By David Wilkerson


I believe the great falling away
Jesus prophesied is taking place.

A terrible apostasy is overcoming masses of believers, especially in charismatic circles. Many are turning aside from convicting, soul-stirring preaching to seek teachers who please their flesh. They've been deceived by what Paul calls "another gospel, another Jesus." Their ears itch to hear teaching from money-focused prosperity preachers.

We saw this happening during our crusades in Europe. Italian Christians told us of American evangelists who emptied people's pockets, hopped onto their private jets and said, "Ciao, goodbye!"

Yet Jesus foresaw all these things. He looked down through history to our time, and predicted everything that would come: the rejection of godly reproof, the rise of a gospel of ease, the shallow teaching of flesh-pleasers, the falling away of multitudes. Indeed, he warned that in the last days, the love of many believers would wane. Once-zealous servants would grow lukewarm or even cold. And they would turn Christ's costly grace into lasciviousness. They would preach of his forgiveness and blessings, all at no cost to anyone. People would be put at ease in their sin. And it would so grieve the Lord, he said he would spew them out of his mouth.

This is why Jesus called a private session with his close circle of disciples. Scripture says, "Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field" (Matthew 13:36). Jesus wanted to open his followers' eyes to the deeper meanings of his parables. He knew they needed truth that would carry them through times of great seduction.

In this closed meeting, Christ told the two parables I mentioned earlier, about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. These two parables take up only three verses of the Bible. Yet embedded in them are the Lord's secrets, which he said were hidden from the foundation of the world. And they contain his eternal purposes, to be revealed to his devoted servants.

With just a quick study, using Bible commentaries, it's possible to mine nuggets of truth from these parables. But that's not all Scripture says we're to do. Jesus described a man who digs desperately. And if the truths of God's kingdom are buried deeply in Christ's parables, we too must dig diligently to find the revelation.

I ask you: who's willing to labor hard to find these secrets? Who will wait patiently on the Lord to reveal his secrets to them? Who'll tarry with the Holy Ghost long enough to lay hold of his life-giving truths?

I believe I've tarried over these two parables just long enough to get an inkling of the truth hidden in them. I can say this about them: they're about the costliness of possessing Christ. Many Christians go through life satisfied with just enough faith to get by. They want only enough of Jesus to make it to heaven. They may mine some practical truths from his parables, but they never find the life-giving truth buried deep within them. By contrast, these two parables tell us Christ's precious truth is found only by hungry, devoted seekers. Those who pursue him with their whole hearts will have their eyes opened fully to the secrets of abundant life.

Jesus begins these two parables by saying, "Let me tell you what the kingdom of heaven is like" (see Matthew 13:44). Christ isn't speaking here of heaven as we think of it, the realm in glory with the Father. No, he's referring to the kingdom of heaven on earth. He's saying, in essence, "Here's how you can possess the fullness of heaven in your heart, right now. But first let me tell you what it will cost you to obtain it."

How do we obtain heaven on earth? The two parables make it clear: by possessing Christ in all his fullness. And that is a costly endeavor.

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Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece.
Filipenses 4:13.