The Church - What is Next?
Hi Friends,
I am writing to you today about two visions that the Lord gave me. Whatever the Lord shares with me, I want to share with you, because we all have the same basic needs. We have need of a savior, a healer, a deliverer, and a provider. Without the Lord we would have nothing. Without his word to us, we would perish. We need the written, revealed word of God, the Bible, and to be able to hear from him as well, for “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.” John 10:27
And just as important we need to have discernment to test the spirits, to be able to judge the message, for not every message is from God. So I hope and pray that as you read any of my visions, you will take them to prayer, to know whether you should trust these interpretations. Be blessed!
The Visions
A Line of Cars
In the first vision, I saw a long line of cars. There was a man walking alongside the cars, from the back of the line, at a great distance from me, to the front of the line, where he came close. I watched the man as he reached the front of the line, he turned around and walked back to the end of the line.
Crushing Foil
The second vision was of a folded sheet of aluminum foil. The sheet had been folded multiple times so that it was a tiny packet about 3.5” x 3”. I saw three fingers press down on the folded edge of the foil.
What I believe the visions mean:
The first vision of a line of cars and a person walking alongside them, reminded me of how a military officer inspects the troops. It also reminded me of a funeral director overseeing a line of cars in a funeral procession.
A scripture came to mind as I saw this man turn and walk in the opposite direction to go towards the end of the line. It was this: “So the last will be first and the first last.” Matthew 20:16
For some reason, I thought that there were 21 cars. I didn’t count them, nor did I hear any voice declaring it to be so. But I decided to look up the meaning of the number 21. On a particular Christian website, it gave multiple passages of scripture that showed that its significance was “sin.” However, I had always thought of 21 as the number 7, meaning “completion” multiplied by the number 3 meaning “perfection.” But because these are quite different interpretations, and perhaps the meaning of the vision may have nothing to do with the number 21, I asked the Lord to reveal the idea behind the vision and its true meaning.
So again, I found the Lord to be faithful! I picked up my Bible and asked him to reveal his message as either “sin” or did it concern the scripture: “So the last will be first and the first last.” I opened my Bible to page 1445 and began to read. As I got to the bottom of the page, I had to turn the page to complete the sentence. This is the sentence: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. And here it is: “But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:29-30
Wow! Isn’t the Lord wonderful! He gave me the exact passage of scripture that I was contemplating as the meaning of the vision!
Now I wondered what was the significance of this passage? What caused the Lord to make such a statement? So I decided to look at the context of the passage. What preceded this statement was the Lord’s encounter with the rich young ruler:
And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[a] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold[b] and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Matthew 19:16-30
The Lord’s teaching was not just for his disciples. It concerns us today. The rich young ruler recognized Jesus as a prophet, who taught about the kingdom of God. He wanted to justify himself as a devout Jew who followed the Law, with its statutes and requirements.
A commonly held belief among Jews was that a person’s wealth was a sign that he was especially blessed It was believed that he must be especially devout and holds fast to God’s law. This idea is reflected in the disciples’ response to Jesus’ statement that “It is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” They replied in amazement: “Then who can be saved, (if not the rich)?
When Jesus told the young rich ruler to obey the commands of God, the young man replied, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Jesus gave him this response: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” I saw this idea of perfection in the number 21:
21 = 7 the number of completion: take care of these things: “sell everything, give to the poor” multiplied by 3 the number of perfection: “and you will have treasure in heaven.”
The result of Completion x Perfection = “Come follow me.” What a blessing to be invited to follow him!
Now the message of the vision is: The first will be last and the last will be first.”
Jesus knew the heart of this young man, so he wanted to give him an opportunity to reflect on his motives and his priorities. The Lord knew that this young man’s wealth and position would be a hindrance to his full commitment to God. The young rich ruler was looking to be confirmed in his faith. He did not expect to be challenged with such a serious decision. He was given the opportunity to follow the Lord, but he would have to first choose between his money and the kingdom of God.
We saw that he was unable to give up his wealth to have the treasure in heaven and the opportunity to follow Jesus. I have always hoped that the young man would have changed his mind and see what is truly valuable.
Can you imagine this young man’s thoughts? What would his life be without money or position? What would his friends and peers think? Would he be an outcast and no longer have their respect? Without money he would be treated as an ordinary person. He would be reliant on the mercy of others. He would no longer rule, but be ruled. No longer on top, he would feel vulnerable and without defense. How could he give up his status, all his possessions, his money, his houses, his livestock, his vineyards and farmlands and live as a poor homeless man? What would it be like to follow a prophet, a man of God, who claimed that “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Luke 9:58
He would have to give up so much to follow the Lord. Yet, we see that the disciples gave up all they had to follow the Lord. They had no great wealth or position but what they owned, they laid aside to follow the Lord. They valued discipleship the Jesus as an opportunity of a lifetime!
It takes total surrender and reliance upon the Lord to give up the things we have that provide financial and personal security. Our identity would no longer be based on what we have and what we do. Our identity would be in God alone. I believe that is what the Lord wants for all of us, to find our identity in him.
Years ago, my identity was in my achievements and my profession. I believed that my worth was measured by what I did for a living. But after I was born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit, I began to hear the Lord speak to me. He said, “I don’t want you to do, I want you to be.” At that time, He asked me to give up my professional career. Six months later, he asked for my master’s degree. It was hard to give this up since I was nearly done. But I gave it up nonetheless. I had made a promise to God that I would never forget what he did for me, and that I would never let anything come between us, so I gave it up too.
I know that the Lord was testing my willingness to put him first in my life. And because of my obedience, I believe that is why he is willing to give me visions and share his heart with me. Because of his love, I know that I am at peace with him. He is so faithful!
Jesus’ rightful place is first in our hearts. We are to be last.
The Hand and Foil
The second vision was of three fingers pressing down upon the folded aluminum foil. I immediately recalled this passage of scripture: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
The fingers in the vision were crushing the folded sheet of aluminum foil. I wondered, whose fingers are doing the crushing? Could this be a warning of the coming persecution, tribulation, or oppression?
In the beginning years of the church there was tremendous persecution. But no matter how difficult life was for the Christians, the gospel spread, and faith took root. The Lord said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
I believe that this vision speaks of persecution. We as Christians will have our share of troubles, just as the Lord did. The teachings that the Lord brought to the people were received with eagerness by many people who saw his miracles and considered him a prophet, or the Son of David, the Messiah. But the leaders of Israel did not welcome his teachings or his miracles. They saw him a blasphemer and a trouble maker. His teachings turned the tables on the “religious elite.” He exposed hypocrisy and the motives of men’s hearts. Healing on the Sabbath and other demonstrations of God’s love and mercy caused him to be at odds with Israel’s leaders. Jesus made it clear that many of their traditions and man made rules and laws interfered with God’s commands.
“He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.” Another scripture :
“So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. All their deeds are done for men to see.”
Matthew 23:3-5
However, Jesus’ purpose in coming was to suffer and die on a cross to pay for the sins of the world, and to reconcile people to God. The 53 chapter in the book of Isaiah spoke of his suffering:
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53
This passage tells us that he was crushed for our iniquities. It is our sin, and wickedness that separate us from a holy, merciful and just God. Only the Lord’s perfect blood sacrifice could satisfy the debt of sin. It was God’s expressed purpose to crush him and to cause him to suffer, so that his blood would redeem men for God.
“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Revelation 5:9
In thinking about this vision, I wondered why the Lord chose foil as the substance to be crushed. I know that when foil is crushed it leaves permanent marks, creases, folds and imprints. When we experience a crushing in the form of persecution, it shapes us. We are changed in different ways. Some of us after having suffered rejection, shame or persecution are more determined to witness, and to follow Jesus. Others experience the testing of their faith through persecution and are more apt to fall away. The Bible speaks of loving the praise of men more than the praise of God. Those that fall away from the faith prefer to conform to the ways of the world, rather than to remain true to their Lord and Savior and endure rejection and hardship.
Jesus warned us that persecution is something that his followers would experience because we do not conform to the ways of the world or or value what the world values.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in Christ Jesus.” Romans 12:2
Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Jesus said that the world will hate us:
“If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’” John 15:18-25
Persecution is increasing because the end is coming soon. We are told that in the last days: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:12-14
We see government leaders around the world take very authoritarian and dictatorial stances with their citizens. The lock-downs, mask mandates, and vaccination mandates have been implemented in spite of being in direct violation of our Constitutional rights. But not all nations have these protections in place. On YouTube I saw a young Australian mother arrested in her home and taken from her children, while still dressed in her pajamas. What was her crime? She shared information on social media about a march to take place in her city. The march was to protest the overreach of the government regarding vaccine mandates and lock-downs.
Apparently, the leaders in the Australian government did not honor their right to free speech, the right to redress their complaints, or the right to assemble. Perhaps these protections are not expressed in the law of their land.
There is no freedom where people cannot speak their minds, meet openly to discuss issues or have control over their own bodies. Without these freedoms they become like Communist countries and dictatorships. It seems that our world has become a place where the governmental authorities are no longer accountable to the citizens who elect them. These leaders act as if they are untouchable, as if they have unquestioned authority, and that no citizen has the right to voice his opinion, or has the authority to hold them accountable.
It is important to see the events of the day from a Biblical perspective. “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Romans 13:1
Therefore if we have bad leaders, it is because God has allowed it. Since we have many leaders who care nothing for their constituents, who continually lie and misrepresent the truth, who spread their propaganda, and who undermine our nation with lawlessness, injustice, lock-downs and mandates, we must ask ourselves.
When things like this happen, their must be a reason, and there must be a solution. God knows the why we find ourselves in this state and he also provides a solution to the problem:
“If my people who are called by my name will seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Who needs to repent in this scripture? It is the Church. We must stop pointing the finger, for we are all aware of the problem. What we need to do is look at our sin. Where did we fail? Where did we drop the ball with regards to following the Lord? Why is there so much moral decline? Why is sin so prolific?
Well let’s inspect our sin. Just like the row of cars in the first vision, we need to look at the troops. How is the church shaping up? Much of the church has departed from true faith in the Lord. Biblical doctrine and a sound teaching of the gospel has been replaced by “friendly, self-help messages.” Apathy and complacency has replaced a fervent desire to worship God. And some out of fear of the virus, or laziness prefer to stay at home and not meet in person. Over time those who began to watch services online, have become more complacent. They no longer engage in worship but become spectators. Eventually they become insensitive to the Holy Spirit and lose the desire to engage the Lord in prayer, or worship. The doors of many churches have closed permanently.
Why has this happened? I believe that the Church has become like several of the Churches in the Book of Revelation. We have lost our first love. We have become complacent. We have tolerated sin in the Church (sexual immorality, divorce, perversity, greed, lust, false teachers, false prophets, and “pastors who care nothing for the sheep.”)
One mega church that I visited advertised their church as having “KILLER WORSHIP!” What is that? What is killer worship? Are they advertising a rock band, a concert, a good time? What happened to worshiping in spirit and in truth?
Too many churches have become secularized. They no longer preach on sin and the need for repentance. One rationale is that “The topic of sin is just too confrontational, after all, we don’t want to scare people away!” Many church leaders have worldly lifestyles because they have become worldly themselves. Materialism and prosperity is openly flaunted. No wonder we are experiencing turmoil in our nation. The Church has lost its way. Many churches no longer follow Christ but deceiving spirits. They allow perversity in the leadership and within the congregation. The end-time Church is no longer a beacon of righteousness, pointing the way to God. Many churches have become social clubs, trying to appeal to the natural human weaknesses rather than remaining true to the call of God to “make disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Some churches’ push their members to tithe so that their coffers grow. Some churches want to be known as the coolest, most exciting or “relevant” church in the area!
Can you imagine what the Lord would say to these churches today? “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Revelation 2:5
That is what the Lord said to the Church at Ephesus in the book of Revelation.
But true believers will want to honor God, and not grieve him. He has promised us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. So if our hearts are right with him, we will want to live for him and be faithful to him, no matter what may come our way. It is not always easy to stand in faith, but that is what is required of us.
The word tells us:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:7-10
If we want to have eternal life we have to remain in him. He is so patient with us, always encouraging us to overcome. Our job is to simply place our trust, our hope and all that we have in his care. Persecution is coming. Please prepare yourself. Separate yourself from the “anything goes” church. If you try to hide out, or blend in with the world to avoid persecution, then you might escape hardship, but at what cost?
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36
And “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:49-50
And “Count it pure joy my brothers when you face all kinds of trials because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:3-4
In Conclusion
Please read and study the Bible for yourself. Seek God everyday; develop a relationship with him, and repent whenever you fall into sin. Forgive those who persecute you, for that is what the Lord requires. And live for him! God loves you and will be with you in every and all circumstances! God bless you!
