|
|
|
|
Your Visitation! By Pastor Bill Taylor A publication of My Father's House, inc. Volume 6// Issue 11 And they won’t leave in you one stone upon another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation. (Lk19:44) Recently the Spirit has been emphasizing more deeply the seriousness of Jesus’ admonition to watch and pray (Lk21:36) and what will happen if you don’t. It’s not only about His returning. Concerning those who’ll take the mark of the beast and worship the anti-Christ, it’s long before the mark is offered that they fall away from God. They depart from Him when He’s calling and they don’t answer. (Is66:4) As where the Spirit is trying to bring them to the Truth but they ignore Him. These are those who won’t answer the call to the marriage supper. (Mt22:1-14) Because they won’t watch and pray it eventually progresses to the place where they’re totally cut off from the Kingdom of Heaven. But in the beginning it’s because they’re careless about God’s Word that causes them to be cut off from the presence of the Spirit. To be cut off from anything God offers is death. To depart from Him is the beginning manifestation of death. So if you’re cut off from the Spirit of God, death is manifesting. If you’re cut off from the Word of God, death is manifesting. Spiritual death will become progressively more evident and eventually end up, in the person who’s cut off, being totally separated from everything to do with God and cast into an everlasting hell. The way to stop it is to recognize right at the start anything that might cause you to be separated from God so you can make sure you don’t take that first little step in the wrong direction, which if you don’t repent, will cause you to continue in error until there’s a complete destruction. So watch and pray! There are many warnings about this in the Word. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, (speaking of Jesus’ return) nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you don’t know when the time is. (Mk13:32,33) But remember the Lord may come in His Spirit for other reasons previous to His final coming and missing anything the Lord is doing can only be a tragedy. It’s like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the master of the house is coming-- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning-- lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: “Watch!” (v34-37) But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Watch therefore, for you don’t know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he’d have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you don’t expect. (Mt24:37-39,42-44) But if that evil servant says in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming,” and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he’s not looking for him and at an hour that he’s not aware of. (Mt24:48-50) The warning is it’s God’s purpose that Jesus should come at such a time as to catch those who aren’t watching. Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. (Lk21:34,35) Worldly activity is one trap which causes some people to be so distracted with carnal things that they’ll separate from those who have a heart for God and who’ll hold on to Him no matter what. Those who don’t really love God serve Him only when it’s convenient, but when other things become more pressing they turn away from God. Therefore they aren’t worthy of the Kingdom of God and they’ll be eliminated. The wheat and the chaff will be separated. (Mt3:12) Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I’ll say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Mt13:30) Regarding that the Lord has shown me many “churches” today are actually gatherings of the tares. Tares are being gathered by the heretics; preachers who are tickling ears and telling people everything is fine instead of warning them about how to be diligent and to watch and pray because of the snare that’s coming on the earth. Those who are teaching “once saved/always saved” and other lies are messengers, (angels of satan) who are gathering the tares together. (2Cor11:13,14) I saw a picture of two preachers and one has a thousand people in his church and one has thirty people. The one with only thirty people is preaching the Truth and the one with a thousand is preaching heresies but the heretic is saying, “Look how God is blessing my work. I have a thousand people.” While the one who’s preaching the Truth has only thirty. Yet which one is God blessing? Concerning the one who’s preaching lies to the tares, gathering a thousand tares doesn’t make you successful. If you’re gathering tares both you and your tares will be burnt in the fire. But that’s the way many people look at things in this world. They look at the numbers and think, “Oh, this man is successful because he’s gathering so many,” yet he’s gathering tares. Success isn’t always measured in numbers. It’s measured also in the quality of what you’re gathering. And only the one who’s gathering the true saints together can be considered successful. If he only gathers a few still he’s doing a good work for Christ. We need to watch and pray to be sure we’re actually doing the work of Christ! Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. (Mt25:13) Behold, I’m coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. (Rev16:15) All these warnings indicate that to avoid these traps we have to be alert. Spiritually we must stay in close touch with God. Those who don’t will by no means escape what’s going to happen. They’ll be found amongst the hypocrites and the unbelievers in the Day of Judgment. There’s no other way to get into the Kingdom except thru obedience to God’s Word and trusting in Christ. He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I’ve come seeking fruit on this fig tree and found none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’” (Lk13:6-9) John the Baptist, in the beginning of the Gospel says, “Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which doesn’t bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Mt3:10) “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He’ll thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He’ll burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Mt3:12) The wheat and chaff will be separated. The angels (angel can mean messenger) will separate them. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who didn’t believe the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Th2:11,12) Those who love lies will be gathered into their places and those who love the Truth will be gathered unto their places. The fire will burn one up and leave the other. You can see the need for separation because there’ll be a judgment upon the tares, so God is saying, “Come out from Babylon lest you receive of her plagues.” (Rev18:4) Don’t be intermingling with things God is going to judge. Look how the Lord has separated us in “My Father’s House” from the heretical and worldly churches and how He’s keeping us separate that those who are approved may be recognized. (1Cor11:19) If you’re mixed in with the heretics, no one can tell you aren’t one. The only way there can be a clear difference between real Christianity and the false is when the real Christians separate from the false. It’s only then the difference becomes apparent to those who are looking at both sides. But when things are mixed together no one can see the difference because it’s all confusion. God can’t be glorified in confusion and those who are approved can’t be recognized! So although there is a very real reason for the true church to be united, there’s also a very good reason for the true church to be separated from what’s false so the elect can see the difference and choose the true and renounce the false and God can be glorified in the Truth. Now the next day, when they’d come out from Bethany, He (Jesus) was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He’d find something on it. And when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it wasn’t the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. (Mk11:12-14) I have a fig tree and I know that even when it’s not the season for edible figs if there are leaves there’ll be little immature figs on the tree but here the scripture said there were no figs. If Jesus had come to the tree and found immature figs He wouldn’t have cursed it because that’s the way it works – as soon as the leaves come out on a fig tree the little figs come out then a couple of months latter in the fig season almost overnight some of the small figs swell and grow up and ripen. And that keeps happening during the fig season till all the figs are gone. So there are ripe figs on the tree every morning during the fig season. You can’t pick them all off because they don’t all ripen at once. The fig tree is a special tree in that unlike an apple tree where when the apples ripen you can pick it bare in a day or two, a fig tree keeps producing throughout the season everyday and that means a fig tree is kind of gift to poor people. A poor person can know that there’s a fig tree there and if he can get to it early enough in the morning he’ll have something to eat. And that shows God’s care for the poor. A fig tree was something that if a poor person could locate one he’d know that “I can have breakfast tomorrow if I get there before somebody else gets to it because there’ll always be some newly ripened figs on it.” Now Jesus is on His way to the temple and very soon the cross and He’s not expecting God to take the cross away but what He’s expecting this morning is breakfast! When He sees this lush looking fig tree, He’s drawn out of His way in hopes He may get a little snack from it. And when He comes to the tree He may have been able to say, “Well, there are some green figs on it so I guess it’s ok” and leave it figuring that, “It’s just not the season for ripe figs so I’m disappointed but it’s not the tree’s fault.” But when the bible says there were no figs, it didn’t say no ripe figs but no figs, He’s looking at a tree that’s not doing its job. As Jesus said in another parable, if it’s not producing figs we’ll give it another year and we’ll see then. (Lk13:7,8) But this tree has already had its extra year. Jesus is expecting fruit now! Jesus came looking for fruit in a time of great need and this tree has failed in its purpose – its reason for existence. It’s failed Jesus and Jesus has caught it in its failure. Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I’ll send my beloved son. Probably they’ll respect him when they see him.’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He’ll come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” (Lk20:9-16) The nation of Israel which God had ordained to bring forth fruit unto Him failed in its calling so He’s going to destroy it. In the case of the fig tree there was no fruit. But in the case of this vineyard they’re stealing the fruit. The book of Hosea says, “Israel empties his vine; he brings forth fruit for himself.” (Hos10:1) There’s a kind of a “christianity” that’s always looking for God to “feed me, help me, bless me, fix my problems.” Such “believers” are always squealing for God to make them happy, but the fruit is always to self. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil 2:3,4) When “christians” don’t come to church to do something for someone else or to be made fit to help but they come to get for themselves, they’re like the keepers of the vineyard who take from God but never give Him the fruit He deserves. If someone were to come to them who needed some help (fruit) or God were to show up in their lives looking for fruit, there’d be nothing there. So we see from the scriptures there’s that which bears no fruit and there’s that which bears fruit unto itself and steals the fruit from God. Both sins are common in many contemporary “churches.” For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it’s rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. (Heb6:7,8) Compare that with: You’ll say then, “The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Don’t be haughty, but fear. For if God didn’t spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Rom11:19-22) Also on that same subject: I’m the true vine, and My Father’s the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. And then: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (Of course this abiding is by faith.) I’m the vine, you’re the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone doesn’t abide in Me, he’s cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they’re burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you’ll ask what you desire, and it’ll be done for you. By this My Father’s glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you’ll be My disciples. (Jn15:1,2,4-8) For true believers there’s an absolute requirement of fruitfulness and only if you’re abiding in Christ will there be fruitfulness. The ax is laid to the root of the unfruitful tree – the branch that doesn’t bear fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire – the garden that’s been receiving rain from Heaven and doesn’t bring forth fruit will be burnt up – the fig tree that’s been cultivated and given an extra season if it doesn’t bear fruit will be cut down –when Jesus comes looking for fruit the gardeners must give Him the fruit of His vineyard – the fig tree must be producing the fruit Jesus expects and desires. Now you and I also have been receiving the blessings of God, the rain of His Spirit, the Word of God; all these things He’s been giving us for the purpose of making us fruitful. Because when He comes looking for fruit if He doesn’t find fruit, He’s going to cut the branch off – cut the tree down – burn the garden. Jesus isn’t going to put up with an unfruitful tree stealing His sustenance from the others. He’s not going to put up with an unfruitful garden taking all His time, energies and riches and turning it into nothing. He’s not going to have that and so He’ll cultivate and do all of these things to a people who are asking for His grace but in the end He must find fruit. Therefore when the bible says “watch and pray,” one of the things you’re watching for is for the Lord that when He comes looking for fruit, the fruit will be there and Jesus won’t be cheated out of His fruit. And this has respect to more that just Jesus’ final coming. It concerns things that are going on right now including some things you may not be aware of and may not have seen the Spiritual significance of. Here’s a personal example: For something like seventeen years I shared the Word God gave me with my relatives in Orlando on a regular basis, taking part in the holiday gatherings with them – always praying for them – sending them books and tapes and such things as could build them up in Christ. Then a time came in my life when I was facing the greatest crisis I’d ever faced, when my beloved wife was desperately ill, and I went over to visit with the relatives to see if there was Spiritual help or comfort to be found in them – fruit! I didn’t expect them to bear the cross or to take the cross away from me anymore than Jesus expected the fig tree to have anything to do with removing the cross He had to bear but it would have been good to have some Spiritual communion with them during a very rough time. It would have been comforting to find a fig or two but I’m telling you I never saw such a desolate, empty, Spiritually useless bunch of people in my life. I visited with them for three or more hours and not a helpful word came out of them. And when I walked out of their presence the Spirit of God spoke to me at their door and said, “You’ll never come back here again.” They had their season. They had the rains. They had the fertilizer. They’ve had much sharing from the heart, much praying. But when the time came that Jesus was looking for just a fig or two there wasn’t even a baby fig to be found. They didn’t know the time of their visitation. Such people have a form of “christianity” in their own mind but God knows there’s no fruit. They’ve had more than ample opportunity to take hold of what God was offering but never did. They have their excuses, their own ways of thinking and personal things to do. But the cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, hobbies, friends, family matters, and the lust of other things entering in (Mk4:19) keep them from being of any value to God at a time when they should be bearing fruit. (Remember: if you have done it to the least of these My brethren you have done it to Me.-Mt25:40) At a time when someone who belonged to God needed a little comfort they had nothing to give. Then there was a Baptist group at the prison I ministered in. For years I shared with their leadership and members; gave them Glory of His Grace books, testified of things God was showing me, always cordial and helpful but when my wife was suffering most, these so called “christian” people attacked me viciously with lies, slanders and evil surmising such as I’d never experienced before from the worst of sinners. Demons came out of them. These people weren’t fruitless trees. They were thieves in the garden trying to steal God’s ministry. (Lk20:14) At the very time I’m going thru the worst test of my life they became vicious enemies to everything that had anything to do with my God given calling. They were worse than my relatives. They weren’t just fruitless but actually trying to steal the vineyard. Now in both of these cases there was a visitation from the Lord to a people who weren’t watching and praying. The relatives were visited and found to be a fruitless tree. Those Baptists in the prison were visited and shown to be exactly what Jesus is talking about in, “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master’s delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he’s not looking for him and at an hour that he’s not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt24:48-51) In both cases with my family and at the prison because these “believers” weren’t watching and praying they didn’t recognize when the Lord came. They didn’t recognize when someone who really has Christ in them is looking for a little comfort and finds none or even worse is beaten and rejected instead. From the time my relatives were found fruitless God cut off the Spiritual connection I had with them. From the time that prison ministry attacked me God has cut off any Spiritual connection I’ve had with them, and they aren’t receiving of any of the many blessings God has been pouring out through us upon the other prisons. What’s happening to them now is like when Jesus says “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you weren’t willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Mt23:37-39) That desolation began at the crucifixion of Christ but it didn’t manifest fully till thirty years later at the destruction of the temple. But the beginning of that desolation was when Jesus came looking for fruit and they rejected Him. From that time God began to raise up a different people to replace the Old Covenant Jews and that’s the New Covenant church. Then as soon as the church was sufficiently established He destroyed the temple, scattered the Nation of Israel and dismantled the biblical form of Judaism so it could no longer be practiced. The Jews had to invent a new form of Judaism to maintain any type of Jewish culture because their temple was gone and they couldn’t practice Judaism in the way God’s Word prescribed anymore. God took their temple and position away from them. He didn’t do it immediately when Jesus said, “Your house is left to you desolate.” but He began the process at that point because He’d visited the tree and it wasn’t fruitful. Now the ax is laid to the root of the unfruitful tree and it’s going to be chopped down. The fruitless fig tree is going to dry up from the roots. Every stone in the temple will fall before God is done. At the very time the disciples are looking at the extraordinary building program that’s going on concerning the temple in Jerusalem Jesus is saying, “Not one stone will be left upon another.” (Mt24:2) The Jews are patting themselves on the back thinking, “What a marvelous temple we have built for God!” and God’s saying, “You’ve stolen the fruit from Me and your tree is coming down. I’m going to burn this garden up and I’m going to take this temple down.” They didn’t watch, they didn’t pray and they didn’t recognize the Lord when He came looking for the fruit. And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I’ll go down now and see whether they’ve done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I’ll know.” (Gen18:20,21) We can be very busy about religious things and Jesus can walk in the door of our church looking for fruit and woe unto us if He walks out hungry or disappointed! These Baptists-type “christians” in the judgment when they find out how badly they have sinned against Christ, are going to say they had no idea of what was really going on. My relatives also had no idea what was going on but the reason was because they weren’t watching and praying. They didn’t have any relationship to God in the Spirit. They had no sensitivity to know what God was actually looking for or what God wanted to use them for. They were wrapped up in other things – some religious things – some secular things – but what they weren’t wrapped up in is the Spirit. They didn’t know God’s Spirit and because they didn’t know Him when Jesus came looking for the fruit; something helpful, something that would be useful, it wasn’t there. And when Jesus saw that it wasn’t there God started the process of cutting them off. Notice it says in Matthew “you weren’t willing.” (23:37) I was recently reading in the eighth volume of the Ante-Nicene Fathers a supposed dialogue between Peter, Clement and Simon Magus. There was a passage in which Simon Magus had been working deceiving miracles and had convinced a city the Apostle Peter was wicked and to be rejected but Clement came into that city and turned the people’s hearts away from Simon’s lies until they willingly received Peter. Then Peter came and spoke to the city regarding the power of God in Christians and he said, “I’m just a man like yourselves but I know the God of Heaven and if I did have the power to do earthquakes and volcanoes and cause great cataclysms to come upon you, if I had all power I’d prefer to use it to turn even Simon Magus into God’s friend. I wouldn’t use it for his destruction. I’d use it to turn his heart away from evil.” And that’s the way it is with Christians. If we had all power we wouldn’t destroy our enemies with it, we’d save them. But even the mightiest gifts of the Spirit operate as the Spirit wills (1Cor12:11) and we don’t control that power. What we have the power to do is share the Truth with people, pray for them and try to influence them to make the right decision to come to God. The Truth is God has all power but won’t use it beyond a certain point. We can see that in the book of Hebrews. It shows us how God voluntary limits His powers. For It’s impossible for those who were once enlightened, (God has the power to open your eyes to His Truth) and have tasted the heavenly gift, (He has the power to let you taste of Christ) and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, (He has the power to fill you with the Holy Spirit) and have tasted the good Word of God (God can feed you with His Word) and the powers of the age to come, (He can give you supernatural gifts but if all that isn’t enough to do the job of saving and keeping you it’s impossible) if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Heb6:4-6) So God won’t go beyond these reasonable levels of interference in your life. And the reason is because you must come to Him willingly. God has given man the freedom to make their own choices and He’ll allow you to use that freedom to destroy your own soul if you so will. He’ll guard your freedom to make your own choice and won’t violate that freedom. Now God is all powerful, He’s omniscient, He has every bit of knowledge and every ability to accomplish what He wants and He does want to save you but He only wants to save you if you want to be saved because He’s given the gift of free will to every man, and He won’t take that away from you. He’ll use every possible means that doesn’t violate your freedom to influence your choice towards Himself but He’ll never go beyond the point where your choice wouldn’t be free anymore. So because He won’t violate your free choice He limits Himself to such methods and influences as will uphold your freedom. Otherwise He’d be stealing back from you that which He Himself gave you; the gift of free will. God’s church then must observe the same limits. If we had the power we’d save you but we don’t have a power that can go beyond the realm of your free choice. All we can do is use to the uttermost such things as would influence your choice while you remain free. But the moment we go beyond that place where your choice is free we’re out of God’s will and He won’t accept that. He won’t take anybody by force. And so we are back to but you weren’t willing. (Mt23:37) God worked for seventeen years with my family but they weren’t willing. He worked ten years with those Baptists at the prison but they weren’t willing. It’s for sure some other influence is more precious to them than Truth, so they didn’t come to Christ properly, and they didn’t become fruitful. And there came a time when God cut them off. When God cuts people off you turn them over to God and leave them with God. Those who are outside God judges. (1Cor5:13) When God cuts off there are some ways He cuts that are damnation, but there are some that are corrective. Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1Cor5:5) In Amos, for example, God cuts the people off from His Word when they won’t receive the corrections He offers thru His prophets. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I’ll send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the LORD. They’ll wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they’ll run to and fro, seeking the Word of the LORD, but shall not find it.” (Am8:11-12) My wife was talking about a particular woman we met who runs from church to church. Why do you think she’s running from church to church? She’s seeking the Word of the Lord and not finding it. I’d think if she found a place that was feeding her she’d settle down. But if people despise God’s Word when He gives it to them in abundance, then there’s the possibility that He may yet save them by sending a famine upon them. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: “Hearing you’ll hear and shall not understand, and seeing you'll see and not perceive.” (Mt13:14) Take everything away that has to do with the Spirit, everything that has to do with the Word and then maybe they’ll get hungry and appreciate it the next time someone offers them God’s Word after they’ve starved for a while. Therefore I’ll return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. And I’ll destroy her vines and her fig trees... (Hos2:9,12) “I’ll destroy her vines and her fig trees.” Jesus is fulfilling that in the Mark 11 passage. Why? Because it wasn’t bearing fruit unto Me. “I’ll punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot,” says the LORD. (Hos2:13) Then she’ll say, “I’ll go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.” (Hos2:7) So if God blesses you with the riches of His Word, setting a rich table in front of you and you complain and turn away from Him because you prefer worldly things, then He’ll take His blessings away from you. How many times as parents we must correct our children when they complain about eating something people in poorer nations would consider a Sunday feast. Some people don’t like bologna but there are places in the world where a bologna sandwich would be “to die for!” God isn’t going to wring His hands over your dislike of bologna when He sees people starving to death. And you’d better have a good attitude and be thankful for bologna even if that’s all you get. In this country we’re fed so well that we can consider bologna to be a common food. And we need to understand God isn’t going to side with us if we grumble when He sees children starving to death in garbage heaps who’d walk ten miles to eat the stuff we throw away. He isn’t going to sympathize with our grumblings when He sees how blessed you are and how little you appreciate your blessings. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (Phil 2:14,15) In “My Father’s House” we’re blessed with an abundance of God’s Word. Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and didn’t see it, and to hear what you hear, and didn’t hear it. (Mt13:16,17) You’ve no idea how blessed you are to be receiving the Truths you’re receiving here and you ought to be on your knees thanking God and praying, “God, don’t let me waste what You’re doing for me here. Don’t let me be found without fruit in my day of visitation. Don’t let the Lord or one of His people come upon me looking for a fig or some grapes or some comfort or help and have to walk away empty because I’m wrapped up in worldly pleasures, bearing fruit to myself, and I’m not listening to Your Spirit and not ready to be used by You.” I know what it is to go someplace looking for fruit and not find it. And I know that when I was doing that Jesus in me was doing that. And I can look back at it and I can see that Jesus visited the unfruitful places and cut them off the same way as He did the unfruitful fig tree. There is a powerful reality to it when the bible says the garden is going to be burned if it doesn’t bring forth fruit; (Heb6:7,8) the tree is going to be chopped down (Lk3:9) and the branch is going to be cut off. (Jn15:2) What do you think is going to happen when Jesus has members of His body, people He cares about, going into churches looking to receive something and walking out empty handed in times when they are under great trials? When that happens that church will be cut off because if He can’t send one of His children there to get help when they need it there’s no reason for that church to exist unless it’s very young and growing, which is to say there are little figs and if you give them time they will grow up. He can excuse a lack of fruit if the people are moving towards the place where they can be used. But if they’re just feeding themselves with no interest in moving on, He’s going to visit them at a time when they don’t expect and cut them off. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you’re alive, but you’re dead.’” (Rev3:1) It looks alive like a wonderful fig tree; plush and full of leaves until you draw close and find it empty. So Jesus says, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I’ve not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you’ve received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you won’t watch, I’ll come upon you as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I’ll come upon you.” (Rev3:2,3) As my relatives didn’t know the hour they were visited by God and those Baptists who attacked me at the prison didn’t know the hour they were being visited by God. Likewise if we don’t watch and pray we won’t know the hour Jesus will come to us expecting to find something useful. And if Jesus walks away disappointed, He’ll cut the tree down. He’ll cut the branch off. And you know what? At first you may not even know He’s done it. It can be a gradual destruction till you look back years later and wonder what happened. How did things go so wrong? Thirty years later the Jews are starving to death, being sold into slavery, hanging on crosses, watching their temple being torn down and wondering, “What went wrong? How could we come to this? We were the city of God. How could we deserve such a violent destruction?” Most of them still haven’t figured it out. Jesus came into that temple looking for fruit and it wasn’t there. That’s why! And God forbid He’ll ever come to us and find us too busy to give Him the fruit He deserves! “Watching and praying” is much more than just being prepared for the Lord’s second coming. It’s being ready to be useful to Jesus at any time – that if God’s calling on us to intercede we’ll be there – that if He has a word for us to speak to someone, we’ll speak that word – that when there’s a soul who needs to hear the gospel, we’ll share it – that if there’s a believer who needs a healing, we’re in faith to minister them that healing – that when someone wants to see a real church in which Christ dwells, we are that real church – and we’ll be there to show forth the glory of God – that we won’t miss the day of our visitation, nor the next day Christ visits nor the day after that. That Christ can visit us again and again and there’ll be fruit every time Jesus comes because we don’t live to bear fruit unto ourselves but we live for the glory of God, to do His will and bear fruit unto Him. That Christ can get as much as He’d desire to have from us – that we wouldn’t short change Him in anything. There’s a reality to bearing fruit in Christ! We mustn’t bear fruit for our own purposes as unto ourselves. Though God is patient and will deal with us graciously to bring forth that fruit, we’d better be about the Father’s business because if we don’t the day will come when we’ll be cut off – cut off from the Spiritual people cut off from those who walk in the light – cut off from God’s Words and life if we don’t approach the altar of God with a right heart and a true desire to give back the fruit that’s due to Him for the abundant grace He’s given us. And we thank You and praise You, Lord, for helping us to do it, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Prophecy: He who comes to Me and drinks will never thirst for out of his belly will flow rivers of life. The words that I’ve spoken are true and have come to pass more times that can be numbered amongst those who’ve come to Me, those who drink of Me. I’ve made them into branches which bear fruit from which others may eat. I’ve made them into fountains of life from which others may drink. And I tell you I know the difference between the righteous and those who cry, “water me, water me, water me” who seek to feel My pleasures, and who seek My comforts for their own sake. Who want to be watered but never water others. Who want to be fed but don’t feed others. The rivers of My pleasure aren’t for such as they. The rivers of My life don’t flow thru those who drink unto themselves – who only eat to satisfy their own appetites. But My Spirit flows thru a people who feed others and pour out their hearts to others and give to others what they’ve received from Me that others may know Me also. I know the trickery of men who give the false comforts that encourage the flesh in sinful men, who comfort those they should rebuke, who build up those who should be brought to repentance. But the ones who feed from Me will know the difference and they’ll know when it’s time to wound and when it’s time to heal and when it’s time to admonish and when it’s time to console. For I do all things in their proper order and those who know Me walk in My steps and follow My Spirit. From such come forth the true fruit that My Father seeks and which glorifies Him. For these are the true plantings of the Lord and they bring forth much fruit. That’s what I’ve ordained to take place here even now for you are My planting, saith the Lord. I’ll have a people here who are ordered by My government and who drink from My fountains, who eat from My tree. And they’ll be a fruitful people who give life to others – both the bread and the wine – both the waters of life and the meat of the Word. For there’ll be a true church in the earth, saith the Lord, and I’ll have a people in it who bring glory to the Father. You don’t eat for yourselves for whether you eat or drink you do all to the glory of God. You don’t live to yourselves nor die to yourselves for you’re Mine and you live for Me and you die for Me. And you eat and you drink that you may bear fruit for Me for such are My people, saith the Lord. (Prophecy delivered at “My Father’s House”)
The Glory of His Grace is offered free of
charge. However, tax-deductible contributions can be made to “My Father’s House”
and are much appreciated.
113 Martin St. Indian Harbour Beach, FL, USA 32937
|
|
Copyright © 2006 My Father's House Incorporated
|
