THE MIXED MULTITUDE
July 26/ 2023
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi
Matt 15:13-14 “And he replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.”
The scriptures describes the exodus of the Jews from Egypt in Exodus 12:38 KJV “And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.” The word ‘mixed’ is the Hebrew word `ereb’ which means Arabia or the mongrel race. God loved them even when they did not know him and he had no covenant with them and their influence on the Israelites marred their journey to the promise land. They were predominantly idol worshipers and Israel soon got caught up in the act of idol worshiping.
The same scenario played out on the day of Pentecost in Acts 1:6 the Apostle Peter described the crowd that were gathered as ‘Men’ and ‘Brethren’. The church has persons with a personal agenda. There are those who profess Christ openly but are not committed to Him in anyway (Matthews15:8). They have a self-centered agenda. Jesus describes these persons in Matthews 13:25-40 as ‘tares.’ The tare is a crop that looks much like wheat and competes with it for nutrients. 'Tares' are Satan's agents in disguise with the mission to steal our Joy. There is as much risk of being defrauded in a business or marriage relationship in the church as much as it is in the world, therefore , caution should be taken in our dealings .
'Tares' operate in two ways, first they dilute the gospel by compromising the truth with secular ideologies thus removing its life-changing power and secondly they pollute the church with an alien culture that makes the church appear harmful to would-be converts.
Lord Jesus showed us how to identify these persons . They are corrupt , addicted to disputes and measure godliness by how much money a person has ( 1Timothy 6:5) They are allergic to truth and easily take offense when confronted with the righteous gospel. Jesus did not apologize for hurting their feelings like many preachers seeking fame do today. Making the gospel sound appealing will not change ‘tares’. They hate truth, the scriptures says in John 3:20-21 TLB “They hated the heavenly Light because they wanted to sin in the darkness. They stayed away from that Light for fear their sins would be exposed and they would be punished. But those doing right come gladly to the Light to let everyone see that they are doing what God wants them to." therefore , no teacher of truth should take offense as a result of the backlash from disenchanted parishioners :it is normal. The Word of God teaches that in the last days, men shall lose interest in sound doctrine of the scriptures.. False brethren seek for congregations that promote falsehood were the conscience will be silenced, the scriptures say in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 TLB “For there is going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. They won't listen to what the Bible says but will follow their own misguided ideas.”
Jesus kept on teaching those hard-to- hear teachings in a bid to expose these false brethren. In Galatians 5:19-21 Apostle Paul repeatedly spoke on the characteristics of false brethren .False preachers despise studying and the open reading of Galatians 5:19-21 to their congregation for fear of being exposed. Paul recommends the regular reading of this scripture as a means of ensuring the security of the brethren against impostors.
Marriage to a Christian is no guarantee for a peaceful home because ‘tares’ often disguise themselves as disciples. Only a relentless teaching of the truth of the gospel can protect one against false suitors. Showing benevolence in place of teaching only makes matters worse ,Isaiah 26:10 NKJV says“ Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” Benevolence does not make a person righteous.
Prayer: Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as lord and saviour and receive the Holy Spirit and grace to escape the enemy's trap in Jesus name
prayer/counseling +2348098536911,(Whatsapp) Text +2348035536911
Email: michaelbensonajayi@gmail.co
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