Dear Readers: Thank you for all your support this year. I believe the content in this current series is indispensible regarding the coming Great Awakening in America. We must all grow closer to the Lord Jesus. He must be exalted in this nation. His real identity must be known. Christian persecution will continue rising in America in 2016 and we must all be prepared. Please help make this current series reach as many believers as possible. Be blessed!

         “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” [John 8:28 NAB]

.  

         Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

         The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” [Luke 1:35]

         As noted in the last post, the Lord Jesus continually excoriated the Pharisees and other religious leaders for their rebellious insistence on fake religious tradition. By the time He began His ministry, the entire religious structure of the Hebrew people was based on a false adaptation of the truth.

         Making it worse, those who comprised the fake leadership insisted that they were strictly following the Law of Moses and meticulously obeying God’s commandments.

         The Lord Jesus said they were not.

THE PRESENT

         As we travel back to the present while considering the false and rebellious religious structure of that time among the Jewish people, we see the exact structure in America. Next to no one wants to admit this, however, but most Christians know it is true.

         What we need is the Lord Jesus to return to our times and expose this false religious structure and the Christian Pharisees running it the same way He did back then. In essence, this is certainly possible, but not in the way most people think.

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM

         He transferred the keys of the kingdom of heaven long ago, first giving them to Peter as the leader of His immediate group after He left.

         “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” [Matthew 16:18-19]

         Regarding the first use of the keys and the fulfillment of the above, it is found right here:

         Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

         “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:38-39]

         Peter, of course, transferred ownership of the keys to every other real believer who obeyed what He commanded at Pentecost. That’s where it began. From that point, with a starting kingdom community of a mere 120 people, each filled with the Spirit of the Lord and each holding the keys of the kingdom, the Gospel began flashing across the land.

NAZARETH

         To think that it all started in the humble non-descript little town of Nazareth gives us a great clue regarding the insight and plans of God. Rather than choosing the way most people would choose, including most religious people, the Lord did the opposite.

         He chose a humble maiden, pure in heart, willing to obey God completely, certainly not pretty in appearance, from a modest and possibly poor family, in a place with a bad reputation in the far north, away from the great religious centers, and especially far away from Jerusalem.

         YHWH chose young Mary to be His mother.

         Now, think about that. It appears as though He would destroy His reputation from the very beginning. He took the most humble approach possible.

         Returning to the present again, we see that most Christian religious leaders would never do such a thing. They’re obviously not doing it now. They refuse to act as the Lord acted. They are far too concerned with reputation, with what people think, and with operating in such a way that increases the odds of gaining funding.

         In essence, most are completely fake just like the religious leaders of the Lord’s time that He continually rebuked.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

         I will answer that by asking why it was important for God to do what He did in the first century. He obviously rocked that sorry religious boat then, which means He must rock the even sorrier religious boat existing among most Christians in America at present. He must do this because that which is being presented is fake. It is wrong. It is not Biblical. It stomps on the face of the New Covenant. And people have not only grown to accept it, but like it, and therefore are caught fast in its overpowering deception.

         People are not free and fake Christians have no power to set people free.

         They do not possess the keys of the kingdom.

RELIGIOUS TRADITION RUN AMUCK

         Regarding how strange religious tradition can be, consider the following: We are all taught that “God the Father” is the father of “God the Son.” This is what almost every Christian believes. But it is not true.

         It is true from the perspective of the traditional “Trinity Doctrine.” But it is not true according to the Word of God, which clearly states that the Holy Spirit is the Father of the Son:

         Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

         And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

         “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

         “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” [Matthew 1:18-21] [1]

            © 2015 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued.]

[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.