Chapter 19 - The Great Divide
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Bonhoeffer- ' Confessor and doer are separated from one another. And now the division is carried to its furthest extent. Only those are now speaking who have survived the test so far. They are numbered among the doers, but they appeal no to their confession, but to the deeds they have done. They have performed deeds in the name of Jesus. They know that confession does not justify, and so they have gone and made the name of Jesus great among the people by their deeds. Now they appear before Jesus and tell him what they have done.
At this point Jesus reveals to his disciples the possibility of a demonic faith which produces wonderful works quite indistinguishable from the works of the true disciples, works of charity, miracles, perhaps even of personal sanctification, but which is nevertheless a denial of Jesus and of the life of discipleship. This is just what St Paul means in 1 Cor. 13, when he says that it is possible to preach, to prophesy, to have all knowledge, and even faith so as to remove mountains, and all this without love, that is to say without Christ, without the Holy Spirit. More than this, St. Paul must even reckon with the possibility that the very works of Christian charity, giving away one's goods, and even martyrdom, may be done without love, without Christ, without the Holy Spirit. Without love: that is to say, in all this activity the activity of discipleship is absent, namely that activity the doer of which is in the last resort, none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Here is the most serious, the most incredibly satanic possibility in the Church, the followers must ask by what ultimate criterion Jesus will accept or reject them. Who will pass the test, and who will not? The answer lies in the words of Jesus to the last of the rejected: "I have never known you." Here we are at last, here is the secret we have been waiting for since the Sermon on the Mount begun. Here is the crucial question-- has Jesus known us or not? First came the division between Church and world, then the division within the Church, and then the final division on the last day. There is nothing left for us to cling to, not even our confession or our obedience. There is only his word: "I have known thee," which is his eternal word and call. The end of the Sermon on the Mount echoes the beginning. The word of the last judgment is foreshadowed in the call to discipleship. But from beginning to end it is always his word and his call, his alone. If we follow Christ, cling to his word, and let everything else go, it will see us through the day of judgment His word is his grace.'
My thoughts- Demonic faith. Satanic possibility. While calling on the name of Jesus- demons are busy at work to deceive.
I read this the other day- '1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. '
How? How was this possible? David was God's chosen, David was close to God, following His ways, listening to Him. Yet SATAN provoked David. How? How do you provoke someone to do something? Surely Satan wasn't walking about having conversations with David. Do you suppose he was whispering in David's ear? Do you suppose he was in David's thoughts encouraging Him to do this thing that God did not want him to do? Maybe he was playing on David's weaknesses, exploiting David's desire, taking it beyond temptation and into sin. We know that Satan works hard, but just how hard is he working at us and in what manner? If we chalk our BAD days up to life, we aren't naming the name of the one provoking us, are we?
Surely you've been provoked by someone before to do something you didn't want to do, yet, because of the provocation you succumb to their encouraging you. Just how many people are in prisons today because they've succumb to provocation, probably a lot of them. We know how to provoke others too, don't we? You tease them, you wear away at their resolve, you bug them, bother them, you entice them in any way you can. Satan PROVOKED David.
Satanic provocation is REAL now as it was real when Satan whispered to David, getting him to do something that was wrong, something David knew was wrong, something David knew God would not want him to do. It's REAL, Satan is alive and well and living to deceive, living to provoke, living to attack each and everyone of us in any way He can. Satan WANTS to DECEIVE US! Satan wants us to believe we are right with God, that we have nothing to worry about at all, we are doing the works of God- right?
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Bonhoeffer- ' If we follow Christ, cling to his word, and let everything else go, it will see us through the day of judgment His word is his grace.'
This is truth, and we MUST know His word.
Satan has done his best to keep the word of God from people and he's used many different tactics to do so. He's taken the word and made it scarce, and he's allowed it to be prolific and both of his plans have served him very, very well.
Cling to Christ's word, we must cling to Christ's word! His TRUTH! HIM! We cannot trust in ANYTHING we are able to do! We don't know if it comes from ourselves or from somewhere else, but unless it comes from our SAVIOR we know nothing. We must KNOW our Savior more than anything else, trust in Christ, not in ourselves for anything at all!
All in HIM! He is our LIFE! We are His disciples, truly His disciples. When Satan would have us believe that following ANYONE so exclusively is wrong, we must TRUST, we must BELIEVE, we must have CHRIST as our ALL IN ALL.
Is it any wonder there will be so few truly Christ's?
Satan has deceived all but Christ's very elect, and to be Christ's very elect we must be His fully, totally devoted to Our SAVIOR.
Please LORD through Your Holy Spirit let us be YOURS wholly YOURS!
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Bonhoeffer- ' Confessor and doer are separated from one another. And now the division is carried to its furthest extent. Only those are now speaking who have survived the test so far. They are numbered among the doers, but they appeal no to their confession, but to the deeds they have done. They have performed deeds in the name of Jesus. They know that confession does not justify, and so they have gone and made the name of Jesus great among the people by their deeds. Now they appear before Jesus and tell him what they have done.
At this point Jesus reveals to his disciples the possibility of a demonic faith which produces wonderful works quite indistinguishable from the works of the true disciples, works of charity, miracles, perhaps even of personal sanctification, but which is nevertheless a denial of Jesus and of the life of discipleship. This is just what St Paul means in 1 Cor. 13, when he says that it is possible to preach, to prophesy, to have all knowledge, and even faith so as to remove mountains, and all this without love, that is to say without Christ, without the Holy Spirit. More than this, St. Paul must even reckon with the possibility that the very works of Christian charity, giving away one's goods, and even martyrdom, may be done without love, without Christ, without the Holy Spirit. Without love: that is to say, in all this activity the activity of discipleship is absent, namely that activity the doer of which is in the last resort, none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Here is the most serious, the most incredibly satanic possibility in the Church, the followers must ask by what ultimate criterion Jesus will accept or reject them. Who will pass the test, and who will not? The answer lies in the words of Jesus to the last of the rejected: "I have never known you." Here we are at last, here is the secret we have been waiting for since the Sermon on the Mount begun. Here is the crucial question-- has Jesus known us or not? First came the division between Church and world, then the division within the Church, and then the final division on the last day. There is nothing left for us to cling to, not even our confession or our obedience. There is only his word: "I have known thee," which is his eternal word and call. The end of the Sermon on the Mount echoes the beginning. The word of the last judgment is foreshadowed in the call to discipleship. But from beginning to end it is always his word and his call, his alone. If we follow Christ, cling to his word, and let everything else go, it will see us through the day of judgment His word is his grace.'
My thoughts- Demonic faith. Satanic possibility. While calling on the name of Jesus- demons are busy at work to deceive.
I read this the other day- '1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. '
How? How was this possible? David was God's chosen, David was close to God, following His ways, listening to Him. Yet SATAN provoked David. How? How do you provoke someone to do something? Surely Satan wasn't walking about having conversations with David. Do you suppose he was whispering in David's ear? Do you suppose he was in David's thoughts encouraging Him to do this thing that God did not want him to do? Maybe he was playing on David's weaknesses, exploiting David's desire, taking it beyond temptation and into sin. We know that Satan works hard, but just how hard is he working at us and in what manner? If we chalk our BAD days up to life, we aren't naming the name of the one provoking us, are we?
Surely you've been provoked by someone before to do something you didn't want to do, yet, because of the provocation you succumb to their encouraging you. Just how many people are in prisons today because they've succumb to provocation, probably a lot of them. We know how to provoke others too, don't we? You tease them, you wear away at their resolve, you bug them, bother them, you entice them in any way you can. Satan PROVOKED David.
Satanic provocation is REAL now as it was real when Satan whispered to David, getting him to do something that was wrong, something David knew was wrong, something David knew God would not want him to do. It's REAL, Satan is alive and well and living to deceive, living to provoke, living to attack each and everyone of us in any way He can. Satan WANTS to DECEIVE US! Satan wants us to believe we are right with God, that we have nothing to worry about at all, we are doing the works of God- right?
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Bonhoeffer- ' If we follow Christ, cling to his word, and let everything else go, it will see us through the day of judgment His word is his grace.'
This is truth, and we MUST know His word.
Satan has done his best to keep the word of God from people and he's used many different tactics to do so. He's taken the word and made it scarce, and he's allowed it to be prolific and both of his plans have served him very, very well.
Cling to Christ's word, we must cling to Christ's word! His TRUTH! HIM! We cannot trust in ANYTHING we are able to do! We don't know if it comes from ourselves or from somewhere else, but unless it comes from our SAVIOR we know nothing. We must KNOW our Savior more than anything else, trust in Christ, not in ourselves for anything at all!
All in HIM! He is our LIFE! We are His disciples, truly His disciples. When Satan would have us believe that following ANYONE so exclusively is wrong, we must TRUST, we must BELIEVE, we must have CHRIST as our ALL IN ALL.
Is it any wonder there will be so few truly Christ's?
Satan has deceived all but Christ's very elect, and to be Christ's very elect we must be His fully, totally devoted to Our SAVIOR.
Please LORD through Your Holy Spirit let us be YOURS wholly YOURS!
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