Deagah

The Capture of the Ark: God as a P.O.W?

2010-06-01T22:28:00.004-08:00

Part 1

By: Pastor Bill Randles

I believe that there is so much more to the so-called Bible stories than most Christians realize. Too often they are just relegated to children’s Sunday school felt board stories, or attempts are made to derive morality lessons from them. Jesus and the apostles treated these stories in a far more serious vein – Adam, Eve, Lot and Noah were used to teach the Gospel and especially to reveal eschatology, which is the teaching on “the end”. As Jesus said, "As in the days of Noah, so shall be the day of the coming of the son of man…”

With that in view, let’s look at the story from I Samuel about the time that the Ark of God was captured in battle by the Philistines.

Then the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in Aphek. And the Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. (I Samuel 4:1-2)

The story is set in a time of profound transition for Israel. The time of being ruled by God appointed judges was coming to a close. The people had been chafing under Philistine domination for forty years, and Samson had only “began to deliver” Israel when he was killed. In their attempt to throw off the Philistine yoke, Israel had suffered a crushing defeat costing them 4000 dead!

But rather than search their hearts, seeking God as to how it was that Israel had been so defeated by Philistines, the suggestion was made to fetch the Ark of God’s covenant, and bring it into the battle. They would, by its power, crush the Philistines. Notice that they referred to the Ark as an “it”,

…Let us take the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies. (I Sam 4:3)

So Israel took the Ark out of the sanctuary, to use it. Note how the Ark is referred to in more personal terms, in verse 4,

So the people came to Shiloh and from there they carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits above the cherubim… (Vs. 4)

The arrival of the Ark into the camp of Israel, initially emboldened them, and deeply frightened the Philistines. Israel shouted in triumph at the arrival of the Ark, and the Philistines trembled in fear remembering what the “God of the Hebrews” had done to Egypt.

Two superstitious people squared off in battle that day. The Israelites - so backslidden and removed from true allegiance to God - brandishing the very throne of their living and holy God as some kind of a talisman. It must have amazed them that they could with impunity take the Holy Ark from its holy setting, without anyone being fried on the spot!

These were arrayed against the Philistines, who at least came by their superstitious ignorance honestly, for they were pagans! Sure they were uneasy, for the Israelites had some serious “magic” going for them, this was the Ark of the God who conquered Egypt! But being good pagans, and since they were going to die, they purposed not to die cowering before this ‘slave nation’.

Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you, therefore be men and fight! (Vs. 9)

So the battle commenced, but this time the disaster was even worse than the first battle. There was incalculable damage done to Israel, by the second battle of Aphek, for among the 30,000 casualties, the two sons of the high priest were killed, and the Ark of God was taken in battle.

In trembling horror, the high priest of Israel awaited news of the battle outside of the camp. Above all he feared the fate of the Ark. When the exhausted, dirt covered and tattered messenger bearing news of the battle came upon Eli he breathlessly delivered a fourfold stroke of woes,

…Israel has fled from before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people…and your two sons Hophni and Phineas are dead… and the Ark of God has been taken. (I Sam 4:11)

This news so stunned the aged high priest of Israel that he fell off of his seat, breaking his neck, and died.

Another horror was to occur, for upon hearing the news of the defeat the high priest’s daughter-in-law went into labor and bore a son. In her labor, she went comatose and became unresponsive. When they tried to cheer her by announcing the birth of a son, she replied by naming the soon to be orphan, ”Ichabod” - which means, “the glory of God has departed” - and then she died.

The implications of the events in this story are troubling and profound. For example, how could the Ark of God become a “spoil of war”? One waits in vain for the expected ‘lightning bolt’ to shoot out of the Ark the first time a hapless Philistine dares to touch it. In fact one would have thought the corrupt priests, Hophni and Phineas would have been struck dead for daring to enter the Holy of Holies in Shiloh, pulling back the curtain and removing the holy throne of God. But they were allowed to.

It would be reasonable to expect such retribution, for the Ark is more than furniture, in fact more than holy furniture. The Ark is the very throne of God, who “Dwells between the Cherubim”. Incredibly God allowed His very throne to be captured by the Philistines!

I will go further, for the Ark is in fact a type of the Messiah. It is the ultimate teaching of the person and work of the Messiah, who would come to reconcile man to God, by being a mercy seat of propitiation! “God has set forth Jesus to be a propitiation (mercy seat)…” Romans 3:25 Therefore the Ark is a type of Christ Himself.

Why would God become a POW? When God brought Israel into the land, He warned them that if they ever departed from Him he would evict them off of the land and that they would go into exile. Faithlessness would get them put out. But this time God Himself took the rap for them, God Himself was exiled, God Himself bore the punishment that was due them. God Himself was taken into captivity long before any Israelite would go to Babylon or Assyria.

The Israelites thought that they were using God to get them a victory over their enemies. In the height of presumption and superstition, they would seize His throne, and put it out there as a talisman! On the other hand, the Philistines thought that the battle of Aphek was a clear demonstration of the superiority of their god, Dagon, over the God of Israel. To them the Ark was a trophy of the victory of their false god!

But God saw it all differently, for the thoughts of God are so much higher than man…

So That He (God) abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, the tent which He had pitched among men. And gave his strength unto captivity, and His glory unto the land of the adversary. (Psalm 78:60-61)

It begins to look like a familiar story now, something we have heard in another setting. We worship a God who can let Himself be taken, who can relinquish His mighty power, and by apparent weakness and defeat, affect his greatest victory.

Capture of the Ark Pt 2 - Future History of Israel

Capture of the Ark Pt 3 - Future History of Gentiles

The Capture of the Ark pt 4 - Hemorrhoids and Mice

Balaam On Being Paid to Curse Israel

2010-05-03T00:04:00.007-08:00

Part 1

By: Pastor Bill Randles

I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you and in you all the families of the world will be blessed. Genesis 12:3

Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me, peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou (Balaam) bless is blest and he whom you curse is cursed. Numbers 22:6

Perhaps the most misunderstood story in the Bible is that of Balaam, the pagan prophet. When it is told, it is usually related as a morality story, merely a caution against greed in ministry. The love of money indeed is part of the story - as well as the danger of false prophets and corrupt ministers. But lately I have come to realize that there is an eschatological dimension to this story that too often is unappreciated. It is amazing how current and relevant the story of Balaam really is to today’s geo-political situation.

The story takes place at the end of the Exodus; at the time the children of Israel were preparing to possess the land God had given them. Once again the immediate neighbors of Israel take exception to their rights to the land. The ancestors of the modern Arabs, Jordanians and ‘Palestinians’ feared the Israeli occupation of the land, having full knowledge of what God had done to Egypt and through them to Og, one of their chief Kings.

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. Numbers 22:2-3

Balak, the king of the Moabites, as it turned out, had nothing to fear from the Israelites, not knowing that God had commanded them not to dispossess the Moabites.

And the LORD said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession. Deuteronomy 2:9

This scenario is a current event, for there is nothing the modern state of Israel would welcome more than to live in peace with her hostile neighbors.

Balak, fearing Israel, and knowing he couldn’t prevail militarily with them, set out to hire someone who could “curse” Israel. The word “curse” in this sense is a Hebrew word which means to “hollow” them out, to “drain” them of their confidence.

Is this not the modern situation also? Arab neighbors of Israel, frustrated by their inability to dispossess Israel out of the land, have been using their newly gained petro-wealth, and the power that goes with it, to literally hire people to curse Israel! They have been able to successfully deny the very legitimacy of Israel in the minds of many. Oil money has successfully lobbied political leaders, educators, the media and a good many of those who are in position to shape the ideas and perspectives of the rest of us, to take a belligerent stance against Israel.

Billions of petro dollars have poured into the coffers of institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Georgetown University, and Fox News, as well as into the campaign chests of numerous western politicians, all in the interest of selling us the story line which delegitimizes Israel, and romanticizes Islam’s version of history. There are many Balaam’s!

Perhaps the last straw is the seduction of leaders of the confessing Christian church into “cursing Israel”. No less than the Pope himself leads the charge in delegitimizing Israel’s claims to the Holy Land, as here recounted in a Jerusalem Newswire story dated May 17, 2009 entitled,

“Pope to ‘Palestinians’, Israel is Your Forefather’s Land”

“The Biblical land of Israel is actually the "land of YOUR forefathers" Pope Benedict told the Palestinian Arabs in Bethlehem last week. With this statement the pontiff, who has now departed Israel after five days of meddling in the country's affairs on a "pilgrimage" he called "a mission of peace," authenticity on the massive deception that is "Palestinian nationhood”.

At the start, in the middle, and at the end of his visit - which was hosted by the State of Israel at no small expense to the taxpayers and mass disruption of Jerusalemites' lives - the head of the Roman Catholic Church voiced his strong support for the creation of a Palestinian state on Jewish lands.

His first and last statements to this effect were made unabashedly in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who has been trying to sidestep international demands that he surrender Israel's biblical heartland to the Arabs.

Speaking at PLO Chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' palace in Bethlehem, where he went to conduct a large mass, the pontiff spelled it out:

"The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders,"

The World Council of Churches, the United States Presbyterian Church, and a host of other church groups too numerous to mention have condemned Israel, divested themselves from Israel, in short have “cursed” Israel, in the sense of hollowing out their confidence, sense of legitimacy and validity as a nation. Balaam lives!

The reward has not always been money, however, as was the case with Balaam. These church groups siding with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, against the only legitimate democracy in the Middle East, imagine that they are “speaking truth to power”, as they “curse Israel”. The image of themselves as guardians of the human rights of the Palestinians is reward enough for these false Christian groups.

Perhaps the most tragic of all is the erosion of the rock solid support which evangelicals have had for Israel. In the American Thinker article “Splitting the Evangelicals from Israel”, Ed Lasky cites Replacement Theology, the testimony of certain Palestinian Christian leaders, and former US President Jimmy Carter as part of the influence turning many once pro-Israel Christians against Israel. This is a portent that doesn’t bode well, even as the story of Balaam doesn’t end well for anybody but God’s chosen people.

PART 2 Balaam: The Man Paid to Curse Israel

PART 3 Balaam’s Parables

PART 4 Balaam: In the Last Days

PART 5 Balaam: The Doctrine of Balaam

DID JESUS GO TO INDIA TO LEARN WISDOM?

2010-04-08T07:46:00.002-08:00

by David Cloud

Some books purport that Jesus went to India during his youth to learn the wisdom of the gurus. Before I was a Christian, I learned this teaching from the book The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi Dowling, which I read in about 1972. At the time, I was convinced that it was true.

The book claims that Jesus spent 18 years of his life (called the “hidden” or “silent years,” between age 12 and 30) studying under Eastern religious gurus in India, Tibet, and Egypt. By this means Jesus achieved the “Christ” consciousness and then set out to teach others. According to this theory, Jesus and “the Christ” are different. Jesus was an ordinary man who learned how to be “the Christ” through initiation into the secrets of mystical wisdom.

In replying to this we would say, first, that it lacks evidence. Levi, for example, claimed that he received this “knowledge” about Jesus from the “Akashic Records,” an immense energy field allegedly surrounding the earth that contains all knowledge. We only have his word for this. There is no evidence that the Akashic Records exist, and there is no historic evidence for this theory about Jesus from history.
Second, the Indian guru Christ is contrary to the Bible’s teaching about who Jesus was, and the Bible gives clear evidence of being the Word of God. Jesus was not an ordinary man who learned how to be an exalted guru. Born miraculously of a virgin, Jesus was the eternal Son of God from His birth. He trusted in God on His mother’s breasts (Psalm 22:9). Obviously this was no ordinary child! The Bible says that Jesus already knew who He was when He was very young. At age 12 He told His parents that He was God’s Son and explained to them that He had to accomplish the work He had been given to do (Luke 2:49). The Bible says that Jesus is the Creator and has all wisdom (Colossians 1:16; 2:3). As such He did not have to learn esoteric knowledge at the feet of gurus!

Third, the name “Christ” is not something that Jesus achieved but is something that He had from birth. It was His title as Israel’s promised Messiah. The name “Jesus” means Saviour (Matthew 1:21). The title “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning anointed (John 1:41), and it refers to Jesus as the Messiah promised in Old Testament prophecy (Daniel 9:25-26; John 4:25; Acts 2:36). In the Old Testament God promised to send His Anointed (Psalm 2:2; Isaiah 61:1-2). The prophecies said that the Christ or the Messiah or the Anointed One would be God Himself (Psalm 45:6-7). Jesus was called Christ the Lord at His very birth. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). His name is Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus.

Fourth, the Indian guru Christ is contrary to the Bible’s teaching about why Jesus came to earth. According to the Aquarian Gospel, Jesus came to earth to be man’s example and teacher in order to show us the way of reincarnating into perfection. But according to the Bible, Jesus came to earth “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). This refers to saving men from the consequences of sin by dying on the cross to take the punishment that we deserve. By this means, Jesus provided eternal salvation to those who believe in Him. According to the Bible, there is no reincarnation. The Bible says that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). According to the Bible, there is no other way of salvation except through Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

Fifth, if Jesus had gone into India and learned from eastern gurus, the Jewish leaders would have used that fact to discredit him. They were opposed to Jesus from the beginning of His pubic ministry at age 30 and they searched for every possible way they might discredit Him. The Jewish leaders considered all other religions “pagan” and false,” and the fact that they didn’t mention anything about Jesus going to India and learning from eastern religions is proof that He did not do this. The people in Nazareth where Jesus grew up knew Him. If Jesus had studied in the East, the townspeople would have known it and would have said, “He thinks he is a great pagan guru because He studied under them.” Instead, when Jesus started preaching they asked, “Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:54-56).

The Cessation of the Sign Gifts

2010-03-16T01:18:00.003-08:00

by Prof Thomas R. Edgar
Bibliotheca Sacra / October-December 1988

Referring to the charismatic movement Hollenweger states that "in the not too distant future there will be more Christians belonging to this type of Christianity than to the Anglican community. They will number almost as many as all other Protestants together." He feels that the numerical and perhaps the spiritual center of Christianity will shift to "Indigenous Non-white" or "Third World Pentecostal" churches. The validity of such a prevalent force is an issue that cannot be ignored.

The Essential Question: From God or Not from God?

As with any other doctrinal issue it is important to know the truth or the error of the "charismatic" position. This is not a purely doctrinal matter, since in the charismatic movement in all its various forms, such as Pentecostalism, neo-Pentecostalism, "power evangelism," and the "signs and wonders" movement, emphasis is placed on phenomena and subjective experiences. These experiences, which transcend doctrinal considerations and doctrinal boundaries, are the raison d'etre of the movement. They are not merely the daily outworking of one's doctrine as distinct from his doctrinal position, but are usually crisis events that allegedly go beyond normal, traditional Christian experience. These so-called "spiritual" experiences are either from God or not from God. There can be no neutral or partially true position. Either they are biblically true or they are false experiences. If they are biblically false then the issue is much more serious than merely another view of the Christian life, since the charismatic movement involves a spiritual experience that attempts to be in direct contact with supernatural forces. Whether the charismatics are correct can only be determined from the Scriptures and other relevant facts. By the very nature of the issue, the "gifts," such as tongues, healings, and signs and wonders, so prevalent in today's charismatic movement, are either from God or not from God. There can be no middle ground.

Evidence Contrary to the Validity of the Phenomena

Several factors give evidence that the phenomena of the charismatic movement are not the gifts and activities of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. On the other hand charismatic proponents have given no evidence, other than their assumption, that these are the same phenomena. That their numbers are growing, that the followers are enthusiastic, and that there are alleged miracles are not evidence that the phenomena are from the Holy Spirit, since all these occur in other religions. To argue that the New Testament gifts could occur today or that no verse rules out such a possibility is not enough; it must also be shown that the modern charismatic "gifts" are the same as in the New Testament. The proponents of the charismatic movement have been unsuccessful in proving either the first (the possibility of the gifts today) or the second (that these are the same phenomena). Are all phenomena automatically from the Holy Spirit simply because someone makes such an assertion, unless a verse can be found that directly states they are not? It is not enough merely to assert that charismatic phenomena are New Testament phenomena. There must be evidence that they are the same.

The Evidence Of History

If the miraculous gifts of the New Testament age had continued in the church, one would expect an unbroken line of occurrences from apostolic times to the present. If they are of God, why should such miracles be absent for centuries?

The entire controversy exists because the miraculous gifts of the New Testament age did cease and did not occur for almost 1,900 years of church history and certainly have not continued in an unbroken line. Questions about their presence today as well as differing opinions, even among charismatics, regarding the nature of tongues, prophecy, and certain other gifts are due to the fact that they ceased. Chrysostom, a fourth-century theologian, testified that they had ceased so long before his time that no one was certain of their characteristics.

History contradicts the charismatics. Though some have attempted to prove that tongues and other miraculous gifts have occurred in the postapostolic history of the church, the very paucity and sporadic nature of alleged occurrences is evidence against this claim. Referring to alleged instances of tongues-speaking, Hinson, a church historian, sums up the situation this way: "The first sixteen centuries of its history were lean ones indeed. . . . if the first five centuries were lean the next were starvation years for the practice in Western Christendom and doubtful ones in Eastern Christendom."

After a few alleged instances in the second century there is a gap of almost 1,000 years before a few more occur. Obviously it would not have been difficult to produce evidence for these gifts during the apostolic age. Why then is there such a dearth of evidence if the gifts continued throughout church history? The alleged instances are even more rare if restricted to genuine believers, and if hearsay evidence is omitted. If instances of the gift of healing rather than supposed answers to prayer are considered, the alleged instances all but vanish. That these miraculous workings ceased in the past can hardly be refuted, and this is recognized by many charismatics. Dayton feels that many charismatics actually prefer to grant that certain gifts ceased, since they regard today's phenomena as a latter-day pouring out of the Spirit.

Explanations are unrealistic. It is one thing for a doctrine such as justification by faith to be temporarily lost due to man's frailty. It is another thing entirely for miraculous signs and wonders to be missing. Those at Pentecost were not expecting to speak as they did.

In Acts no tongues speaker was previously aware of the existence of the gift; yet they spoke. They could hardly have had faith in their ability to perform miracles or to speak in tongues, since they were unaware of such gifts. They did not obtain or lose the ability because of their belief or lack of belief in the charismata. If God gave these gifts during the history of the church, they would have occurred regardless of man's frailty. To argue that the gifts faded away in the postapostolic church because of a failure to believe in miracles evades the facts of history and has no biblical support.

First Corinthians 12-14 implies that the early church was only too inclined toward such gifts rather than against them. In almost every religion men have been inclined toward the miraculous rather than toward rejecting obvious miracles. And yet some argue that miracles ceased or nearly so in the early church—an era when belief in the supernatural was rampant and when the signs and wonders actually occurred—because of disbelief in miracles! Yet it is claimed that in the most rationalistic of ages, when no miracles were occurring, 19- and 20th-century Christians believed to the extent that the gifts reoccurred, and reoccurred on the scale of today's claims. Since modern Christians are so receptive to signs and wonders and modern man is so willing to believe the charismatic claims, on what basis can one assume that the early Christians would refuse to do so? Those willing to believe religious miracles are always plentiful. To claim that this "miraculous infusion" of the Spirit gives joy, purpose, power for service, and revitalization of the church, and at the same time claim that such a tremendous working was ignored, rejected, and allowed to drop out of the early church which experienced it, is illogical. The only reasonable explanation for the lack of these gifts in church history is that God did not give them. If He had given them, they would have occurred.

Since these gifts and signs did cease, the burden of proof is entirely on the charismatics to prove their validity. Too long Christians have assumed that the noncharismatic must produce incontestable biblical evidence that the miraculous sign gifts did cease. However, noncharismatics have no burden to prove this, since it has already been proved by history. It is an irrefutable fact admitted by many Pentecostals. Therefore the charismatics must prove biblically that the sign gifts will start up again during the Church Age and that today's phenomena are this reoccurrence. In other words they must prove that their experiences are the reoccurrence of gifts that have not occurred for almost 1,900 years.

"Latter day" Explanations are Inadequate.

Many Pentecostals hold that the sign gifts did cease and that they have reoccurred in these "latter days." This must be demonstrated from Scripture, however. There is no biblical evidence that there will be a reoccurrence in the church of the sign gifts or that believers will work miracles near the end of the Church Age. However, there is ample evidence that near the end of the age there will be false prophets who perform miracles, prophesy, and cast out demons in Jesus' name (cf. Matt. 7:22-23; 24:11, 24; 2 Thess. 2:9-12). During the Church Age there will be false leaders who fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:13-15). During the Tribulation period, there is no indication that believers, other than the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3-12, will perform miracles. Those performed by the two witnesses are exceptional, and their actions are comparable to those of Old Testament prophets rather than to those of the apostles. The two witnesses are not part of the church, and if they were, they could hardly be considered typical of the church.

The "latter rain" arguments are incorrectly based on verses that actually are referring to seasonal rainfall in Israel. Hosea 6:3 and Joel 2:23, for example, refer not to some unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days of the Church Age. They refer instead to spring rains, in contrast to early rains in the fall.

The arguments based on the expression "in the last days" in Acts 2:16-21 are also invalid. If the "last days" referred to in Acts 2:17 includes the day of Pentecost, the beginning of the Church Age, and "if this is that" (v. 16) includes Pentecost, then it cannot mean at the same time the "last days"of this Church Age. On the other hand if the "last days" do not include Pentecost, then Pentecost was not a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, and Acts 2:16-21 refers specifically to Israel and is still future. Either way this passage gives no evidence for a reoccurrence of miraculous gifts during the "last (latter) days" of the church. The present charismatic movement is characterized by phenomena that began in the church about 100 years ago, which apart from any historical connection or evidence are claimed to be the same as the miracles performed in the apostolic age. It is simply naive to accept this claim without some direct historical link or solid biblical evidence that these present phenomena are the same as those in the days of the apostles. The most reliable evidence would be a direct historical link with the apostolic gifts due to their continuity in the church. However, as already argued, history testifies to the contrary. The gifts ceased and there is no reason to expect their presence or reoccurrence today.

Lack Of Similarity With The New Testament

For any phenomena to make credible claim to be the same as the gifts and miracles of the apostolic age there must be great similarity between the two. Any phenomena can be intentionally duplicated or copied. Therefore similarity alone cannot prove the modern phenomena are genuine. Conversely a lack of similarity is definitely evidence against the claim that they are the same as the New Testament gifts and miracles.

An examination of the New Testament reveals that the modern charismatic phenomena are not sufficiently similar to those of the apostolic age. Where are the tongues of fire and the rushing of a mighty wind as on the day of Pentecost? Do missionaries blind their opponents as Paul did? Do church leaders discern hypocrisy and pronounce the immediate death of members as in Acts 5:1-11? Do evangelists amaze an entire city with miracles as did Philip (8:5-8)? Are they then taken to another place of ministry by the Holy Spirit (vv. 39-40)? Are entire multitudes healed by merely being in the shadow of the healer (5:15)? Do prophets give specific prophecies which come to pass soon after (11:27-28)?

The miracles and signs of the apostolic age were clearly and overtly miraculous. Even the opponents of the gospel could not refute the miracles of the apostolic age. But today's "signs and wonders" cannot be verified even by those who are neutral or friendly to the movement. A detailed comparison with specific individual gifts shows an amazing lack of similarity between the New Testament gifts and the modern "charismatic" gifts.

The gift of healing. The New Testament gift of healing is a specific gift to an individual enabling him to heal. It is not to be confused with healing performed by God in answer to prayer. New Testament healings include those with verifiable afflictions and handicaps such as the man who was crippled from birth (Acts 3:1-10). The healings were instantaneous, complete, and obvious to all. The man crippled from birth had never walked, but he was instantly able to walk and jump. The healings in the apostolic age never failed regardless of the faith of the recipient. They did not depend on direct physical contact (5:15). There were no preliminaries, healing meetings, or incantations. The healer merely stated to the individual, even when the individual was unaware of the intention to heal (3:1-10), something equivalent to the words, "In Jesus' name, stand up and walk." The healings were usually in public, performed on unbelievers, and often en masse.

The modern charismatic movement made little impact on the basis of speaking in tongues alone. It was not until "healing" was added that the movement began to grow in significant numbers.

Today's healers admittedly often fail. This is blamed on the lack of faith of the sick rather than on the healer. The alleged healings are seldom instantaneous or complete. They usually are not healings of objectively verifiable illnesses; they often pertain to internal disorders such as "emotional healing." Rather than being irrefutable, they are unverified or even denied by those neutral. They involve healing meetings, preliminaries, incantations, and usually repeated visits. They are not performed in the streets, en masse, or at a distance. In a crowd they are usually performed on only a select few. They are never performed on those who are not aware of the "healer" or his intention to "heal."

There is little correspondence between modern-day charismatic "healings" and the healings recorded in the New Testament. The differences are so vast that many of today's healers are careful to point out that they do not have the gift of healing, but are merely those to whom God often responds with healing. No one heals today in such a way that it is clearly the New Testament gift of healing.

Exorcism of demons. The miraculous ability to exorcise demons directly also needs to be differentiated from answers to prayer (James 5:14). The exorcisms in Acts concerned those clearly recognized as "possessed," including a girl with a mantic gift (Acts 16:16-18). They were clearly differentiated from those who were merely ill (5:16). They were not nebulous cases of emotional problems such as "personality meltdown," frustration, tension, the "demon of worry," the "demon of drugs or alcoholism," as is often the case in alleged exorcisms today. Such can hardly be considered demonism in the New Testament sense.

The New Testament instances of exorcism never failed, were without preliminaries, were instantaneous, were usually performed in public, often en masse, usually on unbelievers, and in the case of the mantic girl (Acts 16:16-18) apart from any cooperation of the demonized. Today's "exorcisms" often fail, often require repeated sessions, are usually unverified as demonism, are never en masse, seldom if ever occur in public, and are only on the cooperative "faithful." Many cases are similar to common psychiatric or religious counseling sessions that are claimed to be "demon exorcism." This is not to suggest that genuine cases of demon possession may not exist. The point is that merely claiming to exorcise demons gives no evidence that one is actually doing so.

Raising the dead. Dorcas had been dead for some time when Peter apart from fanfare instantaneously raised her (Acts 9:40). The incident regarding Eutychus (20:7-12) concerns a boy who fell three stories and was dead. Paul with no fanfare pronounced him alive. In the apostolic age with all the miracles, exorcisms, healings en masse, and so on, there are only these two low-profile incidents of raising the dead. This action was apparently rare even for the apostles. There is no reason to expect this today. No modern-day "raising of the dead" has been verified. Wimber refers to a man who fell, hit his head, was apparently unconscious for three minutes, and "came to" with a bump on his head. After Wimber and others prayed the bump eventually went away. This is incredible, not as a miracle, but that anyone would consider this as a possible raising of the dead. Would anyone have been convinced by such a "miracle" that Jesus was the Son of God or that the apostles represented God?

The gift of tongues. The nature, purpose, and other characteristics of the gift of tongues, including a complete exegetical discussion and refutation of the concept of private or devotional tongues is included elsewhere. The tongues of the apostolic age were genuine miracles, since they were the ability to speak previously unlearned foreign languages, rather than the "charismatic tongues" of today, which can easily be duplicated. The only passage describing the nature of tongues speaking is Acts 2:4-11, where they are definitely languages. Peter stated that the tongues-speaking in Cornelius's house (10:46) was the same as on the day of Pentecost (11:17). And there is no reason to assume the instance in Acts 19:6 was different. Since 1 Corinthians 14 repeatedly states that the tongues-speaking in Corinth was in an assembly of believers, why then was it mysterious and why was there lack of understanding? It was because the believers did not understand the foreign languages of the tongues-speakers. The mystery was not because the tongues in 1 Corinthians differed in nature from the tongues in Acts.

New Testament tongues were verifiable foreign languages. The term glw'ssa means "language" and is never used for ecstatic speech. By contrast, today's "tongues" have never been verified as actual languages. All objective studies by impartial linguists indicate that they do not have the characteristics common to languages.

The New Testament gift of tongues is specifically said to be a sign for unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22). This is how it functioned at Pentecost. All instances were public, not private. The people who spoke in tongues in Acts (2:4; 10:46; 19:6) were not previously aware that the ability or gift existed, and in Acts 10:46 and 19:6 the people were not previously aware of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They could not have been seeking or in any way exercising belief in such a gift, and yet they received it. There is no indication that the New Testament speakers spoke in a trance; they were in control of the phenomenon. Perhaps the most outstanding contrast is usage. The gift of tongues in the New Testament functioned, as did all the other gifts, for ministry to others (1 Cor. 12:1-30; 1 Pet. 4:10), rather than primarily for the benefit of the speaker as in the modern charismatic movement.

There is no similarity between today's tongues and the New Testament gift. Today's charismatic proponents are wrong regarding the nature, purpose, use, and every other aspect of tongues. There is no reason to assume merely on the basis of their claim that they are correct in identifying their tongues-speaking—which can easily be duplicated and is common to man—as the New Testament gift of tongues.

Conclusion. The "charismatic gifts" of today are not similar to the New Testament phenomena either in general perspective or in the details. There is no evidence to conclude that they are the same; there is every reason to conclude that they are not. The historical fact that the New Testament gifts ceased long ago and the fact that there is no historical link whatever between the charismatic phenomena and the New Testament gifts require the same conclusion. The only remaining possibility for giving credence to the modern charismatic claims would be to produce direct statements of Scripture that the apostolic phenomena will always be present in the church, or that they will specifically be in the modern church despite their cessation through most of church history. Even if this were produced, there must also be evidence that the charismatic phenomena are somehow the same phenomena referred to in the passages. However, there is no specific biblical evidence such as this. There is no biblical statement that requires a denial of historical fact or that requires an equation of such dissimilar entities merely on the assertion of the proponents. All objective evidence is contrary to the charismatic claims. It is not sufficient to assert that by faith their claims must be taken contrary to the evidence. This is existential naivetT, not faith. Faith is trust in biblical evidence rather than in experience.

Biblical Evidence For Cessation

No Bible verse specifically states that tongues, signs, and wonders will continue throughout the Church Age. Nor is there a verse that specifically states they will cease at the end of the apostolic age. However, this does not mean that one cannot take a position on this issue. Many doctrines, such as the Trinity, are not directly stated but are derived from the study and correlation of passages of Scripture. There are several indications in the Scriptures that the gifts of tongues, healing, and miracles (signs and wonders) will not continue. The charismatic movement in all its forms rests not on exegetical evidence that the gifts will continue, but on the assumption contrary to history that since they occurred in the apostolic age they should also occur today. The foundation for this assumption is nonexistent.

The New Testament church was not characterized by power and miracles as the charismatics assume. It was characterized by the problems addressed in the epistles (including, e.g., the problems that beset the Corinthian church) and the problems of the churches described in Revelation 2 and 3. Miracles were performed with very few exceptions only by the apostles (Acts 2:43; 5:12). Those who "turned the world upside down" were the apostles, not the churches as a whole. The charismatics assume that the church today should be like their imaginary church. They assume that the entire church today should be able to do all the apostles did in the New Testament.

If the church as a whole had performed miracles, it is only an assumption, apart from evidence, that this should be true today. This assumption is not interpretation. The assumption that the miraculous events recorded in the Book of Acts should occur today is "a distinct hermeneutic, a distinctively Pentecostal manner of appropriating the Scriptures." This development of theology on the basis of narrative rather than on direct teaching of Scripture is always a precarious methodology.

General biblical evidence. Moses performed a series of miracles. However, they did not continue throughout the Old Testament nor were other believers expected to do the same. The Old Testament prophets occasionally performed miracles, but Israel in general was not expected to do so, nor did the miracles continue throughout Israel's history. The fact that some individuals on special occasions in biblical history performed miracles did not result in others doing the same or in a continuity of those miracles. So there is no reason to assume that since the apostles and a few members of the early church performed miracles, they are to be expected today.

Specific biblical evidence. In addition to evidence from history there is also specific biblical evidence that certain gifts were temporary. The term "apostle," commonly used in ancient times in the sense of "representative," in a few passages describes representatives of a local church. This is not the New Testament gift of apostleship. Nor can this term, contrary to its normal meaning and contrary to the New Testament descriptions, be equated with the modern missionary merely on the basis of etymology. The only individuals in the New Testament who clearly possessed the miraculous gift of apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and could perform miracles as required of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12) were the Twelve and Paul. Perhaps Barnabas and James can be included. Almost every branch of the church, including most Pentecostals, has held that apostles in this sense have not continued in the church. The charismatic reliance on the narrative of Acts is often avoided when defining "apostles" or "prophets," as too restrictive. These gifts can be precisely delineated, however. Imprecise use of Scripture is a common failing among charismatics. No matter how one tries to broaden the term "apostle," there is little doubt that apostles such as the Twelve and Paul did not continue. If they did not, then all things are not as they were in the New Testament church, all miraculous gifts did not continue as in the beginning church, and at least one gift in the New Testament did not continue.

In addition the New Testament sets standards for an apostle that preclude the continuance of this gift. Not only must an apostle be able to perform miracles (2 Cor. 12:12), not only was the early church very careful about granting anyone, even Paul, the title of "apostle" (Gal. 2:1-10), but also an apostle must have seen the resurrected Lord (1 Cor. 9:1-2; Acts 1:22-26). Paul explicitly stated that he was the last one to see the resurrected Lord (1 Cor. 15:8), and he specifically connected this fact with his apostleship. This requirement for apostleship refers to genuine appearances of the resurrected Christ and not to "visions." There have been no resurrection appearances since the apostolic age. Paul clearly stated that the last appearance was to him. (Revelation 1:12-18 refers to a vision, and is not an appearance of the resurrected Lord in bodily form on earth.) Therefore apostles in the sense of the Twelve and Paul cannot occur today.

When Paul wrote that all gifts were given to the church (1 Cor. 1:7) and benefited the church, he did not mean that all believers were apostles or performed miracles, but that the apostolic, miraculous ministry was experienced by and benefited the Corinthian church. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20 that the apostles and prophets are the foundation for the universal church. This at least implies that they were only for the beginning, and this accords with the other specifics mentioned above. Since "apostle" in the full sense of the gift was only a temporary gift and did not continue in the church, the biblical precedent is established that some gifts given in the apostolic age did not continue and were only temporary. It is contrary to Scripture to assume that all gifts and all happenings of the apostolic church are to continue and to be expected in today's church.

Since the ones who performed the miracles were only in the beginning church, it is logical that the miracles themselves were only for the apostolic age. Since the ability to perform such miracles was evidence of apostleship (2 Cor. 12:12), then with rare exceptions others could not have performed such signs and wonders, and they would not continue when the apostles ceased. In addition to this implication the temporary nature of miracles is directly supported by Scripture. Mark wrote that the apostles went forth in accord with the Lord's instructions and preached (aorist tense) everywhere and the Lord confirmed their word with signs. This is all placed in the past at the time of Mark's writing (Mark 16:20; the time of the present participle is relative to the past tense of the main verb). The same is true in Hebrews 2:3-4, which says miracles were performed by eyewitnesses of the Lord (apostles), and were performed by God to confirm the word of the eyewitnesses. All this was past at the time Hebrews was written (the main verb is past tense and the participle is relative in time to the main verb "was confirmed"). In both cases the signs, wonders, and miracles are referred to as being in the past at the time of writing; they were not referred to as occurring at that time. In both passages miracles were performed by the apostles (eyewitnesses) and are described as intended by God as evidence to authenticate the apostles' preaching.

James 5:14 does not instruct the sick to look for a healer or for someone with the ability to heal. Rather it instructs the sick to call for the elders and they are to pray for him. This is basically in accord with the procedure in noncharismatic churches, but is in direct contrast to what would be expected if the gift of healing were available for believers. Either the gift was not to be used to heal believers, or the only other option is that it had ceased.

Conclusion. There is ample biblical evidence that the miraculous gifts ceased with the apostolic age. To assume that such gifts are permanent is contrary to the Scriptures in general and to the biblical precedent that some gifts such as full apostles of the Lord definitely ceased. History is against the charismatic claims. The dissimilarity between the New Testament gifts and the alleged gifts of the charismatics also contradicts their claims. The assumption that because these gifts existed in the apostolic age they should also exist today is a gratuitous assumption contrary to objective evidence. It is also an assumption contrary to scriptural principles and specific biblical evidence. There is no teaching in Scripture that the church should look for such miraculous gifts, nor are they referred to in the passages discussing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-18), the life of faith (Eph. 5:18; Col. 3:12-17), and requirements for church leaders (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9) as necessary for the believer to lead a spiritual life.

Characteristics That Refute Charismatic Claims

Various present-day forms of the charismatic movement are offshoots of Pentecostalism. All have the same basic ideology and all have arisen because of the modern Pentecostal movement. The primary focus for the individual, no matter how their theologians may describe it, is experiential. Many people in the charismatic movement emphasize the miraculous nature of this experience seemingly for personal benefit more than service to others.

Theological Associations

In Pentecostalism the doctrine of Christian perfectionism assumed a specific form in the inaccurate concept of a postconversion crisis experience, a "second blessing." This teaching with its concept of an effusion of power from the Holy Spirit resulted in the expectancy of and search to obtain overt "power" as described in Acts.

The movement crosses all theological boundaries. Speaking in tongues is present in non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and in cults such as Mormonism. Healing, miracles, and exorcisms are also common in non-Christian religions. In conventional Christian circles the charismatic movement includes Protestants and Roman Catholics, liberals and conservatives, and individuals in many denominations. Those who believe in the inspiration of the Bible, justification by faith, and many other doctrines—as well as those who do not—are also involved.

Questionable Theology

The concept of the "second blessing" or "baptism or fullness of the Spirit" presupposes that while Jesus' death on the cross paid for sin, it is insufficient to empower for service, to enable one to be spiritual, or to give effectiveness in prayer. This differs drastically from the teaching of the New Testament. The view that only those who speak in tongues have real communication with God is contrary to the biblical teaching that all believers have full access to God. Romans 8:26 states that all believers are helped in prayer by the Spirit with inaudible, non-uttered, internal groanings.

The tongues movement presupposes that communication with the spiritual realm is more direct when it is apart from the mind. Such a concept, though found in various religions, is contrary to biblical Christianity. This emphasis on a level of communication that bypasses the mind and is not direct communication from the believer to God is a dangerous teaching. This interest in "supernatural" events, not primarily as convincing signs but as the daily experience of believers that supposedly places them in contact with the supernatural, is dangerous. This middle-level, spirit realm, called the "excluded middle," is an area of charismatic emphasis.

The emphasis on experience, particularly in this level above the rational, often results in emphasizing "experience" over Scripture. In a recent nationally televised program on the subject of televangelism several charismatically oriented evangelists appealed to the "call" as the license for a sinning preacher to continue his ministry. They made no appeal to the Scriptures.

Similarities To Non-Christian Religions

The modern-day charismatic movement is disturbingly similar to practices common in paganism, while at the same time it lacks correspondence to biblical miracles. Trancelike states and communications on a level apart from the mind are common in paganism. An emphasis on physical healing and exorcism for the benefit of adherents is common. The experience of a power or force "overcoming" the participants is similar to pagan practice. The bizarre and often wild practices of early Pentecostalism seem similar to pagan religion.

The idea of contact and interest in the spirit world, the "excluded middle" between God and man, is also common to pagan religions.

The Effects Of The Movement

All groups and doctrinal persuasions of Christendom have experienced theological and moral problems with both their leaders and laymen. As other Christians have experienced, so a number of charismatic leaders have led lives that are morally or ethically contrary to Scripture. If not more common, this is at least as common as among noncharismatics. Therefore it may be safely concluded that all the alleged miracles and so-called tongues-speaking have not produced any genuine spiritual advance over noncharismatics. It has produced enthusiasm for the miraculous, but this is not to be equated with spirituality.

All these supposedly miraculous events have produced no advance in biblical knowledge or spiritual living. The basic doctrines common to the movement are not original with charismatics. Their main claim to biblical knowledge is the assumption that the current church should be like the early church. Since the movement has not produced more spiritual believers or any advance in biblical or theological knowledge, what has it accomplished? Is it not amazing that a movement that claims to have restored power for service, ability to communicate with God more than others have, ability for self-edification, power to heal and perform other miracles, and ability to prophesy and receive direct revelation, has produced no significant advance in spirituality or in biblical or theological knowledge? Is it not inconsistent that a movement which claims to be in direct contact with the Holy Spirit, to have all gifts such as prophecy, apostleship, and the word of knowledge, to communicate directly with God by tongues-speaking and other means, can at the same time include Roman Catholics, conservative and liberal Protestants, amillennialists, premillennialists, Calvinists, Arminians, those who deny the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and those who reject Christ's vicarious atonement on the cross?

Apparently the Holy Spirit is not concerned with communicating any information to correct all these differences, many of which are crucial and some of which are incorrect. All this direct communication with the Spirit has apparently done nothing to correct even basic errors. It has not even produced unity among charismatics regarding the nature and purpose of many of the gifts. This movement has solved no theological issue, produced no advance in biblical knowledge, and has not produced more spiritual Christians. Would such an effusion of the genuine Spirit of God produce so little? Other than enthusiasm there seems to be no spiritual advantage to this movement and the noncharismatics are not missing out on any genuine spiritual benefit. On the negative side the movement has split churches, and through its televangelists the movement has had one of the most significant negative impacts on the testimony of the church in recent history. These characteristics are evidence that the charismatic phenomena are not the New Testament phenomena, that the genuine gifts are not present.

Conclusion

In every attempt to prove that the New Testament gifts exist today, the charismatic movement fails. The objective evidence of history and lack of correspondence with the New Testament indicate that the genuine miraculous gifts ceased and have not reoccurred. Biblical evidence indicates that these gifts ceased with the apostolic age. The theological associations and results of today's so-called miraculous gifts are contrary to gifts given by God. The movement has not produced Christians who are more spiritually mature, as would be expected of a genuine occurrence of the New Testament gifts. Apparently a Christian experiences no spiritual loss by not becoming involved in the charismatic movement.

On the other hand there is a dangerous similarity to non-Christian practices, there is a dangerous interest in supernatural phenomena that give no evidence of being from God, and there is a disturbing interest in the spiritual world somewhere between God and man. Since evidence points to the cessation of the miraculous gifts in the apostolic age, no one can be confident that the charismatic phenomena are from God. Since believers are warned to avoid contact with the intermediate spiritual world and since they should do only what they are confident God approves, no one should experiment in the realm of the charismatic phenomena.

Brian McLaren’s New Book, A New Kind of Christianity – Assaulting Truth with a Vengeance

2010-03-09T14:03:00.004-09:00

by John Lanagan
and taken from Lighthouse Trails Research Project

In Brian McLaren’s latest book, A New Kind of Christianity, the reader is cordially invited to join the author in a heretical assault upon God and the Bible. Indeed, as McLaren enthusiastically demonstrates, it is not possible to attack one without attacking the other.

Acknowledging the work of fellow emergent travelers such as Phyllis Tickle, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt, McLaren tells us “something is trying to be born among those of us who follow Jesus Christ.” (pg.13) In fact, writes McLaren, “what is trying to be born today echoes the Great Reformation in many ways.” (pg.257)

But does McLaren’s paradigm vision really echo the Great Reformation? From the Reformation came the freedom of Sola Scriptura—the Word of God alone. The chains of a false religion were cast off. From the Reformation came men and women who were willing to die for the right to believe and proclaim Truth.

What does McLaren’s “reformation” offer? An errant eschatology. A New Age “christ.” The ascent of homospirituality into the temple. (2 Kings 23: 7) All made possible, of course, through creative misinterpretation of God’s Word. The author has brought us his Great Deformation, a theology that plays to the flesh even while being portrayed as a spiritual journey.

One of the major themes in A New Kind of Christianity, homosexuality, cleverly defines Christians who speak out against the homosexual lifestyle as suffering from “fundasexuality.” (Pg.174-5) However, you are only a “fundasexualist” if you speak out loudly against this sin.

McLaren decrees, “The term does not apply to the quiet, pious, respectful fundamentalism of straightforward, sincere people, but rather to the organizing, angry, dominating fundamentalism that declares war on those who differ.” (pg. 174-5)

In other words, when it comes to homosexuality, a good Christian is a silent Christian.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

As my wife and I have both repented of this particular sin, it is difficult to comprehend Brian McLaren’s smiley-faced rebellion. But make no mistake: McLaren and others are being used to facilitate homospirituality, which may even assume an elevated, even sacred, status.

Ridiculous? Simply look to the Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. This is just the beginning. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Like Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren believes Christians are trapped in a “Greco-Roman” understanding of the faith. “Now the god of this Greco-Roman version of the biblical story bears a strange similarity in many ways to Zeus,” he tells us, which “is a far different deity from the Jewish Elohim of Genesis 1…” (pg. 42)

Yet, no matter what name his god is given, you will not find this redesigned deity in the Old or New Testament. The only way to promote the existence of this “god” is to radically change biblical interpretation—which is exactly what the author spends much time and many pages seeking to accomplish. “There will be no new kind of Christian faith without a new approach to the Bible,” he opines, “because we’ve gotten ourselves into a mess with the Bible.” (Pg. 67-68)

In his chapter, ‘What is the Overarching Storyline of the Bible?’ McLaren notes he and others have “dared to tweak” the content of the Word of God. “We might question conventional theories of atonement or the nature and population of hell or whether concepts like original sin or total depravity might need to be modified.” (pg. 35)

McLaren does indeed “modify.” He modifies with a vengeance. Thus this emergent “Jesus” was never sent by the Father to die in our place for our sins. There is no substitutionary atonement. There is no original sin.

The Bible tells us, “I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes.” (Psalm 119: 145)

McLaren believes traditional understanding of the Word of God has made Christians a nasty, dominant bunch. We apparently have difficulty with religious pluralism because of this flawed understanding. On top of that, Christians “currently control most of the world’s wealth, consume most of the world’s resources, produce most of the world’s waste, and sell and use most of the world’s weapons.” (Pg.215)

As in his other books, in A New Kind of ChristianityMcLaren exhibits his ability and talent to write well and draw readers with his conversational tone, seemingly measured, with humorous comments sprinkled in here and there. He gives the impression of allowing much room to disagree with him. He invites us on a journey, which he portrays as part of the natural “evolution” of Christianity.

“The old paradigm falls away behind us like a point of departure, and we are won over to new possibilities, caught up in a new way of seeing, looking toward a new and wide horizon.” (Pg.30) But since the author does not comprehend the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:14), what practices does he engage in to gain wisdom and knowledge?

Interestingly, McLaren identifies himself as a “contemplative/reflexive.” (pg. 226) He writes, “In the tradition of Julian of Norwich and St. Teresa of Avila and all the other mystics, we can learn to render ourselves vulnerable to the “favors of God”—those indescribable experiences that mock our dualisms and so saturate our imagination with abundance that they transcend our ability to convey joy and wonder. In the tradition of St. John of the Cross, we can learn to survive and derive benefits from the soul’s dark night.” (pg. 227) Like most leading figures in the emergent movement, McLaren advocates contemplative spirituality.

A New Kind of Christianity will serve as a lure for Bible-illiterate Christians. For believers who know the Word of God, McLaren’s heresy will sadden and astound. His book is aimed at the young, and at people who have perhaps grown up in households with little or no faith. It is aimed at the unsaved and the uncertain. It is for the disappointed and disenchanted, and for people who simply know no better. If you have a gripe against God or His people, this book will lick your wounds. But what this book will not do is provide any measure of godly hope and biblical virtue.

What the Answer Will Look Like

2010-03-02T02:02:00.002-09:00

Psalm 83

Part 3

By: Pastor Bill Randles

“Deal with them as you did with Midian, with Sisera, with Jabin, at the brook Kishon-who were destroyed at Endor, who became dung for the field. Treat their great men like Oreb and Zeev, all their princes like Zeba and Zalmuna…cover their faces with shame so that they may seek your name, O Lord.” (Psalm 83:10-14)

Because we believe that the Psalms are God given expressions of the hopes, aspirations, prayers and worship of Israel, and particularly of Israel’s Messiah, we believe that these prayers are as sure to be answered by God as any other promise or prophecy of scripture. “The word of the Lord is sure, enduring forever.” (Psalm 19)

Therefore the fate of Israel’s near neighbors is grim. God himself has inspired the requests of this desperate plea for deliverance, and shall surely answer these cries in due time. Just what exactly would such answers look like?

“Deal with them as you did with Midian, Sisera, as to Jabin at the brook Kishon”-

The Psalmist was led to pray for a repeat of the battle recorded in Judges 4 and 5 in which God used women in prominent roles to lead Israel’s hosts to destroy an Arab multitude. Deborah the prophetess mobilized the ragtag army of Israel after 20 years of oppression, and received the word of the Lord, a battle plan to overcome the advantage the Arabs had in superior armor (900 chariots). They were to be drawn into the swollen, flooded plain of the Kishon brook, thus nullifying the chariot mobility.

When Sisera, the enemy commander fled on foot, to save his very life, he was drawn into the tent of the wife of an ally – Jael - who gave the exhausted general warm milk, putting him to sleep. She then took a tent stake and a mallet and drove it through his head!

“Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave him milk, she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman’s hammer and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.” (Judges 5:24-26)

Somehow this story is re-capitulated. In fact this is the oldest story of all, Deborah and Jael’s story is an echo of the primal promise - the seed of the woman, the serpent crusher. Jael is given a similar blessing to Mary - “blessed are thee among women”.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, He shall bruise thy heel and thou shalt bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

There is no doubt that the confederacy formed against Israel is Satanic, and the prayer is that Israel would, like Deborah and Jael, be empowered to crush the serpent’s head.

“Make their Nobles like Oreb and Zeeb - their princes like Zeba and Zalmuna.” (Psalm 83:11)

This reference is to a later oppression of Israel by their Midianite (Arab) neighbors. God raised up Gideon, to be a judge and a savior to them. After reducing the army of his people to a mere 300 chosen men, the innumerable hosts of the Arabs were utterly routed, chased out of the Holy Land and scattered! Their leaders Oreb and Seeb (Raven and Wolf) were beheaded.*

Of particular interest is the fate of the princes Zeba and Zalmuna. These princes were captured and presented to Gideon, who personally slew them. After words the word of God tells us that Gideon then -

“Took away the crescent shaped ornaments that were on the camels’ necks.” (Judges 8:21)

The crescent moon was the symbol of the pagan god Sin, who later was known as Bel, then Habul, the Nabatean moon god who eventually morphed into Allah. The prayer is specific, “…do unto them as you did unto Zeba and Zalmuna…” it involves the crescent symbol and the destruction of the princes who have conspired against God’s “hidden ones” (Psalm 83:3).

Because the confederacy arrogates to themselves that which God gave to Israel, God is asked to make them “as the stubble before the wind”-

“Who said let us take the houses** of God as our possession, O my God, make them like a wheel *** as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire.” (Psalm 83:13-14)

A horrible destruction is coming to the Arab world, when he says it will “set the mountains on fire” this is a reference to all of the Governments of the earth, which will be sucked into this conflict. The destruction coming will involve the obliteration of Damascus (Isaiah 17), the cities of the east side of the Jordan River (Jeremiah 49), Egypt (Isaiah 19), and ultimately all nations (Joel 3:1-3).

The answer to these pleadings will provoke a conflict that will eventually lead to the near destruction of Jerusalem itself, which will be the final outrage which will bring the actual bodily return of the Lord’s Messiah -

“Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee, For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled: and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle and his feet shall stand on the mount of Olives…” (Zechariah 14:1-3)

The embattled Israel pleads with Jahweh to utterly shame those who unite against her very existence. Twice he prays that they be shamed…which is interesting because the Arab Islamic culture is a shame based society, and perhaps as the cartoon fiasco has shown us there is nothing they fear more than being shamed.

“Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord, let them be confounded and troubled forever; yea let them be put to shame, and perish…” (Psalm 83:17)

Twice he prays about shaming the enemy, but perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in one of these imprecations. When he prays the first time for shame - it is that even they may “seek thy name”- in other words he is actually praying for their conviction and repentance unto salvation! I believe millions who are now trapped in Islam’s dungeon, will be liberated and saved unto God by Jesus Christ!

But the second time he prays for shame is grim, “Let them be confounded and troubled forever, let them be put to shame and perish.” For those who are set in their ways, confirmed in the “everlasting hatred”, sold out to the moon god, seeking the glory of Allah and the 72 virgins, nothing awaits but the terror of “everlasting shame and contempt” (Daniel 12:1-2) in God’s lake of fire.

As for the Jews and the Muslim world, so it is for the whole world, that by Israel’s next, dreadful war, all of the world will be brought to a choice - neutrality will not be an option. By this fulfillment of His prophetic word God is calling all men everywhere to repentance, this is brought out in the last verse of this Psalm-

“That Men may know that You, whose name alone is Jahweh are the most high over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18)

*Head wounds in the Bible are usually reminders of Genesis 3:15

** Literally “the pastures of God”- the land flowing with milk and honey

***Literally “Like the thistledown”

Why Do They Make Such a Tumult?

2010-03-02T01:56:00.003-09:00

Psalm 83

Part 2

By: Pastor Bill Randles

In our previous article, we looked at the question of the “who” of Psalm 83. Who are these nations who make a tumult against the people of God, taking counsel together to “cut them off from being a nation, that the nation of Israel be remembered no more”? The modern day names for this confederacy are those nations which surround the present day state of Israel - Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Palestinians, and some from Iraq also “have helped the children of Lot”.

This is the situation we find ourselves in geopolitically today. Israel’s conflict with her immediate Arab, and largely Muslim, neighbors has successfully engulfed the whole world into a “tumult”. They have formed a very real confederacy, The Organization of Islamic States, and pooled their influence in world bodies such as the UN, as well as having successfully leveraged their considerable oil influence, in order to successfully isolate Israel, the only legitimate democracy in the Middle East.

Our purpose in this article is to explore the question, why? Why do they make such a “tumult”? How is it that they cannot simply make peace with Israel, accept them as a trading partner, and share in the “blooming of the desert” miracle that Israel has been experiencing for sixty plus years? Why hasn’t the ceding of land brought any peace?
The Psalmist, being a prophet, agrees with the other Hebrew prophets about the reasons for this hostility of Edom towards his brother Israel. Ezekiel calls it “everlasting hatred” …

“Moreover the Word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, set your face against Mt Seir (Edom) and prophesy against it, saying to it, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold O mount Seir, I am against you, and make you a desolation and a waste; I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Because You have had an everlasting hatred and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity when their iniquity came to an end.” (Ezekiel 35:1-5)

This “everlasting hatred” is currently embodied in Islam but is older than Islam. It goes back to Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son, who was disenfranchised of his inheritance (in his own and his mother Hagar’s mind) by the birth and election of Isaac. “In Isaac shall thy seed be called…”. Far from a mere Sunday school lesson, this division between the child of the handmaid and the chosen seed of Abraham is directly relevant to at least a third of everyone now living!

Muslims (one out of seven people in the world) believe that Ishmael was the chosen seed of Abraham, and celebrate the feast of EID to commemorate their version of the Abraham story, the sacrifice of Ishmael. As Ishmael was supposedly disenfranchised by Sarai and Abraham, being evicted from Abraham’s tent, so the Arab Muslim world nurtures that same sense of resentful disenfranchisement, focusing their resentment on Jews and Christians.

The story of Esau and Jacob also feeds into the very real “everlasting hatred”. God chose Jacob, not Esau to be the carrier of the Abrahamic blessing. But Isaac chose Esau, his favorite of the twins. Esau burned with rage when he perceived that Jacob had tricked Isaac into blessing him with Esau’s birthright! To this day Esau’s descendants seethe at the Jews, believing that they are cheating supplanters, usurping Edom’s birthright! Isaac did bless Esau with a very dubious blessing that is prophetic.

“Behold your dwelling shall be of the fertility of the land, and of the dew of heaven above. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it will come to pass, when you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck.” (Gen 27:39-40)

Esau would indeed live off of the land. He would also be ‘blessed’ by having to ‘live by the sword’. Furthermore, by God’s election, proud Esau would have to serve his brother, Jacob. As Rebecca, Isaac’s wife found out, ”the elder would serve the younger…”(Genesis 25:23). Isaac prophesied also that in the last days Esau would become restless and throw off the yoke of his brother. Is this part of what we are seeing here?

For Ishmael, Esau and their seed, salvation would be dependent upon being ‘yoked’, taking on the religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The emergence of Islam, in the seventh century, amounted to a “shaking off” of the yoke of any Judeo Christianity ever accepted by the seed of Ishmael and Esau, ie: the Arab Middle East. Islam is the current custodian of the everlasting hatred of Israel, inflaming the passions of the already miserable masses of repressed, unemployed and frustrated of the so called ‘Arab street’.

Time and again at critical periods of Jewish history, the Edomites have handed their Jewish brothers over to be enslaved. They cheered when the temples were destroyed, they aided and abetted those who enslaved, raped, and slaughtered the Jewish people.

“Because you have had an everlasting hatred and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity….therefore as I live says the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you…” (Ezekiel 35 :5-6)

I am reminded of the constant taunt that modern Edomites make to those affected by the Judeo Christian reverence for life, “You love life but we love death!”. I am also reminded of a Time magazine cover a few years back, in which a so called “Palestinian” leans out of an upper floor window showing off his blood soaked hands to a raving, cheering mob of Edomites, having just participated in a double murder of two unfortunate newly immigrated Russian Jews who had made a wrong turn into a “Palestinian” section of the city.

“Therefore as I live saith the Lord God, I will do according to the envy which you have showed in your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel (Judea, the west bank), saying they are desolate; they are given to us to consume thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me, I have heard them.” (Ezekiel 35:11-13)

Right up to modern times, the children of Esau, Ishmael, and Lot - long since intermarried and dissolved into one another culturally and religiously by Islam - have sought to destroy the Jews. Hitler was an admirer of Islam, and modern Islam repays the adulation.

This comes to a head in the last days, this “everlasting hatred” has to be expressed, it seeks to be sated in the utter destruction of the Jewish state. Esau has a birthright that is 40 times the land area of that allotted to Israel, but is unsatisfied, craving Jacob’s birthright. This is what leads us to the next great disastrous Arab war with Israel.

“For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. In the day that you stood on the other side. In the day that strangers carried captive his forces…and cast lots for Jerusalem - even you were as one of them. But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother, in the day of his captivity; nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of their distress…You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who have escaped nor should you have delivered up those among you who remained in the day of distress.” (Obadiah 10-14)

The Soon Coming Fate of Israel’s Near Neighbors

2010-03-02T01:53:00.002-09:00

Psalm 83

Part 1

By: Pastor Bill Randles

Keep not Thou silence O God; hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For lo, thine enemies make a tumult; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden ones. They have said, Come let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may no more be of remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate against Thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them, they have helped the children of Lot…(Psalm 83:1-8)

It is an irony that when I became a Christian, in the late 1970’s, the evangelical and Pentecostal world into which I was born again was gripped with the eschatological urgency. One of the best sellers was THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH, by Hal Lindsey. There was an evangelistic movie series called A THIEF IN THE NIGHT, about the rapture, and everyone was looking for the signs of the times in current events. And every once in a great while, perhaps every six months or so, an item in the news would send us all to our Bibles for corresponding scriptures.

Here we are thirty years later, and now every single day, eschatological events are lining up for all to see. Geopolitical alignments right out of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation, and yet the discernment of the significance of these events is rarely appreciated by the churches, teachers, leaders and congregations of evangelicalism. It’s as if the fact that it didn’t happen in 1988, 1994, and of course Y2K, left people feeling a little foolish and embarrassed for their late 1970’s maranatha ardor.

I dedicate this series of articles to the rekindling of that beautiful, passionate, holy longing for the return of the Savior, the Parousia* of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

One of the problems people have in recognizing the significance of the prophetic message has been that they don’t often associate Biblical names for cities, peoples and kingdoms with the modern peoples and places. Once this key is given, one marvels at the detailed description given to us of the very times in which we live in, which are leading to a very real climax, the Apocalypse** of our Lord Jesus Christ to this world

*(Parousia - Greek for actual bodily appearing)

** (Apocalypse - Greek for revealing)

A startling example of the current fulfillment of prophetic geopolitical alignment is Psalm 83. It is a desperate prayer to God by a besieged Israel, asking for a response, a declaration of war, for an action by God against an enemy alliance. All of Israel’s ancient enemies have united against them in an unprecedented “evil alliance” which openly threatens to wipe out the name and existence of Israel.

Evidently, unique circumstances have emboldened these enemies. We are told that “They have lifted up the head" in a heady confidence, “They have taken crafty council together against thy people”, - Israel. They really feel their time has come. Historically this particular alliance has never occurred because there were too many competing interests dividing Israel’s neighbors among themselves - but something has united them enough to transcend their petty differences. I believe that that unifying something is Islam.

Who are these confederated enemies making such a tumult? The following is taken from Walid Shoebat’s excellent book, GOD’S WAR ON TERROR - with my comments in italics.

Edom- which extends from Jordan to Saudi Arabia (see Ezekiel 25 Edom is described as extending from Teman to Dedan (Arabia). Edom also refers to Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, the Edomites are brother people to Israel, but they aren’t very brotherly because they have nurtured an “everlasting Hatred” of Israel, as God describes in a personal word to them in Ezekiel 35. The Muslim Arab near neighbors of Israel, are not only physical descendants of Esau, but they have a spiritual affinity with him, hating Jacob for his birthright.

Moab, Ammon, Children of Lot - Jordan. Moab and Ammon the incestuously conceived ‘children of Lot’ are also related to Israel. Lot was Abraham’s nephew. They too have bought into the hatred, resentment and fear of Israel. Their descendants were the settlers of north and central Jordan. The city of Ammon is named for Ammon.

Gebal - According to the Unger’s bible dictionary, this is in Lebanon, 25 miles north of Beirut. Lebanon was at one time considered the only Christian country in the Middle East, until Syrian Baathists and Islamic marauders dismembered it, driving the Christians out and establishing an Islamic majority, in the late 1970’s. Although there was a “Cedar Revolution” backed by the US in which the Syrians were forced to withdraw from Lebanon, this once beautiful Jewel of the Middle East is now becoming an Islamic pesthole.

Tyre - Again in Lebanon, today this is a center for Hezbollah. Southern Lebanon had retained its Christian identity thanks to the Israeli invasion of 1982, but relentless political pressure forced the Jews to withdraw from it, and into the vacuum stepped Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Shiite “a team” of terrorism. Their latest claim to fame is the relentless showering of northern Israel with rockets.

Philistia - Gaza, today the center for Hamas. Gaza, the southwest corner of Israel, and the site of the ancient Philistine stronghold has become, via world political pressure, a stronghold for the vicious terrorist group Hamas, and a seething cauldron of hatred, murder, and bitterness against Israel. It has also become a staging base for terrorist armies, bent on destroying Israel.

Ishmaelites and Hagarites - Arabs in general. Hagar was the Egyptian handmaid to Sarai, Abraham’s wife, and surrogate mother of Abraham’s son Ishmael. The Muslims proclaim Ishmael as the chosen son of Abraham, and every year celebrate EID, in which they erroneously celebrate the so-called sacrifice of Ishmael. It is he, whom God told Abraham, would be a “wild ass of a man, whose hand would be against everyone, and everyone against him, and who would live against his brothers.” A pretty apt description of the spirit of the Islamic Arab. When Sarai kicked Ishmael and Hagar out of the house, they too began to nourish the resilient “everlasting hatred”.

Assyria - These are Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. At its height it included Egypt and Iran as well. Assyria, the great empire, covered the areas now known as Iraq, parts of Syria, and Turkey. It is now united in Spirit by the religion of Islam.

Amalek - Jordan, southwest of the Dead Sea (Gen14; 7). The Amalekites were the ones who waged a cowardly guerilla terror war against Israel in Exodus 17, killing the old, sick, infirm and also children. Amalek was a grandson of Esau, or Edom.

These are the players of the next great war. They feel emboldened and have lofty ambitions. They aspire to annihilate God’s chosen people, to reverse God’s edict that brought Israel back to the land, they seek to take for themselves and in the name of their false god Allah, that which God, in grace has bequeathed to an admittedly undeserving people, Israel. It is a “battle of the gods” and it should get interesting.

"The Inquisition Song"

2010-02-23T13:52:00.010-09:00

(You can listen to it here)

From 1203 to 1805
50 million Christians died
suffering at the hand of Rome
because they believed in Christ alone
they died in Europe especially Spain
because they saw all but Christ as vain
He who suffered by His death for men
to save them from their awful sin
600 years of martyred saints
that history can not erase
with iron heel and iron hand
the Roman Popes ruled the land
Those ignorant of history
May be swept into apostasy
But we won’t be lulled by Rome’s sweet lie
With 50 million reasons why
Salvation is by faith alone
In Christ alone by Grace alone
A Sovereign God gives faith to man
Salvation is in the Maker’s hand

This gospel offends still Rome today
So they offer up another way
A counterfeit a compromise
Beware the ancient Papal lie
With such a cloud of witnesses
Who by grace died in their Lord
We recall their memory
And by the same faith live today!

by J.B. Henry

For a more detailed account of the atrocities committed at the hands of the Roman Catholic church go here and listen to Richard Bennett, a former priest.

The Copper Scroll: Temple Treasures

2010-02-21T22:12:00.001-09:00

by Joseph Chambers

In 1952 one of the greatest discoveries of an ancient script, which was written on copper, was found near Qumran. It took several years to open or unroll the scroll in order for the deciphering of the text to begin. Because it was a very fragile document — nearly two thousand years old – there was a great fear that it would be destroyed before it could be translated. The disagreements of the assigned scholars and the intrigue of such a valuable possession led to years of delay. There are still differences of opinions, but a fairly solid consensus is that the treasures noted in this scroll are indeed from the Jewish temple and that they do exist.

The entire world is watching every event and every idea that relates to Israel. Numerous Bible prophecies concerning this chosen nation are emerging, this Copper Scroll being one of them. The leaders of Gog and Magog as named in the Bible are each in place and bellowing out their plans. Thirty years ago Persia (Iran) was our ally, but Bible prophecy scheduled that historic part of the world for a different course. For Biblical truths to be fulfilled, people of many stripes are used — often or actually in most cases — without one iota of understanding about their role. Persia/Iran has been completely transfigured until they are ready to be the point nation leading the war to their own holocaust. Gog and Magog may well occur in 2010.

Nothing relating to Israel is more exciting than their talk of the coming Messiah. Their speaking about the Jewish Messiah cannot be separated from talk about their temple in Jerusalem. Yet, that temple site is already occupied by an opposing religious strategic center. Well over one billion adherents to that religion would fight to the death to stop a Jewish temple. This issue between the Islamic religion and Israel’s preparation to build their temple is one of the world’s hottest subjects. Only the Sovereign God can possibly solve this problem and He will.

The Copper Scroll treasures contain almost enough gold and wealth to rebuild the temple. A Catholic priest, Josef Milik, was assigned as the research scholar responsible for writing the official findings. He said that the gold and silver represented over 200 ton or 400,000 pounds. The entire treasure was estimated to be valued at two to three billion dollars. Of course, these estimates are considered too small by some scholars and too large by others. There is some speculation that the final Copper Scroll — part of the last location — will identify the location of the “Ark of the Covenant.”

Hershel Shanks, the editor of the Biblical Archaeological Review, tells about a meeting of scholars and experts in which the majority agreed that the treasure is real and that it all came from the Jerusalem Temple. (The Copper Scroll, Hershel Shanks, p. 51.) It is believed that before the Romans finally took and destroyed the Temple in AD 70 that this wealth of gold and treasures was hidden from them. Whether or not the “Ark of the Covenant” is part of this trove of temple treasures does not mean the ark has not been preserved.

The Copper Scroll treasures were from the Second Temple, but the “Ark of the Covenant” was from the First Temple. It seems certain that faithful priests had hidden the ark when Nebuchadnezzar was camping beyond Jerusalem’s Walls in preparation to destroy the city. This was 586 BC. From research, it is evident that Nebuchadnezzar sought diligently to save the Temple of Solomon, probably for Daniel’s and Jeremiah’s sake. Nebuchadnezzar’s general was instructed to take Jeremiah from among the captives and protect him. He was allowed to either stay in Israel and return to his own estate or go to Babylon to be cared for by his own people. The Ark of the Covenant has not been officially located since that date of 586 BC.

The Copper Scroll reveals the hidden place of sixty-four different troves or groups of treasures. Here are two of those locations, along with the list of items included: “In the basin that is in the valley of […], in the tomb of its source, a black stone 2 cubits (away); it is the entry: 300 talents of gold and 20 indemnity vessels.” (Location 49, p. 100.) “In a cavity that is in the bright place north of Kohilt, opening to the north, and (where there are) graves at its entrance a duplicate of this document and an explication and their measurements and a detailed inventory of everything, one by one.” (Location 64, pg 101.) In the location of the 62nd group, the amount of gold and silver is 600 talents (45,000 pounds).

When will this great abundance of treasuries be discovered? Actually, there is no need for this discovery until the Temple Mount is purified and vacant. I am convinced that most if not all of these temple items, along with the wealth of gold and silver, is hid beneath the exact location of the ancient Temple of Solomon. If the Ark of the Covenant was directly beneath the second temple, Holy of Holies, in Christ’s day the priest could have offered the Blood sacrifice behind the veil and above the ark. This would be the reason that the veil was rent when the Son of God died at Calvary.

It seems fitting that the firestorms that will destroy the armies of Gog and Magog and obliterate the Islamic religion will also sweep the Temple Mount and purify it with the fire of God. The promise of God’s defense of Israel includes, “Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 38:19b). Ezekiel further prophesied, “And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground” (Ezekiel 38:20b). I add this possibility, “All the treasures of God’s temple shall be revealed.” When the war of Gog and Magog is finished, it will be time for Israel to build their temple.

Amazing Grace

2010-02-11T00:19:00.010-09:00

My wife and I let our daughters Rachel, who is six. And Samara, who is five watch the Fanny Crosby Story on video. For those who don’t know Fanny Crosby, she was a Blind woman who penned more than 10,000 hymns under more than 200 different pen names, for the Lord. Some include "Blessed Assurance", "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home", "Praise Him, Praise Him", and "To God Be the Glory".

A few days after watching the Fanny Crosby video, my daughters were sitting at the kitchen table and my wife was standing in the kitchen with them. And my 6 year old, Rachel, asked my wife “Mommy, why do people get blind”?

“Well, some people are born blind, and some people become blind because they get old or because something happens to their eyes. And because we are born into a fallen world that sort of thing happens”. My wife replied.

“So, do we know any people blind”? Rachel asks.

“Well, no honey, we don’t know anyone blind”. My wife says.

Then my 5 year old, Samara chimes in...

“Yes we do, I know somebody blind”.

“No we don’t Sammy”. My wife says

“Yes, uh-hu I do….. ‘Swa’ in the Bible was blind!” Samara explained.

“Who is Swa!?” “There is no ‘Swa’ in the Bible that was blind, honey.” My wife says.

“Yes there is!” Samara states. Then she starts singing…..” Swaaas blind but now I see.”

My Wife was laughing so hard she could hardly tell me the story. My wife has sung them Amazing Grace since they were born and when in the song it says ““twas” blind but now I see” Sammy thought “twas” was a person named “Swa”. It was hilarious!

I Sing the Mighty Power of God

2010-02-07T22:56:00.003-09:00

by Isaac Watts

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

America in Wonderland

2010-02-07T00:36:00.035-09:00

America just keeps falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. The Ouija Board was around even when I was a child but it was kept away from children, at least from parents that professed the name of Jesus Christ. Sad these toy companies have no boundaries any longer which becomes clear when they market the Ouija board in pink, obviously meant for young girls (or boys depending on how PC you're). I suppose some people will say this pales in comparison when you consider the violence on the video games/TV. They would get no argument here other than to point out that kids could really open themselves up to something demonic and potentially put themselves (and the public) in a worse situation. And If you're an open minded parent about the Ouija Board then all I would say is, sleep with one eye open.

Oh and one more thing, mark my words, there are going to be pastors out here that will endorse this for the sake of cultural relevance and not to be seen as "legalistic".

Until Shiloh Comes

2010-01-27T01:59:00.006-09:00

By Chuck Missler (From his Book "The Creator Beyond Time and Space")

In the 49th chapter of the book of Genesis there is another specific prophecy regarding the time of the Messiah's coming. In verse one we read of the last blessing that Jacob bestowed to his sons.

"And Jacob called his sons and said, 'Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days'" Genesis 49:1 (NKJ)

When he had gathered them together he began to prophesy over each of them. When he got to his son Judah, he gave a prophecy concerning the Messiah:

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the people." Genesis 49:10 (NKJ)

This strange prophecy has a few words that need to be defined in order to be fully understood. The word "scepter" has been understood by the Rabbis to mean the "tribal staff" or "tribal identity" of the twelve tribes of Israel. This "tribal identity" was linked, in the minds of the Jews, to their right to apply and enforce Mosaic law upon the people, including the right to adjudicate capital cases and administer capital punishment, or jus gladii (The jus gladii is a legal term which refers to the legal authority to adjudicate capital cases and impose capital punishment.)

Secondly, it is well documented that the word "Shiloh" has been understood for millennia to be an idiom for the Messiah.

Therefore, according to this prophecy, the tribal identity or scepter of the tribe of Judah would not cease until the Messiah came. Judah was not only the name of the son of Jacob, but it was also the name of the southern kingdom of the divided nation of Israel.

With these definitions in place we can restate the prophecy as follows:

"The [National identity of Judah, which includes the right to enforce Mosaic law, including the right to administer capital punishment upon the people, as called for in the Torah] shall not depart from [the southern kingdom (Judah)], nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah] comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the people."

This prophecy gives specific indicators regarding the time of the coming of the Messiah! The prophecy declares that he would come before the right to impose Jewish law (which includes capital punishment) is restricted and before the national identity of Judah is removed!

During the 70-year Babylonian captivity, from 606-537 B.C., the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, had lost it's national sovereignty, but retained it's tribal staff or national identity. It is very significant that in the book of Ezra we read that during the 70-year Babylonian captivity the Jews still retained their own lawgivers or judges. The Jews maintained their identity and judicial authority over their own people even during 70 years of slavery. The scepter had not been lost during the Babylonian captivity.

During the next five centuries the Jews suffered under the yoke of the Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman Empires. Yet, Judah retained its tribal identity up until the first quarter of the first century A.D.

In the first quarter of the first century A.D., the Jews were under Roman domination when an unprecedented event occurred. According to Josephus (Antiquities 17:13) around the year A.D. 6-7, the son and successor to King Herod, a man named Herod Archelaus, was dethroned and banished to Vienna, a city of Gaul. He was replaced, not by a Jewish king, but by a Roman Procurator named Caponius. The legal power of the Sanhedrin was then immediately restricted.

With the ascension of Caponius, the Sanhedrin lost their ability to adjudicate capital cases. This was the normal policy toward all the nations under the yoke of the Romans. The province of Judea had, however, been spared from this policy up to this point. However, Caesar Agustus had had enough of the Jews and finally removed the judicial authority from them at the ascension of Caponius. This transfer of power was recorded by Josephus.

"And now Archelaus' part of Judea was reduced into a province, and Caponius, one of the equestrian order of the Romans, was sent as a procurator, having the power of life and death put into his hands by Caesar!"(Emphasis added)

The power of the Sanhedrin to adjudicate capital cases was immediately removed. In the minds of the Jewish leadership, this event signified the removal of the scepter or national identity of the tribe of Judah!

If you think that this is a Christian contrivance, think again. Here are several ancient rabbinical references that indicate that the rabbis believed that Genesis 49:10 was referring to the Messiah.

In the Targum Onkelos it states:

"The transmission of domain shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor the scribe from his children's children, forever, until Messiah comes."

In the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan it states:

"King and rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah...until King Messiah comes"

The Targum Yerushalmi states:

"Kings shall not cease from the house of Judah...until the time of the coming of the King Messiah...to whom all the dominions of the earth shall become subservient"

In the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b, Rabbi Johanan said:

"The world was created for the sake of the Messiah, what is this Messiah's name? The school of Rabbi Shila said 'his name is Shiloh, for it is written; until Shiloh come.'"

These amazing commentaries should eliminate any doubt that the Jews that lived prior to the Christian era believed that one of the names of the Messiah was Shiloh. Furthermore, these quotes should eliminate all doubt that the ancient rabbis believed that the Messiah would come before the removal of the scepter from Judah!

Woe Unto Us, For Messiah Has Not Appeared!

So far we have established that Shiloh is an idiom for the Messiah and that the scepter (that is, the tribal identity, associated with the right to impose capital punishment) had departed from the kingdom of Judah early in the first quarter of the first century. What was the reaction of the Jews when the right to adjudicate capital cases (the jus gladii) was removed from Judah? Did they view the removal of their authority on capital cases as the removal of the scepter from Judah? The answer can be categorically stated as YES!

When Archelaus was banished, the power of the Sanhedrin was severely curtailed. Capital cases could no longer be tried by the Sanhedrin. Such cases were now transferred to the Roman Procurator, Caponius. This transfer of power is even mentioned in the Talmud:

"A little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews."

This certainly corresponds to the same event recorded by Josephus we saw earlier. In Antiquities 20:9 Josephus again points out that the Sanhedrin had no authority over capital cases:

"After the death of the procurator Festus, when Albinus was about to succeed him, the high priest Ananias considered it a favorable opportunity to assembly the Sanhedrin. He therefore caused James the Brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and several others, to appear before this hastily assembled council, and pronounced upon them the sentence of death by stoning. All the wise men and strict observers of the law who were at Jerusalem expressed their disapprobation of this act... Some even went to Albinus himself, who had departed to Alexandria, to bring this breach of the law under his observation, and to inform him that Ananius had acted illegally in assembling the Sanhedrin without the Roman authority."

This remarkable passage not only mentions Jesus of Nazareth and his brother James as historical figures, but it also declares that the Sanhedrin had no authority to pass the death sentence upon any man!`

The jus gladii, the right to impose the death sentence, had been removed. The remaining authority of Judah had been taken away by the Romans in the early years of the first century. The scepter had departed from Judah. Its royal and legal powers were removed; but where was Shiloh?

The reaction of the Jews to these monumental events is recorded in the Talmud. Augustin Lemann, in his book Jesue before the Sanhedrin, records a statement by Rabbi Rachmon:

"When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them: they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: 'Woe unto us for the scepter has departed from Judah and the Messiah has not come'"9,10,11 (emphasis added)

The scepter was smitten from the hands of the tribe of Judah. The kingdom of Judea, the last remnant of the greatness of Israel, was debased into being merely a part of the province of Syria.

While the Jews wept in the streets of Jerusalem, there was growing up in the city of Nazareth the young son of a Jewish carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth. The inescapable conclusion was that Shiloh had come! Only then was the Scepter removed!

PUT YOUR HAND IN MY SIDE…

2010-01-24T23:02:00.002-09:00

Meditation on the Scars of Jesus

By: Pastor Bill Randles

“After eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst, and said, ‘Peace be unto you ’. Then he said to Thomas, ‘Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing’. And Thomas answered, ‘My Lord and My God’. (John 20:26-28)

When after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his badly frightened, and dejected disciples, He showed them His scars. He ate fish with them, spoke to them and rolled up His sleeves and opened His robe to show them His actual scars in hands and side.

One of the things this story illustrates is that Jesus truly “has come and remains in the flesh”. One of the heresies of the early church was the Docetic teaching. Docetism, from the Greek word Dokeo- def. ‘to seem’, is the teaching that Jesus only seemed to be Incarnate, He really wasn’t ‘in the flesh’, He didn’t really suffer anything, (God cannot suffer) and He only seemed to be Incarnate. The Koran of Islam incorporates Docetic teaching, in their emphatic denial that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, Judas died in his place! The Surrealist painter Salvador Dali did a version of the Last Supper, which featured a Docetic Jesus- in the painting, you can see right through Him to the wall behind him!

This story and indeed much of the resurrection narrative in John’s gospel would be an antidote to this heresy. Truly, Jesus Christ has come (and remains) in the flesh! The elements of the Gospel are so physical! The cross, the heavy stone rolled across the grave, the fact that John had to stoop to enter the tomb on that resurrection morning, the sight of the empty grave clothes, which made both John and Peter instantly believe. One can almost smell the breakfast that Jesus cooked on a coal fire for the disciples, the fish Jesus ate in their presence, and of course the scars in Jesus hands and side, ”Handle me…” The Gospel of Jesus is far from ethereal; it is set in this world of time, space, matter, dates, historical events, and persons, “He was crucified under Pontius Pilate…”

Peter and John, we are told, both believed upon seeing the empty grave clothes, but for Thomas it was the sight of the scars of Jesus, that made him into a believer. It was upon seeing those scars that this monotheistic, devout Jew made an otherwise unthinkable profession, “My Lord and my God!”

What kind of a God is the God of Thomas and the apostles? God as a human? A scarred God? A God who allows his human enemies to inflict upon Him scars? We worship a God who has entered completely into the human condition, with all of its joys as well as all of its sorrows.

What is it to be human, if not to be scarred? Who hasn’t borne the scars of disappointment, guilt, shame, frustration, futility, and betrayal time and again in this life? To be human is inevitably to be hurt, whether the wounds be self inflicted or through the sinfulness of others, as Jesus said, ”It is impossible but that offenses should come.”

But in the Gospel we see that the God we worship has entered into the suffering of humanity, the cross was an identification with us, in guilt, shame, penalty and agony. The scars of Jesus bear witness to this.

One of the qualifications of Jesus as our heavenly high priest is his ability to know first hand our limitations, temptations and the suffering that sin has caused to abound in our world. Jesus sits at the right hand of God in heaven and bears the scars of the cross!

Paul warned us that the Gospel of the scarred God would be a scandal to both Greek and Jew. The Greeks believed that ‘the true God’ would be pure spirit- pure logic- impassable (beyond and incapable of suffering) and completely transcendent, unknowable. To the Jews, God is (and can only be) the omnipotent, invincible, awesome God of power and might! Where is the wisdom in a crucified God? How could an all-powerful God be scarred? What philosophical answers could there be in a Divine “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief?”

“The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.” (I Cor. 1:22-23)

Neither Jew or Greek can discern in Jesus’ scars what Thomas did. They saw no power, nor wisdom in the crucified, scarred God. To see what Thomas and countless millions have seen down through the ages takes a revelation from God. If you can see God in the scarred, crucified Jesus, if you can see the power of God and the wisdom of God in the cross, that is the sign that you are “being saved”.

“But unto those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the Wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:24)

To the demand of sinful man for answers to the problem of evil, death and suffering, God doesn’t offer a philosophy, or a definitive and satisfactory thesis, he presents Jesus crucified, as the answer.

To the oft-raised complaint that rises from sinners -“If God is an all powerful being…how could he allow…(fill in the blank)? Where was God at Dachau, or at Treblinka? Where was He on 9-11? When will this supposed God show us His power and Love?” The reply from heaven is nothing more or nothing less than the “despised and rejected …man of sorrows, fully acquainted with grief”, Jesus and His scars. Can you see the Wisdom and power in this?

What answer for suffering and evil would satisfy man anyway? If he eradicated all evil right now by His power (He could do this!) He would have to destroy everybody! Evil is not a substance out there somewhere; it is a plague that thrives in the hearts of all men everywhere.

The God given answer and the power is revealed in that, to save sinful man, He would become a man and enter into our suffering, He would take responsibility before God for our sins. The scars of Jesus testify to this.

Edward Shillito “got it”. He was an English Christian who endured the horrors of the First World War, and afterward wrote a poem which speaks powerfully to the meaning of Jesus’ scarred hands and side; He called it JESUS OF THE SCARS,

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now:
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn pricks on Thy brow;
We must have thee, O Jesus of the scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place;
Our wounds are hurting us, where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us the scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but thou wast weak;
They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne,
But to our wounds, only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

One day soon, the Jews who so seek a sign will actually have a ‘Thomas experience”. They don’t believe in Jesus right now, He wasn’t powerful enough for them, He was crucified - He didn’t bring peace to the World, so they can’t see God in Him! But we are told by the Prophet Zechariah, that in the last days,

“…They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him as an only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for his firstborn…” (Zech. 12:10)

Like Thomas, seeing the scars of Jesus will cause them to believe, and own Him as “Lord and God”. We are told that on that day a fountain shall open up for cleansing,

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness.” (Zech 13:1)

Thus the picture in John of the handling of Jesus’ scars is a picture of the consummation of history, the final salvation of Israel and the end of the world. What a God! What a Savior! My Lord and My God!

MINISTERING WHILE MAMMON MELTS DOWN

2010-01-24T00:50:00.010-09:00

The following is by Pastor Buddy Smith, Grace Baptist Church, Malanda, Queensland,
http://smiletex@bigpond.net.au:

Elijah ministered while Mammon melted down.

Enigmatic Elijah.

He sprang onto the pages of Scripture without introduction, a man of great discernment and perception. He saw clearly not only the wickedness of his king, he saw also the desperate spiritual condition of his people. Israel had stagnated into a state of indecision. They, the redeemed slaves of Egypt, could not even decide which god to worship, Baal or Jehovah. He saw the idolatry of their king's covetousness and he saw the bondage of Mammon. He discerned the mind of God regarding his nation and prayed accordingly. James 5:17, 18 describes his prayer that it might not rain, “...he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” What an example he is to the men of God in this generation! Here is a man who was so bold as to pray for the meltdown of Mammon so that his people might have a spiritual awakening. He prayed for the loss of the material wealth of his people so that they might obtain true riches.

Elijah discerned and declared the mind of God to the nation. He prayed for drought and saw the heavens stripped bare of clouds and watched as the dew burned off the grass of the field. He learned to wait on the Lord and be content with what God provided. What unusual waiters God chose to wait upon Elijah as he dwelt by the brook Cherith. Ravens, which are renowned for allowing their own hatchlings to perish in times of want, brought to Elijah bread and flesh twice a day. Elijah learned the secret of living by faith, and waiting on God for daily bread. When the brook dried up, God taught him another lesson in the school of faith. He taught him not to take the blessings of God for granted, and he taught him that he could provide for him through others, even if they themselves had very little to give. He taught him that God blesses those who meet the needs of others. He taught him to listen to the voice of God and to know the times and seasons of waiting and walking and warning. He taught him to be on guard against the Obadiahs of Ahab's court. Elijah was tempered on the anvil of God so that his steel did bend or break when he crossed swords with Ahab or with the prophets of Baal. He drew the Sword of the Lord on Mt. Carmel, prayed down fire out of a cloudless sky upon his sacrifice, and called the people to slay the false prophets before he pleaded with God to break the drought.

Elijah ministered while Mammon melted down.

At this point, early in 2009, it seems that we are in the early stages of another meltdown for Mammon. It happens again and again in history. All the gods of wordlings have feet of clay. Sooner or later all the Dagons are broken in pieces on the thresholds of their temples. For millennia men have worshipped greed and covetousness and pretended that satisfaction for the soul could be secured on the stock market. Even the churches today are drawn into the idolatry of covetousness, supposing that they are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, including the presence of God. Now we see a downturn and wonder how far it will go. Some are suggesting that we will see the collapse of the entire global economy. Some are even saying that we will see the Rapture and the one world economy of the Antichrist. We simply do not know. All we know is that Mammon melts down again and again. And we know that we are to minister the Word of God to others when it happens.

My wife and I are missionaries in Australia. We are human enough to wonder what will happen if the meltdown of Mammon results in churches being unable to continue in their support of missionaries? How will we be able to stay on the field? What will the churches around the world do for pastors if the missionaries have no income? These are good questions for missionaries to ask.

Elijah set a good example for all who are in the ministry when God causes Mammon to melt down. He stood strong for God. He prayed. He waited. He prepared for the day of reckoning with the worshippers of idols. He whetted the Sword of the Spirit and strengthened himself in the Lord. He learned how to trust God for his daily needs to be met.

As we observe the destruction of Mammon in our generation, I cannot help wondering if there is somewhere an Elijah, a dear brother in Christ whose vision is clear enough to see, whose heart is soft enough to care, and whose commitment to God is such that he is willing to lose all he has for the souls of lost men. It could be, you know, that the entire world economy is teetering on the brink of collapse and Mammon is crumbling because of one man's prayers. We may never know who he is, but we can and should add our prayers to his. Mammon ought to be melted down. All his worshippers will suffer the torments of Hell unless they forsake him and turn to Christ. We ought to pray for his destruction.

There is one word of encouragement for those who are committed to ministering to others while Mammon is melting down. God will meet your needs if you will trust him. This is no time for hirelings who flee when the wolf is at the door. Let me share a word of testimony in closing. I remember one month many years ago when our support hit rock bottom. It was a month when there was a conference on we had hoped to attend. It looked like it would be absolutely impossible for us to go. In fact, we didn't know how we were going to eat that month. We had been teaching our children to pray about the hardships of the ministry so we told them we needed to pray about the shortfall in our support. The kids took it on as a real matter of prayer in our devotions before they went off to school. Somebody in the family had the idea of writing in large letters the words, "Praise the Lord!" on one side of a sheet of paper and then listing all the blessings God sent that month on the other side of the paper. We stuck it on the fridge with a magnet with the “Praise the Lord” side visible so that nobody but our family knew what was on the other side. Well, you can guess what a blessing it was to see the Lord meet our needs day by day. We wrote down loaves of bread, dozens of eggs, and anonymous gifts and heads of cabbage, and a hundred other blessings on that piece of paper. Possibly the biggest blessing of all was our kids' excitement at what they saw the Lord doing in answer to their prayers. When they came home from school they ran up the back steps, jerked the back door open, ran to the fridge and turned the paper over to see what the Lord had done while they were at school. No hugs for dad or mum, no rush to the toilet, no snack. First things first! It was a time of spiritual growth for our family. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we did go to the conference. A strange thing happened at the end of the conference. There was a pastor there from Western Australia that we had never met before. When all the folks form our church climbed in the van to start off for home, he reached in and handed me an envelope with $100 in and told me it was for food for all of us on our long trip home. He never knew that our kids had been praying. And, come to think of it, most of the folks in the van never knew either. Fed by the prayers of children! Such are the ways of God!

For twenty centuries missionaries have been fed by God. Before ever the first missionaries went out to a lost world with the blessed gospel of Christ, the prophets of the Old Testament were waiting on the Lord for their daily bread.

God never called us to be wealthy.

He called us to minister to others while Mammon melted down

*Article downloaded from David Cloud's site Way of Life.

Prophetic Significance of the Olivet Discourse

2009-11-28T21:09:00.002-09:00

Johan Malan, University of the North, South Africa

Abstract: The Lord Jesus made various cogent statements about the future of both Israel and the Gentile nations in His Prophetic Discourse, also known as the Olivet Discourse.

A very clear prophetic scenario of the first and last generations of the present dispensation is described by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse. Both these generations are characterised by the coexistence of Israel and the Church. In the first generation, the Church was established and phased in, while Israel was on a course of being phased out by way of the Diaspora. In the last generation, Israel is restored and phased in while the Church must prepare itself to be phased out by way of the rapture. These facts are often disregarded in prophetic analyses, or misinterpreted for of a variety of reasons. This immensely important discourse will be considered within its appropriate dispensational framework, from which its great prophetic significance is evident.

Different perspectives of the Gospels
As an introduction to this article, I would like to explain the reasons for the different presentations of the Olivet Discourse by Matthew and Luke (Mark's version of the Olivet Discourse is virtually the same as that of Matthew). Appreciation of these facts will, hopefully, keep one from reading the version of Matthew only and from wrongly identifying the prophetic future of the Church in the typically Jewish scenario described by Matthew.

An intensive study of the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) reveals the fact that they have complementary theological perspectives. Although the basic message of salvation is described by all three of them, the Gospel of Matthew was written for the Jews. It has a decidedly Jewish orientation in which preference is explicitly given to Israel for proclaiming the message of God's kingdom. In the period before the national rejection of Jesus by the Jews, the disciples were ordered to concentrate on Israel and not to go to the Gentiles such as the Samaritans, and He Himself said He was sent only to the Jews (cf. Mt. 10:5-6; 15:24). References to the Old Testament predominate in Matthew so as to demonstrate to a sceptical nation that the life and works of Jesus in minute detail fulfil the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. A Jewish genealogy is quoted for Jesus, which is reckoned from Abraham. His descent from David is often mentioned and He is specifically described as the King of the Jews.

In the presentation of prophecies, including the Olivet Discourse, the Jewish perspective is maintained. The destruction of Jerusalem is clearly foretold, as well as the fact that the Jewish nation who rejected Jesus would be left desolate and see Him no more until the time when they would accept Him and bless Him in the Name of the Lord (Mt. 23:37-39). The hardships of the tribulation period and also the desecration of the temple are recorded by Matthew in chapter 24 since Israel, as a nation, will go through the tribulation period. In this Gospel, clear instructions are given to the Jews on when and how to flee urgently from Judea in the middle of the coming tribulation. In this description, use is made of typical Jewish terms such as the Sabbath (Mt. 24:15-22).

Luke, in his Gospel, offers a strikingly different perspective. This Gospel was written for non-Jewish believers and has a much more universal orientation in that the position of the Christians as well as the unsaved Gentile nations is specifically described. The genealogy of Jesus is reckoned back to Adam (Lk. 3:38) as Jesus has come for all the descendants of Adam "to seek and to save” the lost sheep of both the Jewish fold and of the Gentile world outside that fold (Lk. 19:10). The Jewish disciples are rebuked for their intolerance towards the Samaritans (Lk. 9:51-56), while the Jews are reproached by the Lord Jesus in that of the ten lepers whom He healed, only one, a Samaritan, turned back to glorify God (Lk. 17:11-19).

In his prophetic review, Luke not only discusses the fate of the unbelieving Jewish people but he also records prophecies for the Messianic believers, the non-Jewish Christians and the nations. The escape from the destruction of Jerusalem, which had been promised by Jesus to believers, is mentioned by Luke (Lk. 21:20-22) but not by Matthew. Likewise, the promise of the rapture to Jewish as well as non-Jewish believers is inferred by Jesus in Luke (Lk. 21:34-36) but not mentioned by Matthew. On the other hand, Luke only summarises the events of the tribulation period and does not refer to the desecration of the temple by the false messiah, as does Matthew. It is also conspicuous that Luke clearly indicates the times of the Gentiles that would span the long period between the first and last generations (Lk. 21:24). Mathew makes no mention of this period.

The meaning of a generation
A further concept that needs to be properly defined to gain a better understanding of the Olivet Discourse, is that of a generation (Gr. genea). This word denotes a specific period in the existence of a nation or any community of people, thereby referring to a group of contemporaries. When Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees "an evil and adulterous generation" (Mt. 12:39) He characterised the evil and adulterous generation that was alive at that time. Events related to the end-time immediately preceding His Second Coming, have been clearly prophesied to occur within the time-span of a specific generation: "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled" (Mt. 24:34).

It is obvious that in the chronology of a group, such as the nation of Israel, there are many generations. These generations come and go, and therefore all have a starting-point and a terminal point. The one generation is succeeded by another.

Since the three living generations of a group (grandfather, father, and son) overlap, a single generation may be equated with the adult life of a person – not his entire life span. In the history of Israel, a generation in their chronology represents a period of about 40 years. This is not a rigidly defined period as a single generation may be up to a few years longer than 40 years. A generation is, therefore, a period that can be extended or shortened.

During the period of the kings of Israel a number of generations were exactly 40 years long: Saul, David and Solomon all reigned for 40 years. A few of the kings reigned for periods slightly longer than 40 years, but that was exceptional. The 27 generations from David (born in 1085 BC) to the birth of Jesus in 4 BC (Mt. 1:17), a total span of 1081 years, gives an average of 40.037 years for the 27 generations.

There are three generations in the history of Israel that are of immense prophetic significance. They are associated with:

(1) the exodus and founding of the nation in their land;

(2) their international dispersion; and

(3) their end-time restoration.

The Lord said the following about the generation (adult persons) of the people of Israel who were delivered from Egypt:

"Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… So the Lord's anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone" (Num. 32:11, 13; also see Ps. 95:10).

It is obvious that not the entire nation, but only one specific generation, died in the wilderness during the 40 years of their wanderings.

The other two generations, associated with the events culminating in the Diaspora and the end-time restoration of Israel, were both mentioned by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse. The generation that spanned the period between the rejection of Jesus as Messiah in 32 AD and the destruction of Jerusalem in September 70 AD was 38,5 years long. Allowing for the dispersion of the captives of war after the siege, the length of this generation comes close to 40 years. There is, however, not a fixed time for a generation since a number of generations during the kings of Israel were more than 40 years in duration.

The last generation began with the recapturing of Jerusalem in June 1967 and its restoration as Israel’s capital city in 1980 and will end with the appearing of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

The Olivet Discourse
In the Olivet Discourse, the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples clear signs pointing to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, as well as signs related to His Second Coming:

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” (Mt. 24:1-3).

Two questions were posed to the Lord: (1) "When will the temple be destroyed?" and (2) "What is the sign of Your coming and the end of this age?" In the discourse following these questions, various important events of contemporary significance to the Jews of the first generation after the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah were discussed, as well as events related to the last generation before the Second Coming of Jesus. In these prophecies, a clear distinction must be made between first generation events (which relate to the first of the two questions the disciples asked Jesus) and last generation events (which relate to the second question). It is also significant that the beginning and end of both generations are linked to events in and around the city of Jerusalem.

When referring to the immediate future of Jerusalem and its inhabitants of the early first century, Jesus addressed the sceptical Jewish leaders who rejected Him, just as their fathers had rejected and killed the prophets. They filled up the measure of their fathers' guilt and would inevitably have to bear the consequences of their actions:

"Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!’” (Mt. (23:36-39).

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near… For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Lk. 21:20, 23-24).

When Jesus refers to the last generation, He does so in the context of a restored Jerusalem which is in the midst of the great tribulation, with its unprecedented distress, wars and natural disasters that will culminate in His Second Coming. This generation would begin after the long period of the trampling of Jerusalem had come to an end:

"And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And [after that] there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near… Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things are fulfilled" (Lk. 21:25-32; see also Mt. 24:34).

The parameters of the first and last generations of the present age (the dispensation of the Church) are clearly defined in the above quotations from Scripture. The first generation started when the inhabitants of Jerusalem rejected their Messiah-King and delivered Him to the Roman authorities to be crucified. The end of the first generation was marked by the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginning of the Diaspora.

The last generation commenced with the restoration of Jerusalem to its former position of Israel’s capital city. Please note that with the rebirth of Israel as a nation in 1948, biblical Jerusalem (Mount Zion and the Temple Mount) was not under their control. They only recaptured it during the Six Day War in June 1967, and fully restored the city’s constitutional position in August 1980, thereby ushering in the last generation. This last generation will end when the inhabitants of Jerusalem receive and accept their Messiah-King when He suddenly appears on the Mount of Olives at the end of the tribulation period. They will look on Him whom they have pierced, and say: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Mt. 23:39; also see Zech. 14:4; 12:10).

The last generation will end in the place where the first one began: The inhabitants of Jerusalem will again be given the opportunity to accept Yeshua as their Messiah-King and to bow down before Him for salvation and cleansing from their sin (Zech. 13:1). On the first occasion they rejected Him, but on the second occasion they will fully accept Him.

A very conspicuous characteristic of the inaugurating and concluding generations of the Church dispensation is the coexistence of Israel and the Church. During the first generation, the Church was gradually phased in while Israel was on a course to be phased out as a nation by way of the Diaspora. During the last generation, modern Israel is gradually phased in while the true Church must prepare itself to be phased out by way of the rapture.

Prominent events of the first generation
A matter that receives great emphasis in the Olivet Discourse is that the true believers of the first generation would be spared from the divine judgements upon Jerusalem. The same Biblical principle is also applied to the last generation in that true believers will again be removed from the disaster area of divine judgements. This is a long-established principle, as God never pours out His divine wrath upon believers when He judges the wicked. Noah, Lot, and their families were also removed to safety before God judged the wicked generations of their time.

The following promise was given to the believers of the first generation:

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled" (Lk. 21:20-22).

This promise was literally fulfilled to the believers in November and December of the year 66 AD. The occasion was the siege of Jerusalem by the forces of the Roman governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus. After realising that he was not well enough prepared for a long siege of Jerusalem, which was a strongly fortified city, he withdrew to Syria.

The Jewish leaders wrongly concluded that God was giving the enemy into their hands, and pursued them. In their pursuit the Jewish forces killed 5300 of the retreating Roman soldiers, while sustaining virtually no loss themselves.

At the same time, the Messianic believers observed the promise of Jesus and fled the city in a north-easterly direction. They crossed the Jordan and took refuge in Decapolis, in the city of Pella, where they were safe from the impending doom of Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

At this time Nero, one of the greatest tyrants in history, was the emperor in Rome. He was outraged when he heard of the humiliating defeat of his Syrian army at the hands of the Jews. He ordered one of his best generals, Vespasian, to subdue the Jews by brutal force. The climax of Vespasian's bloody campaign was the siege of Jerusalem that started on 10 May, 70 AD. His son, Titus, joined him with his soldiers who were stationed at Alexandria. When Vespasian was called to Rome to succeed as the new emperor, Titus took command of the forces in Judea.

Contrary to the clear instructions Jesus gave in Luke 21:20-24, great numbers of Jews flocked to Jerusalem after various Jewish towns and cities were captured and destroyed by the Romans. They thought that they would be safe in Jerusalem, but Jesus foretold an opposite scenario:

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation’” (Lk. 19:41-44).

During the siege of Jerusalem, 1,1 million people died – half of them of hunger. The temple was set alight and subsequently all its walls broken down to the rock foundation to retrieve the molten gold that had seeped into the cracks in the floor. All the buildings in the city were burned and demolished. On 26 September in AD 70, the once famous City of David died. Only one wall (the present Western Wall on the Temple Mount) was left standing to serve as a shelter for Roman soldiers who remained behind to ensure that the Jews did not rebuild the city. The 97 000 surviving Jews were taken as captives of war. Many of them were expelled from the land of Israel and sold on slave markets in other provinces of the Roman Empire.

The long period of Israel's exile from the land and global dispersion, and the trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles had dawned in AD 70. The subsequent period is described as the times of the Gentiles (Lk. 21:24), that is the time of world evangelism. It was not until late in the 20th century that Jerusalem would revert entirely to Jewish control.

Prominent events of the last generation
The physical restoration of Jerusalem to Jewish control occurred in June 1967. Israel had to be established in the surrounding country for a number of years to become strong enough to capture the Old City and the West Bank area. That happened during the Six Day War, when they achieved remarkable victories on three different fronts – fighting Egypt, Syria and Jordan at the same time. Their control over the entire greater Jerusalem area paved the way for the declaration, in August 1980, of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel.

There are striking similarities between Israel and Jerusalem in the time of the last generation, and the situation that prevailed during the first generation:

· By far the great majority of the Jews still reject Jesus as Messiah, as their counterparts did in the first generation.

· The Messianic Jews constitute a small minority group who are threatened in various ways, should they continue to preach salvation in the Name of Yeshua.

· The nation waits for a Messiah who will liberate them from their enemies, ensures a peaceful future for Israel, and allows them to reinstate and continue the temple service. Jesus warned them against accepting a false Messiah (Jn. 5:43) who will pose as a religious and political leader and will arise from a desert area in the Middle East (Mt. 24:26).

· The rejection of Jesus in the first century led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Diaspora of the Jews. The renewed rejection of Jesus by members of the last generation will give rise to the time of Jacob's trouble in the tribulation period (Jer. 30:7), during which the false messiah will severely persecute them (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:13).

· An escape route was promised to first generation believers from the judgements of God (Lk. 21:20-21), while last generation believers are also promised an escape from the judgements of God in the tribulation period (Lk. 21:36).

· The devil deceived Jews of the first generation into rebelling against God by rejecting and killing His Son, and consequently to forfeit God's favour and be killed or exiled from their city and their land. The same spiritual blindness induces last generation Jews to also rebel against God by rejecting Jesus and His followers. They will come very close to being driven from their city and their land, and also to being annihilated (Zech. 14:2), at which point Jesus will come back to save the remnant (Zech. 14:3-5) and enter into a new covenant with them (Jer. 31:7, 31).

The phasing out of the Church is a very prominent event during the last generation. The judgements and testing that Israel as well as the Christ-rejecting nations must pass through in order that a remnant may be saved, are not meant for the true Church:

"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Lk. 21:36).

Please note that nominal believers will not be counted worthy to escape the coming tribulation period. True Christians are vigilant and praying witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. The others only have a form of Godliness as they are not born again of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says:

"These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Mt. 15:8).

After the rapture, the Antichrist will reveal himself and be accepted by Israel and all the other nations (Jn. 5:43). In the middle of the tribulation period he will enter the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, stop the sacrificial service, declare himself to be God, and institute the forced worship of an image of himself (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:15). When the Jewish leaders refuse to accept and worship him in his new capacity, he will try to annihilate them. Jesus warned the Jews against this very serious turn of events and advised them to flee hastily from Jerusalem when it happens:

"Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Mt. 24:15-21).

This escape will occur 3½ years after the rapture, and will be aimed at preserving a remnant of the Jews during the dark days of the great tribulation, that they may live to see the coming of the true Messiah 3½ years later and so be saved.

At the end of the seven-year tribulation period, the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus will take place. The surviving Jews will assemble at the Mount of Olives where He will stand on the mountain after having descended from heaven. "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zech. 14:4). They will then greet Him with the long-prophesied words: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Mt. 23:39; Ps. 118:26).

The spiritual restoration of the remnant of Israel will conclude the events of the last generation of the present age (Zech. 12:10; 13:1).

In the light of these very clear prophecies in the Olivet Discourse of Jesus it should be obvious to everyone that the last generation is now far spent. The rapture of the Church is very near, and will be followed by the revelation of the false messiah and the beginning of the tribulation period. Jesus warned against the deception that will coincide with the coming of the false messiah (Mt. 24:4-5).

Prophetic turning-points in the history of Israel and the Gentiles
In the Olivet Discourse it is clearly stated that during the Diaspora the position of Israel, their land and their city, Jerusalem, was never meant to be one of permanent rejection. The word until or till is used several times to underscore the fact that at some future time their fortunes will certainly change and take a turn for the better. Likewise, the times of the Gentiles will also not continue indefinitely:

· "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Lk. 21:24). In this verse the word until (Gr. achri) carries the idea of a terminus. The situation described will, therefore, not continue indefinitely but come to a certain end. From the evidence of recent history we know that the physical trampling of Jerusalem by Gentile nations was to a large extent terminated in June 1967 when modern Israel gained control over the city, and in 1980 when Jerusalem was declared the eternal capital of Israel. However, the present restoration of Jerusalem is only partial. Before the Messiah comes, the city is destined to become a furnace and a place of great distress to Israel for the spiritual purification of a remnant (Ezek. 22:18-22). As an indication of the nation's spiritual blindness, the desecration of the Temple Mount continues right through the last generation period. This situation will be partially changed in the tribulation period (the 70th week of Daniel) when the third temple is built, but only permanently changed at the end of this generation when the Messiah comes back to completely restore Jerusalem. The entire city will be rebuilt after the disasters of the great tribulation (Jer. 31:38-40; Is. 2:2-3; 52:1-2; 60:1-18). Part of the final restoration of Jerusalem and the land of Israel will be the rebuilding of the fallen throne of David and the construction of the fourth temple (Acts 15:16-17; Lk. 1:32; Ezek. 40-48). We all need to earnestly pray for the realisation of this coming glory of Jerusalem (Is. 62:6-7).

· "You shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Mt. 23:39). The word till (Gr. heos) may be rendered until, or even unto. It will be during His coming at the end of the present last generation, which will also be the end of the tribulation period, that the remnant of Israel will see Jesus and bless Him in the name of the Lord. Jesus also linked His public appearance to the end of the coming tribulation period: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Mt. 24:29-30).

· "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till (Gr. heos) all these things are fulfilled" (Mt. 24:34; see also Lk. 21:32). The last generation of the present age will also reach its point of consummation, but not before several very significant events have come to pass. These events include the present (partial) restoration of Israel and their capital, Jerusalem, and all the deception and disasters of the tribulation period.

Supporting prophecies
There are also other prophecies about the future of Israel and the Gentile nations in which the word until is used in the same way as in the Olivet Discourse. Paul said:

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until (Gr. achri) the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins’” (Rom. 11:25-27).

The national conversion of the remnant of Israel will occur right at the end of the present last generation, which will also be the end of the great tribulation. By that time, the after-crop among the Gentiles will also have been gathered during the preceding tribulation period; and then "all Israel" will be saved (Jer. 31:7, 31, 34; Rom. 11:26).

Through the prophet Hosea, the Lord rebukes Israel for their spiritual revolt against Him and indicates the implications of their consequent rejection of the Messiah:

"For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till (Heb. ad) they acknowledge their offence. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will diligently seek Me.

"Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight" (Hos. 5:14 - 6:2).

The time will certainly come when Israel experiences great distress because the nation has rejected their Messiah during His first coming. However, the full realisation of their national rejection of the Messiah will only take place after "two days". These prophetic "days" of a thousand years each (2 Pet. 3:8) are the same as those used by Jesus when He referred to His own ministry: "I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected" (Lk. 13:32). After the "two days" (2 000 years) of the ministry of Jesus to save people from the bondage of Satan, He will reign as King in the third millennium (also referred to as "the Day of the Lord" – Zech. 14:1-9). These three "days" began with the coming of Jesus to the world two thousand years ago, which was the beginning of the Messiah’s earthly ministry.

From this prophetic context it is clear that two millennia after the first coming of the Messiah, a time of great affliction and distress will dawn for Jacob, i.e. Israel (Jer. 30:7). As indicated by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse, Israel will first worship the false messiah. After he has set up his image in the temple and declared himself to be God (Dan 9:27, 11:31, 36; 12:11; 2 Thess. 2:3-4), Israel will realise that he is a false messiah and break their covenant with him. This action will greatly infuriate the false messiah and induce him to try and annihilate the Jewish people. That will be a time of great distress, when Israel will realise their past sin of having rejected Yeshua ha Mashiach. Their meeting with Him at the Mount of Olives will lead to their national conversion (Zech. 12:10 - 13:1).

After the false messiah has set up his image in the temple during the middle of the tribulation period, the remnant of Israel will study the Messianic prophecies and discover that great distress awaits them, but that it will not be long before the true Messiah will come:

"…there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered… And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be 1290 days" (Dan. 12:1, 11).

The last 42 months of the tribulation period, referred to as the "great tribulation" by Jesus (Mt. 24:21; Rev. 11:2, 13:5), will elapse between the self-deification of the false messiah in the temple and the coming of the true Messiah on the Mount of Olives. That will be followed by a month of mourning by the Jews while they are reconciled with Yeshua ha Mashiach (Zech. 12:10-14; cf. their mourning for Moses in Deut. 34:8). By then, 43 prophetic months of 30 days each (1290 days) will have passed since the day that the false messiah desecrated the temple and forced people to worship him as God.

In this study we have seen that in His Olivet Discourse the Lord Jesus refers to both the first and last generations of the Church dispensation, as well as to ‘the Times of the Gentiles’ period linking them. We are certainly very close to the rapture and the beginning of the seven year tribulation period with this last generation.

Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Mark 10:14b

2009-11-18T23:26:00.004-09:00

I wanted to give a brief testimony of my daughter repenting and trusting Jesus Christ to save her, to forgive her of her sins.

Last Tuesday night (11/10/09) she started to walk upstairs to go to bed after we all prayed and she stopped after a few steps and began to cry because she was scared, she told my wife that she as afraid of going to hell and being punished - that she knew she had sinned against God, she has done things that the bible said she wasn’t suppose to do.

This didn’t happen over night my wife and I could tell she has been under conviction for over a month now. She has been very concerned and she has been asking many questions in regards to Salvation and punishment, things like who does and does not go to hell and my wife and I are frank with her, loving but plain spoken with the truth and we've done this ever since they could talk.

Sunday we had a guest pastor and that night his wife spoke to all the women at our Church, she gave her testimony and my wife said Rachel (my six year old daughter) was paying close attention and my wife told me that this lady was saved at the age of six herself. She explained how she asked her father if he knew where he would go when he died and he replied “to heaven because I’ve trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior” and she asked “where will I go when I die?” And he answered “to hell if you don’t repent and trust Jesus Christ to forgive your sins!” Without going into the many details the woman was saved that night and gone on to serve the Lord faithfully ever since.

My wife said Rachel also told her about that testimony and I believe that was the point where the Holy Spirit convicted her strongest because she told me that night that she was “crying and asking Jesus to save me” and my wife and I explained the gospel and told her that she had to believe that Jesus would do what He said He would and she did and she was saved.

The next morning she was like a new child, it was evident the burden had been lifted off of her (something only God can do) and Rachel said that she wasn't afraid anymore but she told her mother and I that her legs were shaking and she could hardly stand the night before! And while no parent ever wants their child to be afraid, when it comes to genuine fear of God I am very thankful because now I know she has passed from death on to life, she has been born again!

Its been over a week now and I have to say it again, this is a different child, she isn’t perfect but she isn’t the same -- it is very important to make sure our children are really saved before we tell them they are.

I cannot thank God enough for His mercy and now we will keep on praying for all the rest to be saved and if your a parent pray for your child and teach them about the Lord now before it is to late.

The Catholic Church Definitely Was Not Established By Jesus Christ

2009-11-11T01:08:00.001-09:00

An excerpt from the book "Some serious, popular false doctrines answered from the Scriptures" by Dr. John R. Rice 1970

"One of the easiest things in the world to prove is that there was no Catholic church in New Testament times. There was no Pope in Bible times. There were no priests in the New Testament church. There was no sacrifice of the mass. There were no nuns. There were no monks. There was no confessional. There were no prayers to Mary. There was no teaching of purgatory. Neither the Roman Catholic organization nor anything even remotely like it existed. The present doctrinal stand of the Catholic church did not exist nor was there anything like it in the New Testament churches.

On the contrary, there were simple local congregations of Christians. Everybody who was saved was baptized and received as a member in a local congregation. The word “bishop” in the New Testament refers to a pastor of a local congregation. There were no denominational bishops, secretaries, popes, or cardinals. All of these have been invented later by worldly-minded men.

Peter never went to Rome. He was not accepted as superior by Paul, but openly rebuked when he was wrong (Gal. 2:11-14). He was never regarded as infallible. He did not even preside in the Council at Jerusalem (see Acts 15). He never went to Rome. When Paul wrote to Rome, among many, many people he greeted, Peter was not ever mentioned. When the book of Acts tells how Paul came to Rome, it makes quite clear that Peter was not in Rome. In all the letters wrote from Rome he never mentioned Peter. On the contrary, Peter was at Babylon, as he plainly tells in his epistle, which was far in the other direction (1 Pet. 5:13)

The whole idea of priesthood, nuns, monks, popes, bishops, of purgatory, Masses, prayers for the dead, prayers to the Virgin Mary and all the statues and images, feast days and programs of the Catholic church – all were wholly unknown in Bible times. Anyone who is acquainted with the Roman Catholic organization, doctrine, and practice would not have found anything even remotely like them in the New Testament churches. Jesus organized no denomination. It always means a local assembly or that general assembly including every person ever saved in all the ages who will be caught up to meet Christ in the air at the rapture. That group of all ages who are born again will be the body and bride of Christ in Heaven, and in that sense, those who are saved are in the true church.

The worldly idea of a human super-church organization like the Roman Catholic system is not taught in the Bible. Jesus would have had nothing to do with it when He was on earth. He did not start it. And the Catholic Religion is not at all New Testament Christianity, either in doctrine, in organization, or in historical sequence.

The monstrosity of heresy and worldliness which is the Roman Catholic church today is a growth through the centuries. It was not until 1870 that the Catholic church officially decided on the doctrine that the pope is infallible when he speaks officially. At the same time, it was decided as a law of the church that the church tradition is as authoritative as the Bible. It was not until 1950 that it became official Catholic doctrine that the body of Mary was taken to Heaven. In doctrine and in organization and practice, The Roman Catholic church has far departed from Bible Christianity.

Jesus built no denomination and all of the denominations, He would have most certainly repudiated Catholicism as being untrue to the Bible, untrue to what he Himself taught and trained His apostles to teach. No, Jesus did not establish the Catholic church and only the most biased or ignorant could so declare. "--John R. Rice

SOLZHENITSYN…HE TRIED TO WARN US

2009-10-30T01:44:00.003-08:00

By: Pastor Bill Randles

”“Wisdom cries out loud in the streets, she raises her voice in the squares…" Proverbs 1:20

Harvard’s motto is “Veritas”. Many of you have already found out, and others will find out in the course of their lives, that truth eludes us if we do not concentrate our attention totally on its pursuit. But even while it eludes us, the illusion of knowing it still lingers and leads to many misunderstandings. (From Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 Harvard address “A World Split Apart”)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel Prize winning author, Soviet dissident and a survivor of an eight year sentence in the brutal Soviet Gulag system, passed away yesterday in Russia. He had been exiled from his homeland for his writings, in 1974, and lived in Vermont until 1994 when he was able to return to Russia.

His passing is being largely noted because he was useful in exposing to the outside world the brutality and suppression of the Soviet system, through novels based upon his own experiences in the Gulags, such as “A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH”, and “CANCER WARD”. His non-fiction expose, “THE GULAG ARCHIPILAGO” had to be smuggled out of the USSR and published first in France. It was this particular book which led to his banishment from Russia.

What will perhaps not be as appreciated as it should be is the fact that Solzhenitsyn used the occasion of a Harvard Laureate Award in 1978 to offer a warning to the West that was both stinging and timely. Unfortunately the warning largely went unreceived, as always “A prophet is without honor …”. The speech, “A World Split Apart” created a firestorm of controversy, warning the West of its spiritual emptiness and blindness. President Carter snubbed him, his wife Rosalyn repudiated the speech at the National Press Club, and there were editorials in the New York Times and the Washington Post, among others, which railed against the speech.

What did he say that caused him to go from a ‘cause celebre’ to almost a pariah? Among other things, he called us on our failure of courage,

A decline in courage may be the most striking feature, which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life. (“A WORLD SPLIT APART”)

He warned us that we were losing the courage to defend our own civilization, that especially in our leadership, self serving calculation was taking the place of real conviction and that the outcome would be devastating. Solzhenitsyn warns us,

Should one point out that from ancient times declining courage has been considered the beginning of the end? (ibid)

Solzhenitsyn then offers a diagnosis as to what happened to make us lose courage - the false belief that individual freedom would guarantee happiness - as in “The Pursuit of Happiness”, although he warns us that the meaning of word ‘happiness’ has been debased lately -

Every citizen has been granted the desired freedom and material goods in such quantity and of such quality as to guarantee in theory the achievement of happiness -- in the morally inferior sense of the word which has come into being during those same decades. (ibid)

Freedom without restraint has not given us ‘happiness’. In fact, Solzhenitsyn charged that such ‘freedom’ is the cause of much of the depression and disillusionment that characterizes western society.

Ironically, on top of the rebuttal of our concept of freedom, he accused us of becoming a hyper legalistic society. See if this doesn’t speak to the situation as it stands today-

People in the West have acquired considerable skill in interpreting and manipulating law. Any conflict is solved according to the letter of the law and this is considered to be the supreme solution. If one is right from a legal point of view, nothing more is required. Nobody will mention that one could still not be entirely right, and urge self-restraint, a willingness to renounce such legal rights, sacrifice and selfless risk. It would sound simply absurd. One almost never sees voluntary self-restraint. Everybody operates at the extreme limit of those legal frames. (ibid)

It is this “skill” at the use of the letter of the law in the very face of the ‘spirit’ of the law that has developed into the “Death of Common Sense” as the title of a book written by a Federal Judge decries. How else is it that the enemies of our civilization have even a prayer of destroying us, other than through our courts, and the very ‘legalistic spirit’ our friend Solzhenitsyn warned us of? On this point he rightly concludes that such use of legalism will lead to two evils - the paralysis of true leadership and the inability to resist societal evil.

Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, such as motion pictures full of pornography, crime, and horror. It is considered to be part of freedom and theoretically counterbalanced by the young people's right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil. (ibid)

We didn’t have to wait very long to see the words of this prophecy come to pass - within ten years of Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard address, President Reagan’s Counsel on Pornography failed to even be able to agree on a definition of pornography. Do “we the people” really want pornography, gay marriage, abortion or Sharia law? Absolutely not, but unfortunately for us the pornographers, Sodomites, Eugenicists and CAIR are all able to successfully employ legal counsel, in a legalistic system to impose their will to the devastation of our society! Exactly what Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned us of in 1978.

Perhaps it was his critique of our flawed analysis of human nature that stung us the most, our humanism leads us to deny the effects of the fall. Therefore freedom without corresponding sense of responsibility to the spirit tilts towards evil.

Such a tilt of freedom in the direction of evil has come about gradually, but it was evidently born primarily out of a humanistic and benevolent concept according to which there is no evil inherent to human nature. The world belongs to mankind and all the defects of life are caused by wrong social systems, which must be corrected. (ibid)

No wonder he was so ill received! He was “messing with our religion” of a humanistic Utopian “Brave New World”.

I have no doubt he was rejected largely because he diagnosed our problem as being the same problem the Russian people suffered from, Humanism!

There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness. To such consciousness, man is the touchstone in judging everything on earth -- imperfect man, who is never free of pride, self-interest, envy, vanity, and dozens of other defects. We are now experiencing the consequences of mistakes which had not been noticed at the beginning of the journey (ibid)

I am in danger of reposting the entire speech to you but my commentary really doesn’t do it justice - read it and realize that we were officially warned thirty years ago, and for the most part have failed to heed the warning which has been validated by history point by point.

The solution? Solzhenitsyn calls us to nothing short of spiritual renewal, a return to the “Christian roots” of our humanism and a rejection of the “ossified “ dogmas of the Enlightenment. Almost anticipating the current Islamic Jihad, he warned us that without spiritual renewal, the humanistic and Godless west would be rendered “unable to resist the East”.

Rest in peace Alexander Solzhenitsyn. You warned us.

TRUTH WILL NOT GIVE ITSELF TO A REBEL

2009-10-27T23:50:00.000-08:00

by A.W. Tozer

"......He that followeth me...shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Too many people consider Jesus Christ a 'convenience.' We make Him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce Him simply to a Big Friend to help us when we are in trouble.

That is not biblical Christianity!

Jesus Christ is lord, and when a man is willing to do His will, he is repenting and the truth flashes in. For the first time in his life, he finds himself willing to say, "I will do the will of the Lord, even if I die for it!"

Illumination will begin in his heart. That is repentance - for he has been following his own will and now decides to do the will of God.

Before the Word of God can mean anything inside of me there must be obedience to the Word. Truth will not give itself to a rebel. Truth will not impart life to a man who will not obey the light. If you are disobeying Jesus Christ you cannot expect to be enlightened spiritually.

No man can know the Son except the Father tell him. No man can know the Father except the Son reveal Him. I can know about God: that is the body of truth. But I cannot know God, the soul of truth, unless I am ready to be obedient.

True discipleship is obeying Jesus Christ and learning of Him and following Him and doing what He tells you to do, keeping His commandments and carrying out His will.

That kind of a person is a Christian - and no other kind is!

WHAT IS WORSHIP

2009-10-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

by R.A. Torrey

Exodus 4:31 ".....the children of Israel .......... bowed their heads and worshipped."

Exodus 34:5-8 ".....And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped."

Joshua 5:13,14 "......And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship....."

2 Chronicles 7:3 ".....all the children of Israel .......bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever."

2 Chronicles 20:18 "And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord."

2 Chronicles 29:29 "And when they had made an end of offering, the king, and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped."

Nehemiah 8:6 "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground."

What is worship? Worship is the soul bowing itself in adoring contemplation before the object worshipped. To worship God is to bow before God in adoring contemplation of Himself.

The word worship is commonly used in a very loose and unscriptural manner - e.g, we speak of the whole service of the Lord's Day morning and evening as "public worship," but there is a great deal in it that is not worship. Reading the Bible and meditating upon it is not worship. It may lead to worship but it is not worship.

Listening to a sermon is not worship. Praying is not worship. It may be, and should be, accompanied by worship; but it is not worship. There are hymns which, if sung intelligently and in the proper spirit, would be worship, but they are comparatively few in the hymnology of the day.

Worship is a definite act of the soul bowing before god in adoring contemplation of Himself. The root of the Hebrew word translated "worship" in the Old Testament means "to bow down."

It has been well said "in prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, in worship we are occupied with Himself."

We owe worship to God. It is His due We owe love to man, (honour) to parents, worship to God. It is our first duty toward Him. He is the All holy, All wise, Almighty, The Infinite, All Perfect One, and our rightful attitude toward Him is that of bowing before Him, or prostrating ourselves before Him, in adoring contemplation of His infinite loveliness and glory, of His attributes, of Himself.

If we do not worship God we are robbing Him of what is His due. It is not enough that we obey Him, that we pray to Him, that we return thanks to Him, that we seek to serve Him and do His will. We must worship.

Have you ever worshipped God? How much time do you spend daily in worshipping him - in pure and simple worship, in bowing before Him in silent and adoring contemplation of Himself?

What The Bible Teaches, R.A. Torrey, pg. 471

Clinging To Jesus Alone

2009-10-07T00:22:00.005-08:00

by Joseph R. Chambers

The greatest trap that Satan sets for every hungry Christian is to fill them with a love for religion and religious activities instead of a love for Jesus Christ. At many intervals of my life, I have found myself literally filled with enthusiasm for the Lord’s work, His Kingdom, souls that needed mercy, and every good work; but suddenly feeling empty inside. His wonderful mercy has on each occasion gripped my heart to refocus my attention on Him, the Lover of my soul. The greatest moments of our successes while laboring for the Lord are the most perilous times. The flesh is so quick to rejoice in victories and to enjoy the process more than our relationship with the Master.

I shall never forget a story I heard many years ago. The source I do not remember. A father and his daughter were very close and each afternoon would go for a walk together. Suddenly, the daughter was preoccupied and would beg to be excused from the walks with her dad. After weeks of excuses, the father was grief-stricken. His birthday arrived and he invited the daughter for an afternoon together. She joyously accepted and met her father at the appointed place. In her hand was the most beautiful sweater, hand woven and intricately designed by her masterful patience. “Dad,” she said. “I have woven for you this special gift over many weeks because of my love for you.” He suddenly knew and wept with joy; but his response was two-fold. “My daughter, your gift overwhelms my heart but please, please never wi thdraw your presence from me again to make for me a gift. Your presence to me is far more wonderful than the greatest thing you could ever create.” What a story about our labor versus our time with Him.

Oh, the joy of just coming into the garden of love and worship to think of nothing but Him. To reach out in faith and attention to His triumph on the cross and His victory from the tomb and just to share that victory because we are redeemed is precious to Him. He is forever our Savior and Lord. To Him we owe all our praise and obedience. It is a relationship not just an experience. It is an experience, but religious people have experiences. Our experience must move into a relationship that we covet and build until we talk together one on one. If I could name one place where I have failed the most over fifty-six years as His servant, it would be this alone. All other weaknesses have resulted from this failure.

Jesus said as quoted by John the Beloved, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:4-6). This disciple is the only one to quote these words of the Master because he knew the meaning best. His leaning on Jesus’ breast opened his heart to the glory of his relationship over his experience. The greatest faith is learned not in the head but in the heart.

The perfect heart is not just a heart free from sin; it is a heart free from self and attached in unfailing love to Him. This is greatness of surrender that exalts the heart to be so overwhelmed with Him that we can worship without a song. We must all confess that worship is usually the result of great songs, powerful sermons, and wonderful fellowship with His saints. He wants us to learn to worship just because we are His and He is ours. Then, worship can move beyond a sanctuary to become a lifestyle. We will not want to miss His House of Worship once we learn the worship that consumes our greatest moments of every day.

He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:7-9). Remember, fruit is different from works. Works are our religious responsibilities, but fruit is the nature of the vine extended in the branches. Never allow the works to consume you until the vine cannot provide this nurture and nourishment of Him. Clinging to Him (abiding in Him) is the Believers’ greatest joy.

Hebrew the Original Language of Man?

2009-09-27T00:16:00.002-08:00

I read this in a bible study on Genesis Im reading by David Cloud and I thought this was very interesting...

Genesis 2:23 is evidence that Hebrew was the original language of man. “Adam’s first recorded statement has a significant element in it called the paronomasia or word pun. He punned on the name ‘man’ (ish) with the word ‘woman’ (ishshah) which means ‘from the man.’ John Gill argues that this pun is not found in other ancient versions: ‘This paronomasia does not appear in the Syriac version, nor in the Chaldee paraphrases of Onkelos and Jonathan. The Syriac uses Gabra for a man, but never Gabretha for a woman, not even in places where men and women are spoken of together….The Syriac or Chaldee language will not admit such an allusion as is in the text. Just a Gabra is used for a man, and not a Gabretha for a woman, so Itta, and Ittetha, and Intetha or Antetha, are used for woman, but never Itt for a man…. This seems to prove that the language Adam spoke to his wife must have been the Hebrew language, and consequently is the primitive one.’ Hebrew students recognize that there are numerous other puns in the Hebrew language, many of which are not translatable in any language, even the English of the KJV, in Gen. 1:11” (Thomas Strouse, “Scholarly Myths Perpetuated on Rejecting the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament,” 2004, Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary, Newington, CT).

The Person of Jesus Christ

2009-09-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

by Henry M. Morris from the book "Many Infallible Proofs".

Biblical Christianity is also absolutely unique in the nature of its central personage and founder, Jesus Christ. There is none other like Him in all of history or even in all of literature.
Some writers, of course, presume to place Christ as merely one in a list of great religious leaders, but this is grotesque and absurd. He stands in contrast to all others, not in line with them, not even at the head of the line. His uniqueness is illustrated in the following partial list of attributes.

Anticipation of His coming. His coming was prophesied in fine detail, as to lineage, birthplace, time, career purpose, nature of death, resurrection, and many other things, hundreds of years prior to His actual appearance. Of no other religious leader – indeed, of no other man – in all history was such a thing true.

The Virgin Birth. Although tales of demi-gods, the progeny of unions between men and the gods (actually demons) are common in the ancient mythology, the narrative of Christ’s virgin birth stands entirely alone; nothing like it was ever imagined elsewhere. God Himself took up residence in embryonic human form in a virgin’s womb, thence to be born in a fully natural human birth, with no actual genetic connection to human parents, even though legally the natural heir of a human father and embryologically the seed and fruit of a human mother. No other human birth was ever like this, in fact or fiction, yet it was uniquely and ideally appropriate and natural when God became man.

The Divine-Human Nature. Though men have often thought of themselves as children of God, Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. Although there have been power-crazed dictators and fanatics who have claimed to be God, even these individuals recognized and acknowledged that their assumption of divinity was only relative –they hardly imagined that they had created the stars or even their own mothers! But Jesus Christ was God in the highest sense, the creator of all things (Col. 1:16), and he claimed to be God on many occasions and in many ways. He was also man in the fullest sense, except that he had no sin. He was not half-man and half-God, but rather all man and all God, in a perfect and indissoluble union. No other man was ever thus – indeed, no other man ever claimed to be thus.

Sinless Life. Of no one else in history could the claim ever be made in seriousness that he lived a whole lifetime without sin, in thought or word or deed. But this very thing was claimed by Jesus’ closest friends, by His worst enemies, by the greatest of the apostles, and by Jesus himself. Peter said, “[He] did no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22), and John said, “In him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). Judas said, “ I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4), and Pilate said, “I find in him no fault at all” (John 18:38). Paul said, “[He] knew no sin” (Cor.5:21), and Jesus said concerning himself, “The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). Jesus Christ was the only man who never sinned; he was the unique, representative Son of Man, man as God intend man to be.

Unique Teachings. Many non-Christians have acknowledged Christ to be the greatest teacher of all time. The Sermon on the Mount is without parallel, and the beauty and the power of the Upper Room discourse, the compelling majesty of the sermon on the Mount of Olives, the Power of His parables, and all His other teachings are separated by a great gulf from even the finest teaching of other men. And yet His teachings continually include both the claim and internal awareness that he was uniquely God’s Son, and that His teachings were absolutely true because of this. In no other religious writings does anyone find such a phenomenon as this.

His Unique Death. After a cruel mockery of a trial and a period of incomprehensible suffering in prison and on the cross, “ He said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). Literally, He “dismissed His spirit.” No one else can die like this. It is evidently quite a difficult task even to commit suicide, but certainly no one can simply decide to die and then, by his mere volition, proceed to die. But Jesus did! He said, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18).

The Resurrection of Christ
Not only did Christ die by his own power, but he rose again on the third day by His own power. “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”(John 10:18). The overwhelming proof of the bodily resurrection of Christ will be discussed later, but here it is merely noted that this constitutes the final and greatest proof of His absolute uniqueness. All other religious founders and leaders are dead. In most cases, their tombs are known and venerated. But the tomb of Christ was occupied only three days and there after became empty forever. Other men have been temporarily restored to life after dying, but only Christ is “alive forevermore” (Rev. 1:18). Death is man’s last and greatest enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), which conquers all alike, no matter how brilliant or powerful. Christ alone “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

Pg 24
Salvation by Grace
The final proof of uniqueness to be offered in this section is that of the all important teaching concerning salvation. The Bible uniquely teaches salvation through faith alone. All other religions teach salvation through faith plus works.
Of course, the specific objects of faith and the specific list of works required for salvation vary widely from one religion to another. But the basic principal is universal.
Biblical Christianity alone, among all the religions of mankind, teaches that eternal salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, to be received by faith alone, apart from works of any kind. The watchword of other religions is “Believe and do”; of Christianity, the word is “Believe and live.”
This does not by any means imply that Christianity has a lower or easier standard than other religions. To the contrary, the standard of works in Christianity is so high as to be unattainable by the natural man, so that no man could ever earn salvation by his own good works. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). “For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ez. 18:4).
Nor does it imply that Christian salvation by grace goes against the grain of human nature, since man’s pride is at stake here, it clearly must be of divine origin. Man would never invent a standard of righteousness which he could never hope to attain. It is s significant that every one of the standard of works required in the many religions of men is quite capable of accomplishment by human effort. This fact clearly indicates they were originated by human ingenuity. Only God would ever prescribe a standard which could be attained by God himself. The uniqueness of salvation by grace through faith alone clearly stamps the Christian gospel as divine in origin.

The Song of the Vineyard

2009-09-18T01:50:00.000-08:00

1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

B. Fox
I posted these verses from Isaiah chapter five because I believe they show the heart of God, His loving heart. And I also posted them to show Calvinism doesn't make any sense. Think about it – God inspired Isaiah to write this poetic (and prophetic) song/parable (finalized in Mark 12; Luke 20), going into great detail in describing His care in cultivating Israel, pleading with her and then in verse four asks the question “what more could I have done!?”

Well, according to Calvinism NOTHING because they were not His elect. He already predetermined this from before the foundation of the world? So these beautiful scriptures that portray a loving God trying to reason with His people don't mean what they say. I agree with Joseph Chambers when he stated...
"Calvinism is adrift upon the Sea of Intellectualism and Emptiness. It has no sure footing in the Word of God. Almost everything they believe is paradox between conflicting doctrines. God's Sovereignty decides, yet man is accountable. God is love, yet a multitude is unconditionally rejected. God ordained irresistible grace, but yet inspired His prophets to proclaim "Repent or Perish". God ordained the devil and every deed of evil, every abortion, etc. and yet Calvinists are marching against abortion clinics and trying to reclaim the culture of America. Their theology is a stew of confusion."

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8

God is Faithful

2009-09-04T02:01:00.000-08:00

I'm will try to put in words what a blessing it was for me that I was asked to go to Fort Yukon a few weeks back! One of the biggest reasons for the blessing is that I met Ron & Rebecca Starr. My pastor another family and I went to help finish work on their home. The house was a cabin built over thirty years ago and later the Starr’s built a house on top of that cabin and the cabin started to sink. The house needed to be jacked up, the old cabin removed and the downstairs area needed to be framed, floored, dry-walled, wired, etc., etc. We were the last crew in so we dry-walled, wired and basically tied up any loose ends.

I was so blessed to be given an opportunity to witness first hand the gospel truths being lived out due to the Starr's faithfulness to God. The Starr’s told us how the villagers weren’t very receptive to the Gospel and how God opened another door. They opened a Christian school and the locals started sending their children to it! God works in ways we don't always see, the adults were rejecting the gopel however their kids were going to hear it and Gods ways daily! God is Good (Mat. 5:15)! Anyway we came thirty years later and had the privilage of seeing a wonderful Church made up mostly of those kids and their children and their children’s children and like the song says…

“Boundless as the universe around me

Reaching to the farthest soul away…

Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,

O, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful! Wonderful it is to me.”

A blessing on a more personal level was that God used this occasion to teach me to trust in Him for every detail because He is near and He is Faithful (Mat. 6:27-34)! My children asked me very specifically to bring them home a “surprise” and they were all looking me dead in the eye telling me “don’t forget daddy” and I promised them “I won’t forget, I’ll bring you a surprise back from Fort Yukon” as I was walking out the door.

We arrived Monday evening and started work Tuesday morning we worked until Friday afternoon and after that we had to get on a small plane and head back to Fairbanks. Thursday night it occurred to me that I hadn’t gotten the “surprise” and there really wasn't any stores in this village that you could get something like that. I prayed about it and I asked God to provide me with something for the kids, it didn’t matter what, it could be whatever, but I couldn’t come back empty handed! I also knew in the back of my mind that God was going to have to do it rather fast because I was leaving the next day. I also want to make it clear I wasn’t doing this to test God because that is foolish. Friday morning came and went and I had forgoten about the surprises for the kids but as I was literally getting ready to walk out of the Starr’s home, Mrs. Starr asked me and my pastor (Wes) to hold on. Mrs. Starr came into the kitchen and placed this box on the table and it is full of children’s toys! Then she tells us pick out whatever you think you kids will like and that she had them around for kids to give to children an ice breaker so to speak. I explained to Mrs. Starr and my pastor how God had just answered my prayer the night before and we were just thankful to God that we can go to Him but we can through Jesus Christ (John 3:16)!

And more thing: I lost my phone card while I was there. My wife and I have had this card for four or five years, and no, it has no sentimental value it’s just a stupid phone card but she keeps it in her purse for whatever reason and I asked her for it because I didn’t know the phone number on it. I do remember the code number, but not the 1-800. My wife assured me that I would lose the card, and yep, she was right. Hate it when that happens! So I lost the card almost as soon as I got there! I asked God to help me find it because I needed it (and I didn’t want to hear my wife tell me “I told you so”) but I never did find that card. I was back a little over a week and I get this card in the mail from the Starr’s, a wonderful card that she had made with our pictures on it telling us thank you for coming there and helping out. But there was something else in the envelope so I turned it over and out pops my phone card and another note telling me she found it under my bed.

That might seem small time but while I was there I listened to so many amazing stories of how God had supernaturally provided for the Starr’s through out there life, every night I went to bed thinking about how my faith was so weak and how much I wanted to trust God and rely on Him like they did. God cares enough about us to show His children that He is here and He is personal and we can ask Him anything according to His will because He cares about us and He want's us to trust Him - Amen!
B. Fox

Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.(1 Cor. 1:8-9)

True Worship

2009-09-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

I read this from one of Harry Ironside’s commentaries and I typed it up because it really blessed me and I hope it will others as well. (Excerpts from Daniel pg 30-31)

“The special place given to the great orchestra is very noticeable, as much so as in large worldly religious gatherings at the present time. It excites the emotions and, thus working upon the feelings, gives people a sense of devotion and religiousness, which after all may be very unreal. In the Old Testament dispensation, musical instruments were used in the ornate temple services, but there is certainly no warrant for it in the New Testament. People may call it worship to sit and listen to a trained, and possibly unconverted, choir and orchestra rendering sweet and touching strains. But the music simply acts upon the sensuous part of out nature and has nothing to do with true adoration of the Father and the Son, which must be in spirit and in truth to be acceptable to God. Those who plead for its use, because of the place it had in Old Testament times, should remember that that was a typical dispensation. The instruments then used typified the melody now made in the hearts of God’s redeemed ones. We sometimes sing, and very truly –

O Lord, we know it matters not
How sweet the song may be
No heart but of the Spirit taught
Makes melody to Thee.

A minster once remarked to me that many esthetic persons attended his church to worship God in music, so he sought to have the best performers and the finest music it was possible to obtain, as otherwise the people would not attend. What a delusion it all is! And yet people actually look upon that as really worshiping God, whether they have ever been converted or not! In reality they are only gratifying there own taste for melody and harmony – a taste God given, I grant you, and proper enough in its place, but not to be confounded with true worship. A heart filled with Christ gives forth the sweetest music that ever reaches the ear of God the Father. He says, “Whoso offerth praise glorifieth me” (Ps. 50:23) Let us remember, then, that in the New Testament dispensation it is “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19) to which the Christian is exhorted. That is where the music is to be – a heart full of praises to the God of all grace. May we know more of it.
I remember on one occasion taking a friend of mine – unquestionably an earnest Christian – into a little hall where perhaps a half a hundred believers were gathered together one Lord’s Day morning for worship. He had been accustomed to a service very much like that which I have referred to above. On that particular morning it seemed to me the Lord’s presence in our midst was especially manifest. One after another took part in praise and thanksgiving as the Holy Spirit seemed to lead. Together we broke the bread and partook of the cup that speaks so loudly to the Christian heart of Him who gave Himself for us. At times there was hardly a dry eye in the room as we remembered Him who in infinite grace had redeemed us to God. Returning home, I inquired of my friend if he had enjoyed the meeting. He replied, “Oh, very well. There were many things about it that appealed to me very much. But I did miss the music. “ “Why” I replied, “did you not hear the music?” I answered. “Each heart that was occupied with Christ was like a stringed instrument touched by His own blessed hand, and He, the chief singer on the stringed instruments, was there in our midst, leading out our hearts in worship and praise to the Father.” But, alas, my friend did not seem to be able to enter into this! How is it with you, my hearer? Have you yet learned what it is to “worship…in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)

Islamic Radicals & God's Solution

2009-08-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

The world is rightly alarmed at the threat of the Islamic radicals. The fundamentalist elements of this false religion may not be the majority, but they control a scary multitude. According to recent polls conducted by a reputable organization, approximately seven percent (7%) of Muslims worldwide are radical, support suicide bombers and are committed to an Islamic domination of the world. With 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide that 7% represents 91 million, and at least 117,500 of these radicals live in America. Every one of the 91 million Muslims are potential candidates to be used to attack, kill, and eliminate humans that stand in their way. What an awesome fact to go to bed with every night!

A massive effort is underway by leading radical Muslims to guarantee that their Islamic forces possess a nuclear arsenal. We must understand that the only thing protecting Israel and America at this very moment is our massive military power. Within our military circles there also exists a powerful and capable intelligence network. It’s important for the intelligent organization to tap telephones and gather information from every available source. You should be thankful for their ability to disrupt planned attacks.

If there was not – above all of the military and intelligent abilities — a Sovereign God that controls every final act of mankind, we would still be hopeless. This earth is the Lord’s and He will have the final word on how this scary world ends the present age. That does not mean that suffering and sorrows will all be eliminated. Every aborted baby, every act of adultery or fornication, and every same-sex act or marriage will be adjudicated in judgment. Sin -- unconfessed and unforsaken sins -- must be judged. Every single act of sin that is not purified and cleansed by the Blood of Christ will be purified by judgment. Great sorrows are clearly on the horizons.

But Our Heavenly Father will have the last word. I believe the War of Gog and Magog will occur right before the Rapture or immediately after the Rapture. This war will affect the Islamic world and every individual that believes in this religion. They have been promised that the twelfth Imam is soon to appear. He is their messiah and promises to establish a One World Kingdom ruled by the laws of the Koran. This teaching is supposedly believed by all 1.3 billion Muslims, not just the radical elements. The clash between this Islamic One World Order and the Western version of a One World Order must occur at some moment.

When you understand these two world views that basically dominate the present earth, you can understand why “One Worlders” in the West are determined to succeed ahead of Islam’s mad plan. Thank God that the prophecies of the Bible have promised a third alternative to the first two plans. There will be a One World Order and it will be worldwide and breathtaking. Jesus Christ will lead His army of glorified saints and we will establish a peaceful world of righteousness and prosperity. I am grateful that the Bible does not leave us in a fog. We have hope that is sure and unfailing.

God’s perfect revelation has left us a prophetic picture of the coming end to both the Islamic and Western plan. First, our Eternal God will deal with the Islamic plan for an “Islamic One World Order” and then He will deal with the Western plan for a “One World Order.” Both of these massive efforts to control the world and rule it for their god will end in Northern Israel. Also, the coming spiritual kingdom will be centered in the Land of Promise, Israel and Jerusalem. No wonder Christians are commanded to pray for the “Peace of Jerusalem.”

Ezekiel prophesied on the bank of the river in Babylon as his heart panted for the rolling hills of Judea. By the powers of God’s Holy Spirit, he saw the future clash in his homeland of a massive army to be destroyed by Divine intervention. His words are most revealing, “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee” (Ezekiel 38:8-9). This prophet of God gave the exact details of this great army m arching on Israel.

This revelation names the geographical area and the nations that will be a part of this attack. Every description is clear to show that this is an attack by the Islamic world. It is led by Iran, which was the first country named. The Spirit said, “Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee” (Ezekiel 38:5-6). The Spirit named a geographical area that fits perfectly with Russia and other Northern powers. “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am a gainst thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2-3).

This army could act with only the need of a few weeks to mobilize. They are probably talking in secret even as I write. When this Islamic Army marches, it will be awesome. As these nations gather somewhere north of Israel, probably in the southern tier of the former USSR territories, the world will think that we are on the verge of annihilation. The media will go ballistic. Politicians will gather at strategic locations amid a mad rush to defuse the coming storm. Bomb shelters will be prepared over much of the world.

Israel will prepare for the ultimate moment to fight to the death or simply be buried. They will be given little possibility of escape. At one time, America would have marshaled her total military might in Israel’s defense; but at the present time, would cower and make excuses. Israel’s entire nuclear ability, which is great, will be prepared for a full response. The small nations north of Israel will be quickly turned into an armed encampment. Literally, this army will be so massive that these nations will be rendered helpless and expect that nothing can be left but battlefields. There will be a great effort made to persuade Israel to surrender, dissolve their nation, and leave their Promise Land. Governments will offer refuge to those willing to give up and flee. While some Jews will submit and board planes and ships, the majority will prepare to fight.

As this Army marches south and reaches the border of Israel, the God of Heaven will call all the angels, cherubim, and seraphim to an emergency summit. Sometimes, I think I would like for this to happen after the Rapture so we could be up there to join this momentous moment. My personal opinion is that it will probably happen before the Rapture. In that case our duty will be to call prayer meetings all over the Bible-believing church world. Believe me when I say, this war will not last long and will leave the greatest devastation since the great Noahic Flood.

Will be continued next week . . .

Joseph Chambers

To Be Or Not To Be (a Faithful Pastor) That Is The Question?

2009-08-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my Pastor yesterday and he mentioned to me and someone else that he is pressured from time to time by local pastors to bring our Church together with them to fellowship in the spirit of "unity" at one of their ecuminical functions, concerts or whatever.

Thankfully our pastor does not compromise regardless of the labels such as Pharisee, legalistic, mean, or the looks of disgust and disapproval. He mentioned that one of the local pastors really “lit into him” the first time they met. That pastor was waiting at the end of the stairs outside our Church and asked my pastor if he “was one of those mean Baptist preachers”. I assume “mean” because my pastor wouldn’t disobey the scriptures like himself and a few others. That and if he had any issues pertaining to the Word of God, it was never brought to my pastor’s attention. This really burned me up because the man that “lit into” my pastor is my former pastor and it looked as though he wasn’t going to tolerate my pastors intolerance!

Sadly, my former pastor wasn’t content in his own deception so now he was going to come on over and rebuke a faithful pastor he had never even met. And, should his rebuke succeed, then my former pastor would be an ungodly influence on my current pastor and have him disobey Paul's instruction to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them". (Eph. 5:11)

I was reminded of my former pastor's apathy towards false teaching & teachers; I once suggested he reconsider allowing an evangelist from coming to my former Church a second time because the "evangelist" had quoted heretics and false prophets like Bill Hybels and Rick Joyner the first time he was there. Not to meantion the evangelist had very strong ties to the “Brownville Revival” (Tit 3:10). Unfortunatly the evangelist came with my former pastors blessing. Yep, no rebuke waiting at the end of any stairs for this fellow.

I also recall my wife commenting to him & his wife on how she thought it was a bad idea, but more importantly it was disobeying God to fellowship with the local Roman Catholic Church (Romans 16:17; 2 John 1:9-11). The pastoral response was a sharp rebuke and told “they still believe in Jesus” though Paul warned of “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4) and “another gospel” just like the one Rome teaches (Gal 1:8-9). But that didn't seem too important. And don't misunderstand me, I understand we are called to be salt and light and that is not possible unless we interact with people (1 Cor. 5:10). However, we cannot worship God in Spirit and Truth beside false religions such as Roman Catholicism or those that do not uphold sound doctrine and are in blatant error -- that is either true or the Bible is a lie (John 4:23-24; Romans 16:17; Tit. 1:9; 2 John 1:8-11; Jude 1:3).

I thank God our Father He still has obedient men and I pray they continue to resist the pressures and ungodly influences from unfaithful ones because the obedient pastors, unlike the unfaithful, understand that wolves need to be kept away from the sheep according to Jesus Christ our Lord!
B. Fox

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29-31)

The Father Loves His Son

2009-08-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

by Joseph R. Chambers

Nothing makes our Heavenly Father more real to us than His love for His Son. It is a Divine love; but, it makes our Father seem almost human. The Son of God’s love for His Father is just as wonderful. The entire Redemption story in the Bible was played out like a Father and His Son on a love journey to bring the prodigal family home to the Father’s house!

The love of God the Father for His Only Begotten Son makes Christianity the only religion conceived by love. Apostle Paul describes this love relationship with words of eloquent splendor, “Who being the brightness of His (the Father’s) glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He (the Only Begotten) had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). The Father and His Son are so perfectly blended in likeness that unwise souls have tried to destroy their distinct difference. Their love for each other would be deception if they were not two in revelation.

The Book of John is the unique Gospel of the Father and the Son. To read it just for the purpose of studying the “Father-Son” relationship is an experience of indescribable glory. Over and over you see them blending as one in action while still manifest in their individual persons. It’s the mystery that leaves the devil in tatters.

Look at the opening scene of this Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-5, 14).

A Biblical “Golden Text” is found in chapter three. Often this passage becomes so familiar that we fail to see its beauty. “For God (The Heavenly Father) so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). To deny the unique differences in the Father and His Son is insane; but, to separate their perfection of revelation is heathenistic. Our God is both perfectly one and perfect individuals. It will be grand when we can truly understand this mystery. In the meantime I am perfectly willing to bask in its majesty.

The Son of God encountered great criticism for speaking of His oneness with His Father. The religious crowd of His own people had no spiritual discernment to grasp His and His Father’s perfection in revelation. They were not willing to accept but one person in this concept of the one God. Listen to Christ Himself settle this question, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me” (John 8:15-18). “The testimony of two” spoken by Christ Himself certainly ends the debate.

Listen to the eloquent words of the Son of God, “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:15).“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18).

His pastoral prayer in John chapter seventeen is one of the most breathtaking moments in His ministry on earth. Every word of that prayer was Heavenly; but, the cry in His heart for His return to the Father’s presence is Divine. “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:4-5). To speak of His prior glory with the Father “before the world was” certainly settles His eternal Divinity.

In the great Epistle of Hebrews we see the Apostle Paul’s version of the “Father-Son” relationship. Listen in on these Divine words of God talk, “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands” (Hebrews 1:5-6, 8-10).

The saints of God are a blessed people. Our redemption is undeniable and unchanging. We have been brought out of darkness and into the marvelous light. To be “Born Again” is not to become religious, it is to be transformed. We do not just know about God and our Savior Jesus Christ; we know them in a relationship that is both peaceable and holy. The world -- even at its very best -- immediately becomes a trash pile to us. Born Again Christians live for the future Kingdom. We must use the world; but, we do not abuse it. Our citizenship is in Heaven. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

The character of a saint of God is no longer determined by the world’s standard but by Heaven’s citizenship. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:1-16). Living for the Father and His Son is the grandest life and the future is star-studded.

http://pawcreek.org/

Man’s Spiritual Responsibility Towards our Children

2009-08-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we had what the men of old refer to as “meetings” at my Church. We’ve been very blessed to have Dr. Clayton Shumpert, he told a story that really cut me to the bone in regards to a mans responsibility to be the spiritual leader in his home, and I understood this after being born again, but it took on a whole new meaning after listening to him illustrate one example of what happens when man disregards this God given responsibility. There is no hope for mankind at all with out the regenerating power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Shumpert told us the story of a young man that contracted a venereal disease. The young man asked his father to send him away. The father was a man of some influence and arranged for his son to be sent away to a good hospital and after treatment and observation he received a clean bill of health and came home again.

After a while the young man met a young lady, they fell in love and were married. And not long after they found out they were going to have a baby. When the time came for the newly-weds to have their baby she died due to complications associated with the disease and to make matters worse, their new son was born half blind and mentally challenged, again, as a direct result from the man’s ungodly choices he made earlier in life.

Grief stricken and overcome with guilt the young man took his own life leaving the child an orphan. And That’s not the end of the story. The consequences of being raised without God were still going take a toll on many other lives as well. That young man, Leon Czolgosz, grew up and one day decided that one man shouldn’t have all the power so he took it upon himself to shoot the President of the United States of America - President McKinley.

I mulled over that story for a week or so I thought that was an extreme example of sin coming around full circle, but I realized that was only a physical manifestation of a much bigger spiritual reality. Mankind, since the the fall continues to put God out sight and out of mind (Gen 3:8) or we redefine Him so that He doesn’t mess with our own programs (Gen 4:3) and we are in such a fallen state that we contribute, by sending own children to hell because we won’t obey the Gospel. We don’t have the time to study our Creators own words that tell us all we need to know about who He is and what He expects. What is even more tragic is that we won't pass it on to our own children and give them a chance to choose! I pray my children will not only choose be saved by the gospel, but they will be equipped to serve God if and when their time comes - and that is my prayer for everyone else as well.

Sowing the Seed--Doubting the Truth

2009-07-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

by John Newton
April 17, 1776

Dear Sir,

by this time I hope you are both returned in peace and happy together in your stated, favoured tract: rejoicing in the name of Jesus yourselves, and rejoicing to see the savour of it spreading like a precious perfume among the people. Every day I hope you find prejudices wearing off, and more disposed to hear the words of Life. The Lord has given you a fine first fruits, which I trust will prove the earnest of a plentiful harvest. In the meantime He will enable you to sow the seed in patience, leaving the event in His hands. Though it does not spring up visibly at once, it will not be lost. I think He would not have sent you, if He had not a people there to call; but they can only come forth to view as He is pleased to bring them. Satan wild try to hinder and disturb you, but he is in a chain which he cannot break, nor go a step further than he is permitted. And, if you have been instrumental to the conversion of but a few, in those few you have an ample reward already for all the difficulties you have or can meet with. It is more honourable and important to be an instrument of saving one soul, than to rescue a whole kingdom from temporal ruin. Let us, therefore, while we earnestly desire to be more useful, not forget to be thankful for what the Lord has been pleased already to do for us; and let us expect, knowing whose servants we are, and what a Gospel we preach, to see some new miracles wrought from day to day; for, indeed, every real conversion may be accounted miraculous, being no less than an immediate exertion of that power which made the heavens, and commanded the light to shine out of darkness.

Your little telescope is safe. I wish I had more of that clear air and sunshine you speak of, that with you I might have more distinct views of the land of promise. I cannot say my prospect is greatly clouded by doubts of my reaching it at last; but then there is such a languor and deadness hangs upon my mind, that it is almost amazing to me how I can entertain any hopes at all. It seems, if doubting could ever be reasonable, there is no one who has greater reason for doubting than myself. But I know not how to doubt, when I consider the faithfulness, grace, and compassion of Him who has promised. If it could be proved that Christ had not died, or that He did not speak the words which are ascribed to Him in the Gospel, or that He is not able to make them good, or that His word cannot safely be taken; in any of these cases I should not doubt to purpose, and lie down in despair.

http://www.puritansermons.com/newton/newt_c1.htm

America Is Not Babylon

2009-07-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

by Joseph Chambers

The purity of Holy Scripture is a miracle of miracles. Read any passage in the Bible and then do a little research. You will find clear interpretation for that Scripture. Words that the Spirit used can never be understood properly by pulling a meaning out of the air. The word “water” when used as a type is always the Word of God. When God says “Jerusalem,” He means the chosen of God. It is either His chosen city or His chosen people.

Babylon is used in the Bible over 295 times. When the Bible says “Mystery Babylon,” He speaks of a religion that has become evil and corrupt because “Babylon” is the seat of Satan. When He says “Babylon” without a modifying adjective, He means Babylon the city, which was founded by Nimrod. To try to identify America as Babylon is utterly contrary to Biblical interpretation. Using that kind of method to study the Bible leads to all kinds of misunderstandings. Always let the Bible interpret itself.

Mystery Babylon is clearly the End Time apostasy of false Christianity. The seventeenth chapter of Revelation is the most noted example. A harlot woman is another Biblical type of corrupt Christianity. A pure woman represents the pure faith of our Lord. The harlot woman is the opposite. When you put “Mystery Babylon” with the “harlot woman,” you have a double picture of the utter false religion of the Seven Years of Tribulation. It is religion at its lowest manifestation in human history. This is the church of the Antichrist.

Revelation chapter eighteen is the city of Babylon rebuilt in the Southern part of Iraq. To try to superimpose this chapter into America is contrary to every Biblical principle. There is not one basis for such transliterating of the Holy Bible. The main reason this is often tried is because our nation has a preponderance of sins. I certainly admit that, but it is not God’s method of understanding the Word of God. What if we did that kind of twisting of all Scripture? Think of the mess it would create with our Bible.

America has got a lot of sins for which we are going to pay. This nation will be subject to all the horrid calamities of the Seven Years of Tribulation. These calamities are God’s instruments for cleansing the world of abortions, fornications, sodomy, and every unclean lifestyle. Millions will die and the wicked will learn that sin is always accountable to the Heavenly Father. Before the worst comes, the Saints will be raptured. But, if the Lord tarries, you may think that the worst has already come even before the Rapture occurs.

Babylon is the city of Babylon and it must be rebuilt to be the capital of the Antichrist Kingdom. It is fitting that His One World Religion that gives him their total worship is called Mystery Babylon. The unity of the two entities is part of the mystery of wickedness. For the early years of the Seven Years, the Antichrist and His false church will be bosom partners. They will use each other. So, calling one “Babylon” and the other one “Mystery Babylon” is perfect prophecy.

By the end of the Seven Years, the two Babylons will clash and the Antichrist will pour his fury upon Mystery Babylon and burn her with fire. “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (Revelation 17:16). This truth also destroys the idea that both chapters are talking about Rome as Mystery Babylon. How could the Antichrist from literal Babylon burn Mystery Babylon if both are the same Babylon? Again, the Bible leaves little room for misunderstanding if you let Scripture interpret Scripture.

This totally destroys the thought that America is Babylon. The question is an unanswerable one when we try to put America in some cubbyhole of prophecy. Much of the world is unnamed as you study the Bible. Basically, the Bible’s prophecy picture is a Middle Eastern setting. You may call us an “Isle of the Sea” and that would put us in the Gog and Magog event. I personally believe that when the army of Russians and Islamic countries march towards Israel, we will either come to Israel’s defense or suffer great destruction in cities like New York and Washington, DC. That is still uncertain and our defense of Israel should not be done just to save our own necks.

History, not the Bible, proves that the Great Creator puts America in her wealthy position to spread the Gospel to the four corners of the world. He also ordained us to win the Second World War and be a partner in the development of the Nation of Israel. Defending Israel since 1948, providing Israel with a faithful partnership, and being her ally right down to the end is absolutely God’s will for our great nation. Anyone that would undercut that purpose needs to remember that God is still the sole owner and keeper of this Universe. He can pull down an arrogant president just like He allowed Him to be elected. I would suggest that any president or politician should watch his words and actions because God knows all things and Israel is His heartthrob.

America is not Babylon, but America is answerable to God for our grievous sins and for our responsibility to Israel.

The Antichrist will be an Assyrian

2009-07-17T00:30:00.001-08:00

I read a book last month by Joseph Chambers and in it he stated that Babylon will be rebuilt and the Antichrist will be an Assyrian. I’ve read that before. I read a very good study by Prof. Johan S. Malan and Professor Malan, like Pastor Chambers do an excellent through scripture pointing out that not is this only true, but things happening in Iraq only further substantiate these claims. Anyhow I would like to post a few excerpts from Pastor Chambers book…

The prophets have made it clear that the Antichrist will be an Assyrian. A prophet named Isaiah spoke of this future beast that attacked and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Is. 10:5-6). Then, Isaiah gave another part of the Prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. “That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders (Is. 14:25). This has never been fulfilled so we know that it is about the future Antichrist. He spoke of this Assyrian in clear end-time chronology to leave no doubt as to His meaning. “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod (Is. 30:30-31). The final Antichrist of this thirteenth chapter of Revelation must be that Assyrian. Even Micah spoke of his death in the gate of Nimrod, which is none other than the Ancient Babylon being revisited at this very hour.
To add to the prophetic miracles that are occurring all over the world, this Assyrian beast represents an unspeakable mystery that can finally be understood. Except for a few historians and the people of Assyrian lineage, nobody in prophetic literature even considered that there were Assyrian people alive right up to this very point in history. Almost as mysterious as the Jews but completely off the radar, the Assyrians—as a distinct people—have survived the centuries with clear unmistakable identity. Living mostly in their own conclaves, they have survived great odds to now surface in northern Iraq and other nations they have fled. For them to presently be involved in uniting their own culture and to be a voice in the new Iraq government cannot be less than perfect planning on the part of out Creator.
[Excerpts from pages 181, 182 of “The Masterpiece: God’s Unfolding Revelation” written by Joseph Chambers]

In light of a few articles I've read across lately by “Assyrian International News Agency”. This seemed relevant to the times we live in and the dark days ahead for those that haven't repented and obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever (Ps. 119:160)

THE DEATH OF THE SIMPLE

2009-07-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Part 2

An Eschatological Warning

By: Pastor Bill Randles

“For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice. And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man void of understanding. Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.” (Proverbs 7:6-9)

The book of Proverbs like all scripture, is multifaceted, it goes beyond being God’s psychology, as I noted in the previous post, although it is indeed that. It is also more than a collection of divine maxims, the teaching of morality, people skills, and practical insights for daily life. It is all that and more, it is in fact prophetic, it is an eschatological revelation.Consider the similarity in the structure of Proverbs and the book of Revelation.

Both of them have the theme of choosing between two rival women. The book of Revelation features the vision of the woman in labor, beset by the beast, sheltered by the Lord, carried away to safety on eagle’s wings. It culminates in the vision of the Bride, pure and holy, made ready for her heavenly husband, the Lamb.

She has a counterpart in Proverbs, the virtuous woman who fears the Lord. She cries out in the streets to admonish the simple, she prepares a feast of bread and wine to those who heed her call, and the Proverbs ends with a celebration of her virtues - gladness that it was she who was chosen and not the other.

But the theme of Revelation features a second woman from beginning to end, the Harlot. She is called “That woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and teaches my servants to commit fornication…”(Rev 2:20). She is also seen sitting upon a beast, drunk on the blood of saints and having a brazen headpiece with blasphemous names written on it. For a little time she is given great power and influence, but ultimately judgment comes upon her at the end.

She has a counterpart in the book of Proverbs as well, the strange woman. We are told that the words of Proverbs are given:
“To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth to death and her paths unto the dead. None that goeth unto her return again, neither take they hold of the path of life.” (Proverbs 2:16-19)

The virtuous woman has a teaching for the simple, but the ‘strange’ woman has an alternative teaching, each offer the key to understanding. In chapter nine of Proverbs, lady Wisdom teaches us that to “fear the Lord is wisdom, and by the knowledge of the Holy comes understanding”.

The strange woman counters with a teaching that the enjoyment of sin is satisfying, and that illicit experience is the key to understanding.
“Whoso is simple, let him turn in here, and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” (Proverbs 9:16-17)

It should be obvious by now what these two women represent. They are the Biblical way of describing the true and the false church, the Bride and the Harlot! They either propagate the wisdom of this fallen age, or the wisdom of God. Human history culminates in both the “Wedding Supper of the Lamb”, or the “Judgment of the Great Whore”. There is a direct spiritual parallel between idolatry and adultery. Salvation is a marriage, the church is a Bride, Israel is God’s wife. There is a true Bride of Christ and there is a parody, a harlot church.

With that backdrop in mind, look with me at the eschatological understanding of Proverbs one. The naive young man wandering, “void of understanding”- as explained in the previous post, this means he has no sense of the Holy (Proverbs 9:9), no concept of the awful, transcendent majesty of God. He is drawn in his boredom and emptiness to the harlot church.

It is at first “twilight”, but darkness comes fast, soon it is evening, ere long it is “the black and dark night”. The night is a metaphor for the Tribulation. Before the dawning of the long awaited millennial Sabbath Day, the night grows black and dark, Evil is allowed to reach its zenith, the rebellion against the Holy God comes to a head. (I believe we are well into the “twilight”).

“There met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart.” (Proverbs 7:10)

She looks like a harlot, she is gaudy and overdone. She has subtlety in her heart - concealed motives. Look at TBN, or the tattoo covered and pierced Todd Bentley that thousands around the world considered to be a prophet of God. I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, and that only God knows the heart, but appearances do account for something. What does she want?

“She caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me, this day have I payed my vows. Therefore have I come forth to thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.’’ (Proverbs 7:13-15)

Hers is a mixture of flattery and antinomian salvation. “I have come to seek you”. It’s all about Y-O-U! (seeker sensitive church?) – But she professes a salvation that makes no moral demands, “ I have peace offerings” - (I have been saved by sacrifice, I am at peace with God!), but she then proceeds to describe the bed of her adulteries in sensual terms! What kind of salvation is that? It is the new all grace and no law salvation of the harlot church!

“Come let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves .For the Goodman is not at home, he is gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.” (Proverbs 7:18-20)

Her message is all love - there are no calls to repentance or obedience to the Lord. There are no moral demands made in the name of the holy God. It is an experienced based religion, light on doctrine, “dogma”, but heavy on sensual experience.

The only other theme is the denial of the immanent return of Jesus, “the Goodman”. Of course there is the obligatory acknowledgment that He “will come home at the day appointed”, but the harlot church doesn’t regard the coming of Jesus as an immanent, urgent, practical reality.

“With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straitly, as an ox goeth to slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks." (Proverbs 7:21-22)

So many pastors I know have been flattered, seduced, caused to yield to unbiblical deceptions such as Toronto Blessing, Purpose Driven Life, the Pensacola delusion. What is it that they have been “caused to yield”? They have given up their critical faculties, the ability to discern. They have in the name of church growth yielded up their calling to protect God’s flock from the wolves who ravage them. They have yielded to the unbiblical fads, and even to destructive heresies so that they would not appear to be ‘Pharisees’, faultfinders and heresy hunters. Therefore they have yielded to the seduction time and again, and their flocks have been utterly ravaged.

These apostate pastors “go after her straitly” every time. No matter how wrong these false prophets prove to be, or how utterly undiscerning these ‘apostles’ constantly are, they will follow them. How does it feel to be one of those ‘leaders’ who publically endorsed Bentley, in many cases knowing his marriage was a disaster. False prophets Paul Cain and Bob Jones both were exposed as sexual deviants, and even temporarily removed, but they had a ready constituency upon their re-entry into ministry. This is a matter of eternal life and eternal death for many. It becomes a matter of the relevance of the church, God’s witness, the “pillar and ground of the truth” as Paul calls it. The consequences of consorting with the strange woman are extreme.

“Hearken unto me now therefore O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth, Let not your heart decline unto her ways, go not astray in her paths .For she has cast down many wounded; yea many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs 7:24-27)

JUDAS STRIKES AGAIN

2009-07-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

by J.Jacob Prasch
http://moriel.org/
Rick Warren and Post Modernism, Rick Warren and Homosexuality & Lebsbianism, now it is Rick Warren and Islam

Rick Warren, whose efforts to turn Evangelical Christianity into a psychologized religion based on marketing with his ‘Purpose Driven’ agenda stunned many who claim to be regenerated bible believing Christians when he appeared on Larry King Live globally offering an apology to the homosexual & lesbian community for his ‘apparent’ opposition to California’s Proposition 8 outlawing legal recognition of same sex marriage. He did this after creating the unambiguous impression he did oppose it. Warren’s hypocrisy or Christ-less treachery appear to know no limits. Yesterday’s theological liberal is today’s supposed ‘Evangelical’.
From his butchering of scripture out of context, to his reliance on Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’ which to any biblical Evangelical schooled in New Testament Greek can only be described as an utter bastardization of Holy Writ , Warren has set mew limits to spiritual seduction.
On the basis of scripture, Warren’s translocational hermeneutics in which he literally ‘cuts and pastes’ verses from one book or passage into another to completely change the original meaning demonstrates categorically that Rick Warren is clearly of the devil – an agent of hell dispatched by Satan to destroy what con artist tele-evangelists and ecumenists have not already destroyed of biblical Christianity.
Warren’s perversion of the Gospel where he replaces the biblical centrality of repentance with a consumer friendly instruction not to preach repentance at one time would have left any biblically grounded Christian, and certainly pastor warning others against this deceiver.
His exhortation to avoid end time prophecy, directly contradicting the opposite exhortation of Jesus (Achieved by deleting Acts 1: 6 and replacing it with a cut and pasted insertion of Matthew 24:3) means that he places his instructions above those of God. This is indeed the spirit of anti Christ. Like the Lucifer who whom he is employed and from he takes his orders, Warren likewise in character of Satan in Matthew 4 perverts texts out of context in isolation from co-text to create a distorted pretext. This is the devil, and this is Rick Warren.
Warren joined with Brian McLaren (who demands a moratorium on debating the morality of homosexuality and lesbianism until the church decides if it is right or wrong) in forwarding Dan Kimbell’s book; ‘The Emerging Church’, a post modern metaphysical philosophy of mysticism drawing on early medieval monastic spirituality with everything from icons to labyrinths to the ‘lectio divina’. Indeed, a return to the dark ages with no objective biblical compass to determine direction. McLaren is a by theological definition a Gnostic who says then parables of Jesus should rather be interpreted on the basis of ‘our imagination’. It is Warren’s Purpose Driven lie that is the door into McLaren’s emergence. What is astounding however is that these sons of Lucifer are portrayed as ‘Evangelicals’, despite they cannot justly claim any subscription to an exegetically biblical Evangelicism.
What is more perverse than this however is that even after Warren’s apologetic backtrack to the homosexual & lesbian community who demand legal recognition of what is biblically an unholy matrimony now claiming he is not against such same sex marriages the backlash from Christians has remained mooted. Christian bookshops continue to sell his Purpose Driven Lie.
Warren spoke at a synagogue but made no proclamation of Jesus as The Messiah as St. Paul and Jesus did when they were invited to synagogues and as others such as David Hocking have done today. Rather he lectured on his Purpose Driven programmatic approach will work to grow synagogues as well as churches. One would ask why anybody would want to help a false Judaism rejecting its own messiah to put more Jews on the path to hell? Yet Warren extends his agenda to other religions as well. Now , and most notably Islam.
Truly Born again Arab believers normally address Jesus as ‘Yesua Hamesa’, but after praying in the name of “Issa’, (the Islamic name for Jesus who is not the Jesus of The Gospels because Issa is not God’s Son) at Obama’s inaugeration, Warren has gone once more gone further. He has now addressed an Islamic convention organized by Islamic organizations funded by oil money from Saudi Arabia which executes people for becoming Christians. Like Obama, Rick Warren said not a word about human rights abuses , the persecution of Christians throughout the Islamic world, or the rife hatred of Jews even taught to children in moslem schools and madrasses. Persecuted Christians are not on Obama’s agenda, and neither are they on Rick Warren’s. Neither of course did Warren in any sense present the Gospel to these lost souls. It is obvious that we have wicked men like George Bush and Barack Hussein Obamas in The House House because we have wicked men like Rick Warren in the pulpit.
Backslidden nations get the leaders they deserve. So do backslidden churches.
Mos lems, unbelieving Jews, and homosexuals & lesbians are not the cardinal problem. These are unsaved people doomed to a Christ-less eternity unless the true church by God’s grace and with God’s help can reach them with the gospel. But what is left of the true church?
For too long it has been sandwiched between one lunatic fringe of ultra Pentecostals and hyper charismatics not knowing the difference between charismata and charismania on one extreme and another lunatic fringe of hyper Calvinistic kooks and cessationists not knowing knowing the difference between reconstructionism and The true Kingdom of God on the opposite pole of the ecclesiastical spectrum. Now the center is being satanically subverted.
If Jesus were not coming, I would become very despondent. But Praise God He is Coming. Now as the faithful remnant strengthens the things that remain the question becomes what our strategy should consist of in the meanwhile. The Lord will indeed show us if we ask Him and He has in a greater sense already showed us doctrinally in broad terms in His Word.
How can The Body of Christ not remove this demonic and highly metastatic cancer from itself but instead watch not only the lost perish but the church progressively rot to death with this auto tolerated malignancy? That demonic cancer is indeed the agenda of Rick Warren & Co.
J.Jacob Prasch

The Woman is not for Stoning

2009-06-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

I’m going to post several excerpts from one of Kenneth Baily’s books I’ve been reading “Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes – Cultural Studies in the Gospels.” Personally, I haven't read anyone with a better understanding of Middle Eastern customs and reading the parables that Jesus taught give these teachings color. Anyway I recommend this book (not his theology) to those interested in a better perspective of what Jesus was/is saying to his disciples and those who believe in Him.
[Excerpts are from pages 231-236]

The Woman is not for Stoning
by Kenneth Baily
Properly understood the story opens at John 7:37-38, which reads:
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

The feast mentioned was and is a seven day celebration called Succoth, known commonly as “the Feast of Booths.”Jesus was in attendance in Jerusalem, and on the last climatic day he stood up and made the claim (John 7:37-38) that is suspiciously close to what God says about himself in Isaiah 55:1-3. This naturally caused a huge stir.

Jesus was not, however, the first Jew of the time to take language about God and apply it to himself. One generation before Jesus, the famous rabbi Hillel made the same kind. The late Israel scholar David Flusser has noted these claims and has pointed out that the Jewish tradition decided that Hillel did not mean what he said. The Gospels and the birth of the Church are clear witness to the fact that the disciples of Jesus believed him when he made such claims, but not immediately.
John recorded two instantaneous reactions to Jesus’ Jerusalem speech. The crown was confused and divided. The chief priests and the Pharisees were sufficiently angered that they ordered his arrest. But the officers sent to apprehend him were unable to carry out their orders because Jesus was too popular. As they reported, “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46). The Pharisees then opened the subject of the law and said, “this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed” (John 7:49). Jesus was barely thirty years old. How dare he make such incredible claims about himself! Nicodemus tried feebly to defend Jesus but was quickly silenced. Everybody then went home (vv. 50-53). Round one was over.

THE TRAP

Overnight Jesus’ opponents were able to plan “round two.” The issues were clear. Jesus had claimed to be the living water promised by God to his people. “The Law” in popular usage often meant all the books that were considered authoritative, and by the time of Jesus this included the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). In all likelihood, therefore, the Pharisees were upset over the Isaiah 55 passage. This challenge to them and their authority had been made on their turf. They had to respond, and their initial reaction was to craft an astute “game plan.”
If they could humiliate Jesus in public by posing a question of interpretation of the law that Jesus could not answer without destroying himself, his popularity would fade quickly and their problem would be solved. Presumably overnight they arrested a woman whom they claimed was “caught in the act of adultery” and held her for the showdown with Jesus.
The following morning Jesus could have avoided the temple. The previous day he had made a stunning public statement. He knew that there was considerable confusion among his listeners over his claims and he must have known that the temple guards had appeared to arrest him. The next morning, the temple police might well be waiting for him at the gates of the temple to apprehend him before a crowd could gather…

According to Jewish law the day after any major feast had to be observed as a Sabbath. On such a day, no work was allowed. On this “eighth day of the feast” Jesus returned to the temple area. A crowd quickly gathered. In good rabbinic style Jesus sat down (affirming his authority as a teacher) and began to teach them. Only then did the Pharisees make their move. They wanted witnesses, lots of them!
The scribes and Pharisees suddenly appeared and interrupted Jesus in front of his listeners. They brought with them the woman they had arrested the previous day night, and publicly declared that she had been caught in the act of adultery.
The inevitable question immediately arises: How do religious professionals catch a woman in the act of adultery? Furthermore, adultery is rather difficult to do alone, and if she was “caught in the act” her partner was seen and thereby identified. The law dictated that both should be stoned (Lev 20:10). Where was the man? And why did they not arrest both of them if they were so zealous for the law? The precious day these same leaders had invoked a curse on the crowds that did not know the law. Now they were violating the law in the name of enforcing it! What therefore was the real agenda?
The fact that they brought the woman but not her male partner clearly indicates that their concern was not for preservation of the law but rather the public humiliation of Jesus. The woman was merely a prop in their plan. But the story has a second important component. The temple area is about thirty-five acres. At that time, around three sides of that large enclosure there was a long, covered walkway. The best English word we have for this is cloister. Connected to this walkway on the north end of the temple area, Herod the Great had constructed a large military fort. He knew that civil unrest often began in the temple enclosure, so he insured that there was access from the fort both to the temple area and to the roof of this covered walkway. Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, records that during the feast days Roman soldiers would patrol along that walkway and through the crowds, keeping an eye out for any unrest. He wrote, “A Roman legion went several ways among the cloisters, with their arms, on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch the people, that they might not there attempt to make any innovations.” The entire scene unfolding around Jesus was under Roman observation, and everyone was conscience of this armed military presence.

Jesus Responds
The Pharisees did not ask a hypothetical question –“What if we caught a woman…?” Instead they brought the accused, presented her and then asked:

Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such,
What do you say about her? (Jn 8:4)

The scene could hardly be more dramatic. They quoted Moses and then directly challenged Jesus, in public, to agree or disagree with the great lawgiver. The crowd was listening intently, and the Roman soldiers were watching.
The Pharisees assumed that Jesus had two options. On the one hand, he could say, “Yes, let’s stone her.” Such a ruling would have caused an outcry and triggered enough emotion that Jesus surely would have been arrested even if the violence against the girl had not begum. John records that the Romans had denied the Jews the right to put anyone to death (Jn 18:31).
Jesus’ other option was to say something like:
“Gentleman, we know that the law of Moses requires, but the realities of the political world in which we live cannot be avoided. Just look around you. Yes, we long for the day of liberation from Rome, after which we will be able to obey the law of Moses in strict fashion. But in the interim we are obliged to be patient and make allowances.”
If he had given such a speech, his opponents would have accused him of cowardice =. Was he against the law of Moses? Or was he simply unwilling to pay a price to pursue the national cause? In short, if he decides to carry out the law of Moses, he will be arrested. If he opts to set it aside he will be discredited. What is going to be: Moses or Rome? Either way he loses and his opponents win.
Because of their total confidence in victory, the Pharisees planned this confrontation in public on their own turf. How did Jesus respond?
All through the rest of the story, Jesus is subtly debating the nature of justice. Is justice primarily a strict application of law, important though that may be? Or must the prophetic definition of justice found in the Servant Songs of Isaiah be considered? Concerning that Suffering Servant, Isaiah wrote:
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice. (Is 42:3)
The Pharisees want strict application if the law. Jesus fights for compassion for the bruised reed and the dimly burning wick that he sees in the woman before him. Each seeks “justice.” In this case, which should prevail? Jesus makes hic choice and acts on it.
The “eighth day of the feast” was treated as Sabbath with all the Sabbath laws in force. The primary requirement for keeping the law on the Sabbath was to refrain from work, and the rabbis defended writing as work. They then determined that “writing” was making some kind of permanent mark like putting ink on paper. Writing with ones finger in the dust was permissible because “it leaves no lasting mark…”
Jesus’ first response was to bend down and write with his finger in the dust…
What does he write? Scholars have argued this question for centuries. I am convinced that he wrote, “death” or “kill her” or stoner her with stones.” His following words presuppose that he decreed the death penalty. He opted for a strict observance of the law of Moses.
But when Jesus says, “Let him who is with out sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jn 8:7. Mobs will do anything! In the aftermath of war, or even when civil authority breaks down, or when a crowd overwhelms the police force, mobs will loot, destroy, kill, burn—anything! With so many people involved, there is no one to arrest. In a mob, individuals can escape accountability for their behavior. If therefore everyone in the crowd stones the woman, no individual will bear responsibility for her death.
But when Jesus says, “Let the one among you with out sin cast the first stone,” he puts a name and a face on everyone in the crowd. He asks each individual to acknowledge responsibility for participation in the act.
When the Roman guards step forward to “break up the crowd,” their first question will be “Who started this?” The second question “Who ordered it?” would likely come later.
With this challenge Jesus says to his opponents, “Gentleman, you clearly want me to go to jail for the law of Moses. I am willing to do so. I have ordered that she be killed. But I want to know which one of you is willing to volunteer to accompany me into that cell?”
Furthermore, the Middle East is a “shame-pride culture.” The child is not told, “That’s wrong!” but “Shame on you!” Certain acts bring shame on others and others bring honor to the family. He or she is to avoid shame and defend honor. In this story, if a person steps out of the crowd claiming to be sinless, such an act will be remembered to his shame because Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Is 53:6). Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” With such texts in tradition, would any religious teacher dare claim to be sinless?
Suddenly and dramatically the entire scene is changed. Jesus’ opponents are now under pressure, and each of them must make a decision. In the Middle East, in such circumstances, people naturally turn to the eldest person present. The crowd turns to see if that elder has the courage to respond to Jesus’ challenge. From the oldest to the youngest his opponents withdraw, humiliated. As this is happening Jesus bends down and writes a second time in the dust. The story leaves no clue to what he wrote, but by looking at the ground, he chooses not to watch the public humiliation of his opponents. He does no crowing and refrains from “twisting the knife.” It is a nice touch that fits perfectly with the larger Gospel picture of Jesus. He takes no pleasure in humiliating them-he simply wants to save the woman.
The stage empties and Jesus is alone with the accused. In any culture, one of the quickest ways to get into trouble is to humiliate powerful people in public on their own turf. Yet this is precisely what Jesus does. The Pharisees planned to humiliate Jesus but were themselves put to shame before a crowd. A few minutes earlier the terrified woman had expected brutal violence and a painful death. Suddenly the Pharisees are angry at Jesus rather than her. At great cost he has shifted their hostility from her to himself, and he doesn’t even know her name! The famous Servant Song of Isaiah affirms, “with his stripes we are healed” (Is 53:5 KJV).
She knows that Jesus’ opponents will be back with a bigger stick and that Jesus is in the process of getting hurt because of what he is doing for her. She is the recipient of a costly demonstration of unexpected love that saves her life. Jesus demonstrates the life-changing power of costly love. This scene provides an insight into Jesus’ understanding of the significance of his own suffering. A core aspect of his “doctrine of the atonement” is here displayed.
In his final words to the woman Jesus neither condemns her nor over looks her self-destructive lifestyle. He walks a razors edge between the two with the words, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”

Strength in Affliction--The Secret of Loving Christ More

2009-06-24T16:20:00.000-08:00

by John Newton
http://www.puritansermons.com/newton/Newt_i3.htm

At length, and without farther apology for my silence, I sit down to ask you how you fare. Afflictions I hear have been your lot; and if I had not heard so, I should have taken it for granted: for I believe the Lord loves you, and as many as He loves He chastens. I think you can say, afflictions have been good for you, and I doubt not but you have found strength according to your day; so that, though you may have been sharply tried, you have not been overpowered. For the Lord has engaged His faithfulness for this to all His children, that He will support them in all their trials: so that the fire shall not consume them, nor the floods drown them (I Cor. x. 13; Isa. xliii. 2).

If you can say thus much, cannot you go a little further, and add, in the apostle's words, "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear. I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me: yea, doubtless, I count all things loss and of no regard, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for when I am weak, then am I strong"? Methinks I hear you say, "God, who comforteth those who are cast down, has comforted my soul; and as my troubles have abounded, my consolations in Christ have abounded also. He has delivered, He does deliver, and in Him I trust that He will yet deliver me." Surely you can set your seal to these words. The Lord help you then to live more and more a life of faith, to feed upon the promises, and to rejoice in the assurance that all things are yours, and shall surely work for your good.

If I guess right at what passes in your heart, the name of Jesus is precious to you, and this is a sure token of salvation and that of God. You could not have loved Him, if He had not loved you first. He spoke to you, and said, "Seek My face," before your heart cried to Him, "Thy face, O Lord, will I seek." But you complain, "Alas! I love Him so little." That very complaint proves that you love Him a great deal; for if you loved Him but a little, you would think you loved Him enough. A mother loves her child a great deal, yet does not complain for not loving it more; nay, perhaps she hardly thinks it possible. But such an infinite object is Jesus, that they who love Him better than parents or child, or any earthly relation or comfort, will still think they hardly love Him at all; because they see such a vast disproportion between the utmost they can give Him, and what in Himself He deserves from them. But I can give you good advice and good news: love Him as well as you can now, and ere long you shall love Him better. O when you see Him as He is, then I am sure you will love Him indeed! If you want to love Him better now while you are here, I believe I can tell you the secret how this is to be attained: Trust Him. The more you trust Him, the better you will love Him. If you ask, farther, How shall I do to trust Him? I answer, Try Him: the more you make trial of Him, the more your trust in Him will be strengthened. Venture upon His promises; carry them to Him, and see if He will not be as good as His word. But, alas! Satan and unbelief work the contrary way. We are unwilling to try Him, and therefore unable to trust Him; and what wonder, then, that our love is faint, for who can love at uncertainties?
If you are in some measure thankful for what you have received, and hungering and thirsting for more, you are in the frame I would wish for myself, and I desire to praise the Lord on your behalf. Pray for us. We join in love to you.

One of the Saddest Utterances That Ever Fell From the Lips of the Son of God

2009-06-23T23:39:00.000-08:00

by R.A.Torrey

"Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." - John 5:40That is one of the saddest utterances that our Saviour ever spoke. I wish I could reproduce His tender tones and His loving look when He uttered the words. I believe it would break your heart. He came down from Heaven with its glory to earth with its shame, to bring life to men. He went up and down among men proclaiming that life could be obtained by simply coming to Him, but men would not come. And at last He turned round upon the men who had not come to Him, and with a heart aching with disappointment, and with tones full of yearning pity He said: "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life."

I. WHY ANY MAN IS LOSTThose words contain the explanation why any man is lost. If any man is lost it will be because he will not come to Christ. If any man or woman goes out of this hall to-night unsaved, that will be the reason. Jesus Christ offers life to every man and woman here on the simple condition that you come to Him, and if you go out of this hall to-night without it, it is simply because you would not come to Him.

1. No man is lost because he needs to be lost. No man needs to be lost. God has provided salvation for everybody. The atonement of Jesus Christ covers the sins of every man. He tasted death -as we are told in the Word of God- for every man, and the offer of salvation is made to every man. If any man does not take it, it is because he will not come and get it. No man is lost because of any purpose or decree of God. It is the will of God, we are told expressly in His word, that all men should be saved, and He "is not willing" -as we read in 2 Peter iii. 9- "that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And if any man is lost, it is solely because He will not come.

2. No man is lost because he has gone down so deeply into sin. Indeed it is true that all of us have gone down into sin so deeply that we deserve to be lost. But "this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" -even the chief. He can do it. He is doing it every day. Christ did save the chief of sinners -Saul of Tarsus- and He has power to-night to save any man or woman in London. No man or woman is lost because they have gone down so deeply into sin, but simply because they will not come to that only Saviour who has power to save them from their sins.

3. No man is lost because he is too weak to lead the Christian life. It is true that every one of us is too weak to lead a true Christian life in our own strength; but, thank God, we have a Saviour who "is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." If any man is lost, it is solely because he will not come to Christ. If any man or woman or person goes out of this hall to-night unsaved it is no one's fault but your own, and the whole reason will be that you will not come to Christ and obtain life.

II. WHY MEN WILL NOT COME TO CHRISTBut why will not men come to Christ? There are many things that keep them from coming.

1. The first one is sin. I believe that sin is keeping more men and women from coming to Christ than almost anything else. There are a great many men in this world who know their need of a Saviour, who long for a Saviour, who have a deep desire to take the Lord Jesus Christ, but they know if they come to Him they must leave their sins behind. A man cannot come to Christ and retain his sin. You have to choose between Jesus Christ and sin. Men know that, but they are not willing to give up their sins. At one of Mr. Moody's services in Chicago, after he had preached on the "Prodigal Son" a fine-looking young fellow came to me and said, "That was a good sermon to-night. He pictured my case exactly. I am that prodigal son." I said, "Don't you want to come home to the Father to-night, then?" He said, "I do." I said, "And the Father wants you to come." He said, "I know it." I said, "Will you come?" He said, "I will not." I asked, "Why not?." He replied., "I am entangled in the meshes of a disgusting sin." "Then," I said, "will you not give it up to-night?" "No, sir," he said, "I will not." That young man went out of that place where he had been brought face to face with God's love, deliberately choosing a vile sin and death instead of Jesus Christ and eternal life. I dare say there are men and women who will go out of this hall to-night with a clear view of the fact that they can come to Christ and be pardoned, but you will not come because there is some deliberate sin in your life or heart that you are not willing to give up.

2. The love of money keeps many men from coming to Christ. Many a man knows that if he came to Christ he would lose money by it. There are things in his business that would need to be given up. But he is not willing to sacrifice the profits he gets in crooked ways. He is deliberately choosing a larger income and eternal death instead of Jesus Christ and eternal life. How many a young fellow has come to me and when I have urged him to come to Christ he has said, "I believe it is a good thing, but I should have to give up my situation if I did." Two young ladies said to Mrs. Torrey at one of our services in Australia, when they seemed to be very near decision, "We cannot come to Christ. We are employed in a large shop, and our employer requires us to misrepresent the goods. We cannot do that and be Christians, can we?" "No, you cannot " Mrs. Torrey replied; and the young ladies said, "If we don't, then we lose our positions." God pity the man or the merchant who requires his employees to lie! And yet there are such who profess to be Christians. God have mercy on such hypocrites, who are hurrying on fast to an eternal hell- every one of them. How sad it is that those young women were ready to choose their position and small salary in the place of Jesus Christ and life eternal!

3. Love of pleasure, is keeping many a man and woman from coming to Christ. How many young men and young women there are in London who know need Christ and would like to be Christians, but they say if they come to Christ they will, have to give up this or that pleasure-the dance or the card party or the theatre. "I can never do it," they say, and they are choosing the dance or card party or theatre or some other form of worldly amusement and death instead of Jesus Christ and life. Dr. John Hall, of New York City, was at one time pastor of perhaps the wealthiest church in New York City. There came to him one day a young lady who was a most beautiful waltzer and she said, "If I become a Christian will I have to give up my dancing?" He replied, "If You become a Christian and Jesus Christ asks you to give up your dancing, you must be ready to do it." She replied, "If I must choose between Jesus Christ and dancing, I will hold on to my dancing and let Jesus Christ go." What an awful choice! You have not said it; perhaps you never thought it so definitely; but some of you to-night are making that very choice. You feel you could not be a real Christian and hold on to your worldly pleasure, and you reject Jesus Christ rather than give up your worldly pleasure. You are saying by your action, "if I must choose between Jesus Christ and my dancing or card-playing or theatre, or this or that and the other thing, I will hold on to my dancing, or whatever it be, and let Jesus Christ go."

4. The fear of man is keeping many a man and woman in London from coming to Christ and obtaining eternal life. How many there are who when the invitation is given would like to stand up, but they say if I should do it my friends in business or society would hear about it, and what would they say? You keep your seat and you reject Jesus Christ for fear of what they would say. In Proverbs xxix. 25, we read: "The fear of man bringeth a snare. "It is bringing a snare that is landing many in a path that leads to eternal ruin instead of to Jesus Christ and life eternal. I would a great deal rather that men would laugh at me down here for doing a wise thing, than that the devils in hell should laugh at me for all eternity for doing a foolish thing. We have in our country a very foolish custom. I think you have it to a certain extent in your country also, but perhaps not to the same extent as we have it in ours. It is called "April Fools' Day." On the first day of April all the fools in America try to make fools of all the other fools. One custom is to bore a hole in a silver coin, and after attaching a string to it, put it on the sidewalk. When any one comes along and stoops to pick it up, the coin is pulled away, and they cry "April fool." Another joke is to take a wallet and fill it with dust and dirt and chips and throw it on the sidewalk, and when an one picks it up and opens it to cry "April fool!" One day a farmer went to his bank in Baltimore and drew some money, which he put for safe-keeping into his wallet. After walking some distance, he felt in his pocket and found the wallet had gone. Retracing his steps, he had not gone many blocks when he saw a circle of people round a wallet, no one daring to touch it, thinking it was full of sawdust and shavings. When the farmer entered the circle and picked up the wallet, all cried "April fool !" but when he opened it and counted the money to see if it were all there, they felt that they were the fools. I tell you that a day is coming for those men and women who laugh at you, because you choose Christ and eternal life, when they will say that you have made a wise choice and they were the fools. Don't let them laugh you out of life eternal. At one of my missions I asked a woman how she was getting on. She replied, "I am not getting on at all; I am perfectly miserable." - "Why is that?" I said. "I don't know" she replied. Another said, "I can tell you why it is, she has never told her husband she has accepted Jesus Christ." "Is that so?" I asked her. "It is," she replied. "But you stood up in the meeting?" I said. "Yes, but not when he was present." "Well, you must tell him!" "I can't tell my husband; he would laugh at me," she answered. "Never mind how much he laughs" I said. "I can't do it," was all she would reply. The next Sunday night the lady and gentleman were sitting together in one of the front seats. I stopped in the midst of my address and said, "Every woman in the house who will say that from this time on my husband shall have an out-and-out Christian for his wife, please rise." This woman immediately rose to her feet. "Now," I said, "every man who will say from this time my wife shall have a true Christian man for her husband, please rise." That man was the first man in the house on his feet. Show people the beauty and power of a living faith in Jesus Christ, and you will bring them with you.

5. An unforgiving spirit is another thing that is keeping men and women from coming to Jesus Christ. They know they cannot come, and bring a heart full of hate, and so they choose bitterness and hatred and death instead of Christ and life. One afternoon at Cleveland, after Mr. Moody had been speaking, he brought me to a lady to show her the way of life. I had been speaking to her trying this and that passage to see what was in the way of her accepting Christ, when suddenly I turned to her and said, "Is there somebody you cannot forgive?" She looked quickly at me, and said, "Who told you?" I said, "Nobody told me, and I have never seen you before to-night." That was her trouble, and that is the trouble with some of you. Some one has done you an injustice or you think they have, and you will not come to Jesus Christ because you want to cherish this bitter grudge in your heart. I once talked about two hours; to a young lady, trying to lead her to Christ, but at last she said, "There is somebody I cannot forgive." I told her, "You must or be lost for ever." But she replied, "I cannot; they have done me a wrong." I said, "If they had not done you a wrong, there would not be anything to forgive. Have they wronged you as much as you have wronged Jesus Christ?" In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, commencing at the twenty-third verse, we have the parable of the servant who was forgiven a large debt, and then would not forgive his fellow-servant a trifling sum. That is a picture of the unforgiving one to-day. I said to her, "Read that incident; you must forgive." But she said, "I can't." "Are you willing," I then asked her, "that God should take the bitterness out of your heart?" She replied, "I am." Then I said, "Kneel down and ask Him;" As she knelt down, and scarcely had her knees touched the floor, when she burst into tears, as she felt the feeling of hate taken away. Are you going to reject Jesus Christ and eternal life for the sake of hating somebody? God have mercy upon you.

6. Self-will stands between many a person and Christ and eternal life. There are a great many people in this world who are not willing to surrender their wills to anybody, not even to God. They are bound to have their own way. A woman told me that on Friday night. She said, "I cannot give my will up to anybody." What foolishness! Who is this God to whom we ask you to surrender your will? God is love. Is it not wisdom to surrender our wills to infinite love and wisdom? Oh, the folly of those who will not surrender their wills to God and His love.

7. There is one more thing that is keeping people from coming to Jesus Christ, and that is pride. I believe that there are thousands and tens of thousands of people in London to-night that are kept from Him because of the pride in their hearts. Pride manifests itself in many ways. It makes men and women, who have led moral and respectable lives, unwilling to admit that they are lost sinners, and must come into the Kingdom of God through the same door as the thief or the harlot or the drunkard. You will all have to get into the kingdom in that way. Look at Christ's parable of the publican and sinner. First there came the Pharisee to the temple to pray, a moral, upright, prominent citizen. But what is his prayer? It is just a parade of his own virtues. "God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess." Do you know what Jesus Christ says about him? He says that this man went down to his house unforgiven. Then came the publican -an outcast, despised by everybody, but a man who had been brought to the consciousness of his sin. He would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner"- the sinner. Do you know what Jesus Christ says? "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." I believe that very many people are being kept from Christ and eternal life by the pride of their hearts. In Chicago I was once telling the story of a woman who had been away down in sin and been saved; and afterwards a refined lady came to me and said, "You do not mean to say that that woman was saved?" The strange thing was that the lady was a Universalist, and believed that everybody could be saved. I told her "the woman was saved, and what is more, she was saved in precisely the same way that you will be saved if ever you are saved." That is God's truth. Ah! but some of you people are not willing to lay your pride in the dust. You are not willing to throw your pride to the winds, and go to God and seek pardon through the atoning blood of the Son of God. You will never be saved any other way. A lady once came to me and said,"My Christian experience is not satisfactory." I said, "I don't think you have any Christian experience." "Why," she said, "I have. I am the widow of a minister and a member of a church." "Well," I responded, "I don't think that you ever were saved in your life. No, you never were, for you never saw yourself as a lost sinner in your life." She said, "I never did, because I am not." I replied, "Let me deal frankly with you. You are just full of conceit." Unless God opens your eyes to see that you are not essentially better than the vilest sinner, and unless you come to God and cry for mercy, through the atoning blood of Christ, you will never be saved." She said "You are cruel." "No " I said, "I am kind. You are a physician, I believe?" She replied, "Yes." Then I said, "Suppose a patient had a tumor, and you cut it out to save her life. Would you call that cruel?" "No," she said, "I should say that was the kindest thing I could do." "Well," I said, "you have a tumor. Your pride and conceit are blinding your eyes so that you cannot see that you are a poor, vile, worthless sinner, and Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross." The woman had the good sense at last to see it, but that more than some of you have. I tell you among the people who are in this hall there are a lot of people who are being kept away from Christ by spiritual pride.But pride operates in another way. Oh, that by the help of God I could tear these awful scales from your eyes. Pride makes people set themselves not to do certain things which they are asked to do. I am not coming," they say, "to the meeting," or "I am not going to the front seats," or "I am not going to the inquiry room. A person can be saved without that." They can, beyond a doubt; but if you make it a point that you won't do something of that kind, you won't be saved until you do. In Mr. Finney's day many people found salvation under a certain tree. One prominent man said he would not go out there. It was not necessary, of course. He did all sorts of things, but he would not do that. He got no peace however, and one day he stole out of the town the back way, and made his way to the place where the tree was, and climbed the fence around it. When he went to kneel down the wind shook a leaf and frightened him. But as soon as he knelt down and asked God, He saved him right there. There are some of you men and women like that. Do not misunderstand me. I want to make it as clear as day. It is not necessary for you to do anything except to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but if you say I won't do a thing, you will never be saved until you do. You have got to lay your pride in the dust before you can find Jesus Christ. I remember the first time I went to hold a mission. The last meeting had come, and the last person had stood up, and I got up to dismiss the meeting, when a lady rose. She was the leading society woman in the town. She rose slowly to her feet and said, "Before you dismiss this meeting, may I say something?" And then, turning round to face the audience, she said, "When Mr. Torrey came, I said he would never get me to stand up, but I now wish to most humbly take it an back, and ask you to pray for me." The power of God fell on that meeting. Some of you men and women think your position in society is too exalted for you to come up to the front with common folks and accept the Saviour just as ordinary men and women do, but if you think that, you will never be saved until you humble your pride in the dust, and are willing to go anywhere to find peace and pardon. Let us throw away everything that stands between us and Jesus Christ. He stands in this building to-night with outstretched hands. Oh, see Him! Hear the tender tones that fall from His lips, the heart-breaking tones: "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." The Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross of Calvary, is standing here, with His thorn-crowned brow and pierced hands, saying, "Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life." Men and women rise and say, "I will come, Lord Jesus; I come now."