As we look ahead at VERY uncertain times, the Holy Spirit continually brings
certain scriptural passages to my attention--passages that I KNOW are for
such times as these, and that I KNOW I am to share with each of you. One
such passage is found in Rev.: “Then I heard another voice from heaven
say: "Come out of her, my people” (Rev. 18:4).
In the past 5 mini-sermons, we learned that we need to come out of Babylon.
We've seen that Babylon represents a church, and we've learned that to keep
ourselves pure so that we don't commit "spiritual adultery" with "Babylon",
we cannot put anything above God's Word. Finally, we discovered a few
characteristics of the "Babylonian" church. These include "lukewarm"ness,
legalism, and confusion, which makes it impossible for us to seek or hear
God's will.
O. K. But surely their must be hope for my church! What are some other
characteristics of Babylon?
In Matthew 11:29,30, Jesus said: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and think of
me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your soul.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:29,30). I used
to puzzle over this text. If I’m supposed to come to Jesus and give
him all my heavy burdens so that I might find rest, then what was this part
about a yoke? In early times, a yoke was an instrument placed upon the necks
of a pair of oxen in order to guide them while they pulled wagons or plows.
I’m sorry, but pulling a wagon this doesn’t sound very much like “rest” to
me! Let’s take a closer look at this verse. Jesus isn’t telling us to
“dump” our burden, but to exchange it for something “easy” and “light”. In
other words, when we put Jesus first and foremost, our tasks will be much
easier and lighter than when we put our own selfish pursuits first. All we
have to do to make our life “easy” and “light” is learn to put Jesus first,
and exchange our selfish, worldly pursuits for His yoke. Could it be that
"Babylon" is a church where we have forgotten how to lean on Jesus? A church
that has forgotten to put Jesus first and foremost in every endeavor? A
church that seeks to do God's will above their own?
COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE! Stop trying to carry the load of worry by
yourself! Stop trying to “evangilize the world all alone! Come unto me and I
will give you rest!
Jesus used the term “friend” in many of His dealing to represent those who
had come to know Him. He was called a “friend” of tax collectors and
sinners; He referred to Lazarus as “our friend” (Luke 7:34); when the
paraplegic was lowered through the roof to see Jesus, Jesus told him,
“Friend, your sins are forgiven” (Luke 5:19-20). And the list goes on.
But just why would Jesus use the term “friend”? I think it’s clear: He wants
to BE our friend! Yet how many of us truly worship Him as a friend? How many
of us trust Him as we would a human friend? How many of us talk to Him as
much as we do our human best friends? How many of us confide in Him like in
our friends? Yet Jesus is far better than any human friend! He can actually
DO something about your problems!
And what about "Babylon"? Could it be that "Babylon" represents a church
that has forgotten that Jesus is a "friend"?
Continued in the upcoming Sunday's edition of the Answers2Prayer
newsletter.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,