"That They May Be One, Even As We Are One" - by TAS

[kisstheson]

Dear ones, it may seem strange to say, but I am so happy that my fear of the Lord is returning! A proper, scriptural, healthy, balanced fear of the Lord - not the fear of a man, nor the fear of a ministry, nor the fear of a group of churches, but the fear OF THE LORD.

In Message Six TAS brings up the very sobering meaning behind our Lord’s reply to His disciples in Matthew 13:10-17. The Lord’s disciples came to Him and asked Him why He was speaking to the crowds in parables. Our Lord’s reply mentions some extremely serious matters . There is the matter of “from him who has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has” (v. 12b). Looking at the end of the next verse, we see that what is taken away is the ability to understand. This is the loss of spiritual understanding! This terrible loss is confirmed by the frightening verses from Isaiah quoted in vv.14-15.

I really appreciate that TAS did not use these verses to threaten people against forsaking his ministry or forsaking those churches which received his ministry. TAS was not concerned about Christians abandoning him; rather, he was very concerned about Christians abandoning the Lord, His Word, and His people. Like the apostle Paul, TAS was jealous over those listening to him speak for the Lord’s sake.

Excerpts from TAS’s speaking in Message Six:

“He [the Lord Jesus] takes the terrible passage from the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, "By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive; for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed." The prophet had given the Word of God to these people. The Word of God was read in their hearing every day and every week. But they had not got a heart for the Word of God. They did not respond from their hearts. So the Lord brought the judgment upon them. He says, 'You have closed your eyes; I will close them. You have closed your ears; I will close them. When you want to see, you will not be able to see. When you want to hear, you will not be able to hear. I will take away from you the power of spiritual understanding.' There is a warning for us here . . . Yes, you know about the Lord Jesus. You know what is in the Bible. But you are not going on with the Lord . . . You are not just rejoicing in the Word of God. You are not really a living Christian, taking your place amongst the people of God, coming to the help of the Lord against the mighty evil forces . . . Something is happening to you, that which you had is being taken away. You are losing the power of spiritual understanding. You are losing the power of spiritual sight and spiritual hearing. You see all that is going on amongst the Lord's people, but it does not interest you very much. You hear all that is said in the meeting, or in the home, but it does not matter to you. There are a lot of Christians like that. And this very thing is happening to them. They are in danger of losing all SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING. And, therefore, they are losing all the wonderful meaning of the Kingdom of God, of sharing the Kingdom with God's Son, of reigning together with Him in glory.”