(Further reflection on “The Net”—Sunday 5-Sep-2021) The phrase “Then you will know that I am the Lord” kept repeating (about 19 times) in the Book of Ezekiel. You may wonder, didn’t they know the Lord? Yes and no. Yes, they did know the Lord and His word, but chose not to fully do it. No, they did not know the Lord and His word, perhaps they thought that the Lord will not take His commands seriously and they can get away with it, so they did not do it. So both cases concluded that they did not know the Lord. It is like there is no difference between those who know how read, but do not read God’s word and those don’t know how read, so they can’t read the Bible. Both don’t read.
Do you know the Lord? I attended church regularly, almost never missed major events.
Do you know the Lord? I served in church.
Do you know the Lord? My grandparents were missionaries.
Do you know the Lord? I frequently gave money to charities
Do you know the Lord? I casted our demons in Jesus’ name.
Do you know the Lord? I fasted and prayed weekly.
Do you know the Lord? I think my faith was okay because I did well in Bible trivia.
Do you know the Lord? I was born in a Christian home and had been a good boy/girl.
Do you know the Lord? I didn’t do anything bad nor commit any horrible sin, just a few minor sins and I guess the Lord is okay with that.
Do you know the Lord? I read the Bible and prayed (sometimes daily, other times weekly)
Do you know the Lord? I had enough, stop asking please. Although all the above answers seemed valid and somewhat okay, it was irrelevant and indirect to the question which is in present tense, not the past, not future. It is about the present relationship. In other words, “Are you in relationship with Jesus?” If the answer is ‘yes’, then all the other things will flow out from that place gracefully and faithfully. It is not that we must know everything about God, but we must know everything He had revealed to us through the Word, the Son, and the Spirit. It is not just the intellectual knowing, but the relational knowing. It is an on going ‘covenantal’ relationship, meaning, it cannot be broken. The new covenant of blood that God had made with us in His Son, Jesus is unbreakable. People can walk away from this final/ultimate covenant, but it will never be broken from the Lord’s side. This means, the Lord’s patience is for people’s repentance. The Lord’s slow to anger never meant for people to ignore His command and play around with sins. Yes, He will not bring the final judgement to the world instantly, but still give people freedom of choice (well, but not freedom from consequences), for He is slow to anger and quick to listen (to our cries and repentance—turning away from sin and running toward Him), but do not think that His patience has no limit. There will be a time that the Lord will return to this earth and bring an end to everything. That time will come suddenly and no one will ever figure it out (if anyone tells you that they are able predict the year, tell them to write it down and if it does not come to pass, they should be stoned to death and you will see if they dare to do so).
We are told that “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:47-50).” In the light of the above Word, what would be your responses? How are you going to use God-given vocation/profession/ministry to co-work with the Lord and His church to become “fishers of men?” There is a world of difference between being a church-goer (at best try not to miss a Sunday) and a disciple of Jesus (who has an going relationship with Jesus and fellowship with other disciples through out the week). Discipleship is a process like casting the net into the sea and sorting out, i.e. selecting/training/cleaning/sanctifying process. Wait! Why do I have to do all of this? Well, again you don’t need to do anything, because (1) everything flows out from the relationship with Jesus Christ. So the question again is, “Do you know the Lord?” And (2) the End of the Age will come and the ‘reapers’ or the angels of the Lord will do the sorting out, separating those who know the Lord and those who don’t. The former will spend eternal life with the Lord. The latter has no end in a place of perpetual tormenting without the presence of the Lord and this is hell—the place of the dead.
If the first question, “Do you know the Lord”, is already challenging, the second question is even ‘scarier’, ‘Does the Lord know you? (cf. Matthew 7:21-23)?” Because if He doesn’t, you don’t want to hear His declaration, “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” If people know the Lord, they must know His law/word and must do them. Since Christ had fulfilled God’s law for those who believe and live in Him, the Lord God will know those who are in Christ Jesus. So “Does the Lord know you?” It will depend on your relationship with the Lord, trusting and obeying His word/law/command.
Now what? What must I do to know Him and let Him know me? If you never knew Him personally, get to know Him by reading His word daily, connecting with His church today (do no wait). If your relationship with Him has been cold, then revive it by spending time with His word, talking to Him, fellowship with His people, worshiping/praising Him during the week, and making Sunday a non-negotiable holy day for the Lord and His Body—the church. If you say, I had tried all of that but it didn’t work for me. Come to our prayer meetings (8:00-8:30 in Discord and 8:45-9:00 livestream) and simply ask the Lord to deliver you from the spiritual deadening state of your soul. We will be humbly praying with you!
Again I leave with you two questions: (1) Do you know the Lord? (2) Does the Lord know you? (Hint: it can’t be googled as it must be coming from you)
In Jesus,
—
Pastor Lap
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