A Devotion for 8 April 2021 Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord) the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:31-40; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
In our day, we have been indoctrinated to view the political spectrum on a scale marked on the right with Fascism (Nazism) and on the left by Communism. We are supposed to believe that the perfect balance lies near the center-point between these two claims. This is clearly a false narrative if given any consideration in logic. In fact, if we were to use that scale, we would place totalitarian socialism on the left and anarchy on the extreme right; or, we could use the illustration of President Ronald Reagan: “There is no right or left in politics – only UP or DOWN!”
But if we were to compare the right and left with the righteous side versus the left-behind sine, we could base that argument on the above text quoting our Lord Jesus Christ: “33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” It seems nearly correct in describing our Congressional division of right aisle and left aisle today. The problem with that comparison is that few, even on the right, stand strong for righteousness’ sake.
We have a serious and degenerating condition in America today. The morality of only fifty years ago is labelled as ‘politically incorrect’ and that which the Bible calls GOOD is now called BAD by the proud builders of New Babel.
We have discussed in previous devotions how the Cross of our Lord was the event whereby time and eternity was divided in half (before and after). We should further acknowledge that this event necessarily divided mankind by separating the sheep from the goats. The result: only two distinct families on earth – those of the Family of God, and those of the family of the damned. The Holy Scriptures illuminate that truth in many spectacular verses that leave no room for doubt among the faithful believer.
There are many roads that lead to Babylon and to Rome, but only ONE Way to the Kingdom of Heaven – the Strait and Narrow Way. Christ in the ONLY Way.
In the parable of the two seeds, one of wheat and the other of tares, the Lord says: “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30) Here again, we see the separation principle of god at work. We are not hybrid seed. God created only pure seed for His vineyard. We are either seed of wheat, or of bramble – not something in between. “…He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:37-43)
God separated Abram from the home of his father and kin in Ur of the Chaldees. But Abram took his father along in spite of the counsel of God. He also brought his nephew, Lot. Both kept Abram from realizing the blessing of God toward Abram as the progenitor of faith in a coming Redeemer. When the father was buried, Abram was free to continue his travel from Haran to Canaan. Later, when separated from the worldly Lot, God gave Abram a new name and a new promise: Abraham would be the father of many nations; yet, Abraham remained childless until the illegitimate child, Ishmael. God had Abraham send the child away after the birth of the son of promise in Isaac. So, Abraham remained with only one son even as God promised a multitude of his seed. How possible? Because you and I, and all believers from Abraham to today are the true children of Abraham.
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:7-14)
The modern Church may be figured in the Lord’s Parable of the Dragnet: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:47-50
This dragnet of Matthew 13 is not the same as the net which Jesus directed his disciples to cast into the sea at Tiberius following his resurrection. (John 21). That net was designed to catch a certain kind of fish in schools; however, a dragnet is cast into the waters along the shore to catch whatever sea creatures – both edible and inedible – abound there. The result was a variety of sea creatures. All were sea creatures, but some were good to eat, and others were not. The church is full of professing Christians, but many are merely professing a lie with their mouths and are not ruled by any love or obedience to God. Others are true professors of faith who are like the good fish of our parable.
The Great Separator of Souls will end the continuum of time for salvation at some point. The curtain of time will fall and all will be revealed in their current heart condition – either in the Ark of Christ, of swarming about the closed door of the Ark of Christ. Our destinies are fixed in solid stone at that point. The Holy Angels will gather the tares and cast them into fires of an unrelenting flame. The wheat will be gathered into the Kingdom of God for Eternity.
We must ask ourselves a very serious question: Are we briars or wheat, Silver or dross, poisonous fish or good, sheep or goats. We are all classified as one or the other now, or at the future judgment of God.
