If you were to look upon these events in which My Son was being judged before the Roman governor, accused by the chief Priests and the other Jewish officials, rejected by the crowds, and you would consider it from the perspective that His disciples considered it, would you not be overcome with disappointment and the sense that all of your hopes and expectations were being destroyed? Would you not even wonder how it could be possible that I would allow My Son to be treated in this way? Would it not seem perplexing to you that He who had spoken such wonderful words and had performed such powerful miracles, would seem so helpless in the face of the accusations, the condemnations, and the cruel treatment that were being heaped upon Him. Would it not seem to you that perhaps I had abandoned Him? But for what purpose this had occurred you could not tell. And in the midst of all this there would be the things that would impress you and would govern your feelings and your thoughts. Gone from your recollection would be the words of My Son predicting that these very things would happen to Him. And beyond your ability to observe would be His firm confession before Pilate concerning the character of His kingship and His Kingdom, the purpose of His mission and the true nature of His power. And if even you could observe what took place between Him and Pilate, would you have been able to understand truly what was going on? Would you have been able to find any comfort or assurance in it? Was it not after all that took place following these events and the coming of My Spirit to reveal their ultimate purpose that the understanding of the disciples was completely transformed? So then, what is the lesson for you in the light of what is recorded here and that which I have spoken to you about it? It is certainly important that you understand that the coming of My Spirit and the revelation that He brought to My Son’s disciples made a great difference in their perception of what had happened. And it was certainly My Spirit’s coming and that revelation which not only transformed their perception and their understanding, but strengthened them inwardly for the fulfillment of their calling, for the working out of My purposes in their lives that resulted from all that was accomplished in the suffering the death and the resurrection of My Son. And as it was for them, so must it be for you that in the midst of the outworking of My purposes there shall occur many things that will only perplex and disturb you if you consider them from a natural perspective. What then, you may ask, will bring to you that true perspective by which you will come into confidence about the outworking of My purposes, even though the circumstances may seem on a natural level to contradict those purposes? But unlike the original situation you always have the choice of turning to Me, of bringing your perplexities, your doubts, your fears; to Me so that I by My Spirit may grant you revelation of what is the true perspective. And that will bring you into the place of peace, confidence and of the ability to walk out My purposes, even in what may seem to be very contrary and impossible situations. And you will remember as this takes place how My Word reveals, even in this portion, that which seems to natural eyes to be the defeat of your expectations and of My purposes is instead the very means by which they are being worked out.
Tags: Fulfillment, God's Purpose
At first glance the words of the parable which My Son spoke may seem to be an indictment of those who oppose Him, but it is much more than that, for you see that in the parable He not only portrayed their resistance to Him, but ultimately to Me also. And when He chose to support what He had declared in the parable with the word of the Psalms, you see that neither My Word nor anything else He said brought conviction unto repentance. This was not only an indictment of their outward opposition, but it was as well an indictment of their hearts. When My Son showed them, in the light of My Word, what I had declared about Him as the cornerstone and about them as the builders rejecting My chosen cornerstone, it did not produce a change of heart, but rather a determination to do away with Him, even as the vine dressers in the parable determined to do away with the vineyard owner’s son. In their attitude and in their decision to do away with My Son they thus proved themselves worthy of the judgment of which My Son spoke in the parable. Now what would I have you learn from this? I would have you see that while the truth proclaimed can set men free, it can also expose the hearts of those who like the vine dressers are determined to oppose Me and to claim and possess what is Mine for themselves. And does this not show that by doing this they are truly what My Son declared them to be: children of the evil one whose works they would do. And was it not the evil one who declared that he would set his throne above Mine? Is it not said of him that he is a thief. I want you to recognize that the truth when faithfully proclaimed will both bring conviction unto repentance of those who truly receive it and strong resistance and reaction, both against the truth and against those who proclaim it, by those who reject it. And even as it was the experience of My Son to provoke both conviction unto repentance and determined resistance and rejection, so will it be your experience as you faithfully, boldly and uncompromisingly declare My truth.
Tags: Rejection, Truth
You see what a godly King Josiah was, even though his predecessors and those who followed him were evil. In his faithfulness to Me and in his zeal for My House, he directed that it be repaired and rebuilt. And when My Word was found in the temple, and was read to him, its truth touched him deeply so that he recognized the extent of the sin of My people and he tore his clothes and grieved with great repentance. And though he instituted many reforms and saw to it that the idolatrous images and practices should cease in Judah, yet you know that those who followed Josiah and were evil led the people astray. In this way it soon seemed that there had never been those changes that Josiah instituted, for you see that though Josiah was deeply committed to My pure worship and to the commandments of My Word, those who followed him were not so committed. You may ask then why those things that he instituted to change from idolatrous ways that stirred My anger and My judgment, why then did those good things that Josiah had instituted not remain for long after he left the throne. Is it not clear that as good a leader and as godly a King as Josiah was, that he could not produce long standing results from his reforming efforts. And was not the reason for this that, though he could affect the outward circumstances in Judah, these did not effect a change in the hearts of the people. That idolatrous spirit which was rooted in their hearts quickly emerged after Josiah died. You may wonder if it is futile to pray for a good and godly leader if all the good that he accomplished is easily swept away and the people return to their idolatrous ways just like a dog revisits his vomit. And surely you must recognize that this would be the same today, even if I would raise up a very godly leader who was very zealous for My word. So then I ask you how are you to pray in this day? How are you to ask Me to raise up godly leadership in this land. No, it will be empty and futile unless the hearts of My people are truly smitten and they come to genuine change within by genuine repentance. That is what you must pray for, even though it may not happen right away.
Tags: Genuine Change, Repentance