The ACTS 2020 March/April
A REMINDER TO US
There were many believers who were full of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in the past. They walked in the Word fervently and manifested three commendable attributes. They were full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent in exhorting one another.
Rom. 15:14-15 14Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,
However, Paul was not contented with the accomplishments of those believers. Instead, he quoted words from the prophets and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ in his epistles to inspire them and to remind them to take heed of the words that they had heard so that they would not drift away.
Likewise, there are many believers among us today who are also full of goodness, filled with knowledge and are able to exhort one another. Nevertheless, they still need the words of the holy prophets, preaching of the apostles and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ to remind themselves to be cautious and to take heed of the words that they have heard so that they will not drift away.
Warning To The Unbelievers
Jude 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
This Bible verse serves as a warning to remind us that God destroyed those who did not believe even after having saved the people out of Egypt.
Deu. 9:7 Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.
The Lord had not only saved His people out of mercy, but He also destroyed them because of their unbelief.
Those who were redeemed and had tasted the grace of God eventually stumbled and fell along the way, thus, destroying themselves. The unbelief of the people brought destruction upon themselves.
The unbelief of God’s people did not only happen in the past. Today, we too, face a similar situation in the church. Hence, true believers of God should remember and be reminded of the word of God at all times.
Although God had destroyed those who did not believe in Him, He also saved those who believed in Him. The latter received what was promised to them. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites who did not believe in God were killed. Those who trusted in God’s promises survived and managed to enter the land of Canaan.
The Two Types Of People In Church
The Bible has made it clear that there are two types of people among the children of God.
1. Two Nations Are In Your Womb, Two Peoples Shall Come Out Of You Esau And Jacob Represent The Two Nations
Mal. 1:2-3 2"I have loved you," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" Says the Lord. "Yet Jacob I have loved; 3But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness."
The Lord Jesus Christ said, "…Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated” (Rom. 9:13).
Ps. 24:5-6 5He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah
Heb. 12: 16-17 16lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Jacob was from the generation of those who sought after God. He was blessed because he was righteous. On the other hand, Esau sold his birthright and was a profane person. God rejected Esau because he was unrepentant.
The two generations that arose from Jacob and Esau represents the two types of believers in the church today: those who are loved by God and those who are hated by God. This was already foreshadowed three thousand and nine hundred years ago.
Those Who Are Loved And Hated By God
1Pet. 2:8LP-9 8…They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;
The lower portion of verse 8 states “they stumble, being disobedient to the word”. ‘They’ in this context refers to the children of God and not gentiles.
Deu. 32:19-20 19"And when the Lord saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. 20And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.”
Even though they are all children of God, some belong to a faithless and perverse generation just like Esau who was hated by God. On the other hand, some belong to a group of people who is made up of the children of a holy nation. They are from a chosen generation who walk in the light just like God’s beloved Jacob.
2. Two Baskets Of Figs Set Before The Temple Of The Lord
Jer. 24:1UP-2 1The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord,… 2One basket had very good figs, like the figs
that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
In his vision, prophet Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord Jesus Christ. One basket had very good figs, akin to first-ripe figs; but the other basket had figs that were so bad they could not be eaten.
God told Jeremiah that the figs symbolised the people of Judah. They were the good figs, first-ripe figs; but the others were very bad figs that were so rotten that they could not be eaten.
The two baskets of figs set before the temple of God represent the two types of people in the church of God.
i. The Good Figs
Jer. 24:5-7 5Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. 6For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
Jer. 29:13-14 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
The good figs are those who grow spiritually under the care of God. God will bring them back to His house. He will build them up and not pull them down. He will plant them and not uproot them. He will also give them hearts to know the Heavenly Father. They will then seek after Him and return to Him with their whole hearts.
Rev. 14:4-5 4These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
The good figs are sanctified for they belong to God. As the first fruits of the produce of the land, they must strive to attain holiness in order to be the unblemished people of God.
ii. The Bad Figs
Jer. 24:8-10 8'And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad'-- surely thus says the Lord--'so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. 10And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.' "
God rejected the bad figs and made them abhorrent and an offence to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever He banishes them. He shall send the sword, the famine and the pestilence among them and cause them to be consumed from the land. (Deu. 28:15-46)
Isa. 14:12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
The bad figs placed before the temple of God represent the people who were slaves of corruption and made empty promises to free the people of Judah. They were just like clouds without water, trees without fruits, raging waves of sea and wandering stars. These stars were originally shining brightly from heaven. However, they failed to keep their positions and fell to the ground.
Matt. 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave clear warning of what lies ahead for the unbelievers.
The Fall Of The Believers
All the Israelites who were led by Moses out of Egypt had received the same grace from God, ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. However, God was not pleased with most of them.
Paul warned the spiritual believers at that time:
1Cor. 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Those who “fall” would become just like Esau and the basket of bad figs that could not be eaten. The Lord Jesus Christ had prophesied of many events that would happen to the church of the last days. One of them is the “fall of many people”.
Matt. 24:15 Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place
Dan. 11:31-32UP 31And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery….
The fallen ones spoken by prophet Daniel refer to those who are the “abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place”. They are the ones who will forsake and violate the holy covenant through their evil deeds.
Conclusion
2Pet. 2:22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."
Peter described that a person who fails to learn from his past mistakes is just like “a dog [that] returns to his own vomit” and “a sow, having washed, returns to her wallowing in the mud”.
2Pet. 2:20-21 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Those who forsake their belief and faith are the foolish ones who become entangled in the world again by abandoning the holy commandments and the words of God, even after having known the Lord Jesus Christ and escaped from the filth of the world to walk in the righteous path.
Heb. 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
Brothers and sisters, we should remain vigilant at all times to ensure that we do not harbour any evil and unbelieving hearts that will cause us to turn away from the living God. We must constantly remind ourselves to be cautious at all times lest we imitate the bad examples set by the believers who fell.
Let us hold fast to our original faith until the very end to become partakers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(The Holy Spirit Times – August 1940)