Hearing from a Distance or Up Close and Personal

Mark 4:1

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.” Mark 4:1

It would be awesome if everyone within a large crowd were gathered because they had a heart felt belief in Jesus. I remember when I was writing spiritual articles using scripture texts but didn’t talk about the Gospel message. I’m really, really sorry for abusing the Scriptures in that way. Those writings were more like the John Lennon lyrics of his song, “Imagine.” Those who live by the thing forming what people think, feel, do and say thrive on that. Those are the times when I had ten or fifteen likes for every post and people were commenting regularly with 70% positivity in their tone.

As long as Jesus wasn’t a central part of my writings, the followers of my posts were supportive, but when the Gospel of Jesus is the focus then the likes and comments fade. Those crowds are actually keeping Jesus at bay, keeping Him in a small boat off the shoreline away from individuals. The global culture positively supports those who allow the image of the beast to speak and live through them by the thing forming what they feel, think, do, and say. They thrive on grooming people to the mark of the beast by what they say and do.

Even after preaching to the crowds, in parables, Jesus explained privately to His disciples what the parables actually meant.

I sincerely believe in the resurrection of Jesus and verbally share my testimony of Christ whenever I can. I don’t want to be in the crowds that only hear parables and keeps Jesus off the coast in a small boat. I want to be that individual person who Jesus teaches what the parables mean.

We can assess that crowds of people gathered around the Lord Jesus Christ to the point of causing Him to enter a boat away from them. The diagnosis is that many in the crowd do not live for Jesus Christ as the broad way of mainstream society leads to destruction but the narrow way of the few leads to eternal life. We plan to be the faithful few who are in the boat with Jesus during the storms within this world. We want to understand through the Holy Spirit the parables Jesus spoke and not to hear with deaf ears caused by worldly values. We implement that plan by coming apart from the anti-Christian global culture and receiving Jesus Christ who puts sin in remission. We want to understand the world through the Spirit and avoid the deafness in the flesh. We know the plan is successful when we are with Jesus Christ in the boat and not part of the crowd keeping Him at bay.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1