The agnostic delusion
Isaiah 49:25-26
the Lord says,
“The captives of warriors will be released,
and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.
For I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
I will feed your enemies with their own flesh.
They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood.
All the world will know that I, the Lord,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Israel."
God did not sell them to their enemies, they sold themselves. Jesus came to his own and they did not receive him.
"you were sold because of your sins...Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?" Isaiah 50:1-2
"I offered my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting." Isaiah 50:6
Jesus chose to be the bond slave for the people of God. He offered his back to his persecutors. He gave his back, and his people turned their backs.
"watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon fall down in great torment." Isaiah 50:11
Isaiah 51:1,5,6,52:13,15
“Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the Lord!
My mercy and justice are coming soon...My righteous rule will never end!
"my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted."
15 And he will startle many nations.
"Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about."
I don't understand how any Jew can know the prophet Isaiah and not know Jesus Christ. Ignorance? Maybe. Maybe willful ignorance. It's like the sheep and the goats. Agnosticism? Maybe. What is agnosticism? The worst sort of atheism, the sort that acknowledges a supernatural power, but unwilling to commit to him.
Why? Why resist?
Probably because to some degree the Lord's Messiah doesn't measure up in their minds. He doesn't fit their human expectations. They cannot grasp the redemption of Jesus Christ in the manner by which God supplied. I think for religious people there's a hunger for significance. Just like when the disciples said to Jesus, "show us the Father". All this time Jesus is with them and still they want the image of God they expect to see. Isn't this what every agnostic demands? They claim to want to behold the supreme power and truth, but they'll ignore it when it's in their midst.
This is the duality of mankind. Two groups of people seeking and seeing the same things and drawing different conclusions from apparently different perspectives. Or is it different expectations?
In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we see all of God's human creatures being addressed by God the Father. Two groups. Two different experiences. Two different expressions of faith.
One group hears, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."
The other group hears, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
What happened?
Why the different reply's from the Christ?
Well, one group didn't ignore the command to love one another AS THE FATHER HAS LOVED YOU. And the others feigned ignorance. One group listened and the other followed their own path, they were them who, "live in your own light" (Isaiah 50:11).
While living in their own light they created for themselves their own lifestyle patterns and paths. They developed their own Christian views. Faith became about their own self-interests, and tied their faith to a physical bodily redemption via some law. Somehow they didn't see the harmony between mankind's body, soul, and spirit. They compartmentalized the body and soul instead of living as an eternal being who is being redeemed by the supernatural, a covenant of Spirit and truth.
The goats came to Jesus...“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said, "you know the commandments"
The goats said, "I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
Then Jesus said to them, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Jesus said to everyone, "Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God...and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life." (Mark 10)
Conclusion:
To be or not to be, that is the question. You cannot buy sin for cash, it's only bought on the installment plan. It's a lifelong lifestyle. And you cannot purchase salvation on the cheap. There is a repentance and forgiveness. There is a turning away from sin; stubborn unbelief, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, love of self, and a redemption waiting.
You have to take off the mask to be seen by the redeemer. How's Jesus going to know you if you're wearing a mask? Where is your true identity? Did you know your sin will find you out?
Remember when Jesus wrote in the dust with his finger? In front of all the self righteous Jews? I think he wrote each man's sin. Their sins were known by Jesus, he saw through their masks. The Bible calls them secret sins.
Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
Isaiah 29:15
Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
John 3:20
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Jesus would not compromise for sin...not even for the rich young man who could have been a valuable follower for the church. Jesus maybe lost a disciple because he didn't compromise. Jesus instead spoke the truth and exposed the secret heart of sin in the man, the love of money.
They say Jesus paid the price. The Bible says Jesus paid the price. Why would Jesus send this rich young man away if ALL that was needed was the price Jesus was about to pay? Well...in the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus explains why. Surrendering ourselves is what's expected. That's right there's an expectation. Surrender is expected. A surrender that creates in the servant a heart for action. Actions that are vital to the spirit. Actions like growing in faith through learning God's word. Actions like praying intercession for everyone. Actions like serving the least among us. Surrender to this lifestyle of light, that's what's expected.
Our Lord Jesus taught repeatedly that our sins bottled up inside, concealed from everyone else's view, carries the very same guilt as sin that manifests itself in the worst forms of open ungodly behavior. He sees it all, he sees the heart. He sees what rules in your heart.
In this day and age we say, "he's the GOAT" (greatest of all time). The Bible says the same...the goat is the greatest sinner of all time. The kingdom expectation is not Jesus looking for GOATs. Jesus is looking for submission to love for God's grace and mercy.
Go in peace