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Meet the Thief
by Phil Maxwell
June 13, 2002
Yahshua said that He would come first as a thief in the night.
He also said that a thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but this can only
happen to someone who is unprepared. Though the thief comes as an adversary to
the children of God, his purpose serves the greater cause of distinguishing
those who are watchful. Those who effectively repel the thief are the ones
Yahshua seeks for His kingdom.
Facing the judgment seat of Christ is an absolute certainty for all who have
truly received Him, and many will find themselves empty handed, humiliated, and
rejected. All they have built in the name of Christ will be spoiled by the thief
BEFORE Yahshua accounts for His goods, or as Paul wrote, their works will be
utterly burned up. The judgment seat of Christ is the accounting of how those
who have received the power TO BECOME children of God have fared with His goods
and on His behalf.
Yahshua's judgment is according to the works of His servants. Note, however,
that the "works" that go into judgment are not records of things we
have done, but accounting for what we have built in His name and for His glory.
Do we have a flood-proof house? Have we yielded an increase that will pass
through the fire of His goods? Will we bear fruit in the midst of great
tribulation, or wither and die? Servants are responsible only for what they do,
regardless of the outcome, but children are accountable for the harvest.
The faithful will be blessed with overflowing joy and abundant life as both
Yahshua and His Father make their abode with them. As they go through the fires
of trials and tribulation, the unprepared will have nothing to present as their
houses will have been washed away by the torrential flood of demons and their
hosts before Yahshua comes. The only spiritual abode they will serve is to lying
and seducing spirits.
Consider the idea of Yahshua coming as a thief in the night like businesses that
employ “mystery shoppers” to discreetly evaluate employees. I even did this
once myself as a tax preparer for H&R Block many years ago. My mission was
to pose as an ordinary customer and try to entice my peers at other offices to
violate policies and laws. I was given phony tax forms and information laced
with opportunities for error or fraud, like cash earnings that couldn’t have
been traced by the IRS. I think two of three actually told me these earnings
didn’t have to be claimed and prepared my returns accordingly. Their house was
broken into, while the other was found faithful. The fact that the company did
such investigations routinely was well known by all preparers, so they were
without excuse.
Another good example of how the thief tests our faith is found in Job. Satan,
the thief, was described as a traveler amongst the sons of men when Yahweh
called His attention to Job, whom Yahweh held up as the epitome of human
righteousness. What happened next is well known: Yahweh sent Satan to attempt to
break into Job’s house, so to speak. Within the boundaries Yahweh set, Satan
went and threw everything he could at Job, yet Job held fast. Then, within even
broader latitude, Yahweh sent Satan again to test Job even further, but Job
remained faithful. His house was not broken into by the thief, and Job was
rewarded greatly.
While the reward Yahshua has in His hand for His faithful servants is
tremendous, the fate of the lazy and irresponsible servants will be far worse.
They will not even be aware of their visitation, and worse yet, they will be
given over to demonically controlled minds, which will be taken as revival by
many sincere but delusional "Christians". They will think the
spiritual power they realize by demons is the Holy Spirit. The intoxicating
effect of this will blind them to the truth. Given over to reprobate minds, they
will justify all sorts of vile behavior – even fornication and violence –
while maintaining the semblance of serving God with all sincerity.
Also, once given over to demons, their reprobate minds will resent the open
blessing given to the faithful, and will become quite hostile as the war in
heaven breaks out in full measure. Refusing to recognize that they have missed
Yahshua’s coming, they will become agents in Satan’s war against the saints,
crucifying Christ to their flesh all over again. They are as the earth opening
up its mouth to receive the demonic flood Satan will cast out of his mouth
against the saints.
It is what comes out of a man’s mouth that defiles him. When one gives their
mouth over to lying and enticing spirits, they not only receive and become
defiled by those spirits, but also become enslaved by them.
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