Deterioration

Deterioration

Have I falling away? How does one fall away from the word of God? In these last days, these are two very important questions which all Believers should constantly ask themselves.
One thing that Believers must begin to understand is that the Falls is not always sudden. One does not instantly fall. From the onset to its completion, the Falls is a gradual occurrence which involves time. And since it is gradual, the Falls is quite deceptive and almost invisible to the untrained mind. The physical materialization of the Falls may seem sudden, but the process of the Falls is in motion long beforehand.

In the parable of the 2 foundations, Jesus gives a great illustration of this rather frequent occurrence . (Matt 7:24-27) . (Matthew 7:26-27 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27   And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.)

Before we continue, let us recall some very important details. As we have learned in Parables, Jesus' parables were used to illustrate a particular moral attitude, mindset or religious principle. Contrary to some popular teachings, these parables are not bound or limited by time. They were not given specifically to a historical Israel. Let us now examine the moral attitudes or mindset. and the religious principles that are found in this parable; specifically the individual whose house fell.

The first thing that we must become aware of is, that the parable of the 2 foundations deals with the end times. Not only does it deal with the state of the end times but it refers to the end of all the different states of life. It can be applied to the end of a life, the end of a business, the end of a marriage, the end of a career, etc…

Now the second thing that we should notice is the processes which caused the fall of the house. Notice that Jesus mentions all of the events that lead to fall in plural form (rain, floods, winds,). This automatically tells us that these events were more than one time occurrences. More than likely, all of these events occurred over a period of many years. It is very important that we understand where the fall of the house began. It did not begin with the initial rain, floods, and winds.

Contrary to what many may believe, the fall of the house did not begin with the initial agitations and disturbances. This is also true in life. A fall of any kind does not begin with the initial agitations and disturbances. So the first rain, floods, or winds did not begin the fall of the house. The fall of the house begins at the very beginning of construction. For those who are not yet aware, construction does not begin in the physical realm. Construction begins in the mind. The fall of the house began in the mind of the foolish man who constructed it. The very instant that this individual made the decision to build his house on the sand, was the very moment that the house began to fall. This is why Jesus classified this fellow as foolish. He had a foolish mindset. Let us define foolish.

Foolish: Function: (adj) 1 : lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion 2 a : ABSURD, RIDICULOUS b : marked by a loss of composure : NONPLUSSED, ABASHED

2. Insanity: (n) 1: a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia) 2 : such unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding as prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or as removes one from criminal or civil responsibility 3 a : extreme folly or unreasonableness b : something utterly foolish or unreasonable

By studying the definitions we can see that a foolish individual lacks sense, judgement, and discretion. This tells us that the man who built his house on the sand was lacking in sense and discretion and therefore was unable to make sound judgements. In other words he was insane.

In this parable Jesus shows us the kind of mindset that is one of the leading causative agents of the Falls. The Falls is not caused by environmental agitations and disturbances. It is caused by weak and foolish minds who are unable to make sound judgements. These weak and foolish minds will then move to build houses on weak and foolish foundations. And since they are weak, these foundations are unable to withstand the coming and recurring agitations and disturbances of the world .

You see, in this life, the most telling trait of a fool is that he or she does not know that they are a fool. Fools are totally oblivious about their foolishness. Fools tend to see things in reverse. They tend to see themselves as rising even though they are falling. They generally see themselves as wise and everybody else as fools. We can almost guarantee you that the foolish man who built his house on the sand was laughing at the wise man who built his house on the rock. He thought that the guy who built his house on the rock was the fool. He was probably saying to himself, "Look at that fool, he is giving up this beautiful beachfront location to build on those hideous rocks". He did not understand that a wise man's decisions are not dictated by the superficial aspects of life.

We have noticed that in today's world, many Believers have adopted the dangerous attitude and mindset of that foolish man. They are lacking in sense and discretion and therefore are unable to make sound judgements. They have become foolish and therefore insane. No one can convince them otherwise. They have built there houses on false doctrines of sand. These doctrines have no stable foundation or basis, but yet many Believers are clinging to them. They love that beachfront view. After all, its about Location! Location! Location! No one can convince them to repent and relocate. They have been infected by the Falls and now it is just a matter of time. Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


2 Corinthians 13:5   Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Proverbs 14:12   There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.

2 Thessalonians 2:3   Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;