Cecil duCille
Omega Message – June 1982
The Children of God who believe in justice and mercy, must agree that a loving God who is abundant in mercy must judge the children of His household before He judges the world.
I Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
God’s judgments take many different forms, some of which include the allowing of His enemies to come against His people to punish them. One of the staunchest laws of God is the law of Sowing and Reaping.
Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Only the Blood of Jesus Christ remits sin, otherwise all sin must be punished. Sometimes we only see the effects on the outward man, and we tend to wonder why would God allow this? but we should never forget that God is righteous and whatsoever is done of God is righteousness.
As an accountant it is very easy for me to understand that there must be a time of reckoning when all the accounts must be balanced. At the end of the business year there is a time of reckoning but if the business is being liquidated, then all the accounts must be closed at the same time. This concept is the one which the Scripture speaks of in I Peter 4:17. – The time is come – for what? – for the judgment of the Church. What then are the judgments which are upon us at this time?
The Foolish Shepherd:
A phenomenon of our time is that foolish leaders have greatly multiplied in the Church. Every shade and half shade of doctrine is being preached with much enthusiasm and is attracting great followings everywhere. It is most astounding how “doctrines of devils” have made inroads among the people and how lacking in the true foundation the people of the Church are.
Zechariah 11:15 “And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
11:16 “For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
11:17 “Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”
The Judgment of God is upon us for following foolish shepherds. The right hand is dried up and the right eye is blinded. The right eye refers to the eye of the Spirit, thus this symbolism means that the shepherds who will not feed the flock of God will be spiritually blind and will have no power to do spiritual works or the will of God.
Blindness and ineptitude have come upon the church so that the purpose of God in our time is not known and in the pursuit of their programs they fail to see the nearness of the coming of Christ and the cataclysmic end of our civilization as we know it. The anti-christ is in the midst of the Church and yet the church has not seen neither his spirit nor his kingdom, nor the man. The scripture declares that, “…the lawless one will rise up in the midst,” II Thessalonians 2:7; and Christ himself declared in Matthew 24:15 that he will “..stand up in the holy place.” In my estimation it is clear that the anti-christ will rise up in the church and that already he is showing himself among us; but not many of the Christians believe this. I see this as the judgment of God upon us which will end in great desolation.
Foolish Prophets:
The judgment of the foolish prophets is upon the church.
Ezekiel 13:1 “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
13:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
13:3 “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
13:4 “O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
13:5 “Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD…………..
13:10 “Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
13:11 “Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
13:12 “Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?”
The description in this passage is apt – men and women prophesying out of their own hearts – their mouths calling upon the name of the Lord but their words coming from their own desires. I was in a meeting some time ago where a sister got up and spoke a prophecy “Thus saith the holy virgin Mary-“ she said, and proceeded to give a word of prophecy in the name of the Holy virgin Mary.
A wall is a man made construction, and in verse 11 we are told that God will send a wind and hailstones and break down the walls we build, and tear down the mortar (confirmation) we have put on. Someone gets up and speak a word in tongues out of his or her own heart (not of God), and another person interprets it also out of his own heart. Many are driven from the churches because of this lack of reality, but many find great comfort in the fact that there is no one to set things like this in order. Preachers make up their sermons and use all the canned stuff which they received in college or picked up otherwise instead of getting fresh bread each day from the Lord for each occasion. This is an abomination in our midst and both the people and the prophets are under the Judgment of God.
The Foolish Man:
Matthew 7:26, 27:
7:26 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
7:27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Many of Jesus’ sermons were directed to foolish Christians. In this passage the foolish Christian was one who heard the word or was a hearer of the word but not a doer. It is not enough to accept Jesus as Saviour, we should know him as Lord and follow Him. The majority of Christians dwell in the realm of accepting Jesus as Saviour, but following foolish shepherds who are not following the Lord or who follow Him afar off. The present darkness into which the world is entering demands that we follow Jesus the whole way in order to overcome. The penalty is clearly stated – “..and great was the fall of it.”
We are in the days of the falling stars or men of God. Many men of God are falling and compromising with the world. There is a good case for any Christian who wants to enter into politics, BUT it is a lie of the devil to believe that we can change the course of things by our political efforts. What our political Christian brethren are doing for us is setting us up as targets for the world to shoot at when they are ready.
History show that whenever a world power seems to be embracing Christians without embracing Christianity, that it is to use us for their own purpose. If the policy of a country is to oppress and imprison Christian brethren, then there is no way that I could accept an invitation to be a guest of that country as a preacher of the gospel. Some of us are joining together and creating hit lists against politicians who do not foster Christian principles, to vote them out of office. Our power is not in Politics, “but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty”. (II Cor. 10:4)
The Foolish Virgins:
Matthew 25:1
25:1 “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
25:2 “And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
25:3 “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
25:4 “But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
25:5 “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
25:6 “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
25:7 “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
25:8 “And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. “
In this parable given by Jesus the types are as follows:
- Virgins – Spiritually clean Christians who have the righteousness of God
- Five – the number of Ministry; Wise Ministry and Foolish Ministry
- Lamps – Man’s spirit (Proverbs 20:27)
- Vessels – Man’s soul (Acts 9:15)
- Oil – The Holy Spirit (Exodus 30:25); – Holy anointing oil; – Christ the anointed one.
- Bridegroom – Christ
- Midnight – The darkest hour in the history of the world.
It is inconceivable to some of our Christian brethren that the words “I know you not.” could be used by the Lord to those who were called “Virgins” in verse 12, but MIDNIGHT is going to separate those who had the work of God done in their souls from those who frustrated the Holy Spirit, not allowing him to do the transformation within the area of the soul. Jesus Christ redeemed our souls by His death, and he came to save our souls. If in the final analysis, we reject the completion of this work in the soul, then the Mind and the Emotions will remain unregenerated and we will fail to overcome Satan in the power of his strength, at midnight.
Doctrines of devils are not necessarily lies. The worst of them are an unholy mixture of truths and half truths. Using the word of God in a worldly context or wrong interpretation is more dangerous than outright lies.
Every Heretic Teaching Strikes Upon Certain Vital Areas:
- The Blood of Jesus Christ
- Doctrine of the Coming of Christ
- Holy living
Most modern Christians believe the natural wine and the Bread to be holy after being blessed, and in so doing they miss the main truth of the Wine being the Life of Christ which we share one with another and the Bread being the body of Christ which we are. These are the emblems or types which we share in our communion service. Some of the Christians now believe they have progressed beyond the veil and do not need communion – this is a heresy.
Doctrines of the Coming of Christ – Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, Post-Tribulation are all theories of men’s minds. The churches have been struggling over these doctrines for years. In these last days, God is however reaching some of His people with truths which bring life. What if while we are waiting for the tribulation etc. we discover that we are already in the tribulation.
Whatever the situation is we need to be prepared to meet the Lord. Since it is not an outward preparation, and the Kingdom of God is within us, then we need to pay all the attention we can to the inner man and his preparation to meet Jesus Christ.
Many years ago a heresy crept into the doctrine of Holiness and completely disfigured it. To this day when we speak of holiness some Christians think we are talking about long sleeves and long dresses. The doctrines of holiness completely lost their meaning because Satan deceived the churches causing them to take their eyes off the Lord to look at outward things for signs of holiness. The modern church says No, those fellows over there were wrong let us go in the opposite direction. The Christian now wear anything and everything, but holiness is not of man but of God. It is the Holy Ghost who makes us holy. If you want to know what to wear ask Him.
With the Latter Rain movement of many years ago and revived in the Charismatic movement of our time, the speaking in tongues became popular. This is a true experience of the Holy Spirit, but many are forgetting that Jesus Christ is the Baptizer into the Holy Ghost and fire, and are laying hands on brethren telling them to speak in tongues, some even tell what words to say, then they pass them as being filled with the Spirit. They take their eyes off Jesus and place it on tongues, thus instead of having a move of the Spirit we have a move of tongues.
I have seen people speak in tongues who are not saved.
Foolish Hearts:
Romans 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
The letter to the Romans was written to the Roman church and not to the world, yet this letter speaks of men who were once saved; who failed to glorify God as God and allowed darkness to take charge of their hearts. This chapter goes on further to speak of Christians going into homosexuality, and in the 28th verse he speaks of it as a judgment of God on them:
Rom. 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
1:29 “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
1:30 “Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
1:31 “Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
1:32 “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
This Judgment has fallen on the church. Churches and groups everywhere are struggling with this Abomination. Many brethren are now preaching the doctrine of reconciliation of all things. This doctrine says that all the beasts of the earth from Nimrod to Hitler and Amin, and even the Devil himself will have the opportunity of being saved after being burnt for eons of time until they are purified. False doctrine has a direct relationship to sin. In many cases the people who preach these doctrines are consoling themselves that they will be saved no matter what yet they continue in sin. False doctrine in itself is sin and generally covers up for other weaknesses. Homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin, BUT it is one of the most powerful abominations in the human race, and along with it goes some of the most powerful devils that can possess the human body and soul. It not only changes the physical behavior of the body, but opens up the soul to emotional devils which bring spirits of violence and lust of very great power. This demonic incidence is so rampant in the churches today, and some churches are so much overwhelmed by it that many have been forced to create homosexual branches, and registered “Gay” churches are springing up everywhere.
There is however one thing certain that,
Gal. 6:1 “….They that do these things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (last clause)
The Foolish Church:
Galatians 3:1 “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”
Galatians 4:10 “Ye Observe days, and months, and times and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.”
This church had gone back to try to perfect itself by legalism. Because of the difficulty the ministry finds in bringing up children in the Lord to recognize the voice of God among the many voices and to obey through love, in most places they are instituting a Discipleship program. This program is not discipling people to Christ but to the leaders. This is a short cut to nowhere, since the disciple cannot be greater than his lord thus condemning the believer to build by a plumbline that is not plumb. If rules and regulations could bring perfection then Jesus would not need to shed His blood.
Most of us observe days. We should keep every day holy. Sunday is not a holy day; Easter is not of God; Christmas is not Jesus’ birthday, and if it was we are told not to keep it. If we do then we are called carnal Christians by the word of God.
Part of our Judgment is that like the Galatians 3:1, “Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth and crucified among us.”
How Shall We Escape:
Ezekiel 9:6 “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”
The picture of Ezekiel 9 is the same picture of the Ten Virgins from another angle. In the dark hour of God’s judgment He will make a difference between sheep and sheep and shepherd and shepherd. While one group is protected and safe with the Lord, the other will be out in the darkness probably sealing their testimonies with their blood. In the verse quoted above the situation is put in all its rawness and for the person who does not understand the language of God, it would be hard to see in these words a loving and merciful God. In spite of this the explanation is however, that those who are outside of OBEDIENCE to God in the moment of crisis, stand in an indefensible position, and not even God Himself can break His own rules to save them. This is the reason it is written in Revelations 11:2 that the “Outer Court” will be utterly destroyed. THE MARK IN THE FOREHEAD which in symbolic language means the Mind of Christ in our minds will be the saving portion in the day of God’s judgment.
Many times the Scripture describes God’s judgment as nothing more than retribution being brought upon man by his own actions, and in some cases the army of the heathen coming against his people who were not able to win because their God had withdrawn from them. Actually they were not better fighters than the heathen around them, and their victories only came through their obedience to God. It would therefore be natural that when the Lord withdrew from them that the enemy would overcome them, and that would be their punishment for disobedience. NEVERTHELESS IN GOD’S JUDGMENTON HIS CHURCH there never was utter destruction and there never will be. “God will save her and that right early.” (Psalm 46:5).
The judgments of God are upon us, and there will be a continuous increase of God’s judgment upon the church unto a final cataclysmic end, when the church will be purified:
Malachi 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”
It is not all bad news – THE GOOD NEWS FAR OUTWEIGHS the bad. This will produce the greatest revival of righteousness in the earth.
Daniel 12:1 “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
I believe we are living in the time when the Great Accountant of Heaven is making a final balancing of His accounts. Any of our work, which is not motivated by righteousness, will be burnt up as hay, wood, and stubble. Those works, which are ordered and directed by the Holy Spirit, are gold, silver, and precious stones; that is all that matters. Many little Christians shut away in some non descript corner will be receiving great rewards for their obedience in prayer, while some of the mighty men in the limelight of Christianity will only be saved as if by fire. May the Lord bless you to be among those who God honors at the final summation.
Sonlight Devotional 