Preparing For Revival

The Bible makes it clear that if a people consecrate themselves to God, a true renewal will rise among them We read God’s invitation to the people: “Get ready. Consecrate yourselves! Tomorrow, I’ll do marvelous things among you.” If our lives are turned and oriented toward Him, then He will do amazing things not just in our lives, but also in our families, communities, and societies. It is a promise in Joshua 3:1-5: that if we consecrate ourselves to Him then tomorrow He will do extraordinary things.

This is the way that Joshua communicated to the people he was leading. He did this in order to prepare them to cross into Canaan. Joshua’s instruction is important because it clearly outlines our role in the process, and God’s ultimate responsibility to make it happen.

Our part of the equation is to consecrate ourselves before God. This means we are to set ourselves apart, staying away from sin, confessing when we fall, and being clean vessels before God. We are to reorient every aspect of our being towards God, and to be obedient when we hear Him speak.

God’s part is that tomorrow He will do amazing things among us. God initiates interaction with His people, and His people, and He promises to save and rescue the least, the last and the lost. He wants us to depend on His power, and also to work with Him to see that power released on the earth.

As we consecrate ourselves and choose to make ourselves fully available to Him, we can partner with God and be used as agents of change and transformation to those that desperately need it. A.W. Tozer once said, “You are as holy as you want to be.”

What will it look like if we consecrate ourselves before God? When we consecrate ourselves to Christ, society gets consecrate too. Social reform, social transformation, and social justice all begin to flow because that’s what God is like. He puts things right. He makes all things new.

When the church is revived, there is a massive assault on the powers of darkness. A Holy church is an awesome weapon in the hand of God.

We should ask for God’s presence to rest upon us and flow out of us, permeating and changing the culture, so that Christ is glorified as we are consecrated.

Joshua 3:1-5

Sheep And Goat Nations

Have you ever heard the saying: “ separating the sheep from the goats?” Do you know that this is a phrase that is derived from God’s holy scripture, the Bible? Jesus spoke of dividing the sheep from the goats in his final discourse as he described at the end of this age. He stated that a day would come when He would sit on His throne and gather all the nations before Him. On that day He would separate the nations just as a shepherd separate the sheep from the goats. This account is found in Matthew: 25. Here Jesus is bringing His final discourse of the gospel of Matthew to a close. He takes a moment to remind the apostles of what He had told them. He reminds them that a time of tribulation is coming. This would be a time when they would see thee abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. The same abomination of desolation that Daniel a prophet warned about. Can you just remind them that they are to flee the mountains of Julia because this will be a persecution such as has never been nor shall ever be again. The persecution is mentioned in the book of Daniel, Joe, Mark, and Matthew. These words are in reference to the great persecution of the Jewish people. Remember that Jesus came to His own people, the Jews, and the collectively did not receive Him. As Jesus concludes this discourse, He once again points them to the end of the age – when the Son of Man will come and sit on his throne. He begins to tell what will happen in that day. This is a very important passage that must be understood in its proper context. Without the proper context, the true interpretation can be lost. Let’s look at Matthew 25 beginning with verse 31:

When the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All donations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divide his sheep from the goats

Matthew 25-31-32

With this passage, Jesus is alluding to the job of the shepherd. When is Shepard would take the sheep out of the Pastor, the goats will often go with them. The job of the shepherd would you make sure that they remain separate. With this analogy, Jesus is speaking here about time of reward, a time of judgment. When I saw the man returns to the earth and sits on his glorious throne, thenWith this passage, Jesus is alluding to the job of the shepherd. When is Shepard would take the sheep out of the Pastor, the goats will often go with them. The job of the shepherd would you make sure that they remain separate. With this analogy, Jesus is speaking here about time of reward, a time of judgment. When I saw the man returns to the earth and sits on his glorious throne, thenWith this passage, Jesus is alluding to the job of the shepherd. When is Shepard would take the sheep out of the Pastor, the goats will often go with them. The job of the shepherd would you make sure that they remain separate. With this analogy, Jesus is speaking here about a After thousands of years of persecutiontime of reward, a time of judgment. When the Son of Man returns to the earth and sits on His glorious throne, the nations must be judged according to how they have treated His people, After thousands of years of persecution God’s people will finally have their day of vindication.

Let’s look at Joel 3:11-14, here’s a parallel passage:

Assemble and come all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause you’re mighty ones to go down there, 0’ Lord. Let all the nations be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will shit to judge all of the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the wine press is full, the vats overflow- For their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day in the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:11-14

As a short geography lesson, the valley of Jehoshaphat runs between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This is the same as a Kidron valley. Jesus is going to sit there and judge the nations when He returns to the earth at the end of the great tribulation. This is known as the Valley where God will judge.

Let’s go back to Matthew 25, Jesus sits on His glorious throne with all the nations gathered before Him. As they are gathered before Him. Matthew 25:33 says: “And He will set the sheep on the right hand, but the goats on the left.” The right hand side of the throne is the side of power. Verse 34 goes on to read, “ then the king will say to those on His right hand, Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Come and be blessed of My Father, Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Make a note of the word kingdom and the phrase from the foundation of the world. It is the sheep that are on the right and those are that will inherit the kingdom of God.

Add we continue with this passage,“ for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me;I was in prison and you came to me I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matthew 25:35-36).

Jesus is saying you keep getting these things for Me. As we move on:

Then all the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed You, We’re thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?

Matthew 25:37-39

And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly I say to you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Matthew 25:40

Jesus here is referring to the treatment of the Jewish people. During the Great Tribulation, the Jewish people will suffer for not taking the mark of the beast. Even Gentiles who do not except the mark of the beast will be persecuted but the antichrist will focus his torment on God‘s chosen nation of Israel. They will be hungry, and thrown into prison during this time.

Now let’s look at revelation 13 for a brief review of what will happen during that time. Based on this chapter, we will find the antichrist will have power for 42 months ( 3 1/2 years). This is referring to the beast. Revelation 13:5 says, “and he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for 42 months.” This is the one known as a little horn from Daniel 7. Well you know this mouth and authority is given to the one who breaks the covenant and Daniel 9. These passages are point to the same person, the one who walks into the Holy of Holies, And proclaims himself as God, and order that all worship him or else be killed. It is the king described at the end of Daniel 11, the one described in Daniel 12. This is the one called the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness.

Then he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His Tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and overcoming them

Revelation 13:6

These are the holy ones, the ones who will be set aside. These are the ones that we will be in prison, mistreated, hungry, thirsty, and naked. All of this will be done to them simply because they will not accept the mark of the beast.

And the authority was given to him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life or the lamb slain from the foundation of the world

Revelation 13:7-8

When Jesus returns, it will be a day when He once again divides the world. There are those who are for Him and those who are against Him. The line is drawn, it is the clash of the kingdoms – clash of the kingdoms of darkness versus the kingdom of light. And this Clash of the kingdoms, the antichrist is the catalyst and he is drawing all of those against God and to him. And he didn’t rules over them. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, those whose names have not been written in the book of life. D or all of those who do not belong to God, who from the foundation of the world who have not been written in the Lambs book of life. These are the enemies of God, the ones that bow the knee and worship the antichrist. The only way that people will be able to buy or sell during the Great Tribulation is according to whether they take the mark of the beast. Revelation 13:14-15, refers to the false prophet, And he receives those who dwell on earth by those signs and which he was granted to do the in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast will be killed.

Jesus how instructed the Jews to flee when they see the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place. People will be tweeting from the antichrist and there will be a faithful remnant that will come through the fire, stand fast, and believe and realize that Yeshua is the Messiah. Who is going to help you people? Who is going to clothe them? Who is going to feed them? Who is going to get them drink for their thirst? It will be the sheep who Jesus will place on the right. It is the sheep who believe and follow God and honor God. They will be caught up with the rest of the nations and these are those who are going to be blessed. Revelation 13:16 continues, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on the right hand and on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except who has a mark or name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is the wisdom. Let him who had understanding calculate the number of the beast, where does the number of a man; His number is 666.”This refers to those who give allegiance to the antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition. These are the ones that God is going to judge, they will be the goat on the left. This will happen during a time when the King will come and sit on His glorious throne. He will gather the nations before Him And separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Matthew 25:41 reads, “Then He who will also say he’s always on the left hand, “ depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Everlasting fire was not originally prepared for men but was for the devil and his fallen angels… the ones who rose up and rebelled against God. It was prepared for the anointed cherub who decided that he would be like God and will exalt himself before God. This is that wicked serpent that deceive mankind in the Garden of Eden. God prepared lake of fire for him and the angels that chose to follow him. It was not prepared for a man but yet man sided with the devil and when the nations are judged, men will enter into the lake of fire as well. The righteous ones will tell the goats that they will face eternal damnation in the lake of fire that was repaired for the devil and his angels. Christ will say, “ for I was hungry and you gave no me food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and I’m prison and you did not visit Me.” “ then they will answer Him, Saying, assuredly I say to you, inasmuch and you did not do it to one of the least of me you did not do it to Me.” All these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41-46). So often we like to believe in eternal life but not eternal punishment. It is rare to hear Pastor speak on the hell in the lake of fire today. We don’t like the idea that judgment can go on eternally, that there is a place where the worm dies not, where the fire is not quenched. But yet the same Greek word that is used for eternal life is used for eternal punishment.

Jesus will judge the nations that have either treated the Jewish care and kindness or mistreated them. Remember what God said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “ I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you. And in you all the families of earth shall be blessed.” Which of the Christian church does not recognize the fact that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. He was at the house of David. Jesus was a Jew, and Israelite. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him yet He did not reject His own. During the final time of Tribulation, a time that the world has never seen, there will be a dividing of the sheep and the goats according to whether they have honored God’s word and bless the Jews. We have seen the persecution of the Jews throughout history. It happened during the Crusades , the Russian Pogroms, and hitler’s Holocaust. During these times there were Gentiles who risk their own lives and the well-being to help with Jewish people. They fed them, hid them, protect them, clothed them, and went to see them in prison. Righteous gentiles serve as a picture for us of the sheep that will be placed on the right when Christ comes and sits on His glorious throne and divides the nations. The people who have treated the Jews right will receive the gift of eternal life and those who have not will go into eternal damnation by way of the lake of fire. They will live forever and ever in a fire that never dies.

We must remember that once born, we all are eternal beings. We will live for eternity either in the presence of the Lord or in the lake of fire in the presence of the devil and his angels. The unsaved will suffer eternally with Satan. Mini do not want to face about that eternal suffering awaits those who reject God. They do not want believe God will allow such a thing, for those who do not believe it is because they have not read the book, and not accepted the whole council of God. We serve a just and righteous God and sin that has not been accounted for cannot dwell in His presence. The day will come when Christ will separate the sheep from the goats. This leads to the question, “ what is your attitude toward Israel, what is your attitude toward the Jews, your blood brothers of Jesus Christ? If you do not treat him properly, the day will come when you will regret it. Looking at Matthew 25, he just said those on the right, com you who are blessed of my Father. He blesses them as blessed of My Father and then tells them how they took care of him because they took care of the lease of the brethren. Matthew 25:37 says then the righteous will answer Him. These are the righteous people. Remember that Jesus said unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you shall in no way enter the kingdom of heaven. The sheep are the righteous that will take care of the Jews because of what they believe. They will be willing to risk their lives inside with the use because they will be righteous. Righteousness means doing what God says, aiming to please Him, doing what he says is right whether we understand it or not. Jesus will tell the goats, the accursed To depart from Him into the eternal fire. Why are they accursed? Because they are not righteous.

This message is frequently taught but in a generalized way. It is stated that as Christians we should visit those in prison, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. Of course it is true that we should always abide by these basic principles toward everyone. But the proper context of the “sheep and the goats” is concerning the Jewish people and their persecution. Satan wants to destroy the nation of Israel because in doing so, he believes that would void God’s promise to the Jews and stop Jesus Christ from coming into His established earthly kingdom. Only the righteous will inherit the kingdom of God, only the righteous will inherit eternal life. Is there a righteousness in your life? Do you live according to God’s word says? If not, your profession of God is nothing without the deeds of righteousness.

We Are All Called, But Few Are Chosen

How can you become the chosen ones?

In Matthew 22:14, Jesus tells that “Many are called but few are chosen.”

What does that mean? What’s the difference between being called and chosen? How can we make sure that we are one of the chosen?

In a parable of the wedding feast. Jesus actually starts of with a parable. He tells of the account of a king whose son was getting married. He sends out many wedding invitations, but on the big day, not a single guest showed up. When the king sent out his servants to find out what was going on with the invited guests, it turned out they were just not willing to go. They were more concerned with doing their own thing, and even treated the invitation with contempt. The king was furious when he heard the report from his servants. He sent them out again, this time telling them to invite anyone they saw on the street to the wedding. Then the wedding was full of guests. And when on man showed up at the wedding without proper wedding clothing on, he was cast out. This was a day of especially significant celebration, and it was only fitting to be dressed appropriately (Matthew 22:1-14).

Then at the end of the story, Jesus says, “many are called but few are chosen.”

What Does It Mean To Be Called?

The word “calling” is used several times throughout the Bible, in different contexts. For instance Jesus uses the word “called” as an invitation. This parable is an analogy of what we have been invited to. An Invitation is something more than a life lived serving ourselves. An Invitation to live a life together with Christ, serving God and experiencing the fulfillment that brings to life. An Invitation to be disciples, to follow in His footsteps. And ultimately, an Invitation to spend eternity with Him.

This is a calling that God puts in our hearts, and there are many different ways people sense this. Anyone who gets the chance to hear the gospel (which is pretty much everyone) and make a decision about whether or not to become a disciple is considered to be called. Many people receive this invitation. Jesus gave the disciples the job of going out and making disciples of all the nations. (Matthew 28:18) But who among those many have chosen to follow Christ?

What Does It Mean To Be Chosen?

To be chosen is to accept the invitation and to do what is necessary to accept the invitation: to give up everything thing in this world (Luke 9:23-24). That is, to say Yes!” to the calling and then follow it up with a faithful life. God calls us, but those who choose are those who wholeheartedly accept the invitation and it’s conditions.

Why Do So Few Choose?

Because not many want to pay the price. Jesus says in another place that the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, therefore few choose this way (Matthew 7:13-14). The reason is it hard is that we have to give up everything in this world. Our egotism, our own ideas, opinions, thoughts and feelings, our own will, and our own desires. We do this in order to be completely obedient to the leading of God.

In order to be chosen, you have to show that you really want this life with all your heart. You can’t hold back for the world, for relationships, for your self-seeking, etc… It’s 💯 faithfulness.

Making Sure You Are Chosen

Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligently make you called and election sure…” How do we do that? By doing things that he writes just previous to that in 2 Peter 1: 5-8: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ.”

Only those who truly want to follow Jesus, walking in His footsteps as He instructs them, get grace to do as it’s written above. They bear fruit, which are the virtues. These virtues are the proper wedding garments that we make ourselves so that we can accept the invitation and be clothed appropriately, so that we are not cast out like the man in the parable.

No Qualifications Are Neccessary

In the account the king sent out his servants to all types of people. It’s the same with our invitation. It doesn’t matter what our starting point is, who we are by nature, what our background is, what talents we do or don’t have, what knowledge we have, what our circumstances are. The thing that determines whether or not we are chosen is us, and how we respond to the calling when we sense God’s invitation in our heart, and what fruit we bear as a result.

And the end of our faith is that we’ll be Jesus’s brothers and sisters, co-heirs with Him of all things. Not just eternal life, but we’ll be kings and priests together with Him for eternity.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together

Romans 8:16-17

And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth

Revelation 5:10

Do Not Be Deceived

A very common word in the New Testament is “deceived.” In english we tend to think of this word as referring to someone who has been tricked or filled. And the emphasis is on intellectual terms. The Greek and Latin roots, however, have an almost physical dimension to them.

The Latin roots for word “deceived” are to take or get carried away. The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated as “deceived” means literally to be carried off or to be let astray.

Thus, those who are deceived Are those who have been carried off or carried away by false teaching, trends and the ways of this world.

Perhaps another biblical image relating to this one is when Peter speaks of our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). One can almost see in one’s imagination and the lion with his limp and dying crate hanging from his now as he carries it off. This is the one who has been deceived it is like the one who has been stalked, attacked, stunned, or killed and it’s being carried off in the mouth of the lion (Satan).

This is deception, this is what it means to be deceived, do we stalked and through various means grasped, stunned, and carried off of prey.

Over and over again Scripture warns us not to be deceived, that is, not to become pray for Satan, for demons, or for all those who consort with him to capture us and carry us off. A plain warning comes in the letter to the Hebrews:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by the diverse or strange teachings.

Hebrews 13:8-9

Another text warns that there are many who wish to deceive us and their teachings are called the doctrines of demons:

Now the spirit expressly says that in later time son will be apart from the face by giving heed to deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars who consciences are seared.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

This is a common human problem, especially today. There are many plausible liars going about today who seek to confuse, to stun, and to carry off faithful believers. They doing this with hypocrisy. To say that something is done with means literally that it is done by actors, sent hypocrite in Greek means actor. In a more extended sense it means that when we say something with hypocrisy we are being insincere. These plausible liars, as actors, are well skilled at being pleasing, and appearing pleasant, reasonable, sophisticated, and free. But This is an act. They are in bondage to their sins they seek to glorify. The scriptural text here says that their conferences are seared; They are branded, burned, and hypnotized by their sins they commit. They are not smart; they are lost and confused. They are to be prayed for, but not listen to.

Many of them are very good actors, playing the role of plausible buyers. Some may have letters after their name (PhD, DD, MD, etc.). Some have advanced degrees and high position in academia or in media. Some of them teach in Christian institutions; some even wear Roman collars. Most of them achieve their plausibility by appealing innocuous themes such as tolerance, patience, kindness, and that is very vacuous and currently ill-defined idea called “love.” Surely tolerance, patience, kindness and love all have their places. And being agreeable, pleasant, soft-spoken, and reasonable in town are all good things in and of themselves. But they can also become a cloak for a fault plausibility and R, I’ll be above text says a “hypocrisy of liars.” In other words, these people are actors; they play a role of a tolerant and enlightened expert but in reality are definitely trying to justify sinful behavior and quiet their seared consciences.

And that scripture warns us not to be deceived, not to be carried off, not to be carried away by plausible liars who say exactly the opposite of what God’s word says, who calls good or “no big deal” what God calls sin. Thus, with their distorted understanding of tolerance and love they promote and even celebrate the acts of sodomy, fornication, abortion, and euthanasia. They promote spiritual syncretism and construct a fake Jesus and a designer God through their God within movements and their statement that “I’m spiritual but not religious.” They substitute their own doctrines for the revealed ones of scripture. If they reference scripture at all it is only to declare that it does not say what it plainly does say.

Regarding all these erroneous stances and appeals, scripture announces again and again, do not be deceived, do not be carried away, do not be carried off. Here are used a few other snacks that warns us:

  • Romans 16:17-21
  • 1 Corinthians 3:18-21
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
  • 1 Corinthians 15:33-34
  • 2 Corinthians 11:3-4
  • Galatians 6:7
  • Ephesians 5:5-8

There are scriptures that tell us who is behind all this deception. Like in Revelation 12:9, The great dragon or thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, deceiver of the world who is throwing down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. Or in Revelation 19:20, and the beast was captured at with it a false prophet who in his presence had work the signs and Richard you see those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worship its image. Do you work to be thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the scripture Revelation 20-1-10, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he sees the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1000 years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and shield over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the 1000 years ended. After that he must be loose for a little while… and win 1000 years are ended. Satan will be loose from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth…The fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had to see them as thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and a fart prophets were, and they were tormented day and night forever and ever.

Do not be deceived; Do not be carried away or carried off by the errors or by the sinful lies of this present evil age. The apostle Paul says, test everything; hold fast to what is good, a strain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). Yes, square everything with the word of God in the sacred scriptures And with sacred tradition. Know what the word says, know your faith, know the true God, the real Jesus of scripture. Not the fake Jesus of convenience. Test everything, everything by the standards. Do not be deceived.