- ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΙΕΣ ΑΓΙΩΝ Η ΣΥΝΕΧΕΙΑ (ΝΟ2) - .-= ΤΟ ΠΑΡΑΞΕΝΟ =-.

Εγώ να επιμείνω πάντως, πως τσάμπα τον ψάχνουμε τον Ιωάννη. Αφού το λέει πως τότε θα γίνει φανερός σε όλους, άρα τώρα θα είναι αδύνατον να τον βρούμε.

Δυστυχώς είναι στα Αγγλικά.

ESCAPE FROM CHRISTENDOM

PART I

I saw the lone figure of a man following a road. As the sun sets beneath the hills, a city comes into view. Nearing it, the traveler sees what appears to be a large group of churches. Spires and crosses pierce the skyline. His pace quickens. Is this his destination? He passes an imposing structure, a neon sigh flashing 'Cathedral of the Future.' Farther on a flood-lit stadium supports a billboard boasting that fifty thousand people crowd into evangelistic meetings there three nights a week. Beyond this, modest 'New Testament' chapels and Messianic Synagogues cluster together on the street front.

'Is this the New Jerusalem?' I hear the traveler ask a woman at the information both in the central square. 'No, this is Christian City,' she replies. But I thought this road led to the New Jerusalem,' he exclaims with great disappointment. 'That's what we all thought when we arrived,' she answers, her tone sympathetic. 'This road continues up the mountain, doesn't it? he asks. 'I wouldn't know,' she answers blankly.

I watch the man turn away from her and trudge on up the mountain in the gathering darkness. Reaching the top, he stares out into the blackness. It looks as thought there is nothing; absolutely nothing beyond. With a shudder, he retraces his steps into Christian City and takes a room at a hotel.

Strangely unrefreshed, at dawn he arises and follows the road up the mountain again. In the brightening light of the sun he discovers that what seemed like a void the night before is actually desert; dry, hot, rolling sand as far as the eye can see. The road narrows to a path which rises over a dune and disappears. 'Can this trail lead to the New Jerusalem? he wonders aloud. It appears to be quite deserted and rarely traveled.

Indecision slowing his steps, he again returns to Christian City and has lunch in a Christian restaurant. Over the music of a gospel record I heard him ask a man at the next table, 'That path up the mountain, where the desert begins, does it lead to the New Jerusalem?' 'Don't be a fool!' his neighbor quickly replies. 'Everyone who has ever taken that path has been lost; swallowed up by the desert! If you want God there are plenty of good churches in this town. You should pick one and settle down.'

After leaving the restaurant, feeling weary and confused, the traveler finds a spot under a tree and sits down. An old man approaches and begins pleading with him in urgent tones, 'If you stay here in Christian City, you'll wither away. You must take the path. I belong to the desert you saw earlier. I was sent here to encourage you to press on. You'll travel many miles. You'll be hot and thirsty, but angels will walk with you and there will be springs of water along the way. And at your journeys end, you will reach the New Jerusalem.' You have not known such Life and Joy. When you arrive, the gates will open for you. You are expected.'

'What you say sounds wonderful,' the traveler replies. 'But I'm afraid I'd never survive that desert. I'm probably better off here in Christian City.' The old man smiles. 'Christian City is the place for those who want religion but don't want to lose their lives. The desert is the territory of those whose hearts are so thirsty for God that they are willing to be lost in Him. My friend, when Peter brought his boat to land, forsook all and followed Yeshua, he was being swallowed by the desert. When Levi left his tax collecting and Paul his ambition and opportunity to be a great rabbi, they too were leaving a city much like this to pursue Yeshua out over the dunes and be lost in God. So don't be afraid. Many have gone before you.'

Then I saw the traveler look away from the old man's burning eyes to the bustle of Christian City. He sees busy people hurrying hither and yon with the Bibles and shiny attache cases, looking like men and women who know their destiny. But it is clear that they lack something which the old man with eyes like a prophet possesses.

The traveler is turning things over in his mind. 'If I do go out there, how can I be sure that I will really be lost in God? In the Middle Ages, Christians tried to lose themselves in God by putting the world behind them and entering a monastery. And how disappointed some of them were to find the world was still there! And the people here in Christian City who are preparing to go to some jungle or a neglected slum, maybe they're coming close to what it means to be lost in God. But then, a person can travel to the ends of the earth and not lose himself.'

The traveler turns again to see the old man starting up the road for the narrow path down to the desert's edge. Suddenly, his decision mobilizes him and he jumps to his feet, chasing after him. When he catches up, they exchange no words. The old man makes an abrupt turn to the right and guides him up still another slope that steepens as it rises towards a peak shrouded in a luminous cloud. The climb upward is very difficult. The traveler appears dizzy and begins to stagger. His guide pauses and offers him a drink from a flask hanging over his shoulder. Panting, he drinks it in great gulps. 'No water ever tasted sweeter than this,' he says with great feeling. 'Thank you.'

'Now look there.' The old man points beyond them to a vista not nearly as monotonous and desolate as it had seemed earlier. The desert below has taken on many colors and graduations. In the far distance a blazing Light is throbbing and moving on the surface of the horizon like a living thing. 'There is the New Jerusalem!' But before you reach it you will have to pass through four wildernesses. Directly below us is the Wilderness of Forgiveness.' The traveler notices small, dim figures making their way slowly in the direction of the City, separated from each other by many miles.

'How can they survive the loneliness?' asks the traveler. 'Wouldn't they benefit from traveling together?' 'Well, they really aren't alone. Each one of them is accompanied by the forgiveness of God. They are being swallowed by the desert of the Lord God's vast mercy. The Holy Spirit is saying to them as they travel, 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away your sin.' They are made whole as they travel.

Just beyond there is an expanse of blue. 'Is it a sea?' inquires the traveler. 'It looks like water but its a sea of sand. That's the Wilderness of Worship. Here, look through these glasses and you will see that people are walking there too. Notice how they begin to group themselves there. They are having their first taste of the City; worship. They are discovering how they themselves were made for the worship of God. It is becoming their life, the white-hot source of everything they do.'

'But don't people also worship back in Christian City? What's so special about that wilderness?' 'Worship, that is true worship, can begin only when a life has been utterly abandoned to the desert of God's Presence. Out there the heart begins to worship God in Spirit and Truth.'

Looking beyond the blue wilderness to where desert rises in red and fiery mountains, the old man explains to the traveler that among those reddish mountains is the Wilderness of Prayer. 'Passing through that wilderness travelers find it necessary to turn away from every distraction and concentrate on prayer. They quickly learn that there is no possible way for them to survive but by crying out to Yeshua continually. By the time they reach the outer extremes of the Wilderness, prayer is their consuming passion and their supreme joy. It appears at first that the New Jerusalem is just beyond the Wilderness of Prayer. But there is one more wilderness hidden by the mountains, which you will pass through before you reach your destination. It is simply called the Harvest. You'll know it when you reach it. And beyond the Harvest is the City itself. Your name is known there. Your arrival is awaited with eagerness. Come, let's begin the journey.'

The two men begin their descent. The sun is again setting as they arrive at the edge of the desert. The traveler hesitates. 'Night fall doesn't seem to be a particularly propitious time to begin a journey like this,' he says. 'Don't go back to Christian City,' the old man exhorts, gazing at him earnestly. 'Not even at this hour? That way I could get a good night's sleep and start first thing in the morning,' the traveler adds hopefully. 'But your rest is out there,' the old man urges. 'Walk on now, into the desert. The Holy Spirit will help you. Don't be afraid to be lost in Yeshua. You'll find your life nowhere else.

THE WILDERNESS OF FORGIVENESS
The old man has left the traveler standing alone at the edge of the desert as darkness falls. The lights of Christian City beckon from behind him. I can imagine him thinking of the warmth of a friendly conversation over a warm meal and of going to sleep in the comfortable bed. But then his expression becomes resolute and he murmurs, 'This is doubtless the road I have to take. I will find my life only by losing it; that is a certainty. But how can I know that if I take this path into the desert I will assuredly be lost in God and not merely lost? I can remember many people who took a solitary path which led them not to the New Jerusalem but into such unreal thoughts and spurious experiences that their minds and lives were destroyed. Surely the danger of settling for less than life in Christian City has to be weighed against the possibility of losing it in the wilderness of spiritual delusion. I'm sure that the darkness beyond contains not only the path to the New Jerusalem but also countless trapdoors to Hell where one can be lost in lonely vanity. How can I be sure of distinguishing the true path?'

A star appears hanging low over the horizon, directly above the path in front of the traveler. He looks up and sees it. He whispers quietly, 'Forgiveness.' And then with deep reverence quotes: 'Yeshua also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own Blood. Therefore, let us go forth to Him outside the Camp, bearing abuse for Him. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the City which is to come. Yes, I will go on.'

As dawn breaks he sees nothing but sand and sky and a path which can be distinguished from all others by the star which hovers where the trail meets the horizon. As the day wears on it is obvious that the traveler is weary, thirsty and sick with heat. Just when it appears he can not trudge another step, a man appears at his side.

'Over the next hill you will find a spring,' he says. 'Keep on going, you're almost there. He is soon lying by a spring, drinking water and eating food which the man provides. 'This is the Wilderness of Forgiveness. People often expect God's forgiveness to be like a beautiful park with fountains and rivers and green grass. They cannot understand why it should be a desert. Yet one has to learn that God's forgiveness is everything; everything.

And this is possible only in a desert, where a believer comes to see nothing, appreciate nothing, hope in nothing, but the Blood of Yeshua.

'But far be it from me to glory except in the death of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.'

'I have been crucified with Messiah. It is no longer I who live but Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.'

'Do you think the Apostle Paul traveled this Wilderness?' the traveler asks. 'Yes he did. For years Paul had worked very hard in the City of Religion to be a religious man. His zeal was so great that it clouded his thinking about Messiah; till he met Him that is. From the beginning, Yeshua meant one thing to Shaul; forgiveness. He was overwhelmed with it because he knew the great sins he committed against God before Yeshua revealed Himself to him. Paul's first experience of the Kingdom of God as a reality in his life was right here in this Wilderness.'

'So, I'm walking where the Apostles walked.' The traveler's voice was full of awe. 'Remember when Peter lowered the net at the command of Yeshua and brought it up loaded with fish? His immediate response was, 'Leave me, Lord, for I'm a sinner.' Yeshua said to him, 'Don't be afraid. From now on you will be catching men.' Implied in Yeshua's answer was, 'I will take care of your sin.' And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Yeshua. They followed Him right here into this Wilderness of Forgiveness. After Yeshua died for Peter's sins and rose for his justification, He said to this man who had denied Him three times, 'Simon, son of Yonah, do you love me? Feed My sheep.' And in this interaction of three questions and commands, Peter's thrice denial of Him was nullified and his heart healed.

'For years,' the traveler told him, 'I've been trying to get beyond theoretical or doctrinal forgiveness, in order to really know that I have been forgiven. I've wanted to be immersed, baptized, lost in it. I have longed to hear Yeshua say to me, 'Take heart My son, your sins are forgiven.' I've wanted the Blood of Yeshua to flow into my heart and heal and purify me.'

'You have come to the right place. Before you reach the other side of this Wilderness, you will experience the relief of having that load of guilt, that weighs you down like a rock, rolled away. You will begin to walk before God without shame. Just as you were once obsessed with the need to guide yourself up, you will soon be obsessed with the forgiveness of God.'

'Obsessed with the forgiveness of God?' 'You will be so obsessed with God's mercy that you will be free for the first time in your life, of other people's opinions. The woman who washed Yeshua's feet with her tears was obsessed with His forgiveness to the point where she was heedless of the jeers and opinions of others. The cleansed leper who joyfully fell at Yeshua's feet, gave thanks for more than just the healing of his leprosy, which was an ancient 'mark' of sin. And when Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Yeshua, he was watching his own forgiveness walking toward him down the road. So obsessed was he with the forgiveness which visited him that day, that the chains of covetousness broke from his heart. You will come to the place where it will happen to you.'

The traveler resumed his journey, his mysterious companion walking silently by his side for about an hour and then suddenly disappearing. 'What Joy I feel! This must be what the disciples felt as they returned to Jerusalem after Yeshua was taken up in the Cloud.' In the light of the star, the traveler makes out the figure of a woman rising over the crest of the next dune, walking slowly down the slope toward him. He looked like he recognized her. From his expression I gathered that this person had wronged him. Her eyes are fixed on the traveler as she comes up to him. 'Will you forgive me?' she asks. The traveler stops still. The woman draws closer, asking a second time. Will you forgive me?' They are face to face when she asks the third time.

The traveler's mysterious companion is again at his side, quietly instructing him. 'This Wilderness of Forgiveness is not only a place for receiving forgiveness but for giving it as well. This woman is but the first of a procession of people from your past whom you have never really forgiven. The divine Joy that has flooded your soul all day is being challenged by the bitterness buried in your soul all these years. You have to make a choice. The sterile, shallow lip-service forgiveness of your past life is powerless even to be polite to this woman. But the forgiveness of God which has been flowing in to the point of becoming an obsession can flow out now if you will allow it to.'

The traveler reaches out, takes the woman by the hand, looks into her eyes and says, 'I forgive you.' She weeps. And just as she forms the words, 'Thank you,' she is gone.

Then the man who called the traveler a fool in the restaurant back in Christian City comes running and panting toward him. Mopping his face with his handkerchief, the trouble man begins to beg for forgiveness. 'Of course, of course,' the traveler replies heartily. It's nothing. Don't think another thing about it.'

'Please don't take this matter so lightly. I need your forgiveness. Will you really forgive me? From the bottom of your heart?'

'But I already have,' returns the traveler. His companion illuminates the situation for him. 'He needs your forgiveness, not your courtesy, but active, genuine forgiveness. He needs your love.'