COMING CLEAN

COMING CLEAN

                “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering.” Mt. 5:23, 24

                As we press on towards the great harvest at the end of the age, it is vitally important that we come clean before the Lord.

                One of the many things that have plagued the church over the years is the fact that we can’t seem to be reconciled with others. We often refuse to forgive and love. We think that we somehow have the moral or spiritual upper ground so we judge others and not only do we judge them but we then start talking about them. We think,”Oh, it’s okay to gossip about the faults of others as long as we say, “Bless their hearts,” or some such adage feigning Christian concern..

                But Jesus tells us a different story. He says in effect: Don’t even bother to bring your offerings to Me until you have first made things right with your brother or sister. We are in training to reign with Jesus on His throne and in order to do that we must have His heart. We need to learn to show the same understanding and love and compassion to others that Jesus has shown to us. Do we so quickly forget the long trail of mistakes that we have left behind us? Do we forget just how many times God has extended mercy to us or how far we have had to crawl out of our own sins?

                Even an intercessory prayer team can become a gossip club in the church, spreading cancer instead of healing, if they spend time talking about the faults of others. At the most we should say that so and so is struggling and needs our love and prayer support.

                There are biblical procedures for dealing with open and rebellious sin in the church. It involves approaching the person directly and privately, and then if the person refuses to listen, the elders may be told and they must deal directly with it. In other words, there are sins that can’t be allowed to flourish in the church for they will weaken the Body of Christ. There are sexual sins and the outright breaking of the Ten Commandments that if allowed to continue will bring judgment upon the Body.

                But most of the time, our squabbles involve personality traits in others that rub us the wrong way… or we judge them because they don’t see things the same way we do. Such squabbles if left unchecked will grow into a festering sore that will in time bring dissention, division, strife and heartache into the church.

                Paul said in Phil. 2:3, 4: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

                Love and reconciliation will do far more to heal wounds, than judgment on our part.

                 In prophesying about the Messiah Isaiah said: “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” (Isa. 42 Verse 3) Then he goes on to say in verses 5-8: “Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the Lord, that is My name…”

                See how tenderly He watches over us. He is the Shepherd that cares for His sheep and He calls us to be shepherds as well… to bind up broken hearts and to lead the people to still waters where He can restore their souls.

                This is a picture of Jesus as our Shepherd and yet, He is not a pushover. A time of judgment is coming at the end of the age in which He will appear as King and Judge, to bring recompense upon those who have mistreated and persecuted His children. Yes, Satan’s kingdom will be judged and thrown down and all of those who have followed him as well. But those judgments may come closer to home than we would like, for He will also come against those that have committed murder with their tongues… by knocking down the weak rather than strengthening them and loving and encouraging them.

                We are in the month of Elul on the Jewish calendar. It is a month that starts 40 days of repentance and introspection. On September 10/11 it will be the Feast of Trumpets followed by ten days of awe leading up to the Day of Atonement on September 19/20. This is the time of the year for the Jews when the books in heaven are closed. If they have not made everything right with God they will have to wait until the following year.

                All of these feast days, called Moeds or the appointed times of the Lord, are symbolic of very real events that will happen on these very days in the near future. Someday the rehearsals of these events will give way to reality. Jesus will come on the Feast of Trumpets to resurrect and to catch away His bride. This is the rapture. Then He will judge the earth with many plagues and the Mark of the Beast and the iron rule of the antichrist. This is the Day of Atonement. Then at His second coming, Jesus will return to earth with His saints to take up His millennial rule on earth for 1000 years. He is coming to tabernacle among men and that event will commence on Tabernacles of some year.

                I have oversimplified this a bit, because the Feast of Trumpets involves many different events. In other words, if understood correctly, the Feast of Trumpets does not in and of itself a guarantee that the rapture will take place before the tribulation, for it is the last trump blown on that day that signals the resurrection and catching away of the Bride. However, one of the shofar blasts during the feast heralds the marriage of the King to His bride, so one way or the other we will be with Him forever.

                I believe that the blood moons and solar eclipses along with a major rise in earthquakes, volcanoes, cosmic disturbances along with wild weather and escalating wars are signs that we have entered that period of time when all of these things will take place. We are the generation that will see these things come to pass. We are the generation of the final harvest. We are the generation that saw the Fig Tree put forth leaves as Israel was born as a nation after 2000 years. We are now 70 years old.  Israel is 70 years old. If not now… when?

                This is why we must now come clean! We can no longer excuse ourselves for what we might call “small sins.” Everything that we do in the flesh must be judged and burned away by the Holy Spirit and fire of Jesus Christ. We must allow Him to do His work in us now, so that we will not be judged in the judgment.

                John said in 1 John 4:17: By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so also are we in the world.”

                So, are we walking in this world as Christ? Have we become living reflections of His love and grace…? His forgiveness and reconciliation? We have been given a ministry of reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:19. All judgment has been given to Jesus Christ.

                Jesus gave this bit of advice to us and we should take it to heart: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. And do not pass judgment and you will not be judged; and do not condemn and you shall not be condemned; pardon and you will be pardoned.” Luke 6:36, 37 (astounding!)

                Isn’t it time for us to take seriously our ministry of reconciliation. Isn’t it time to come clean before the Lord so that He will receive our sacrifices and hear our prayers?

                Right now over in Israel thousands of Jews are repenting and crying out for forgiveness. They are facing imminent war in which possibly thousands will be killed. The nations are gathering for the battle of Gog of Magog and Israel is approaching the ten days of awe. Will God spare them for another year?

                Likewise with us… for when Israel is judged so will the church be judged and judgment will begin with the leaders and on down to the people.

                You may be saying, “Oh, we are not judged, but we have passed from death into life… and that is true for those who are actually living the life, but there is a great shaking coming and a great falling away. Everything that is not borne of the Spirit of God will be shaken out. Everything that is manmade will be shaken out. Everything that is of the flesh will be shaken out so that what remains cannot be shaken. Hebrews 12:26-29.

                It is time to study Romans chapter 8 and to make sure that we are living by the Spirit and not by the flesh. We need more than a mere intellectual relationship with God. We need a total transformation of the heart … to be crucified with Christ so that He may live His life through us. Gal. 2:20. He never ever told us to do this in our own strength.

                Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:19,20 is that we would “be filled up with all the fullness of God, knowing that He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”  It is therefore time for us to hook up with this power and to come clean before our Lord.