Rev. Jusak Widjaja Hendra - WR Supratman 4 Sby
Today we still read the epistle of Jude, which is in Tabernacle structure symbolized with the covering of badger skins / the covering of judgment. The word “covering” denotes the protection and attention of God towards the true church (wheat) as well as the separation from the false ones (tares). We must be careful in order not to be cheated, as the late Rev. In Juwono always said that pastors are the excellent actors; they act kindly but actually full of deceits.
While Jesus was in the garden, all disciples fled to save themselves but Judas came near and kissed Him. People did not see an evil Judas at all, only his being the kindest and greatest person. In fact, this Judas seemed more evil than ever. If our spiritual eyes are not opened, we will obviously prefer Judas to other disciples. Therefore, we must be careful for today there are many false churches and pastors. The false churches seem more advance and higher in growth than the true ones as the tares and the wheat. Nevertheless, the separation will happen, resulting in destruction for the tares and entering the barn for the wheat.
Learning the epistle of Jude, we have to be more careful in our steps following God until the second coming of Jesus.
Jude 1:11
CHURCH OF THE FLESH
11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily
in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
The three error people – Balaam, Korah, and Cain – portray the appearance
of the fleshly church.
- Balaam was a reward lover who served God with the purpose of getting material things. Such a man lives without faith.
- Korah was a rebellious man who complained against the Lord. Such a man lives without holiness / hope.
- Cain was the killer of Abel his brother. Such a man lives without love.
Today we continue learning about Cain.
1 John 3:11-12, 15
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Cain offered sacrifices to the Lord but without love. This Cain represents a servant of God who does the ministry with hatred, resentment, and envy.
1 John 2:10-11
10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Ministry without love is a blind work, which has neither direction nor goal (the goal is the New Jerusalem / the everlasting kingdom of heaven).
There are three kinds of spiritual blindness / blind ministry as follows:
- Blind because of hatred
1 John 2:11
11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
He who hates his brother walks in darkness and loses the light of the love of God. On the contrary, if we have the light of the love of God, we will love one another in these seven interaction practices:- looking out the interests of others at home, church, and office.
Philippians 2:4
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. - giving honor to one another
Romans 12:10
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; - edifying one another by good words for the spiritual growth in Christ
Romans 14:19
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
Ephesians 4:29
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Good words may impart grace to the hearers and embolden the weak conscience, but the rough and empty words may kill others’ faith. Frequently a husband and wife diminish each other by evil words, so that a little emotion can stop one of them (or both) going to church or play a big part in their divorce. Watch out for our words accordingly! - admonishing one another
Romans 15:14
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
1 Timothy 1:5
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
Admonishment/advice must be given from a pure heart (no reward or profit gain) and from sincere faith (according to the true doctrine - as faith comes by hearing the word of God). The late Rev. Totaijs always warned us to be careful in advising someone about marriage; such advice has to depend on true teaching word and the love of God. - bearing with one another
Ephesians 4:2
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
Galatians 6:9
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Good works are never in vain, because they will be turned into clean and bright fine linen.
Revelation 19:8
8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. - confessing trespasses and forgiving one another
Ephesians 4:32
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
He who did the wrong must confess his trespass honestly and may not do it again after being forgiven, and he who forgives must forget his brother’s trespass. - praying for one another
James 5:16-18
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
By confessing our sins and forgiving one another, the sins are settled and no longer obstruct us to come to God and pray for one another. The prayer of a righteous man (a righteous man is he who has settled his sins and walks in righteousness by the justification of God) avails much: containing healing power as well as the care of God until the days of antichrist (Elijah had prayed for three years and six months, which is the period of the days of antichrist.)
Let parents pray for their children so that antichrist will never touch them from now until the days of antichrist reigning in the world. Do not be satisfied with the great career they have because antichrist will rule over it.
- looking out the interests of others at home, church, and office.
- Blind because of having forgotten about forgiveness (repeating
the same sin over again)
2 Peter 1:9
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
There is no light of the Holy Spirit in such a man.
Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is to manifest that we have settled our sins and the Lord has forgiven us. If we repeat our sins, however, the forgiveness will cancelled and the Holy Spirit go away.
Light is the opposite word of “blind”. Therefore, we must have the light of the Holy Spirit to avoid the spiritual blindness as well as to encourage the spiritual growth.
2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self–control, to self–control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are seven points in the spiritual growth as it were the seven lamps of Golden Candlestick, as follows:- strong and true faith by hearing the word of God
- virtue = good works
- knowledge
- self-control
- perseverance
- godliness
- love
- Blind because of not seeing the teaching word (the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.)
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
There are two sorts of the preaching of the word as follows:- the gospel of salvation
Ephesians 1:13
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The gospel of salvation is about the first coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus who was born in the flesh had to die on the cross for the salvation of sinful men - provided they have faith in Jesus, repent, and receive the baptism of water and of the Spirit. - the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image
of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) = the teaching word,
which is about the second coming of Jesus Christ in the glory as King
over kings and as the Heavenly Groom. There must be no sin at all at that
time.
Now the teaching word sharper than any two-edged sword sanctifies us from all sins until we are perfect and blameless so that we are worthy to welcome Jesus’ second coming. Compare with Jesus’ first coming that is to save sinful men (we may find in the Gospel).
As a fact, many churches only accept the Gospel, not the teaching word, because of the hardness of heart (golden calf/the god of this age). It has happened when Moses received two tablets of stone and the pattern of Tabernacle (teaching word) on the Mount Sinai. The Israelites on the foot of the mountain worshiped the golden calf because of their hard hearts rejecting Moses.
In short, spiritual blindness means there is hatred and evil thought, no light of Holy Spirit (blindness=repeating sins), and rejecting the teaching word.
Colossians 3:10-14
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
tender mercy means not judging the others; kindness means being keen on giving alms.
These seven lights must characterize this life in form of the renewal of life in either marriage or ministry, so that:- the darkness is defeated
Matthew 5:14-16
14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Mark 4:21
21 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?
The darkness here is connoted with basket and bed. Basket points to economic problem and eating-drinking (smoking, being drunk, and consuming narcotics), and bed denotes sexual sins. Many people say that capital increase will solve economic problems. This is not true, since the darkness can only be defeated with light, that is to say the light of God’s love, of Holy Spirit, and of the teaching word, lest we become blind. - we may glorify the name of God by our good works and words.
Matthew 5:16
16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We need the light, in household, or church, or office, etc. It is not wrong to make friendship with anyone as long as we are able to shine them with the light of witness by our good works and words, that the name of God is glorified and those who walk in darkness are saved.
Ephesians 5:8-9
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
the fruit of the Spirit = the fruit of the light (Indonesian Bible) - The fruit of the light is goodness or good works. We may not do something that causes a disadvantage to the others, but we should even repay good for evil, for this is the bright light.
- The fruit of the light is righteousness/justice and no impartiality.
Just because a man sits in the position of “director”, we always excuse and justify him regardless of his faults. We must do justly and speak the truth instead of this. - The fruit of the light is truth and no sin. Do true
deeds (not sinful ones) and say true words (not sinful ones)!
By the above three fruits of light, those who walk in darkness will not endure and they will sometime by the mercy of God move out of darkness into His marvelous light. - we can see a bright future in the world and the eternal future
in heaven.
Matthew 5:14
14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
The city on a hill is the New Jerusalem, the city of light.
John 8:12
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
Matthew 5 says, “You are the light of the world.” and John 8 says, “I am the light of the world.” It means: we will shine the light as bright as Jesus’ light. John 8 shows the Golden Candlestick in Tabernacle (http://www.gptkk.org/pelita-en.php)
Revelation 12:1
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
The woman refers to the church with the sun, moon, and stars, that is to say, the light of the world. At that time, we will have become the Bride of God (“You are the light of the world.”) as perfect as Jesus Christ, the heavenly Groom (“I am the light of the world.”). There will be in us no darkness at all.
- the gospel of salvation
Our futures do not depend on education certificate or money. If that were true, we did not need God; just pursue the highest level of education and get the certificate, earn lots of money and save for the future. But the truth of God tells a different story; the future of the Church of God who walk in light is dependent on the two wings of a great eagle. This is fair because everyone can get them as long as they walk in light – no matter they are smart or fool, young or old, rich or poor. The more our light shines, the more our wings grow up. By the time our light shines as bright as Jesus’, our wings will have spread perfectly to fly us into the wilderness, where God will care and protect us from the antichrist for three years and a half.
Revelation 12:14
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Living in the light, we are given two wings of a great eagle to fly us to the wilderness where God cares and protects us for 3.5 years when antichrist reigns over the world. The two wings enable us to overcome any temptations now, even the greatest temptation in the time antichrist reigns over the world. Let us now try with our best effort to have the light as the purpose of our life. Jesus is willing to die on Golgotha as Skull, showing His responsibility to defeat the darkness of death so that we may live in the light. Flowing from that, we have to sacrifice all things such as money, energy, etc. except the true teaching word (Jesus Himself) in order to live in the light, just as the sacrifice of flax in order to shine.
The two wings of great eagle fly us to the wilderness and care us for 3.5 years.
Afterward Jesus comes the second time and we reach the town of light on the
mountain, i.e. New Jerusalem.
Now the question is: do we walk in light? or do we live like a bruised reed
and smoking flax?
Matthew 12:20
20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;
While God is speaking of the light, we are probably like smoking flax – so that a little wind is enough to quench it. We are completely hopeless, but Jesus had died to defeat the king of darkness (death) to restore and revive our hope.
Here is an example of the smoking flax:
John 8:2-5
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,
4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
5 "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"
A woman caught in adultery in the very act had to be stoned to death. Fortunately,
this woman was brought to the temple where Jesus was teaching. Through this
story, we can see how important the teaching word is. God by the teaching word
is able to make our light shine again and revive our lost hope.
How was the woman saved? She was set in the midst. It means to us: confessing
sins frankly.
John 8:10-11
10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
We confess our sin to God and the others and never do it again after being forgiven. In such a manner, God will make our light shine again and anything dark (such as collapsing economy) will be restored and revived.
Stop sinning! We do not repeat our sin until we cannot do any sin someday. For example, we did the sin “A”, we confess and do not repeat it, so the sin “A” has been put away … and so on until the sin “Z”; we confess and do not repeat it, so the sin “Z” has been put away. In such a manner, we cannot sin anymore sometime and will become the light of the world, which is as bright as the light of Jesus Christ. This is called the Bride of God who has made herself ready to welcome the second coming of Jesus Christ and enter into the New Jerusalem, the city of light.
No matter what our conditions are, even like the adulterous woman, we still reserve a hope of life, even to become the Bride of God. God bless you!
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