PARABLE OF JONATHAN

1. Jonathan was one of the finest in Israel, an instrument of God’s SALVATION and much beloved of Israel, “And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, WHO HATH WROUGHT THIS GREAT SALVATION IN ISRAEL? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for HE HATH WROUGHT WITH GOD this day ...” [1 Samuel 14:45] Jonathan was enlightened and testified of PRESENT TRUTH, saying to David “… Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and THOU SHALT BE KING over Israel, and I SHALL BE NEXT unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth” [1 Samuel 23:17] In the end, Jonathan’s TESTIMONY did not match his PURPOSE, not for IGNORANCE but UNBELIEF induced by FEAR and perished fighting on the wrong side, “How are the MIGHTY FALLEN IN THE MIDST OF BATTLE! O JONATHAN, thou wast slain in thine high places” [2 Samuel 1:25] PARABLE OF JONATHAN is the crushing calamity of men who were once ENLIGHTENED, TASTED of the HEAVENLY GIFT and "FELL AWAY", “For it is MPOSSIBLE for those who were ONCE ENLIGHTENED, and have TASTED OF THE HEAVENLY GIFT, and were made PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY GHOST, And have TASTED OF THE GOOD WORD OF GOD, and the POWERS OF THE WORLD TO COME, IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY, TO RENEW THEM ...  ” [Hebrews 6:4-6]

2. Jonathan, no doubt, LOVED David but it was the "LUKEWARM" stuff; he hedged his bets and won't follow him into the WILDERNESS. True LOVE has no limits, as Ruth professed, "...  Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from FOLLOWING AFTER THEE: for WHITHER THOU GOEST, I WILL GO; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16) The ANCHOR of our FAITH is LOVE, FEAR is the adversary; Jonathan denied his own TESTIMONY, because he was AFRAID to DIE, saying:, “And thou shalt not only while yet I live SHEW ME THE KINDNESS of the LORD, that I DIE NOT: But also THOU SHALT NOT CUT OF THY KINDNESS FROM MY HOUSE for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the ENEMIES OF DAVID every one from the face of the earth” [1 Samuel 20:14-15) Are we not as Jonathan, paralysed by FEAR to bend the TRUTH in the face of  pestilence, political tyranny, terror, economic downturn among others? Present afflictions which provoke so much FEAR need not frighten us, if we see them as indicators of how close we are to our REDEMPTION, as foretold "And when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass, then LOOK UP and LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; for YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH" ( Luke 21:28) However, our REDEMPTION shall not come until God is done PROVING this GENERATION at STONE EZEL, as He did David and Jonathan; not a few shall "FALL AWAY", as foretold: “LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU by any means: for THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME, EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” [2 Thessalonians 2:3]

3. There were two VOICES at STONE EZEL; one told Jonathan to follow David, the other cried in his ears, saying: "For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, THOU SHALT NOT  BE ESTABLISHEd, nor THY KINGDOM. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die" (1 Samuel 20:31) Read carefully the TESTIMONY of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 23:17, there was no question of his being king, but of being ESTABLISHED in OBEDIENCE, as it is written: "... BELIEVE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD, so shall ye be ESTABLISHED; BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS, so shall ye PROSPER" (2 Chronicles 20:20) Jonathan was SEDUCED with vain PROMISES aimed at his worst FEARS and succumbed to SORCERY. In heeding the VOICE of his FATHER, Jonathan became as many today, a PUPPET in the hands of Saul. There are many FATHERS out there worse than Saul and Simon put together, who "... USED SORCERY, and BEWITCHED the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: TO WHOM THEY ALL GAVE HEED, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God" (Acts 8:9-10) Beloved, let no man DECEIVE you with PROMISES outside the TESTIMONY we received when we first gave our lives to Jesus Christ, "LET THAT THEREFORE ABIDE IN YOU, WHICH YE HAVE HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And THIS IS THE PROMISE THAT HE HATH PROMISED US, EVEN ETERNAL LIFE" (1 John 2:24-25)

4. PARABLE OF JONATHAN is the TRAGEDY of a generation TURNED AWAY from sure PROMISE of Christ to embrace PROSPERITY OF FOOLS, "For the TURNING AWAY of the simple shall SLAY THEM, and the PROSPERITY OF FOOLS SHALL DESTROY THEM" (Proverbs 1:32) Are we not as Jonathan, a DELUDED GENERATION, FIGHTING to possess kingdoms of this world, when Jesus expressly said: "... MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD: if my kingdom were of this world, THEN WOULD MY SERVANTS FIGHT, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36) How do we explain Jonathan following Saul, who just came back from consultations with the WITCH OF ENDOR, to war? The answer is STRONG DELUSION. My heart bleeds to see DELUDED MULTITUDES marching behind SORCERERS in cassocks to their destruction "And for this cause GOD SHALL SEND THEM STRONG DELUSION, that THEY SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE: That they all might be DAMNED WHO BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2Thessalonians 2:11-12) I assure you, the appearance of the Lord is at hand, when we shall TRANSLATED to GLORY, "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?" (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour amen