THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
& your place in it!
Matthew 13:40-43 (ASV) 40As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, 42and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear.
Jesus gave many different examples of what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like. Most of them were brought down to the level that we mere humans could understand. And even then our hard stubborn hearts could not understand. Today I want to take a look at what Jesus was showing us but, more than that was warning us. Jesus was giving us a window into what was expected of us.
A couple of years ago Mary and I read a book that was quite shocking but made so much sense. It was called Pagans in the Pews. The author described how the devil was destroying the church from the inside out by bringing more and more false Christians into the church. At first we could not see what he was describing but now it is more and more evident that the devil has a grand plan and Christians just sit back and watch.
The two buzz words that have become the battle cry of the modern church is love and tolerance. These two words have even become the base philosophy of most modern churches. We have shifted from saving a lost and dying world to love and tolerate them into the church. If you study your Bible you will see in the old testament God went out of His way to eliminate love and tolerance. If you study Jesus' life you can come to no other conclusion but that He did not tolerate things of man or the devil. Yes Jesus did love the sinner but He shot straight from the hip and told them sin not more or something worse might happen to you. I cannot find in my Bible any where Jesus told sinners their sin was ok just so long as they loved Him. In fact I cannot find the word tolerance in any of my 18 versions of the Bible.
But what I find instead is an interesting trend. In the old commentaries I do not see anything about tolerance. But with the newer commentaries I see a trend. Let me give you just one example. In Ephesians Paul tells us Ephesians 3:19-21 (NLT) 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen. Now what this says to this old pastor is very simple. Paul is desiring us to be filled with the fullness of Christ and his power that can only be accomplished by a personal relationship with the master. Paul then goes on to say when we reach that point we will be able to do greater things than we ever conceived. In other words the boldness to preach the Gospel, raising of the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick etc.
But, let's look at how the new commentaries look at this and what they think it means. "… eventually lead to the building of the "New World," a world where religious freedom and tolerance would rise to unparalleled heights…" This is real, this is no joke, this is an out and out deception and lie! Do you see anything wrong with this picture? I cannot speak for you but this is what the Lord has been showing me over and over again, the softening of the Gospel of Jesus and the Word of God in the name of Tolerance and Love.
Now lets get back to today's lesson, the Kingdom of Heaven. If you study the examples of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus gives you, will notice one important thing. The separation of good and evil. Since the creation of man there has been an ongoing struggle of good and evil. At Noah's time we are told that the thoughts of all were evil, and therefore evil had won the earth except for Noah and his family. To put a stop to this God destroyed mankind. Today we see that the same thing is happening. Every day evil takes a little more of what used to be God's! No! God is not weak, no God has not given up, this must happen to fulfil prophecy. But each and every day the evil claims a little more of the Christian's rights in the name of Love and tolerance. This fits in perfectly with the series of visions and dreams given to Mary and I over the last few years. Jesus tells us 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity," My studies show that Jesus, here and in other examples is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven not the earth as we think of it. Here he says that all the things that cause stumbling will be removed. The Greek here means someone or thing that "traps". To explain what this implies I will give you an example. When the fur traders roamed Wyoming many used rifles or bows and arrows, but, the majority used traps to keep from hurting the hide. The most common trap used was composed of a rope hidden under leaves etc. The noose was attached usually to a bent branch and held down with a trip stick for a trigger. When the animal walked across the trap the trigger would release the bent branch and hang the animal in air until the hunter could come and claim his catch. This would do two things. Most of the time kill the animal, and second but more important keep the animal out of reach of other predators that might eat it.
This is what the words Jesus said implied to His listeners. Jesus was talking about the church in the end times, and He knew that it would be mixed with true believers that would not compromise the Word of God, and those that continually set out traps to make Christians stumble. And one of the greatest traps the old accuser of the brethren has used in modern times is the Love and tolerance doctrine. If a pastor calls a sin a sin he is intolerant and does not show the love of Christ.
Christ further states that all that do iniquity will be removed. The Greek word here is simple it means without law or wicked. The base word means lawlessness or wickedness. Here lawlessness can only refer to the Word of God. So, Jesus is saying that in the end times church there will be those who practice open rebellion to the Word and God and wickedness. Who, you ask? In several denominations openly homosexual relationships are not only allowed, but approved of. One major religion has an on going problem with child molesters in their priesthood. Their solution is to move them around so they cannot be caught. It took the worldly courts to bring this evil to the surface. Many denominations do not preach holiness, sin, the blood of Christ for fear of offending the people. Many denominations have openly stated that John 14:6 is not true. That there are many paths to God.
For the sake of your souls, open your eyes my friends, and see that the words of Jesus are coming true. The sheep are being trapped and deluded before our eyes. Do not get me wrong. I am not against giving Christ's love to a lost and dying world for that is how we show that Jesus lives in us. But I am against the love and tolerance doctrine because all I see it doing is sending people to hell on the super highway. Mary was once told by an atheist that the reason he did not believe in God was because "If this Jesus and God have done the great things for His people like they claim. If this Jesus has given them eternal life? If this Jesus has redeemed them from their sin and saved them from Hell. Then wouldn't they be driven to tell others. If they truly believe the word of God is true and Jesus did save them then shouldn't they do everything in their power to tell others to bring them into this salvation? But they don't! They just go about their business with no real change." So he could very easily reason that their faith was more of a delusion than a reality because of their lack of outward movement.
This is the greatest problem with the love and tolerance doctrine. It keeps Christians from teaching those who are in sin, that sin is wrong. If you preach and teach that you must turn from your sin, repent and live a new holy life for Christ you are a bigot. But I ask you how can we save anyone from the pits of hell if we will not convince them they are living a life of sin and are going there? When we tolerate, accept and love them into the church we are condemning them to an eternity to hell. We have allowed them to worship, commune with the body of Christ, but we have not required any change in them. They are the same arrogant humans continuing in their sin and they are, according to the Word of God doomed to an eternity in Hell. But worst than that is if your are the one who brings them into this false understanding of the word, Jesus' words will haunt you. "they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, 42and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." If you are one of those causing these "loved and tolerated" sinners in your church to never grow into holiness, to never repent and turn from their sin, to mock God by openly sinning and claiming to love Jesus. You my friend are the one that causes them to stumble and you my friend will be cast into the fiery furnace with them!
To quote an old time religion pastor "We must avoid the common misconception that God must be fair and kind in his dealings with humanity. This view of justice is merely a projection of a human idea. People who believe this notion appeal to tolerance and forgiveness and assume that God must play by our rules. In reality, God sets his own standard of justice."
Jesus said "For the Kingdom of Heaven is Like…". But, what do you my friend, think the Kingdom of Heaven is like? If we go by Jesus' words it is not going to be filled with evil, darkness, sin, anything vile, anything that causes one to stumble. NO! it will be just as Jesus says. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear. It does not say the tolerant and loving but the righteous. The Greek here means right, holy, those who observe the divine laws. It is your choice my friend but, as for my house we will follow the divine law and stand by Jesus on Judgement day.
I will leave you with John MacArthur Jr. words concerning love and tolerance verses holiness. "Many observers have referred to this period in the United States, and in Western society in general, as post-Christian. By any measure, it is certainly sub-Christian. Although many parts of our culture still wear some sort of religious mask, in reality it is largely pagan. Through its leaders, its legislative bodies, and its courts it has adopted not simply a non-Christian but a distinctively anti-Christian stance and agenda. Anything and everything that is explicitly Christian and biblical has been swept away under such guises as separation of church and state, equal rights, and religious and moral tolerance."
GOD BLESS MY FRIEND
Pastor A. J.
