The Parable:
It’s wartime. People are ready and braced for the
worst. Many are cooped up together in
shelters that house them, with basements below for bomb shelters. They have all their earthly goods in
suitcases. They stay together in large,
open rooms with little privacy. The
times are rough. The endurance level is
at an all-time high. The lookout is
constant. One who is posted as a lookout
goes outside to gaze at the sky. She sees
a strange, cigar-shaped craft and immediately knows that the enemy has
arrived. As she is about to return to
her people, she sees a huge banner across the sky that reads, “The writing is
on the wall.” Doubly horrified, she
rushes back into the shelter and screams, “Everyone get downstairs!!” People begin to flood into the halls with
nothing but what’s in their hands. There
is no time for luggage, and no room.
They rush to the small door that leads to the basement. It will take time to get them all through it.
Before she knows it, the watchwoman
has been captured. Perhaps she was
knocked out; she has no recollection of what happened between the alert of
attack and where she found herself: in a large cubical room, well-lit, with a
gutter of clear water flowing in the middle.
She is informed by her captors that they are going to break her, not by
any conventional means of torture. No,
this is a specially built room that can be violently shaken or gently rocked,
all determined by the captors controlling it.
The woman does not have a concept of time in this room, but the duration
is short enough that she is not starved to death; she realizes the only place
to obtain water to drink, to bathe, and even to urinate is at the stream in the
gutter. The room begins to shake
violently; the prisoner braces herself against the wall, trying to hold her
stomach so she doesn’t vomit. She thinks,
“I know I'll get through this because God has taught me endurance.” Time passes, and her captors grow
impatient. Perhaps they can terrify her
into surrender. They send a huge,
muscular man into the room who is as tall as the room. He marches toward her—not saying a word—and
begins to press her against the wall with his body. He presses harder and harder, as if to crush
her, but she is not crushed. She is
wearing special armor that her captives know nothing about. As long as they can’t mess with her mind, she
is invincible.
Hebrew 12:25-29
See that
you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they
refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him
who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he
has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things
that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things
that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for
receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming
fire.
2
Corinthians 4:7-12
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power
belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven
to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus
may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but
life in you.
This is surely a day of great warfare for the church of
God! We who are saints of Jesus Christ
feel the battle daily, hourly, moment by moment. We are hard pressed on every side, but not
crushed, even as the woman in our story.
She was hard pressed by the giant that came into her place of
confinement. However, part of what makes
us feel so hard pressed is because we see our struggles and trials sent by the ancient
foe, the devil, as giants—insurmountable, overbearing, strong, mighty, greater
than us. Why? Do we not understand ourselves as the
warriors that we are? We as God’s people
are equipped with every piece of armor we need for the battle! (Ephesians
6:10-18) Are we confined in a prison of despair or pain or trial of every kind? Satan cannot keep us there! (Maybe he can in body but not in spirit—and only
with God’s permission which He gives to bring about greater victory.) Consider the TV show Hogan’s Heroes. These
prisoners of war had it made with such an advanced tunnel and communication
system that they could break out at any time.
But they stayed in the prison camp to make a heavier inside impact on
the enemy. God has us here on the earth
for just that reason, and He will receive all glory. But if Satan can
keep us convinced that he’s the captor and that we’re helpless, what good are
we? The sword of truth is buckled around
our waist. If we would but pull it out,
we could break out! We might feel as if
we are being victorious by bracing ourselves bravely against the shaking of the
devil. Indeed, we are, and we are
gaining more and more grace and victory and perseverance in our Lord Jesus, but
we should not be contented to stay in confinement, unwilling to get out and
fight an offensive battle. God is using
the confinement indeed to test our faith and our willingness to stand in the midst
of intense and seemingly endless suffering.
But are we proactively using the truth that God has given us in His Word
to speak against the lies? The shaking
is lies. We feel undone because we have
sinned, that we are unworthy to be in God’s army. Lies. Does
not the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, sanctify us through and through (1
Thessalonians 5:23)? Are we not covered
in full atonement? If we confess our
sins, is He not faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness? (1 John 1:9). Oh
dear saints of God, do you feel the Spirit of Christ rising up within you? “The writing is on the wall,” dear saints—the
writing that God is giving over the enemy’s stronghold to His people.
Daniel 5:23-28
But you
have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his
house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and
your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of
silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or
know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways,
you have not honored.
“Then
from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And
this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
and PARSIN.
This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the
days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in
the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Have the not the kingdoms of this earth found in their own
lusts the source of their strength? Yet
they are found wanting. They have not
served the God of Heaven nor given Him glory.
They have turned their backs on every manner of law that God established
from the Creation of the world and have set up for themselves gods of gold and
silver, gods of wood and stones.
Everything created by man for man has become man’s god—everything but
the true and living God. Now, God surely
will bring to an end all that man has done for himself without giving glory and
honor to the Creator. The time for the
Kingdom of Heaven to take over the kingdoms of this world is at hand!
All God’s people see the writing on the wall. The craft is in the sky for the enemy to
fight with all its power, and people will find themselves utterly dismayed,
having lost all their earthly support.
Yet, what is Satan’s power compared to God’s? What is his wrath compared to God’s
wrath? What are his miraculous wonders
compared to the glory that will be revealed in the Sons of God?
Soldiers of Christ, the church has been bound in a box. They have seen the Kingdom from the
perspective of a boxed existence. They
have perceived the light of the glory of God--even as the room in our story was
bright--yet they have only perceived the box.
They have not been able to wrap their arms around the bigger Kingdom
work God is doing. They have drunk from
the glorious streams of living water, yet they have not perceived its source so
that they would follow that stream to the One who gives it, and drink deeply of
HIM. They have washed themselves and all
their filthy waste in it, and though it has not grown muddied or soiled by the
sins of the church, they have still found themselves captive. They have been shaken to utter exhaustion,
but they have not considered a way to escape.
Does not Scripture say, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not
common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your
ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that
you may be able to endure it”? (1 Corinthians 10:13). Note that it says with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape. When Paul and Silas were in prison, they were
fighting the enemy through songs. They
were not giving in to the feelings of the flesh, or bemoaning their state. They were praising God, knowing that in spite
of circumstantial evidence, they were victors.
A great earthquake came and shook that place. The earthquake, as in our story, could have
been a source of great trial, fear, trepidation, and illness on their
part. But instead, because they had a
heart of hope, they saw their way of escape through it and even had their wits
about them to save the life of the guard!
When we fail to see the way of escape in the earthquakes of trial, we
get weighed down with overwhelming pressure as the giants of Satan’s lies enter
in to trample us to death. No, we will
not be destroyed; we will not be crushed, but we must rise up victorious! Satan cannot lay a hand on us; he can only
put us in a room of virtual captivity and shake it up to make us feel as if we
are helpless and he is king. But it is
the other way around! In Christ, we have
the victory! (1 Corinthians 15:57)
Church of God, Saints of Jesus Christ, Sons of God filled
with and led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14), take your place! You have the victory in Jesus Christ! Yes, you will be bombed, you will be
destitute, you will be hated by all men.
Did not our Lord Jesus say that the servant is not greater than his
master? Yet in spirit, you will
win! You will reap a harvest if you do
not give up! (Galatians 6:9) You will
store up treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33, Matthew 19:21, 13:44, 6:20). You will take captive every thought and make
it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
You will win souls (Luke 21:19, Mark 4:20). You will gain a crown of glory that will
never fade away (1 Peter 5:4). Who are
you, oh Son of God? You are the Bride of
Christ! (2 Corinthians 11:2) Think about
that, next time Satan tells you you’re worthless, hopeless, and never going to
make it. Jesus said, “No one can snatch
you out of my hand” (John 10:29).
