The Shaking & Removal of Spiritual Things - Part II

" ...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear..."  Hebrews 12:26-28

When was the last time you saw evidence of 'reverence' or 'godly fear.' Are you kidding me?

The past five years have been the spiritually toughest times of our lives. My husband and I are estranged from many family members and dear friends due to spiritual sifting, because we stood by principles laid down in God's Word - and these people are all professing Christians. We love them dearly, but our first commitment is to obedience to the Lord. Scripture clearly tells us to expect these divisions in the last days. Well, here we are - not happy about any of it, but at peace.

We have had to leave 3-4 churches because they were heading into heresies through New Age evil creeping in. We stated the case according to scripture, were unsuccessful in stopping the new changes, and left peaceably. We have no ill feelings and love the pastors and people left behind, but our first commitment is obedience to the Word. The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Bible-teaching church, a real church family. It has been like receiving a great blessing toward the end our journey.

What was accomplished due to all of this sifting? We aren't sure. These were spiritual issues, and we can see with real clarity only the physical realm at the moment. The peace we have, however, is confirmation to us that something was accomplished in the heavenlies.

In addition, we have taken on what we saw as some of the toughest projects for the Lord that we can imagine. We could have walked away, but we knew they were things the Lord wanted us to do. We have become more adept at hearing the still small voice.

My point in revealing all of this is that we have felt, in a real and concrete way, the sifting in our own lives. We have been forced to make decisions about things we might not have done ten years ago. The Lord has been honing us, molding us, and it hurts. But it's his will. It's right. We will never achieve the goal while on earth, but we want with all our hearts to be heading in the direction He wants us to go. We have become aware of the sifting, and we understand that it is a part of God's program in these last days.  In other words, we don't want to be wrapped up in theological arguments and principles; we want to follow the Lord's call by our correct handling of actual, real life decision-making in obedience to him. We want that to be the driving force in our lives. That is our aim: to live it rather than talk about it.

One doesn't need to look very far at all to see that the universal state of Christianity is deplorable, sad, ineffective, a sham, a cloud without water, a hollow shell - often evil. Satanic forces continue to sift the church, to shake it until all dross falls away. Only what's done for Christ will remain.

Paul's letter to the Hebrews was an attempt to pry the Jews away from their man-made order, the Jewish system, their forms, their everlasting traditions of men. The same principle holds true today. A great majority of the Protestant churches have fallen away, and we are about to see the Roman Catholic Church (already firmly pagan) split and destroyed. Watch. The entirety of the Church continues to be shaken and tested until only those with abiding values will remain standing at the gates. The Jewish experience and destruction of the Temple, the priesthood, and the traditions was a type of what is happening today to the Church.

God doesn't want systems, orders, dead form. He wants relationship - with those he created after his own image! What man continually does is to construct a better system, and just as legalistic and ritualistic as the old.  The New Testament is dramatic in its lack of a church system; it was an organism, springing forth from the reality of the Cross, creating followers of Jesus, crucified to self. That which goes by the name of "Christianity" in the world today is often the greatest enemy of Jesus Christ.

Are you being sifted? If not, why not? It's the last moment of time. We need to take stock of our spiritual lives. How important is it for you to have a personal relationship with the King of Kings, the Creator? You can, you know. 

We are not only in the final hour. We're in the final moment. What's the truth of your spiritual state? If you cannot live up to the reality of Christ-likeness through obedience in the physical,  that is evidence you are not passing the test spiritually.



 

The Shaking & Removing of Spiritual Things

Stay with me here, through the first couple of paragraphs of context. This may be the most important thing I've ever written.

" ...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear..."  Hebrews 12:26-28

In the first part of this chapter Paul had reminded them that God chastises those he loves in order to bring them to perfection, to prepare them for the heavenly realm. He also reminds them how Moses quaked and was fearful at the encounter with God on the mountain He also reminds them that they are approaching the heavenly city, God's city, and the angels, the church and Jesus our savior and the new and better covenant. He goes on to say, "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:" and then goes on with the above three verses.

Now, Paul wrote this letter a little before God brought about the end of the Jewish system, the Jewish regime, and the dispensation - in 70 AD - fulfilling the words of Jesus that not one stone would be left upon another. That entire system was to be shaken to its core, completely shattered. Paul is saying that the system about to be destroyed was but an earthly representation of heavenly things, and therefore it was important for them to be anchored in the heavenlies, the eternal. That was the purpose of the letter.

But that wasn't all. There was a future vision here. A vision of the heavenly destination, that the earthly was only a prelude to our eternal destination. The earthly shaking of the Jewish system was only half the story. Only half the shaking. He is telling them that not only would the temporal be shaken out, but so would the spiritual. There was to be a second shaking out - a spiritual one.

The spiritual would also be shaken to its foundations, to determine what would abide spiritually. We have been going through this spiritual shaking. It is almost complete, and it is the final great shaking of heaven and earth, which has begun and is about to dramatically increase. Suddenly.

I would be seriously concerned if I had not noticed a distinct spiritual shaking over the past few years. That would mean I am out of touch with the spiritual realm.

This spiritual shaking has several aspects to it. One is accountability for what God has given us. Jesus Christ gave us far more than the Jews ever had. We were given the ultimate blood sacrifice by the Lamb himself, we were given revelations which had been withheld - mysteries - from all of heaven itself. We have been given his Word - the Bible - the Word of God himself.  Through that Word we have been given information of exactly what to expect in the end times. We have also been given the Holy Spirit indwelling us. The previous order, the Jewish temple etal, had none of this. We have access to God beyond anything they ever dreamed of.

What have we done with all this? That is the question we have been answering and continue to answer through our actions at this time in history. God will certainly hold us responsible and accountable for the revelation of all of this. He will certainly want us to have done something with it.

We are going to be brought face to face - up close and personal - in extremely drastic ways to answer to God for this advantage over all previous history. We have been passing through personal spiritual experiences that are required to be our very life - our very survival - spiritually.

The things we have been given, these amazing advantages we have received, are being sifted of all interpretation, ritual, tradition, mental consideration ... stripped of everything, placing us squarely and face to face with the Cross, obedience, seeking God's perfect will, how we spend our time, how we live out our relationships, how we carry out our jobs, our priorities, our time, the Great Commission, our interaction with the body of Christ - everything that defines being a follower of Christ.

At the end of this age the Christians are facing such spiritual intensity, such stress, pressure and testing that it will reveal how our claim to be Christians holds up to the reality of our lives. All things will be revealed about you personally. Is your faith real? Have you died to self? Does your life reflect Christ in you?

This sifting that has been going on is the very thing that has shaken out the majority of the 'church' and has resulted in apostasy and heresy throughout Christendom. Satan has been allowed to sift us as he did Peter. He has been allowed to use selected individuals (from the foundations of the world) - seminarians, preachers, lay leaders, laymen, the entire gamut. These leaders have joined in Satan's program to infiltrate a new doctrine, a new faith, another Jesus into our religious systems, which have become spiritually static and lifeless, but physically entertaining and sensual. The Lord will not preserve the 'isms,' the new 'prophets,' the phony dreams and visions, the voodoo rock music, the worship of pictures and statues, the lust for the world, the systems, programs and traditions, the trendy new church, and on and on. No, he will not.

"... that those things which cannot be shaken may remain."  That is the  Word of the Lord. He wants and will have those whose spiritual properties cannot be shaken.

 (There may be a Part II - I don't feel that the Holy Spirit has put a lid on it yet :-)