Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin"
(1Jn. 1:7).
Without fellowship in the light, the body of Christ will never be cleansed from all sin. And if the body is never cleansed from sin, it will never be prepared for the Lord Jesus to return. Perfect cleansing from sin is the result of fellowship in the light, and fellowship in the light is the result of God's people living according to the will of God. The importance of fellowship cannot be overstated. Satan himself trembles at the thought of God's children walking in the light together and being cleansed from all sin. The saints having fellowship in the light of God provides the devil with no place to work.
There is no need to be discouraged as to whether or not the saints will ever be prepared for the Lord's return; it will happen. But there is cause for fear, for in order to make the saints pure, large numbers of them will be cut off because of their stubborn refusal to walk in the light. Before Jesus returns, the saints must be, and will be perfected in love and righteousness.
Paul said it this way: "For that day shall not come except there be a falling away first. . . . and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they might all be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in righteousness" (2Thess. 2).
Jesus said it this way: "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity" (Mt. 13:41). And according to Jesus, this will happen before he comes again for his Bride!
Paul in another place states that Jesus will prepare for himself a "glorious people, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Eph. 5:27). And what are the spots and blemishes in the body of Christ that Jesus will remove before he returns? They are stubborn people! They are disobedient children of God within the congregation who are unruly. Peter describes them well (2Pet. 2): "Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves in their own deceivings while they feast with you." He also says of these ungodly children of God that they "walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities." They are, as Peter says, children of God who are now cursed with a hard heart and no longer feel the need to repent for their strange thoughts and behavior (2Pet. 2:14).
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God (Heb. 10:31), but there is no denying that some children of God will do just that. This is a grievous thought, but it is true. Years ago, I wrote a song that warns of this reality:
1.
Someone
will want to enter that city,
And Jesus the Righteous
won't let them pass through.
Someone he'll send away sad and lonely.
O
Brother, don't let it be you.
-Chorus-
Someone will be
singing;
Someone will be shouting;
Someone will be strolling down Life
Avenue.
Someone he'll send away sad and lonely.
O Brother, don't
let it be you.
2.
Someone will be pleading, "Lord receive me!"
"I've looked for this moment. O, Let me in! Do!"
Someone will have to
leave, sad and lonely.
O Sister, don't let it be you.
3.
Someone
will be talking with the Savior.
Someone the Father in splendor will
view.
But someone will never see the streets of glory.
O Brother,
don't it be you.