EarsToHear.net
He That Has Ears To Hear, Let Him Hear
(Matthew 11:15-30)
Home -
About -
Faq's -
Contact/Subscribe - Op-Ed's
- Search -
Donate -
The Christian Calling
Y’shua said to them again “Peace be with you: just as the Father sent Me, so I am sending you.” --John 20:21
Ezekiel 3:18-21 - When I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also you hast delivered thy soul.
"Salt of the earth" & "Light of the world" --Matthew 5:13–16
"If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:1-7)
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 - If I shut up heaven so there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people: if My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I shall hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
"If my people..."
Citizens of the Kingdom of God
"...which are called by My Name,..."
Christians
"...shall humble themselves,..."
Worthy?
"...and pray, and seek my face,..."
Power of God required
"and turn from their wicked ways;..."
Repent (choose this day whom you will
serve, self & flesh or God & Spirit?)
"...then will I hear from heaven,..."
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord
will not hear me. (Psalm 66:18)
"...and will forgive their sin,..."
And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)
"...and will heal their land."
Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a
reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14:34)
John 20:21-23 - Then Y’shua said to them again “Peace be with you: just as the Father sent Me, so I am sending you.” And after He said this He breathed upon them and said to them, “You must immediately take the Holy Spirit: whomever you would forgive, their sins have been forgiven for them, whomever you would retain their sins have been retained.”
...Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. (Luke 10:2)
...He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luke 11:23)
...And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. (John 4:36)
See also: The Cost & "Hot or Cold?" and the twisting of Scripture of "Do not judge."
(Click here for Challenge Index)
Our “calling,” is to be Representatives of the King, Ambassadors for Christ, aware of the “cost,” knowing that it entails Judging and Reproof, as well as “avoiding foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sins, being condemned of himself.“ (Titus 3:9-11) Why, because John 1:5 - And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. And John 3:22 - For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luke 12:32
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be you therefore wise
as serpents, and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives,
the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things
be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For
many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And
ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many
be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many
false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he
that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy
place, (whoso reads, let him understand:) Matthew 24:3-15
Luke 19:11-27 (BBE)
- And while they were giving ear to these words, he made another story for them,
because he was near Jerusalem, and because they were of the opinion that the
kingdom of God was coming straight away. So he said, A
certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for
himself, and to come back. And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten
pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come.
But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after
him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler. And when he came back
again, having got his kingdom, he gave orders for those servants to whom he had
given the money to come to him, so that he might have an account of what
business they had done.
And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made
ten pounds. And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you
have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns.
And another came, saying, Your pound has made five pounds. And he
said, You will be ruler over five towns.
And another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I put
away in a cloth; Because I was in fear of you, for you are a hard man: you take
up what you have not put down, and get in grain where you have not put seed.
He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you
bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not
put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed; Why then did you not
put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest?
And he said to the others who were near, Take the pound away from
him, and give it to the man who has ten. And they say to him, Lord, he has ten
pounds. And I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from
him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And as for those who were
against me, who would not have me for their ruler, let them come here, and be
put to death before me.
John 9:1-4 - And when He was passing by He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this one or his parents, that he would have been born blind?” Y’shua answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned, but so that the works of God would be revealed in him. It is necessary for us to perform the works of the One Who sent Me while it is day: night is coming when no one is able to perform."
John 20:21-23 - Then Y’shua said to them again “Peace be with you: just as the Father sent Me, so I am sending you.” And after He said this He breathed upon them and said to them, “You must immediately take the Holy Spirit: whomever you would forgive, their sins have been forgiven for them, whomever you would retain their sins have been retained.”
"Unfortunately, much of the Christian Church has lost sight of the message of the Kingdom and preaches alternative religious themes. This is a serious problem, particularly because fulfilling the assignment of preaching the Kingdom is the key to the timing of the return of Christ. Jesus said that the end will come after the gospel of the Kingdom is preached to all nations....The fact that Jesus has not yet come back yet is proof that His assignment, which He delegated to His followers in every generation, has not yet been fulfilled." -- Page 121 Rediscovering the Kingdom by Myles Munroe - A relationship, not a "religion."
Ambassadors for Christ
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
If our lives are truly hid in Christ's, then His opinions, not ours, is what we are called to relay. If we are ambassadors for Christ, and the Kingdom of God, it is the Word of God we are to represent, not our own views. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. His Word alone matters. There is no consensus, no compromising His Word and there is no substitute for God's Word. The "Scripture cannot be broken." John 10:35
Following Jesus into the Battlefield of the Culture - By Abraham Hamilton III - “Should we engage the culture?” This is an oft-asked question when Christians observe the society of today. To answer that question, we must turn to God’s Word. Matthew 5:13-16 records a portion of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in which He says, “You are the salt of the earth” (v.13) and “You are the light of the world” (v.14). In both verses, the word you is plural in Greek. ...Light is a force of power. Darkness is not. It merely reoccupies the space vacated by light. It is nothing more than the absence of light. ...Remember, darkness simply reoccupies space that is vacated by light. When we withhold our light from our culture, we are condoning the ever-increasing darkness across our land.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:
Matthew 10:16-42 - Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst
of wolves: be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they
will scourge you in their synagogues; And you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a
testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak:
for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not you that speaks, but the Spirit of your Father which
speaks in
you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the
child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to
be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that
endures to
the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee you into another: for verily I
say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of
man be come.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as
his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more
shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be
revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that
speak you in light: and what you hear in the
ear, that preach you upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on
the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear you not therefore,
you are of more value than many sparrows.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my
Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace,
but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he
that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that takes not his cross, and
follows after me, is not worthy of
me. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my
sake shall find it. He that receives you receives me, and he that
receives me receives him
that sent me. He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a
prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of
cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no
wise lose his reward.
Lord, are there few that be saved?
Luke 13:23-30 - Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know not who you are: Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and you have taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know not who you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Does the branch on a fruit tree struggle to bear its fruit?
John 15: I am the true vine, and
my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes
away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth
more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you,
except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that
abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you
can do nothing. If a man abides not in
me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned.
If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein
is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love. If you
keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my
Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is
my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my
friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for
the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all
things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command
you, that you love one another. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me
before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all
these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but
now they have no cloke for their sin.
He that hates me hates my Father also. If
I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had
sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this comes
to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They
hated me without a cause. But when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me: And you
also shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Bearing fruit is NOT the result of our works. Bearing fruit in the Kingdom of God is the result of our ABIDING! A branch does not struggle to bear fruit. The LIFE within the vine is what bears the fruit. The branch surrenders to the LIFE within. (Romans 12:1-2) And Who is the LIFE? All the branch has to do is abide! Did not our Lord say. 'For without Me, YE CAN DO NOTHING!' ...Listen to these words of Christ: 'If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in you...' What is the condition? Abiding in Him and allowing the Living Word to operate in you. "Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit." ...The abiding produces the fruit. It is His fruit not ours. More is accomplished when God does the work, then a even a lifetime of our struggling.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:6-11
And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift you up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:15-16
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-3
He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
Mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
Matthew 13:3-23:
And the disciples came, and
said unto him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and
said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given,
and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him
shall be taken away even that he has. Therefore I speak to them in
parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not,
neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Esaias, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: For this
people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
But blessed
are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily
I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to
see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear
those things which you hear, and have not heard them. Hear therefore
the parable of the sower.
When any one
hears the word of the kingdom, and
doesn't understands it, then comes the wicked one,
and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which
received seed by the way side.
But he that received the seed into
stony places, the same is he that hears the word, and immediately with
joy receives it; Yet he has not root in himself, but endures for
a while: but when tribulation or persecution arises because of the
word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the
thorns is he that hears the word; and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes
unfruitful.
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings
forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Acts 19:1-6 - And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.
CHURCH FAILURE vs KINGDOM POWER by Charles Carrin - Church failure is directly related to congregations isolating themselves from the Kingdom of God and re-organizing according to their own ideologies. Failure is unknown in the Kingdom. Jesus promised the church that the "gates of Hell shall not prevail against it". Matthew 16:18. The New Testament acknowledges the reality of the church's persecution and pain but not her failure. She can expect tyranny and trial but not defeat; demonic attack will come but she need never surrender.
Jesus preached about "The gospel of the Kingdom," Matthew 24:14, "The mysteries of the Kingdom," Matthew 13:11, "The keys of the Kingdom," Matthew 16:19, "The word of the Kingdom," Matthew 13:19, "The heirs of the Kingdom," James 2:5. Jesus "loved the church, gave Himself for it," Ephesians 5:25, all the while He pointed men's hearts to the heavenly Kingdom. We are to love the church as Jesus did but our emphasizing segregated parts of the church independently of the Kingdom is a contradiction of His message. Denominationalism is an illusion, a phantom in the desert.
In the gospels, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom more than 130 times but made only 3 references to the church. Matthew 16:18; 18:17. The modern church, in contrast, has reversed the Divine order, ignoring her Kingdom-identity and relating only with select, visible congregations. Do I need proof? World-wide, there are more than 30,000 different registered Christian denominations. Each makes the claim that it is the correct one, has more truth than the rest, and is God's guardian of Scripture. To be spiritually correct, you must belong to it. Such bigotry guarantees the loss of Kingdom identity and power. To whatever degree churches promote self-centeredness and sectarianism, they cut themselves off from Kingdom authority. "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you.'" I Corinthians 14:21. Yet, that is precisely what congregations have done. The result is dysfunctional churches and impotent ministries.
Matthew 3:11 (John the Baptist) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Keep the fire burning: Disturbing Prophetic Dream: 'My People Eat
Spiritual Food but Ignore the Massacre Outside Their Walls' - By
Dr. Candice Smithyman: On May 20, 2019, I awakened from a startling dream of
people being in a cafeteria in what appeared to be a contemporary hotel. They
were getting their food on trays and seating themselves. I was also in line to
get some food when I looked out the window of the cafeteria and saw a horrific
sight. The windows were halfway covered with sea water and there were people
laying on rafts that appeared to be like large dead sea animals resembling
whales. The people could not keep their grip on the rafts and kept falling off
them, and each time they fell off, or their arms or legs got in the water they
were being eaten by sharks. I was sick to my stomach and tried to find a way to
rescue them but as I looked around no one seemed to care as they ate their food
and continued to talk and just watch this massacre outside in the water.
...in the comfort and power of His Spirit, we are commissioned to go into uncomfortable places. and our gifts will be activated.