If you're over 30 years old, then you're probably familiar with a film called, "A Thief In The Night." Since it's release in 1973, it has produced three sequels and has reached millions of people around the world with the message of salvation, causing a multitude to repent and believe. The movie is dated, as you can see by the clothes, hairstyles, cars, etc... but the message isn't. If you haven't seen this film, there are a few online sources where you can watch it for free, including Tubi and YouTube. If you haven't watched the film, then be forewarned that there are SPOILERS AHEAD. That being said...
Many born again believers fall into the trap of following a man instead of following God. Patty, the main character in "A Thief In The Night," makes some serious and life altering errors in judgment in her half-hearted attempt to have a relationship with God. Patty attends an apostate church, where people aren't challenged. The message is easy, and they don't really have to worry about sin and it's consequences. So you see, the first mistake Patty made was to become involved in a church that was led by an apostate minister, surrounding herself with a likeminded congregation that didn't want to have their religious beliefs challenged.
This church employs, and is lead by, an apostate minister who doesn't take the bible seriously, and doesn't preach sound doctrine from it. His sermons are designed to make the congregation feel at ease, allowing them to fall into a spiritual slumber, never challenging them or requiring anything of consequence of them. He tells them what their itching ears want to hear... they can believe in God, but still live their lives as they wish, with no negative spiritual or eternal consequences. They're taught that they don't need to adhere to scripture, because scripture is just allegory... symbolic... without real consequences for sin.
When the Rapture actually occurs, both Patty and her minister, Rev. Turner, are taken off guard and left behind to deal with the consequences of their actions and to fear about living in the Tribulation. It's at that moment that the apostate minister finally realizes his grave mistake, and he grieves over the number of people in his congregation that were left behind and for those who, before the Rapture, had died in their sin, having never heard the message of salvation (at least not in his church). Patty, like others, was lulled by Rev. Turner's safe and easy message of trying your best to live a good life and not worry about sinning, because people can't help but sin. She was now reaping the consequences of believing Rev. Turner's false teaching.
Still, after learning and admitting that she should never have followed the teachings of her apostate Pastor, she ends up making the same mistake again. You see, after she and her pastor are temporarily incarcerated in the local jail, a prison matron comes to Patty's cell, trying to convince her to take the mark. She tells Patty that Rev. Turner has "seen the error of his way" and has taken the mark. Patty is surprised at first because it doesn't reflect the conversation she just had with him the prior night, but she shrugs it off and decides to take the mark as well because, as she sees it, her minister knows what's best. That's right! Even though she knew her apostate minister led her astray, she's willing to follow him AGAIN and go against precisely what the Christians she has known in her life have warned her not to do.
It's only after she is brought outside, when she sees a deceased Rev. Turner sporting a bloody forehead and laying on a gurney, that she realizes that the prison matron lied to her. She breaks free and runs for her life.
That's not all. Who does Patty contact? She calls the only friend she still has... Diane. She's the third young lady of this young trio of women in the film. Diane has never believed in the salvation message, and even called it, "...a bunch of bull." So Patty, after missing out on the Rapture, choses to run to her atheist friend. Even at this point, being forewarned about the Rapture, and even having her own husband disappear, she remains on the fence.
We can look to others to define our relationship with God, or we can look to Him alone. Many born again believers make the mistake of comparing their spiritual walk with another born again believer that they judge to be better than themselves. They judge their own success and failures in comparison to the another believer. That's a huge mistake. Yes, we can take encouragement observing someone else's relationship with God, but our walk is ours alone. It's a unique relationship with the Lord that is defined by our own personality and by what God wishes to accomplish through us. We all have our own unique personality, experiences, strengths, and weaknesses.
The danger is when we allow others to define our place in God's kingdom and to define our success in our spiritual walk with the Lord. This especially holds true for young born again believers, who are just trying to fit into the body of Christ and are using other believers as examples or templates. If Patty had been reading her bible, praying, and trying to forge a close relationship with the Lord, she would have known she was in an apostate church and that she was being taught by an apostate pastor. Instead, she was being religious, thinking that this was enough. After all, everyone in her little church bubble, including her pastor, reinforced those feelings and thoughts. On occasion, go to church, read your bible, and do a little praying. Then live your life trying to be as "good" as your own subjective ethics tell you to. As Patty said, "What else is there? I'm as good as the next person... maybe better."
Well, if you don't know by now, it's not about how "good" you think you are. It's not about meeting any person's expectations. It's about addressing the broken relationship we have with God and the sin that we carry with us. It's about repenting of our past sin and having faith in, and submitting to, the One who put aside His own glory in Heaven, humbled Himself by coming to earth to be born a man, and who lived a perfect life as an example to us all. It's about Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, shedding his innocent blood and taking on the full brunt of God's judgment; a judgment that should have been directed toward us. It's receiving the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and having our sins forgiven and the slate wiped clean through His blood, and having our relationship with God restored by having our dead spirit resurrected and being born again by way of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus stood in the way of God's judgment upon us when He went to the cross as our ultimate sacrifice, and He still stands in the way as He mediates for us as our High Priest in Heaven.
So, be careful who you listen to, and use sound judgment and discernment in seeking out sound teaching. If what you're hearing contradicts scripture, then it's not sound teaching. Also, never hold anyone in such high regard that your desire to follow them becomes stronger than your desire to follow God. In other words, never put anyone on a pedestal or become a fanboy. It clouds good judgment, discernment, and can lead you astray without even realizing it.
The message of Tribulation Harvest has always been a simple one. Repent, and be forgiven! Believe, and be saved! You'll see that at the end of all my blogs.
TribulationHarvest.net
REPENT, AND BE FORGIVEN!
BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED!
