Last Monday morning I read Matthew 11, which I have preached many times. I could not get that passage off my mind. It consumed me completely. So I begin to prepare to preach that passage yet again this weekend. On Wednesday morning I received a phone call that my oldest brother had went to sleep and woke up in heaven. Matthew 11 took on a whole new meaning. I sat at the funeral and still this passage would not leave my mind. Some things from this passage have captivated my thoughts.
Transition. The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. Transition has a cause-and-effect ingredient. The process of time is a cause for the transition that occurs in our life to bring us from childhood to adulthood. More often than not this transition is slow enough that it takes place without us even acknowledging that it is taking place. We look in the mirror and suddenly realize what has been happening all along. I was young. Now I am old.
It is undeniable that the people of earth and the earth itself are in transition. Though it is true that we have been in a slow process of transition, now the speed of transition has accelerated to the point that it is more clear than ever. The ungodly on the earth now take pride in their sin. The people of the earth even celebrate their sins. The church tries to find ways to pervert the word through philosophy and accept sinful behaviors. Preachers have stopped preaching and now have become motivational speakers declaring things that are not true. The cause of these transitions is a rejection of God’s word, rebellion against God’s word, the sinful desires of our flesh, and the fear of the culture and society of our day.
These causes come from three different sources. Satan is at the forefront of rejection and rebellion of the Word of God. Our own sinful flesh nature is a root cause. The agenda of the progressive government which is taught as a learned behavior in our educational system produces a fear in the people to conform or be canceled.
The passage in Matthew 11 is all about transition. A parallel is drawn between Elijah and John the Baptist, which was to present the fulfillment of one thing and the transition to another.
Mat 11:13-15 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
This is the ultimate mission we are left with concerning our work on the earth. It is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. To prepare the way. The question is what preparations are we making in our preaching, teaching, singing, and in our daily lives to make ready a people prepared for the Lord? As fast as the transition is occurring around us, the people of God need to be walking just as fast. We need to be preparing just as fast. We need revelation just as fast. It’s time to hurry up and press into the remnant that is after the heart of God.
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