There are three accounts in the New Testament scriptures that I believe God wants you to see today. In the book of Acts, there is an account of non-Christian Jews attempting to cast out demons as they had seen the apostle Paul doing. These were not Messianic Jews, that is, they were not converted in the belief that Jesus was the Anointed One, the Messiah. Of these three
passages, the first occurred in the early days of the church 2,000 years ago. The second and third accounts all occur during the White Throne Judgment at the beginning of eternity. Here is the first account in Acts 19:11-16.
“God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
I wonder how many church going people are going to be left behind at the time of the Rapture of the church. A famous talk-show host has declared repeatedly that she is a church-going Christian. Yet, her beliefs and actions declare her as an unbeliever. Here is the second account that Jesus gives as occurring on Judgement Day in Matthew 7:21-23,
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
What a surprise this will be to these people! Jesus says, “Many”. And what do these ‘many people’ profess? They profess that they were good at performing in public Christian circles. They give no other account of themselves, except their church and ministry activities. No mention is made by them about their personal lives, personal habits and personal actions. Had they something more to admit into these Supreme Court proceedings, they would have remembered and defended themselves with it. Jesus says, “I never knew you”, just as the demons did to the Jewish exorcists. This third account also occurs during the future White Throne Judgement as shown here in Matthew 25:31-43,
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
“‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’”
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’”
This third account tells us as servants of God how we shall be accounted for in the Final Judgement. It will be by the deeds that we did away from the eyes of the church. Many will say in that day, “Jesus, I was great in church wasn’t I? I held the crowds spell-bound! I was pious and honored, I was blessed by all the church people! Look at the record of how great I was!” Yet apparently, Jesus will not be impressed by any of this.
In fact, notice how the righteous’ answer to Him is so opposite than those that He condemned! The righteous said,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’”
They did not do the things they did for recognition, or fame, but simply to help their fellow man. They LIVED the law-of-love toward their fellow man without expectation of a return.
In times of need, our hands are God’s hands, but only if we are living for others, and not just ourselves. I believe that the world is in the last days, and people are hungry for a real God, and a real Savior. Godliness is good, when it is accompanied by truth, help and service. There is someone that needs you and your help right now. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to share Christ when you are lending a helping hand.
The Holy Spirit will show you how you can serve God if you ask Him. As Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17-19,
“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
Take this opportunity to pray right now and ask God to reveal to you ways that you can help others in His kingdom; for I believe, our time is short.
Please join me for our Anniversary Celebration of 27 years in ministry this Sunday September 8th. Join us on any Sunday or Wednesday for our LIVE services, in person or online. I want you to know I pray daily for all those who have ever peered into our ministry even once; for revival in your home and church, revival in your marriage, and finances and body. If you have ever given financially, I pray that you get double your Daily Bread, and that God pours out such a blessing upon you until it overflows. David wrote in Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
I release a blessing of Shalom over you today and this year. I speak blessing upon you as you read this letter and enter into God’s holy place.
I am praying for you daily! Shalom!
Pastor David Gonzalez
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