The Two Groups

Last night, I got such clarity on a subject, that I wanted to share it with you. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he said it would be like a loaf of leavened bread...the leaven permeates the loaf. He also said to beware the leaven of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had a form of godliness, but, the Lord said that in reality, they were white-washed walls, full of dead men's bones. Another parable describes the Kingdom of God as a tiny seed which would eventually become a huge tree, filling the Earth, and that the birds of the air would nest in its branches. Birds, in Scripture represent evil spirits. So, you have Jesus saying that the Kingdom of God on Earth, would be permeated with those who have a form of godliness, without the power of the Holy Spirit; and that the church would fill the Earth, having evil spirits make their nest in its branches. It comes down to these two groups, those that have received the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ, and actually belong to Him, and those who say they do. These are the same two groups that appear before the judgment seat of Christ. To the one group He says, depart from me...I never knew you, while welcoming the other group into His Presence. He bids us to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. It's not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of God that we are saved. This error was already in the first century church and Paul addresses it in his epistles. Romans 8:9, "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ". John 6:63, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life".    1 Corinthians 2:12, "What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us". This is the cause of all the confusion in the churches...those who profess Christ are mixed in with His precious children. It's a very scary thing, because a lot of them think that they know the Lord. If you notice, they even argue with Him about it in the judgment saying, "...Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?", (Mat 7:22). So it's not about being 'spiritual', not even super spiritual. There is only one foundation, Romans 10:8-10, "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved". We must believe the Word of God and wholly trust in His ability to save us, to correct us, and to guide us. Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ...". Amen!