Our study of the end times is for the purpose of not only knowing what is going to come to pass, but to be prepared for it. For this reason we will seek to go a little deeper in our understanding of the stronghold of racism, which Scripture indicates to be one of the major forces bringing destruction at the end of this age.
To be prepared for this evil power, we must first become free of it. The first principle of true freedom is
. Truth is our most basic commodity and most powerful weapon. The litmus test of all matters (to determine if they are in fact truth) is first found in their compliance with the Scriptures. If we are in fact truth seekers, and not just influence seekers, then the Scriptures are our compass to lead us to our destination.
Even so, truth is not just a compilation of facts—truth is a Person! Jesus is the truth. In all things we are not just seeking to know the letter of the Scriptures, but to hear His voice. We are not just seeking to hear the words of the Lord, but the Word Himself. Our goal is not just obedience to the letter, but obedience to the living God. To be prepared for the end times, we must not only know what is going to happen, but be abiding in the Lord, who is above all rule and authority and dominion.
There is a great lesson to be understood concerning this from the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus. It was immediately after the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection that this takes place. The Lord Jesus Himself joined up with two of His disciples who were walking on the road, and they did not recognize Him. In this story I think we have illuminated the primary reason why even His own disciples often fail to recognize Him. Believe it or not, to a large degree this has to do with the degree of racism in our heart.
After the Lord inquired about why these disciples were troubled, He went on to explain from the Scriptures, not only concerning the events that had just taken place in Jerusalem, but the things concerning Himself from the beginning of the Scriptures until the end. This may well have been the greatest teaching that He ever gave on the earth. Here we have Christ Himself teaching about Himself from the beginning of the Scriptures to the end. What could have possibly been greater than this? Yet, they still could not recognize Him! Why?
We are given the answer to this in Mark 16:12, when it says concerning this event, “...He appeared in a different form..." They could not recognize Him because He appeared to them in a form that they were not used to. This is still possibly the main reason why believers fail to recognize Him when He tries to draw close to them—He will almost inevitably come in a form that we are not used to, or expect. Why does He do this? Understanding why is crucial for understanding how we will discern Him, His ways, and His purposes.
In Matthew 23:39 the Lord said, “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, "BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD." If we are going to “see” Him, we must recognize Him in those that He sends to us. The Lord lamented over Jerusalem that she would have been spared the destruction which was coming (and did come in 70 AD), if she had recognized the time of her visitation. Knowing the time of our visitation is essential for us to avoid the coming destruction as well. Knowing and discerning the signs of the times is important, but recognizing the Lord, and those that He sends to us, is more important than knowing the signs. Of course, what we want to do is know both.
The two disciples could not recognize Him on the road to Emmaus because they only knew Him after the flesh, after His external appearance, and not after the Spirit. This same thing causes many to still miss the time of their visitation because they tend to judge by appearances, the externals, rather than by the discernment of the Spirit. This is the result of being shallow in vision and understanding, both of which will be very costly in the times ahead.
Those who are true seekers of God, true worshipers, will have a devotion to go deeper in their understanding of Him, but even more, they will be devoted to being close to Him. We are told in I Corinthians 2:10, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Therefore, we can also assume that those who are led by the Spirit will be prone to search for the depths of God, and they will go deeper.
Also, as we learn in the Parable of the Sower, one of the qualities of the good soil which will bear fruit with the seed that is sown in it, is that the seed can go deep, not being shallow like in the “rocky soil.” One reason for this is that those who tend to want to go deeper are those who care more. When they hear things and they are moved by them, they will inevitably pursue a deeper understanding of them. What does this have to do with racism? A great deal, and we will see this soon.
There are also basically two ways that we tend to recognize others. The first is by their face, and the second is by their voice. Having been with my wife for more than twenty-seven years, she could use just about any disguise, but if she spoke I would know her voice immediately. In this way we should be able to recognize the Lord immediately when He speaks, regardless of the form in which He comes.
In this we are not talking about recognizing His voice because we know the physical tones, because the voice of the Lord is spiritual. Therefore, we must know Him after the Spirit. It is kind of like the way an art expert can recognize an authentic piece of work by an artist by the brush strokes, the colors, and nuances that other casual viewers of the art would not notice. Those who really know the Lord have this kind of intimacy with Him, and they know Him much more profoundly than just by hearing someone say, “Thus says the Lord.” They know Him and His ways so well that they will recognize them quickly in anyone that He sends.
On the other hand, racism is the result of an ultimate shallowness, an ultimate selfishness, and an ultimate failure to understand the Lord, His purposes, and His ways. This is why the Lord Jesus explained that this was one of the primary things that would distinguish us as “sheep” or “goats” at the judgment. As He said in the parable of the sheep and goats, the sheep were those who fed Him when He was hungry, when He was thirsty they gave Him a drink, and when He was a foreigner they took Him in. By this we can conclude that our willingness to be open to the foreigner, those who are different from us, will be one of the determining characteristics of whether we are “sheep” or “goats” at the judgment (see Matthew 25:41-46).
It is also noteworthy that when Paul the apostle gave the qualifications for elders in the first chapter of Titus, one of these qualifications is that they are given to, or a lover of hospitality. The Greek word that is translated “hospitable” in this text is philoxenos (fil-ox'-en-os). The suffix here xenos is the root word for “foreigner” in the Greek. To more literally translate what Paul wrote would be that an elder had to be a lover of hospitality to foreigners.
Why would Paul say this? Because until we are not only open, but a lover of foreigners, and open enough to them to show hospitality, we are not mature enough spiritually to be a leader in the church. This is evidence that one has been delivered from the roots of fear and/or pride that would make one a racist, as well as one who understands how the glory of the diversity that God has made basic to His creation reveals His ways.
In Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Israel is commanded to love the foreigners who are in their midst. In Deuteronomy 31:12, they are told to "assemble the people, the men and the women and the children and the foreigner who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law." The Lord commanded His people to love the foreigners before He commanded them to teach them His ways. As we have discussed before, true spiritual authority will always be founded upon love. Love establishes a trust that will open one up to what we have to teach. Therefore, we will not be able to teach others until we love them.
It is because of this that racism, in all of its forms (and there are many), can be so devastating to the fulfilling of the Great Commission. It does this by setting up as a stronghold within those who are called to preach the gospel, preventing them from crossing the racial and cultural barriers that is to be preached to every nation.
We will continue our study of this devastating evil stronghold next week, seeking to be free of all of its influences in our own life, as well as laying a basic understanding of how this will be a force for evil at the end of this age.
