IntimateWorship.org

It's the end of the world as we know it

by TJT |  January 19, 2013

On December 21^st 2012 (12.21.12 – the Winter solstice – the day with the lease amount of daylight), the Mayan calendar “ended”.  To many, this indicated the end of the world.  Some people took it seriously and horded food, sold possessions, and other goofy things.  For most of us though, we laughed it off as ridiculous.  But… what if… the “world” did end? – or at least the World as we knew it. 

The enemy (the prince of this world) has limitations.  He is a created being and therefore, finite.  What if the church (the body of Christ) just transitioned into a time where the enemy’s resources are maxed out?

Now think about this… the Kingdom of our Lord is ever increasing and ever expanding.  The resources of the church (God’s heirs – that’s us) are limitless.  In fact, they are getting stronger and more diverse, more intense, better, faster, able to accomplish more than ever before.

As a group of us were praying and listening around the New Year (on 1/4/2013) this kept getting stronger in my spirit.  Then, while we were praying, a friend of mine had a vision; a piglet that was caught up in the air while holding on to a kite.  The wind carried him along in all kinds of crazy loops, dips, and rises.  But the piglet held on tight and enjoyed the ride – even as intense as it was.

I was fascinated with the image of the “piglet” – what did it mean.

As I sat and pondered with the Lord about the meaning of the piglet, my first thought was the character from the Winnie the Pooh stories.  Piglet – a happy little creature, very content.  …or the piglet from the Geico commercials – whizzing down a zip line holding a small windmill and yelling, “Whee whee whee.”   But then a memory flooded back to my mind.  It was an experience I had with my uncle Bob (he raised pigs at the time).  My family had driven to his farm for a reunion.  While we were there, Uncle Bob took me out to a shed and showed me a pen with a gazillion little piglets running around.  As I watched, he led the Sow into the pen and she flopped on her side.  The piglets went crazy!  FOOD!  But there were more piglets than feeding receptacles.  They climbed over each other and pushed their greedy little faces into the fray – shoving their siblings to the side just to get to the source.  Bob looked at me and chuckled, “That’s why they call ‘em ‘pigs’”.  We both laughed.

What stuck out to me in my mind was the hunger.  These little piglets were so hungry they could care less who was shoved aside or if there was a hoof in their eye.  All they cared about was the sustenance coming from their momma.  The hunger!

That’s why God used the image of a piglet – it represents youth, energy, joy and hunger.

The more I thought about it, the more I was excited to give my interpretation, but the worship music continued and there wasn’t an immediate opportunity to share.  So I sat with the Lord.  As I did, I started getting something completely different.  And it grew and developed…

The Lord pointed out two stories from the book of Acts: 

Acts 5 

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Acts 8

⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

My first thought was, “how can these two scripture passages be related to the piglet image.  They are night and day.”  But the more I sat with it the more I understood.  Ananias and Sapphira were “early” believers.  They were living in a time of transition where the Lord was establishing something completely unheard of – radically different.  This incident happened even before the church was scattered beyond Jerusalem.  They were believers, yes; and they were going along with what everyone else was doing – except the condition of their hearts had not changed.  The story of Simon happened just after Stephen was stoned and the church was dispersed (Phillip to Samaria – hometown of Simon).  Here too, we see the “early” church.  They’re just trying to figure it out.  Simon gets “saved” (or at least becomes a believer).   Then, when he offers to buy the gift of God, he is told by the visiting church fathers to die along with his money – because of the condition of his heart.

Here is a picture of the “early” church.  There is great joy!  Can you imagine being set free from the requirements of the law!  Can you imagine yourself or your friends being delivered or healed?  There is Excitement and Energy – even amidst persecution.  Entire towns are becoming believers; thousands are being added – daily.   …and at the same time, the Lord establishes an awesome fear about who he is and what they have.

When I conduct a wedding it is a joyful celebration – probably one of the happiest moments in a person’s life, but there is a part of the ceremony where I state, “Marriage is not something to be entered into lightly, but reverently…”  There is great joy – but at the same time it’s a great responsibility.

Church – do you have ears to hear?

Just like the “early” church, we are poised on something unprecedented.  It’s the end of the world as we know it.  The “world” and its influence and power is dead to the church.  The church is coming out of the world and the world is coming out of the church.  It has lost its power and influence.  We (the Body - collectively) are being born again…  Just like the church in Acts, we are being born into something radically new (not simply a different season).  We’ve all lived through different seasons in the church as God adds to and modifies how we function and live.  This is different.  I believe we are now entering a new “AGE” where everything is changing.   When we look at ourselves in the mirror we won’t recognize what we’ve always seen before.  We are no longer adolescents… the church is growing up – maturing.  This is a time of great joy – but something NOT to be entered into lightly, but reverently and with hearts that are pure and rightly joined to the head (our Father).

Tighten your seatbelts little piglets… flight attendants please prepare for take off!