT be intimately involved in the spiritual lives of their online friends.

What also is ironic is that these disconnected believers, for the most part, have not realized that by choosing to just participate in online fun and games without ever trying to reach the unsaved, unchurched, and unspiritual people they have befriended on sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the gazillion of online Christian Social network sites, that they (the disconnected Christians) also are being disobedient to the Preceptive (revealed moral) Will of God. Indeed, what most online believers do not realize is that their disconnection—failure to connect their faith in God and the ministry of the CHURCH with their various online communities—has caused irreparable damage to their own souls!

Additionally, even though all of the aforesaid social networks boast about being the place in which people not only can connect with family, friends, and/or co-workers but also communicate with them too, the truth of the matter is that believers are not really connecting, communicating, or fellowshipping with very many people on any of these sites. To be sure, most of the disconnected Christians who are spending so much time online are just sending and receiving unimportant messages—messages that in no way fulfill the command to evangelize and disciple the world. Two of the reasons why these disconnected believers are more interested in keeping their Christian beliefs to themselves is because: (1) they have become so indifferent about their faith in God, and (2) they have become so indifferent toward Jesus the Christ’s CHURCH. As a result, these disconnected believers have accepted a threshold Christianity.

People who are living the life of threshold believers are people who are not concerned with whether God is pleased with their individual lives, because the last thing these believers want to hear from, for example, sold out for Jesus the Christ believers is that God is interested in more than threshold believers’ personal happiness (contentment). For sure, God wants ALL of His sons and daughters to be about His business of spreading the Good News Gospel wherever and whenever an opportunity presents itself. Moreover, discipling people—teaching others about the Kingdom of Heaven—is also what God wants all of His children to be doing, as well. Therefore, not wanting to pay the cost for being the persons threshold believers profess they are, these believers end up choosing, instead, to settle for living a life that is barely inside the Kingdom of Heaven’s door (a life that scarcely has gone beyond an acceptance of Jesus the Christ, who is the door through whom all must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven). Consequently, these threshold Christians’ disconnected status prevents them from realizing that the time they are spending online engaging in “works” that are not of gold, silver, or gemstone quality (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15) will result in a unfortunate great spiritual loss for them.

The Holy Bible is clear about this divine truth: EVERYONE—believers and unbelievers—will have to stand before Jesus the Christ, who is the One who will judge this world. In the CHURCH or believers’ case, after Christians are raptured, they will have to stand before the bema (seat) of Jesus the Christ, not to be judged for their sins, but to be judged for the quality/value of their Christian service to the Lord (whether good or bad) so that the Lord can determine the nature of the rewards they will receive for their “works” done on Earth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:10). Now, there is not going to be any spiritual loss for the believers whose “works” are of gold, silver, or gemstone quality/value; for sure, they will receive many rewards. However, the Holy Bible makes it very clear that threshold believers’ souls will “suffer great loss.” Thus, even though threshold believers still get into Heaven, they enter Heaven with the smell of smoke on them! The spiritual loss they suffer is because the Holy Spirit’s fire has consumed their wood, hay, and straw-quality “works.” In other words, as the Apostle Paul puts it, these threshold believers will make it through the Holy Spirit’s purging “…like [people] escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Corinthians 3:15b, NLT).

A word to the wise then should be sufficient. The online “works” of disconnected threshold Christians will be judged as wood, hay, and straw. Without a doubt, the believers who spend time online inviting and accepting friends just so that they can have more friends than everyone else, or those believers who spend time online doing twitter-like news feeds or short status updates, as well as those believers who invite and/or accept invitations from others with whom they have NO desire to establish any true friendships, and NO desire to witness to or disciple, will suffer a great spiritual loss. Since they cannot build their unrighteous “works” upon the foundation that Jesus the Christ has laid, and since their aforementioned online actions do not meet the standards of God’s Preceptive (moral) Will, then their online actions will equal disobedience.

As morally responsible people who have chosen, instead, to disobey God’s principles, precepts, and/or commands concerning expressing their relationship that they have with God (e.g., demonstrating ONLINE to the entire world that they are Jesus the Christ’s disciples), these disconnected threshold believers’ online “works” will fail to meet the Preceptive (moral) Will of God standards. Once again, the reason why their online “works” do not meet God’s standards is because these “works” are of wood, hay and straw quality. Since these online disconnect threshold believers cannot or will not meet the primary objective of the CHURCH (Body of Christ), which is to demonstrate an agape love for God by showing this agape love FIRST to their online brothers and sisters in Jesus the Christ, and then to the unsaved world, the unrighteous “works” of these disconnected threshold believers, again, will NOT survive the Holy Spirit’s consuming fire!

Online believers who become disconnected threshold Christians are invariably those believers who refuse to communicate more than mere snippets about their own lives, as well as those believers who share little to nothing about sin, faith, God, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Spirit, justification, sanctification, glorification, salvation, discipleship, eternal life, eternal damnation, righteousness, or holiness. Because disconnected threshold believers have a difficult time doing the spiritual “works” that match their love for and faith in God, their deep-seated discomfort causes them to choose to do what they “want” to do, instead of doing what God has called them out of the darkness into His marvelous light to do. What they have been called to do is to love the Lord, their God, with all of their heart (human spirit), might, and mind; and to love their neighbors as they love themselves. However, because these disconnected threshold believers want to do their own thing, and once they yield to this soulish desire, they then become guilty of disobeying the greatest commandment.

Now, the objective of believers’ faith in Jesus the Christ is to experience the purpose for which God made them, and an important CHURCH objective is for believers to be God’s reconciliatory ambassadors on Earth who evangelize and disciple others by teaching God’s wisdom to anyone who is unsaved, unchurched, immature (babe in Christ), weak (in the faith), or overtaken (by sin). If believers, therefore, are online just for forming new social groups, clubs, and friend lists, or if they are online for playing pleasurable activities that have nothing to do with soul-saving “works,” then these believers are not doing the work of the Lord that fulfills the objectives of their faith and the CHURCH.

Furthermore, we do not accept Jesus the Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and become Christians just so we can secure a place in Heaven. We are to do more than just “profess” our faith in the Father, and in His only begotten Son; we are supposed to demonstrate our love for and our faith in God and Jesus the Christ. Our public profession of our faith in Jesus the Christ, who is our Lord and our Savior, our demonstrated love for the Father, the Son, and human beings, and our commitment to live a life of holiness and righteousness are the major ways we fulfill the objective of our faith. Our commitment to support the work and ministry of the Body of Christ and our willingness to be subject to the authority and government of our local church are the ways we fulfill the objective of our CHURCH.

For these reasons, we must realize that we are NOT supposed to be living disconnected, self-centered lives—living to please ONLY ourselves—because when we only think about ourselves, we will be people who no longer draw from the true Vine (Jesus the Christ) to produce the commanded spiritual fruit. When we only think about ourselves, we will be people who just focus on seeking those ways that will bring us the most comfort. Therefore, the danger of being self-centered is that instead of us looking for the ways we can be a part of the Body of Christ—the ways we can bear spiritual fruit (righteous works)—we will look for the ways we can fill our own needs. The end result is that we will begin to see our local churches as existing for us, the members, rather than see that we, the members, are here to serve the world.

For those of us who are disconnect threshold believers, let us totally surrender our lives to our Lord and Savior and then let us get reconnected to the whole Body of Christ. Let us also totally surrender our lives to the Perfect (decretive) and Preceptive (moral) Will of God. Next, when it comes to sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and so forth, let us stop wasting our valuable online time. Let us truly connect our faith in Jesus the Christ and the ministry of the CHURCH with the people we add as our friends. Instead of being the self-centered people we used to be who just solicited and/or accepted online connections or friendships so that we could make an impressive list of friends, let us NOW be more about bringing the CHURCH to the people who are on these aforesaid sites. Since the Internet can be a wonderful evangelistic and discipleship tool, let us (the whole Body of Christ) start using the Internet for more than a way for us to find mere fun and games activities.

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What Will Your RSVP Be To The King’s Invitation?

08 Sunday Mar 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bride, Bridegroom, Christ-like characteristics, compassionate, guests, humble, inward change, King, Letter of the Law, loving, Marriage Supper of the Lord, obedient, repentant, servants, sincere, Son, Spirit of the Law, Wedding Banquet

“Jesus told them several other stories to illustrate the Kingdom. He said, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. Many guests were invited, and when the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify everyone that it was time to come. But they all refused!’” (Matthew 22:1-3, NLT)

Of the three consecutive parables found in The Gospel According to St. Matthew that specifically deal with Jesus the Christ’s teachings on the TRUE obedient faith, the Parable of the Wedding Banquet (cf. Matthew 22:1-14) makes it clear to today’s believers that just because they have sent an “accept” RSVP to God, promising that they will be in attendance at His Son’s Wedding Banquet, their acceptance of God’s invitation doesn’t mean that they will prepare for the Marriage Supper of the Lord in an appropriate manner. For this reason, Jesus the Christ’s three parables about believers’ TRUE obedient faith progressively explain the kind of faith that God’s children must exhibit in order for them to be considered His true sons and daughters (see parable #1, which focuses on John the Baptist’s ministry, cf. Matthew 21:28-32; parable #2, which deals with the Old Testament prophets’ ministry, cf. Matthew 21:33-44; and parable #3, which is about Jesus the Christ’s mission and ministry, cf. Matthew 22:1-14).

Each of the three true obedient faith parables refers to the same situation and setting (the one about the two sons, which is Matthew 21:28-32; the one about the wicked tenant farmers, which is Matthew 21:33-44; and the one about the Wedding Banquet guests, which is Matthew 22:1-14). These three parables’ shared situation deals with Jesus the Christ’s divine sonship and the people who become God’s adopted true sons and daughters through faith in His only begotten Son. These three parables’ shared setting is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb’s preparation times—the time of the Old Testament prophets’ ministry, the time of Jesus the Christ and the first-century apostles’ ministry, and the time of  Gentile spiritual leaders’ calling, inviting, evangelizing, discipling, and warning. These banquet preparations, thus, begin in the distant past, centuries before the birth of Jesus the Christ, and continue long after the Lord’s first coming, even  in this modern day!

Without doubt, today’s believers are no different than the majority of the Jewish people who lived “before” Jesus the Christ’s bodily first coming, or those who lived during the time of His earthly ministry. Just as very few of the individuals who lived during ancient biblical times readily accepted God’s first two invitations, and just as very few of them spiritually prepared themselves to be worthy to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, the same is true of modern-day people. Nevertheless, because God foreknew that many “chosen” people would renege on their “accept” RSVP,  and that many others would choose to send a “decline” RSVP, these are some of the reasons why He extends multiple invitations. His eternal compassion, love, and interest in ALL of His human creations have been such that, from the foundation of this world, God has not wanted ANYONE to miss out on the Wedding Feast—not any of His (1) “chosen” Old Testament Jewish people, not any of His (2) “chosen” New Testament Jewish people, and certainly not any of His (3) “subsequently chosen” New Testament Gentile nations.

Likewise, as it was in ancient biblical times, there are too many twenty-first century “called out ones” who are operating under the erroneous understanding that just because they have given an “accept” RSVP to God’s Wedding Banquet invitation that they definitely will be in the Bride’s seat at that feast. The truth is that many people who have accepted Jesus the Christ as their Lord and Savior will NOT be prepared for their Bridegroom’s promised return, and they (potential Bride of Christ candidates), therefore, will NOT be snatched away (raptured) when Jesus the Christ comes back on a cloud to take them to their heavenly mansion (wedding chamber).

In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, which is about CHURCH-Age believers’ improperly clothed spiritual responses to God’s third invitation to His Son’s Wedding Feast, it is evident that the king in this parable is Father God, that the son is the Bridegroom (Jesus the Christ, the ONLY begotten Son of God), that the wedding guests initially are God’s chosen Jewish people, and then later the wedding guests are the Gentile nations who become the collective Body of Christ (a.k.a., the Bride of Christ or the CHURCH—believers from the Age of Grace, which is the present Church Age), and that the servants are the New Testament’s John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ, the first-century apostles, and other martyred church leaders who have been “called” into service throughout the current Church Age. Also a servant reference is made about the Old Testament’s prophets—those who prophesied about salvation and the Messiah before the Age of Grace and the CHURCH.

Moreover, in this same banquet parable, the Jewish people living during Jesus the Christ’s ministry represent the invited “guests,” those who not only give God a “decline” RSVP by rejecting God’s invitation for them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and sit at the Lord’s Table, but also they are the ones who take part in Jesus the Christ’s crucifixion. Furthermore, because these Wedding Banquet invitees are more concerned with their everyday lives—more concerned with business as usual—than they are concerned with their promised Lord and Savior’s first coming, they end up rejecting Jesus the Christ’s Son of God claims and then they take part in His crucifixion, killing Him primarily because of His divinity claims. Moreover, as Jesus the Christ predicts, many Jewish religious leaders will participate in promoting hatred for Gospel messengers, and they even will persecute many believers who follow the Gospel’s teachings (cf. Matthew 22:4-6 and the parallel Scriptures in Luke 14:18-20).

In this Wedding Banquet Parable, Jesus the Christ teaches about the Jewish people’s mistreatment of their prophets/servants, both Old and New Testament prophets/servants, as well as the future first-century apostles, and the later spiritual leaders. The Lord says that Father God, the King, has “…sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared, and choice meats have been cooked. Everything is ready. ‘Hurry!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his store. Others seized his messengers and treated them shamefully, even killing some of them ” (Matthew 22:4-6, NLT). Consequently, the Jewish nation’s rejection of Jesus the Christ results in Father God, the King, allowing the Jewish invitees’ sacred city, Jerusalem, to be burned. Jesus the Christ makes this future 70 A.D. prediction, when He says that the “…king…sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their city” (Matthew 22:7, NLT).

Now, after the King’s initial invitees give God a “decline” RSVP, He then not only proclaims that these invitees are not worthy to receive His most gracious invitation but also declares that these invitees’ rejection of His saving Grace or eternal plan of redemption makes it possible for God to now offer His saving Grace to so-called outcasts (to the Gentile nations). For sure, God ALWAYS has intended that Jesus the Christ’s true mission would be to save the whole world—to be Lord and Savior of every man and every woman who was born before Jesus the Christ’s first coming, and Lord and Savior of every man and every woman who would be born before Jesus the Christ’s second coming—that He would die to save EVERYONE, Hebrews and Gentiles, and the good and the bad!

Once again, the aforesaid so-called outcasts represent the Gentile believers who have accepted Jesus the Christ’s invitation to be their Lord and Savior, but there are a few Messianic Jews included in this number, too. Moreover, even though the Bride of Christ is not mentioned explicitly in the Wedding Banquet parable, Jesus the Christ implicitly mentions His Bride when He says that God tells His servants: “‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see’” (Matthew 22:8-9, NLT). There are many Scriptures that speak of the Wedding Feast being prepared specifically for the Bride of Christ (the CHURCH, which is primarily the Gentile nations), so even though Jesus the Christ doesn’t explicitly say that the Wedding Feast is for His special guests—His Bride or the CHURCH, the “called out ones,” the discipled believers who come from the four corners of the world—still the collective Bride of Christ is understood to be God’s invited privileged/favored guests. Therefore, the sending of His servants into the streets (metaphorically speaking, the Gentile nations; cf. Matthew 22:9, NIV) represents the Great Commission.

One of the most negative outcomes of the Great Commission is that there are far too many born again and saved Gentiles in today’s local churches who are NOT sold out for Jesus the Christ, as evidenced by the kinds of lifestyles they live—the ways they are responding to God’s invitation. For sure, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been about Father God’s business of evangelizing and discipling all ethnic groups located throughout this world; however, even though many of these servants of God, as Jesus the Christ says, have “…brought in everyone they could find…” (Matthew 22:10a, NLT), today’s CHURCH (Body of Christ or the parable’s banquet hall invitees) has become filled with a mixture of people who are “…good and bad…” (Matthew 22:10, NLT). In essence, there are believers in local churches throughout this world who are behaving just like the world rather than living like God expects His “called out ones” to live. The kind of Kingdom of Heaven lifestyle that God expects His children to live is a lifestyle of holiness and righteousness. That is why He called the members in the Body of Christ out of sin’s darkness and into the presence of His marvelous Light.

Now, it is undeniable that there are unsaved people sitting on the pews in today’s churches, but what most believers don’t realize is that many believers are included in Jesus the Christ’s number of the CHURCH’s “bad” members who have given God an “accept” RSVP—those who pay lip service to the Lord but their hearts/human spirits are far from Him. This last statement is confirmed by Jesus the Christ’s reference to one of the wedding guests who is inappropriately dressed. Jesus the Christ says: “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding” (Matthew 22:11, NLT).

For sure, the world today, including the CHURCH, is concerned with outward appearances. That is why, where many believers are concerned, if a person comes to church regularly, and if that person is involved in church activities like preaching in the pulpit, or teaching Sunday School and Bible Study, or singing in choirs, or participating in cell groups, or going on mission trips, and so forth, then that person often is thought to be a holy and righteous person—thought to be a person who is wearing a “righteous garment.” However, in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Jesus the Christ is making it clear that, unlike it is with humans who look on the outward appearance, God is concerned about the inward appearance—about the heart’s clothing (human spirit’s attitudes)! According to Jesus the Christ, God addresses the heart’s clothing—believers’ inner attitudes about the Divine Truths about their God, their Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit—in this manner: “‘Friend’…how is it that you are here without wedding clothes’” (Matthew 22:12a, NLT)? According to Jesus the Christ, “…the man had no reply” (Matthew 22:12b, NLT).

Concerning our inner heart’s clothing, if we are like the person in this parable, then we will be people who are attempting to enter into the Wedding Feast inappropriately dressed. The man in this parable symbolizes a person who believes in the CHURCH and in Jesus the Christ; yet, this person obviously has REFUSED to put on righteousness and holiness. In other words, this person has rebelled against the king’s (God’s) authority, majesty, and explicit expectation pertaining to wedding guests having a spirit that conforms to the Be-Attitudes, a spirit that fully comprehends the spiritual implications of living a pure, holy, and righteous life just like Jesus the Christ lived.

Indeed, Jesus the Christ is saying in this Wedding Banquet parable that not only did this guest come to the Wedding Feast without wearing the appropriate wedding attire, but also this guest did so intentionally. This guest decided against wearing the correct clothing, even though he has had access to the available proper garments, and even though God has given this guest ample time to prepare for the Wedding Banquet (nearly 2000 CHURCH-Age years). The man’s attire, thus, did not symbolize habitual sincerity, repentance, humility, compassion, love and obedience, which are the Christ-like characteristics that the true wedding garment would symbolize. Moreover, this guest should have replaced his street clothes with a true wedding garment, but instead he comes in his street clothes—in clothes that symbolize the carnal habits of pride, rebellion, and sinfulness.

Thus, if we are like the rebellious guest in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Jesus the Christ will rebuke our Pharisaical display of outward (eternal) righteousness, just like He rebuked the first century A.D. Pharisees for their outward display of hypocritical righteousness. At best, the Pharisees, whom Jesus the Christ specifically criticizes in the Sermon on the Mount, ONLY had  hypocritical righteousness. Inwardly, because of their own “leaven,” their evil corruption of God’s Laws and their hypocritical righteousness, the Pharisees and Sadducees’ hearts (human spirits) were rotten as rotten could be. This is why the Pharisees only could stress the letter of the Law (literal interpretation), for they never understood and therefore never could applied the full Spirit (intent) of the Law! Moreover,  not being able to apply the intent of the Law is why we, if we, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, only have an external disingenuous righteousness, also will be like the guest who comes to the wedding purposely dressed in the wrong garment, and having NO reply for the King, when He asks: Why are you not wearing the appropriate wedding attire?

Because of these religious leaders’ hypocritical righteousness, Jesus the Christ, through his many New Testament parabolic comparisons, teaches us that any person who is one thing on the outside and yet another on the inside, he or she is someone who is NOT one of God’s true faith believers, because this person is NOT being obedient to God’s command to live a lifestyle of holiness and righteousness, which flows from the inner spirit. In other words, a person’s external appearance MUST reflect that person’s inner attitudes. Any incongruity, that is, if what people see is really different from what people expect to see, which is the manifestation of the Christ-like characteristics that should be in the human spirit, this difference would mean that this person isn’t living a holy and righteous life!

Therefore, if a person thinks that he or she can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven without putting on (developing) the appropriate Christ-like character, as demonstrated by the works he or she would do that are backed up by his or her faith (a person’s total trust in God), then this person will soon realize that the ultimate punishment for not wearing the appropriate heart’s clothing will be that he or she will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Here are Jesus the Christ’s concluding Wedding Banquet words pertaining to the fate of this symbolic wedding guest who comes to God’s Wedding Banquet wearing unsuitable clothing: “ Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen ” (Matthew 22:13-14, NLT). The moral of this parable is in verse 14. God has invited us to eat at Jesus the Christ’s Wedding Table—God has invited us to become the true Bride of Christ (the CHURCH) who will be the participants in the future Marriage Supper of the Lord—but only a few of us are responding in the proper manner that would cause us to be chosen/invited as believers who are worthy to be seated the Lord’s Table!

If we ever hope to enter into the heavenly Kingdom of God and sit down at the Lord’s Table, then we must be aware of how we appear to God, now, so that if changes need to be made they can be achieved on this side of the Rapture. Since any opportunity for salvation is by Father God’s special invitation (by God’s Grace), He, thus, automatically lists in the “guest” category anyone He calls/invites to receive His salvation gift, which transforms and makes every recipient a “worthy” invitee. For this reason, every called/invited “guest” must put on the appropriate wedding garment, or be cast out of the wedding hall—denied a seat at the wedding table! There will be NO exceptions! That’s why the spiritual implication of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet is that, even though all born again believers are saved by Grace, not all of today’s born again and saved believers will be serious enough about their salvation to prepare their heart’s clothing (to take the time to develop a holy and righteous heart for God) by doing holy and righteous deeds for others! In essence, the Kingdom of Heaven’s holiness and righteousness, those God and Christ-like characteristics, are not being reflected in the “works” that many of today’s believers are doing for God!

Furthermore, just as the Jewish people’s indifference, hostility, and spiritual blindness have caused them to reject God’s loving call to redemption, a  rejection which ultimately has led to their condemnation (their branches being broken off the Olive Tree), believing Gentiles need to realize that they must respond faithfully to God’s redemptive call to holiness and righteousness or also suffer condemnation. Now, the Apostle Paul says: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, KJV), but the operative phrase in that verse is NOT “no condemnation”; the operative phrase in Romans 8:1 is “after the Spirit.”

The fact that some of today’s believers in Jesus the Christ are displaying indifference (a rebellious attitude toward God’s commands which causes them to choose to satisfy their own selfish lusts), hostility to God’s Gospel messengers and Gospel believers (hatred for spiritual leaders and followers of Jesus the Christ), and spiritual blindness (an intentional or unintentional hardhearted attitude toward the Divine Truth; or, some sacrilegious beliefs) only serves to prove that these people are walking after their carnal (fleshly) desires and evil thoughts of their mind rather than walking “after the Spirit.” Therefore, since they are not being controlled and led by the Holy Spirit, then they will receive condemnation/judgment!

Without a doubt, modern-day believers will be judged unworthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, if they do not live a holy and righteous lifestyle in Jesus the Christ, which is achieved through progressive sanctification (the work of God’s Holy Spirit) and the daily studying of the Word of God. Moreover, for the believers’ whose human spirits (hearts) are not clothed in the God-kind of holiness and righteousness, they will find themselves left behind, after the Rapture of the CHURCH takes place, which means that their condemnation/judgment is that they will suffer the Tribulation Period and possibly suffer the fate of being cast “into outer darkness”—the Lake of Fire.

What will our RSVP be to the King’s invitation? If our response is an initial “yes,” but then we end up being improperly clothed spiritual heirs, even though we have accepted Jesus the Christ as our personal Savior, at the time of the Rapture, our carelessness, inattentiveness (being unprepared), and unwillingness (refusing to be watchful) will cause our Bridegroom to reject us and judge us to be unworthy to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. We then also will enter into the Tribulation Period, and, if we survive this dreadful time, at the end of the Tribulation Period, as long as we haven’t accepted the mark of the Beast, we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. However, we will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven in glorified bodies, and, as such, this truth means that many of us will die a physical death during Jesus the Christ’s millennial reign!

If our response is like that of the inappropriately dressed wedding guest (a member of the Body of Christ/CHURCH/Bride of Christ), who intentionally dresses in his street clothes and then tries to enter the Lord’s Wedding Feast, we again will be left behind to suffer the Tribulation Period. Our carnal habits of pride, rebellion, and sinfulness will cause us to reject God’s approved “righteous garment,” and because we know that we MUST come wearing appropriate wedding clothing, that which symbolizes habitual sincerity, repentance, humility, compassion, love, and obedience, but we still rebel against God’s expectations, after the Tribulation Period, if we are survivors who have accepted the mark of the Beast, we immediately will be condemned to the Lake of Fire.

If our response is a flat out “no,” because we believe that we have found another way to get into Heaven, or because we prefer New Age spirituality that we believe is better than that which God’s Holy Bible prescribes, then, like many of the Pharisees and Sadducees who possessed a corrupt religiosity/spirituality, we will be branches that have been cut off from the Olive Tree. We also will be left behind to face the Tribulation Period. After those seven years, if we have survived, we will be separated from the Tribulation Saints (the Wheat) and then immediately condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire—sent to outer darkness, where there will be much weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Finally, Jesus the Christ makes it absolutely clear that the only RSVP response that will matter to God is that response which is an initial “yes” followed by a progressive inward change—a sanctified spirit/heart that is habitually sincere, repentant, humble, compassionate, loving, and obedient. We MUST have, and we MUST display these Christ-like characteristics! Without them, we will have no hope of being glorified—no hope of being counted in the number of those born again and saved believers who will be the raptured Bride of Christ. Only the true Bride of Christ will be saved from the seven years of the Tribulation Period—only the true Bride will go to Heaven and stay there until the Tribulation Period is over. Then the true Bride of Christ will come out of Heaven’s Bridal Chamber and sit down at the Lord’s Table to enjoy the Marriage Supper of the Lamb’s Feast with Jesus the Christ, Her Bridegroom! Thus, to be able to eat the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, we must choose this day to live a holy and righteous lifestyle, and then be faithful to live/keep the lifestyle we have chosen.

A word to the wise should be sufficient!  PEACE….

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SPIRIT To Spirit

05 Thursday Mar 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

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blocked, communications, excessive affections, grieve the Holy Spirit, hindered, Light, quench, salt, stopped, unwholesome conversations

“Quench not the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19, KJV)

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30, KJV)

 

The Word of God informs us that our God is a HOLY SPIRIT. We, thus, are told that we must be holy even as God is holy, and that we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Now, since His Holy Spirit lives inside our human spirits, then, before we can be holy as God is holy, and before we can worship God in Spirit and in Truth, we first must become intimate with God—come to know Him and who we are in Him. This intimacy is achieved when we communicate with God, SPIRIT to Spirit.

For sure, all communications with God (prayer, praise, thanks, seeking, entreating, worshipping, singing, playing sacred music, and so forth) happen in our human spirits, because, once we become born again and saved believers (once our human spirits have been regenerated, cleansed and purified, and once we have been justified), then the Holy Spirit moves us in our spirits to communicate with God. The Holy Spirit is able to move our spirits (influence our spirits) to communicate with God, because when we become born again and saved believers God’s Holy Spirit tabernacles within us, as well as subsequently infills us.

Whereas, the communication between God and mankind once was severed by the first Adam, it now has been restored by the saving Grace of God, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, and the power of God’s Holy Spirit. In other words, although we ALL are born spiritually dead, meaning that the deplorable condition of our sinful natures is such that it is impossible for any human being to communicate with God or be in fellowship with Him, yet it is through the preached Word of God that His Holy Spirit is able to influence our desire to be receptive to the Grace of God and His Holy Spirit’s power, as they (God’s Grace and Power) work together in the supernatural regeneration of our dead human spirits. The ONLY way that our spirits can be restored and reconciled back to God is through the new birth process, which is followed immediately by our acceptance of Jesus the Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. When we experience our new births and then accept God’s redemption plan, then we are able to communicate and fellowship directly with God, SPIRIT to Spirit.

Even though we are humans, God has made us in His image. Just as God is the Godhead—a triune God, or three Persons in One (Father God the SOUL, Christ the BODY, and the Holy Spirit the SPIRIT)—we too are triune persons. We have a spirit and a soul, and they are housed in a body. The ONLY part of us, however, that has been made anew during our initial salvation experience is our spirit, and this divine truth means that our soul and body still need to be renovated.

Concerning the human body’s transformation, our bodies will not be changed until we have been glorified—completely transformed into the image of God. According to the Word of God, this transformation will not be completely accomplished until we have been changed in “…a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump…when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52a, 54a, KJV). Of course, in these cited verses, the Apostle Paul is alluding to the Rapture, which, in another well-know passage, he describes as the dead-in-Christ and the alive-in-Christ believers being “caught up” in the air where they will meet their Lord in the clouds and be with Him forever more (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In the Greek language of the New Testament, this “caught up” phrase, as used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, is called aJrpavzw. The Greek word aJrpavzw has been transliterated as harpazo, and harpazo means to “snatch out” or to “snatch away,” as well as to “pluck,” to “catch away,” to be “caught up,” or to be “taken by force.”

Concerning the human soul’s transformation, we are to renew our souls daily. The Apostle Paul speaks about this divine truth, and he says that we are to “…be not conformed to this world: but be…transformed by the renewing of [our] mind…” (Romans 12:2a, KJV). In this verse, the English word “mind” is translated from the Greek word nou’ï, which is transliterated as nous. Nous not only means the “mind” but also, according to Strong’s number 3563, which is cited here from the King James Version New Testament Greek Lexicon, nous means having the ability to “reason in the narrower sense, as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of perceiving divine things, of recognising goodness and of hating evil.”

Spiritually speaking, our soul is our mind, will, emotions, and desires. Therefore, since our soul can become so easily defiled by our carnal (fleshly) desires and become defiled as the result of the emotional choices we make, it is sad to say but even born again and saved believers often will be guilty of quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit—causing Him to stop revealing, teaching, leading, guiding and prompting us, which, in turn, will cause all communications with God to cease again. The reason why there is an interruption in our SPIRIT to Spirit communications is because neither the Holy Spirit nor God can take part in our objectionable communications (our excess of affections, as in our fits of anger and our malicious hatred; our condescension to our ways of thinking; our corrupt discourse/filthy words; our disobedience, and/or our habitual sinning). Therefore, when we are acquiescing to our own soulish desires, emotions, wills, and evil thoughts instead of following the teachings, leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit no longer can operate as an “active” participant in our lives and, therefore, we will not have any spiritual power or authority to call upon when we quench and/or grieve the Holy Spirit.

In other words, we quench and/or grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not control our vulgar tongues, our unstable feelings, or our knee-jerk reactions to someone who has wronged us. Once again, we have the Apostle Paul’s spiritual wisdom, understanding and knowledge on this issue. The apostle says that the way we avoid quenching and/or grieving the Holy Spirit is by letting “…no unwholesome word proceed from [our] mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear….” The Apostle Paul adds that we also will avoid quenching (suppressing or stifling Divine influence) or grieving (antagonizing, hurting, or causing sorrow for) the Holy Spirit, when we let “…all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from [us], along with all malice.” Lastly, the apostle commands us to “…be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven [us]” (Ephesians 4:29, 31-32, NASB).

For sure, the love of God that has been planted in our born-again spirits can be suppressed by our defiled souls’ influences. In other words, when we are controlled by our souls instead of being controlled by the Holy Spirit, then our own spirits will suffer loss. Consequently, our spiritual walk with God and our Lord will be slowed down, and this slow-moving progress is what we experience when we quench and grieve the Holy Spirit.

For this reason, our God wants us to be individuals who are both Holy Spirit driven (controlled) and Holy Spirit led. Since the Holy Spirit living inside of us is the ONLY One who “…beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16, KJV), then as often as we let the Holy Spirit control how we demonstrate our love for our God, by showing Him that we love Him with ALL of our strength, might and mind, and that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, the more the Holy Spirit will be able to influence the development of our intimate communications with God. Our intimate communications with God in turn will create more and more opportunities not only to fellowship with God (SPIRIT to Spirit) but also more and more opportunities to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (according to the Holy Spirit’s teachings on and revelations of the Truth, which is the Word of God). Thus, when we are being driven and led by the Holy Spirit, the love that is within our spirits, and our outward expression of that love, will affect the people to whom we are sent to minister and/or the people to whom we are sent to share the Good News.

We ALL were created to be the salt of the world and the light that cannot be hidden, and we ALL were created to do and say ONLY what will please and glorify God. However, before we can glorify our God, and before we can be that salt (be an example of incorruptibility, purity, durability, fidelity, spiritual perfection, spiritual wisdom, and hospitality) or that light (be a beacon “light” in this dark world that reflects God’s Shekinah Glory, which is what makes it possible for us to point others in the direction of Jesus the Christ), we must be delivered from our souls’ influences and our carnal (fleshly) lusts. Once again, it is the Apostle Paul who enlightens us about the ways in which we can achieve this aforesaid deliverance. The apostle implores us “…by the mercies of God, that [we] present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be…transformed by the renewing of [our] mind, that [we] may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2, KJV).

God’s Perfect Will is for us to not be wrapped up, tied up, and tangled up, once again, in sin. The way that we keep from being deceived by the Devil’s wiles that Satan uses to influence our minds (souls) and, eventually, convince us that it is okay to behave ungodly—to disobey God’s commandments, to walk after the flesh, to be prideful, to be hateful, to be bitter and angry to the point of sinning, and so forth—we must “…be filled with the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19b, KJV). Being filled with the fullness of God means that we must have ALL of the presence, power, authority, and riches of God, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit so that we can mature, spiritually speaking, and function in this world as the persons God called us out of sin’s “darkness” to become.

God called us out of sin’s “darkness,” because He wanted, and still wants, us to become the true salt and the true light. However, as aforesaid, we cannot be the true salt and true light, if we haven’t been filled with the fullness of the Godhead. Once we are filled with the Godhead, then we truly will realize the abundant life God has in store for us. When we are filled with the Godhead—filled with Father God, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit (filled with God’s SOUL, or mind; filled with Christ’s love, holiness, and righteousness; and filled with the Holy Spirit’s power, authority, spiritual gifts, anointings, and so forth)—we then will know beyond a shadow of a doubt who we are in God and how much God is able to do for us, which is an abundance that far exceeds whatever we could ever ask, or think about asking. When we are filled with the Godhead, we will understand that the Godhead only operates in our lives according to the dunamis power (the righteous and moral power and excellence of the soul) that lives in us and works through us, SPIRIT to Spirit (cf. Ephesians 3:20).

Lastly, when we are filled with the fullness of the Godhead, we are receptive and obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading; guiding; teaching; prompting; revealing of God’s mysteries; sanctifying of our spirit, soul and body; and renewing of our minds. When we are not filled with the fullness of the Godhead, even though God’s Holy Spirit does tabernacle within our spirits, because the Holy Spirit has not infilled us—baptized us, or saturated us with the Godhead’s power; authority; anointings; empowerments; spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; the peace of God; and so on—the Holy Spirit cannot keep us from remaining as carnal believers who follow after our own lusts and desires, our own will, our own emotions, and our own thinking. Indeed, our own emotional choices and carnal desires are how we quench and/or grieve the Holy Spirit and, thus, block Him from being able to convict us of our sinful and ungodly behaviors. As a result, our sanctification process has been stopped, and so has our intimate fellowship with God and our worship of Him. Therefore, where there is no intimate fellowship with God, and where there is no Spirit and in Truth worship, there also will not be any communicating with God, SPIRIT to Spirit, for even our prayers will be hindered!

Are we the true salt and the true light? Are we intimately communicating with God? Have we quenched and/or grieved the Holy Spirit? Has our sanctification process stopped?

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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

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