"LIGHT a CANDLE"??
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by "attacking error" - and in my more discouraged moments I am
inclined to agree with them. I begin to think how much easier my
life would be if I could just stick to 'Repentance' preaching alone
(-though even that is bad enough for some!) But then I look at
Jesus (who is supposed to be our example, after all) and I notice
what an incredible amount of time He spent - not just preaching
'kingdom' truth - but actually destroying the religious lies and
falsehoods that had been preached by others. No wonder the
religious leaders hated Him!
David Kirkwood was here recently, preaching verse by verse
through the 'Sermon on the Mount'. I had never realized before
that even in this most 'kingdom'-oriented passage, there were so
many teachings from the Chief Priests and Pharisees that Jesus
was directly targeting and bringing down. -It was staggering.
Little wonder that they were plotting to kill Him for months
before they actually managed it. -And little wonder that He only
lasted three-and-a-half years. Little wonder, too, that John the
Baptist only lasted six months!
If you look through the words of Jesus in the gospels, you will be
amazed how often He is attacking falsehood. -This is because He
had to clear the 'junk' away to successfully plant the Truth. You
cannot allow them both to keep growing. -Eventually the lies will
begin to choke the Truth. So actually destroying falsehoods is a
vital part of establishing Truth. -Which leads, of course, to this:
"If they have hated me, they will also hate you."
Some people believe that it is enough to simply "Light a candle
in the darkness" - rather than confront the darkness head-on. This
is a nice thought, and certainly makes for an easier life. But in
considering the life and words of Jesus, we must come to the
opposite conclusion. We must confront the darkness directly, or
the 'light' that we bring will start to be affected by it. -"A little leaven
leavens the whole lump."
Confronting error is a vital part of establishing the gospel. If it gets
us "hated", so be it. We must clear the ground of error for the
Truth to do its full work. -This is the clear teaching of Jesus.
Below is a brief but insightful comment by Jeff Marshall about error:
DISCERNING TRUTH from ERROR
-Jeff Marshall.
A VERY simple way of discerning the true and false prophets,
and their true and false "Gospels", is that the true (prophet/Gospel)
is always pointing to eternity and what will matter then, whereas
the false always points to the temporal things that will not last.
And the true points to Jesus and the taking up of the cross, while
the false points to the false minister and/or self - and calls any
such "denying of self" as bizarre, "legalistic", old fashioned, etc.
(eg. "Kingdom Keys to YOUR Financial Prosperity and Success" -
the whole idea that God is like a window teller at McDonald's,
waiting to "take YOUR ORDER". - That is actually the premise of
a new book from one of the Metroplex's largest churches).
The True says, "Count the cost" and the false says, "Call in the
Blessings". It is not so hard to discern, but we are "led astray by
OUR OWN LUSTS", and we play a major role in our own deception.
That is why God always sends a prophetic warning to shake the
sleeping awake. Those who love their comfortable spiritual beds,
just roll back over and go to sleep - till judgement day. Those who
have ears to ear, repent and turn away from these lies to receive
the truth. This sounds so "RADICAL" and it is so fundamentally
first-base Discipleship that we don't even know it when we see it.
God help America and do whatever it takes to revive us again
before we are too far gone for merciful offerings of grace and must
receive discipline and judgement instead. Start with me, O Lord!
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