Don’t Get Too Comfortable With Your Religion and Religious Practices

And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” – Matthew 24:2

In the past several months and even into the last few years, Matthew 24 has been consulted over and over again as people search for signs of the times and for clues as to what is coming. I’ve referred to this chapter several times myself and just like many, I’ve skipped over the most important warning Jesus gives in Matthew 24. It wasn’t until the Lord directed me toward the obscure references of Shiloh that finally saw what Jesus was telling His disciples and US in this passage. Before we go into that, let’s build the scene.

Earlier in the week, Jesus, the King who comes in the name of the Lord, has ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt fulfilling prophesy and doing it on the 10^th day of the first month in connection with bringing the sacrificial lamb into the home before the Passover. As the Triumphal Entry is taking place and the very stones of the ground are crying out that He is Lord, Jesus begins to weep for Jerusalem. As He arrives at the temple, His weeping turns into anger and He cleanses the temple. Following the cleansing of the temple, Jesus rips into the religious leaders and pronounces judgments upon them.

The chronology and timing of isn’t clear between the three references, but it is possible that Jesus left the temple to cool off. Please don’t take this to be certain, because it might not be the case. Instead, place yourself inside the character of one of the disciples who has been watching all of this take place. You’re expecting that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is about to set up His earthly kingdom. Having seen the zeal with which He had cleansed His Father’s House, you assume that bringing up how beautiful and majestic God’s House is would be a safe move, right?

That’s when Jesus delivers the jaw dropping statement above. In essence He said, “Don’t be too taken by that or too impressed by it because not one stone of it is going to stand upon another.” The disciples followed along behind Him quietly as they passed through the Kidron Valley, and then went up the other side onto the Mount of Olives. When they stopped to rest, one of them had the guts to ask, “When will all of this take place?” That’s when Jesus delivers the prophesy which so many people have been referencing. Let’s leave that alone and go back to the jaw dropper, because there is a gem to be found in that single statement.

We know that He was talking about the future destruction of the temple, but there is deeper meaning in it, especially if you lay that statement beside the one found in John 2:19, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” In that statement He was referring to His own body as John points out in verses 21 and 22. They fit together more closely than you realize, but you have to go to Jeremiah to start getting a handle on it. Just as a hint, both statements are connected to Shiloh. Let’s go see what Jeremiah said.

 “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know,  and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.

  “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,  therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. – Jeremiah 7:8-14

This judgment continues on and Jeremiah repeats it again in chapter 26. Let’s get some more background into what God is talking about in this prophesy. Shiloh is an obscure reference to Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah spoken of in Revelation, but we’re not going there just yet. What Jeremiah is talking about is a place called Shiloh, which was a holy place where the tabernacle was set up after the Israelites entered the Promised Land. You hear about Shiloh throughout the Old Testament all the way up until you read about the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant and then you never hear of it again until this prophesy of Jeremiah.

Shiloh and the tabernacle were wiped out by the Philistines and that is why you never hear of it again. Jeremiah’s prophesy is making reference to what happened to Shiloh for what is going to happen to the temple and then Jesus repeats the judgment again. If you compare the judgment that Jesus pronounces on the religious leaders in Matthew 23 with the judgment of Jeremiah 7, you see that they are very similar. It would take an entire book to make a complete comparison between the two, but we can boil it down to something very profound, which applies to US.

Read verses 8 – 11 of Jeremiah 7 again:

“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know,  and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.

Basically, God’s judgment against Israel in Jeremiah's prophesy and Jesus’ judgment against the Jewish leaders is that they were running off and doing whatever they pleased, sinning freely, worshiping other gods, stealing and killing and doing all sorts of wicked things, and then rushing back to the house of God to confess their sins and trust in the religious rites, ceremonies, worship services, communion, tithing and singing hymns of praise. They were trusting that they could do anything that they wanted to do because they could always go back to the temple of God to set things right again.

Does that sound familiar to any of you? Let he who has eyes to see and ears to hear understand.

God set up the tabernacle so that He could come and dwell among the people as they wandered through the dessert and as they came into the Promised Land. God brought them out of Egypt, He parted the Red Sea for them, He gave them sweet water to drink in the dessert, He provided them with manna and quail as they wandered on a daily basis to feed them, He gave them His law as a civil code for them to live by and establish a nation and then He asked of them to keep Him in the forefront of their lives. God asked the people of Israel to EXALT Him above all other things in their lives. Look at the challenge Joshua laid down in Joshua 24:14 and 15:

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Brothers and sisters, CHOOSE WHO YOU ARE GOING TO SERVE! Exalt Jesus over all of the other things in your life or do not. To put it in the same blunt language of Joshua, please excuse me in this, but it is URGENT that you understand this… CHOOSE TO PUT JESUS AHEAD OF ALL OTHER THINGS IN YOUR LIFE OR GET OUT OF THE WAY so you will not lead others astray along with you.

You might be insulted right now, you might be angry, you might be frightened and you might want to turn against me. Fine, but understand something first, running out and doing whatever you please, exalting the things and the circumstances in your life, putting your head in the sand and hiding, arguing with me or calling derogatory names on Facebook and then running back to your religious practices and your church with the same arrogance which the people of Israel had with both the tabernacle and the temple will not bring God's blessing upon you.

God has been very gracious in providing us with signs of His coming wrath so that we might escape it. God has withheld the evil of the earth from attacking with its full force. Over the past several years He has slowly been pulling back His hand as a warning to us that the times which Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 are coming. Just like a woman in the pains of labor, they have increased in frequency and intensity and they will continue to do so.

God has given us hints of what is coming in all parts of the world, in some cases, right in your own back yard. He will draw back His protection just as He did when He allowed the Philistines to destroy Shiloh, the Babylonians to destroy the temple the first time and the Romans to destroy it the second time. Jeremiah’s words, Joshua’s words and Jesus’ words ought to shake you out of whatever slumber you are in and draw you to TABERNACLE with your Lord.

I promised I would visit the meaning of the person of Shiloh. It is a very powerful and sobering connection as well. The person of Shiloh, who is Jesus, was referred to only once in Jacob’s blessing upon his son Judah (Genesis 49). In that blessing, he called Judah a lion’s whelp who would rule over his brothers until the person, Shiloh, came. What is extremely powerful and telling is that in Revelation 5, when Jesus takes the scroll containing His inheritance from God, He is referred to as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. That title is given to Him in no other place in the Bible. Look at what is sandwiched between those two mirrors of Genesis 49 and Revelation 5!

While you’re trying to decode the riddles of Daniel, Revelation and Matthew 24, you’re missing the whole point. While you’re constructing time lines and wringing your hands over whether we’re going to go through a pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib rapture, you’re missing the whole point. While you’re watching wars break out, hovering in front of your televisions and computers for the latest world news and what it means to end times prophesy, you’re missing the point. While you’re looking to the skies and wringing your hands over the star alignments and planet X and sunspots and meteors, you’re missing the point. What is the point?

Jesus wants to tabernacle with you. Jesus wants to pitch His tent right beside yours every night and eat breakfast around the camp fire every morning. Jesus wants to be your temple. He wants to be lifted up in praise and thanksgiving every day.

Don’t look on Him as the people of Israel looked upon Shiloh and later upon the temple. Exalt Jesus day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Drink the sweet water He provides so that you will not thirst. Eat the manna and quail He provides so that you won’t go hungry. Trust in Jesus for your salvation, your protection and your deliverance. Let Jesus be exalted in your salvation and in the salvation of those around you. The day is quickly coming when not a single stone of the temples which you have built for yourselves will stand upon another.

Look at what Jesus told His disciples after explaining the time of the end to them:

“For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” – Luke 21:35 and 36.

Lord, Jesus come and take dominion over your people and over all the earth. Amen.

FIFTY DAYS WITH JESUS IS COMING FRIDAY APRIL 14

This is just an annoucement to let you know that Quail Songs is changing up its format a little bit for 50 days starting on Friday. Here is a video link with the announcement which you are welcome and encouraged to share with family and friends. Let's really did into Jesus, the Word of God, through the season of Pentecost and watch how the Word takes root in our lives and causes us to produce fruit.

Get Your Talent Out of the Ground

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ – Matthew 25:24-30

I woke up in Medellin, Colombia this morning complaining. It took several hours of praying, worshiping and reading God’s Word to get me out of the gloomy mood I was in. Why was I gloomy? Unlike many who will read this I don’t have the luxury of sleeping in late on a Sunday morning, getting my family loaded into the car and head down to the local church where I can meet with my friends and other church members, preach, pray and sing, and then get back in the car and head over to Furr’s Cafeteria for lunch.

With fond memories I remember going to the fellowship/breakfast time at the Evangelical Free Church that I attended in Grand Junction, Colorado. Those breakfast burritos and biscuits and gravy while visiting with fellow believers was a great way to warm up for a worship service in which our pastor taught sound Biblical doctrine and called us to use our gifts to better those around us. Like most who read this, I left stuffed to the gills with the Gospel, but did absolutely nothing with it. I don’t know if the term “spiritual gluttony” exists, but it should, because that’s really what it was.

I no longer have that luxury of spiritual gluttony on Sunday mornings. You see, I fell in love with a woman from Medellin, Colombia and chose to come live in her home. It’s also become my home. There are no First Baptist, First Presbyterian, First Methodist, Evangelical Free Church or any other Protestant Churches available for me to attend in Medellin and if there was, hopping in the car and going to one wouldn’t be the order of the day. There are thousands of Roman Catholic Churches, but joining myself to them is firmly against Jesus’ call on my life. My only spiritual fellowship comes from afar and it is often very limited.

As I prayed about this and lamented to Jesus this morning, He pointed out that He had spent more than 40 years preparing me for what I’m doing. He made me comfortable with being alone and silent when He placed me on the back of a horse on my family’s ranch in Colorado where you often spent hours without seeing any other human. He has grounded me in His Word and taught me to trust in it above the voice of the preacher. He’s given me a wife who prays and supports me in all that I do and her family who loves me and supports me. He has given me family and friends across the world who uphold me with their prayers and support as well.

I could have fought the enormous battle of trying to take my wife to the U.S. (where illegal immigrants receive amnesty, but legitimate ones aren’t allowed in without going through a mountain of red tape and a fortune in cash), but that’s not what Jesus had in mind for me. He brought me here to delivery me from unrepentant sin and for healing and He accomplished that in my life. He also brought me here to bring the Gospel to a people who are greatly deceived by the Roman Cult. He gave me wisdom and understanding concerning the errors, but He has forbid me from attacking those errors head on. He has given me one charge, just like He has given every one of you. He has asked me to exalt His holy name and present His gospel of salvation. He’s given me the skill to draw out the scriptures in a way that draws people to Him. I could attack and debate and prove the great wisdom that He has blessed me with, but that’s not what He’s asked me to do.

I have the understanding that not all who receive the gospel will be saved. I also understand that not all who cry out Lord, Lord will be saved, but it is not given to me or anyone else an understanding of who is and is not truly saved. It does not matter. Jesus did not tell us to sort the weeds from the wheat, He told us to help harvest the wheat. So, I awaken every morning at 4:30 a.m., I send out the daily devotionals that reach people from Malaysia and Australia who are halfway through their day and to those on the West Coast of the U.S. who have only been in bed for a few hours. These devotionals are in both English and Spanish (thanks to the help of my wife). They reach people right here in Colombia and around the world exalting the name of Jesus and drawing all who can hear His voice calling to them.

After I send out the devotionals, I spend time in the Word and praying for Jesus to be exalted in the lives of my friends, family and those who read the devotionals who I do not even know. It is usually 7:00 a.m. before I am finished with this work I’ve been given and I’m ready to start my work day.

I tell you these things not to boast, but to tell you that I am weary. Jesus feeds me enough daily to get me through the day, but I have no “spiritual gluttony.” I lie down at night exhausted and praying that Jesus’ voice will be heard by even a few of the 4 million lost and deceived who surround me in Medellin. I pray for the 700,000 people in Peru who are without homes and clean water and for the lives of the thousands of fellow Colombians who were made homeless, widowed, orphaned and had their children snatched away from them in Mocoa. What hope do you think these people have when they have been taught empty doctrine which calls them to pray to a dead woman, fashioned in the image of the goddess Ashtoreth, and long dead saints who have no power to deliver them? I pray with great earnestness that the Lord will give me enough time to reach the lost sheep that I am sent to minister to before such a catastrophe hits them.

Wealth was never given to me. Authority and position have eluded me. I have been blessed with one great gift and I have to use it to my very best ability. For too long, I buried my talent in the ground and basked in “spiritual gluttony.” Thanks be to Jesus that He did not allow me to leave it buried, because had I left it buried, I would have been just like the man in the parable of the talents above.

I’m calling out to you to dig up your talents and use them. At the very minimum, you can support me with your prayers and make certain that Quail Songs and Canciones de Codorniz are shared with anyone and everyone who might need to have Jesus exalted in their lives on a daily basis (I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t). You, your friends and your church can be of enormous support to me with your prayers and encouragement. As you’re basking in “spiritual gluttony” today, remember the command you were given, remember the parable of the talents and remember that there are those who are in desperate need for Jesus to be exalted in their lives.

Let he who has ear to ear and eyes to see understand that the big fish is swimming your way and Ninevah has need of a prophet. The field is white for harvest and the workers are few. Though I am weary and I long for those former days, I would not trade my exhaustion for them and hide my talent in the ground. Rest will come when I’m called home and weariness will be forgotten.

THE TEACHER’S COMING! THE TEACHER’S COMING!

Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. – Mark 13:35 & 36

You might not have been one of the ones goofing off when this warning was called out in school, but I know that every one of you has heard it. Even adults, in the workplace, have heard the warning, “The boss is coming!” Jesus used this example in His parables of the Kingdom of Heaven and of His own return in Matthew 24 and 25 as well as Luke 12 and 19 and also Mark 13. There is really no way for anyone who has read the Word of God to miss the point of this illustration. So, with that in mind, pay attention: He Is Coming!

WHEN?

I DON’T KNOW!

Sort of anticlimactic, huh? Please excuse my moment of dramatics. Jesus is coming, no one knows the exact day or hour, but we do know it is soon. There is a massive movement of people who are focused on the Fall feasts of the Jews wrapping up the Year of Jubilee. Their arguments have merit. Biblical scholars can point to a ton of very solid pieces of prophetic evidence to support their position. They make total sense, they really do. I would be convinced right along with them except for something that I’m about to share with you.

In my opinion, the Fall feasts in connection to the sign of Revelation 12 in the heavens, approach almost disqualifies it because EVERYBODY knows about it. Everybody is looking at those days. Everybody is preparing to either be caught up in the rapture or to mock those who set the date. I posted a blog last week about Expecting the Unexpected when it comes to Jesus. We know that He will come when He is not expected. I’m going to offer two suggestions concerning the Fall dates that should point you toward caution in placing too high of expectation in those dates.

1) Since EVERYONE knows that many are focused on the Fall dates, it makes it very easy for a powerful WORLD entity (I’m not going to speculate on who, but they are there) to pull off an enormous deception.

2) Thanks to modern technology, haven’t we already, in essence, seen the heavenly sign of Revelation 12? Don’t get overly technical on this. We know what the sign looks like and when it is coming. The first thought that comes to my mind about this being so obvious is STUMBLING BLOCK.

C) I had to do it (this is a serious matter, but it is also a time of rejoicing). We don’t know if there will be a pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib rapture when it comes right down to it. We don’t even know the exact starting point of the tribulation. If you get right down to it, we can’t really be certain of the entire seven year tribulation idea, because in reality, it was put together as a counter-reformation teaching by the Jesuits. That one probably hit you a little harder than you expected.

What we can say is that the SEASON is here and we should be watching. I’m going to lay out several prophetic connections that can suggest a different time for a pre-trib rapture below. THESE ARE NOT DATES THAT I AM SETTING, but each of them has equal merit to the dates set during the Fall feasts of the Jews. To start with, I want to point out something to draw your attention away from being too caught up in the Jewish Feast dates. Ready?

CHRISTIANS ARE NOT JEWS!

Does that come as a shock to you? It shouldn’t. We are not and never have been under the covenant of the Jewish law. Are we called to obey God’s commandments? Yes, and even to love the law of the Lord, but we are not Jews. We are under a new covenant. Christians have only two feast days, though we aren’t even compelled to celebrate those. They happen to match up with two Jewish feast days. Passover (Resurrection) and Shavout or Weeks (Pentecost) are our two high days, so to speak. I point those out only because if you are going to connect Christian observances with Jewish feasts, those two make a great deal more sense.

Here are alternated dates that hold equal status in terms of God following a scheduled rapture:

1.      Nissan 10 (10^th day of the 1^st month) There are more connections to Jesus, His purpose, His work and His return to this date than to any other date in the bible. Here is the short list:

a.       The Passover Lamb was brought into the home on this date and kept there until the day it was to be prepared for sacrifice.

b.      Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan and into the Promised Land on this date.

c.       The Triumphal Entry of Jesus, who came into Jerusalem (the home) and was kept there until it was time for Him to be prepared for sacrifice.

2.      Passover 14^th through 21^st of Nissan (Death and Resurrection). There are pretty powerful connections to this date as well.

a.       The lamb was sacrificed and its blood was placed on the doorposts of the houses, covering those inside from the judgment of God’s Angel of Death. Following the passing over by the angel, the Israelites were set free from bondage, fled into the dessert and were delivered across the Red Sea out of reach of Pharaoh, who was very swiftly judged and destroyed.

b.      Jesus was slaughtered and taken down from the cross, the Bible says, “on the day of preparation.” He was resurrected on the 3^rd day as the first fruits of the New covenant (this day happens to also be a First Fruits feast of the Jews).

3.      50^th Day, Shavout, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). Fifty days were counted from the first day of the Passover. On the 50^th day (sort of matches the Jubilee, don’t you think), was a celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

a.       The 50^th day out of Egypt was the day God’s Ten Commandments were issued to the Israelites, declaring His new covenant with His people.

b.      Pentecost was the day that Jesus delivered on His promise of the Holy Spirit dwelling upon those in the New Covenant of Christ… that’s us. When you couple this with Jesus talking about the harvest of wheat… well… It has to make you wonder, right?

Just to mess up all of those who are bound to set dates for a pre-trib rapture, there is always the illustration of the Bride and Bridegroom. The Bridegroom goes to prepare a place for His bride and will come back at a non-specified date. Why isn’t it specified? Because when the Bridegroom prepares a place for His bride in His Father’s house, He cannot go and get her until the Father inspects the addition, which was added onto His house, and declares that the house is ready for the bride to come. That could be ANY day and one of the reasons that Jesus said, “of the day and hour, no one knows except the Father.”

I AM NEITHER A NAYSAYER NOR A MOCKER

Please understand that I am not scoffing nor mocking the return of Jesus. I am mocking the modern day Pharisees who believe that they can fit Jesus’ return into a box. The SEASON is upon us. We know that our time draws near because we can see that God is about to have His last seven years of dealing with the Nation of Israel, which is what the dates and time frames in Daniel and Revelation are specifically addressing. As Christians, we can be warned that the time is upon us as we see God’s prophesies concerning Israel playing out along with the signs that are being revealed throughout the world.

It makes sense that Christians will be dealt with separately from the Nation of Israel and everyone else, because of this, we will either be caught up and taken out of the world before that happens or we will be surrounded and protected while the tribulation is played out. If Jesus is to call us out, It would behoove us to have our eyes fixed on the next ten days for that to take place. If it does not happen in that time frame, keep your eyes open for the wedding feast to be called at whatever time throughout the spring, look with great anticipation again at the time of Pentecost.

It is my opinion and it is worth as much as you paid for it. If Christians are not taken up between now and September, then we’re probably not going to see a pre-trib rapture and we’ll see the events of the tribulation unfold very clearly and literally before our eyes. If that is the case, we can hope in a mid-trib or post-trib rapture and be secure in the knowledge that Our Lord will surround us and protect us.

HERE IS ALL CERTAINTY

We are in the season. End Times events will begin to unfold at a breakneck pace from this point forward. You should DEFINITELY have or be putting your spiritual house in order and trusting in Jesus ONLY for your salvation. You should not be distracted by anything but that which EXALTS the name of Jesus and gives all glory to Him. ABIDE in Him daily, watch and pray, for your redemption draws near.

NOTE: If you need help getting your spiritual house in order, refer to the following link or contact me directly. There is no more time to waste.