March 21, 2013
Separation of Church
At the inaugurations of both Pope Francis I and President Obama there
were thousands upon thousands of faithful followers from many nations. The
people all stood united in devotion, fanfare and anticipation. For me this is such
a vivid illustration of the gathering we will see at the Lord’s return. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate
the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
(Matt 25:31-32 NIV)
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2 comments:
Gail;
-----I am thankful the illustration ends at the physical aspect of giant crowds before celebrities. You are right about those crowds before the Pope and Obama being gatherings of followers. They came. But that crowd before Jesus will have been gathered. And although I suppose everyone there might wish they could be His followers, for the most of them, being His followers will not be possible. They will have chosen a different leader before they got there.
-----But the more striking dissimilarity is apparent only through a little thought. A popular expression when I was in High School queried, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” The unwrapped message was that a leader’s authority went nowhere without the follower’s consent. Then, what if they threw an inauguration, and nobody came? That would send an immense political message to the world about the leader’s perceived authority arising from his agreement with only himself. And if he had no agreement in the military either, then his inauguration would indeed be factually nothing at all. The Pope and Barrack Obama needed those crowds to be what they are.
-----On the other hand, when all the nations are gathered before Jesus Christ, it will not be for their empowering Him in the least. It will be because of His power that they are gathered to receive their effects of that power. For the most of them it will not be a happy and cheerful gathering, for they will be separated from the others and sent packing. In other words, this will not be a gathering to validate a leader. It will be a leader validating a gathering.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Steve,
Good thoughts to ferret this out further.
Gail
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