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 A seperation of sheep from goats.

There is a separation coming I believe. I believe that the Lord will use hunger and thirst to separate His people. This is why I believe there is a famine going on, a drought across the land. What had been taken for granted years ago has been withdrawn. The void has been filled with soulish activity. The problem with soulish activity is that it can never satisfy, never sustain.

What will truly separate God’s people from this world? What will it take? I am not quite sure, but I know that God is coming down. There are five virgins and they have oil in their lamps. Why are the lamps not trimmed? Where is the light? For anyone who has experienced the presence of God, nothing else is acceptable. Its not good enough to stand outside the door, its not good enough to remain in the courtyard, one must enter in. And the only way to enter in is to pass the alter, the brazen alter. What will we bring as a sacrifice” How will we humble ourselves? What state are we in? Are we able to look at ourselves?

We expect to see the power of God without the sacrifice. We expect that God will come down and legitimize our ministries, He will not. God will come down for His glory and for the love of His people. He will hear their cries, He will see their afflictions, He will see a people ready to glorify Him for no other purpose than to glorify Him. He will not honor nor will he send fire to those who seek to honor themselves. Why do we see no miracles in the church? Why are there no signs and wonders that follow?

We make excuses here in the West that the people are too rational, they are not dependent upon God, their need is not great, they have doctors and so on. All of that may be true, yet God will not honor men’s ministries. He will honor the worship of His people. He is not conjured up by louder music or drum beat. No one stands in the presence of God, all are silent before His majesty, all are hushed and awe descends like a blanket upon the heads of His people and their heads are bowed and their hands raised up and trembling. Not because they were instructed to bow their heads, raise their hands ,sit , stand , jump . No, no, not in the presence of God. One assumes a position before the living and the mighty God just as a natural instinct. No instructions are required as one is prostrate in His holiness. Every part of who you are is penetrated by light. It is glorious and traumatic all at the same time.

And the oil that dwells within your chest is set aflame by this light, this fire from the throne itself. “Did not our hearts burn within us as we walked with Him?” Yet we are not walking now, we are in the throne room itself, God has come down. Our whole body burns with a beautiful warmth. All things are possible, eternity stretches out before us and we never want to leave this place, we never want to leave this place. The candlestick burns. God speaks, sin melts like wax, refining, yes refining. We offer ourselves and the dross that lies within and the Lord says “Come.”

So what will bring this presence down? An awareness of the times. Death to business as usual. Genuine desire. A return to the biblical example of church. What we have today bears no resemblance whatsoever to what God initiated. We have man centered church. Programs of men. Teachings of men. Musical programs. None are bad in and of themselves, they are just not God ordained. Religious social clubs. I believe that shortly , God’s people will come out of the social clubs...........Frank

 2009/1/22 19:12
White_Stone
Member



Joined: 2008/10/25
Posts: 1196
North Central Florida

 Re: A seperation of sheep from goats.

Religious Social Clubs. Amen!

white stone


_________________
Janice

 2009/1/22 19:21Profile









 Re: A seperation of sheep from goats.

Quote:

appolus wrote:
Religious social clubs. I believe that shortly , God’s people will come out of the social clubs...........Frank



Many already have....

Old Joe

 2009/1/22 21:22









 Re:

Amen brother

 2009/1/22 23:19
TracyInMD
Member



Joined: 2008/10/21
Posts: 56
Maryland, USA

 Re: A seperation of sheep from goats.

Hope I represent myself well enough to get across what I want to say.

How is it that those of us just SEE this and the others DON'T? This is what I find: even the immature among us CAN hear and SEE something, even if they cannot define it. They will not deny that major problems exist, but others readily will.

I recall my less mature days, when I saw the problems but could not myself define them. I saw a 'church' totally scramble when their favored pastor left and it seemed like idolatry, I saw a 'church' composed of people who never ever bring up God's name at the social events they call fellowship, I saw/see constant friendship with the world and the building of lives (rather than losing them) and experience push-back when I suggest we NOT be friends w/ the world. The signs are becoming more and more visible and they are terrible.

I see almost no move toward righteousness on the part of the people with whom I gather on Sun morning, and have to meet outside of those gatherings with a totally separate group of believers to get any encouragement at all in the things of God. (Now, on Sunday, there's plenty of "How ya doin', Tracy?...Oh, great." and that's it.)

We wouldn't define "entertainment" with loud music but with sweet hymns and potlucks. "We're not them," we proudly say. We are just as deceived; we think our Chicken Soup for the Soul version is better off than the MTV version.

I absolutely think we ARE seeing this division. Strangely, 3 people came to me separately and started speaking to me on how they think there are many who think they are saved but who may not be. I had already myself started to have these thoughts, but kept pushing back from them. I thought, "couldn't be, that would be awful!" Then in Atlanta, one of the main things I got from the Paul Washer sermon myself was the same thought: there are many many people who think they are saved but show no fruit in keeping with repentance. In fact, WHAT FRUIT IS THERE?

Yes, we gather here and we see it. I find that even the immature can see it and I witness their "sudden understanding" when someone who does see it speaks it. But the majority of people where I am cannot imagine what I am saying, and I don't even discuss it. When I find the handful of people who do seem to desire righteousness and grieve over our current state, they absolutely understand. I see (separate thread) [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=27020&forum=35&11]two kinds of people[/url] with my eyes. This is objective behavior.

I ask myself if we are even praying correctly. Are we praying for the revival of people who have never even been born of the Spirit? I hope my saying that doesn't offend people, but what if it is in fact true?

You write here, Bro. Frank, all the things that are in my mind and heart. It's like I find a home in the people who post here; we are all so aware of the remnant concept and then Paul Washer said in Atlanta, "The remnant IS the church." [b]Then what is the other?[/b]


_________________
Tracy Hofmann

 2009/1/23 6:56Profile









 Re:

Quote:

TracyInMD wrote:
...Paul Washer said in Atlanta, "The remnant IS the church." [b]Then what is the other?[/b]



I wrote this in another thread, but it makes some sense to post it again here.

"To give you a sense of the matter, the 'broad way' is not the entire world, but professing Christianity, the rest of the world hasn't even made an attempt to enter 'the way' yet. The 'narrow way' is genuine Christianity.

Not intending to be a perfect count, but for an idea of scope, simple math with Rev 5:11 teaches that 1 in 200 people ever to have existed will be saved. (Approximately 110,000,000 out of a total of approximately 22,000,000,000 born) Since we have come out of the Philadelphian period where the Lord had much good to say of the church and now live in that most terrible of church periods known as the Laodicean, we can expect that number to be 1 in 500 or so. If we use 20% of regular church attendance in North America, and assumed that all believers were in the church, that would mean that somewhere in the range of 1 in 100 of those in the church are truly blood-bought children of God."

Now today others are beginning to understand that all Christians are not in church, but most are having a tough time with this concept. The end-times apostasy has not only begun, it is nearly complete, having gotten under way 100 years ago.


Which is why this is such an important concept to understand right now.

[i]Christ alone can save you, but beware of church.[/i]

Then I posted this in the same thread.

"When the pulpit and the pew are overrun by heathen, the Christian will not be welcome in the visible church.

If one hasn't been asked to leave a church, forced out, marginalized, or some other such persecution by a church, their salvation should be questioned."

It may be considered extreme, but I don't really care what others consider it to be. I have learned from experience that when you take the visible church head on, you can expect the most terrible persecution from THEM.


Old Joe

 2009/1/23 7:41
graceamazed
Member



Joined: 2008/11/3
Posts: 77
Tennessee

 Re:

Quote:
If one hasn't been asked to leave a church, forced out, marginalized, or some other such persecution by a church, their salvation should be questioned.

It may be considered extreme, but I don't really care what others consider it to be. I have learned from experience that when you take the visible church head on, you can expect the most terrible persecution from THEM.



I'm all in on this issue of the true remnant church that exists apart from and within the current organized "church". I do want to say however, from experience, I see God moving within corporate organized gatherings of His people as well. The body of believers I fellowship with (150 or so) truly seek God and function in many beautiful ways as the church of Christ. I wouldn't want to be forced out, marginalized, or asked to leave this fellowship of believers - and for that matter, I don't think they ever would treat me in such a way, so long as I live am living to glorify God and they are seeking the same. Am I willing to be persecuted and pushed out and made a spectacle of for the truth of the gospel...absolutely! And I think in many other "churches" I would be in this position, but not all churches.

I just want to praise God for the expressions of His unity and beauty that I do see in some of us who gather as a corporate body to worship Him as our Lord.


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Buck Yates

 2009/1/23 8:14Profile
TracyInMD
Member



Joined: 2008/10/21
Posts: 56
Maryland, USA

 Re:

Old Joe,
That's very interesting about the 'broad way'. I'll study that, because lately the idea of a "Highway of Holiness" has really been coming to me. I've come up w/ this thing about the 'ancient paths' in Jer 6:16. It's like we can find no rest for our souls at all in Church Inc., because we haven't entered onto the ancient paths of God's righteous ways. But we are very "busy busy, doing all we can do for Jesus" or so we think. It's like Hebrews 4 (the Believer's Rest) should be thrown out of the Bible.

The true church, I believe, actually IS very interdependent upon each other. We desperately need each other in a deceptive environment. We ARE ONE, and everything talking about the Body in scripture speaks to complete inter-dependence upon one another. The thing is, Church Inc., is NOT the true Church, but there are battered members of the Body within the organizations.

I've come to believe I don't need the organization at all, but sought members of the Body (from diff areas) to get exhorted in the ways of God. The power has been something else. God is in our midst, and we are quite like the early church in that there is a sense of awe. (Acts 2:42-3)

This is one of my suspicions as to why God might be showing us things with regards to sheep/goats and wheat/tares. Christ is building His church and for a long time we've been really confused about what Church looks like. He's pulling us together for exhortation; we need each other bad, so perhaps He's saying, "find one another" to the Bride.


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Tracy Hofmann

 2009/1/23 8:58Profile
Lowly
Member



Joined: 2007/10/13
Posts: 41


 Re:

Apollos

I hear your hearts cry. I was wondering if you think it is more of a matter of going up, instead of waiting for God to come down. Has He not now exhorted us to come up to that Holy mountain, are we not invited to enter in? Has a way been made before us to worship at His throne. How wonderful it is that the Spirit of the Lord now rests upon us.

I was just thinking about the difference this would make in our gatherings, I know that there are many who show very little evidence of the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Spirit in their lives. How do we get them to keep appointed times with the Lord. To go up, to allow that work to be accomplished?

Lowly

"Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart..."

 2009/1/23 12:02Profile
Lysa
Member



Joined: 2008/10/25
Posts: 3699
East TN for now!

 Re: A seperation of sheep from goats.

Frank,

You've probably heard this before but a few years ago I heard a sermon on here where the preacher called the excitable religious social clubs, "7 Flags Over Jesus." I've never forgotten that term.

God bless,


_________________
Lisa

 2009/1/23 12:15Profile





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