A prophetic word from God about the light and darkness in our lives today.

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"Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! - Matthew 6: 22-23 (NLT)

 

I saw a sermon recently where the preacher correctly said that what passes for prophecy these days is largely clairvoyance. Future-telling with slivers of Christ added to throw off the discernment. Either that or it is largely based on pointing a religious finger at the world and casting the blame for a lack of blessings upon them. If you read the prophets of the Old Testament however they were usually focused on the people of God and turning them away from their sins and back to the Lord. I do not fancy myself a prophet as I see too many nowadays who like the title without the sacrifice. But this Word has been burdened unto me by God for some time now. The prophetic word is found in the above verses. It is God calling out to us in these the last days as believers and asking us what we truly believe. What we truly follow. It was a time for self-examination for me. It was a time for change as well.

These are the Word of Jesus Himself, teaching us about real dangers we will face. I think in these days we can become sloppy in our faith. We can confuse our service unto God with our walk with Him. We can think that as long as we are acting religious, we are assured of our salvation. Take these next verses very carefully and very seriously:

"Not everyone who calls out to me, "Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, "Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.' -- Matthew 7: 21-23 (NLT)

Think about this for a minute. People who spent their lives thinking it was in service to God will discover at the end that He never even knew them! And we are not talking about the obvious deceivers. We are not just talking about the charlatans of Christian media who sell you earthly prosperity or uncontrollable gyrations as genuine moves of the Holy Spirit. We are also talking about people who run mega churches. We are talking about people who lead large swaths of would be believers. We are talking about people who may even have signs and wonders accompany their deception. People who prophesied! People who performed miracles! People who cast out demons! The key word in these verses which strikes me as a bit sarcastic on Jesus' part is the use of the word "actually." Only those that actually do the will of my Father. How frightening for us as believers to consider but how absolutely necessary! Remember what the Bible teaches:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, - Philippians 2: 12 (NIV)

It seems that much of the modern American church simply operates without the fear of the Lord. Sure we may pay some lip service to it but the majority of the time is spent on the bless-me theology that permeates so much of what we have become. I hear songs in churches now that make me cringe as they show no reverence whatsoever towards God. They petulantly demand blessings that they feel are somehow due to them as believers. Songs with man-made theology. And this is what is called worship!

We also see preaching that is a hybrid of motivational speaking and self-help. Preaching a bloodless Christianity. Preaching a sinless Christianity. Preaching a Christianity that costs you nothing, except maybe your tithe. I heard preached yesterday that motivational speaking and Gospel preaching are not related; not even distant third cousins. That is because motivational speaking is ultimately about YOU. Gospel preaching must always be about HIM. There is no such thing as self-help. I tried it for many years in the world. It was not until I realized that I could not help myself that I understood the need for a Savior. Today's deep theology is this -- God did not come into your life to help you -- He came to save you! Beloved we have lost sight of this one central fact -- we did not need help, we needed salvation! I know it is not preached enough anymore because it does not lend itself to higher attendance numbers and gaudy offerings but we are sinners before a holy God. Jesus Christ died on an old wooden cross so that we can be reunited with God. So that our sins could be covered by His precious blood.

At the core of the problem is the metrics measurement in the modern church. Success is based upon how many people come forward for altar calls, how much tithing is brought in, and how many ministry workers you can engage. I would rather have a church with 100 truly discipled believers who feared the Lord than a church of 10,000 singing kumbya until they get to the last day and find out they didn't even know Jesus. The Bible says that heaven rejoices when one person gives their life to Christ not when 1,000 people attend church. A regenerated heart and a life changed are the true measurements of success for a church. Take a good look at the letters Jesus sends to the churches in Revelation. This is not a new phenomenon! Take a good look around where you find yourself on Sunday. Are we like the church at Ephesus, whose love for Jesus has waned over time? Becoming more concerned about the execution of ministry than the heart of Jesus? Are we like the church at Pergamum who were turning a blind eye to false teaching and allowing the Gospel to be compromised? Are we like the church at Thyatira who were oblivious to the spiritual warfare going on inside of their own church? Are we like the church at Sardis whose great reputation was a covering for a church that was already dead? A church who was more concerned with appearances than with where they stood with Christ. Are we like the church at Laodicea who had become so lukewarm they confused their darkness for light? Realize that even within the complaints against these churches, Jesus also pointed out some of the things that they were doing right. I think sometimes we incorrectly assume that if we were sitting in apostasy that we would be easily able to identify it but realize that it is more difficult than that. Things may appear right. Leadership will insist that everything is fine. The Word may be brought forth with a sense of power. The Bible tells us to evaluate the fruit. Because while you can intellectually put together the Word of God over long periods of time and you can make sure your worship is crisp over long periods of time -- you cannot fake fruit in the long term. Fruit is based upon the Holy Spirit -- not the works of man.

Realize please the dire importance of this. Upon what do you base your belief in your own salvation today? Is it because you went up for an altar call? Is it because you recited the prayer the preacher asked you to repeat? Is it because you attend a great church, with a lot of people? Narrow is the gate that leads to heaven and wide is the path that leads to destruction! There is no altar call or prayer that will grant you eternal life. Only a heart that has been truly regenerated by Jesus Christ will enter the kingdom of heaven. What does that mean? That means that from the point after the magic prayer and altar call there was a change in who you were. There was a waning desire for the things of the world and an increase in your desire for the things of God. Your salvation is never in question because you have a daily relationship with God, not a weekend visitation schedule.

This brings us to the key verses for today. They speak about the condition of our eye -- what we focus on. Who are we listening to? Are they filling our body with the light of Christ or the darkness of this world? Remember, we often cannot recognize the darkness. In the days when Jesus walked the earth the religious experts were sure of their position with God. We read about them now and it may seem obvious to us but to many back then, they were the mega-church pastors. They were who was followed. They had Scripture they used to justify themselves. They looked the part. They sounded the part. But their fruit was rotten to the core. They were leading those who followed astray. In the Gospel of Matthew we see this exchange:

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him "unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him "unclean.'" Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." -- Matthew 15: 10-14 (NIV)

Jesus shows us here that the only thing that matters is the truth. It has become acceptable in the modern church to accept partial truth. I have heard the phrase too often that we must "eat the meat and spit out the bones." I disagree. If the root is rotten then the fruit is rotten. The danger is that while you may be able to notice the bones this time, maybe next time they are smaller. Maybe next time they sneak past you. Maybe next time you end up choking on them. Remember the issue is not to hear an intellectually sound word. It is not to hear a motivational word. It is to hear an anointed Word seared into our being by the Holy Spirit of God. The disciples respond as many today in the church might -- concerned about offending man. Remember, Jesus said He did not come to earth to bring peace but division. The Gospel is what the Gospel is. Lastly here Jesus reminds us that the blind cannot lead the blind. Eerily prophetic Word from our Lord considering the times we find ourselves in.

That brings us to the final portion of the key verses. A prophetic call to examine ourselves in these the last days. Jesus is coming back soon. Remember Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day:

He replied, "When evening comes, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' and in the morning, "Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away. - Matthew 16: 2-4 (NIV)

We may not be demanding a sign with our mouths but it sure seems that we are with our indifference. The signs of the times are all around us every single day. Wars, famines and earthquakes -- all with increasing frequency. The love of most running cold. Churches gathering to them teachers who will depart from sound doctrine so they can hear what their itching ears want to hear. It is almost as if we are waiting for Jesus Himself to walk into our congregation and assure us it is all real and it is all happening now. Until then, we continue to play church -- thinking we are serving God.

How can this be? So many we know who are genuine in their desire to know the Lord. Genuine in their desire to be doing His will. Genuine in their intent. The problem is revealed in the key verses. There is confusion between darkness and light. Read that last verse carefully -- if the light you think you have is actually darkness -- how deep that darkness is! How difficult it is to convince someone who thinks they are in light that they are really in darkness. Simon the Sorcerer in the Book of Acts believed his darkness to be light and he tried to buy the power of God. Ironically today how many do we see trying to sell the power of God? The seven sons of Sceva convinced themselves that their deeds of darkness were actually light. They thought they could use the name of the Lord without actually knowing Him. How many leaders like that do we have today? How deep that darkness is! As it was, so it still can go today. We have entire denominations thinking nothing of abandoning the Gospel wholesale in response to cultural pressures. How deep that darkness is! We have apostasy on smaller scales where the Gospel is dying one small compromise at a time. No sanctity of the church or the altar. We have the secularizing of the church. Seeker friendly heresy which teaches the Gospel is no longer culturally relevant and we need to trick people into "salvation." How deep that darkness is! Worship designed as entertainment, instead of reaching the heart of God. Showy, flamboyant and oozing with pride. How deep that darkness is! Anyone who dares to speak the truth is dismissed out of hand as needing to "lighten up." How deep that darkness is! How deep indeed. There is nothing darker than false light because it convinces us that we no longer need to seek the light. That we are ok. That our religiosity will get us into heaven. Look at the miracles we did! Look at the demons we cast out! Look at the community outreaches we did! Look at the plays we put on! I-Never-Knew-You.

Realize that I am not speaking about personality, motivation, or intent. As my pastor likes to say, you can be sincere and sincerely wrong. I would hope that no one wakes up desiring to be heretical that day! The end result is what matters. Is it darkness or is it light? Do not confuse one for the other and do not fall for the shades of grey argument. We believe in absolute truth and we need to apply it in every area of our lives.

This walk is never without sacrifice. It requires something from us. It requires diligence and introspection. It requires wisdom and discernment. It requires a healthy fear of the Lord. Not that we are afraid of who God is but that we are ever mindful of forgetting who He is. When we forget who God is then we can slip into these habits of a little compromise here and a little compromise there. We can start to think that our works somehow constitutes and justifies our relationship with God. We can mistake emotionalism for a move of the Holy Spirit. We can mistake bones for meat. We can mistake the darkness all around us for somehow being light. It is not always obvious, especially when we are in the middle of it. Especially when the incursion is slight over a long period of time. It builds. God has taught us:

You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. -- Galatians 5: 7-10 (NLT)

Just a little yeast, yet it spreads throughout everything. Check your darkness and light today. Narrow is the path. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. The Lord is near and is returning soon. Let there be nothing heard toward you on that day except, "well done my good and faithful servant."

Reverend Anthony Wade -- April 16, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.