When the Lord Departs and We Do Not Know It
Posted: 2010-03-03 10:15:19 by: David Nelson
When the Lord Departs and We Do Not Know It by David Nelson 3-2-10
(also includes an Illustration/Vision entitled "A Picture of the Church" by Andrew Strom)
I received recently what I believe was a wake up call from the Lord. Not only was it a gentle warning from the Lord for me but for all who want to walk closer to Him. I got a call from someone I had never met before who shared something from the Lord for me. Then in prayer I was reminded how Sampson, King David, and the Laodicean Church all experienced the Lord backing off from them and them not realizing it. Sometimes we may feel we are staying clear of sin but it has a way of deceiving us. "Search me Oh Lord and see if there be any wicked way in me." Then I received on the internet an Illustration/Vision by Andrew Strom showing how the Church is not accomplishing to its full potential and how the Lord is desiring for us to be all that we were called to be. In this writing I will share all that the Lord showed me in a 2-3 day period how we must get closer to Him when we are not living up to our full potential in the Lord and we do not realize it. (First I will give Andrew Strom's Illustration, Second my insights about Sampson, King David, and the Laodicean Church, and Third what the person who called me encouraged me to do.)
Illustration/Vision entitled "A Picture of the Church" by Andrew Strom
A young woman (the Church), clothed in what appears to be white
garments, stands in a darkened room. As we draw nearer, we see
that her hands are clasped around heavy objects that seem to
weigh her down, and she is also using the crook of both her arms
to cradle still more heavy objects to herself. Above her, God is
reaching down with outstretched hands towards her, but she
appears hardly to even notice.
In the distance we see Satan, laughing as he drags at the chains
of millions of blinded souls, bound in chains of misery, poverty
and sin. Slowly, he is dragging them all towards a huge pit at
the far end of the room. Many of them are crying out for someone
to free them, to help them.
As we draw nearer to the young woman, we see that the objects
clasped in her hands and cradled carefully in her arms are nice
homes, cars, appliances, land and possessions. We see also that
she has designed her surroundings to make herself as comfortable
as possible, with so much food available that she has become
obese and fat. The cries of those bound in chains are louder now,
and we can see that many of them are suffering terribly from
starvation and poverty. Millions of them, including many little
children, are right on the point of death. The young woman is too
busy watching television to really look at them, but occasionally
she flicks them some crumbs off her table. A few of them are
helped by this, but millions more are destined to perish without
hope in the darkness.
We are getting quite close to the young woman now, and we see
that despite her seeming affluence, her white garments have be-
come soiled, tattered and torn. Some of this has been caused by
her clinging so tightly to her weighty possessions. We also see
that her skin is mottled with a kind of leprosy caused by
"secret" sins, lust, untruthfulness, resentment, unforgiveness,
etc. The young woman shows no signs of being aware of her condit-
ion, and in fact appears totally blind to her wretched state.
Above her, Jesus weeps, crying aloud in anguish. The Bible says
that He "loved" this young woman, and "gave Himself for her". Now
He is forced to behold her steadily worsening plight. He casts
His eyes also over the vast millions chained in misery, sin and
despair, knowing that it is only through the young woman that He
can reach out and heal them. As we watch, Jesus stretches down
His hands yet again towards the young woman, calling for her to
reach up to Him so that He can pour forth His cleansing power in-
to her and through her, to wash away her sin and unbelief, and to
empower her to reach out to those trapped in bondage and sin. But
the young woman's arms are so heavy with houses, worldly pursuits
and possessions (which she is unwilling to let go of), that she
is unable to reach up to God. And anyway, she is so busy watching
television that she can't even hear Him calling to her.
On Sundays, the young woman always goes out. She dresses herself
up, and makes her way to a beautiful building where the chairs
are all in rows facing the front. The meetings here are known as
"church services". The young woman loves to sing the catchy chor-
uses and "worship" God as the superb musicians play. The music
is so good that she often can't tell whether it is just the music
affecting her or whether she is getting a real "touch from God".
Every week she feels "uplifted and blessed", and yet still she
remains seemingly oblivious to the agony that she is causing her
grieving Saviour. While the young woman's life apparently re-
volves around keeping herself "happy", Jesus, the One who sacri-
ficed everything for her, is left "wounded in the house of His
friends."
Often there are men speaking at the "church services" who have
degrees and diplomas from Bible College. Many of them give in-
spiring and entertaining sermons, full of stories, jokes and
"illustrations". But none of them ever seem to preach directly on
the terrible condition of the young woman. Perhaps they are
afraid of "offending somebody".
And so, as God watches in anguish, the young woman (the Church)
continues on her worldly way, weighed down with possessions and
materialism, tainted with sin, seduced by the cares and pleasures
of this world. How long will it be before she comes to Him with a
"broken heart and a contrite spirit", crying out for a flood of
His mercy and His power to be outpoured upon her? And how long
will it be before she throws away her worldly toys and pursuits,
to "seek His face" with all her heart?
Now let me resume with, When the Lord Departs and We Do Not Know It. The Lord showed me Sampson, King David, and the Laodicean Church. In each instance they were playing with fire (sin) or holding on to sins and did not know that the Lord had departed. Sampson looked at women, laid with different women, and touched dead animals twice. He had a calling from his birth, he was to be holy, he did powerful feats from the Lord's Spirit upon him, he judged Israel for 20 years and was a hero. But he played with fire (sin), he played around, he did not take his calling seriously, and in Judges 16:20 he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. And so, his eyes were put out and he was hemmed in by the Lord in a Philistine prison. Does the Lord have to put out our eyes to move us to focus back on Him alone? Does He need to hem us in (in some kind of prison) to get our attention? Let us hear Him now and go an easier way and not go the hard way. As Sampson came back to the Lord he accomplished something in the last episode of his life that was greater than all he had done before. (3,000 men and women were killed, but 3,000 were saved at Pentecost) Is the same in store for us to accomplish something greater than ever before for the Lord? King David played around with sin too, serious sin, he murdered Uriah one of his top soldiers and took his wife Bathsheba as his own wife. These things were evil in the sight of the Lord (II Sam. 11:27) but it wasn't for at least 9 months till the Lord came to him to tell him the wrong he had done. All that time it seems he was living away from the Lord. Bathsheba had a son after David took her to be his wife (at least 9 months) and then the Lord sent Nathan (the prophet) to tell him what he had done and what the Lord was going to do. The story Nathan told David was about a rich man (who had exceedingly many flocks and herds) and a poor man (who had one little ewe lamb who was in his house, with his children, ate his food, drank from his cup, laid in his arms and was like a daughter to him). The rich man had guests and took the poor man's little ewe lamb, killed it and served it to his guests. David was appalled and said the man who has done this shall surely die! Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! David, not knowing his own condition, could not see himself clearly, did not know how evil this thing had become in the eyes of the Lord. David repented immediately and said, "I have sinned against the Lord." (II Sam. 12:13) If we want to have the heart and be a man after God's own heart we too must repent when the Lord speaks to us. Finally, just like Sampson and David had to be pushed to the point of seeing who they were, the Laodicean Church did not know they were displeasing to the Lord. They thought they were doing great, rich, needing nothing, but they did not know they were like vomit to the Lord, soon to be spewed out by the Lord if they did not see that they were sick, wretched, miserable and naked and must repent. They needed salve to anoint their eyes to see that the Lord was outside their lives and needed to be invited back in to sup with them. They needed to open the door to the Lord again. (Rev. 3:14-22)
None of us I am sure thinks that we are like Sampson, David, or the Laodicean Church in these areas. But if we see the young woman in tattered clothes and leprous skin in the above illustration holding on to things, we too may be holding on to things, and it may be that we too are not being used as fully by the Lord as He wants. There are serious needs all around us at this hour and we must consider how we are faring in our reaching the lost. The person who called me on the phone had a simple but profound message for me, sit before the Lord quietly and hear Him, turn it up 100 notches, ask Him, am I doing what you want, what am I doing that is not right, what do you want me to be doing that I am not doing, what do you want me to do? Speak to me afresh Oh Lord. Turn up the notch 100 times and say to the Lord, I want to be like you, I want to be more holy like you are! Please look afresh at our lives and show us what we must do to accomplish greater things in this last chapter of our lives.
This is what the Lord showed me. I have taken seriously His tender encouragement to see anew how I must change (by His grace and strength). I want to be all that He wants me to be, I'm sure He will show me more about myself, I'm sure it will take a great miracle to make me all that He wants but we see the world slipping farther and farther away from Him. I have made a partial list of the things I think the Lord wants me to change in to get closer to Him and become more like Him. We must all keep open to the Lord and be in prayer, Lord, search me and see if there be anything you want to change in me. All who hear His call are destined to accomplish greater things than ever before. Let us do this, in this last critical hour we are in, for all the lost all around us, and that we may know that you Lord are with us and that you are pleased with us as we become holy as you are holy.
