John 1:11 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
A visitation of the Lord is taking place right now. But how many of us are receiving Him? Peter spoke of the attitude of many Christians in this day. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming (parousia = presence)? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. II Peter 3:3-4.
The Jews, particularly the religious leaders, were so locked-in to their old religious concepts and traditions, that they could not accept Jesus when He came. He did not fit the mold they made for the Messiah. When Jesus came on the scene, He was so different from their preconceived ideas of the Christ, that they rejected Him. Could that happen again? The presence of the Lord Jesus is now being manifested on a new level. And the revelation of Him will be so different from the old religious traditions and concepts, that many Christians will reject Him.
Religiosity has a way of rejecting anything of God in the present. It is okay to talk about Jesus the Nazarene who walked the shores of Galilee, or to speak of a futuristic coming of the Lord. But keep Him out of the present. That?s the way the Jews were. The Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. John 9:22. It was all right to preach the Messiah, but keep Him in the past or the future. That is the way many churches are today. They have to keep a present revelation of the Lord out. If the presence of the Lord comes in, then they lose their little kingdoms. Well, that?s exactly what is going to happen. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming on the scene, and judgment is going to begin at the house of the Lord (I Peter 4:17). The Christian world will be the first to come under the judgments of God. He, and He alone, is going to be the Lord over His Church.
Copyright 2003 by Henry DuBose