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WHY THE CHRISTMAS STORY IS ALSO A PARABLE
“Okay, here’s what the Lord’s going to do. He must go stealth. The enemies are always waiting at the doors and ready to pounce. He will bypass them. He will go in under the radar. They will never recognize Him.”
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“But that’s going to make things very difficult for the people He chooses to work through.”
“Yes, but they love Him. They know what they signed up for. They will answer His call.”
“It would seem some would never answer that call. They may even think it was the enemy. Anything that would cause so much discomfort, rejection, and pain may be seen as coming from the wrong source.”
“Yes, but that is only true for those who don’t really know Him. The ones who hear His voice, well, they will certainly act. They will obey. They will know it is not because He doesn’t love them or is purposefully causing them to sacrifice so greatly without a higher purpose somehow being involved.”
“How does He manage to do this?”
“He speaks to their hearts. He shows them things in their spirit. It is a form of communication that escapes detection from outside sources, and those who receive cannot even readily relay what it is they hear because they sense no one will understand.”
“So they act.”
“Yes. They act. He knew Mary would act. He knew she would obey. It was completely her decision, of course. But that’s what a calling is. It is not only the Lord telling people they have been chosen or called into a particular service, it is also that He already knows they will say yes. They say yes because they hear His voice and love Him, but also because they know deep within that the calling He gives them answers a very deep need and desire in their hearts. They want to serve, but they want it to be right. Many serve incorrectly, thinking they are serving Him, but never get the satisfaction they desire or that deep feeling in their hearts. They feel like they are working very hard but not getting anywhere. This never happens with Him. Those who hear His voice and obey know something substantial happens when they do. They know they are entering an area in which their soul is satisfied, filled, and blessed. Mary knew this.”
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 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. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:26-38] [1]
© 2017 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[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.
ALL HOPE HAD VANISHED: THEN THE LORD SPOKE LIFE TO DEATH
He had just been at Capernaum. A Roman centurion’s slave was on death’s door. Due to the centurion’s great faith, the Lord Jesus was able to heal the sick man without ever even seeing him.
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He traveled with His disciples south from the northern environs of the Sea of Galilee through small towns and fishing villages along the west shore and then out across the plane to the southwest. Passing by the 1,886 foot rounded peak of Mount Tabor jutting up obtrusively on the right about six miles east of Nazareth, they continued on past Endor to the south. Arriving at the outskirts of the ancient town of Nain they were soon accompanied by a large party of locals no doubt enthralled by the many wonders and miraculous happenings associated with the Lord.
However, rather than any expectancy regarding the immediate event in process before them upon entering the town, all parties adopted a hush of respect for the great mourning suddenly in their midst. A lonely, bereft widow had just lost her only son. Just inside the gate of the village, amid the weeping and wailing of mourners, the Lord’s disciples turned attentive caring eyes toward the procession playing out before them—a dead man was being carried on a crude bier in the opposite direction on the way to the hillside tombs within eyeshot close by. Amid the ordered tumult, the Lord’s gaze fell upon the dark-clad grieving woman whose life’s misery was now compounded beyond bearing. Her much crying since the dread event had lapsed into an intolerable somber anguish without any foreseeable remedy during her few remaining years.
This was her only son, her only begotten son, a dead son of a dead father. What hope was left? If not for this otherwise chance meeting with someone whose life and mission could relate, who had always known His eventual fate and the dreadful effect it would have on His own mother, and who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” the bedraggled procession would continue onward to the place of death and perpetual remembrance.
But that was not going to happen. Not this time.
When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. [Luke 7:13-14a]
I believe He was weeping when he told the woman to stop weeping. What could she have been thinking? How incredulous she must have been in that brief moment. Do not weep? What? But she followed His movements. No one said a word. He walked over and placed his hand on the coffin. The procession stopped. The usual ongoing heartbreak and pain associated with life in this world stopped. All eyes were upon Him. He acted in such a way that no one had a chance to impede His interruption, as all were likely shocked at what was playing out before them. What is this stranger doing?
And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” [Luke 7:14b-16]
SPEAKING TO A DEAD MAN
When something is done, it is done. It is over. This is what we are taught. Life teaches us this, often brutally. Yet the New Testament narratives persist in telling us this is not necessarily true. Are these just a bunch of old stories? Did the Lord actually do all those impossible things? Once one considers such he may as well throw it all out—throw out the New Covenant, throw out the Gospels, throw it all out. It’s either all true or none of it is true. Though many have done this and will never express any real faith in the Lord, others have seen His hand. It may not be as dramatic as the events of this story but are life-changing nonetheless. In many cases it is not the Lord stopping a horrendous event (often because He will not violate human will) but giving us the otherwise impossible strength to deal with it and overcome it. Such is just as viable and powerful.
For example, though he gave this poor grieving widow her only son back, he did not stop the man from dying in the first place. He did not stop the death of His friend Lazarus. He was notified that Lazarus was sick but purposely waited two days before he headed over there. His sisters suffered great grief. He also did not stop His own death and thus allowed His mother to suffer terribly as a consequence of it. But in all three cases He raised the dead. In two cases he brought great joy to grieving mothers by doing something otherwise impossible.
Everyone will die. We know the above two guys died twice. But the Lord promises that those who have faith in Him will rise again. There is a resurrection coming for all. Some will be resurrected to eternal life.
In the meantime it could well be the case that something has died that the Lord wants to resurrect in the here and now. Maybe it’s something that suffered death as a result of spiritual attack and warfare. Maybe it exists in a weakened condition needing a spiritual jolt to live again.
Whatever is attempted for the Lord will suffer attack. Some attacks are powerful. Sometimes such attacks succeed. It could be that the attack was so potent and soul wrenching that one cannot muster the strength, ability, or desire to fight back effectively. One wonders of how many things the Lord wanted done that never got done due to losing spiritual battles. Sometimes we do fight back but can’t quite get there. We try. We give maximum effort. We exhaust ourselves in the attempt. And we still know we must try again until we finally succeed.
Regardless of how it all works out or what is supposed to happen, don’t ever forget that the Lord in fact spoke to a dead man. He did it more than once. Imagine the people standing around that heard it. And then, shockingly, the dead man also heard it and actually responded.
The dead man sat up and began to speak. [Luke 7:15] [1]
Is there something the Lord may be telling us?
© 2019 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[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.
WANT TO KNOW WHO THE REAL DECEIVERS ARE? HERE’S A HINT:
When their actions are the opposite of their rhetoric.
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TRAITS OF THE PHARISEES
The people who put on a big show spouting on endlessly in their bold bloviations do not care whatsoever if their speech is the opposite of their actions. In fact, their speech is designed to hide their actions. What they say is not what they do.
Therefore, if one is swayed by the talk without investigating the walk, they will be hopelessly deceived. They simply do not grasp the fact that they are being manipulated. They are being tricked into joining the mass support class.
“HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR.”
The Lord Jesus warned us about this. He exposed this trait of the Pharisees. But the majority always either reject the warning or are simply too dense to understand it. Those who have the lazy tendency to believe anything they are told simply need a grand presentation on the part of the Pharisees in order to enforce their laziness. In other words, if you dress up a lowlife huckster to the point that he or she appears to be a legitimate and honest proponent of truth, the majority believes what they see and what they hear at face value instead of making an investigation behind the scenes.
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” [Matthew 23:1-13][1]
© 2019 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[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.
REVEALING THE ILLUSION: SIMULATED IMITATIONS OF ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY
The religious worlds that many Christians happen to exist within are likely mere illusions…
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There is only one original Christianity.
There are many imitations of original Christianity.
Most Christians exist in one of the many imitations.
The imitations are not spiritual reality but only possess some aspects of spiritual reality.
There is not enough truth or reality in these imitations to make any substantial difference in the spiritual world.
The majority of members in the imitations feel just fine within their imitations and both give and gain continuous support and affirmation from one another that they are in the right place.
The Lord had total control and authority in the spiritual world. We see this in His ministry. We do not see this in many of the imitations though some imitations are closer than others.
Consider this on a percentage scale: The Lord’s real curriculum, the one He taught, is 100% correct. All imitations of His teachings have eliminated some percentage of His teachings and replaced them with other teachings, understandings, or incorrect interpretations. This waters down His overall curriculum and reduces its effectiveness. So let’s say one imitation (denomination or whatever) is 90%, another is 60%, and another is only 30%. These imitations are lacking the fullness of His curriculum and can therefore not manifest the results He achieved. Even lacking 10% is making what remains for the most part ineffective and allows a path for the enemy to invade.
The existence of imitations is almost always due to (1) Someone or someones wanting to gain and maintain control instead of surrendering to His full control, and (2) Introducing a teaching, a doctrine, a way of thinking, a precept, etc, that He never taught.
Again, the only way to get it right and have the exact results He had is to believe everything He taught, surrender to Him completely, obey Him completely, and teach exactly that which He taught. How else can one be His disciple, or follower, if one doesn’t do everything He said to do? Obeying the Lord partially simply doesn’t work. It causes a relationship problem.
This is why most Christians end up by their own choices in man-made Christian imitations, some of which are possibly also influenced by the invisible bad guys. The results that the Lord had are simply not there. The people involved are deceived. They believe they are in the real world of the Lord but are actually in a simulated world. The simulated worlds cannot produce the fruit He produced or the fruit of those who followed Him in the beginning produced. That they did it proves it can be done. They achieved it. We must follow their example as they followed His.
The simulated, illusory Christian imitation worlds are thus usually completely unproductive on a spiritual level and in the spiritual world. Because total surrender to the Lord does not exist in these places, (because the people there have never completely surrendered), sin is present, primarily disobedience and unbelief. These are often well-hidden and are based on ignorance due to trusting the wrong people. These sins are further compounded by an insistence that the members are right regardless of the actual facts or obvious lack of fruit.
Alternative fruit is put forth. False reasons for authenticity and legitimacy are put forth. A stubborn attitude ensues. People become so persuaded and conditioned by their incomplete Christian belief systems that they insist they are right when, according to the real teachings of the Lord, which can be relatively easily verified by New Covenant Scripture, they are clearly wrong. But they can’t see it from where they are at since they exist in the midst of an illusion. They have not only rejected further truth but reject searching for it.
The only solution is for one to go back to the beginning and adopt the full curriculum of the Lord. To facilitate that process, one must develop a complete love for the truth. One must be willing to let go of untruth. One must receive the Holy Spirit. In time the blinders will come off. One will gain eyes to see and ears to hear.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” [John 16:13]
The problem with buying into a Christian imitation is that one buys into an illusion. One invests in something that is not real on a spiritual level. And because one’s interests become so powerfully vested and interwoven socially and possibly economically, one prefers the simulation to reality, and will even reject leaving if they ever figure it out, preferring the mere promise of fruit that is never actually produced to the real spiritual fruit of the real kingdom of the Lord which is always being produced. It is often the case that people refuse to leave the illusion due to conditioned fear. After a while, the subservient believers in the false illusion grow tired from never seeing the reality they desire and become mentally sluggish though strident in their religious repetitions, as if sticking to an empty game plan will eventually work (it never will). This is why the following prophecy of Isaiah appears often in the New Covenant Scriptures:
“‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’” [Matthew 13:14-15]
The Pharisee religious leaders, a very small group that ruled over the mass laity under their control, created a religious simulation in which they were the chief beneficiaries, in that they possessed not only religious control but also, because they were lovers of money, great financial benefits and economic control, especially by being in league with the Sadducees. The Sadducees controlled the temple complex and were also in bed with the Roman government. This means they benefited from having governmental and economic control over the then current nation of the Jews/Israel.
The Pharisees and Sadducees differed in that the Sadducees only followed the written Torah (superficially) and eschewed any belief in an unseen spiritual world or resurrection. They did not agree with the Pharasiac man-made Oral Law, which in its purest essence, was the teaching fabric of the religious illusion they created.
These facts should sound familiar because all Christian imitations have their own version of an oral law put forth by the leaders thereof that serves to amalgamate the membership. It trumps pure Scripture and thus overrides the original teachings of the Lord Jesus and the clear example of His original followers whether the imitation members realize it or not. Most do not.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. [Matthew 7:24-29] [1]
© 2018 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[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.
Invasion of the (Invisible) Body Snatchers: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [Matthew 13:10-13]
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Everything false and deceptive has a dual nature.
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There is the outer form, the one presented to the world which makes use of spectacle and illusion.
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And then there is the inner form. It is unseen and hidden. Few can perceive it. Few know of its presence outside those that are part of the delusion.
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The inner form wears a costume—the outer form—which it presents as its actual form…
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Q: Why?
A: Because the inner form does not operate in good faith. It is stealthy by nature. It has a hidden agenda.
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OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND
The aim of the inner form is to fool the public by putting forth a false outer form, that which is essentially mere window dressing. People are drawn toward it and eventually taken in by it.
In its best manifestation, the inner form within is hidden by the outer form without to the point that the inner form becomes completely invisible and effectively ceases to be.
Throughout history, the majority of people have often been deceived into thinking the outer form they see is the only form there is. Because they never see or perceive the inner form, they believe it does not exist.
Much of the reason the majority of people do not believe there is any actual inner sinister presence is because their natural senses are overwhelmed by the outer pretentious costume.
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
Hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) Greek. (1) One who answers, an interpreter, (2) An actor, stage player, (3) A dissembler, pretender, hypocrite [2]
There is a reason stage actors and orators have traditionally depended on ostentatious costuming and loud, somewhat strange methods of speaking. Their voices must be loud and clear enough to be projected to the farthest seats and end of the crowd. They must never miss a beat in their speaking in order to keep the attention of the audience. Distractions are anathema. They must command attention at all times. That’s why they are there. The audience must be riveted upon their every move and word.
This is also the reason costuming, or branding, is so important.
Of the five senses, only two are most applicable to the thespian art and therefore must be appropriated fully by the stage player. These two senses are: Sight and Hearing.
Stage productions must do everything possible to grab the full attention of the entire audience and maintain it from beginning to end for any chance at all to be successful.
In former times this depended greatly on the appearance, voice, and emotive ability of each actor, especially the lead actor, including gaudy costuming, quasi-gymnastic bodily movements, and extreme facial expressions.
It was all pretend, of course, and completely overblown. It was not real and everyone knew this, but everyone also wanted to be entertained. Everyone was mindful of the few people in their lives that possessed the ability to command attention in social groups. They also knew that some of those people were mere put-ons, having learned how to take advantage of others by their looks, charm, natural skills, confidence, and speaking ability.
The best ended up on stages making good livings at being nothing more than super-emotive fakes. They could turn it on in a second and right back off again once the curtain dropped with most spectators being none the wiser.
In these times, the success of the two-faced process has gained considerably. Many millions are completely fooled not only by the false appearance of the body snatchers, but are completely oblivious to anything beneath the surface.
Image is Everthing.
As a result, the world is quickly becoming a purely surface-oriented entity. Motives and morals no longer matter. It is a world dominated by the present, by phonies, photographs, illusion, tweets, and sound bites.
The inner form has completely disappeared. The outer form has taken over.
CONFUSED BY LIES, BLINDED BY SIN
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men, we grope like those who have no eyes… [Isaiah 59:1-10] [1]
RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCE ART
In the first centuries AD, it did not take long for the emergence of those with a hidden agenda to make use of stages, clerical costuming, acting skills, and theater props to appropriate and further their personal and denominational cause.
They had joined the ancient cult of the outer form.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” [Matthew 7:15]
These were hypocrites—religious stage players of the highest order. They learned well from the originals and the best at their craft—the demonic enemies of the Lord Jesus.
Their spiritual descendants of the present have multiplied exponentially, invaded many other fields since that time, captured minds by the billions, and are presently all over the landscape.
Their dual-natured, double-dealing method and ability to deceive has made possible the acquiring of incredible wealth and power, the means to successfully sway public opinion toward their hidden agenda, and the diabolic skill to induce millions into believing in and accepting the opposite of that which the Lord Jesus died to give them.
But no one knows they are there. They are perfectly hidden by their outer form.
Unless one has eyes to see.
© 2015 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[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.
[2] Strong’s Concordance
Why the Lord Used Parables (And Why So Many Christians Still Don’t Get It). Part 3
And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”
With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples. [Mark 4:30-34]
Here we have the mysterious but distinct contrast to the real teaching method used by the Lord Jesus and that of imposters.
As mentioned in Part 2, religious indoctrination must be used when no relationship with God is present.
There is no doubt this is a “hard saying,” and certainly causes the inevitable stumbling when related to one’s Christian experience. But try to see it this way: Fathers do not put their small children in a school desk or pew in the living room and attempt to ram home all the teaching they must impart through a contrived institutional format.
Instead, they spend as much time as possible with their small children and allow them to ask questions. They are gentle and open, and allow each child to feel secure while also putting forth a mature stature which the child naturally respects.
The father spends time with his children, engages in activities with them, attempts to bless them with opportunities, and teaches by example. Love comes first, and as life’s opportunities for learning present themselves, fathers are ready with the same kind of instruction used by the Lord.
I don’t know why this is so hard to see, but it certainly is. Traditional, institutional Christianity has robbed the children of God from having that particular close learning relationship with the Lord He so wants to share with them. He loves His many children and He must feel very bad at being shut out by those who insist on regimenting and overly structuring Christian teaching, and turning spiritual revelation into classroom indoctrination.
Why can’t we see that the Lord Jesus never did this? Why do we justify it? Why do so few “Christian” men lack the spiritual backbone, intestinal fortitude, and outright nuticles to do something about it?
Though God, the Lord Jesus is also the greatest MAN who ever lived. He is manly to the core. When He walked this earth He presented the manliness and strength of God in a way that had never been done before. The real seekers of truth noted this, honored and respected it, and listened to the Man to the point of receiving His truth, His Spirit, and all that entailed.
Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?”
The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” [John 7:44-46]
Rather than respect Him and the gospel, His detractors and enemies took the opposite path. Whether intimidated or angered by Him, they simply could not possibly coexist with Him. They were the ones who insisted on cold, unfeeling, formalized religion that never touched the deep heart of people in great need.
The Lord, though, never used their false methods. He got down on the level of His disciples and taught with love and sincerity.
He had no church building.
He had no pulpit.
He had no narcissistic clergy distinctions whatsoever.
He did not need to prop Himself up or surround himself with or within some grand faux religious apparatus to appear genuine.
He was genuine by His love and manner. His disciples felt His love. They knew they were loved, the same way a little boy or little girl knows he or she is loved when daddy takes them fishing, or to the park, or plays a game with them, or shows them how to do stuff.
Is not this the very essence of mature servanthood and of the strong taking care of the weak? Instead of the strong becoming more strong and more enchriched and ruling over the weak?
For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete. [2Corinthians 13:9]
This is the heart of God. At best, some of the overly formalized regimented methods of clergyites might lead to a better understanding of God on possibly an elementary level, but can in no way reveal the Lord for who He really is. This is why all the patriarchs spent so much time alone with God out in the desert. It is why the apostle Paul did the same. They learned from God directly, and they brought home teachings and understandings no one else possessed.
Please consider the following:
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. [Galatians 1:11-12]
Paul had no New Testament. He had no formalized church to attend. How did he learn so much? Though he had no New Testament, he ending up writing much of it! How?
He says he did not receive the gospel from man.
He says the gospel he taught was not according to man.
He says He received the gospel he taught through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Think about it. No church. No Bible school. No seminary. No New Testament to memorize and learn from. No brothers or sisters around him all the time instructing him.
Paul received the gospel he preached through a direct revelation from God while he was out in the desert alone with God.
How do we know he got it right? And how do we know most “Christian” ministers get it wrong? Here’s how:
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom,
BUT IN DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER,
so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom
IN A MYSTERY, THE HIDDEN WISDOM WHICH GOD PREDESTINED BEFORE THE AGES TO OUR GLORY;
the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
[1 Corinthians 2:1-11] [1]
© 2014 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.
Why the Lord Used Parables (And Why So Many Christians Still Don’t Get It). Part Deux
Real Christians must always guard against religious indoctrination. The human mind in its fallen state is such that it has no reference to truth, no infrastructure toward a standard basis of spiritual knowledge and fact, and no ability to properly comprehend that which can only be spiritually discerned.
We do have a conscience, of course. A healthy though natural mind does have the ability to differentiate between good and evil to an extent, but because human beings are also willful creatures and, short of a born-again experience, rebellious toward God and the things of God, it also possesses the ability to veto one’s moral conscience.
In general terms, people always know in advance when they’re about to engage in wrong behavior if they follow a certain course their conscience is warning them against. Once doing the bad thing, one’s conscience confirms its earlier warning with an “I told you so” to further convict one, reinforce the fact that a wrong course was chosen, and warn further against the illicit action in the future.
And if that’s not enough, there is always the fruit of evil behavior that sprouts up in one’s life to give an individual further proof that the activity was bad.
Therefore, as the Word of God clearly states, even though unregenerate humanity is blinded by sin, human beings still have no excuses whatsoever for evil behavior and rebellion against God:
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. [Romans 1:20-25]
In this passage the apostle adds to the fact that we all possess a conscience with the further fact that the natural world all around us also reveals God and the difference between good and evil. One must remember that Paul wrote this long before what is now presented as fully accepted fact and believed wholeheartedly by most, including most “Christians”—the lie of human evolution—and that even then humanity had descended into a gross depravity regarding morality, truth, and mankind’s origins.
Because the nature of such depravity goes unregistered in a sinful mind, one fails to see the nature of the advancing disease as one cannot see the forest for the trees. Because of such gross distortion and moral compasses out of whack, and because of the rapid nature of the sin disease metastasizing throughout the human family, the majority are lost within the matrix and deceived about reality.
A faux reality has thus been constructed to deal with humanity’s distance from God which includes distance from God’s light, truth, and love. This very dark world is then made peace with, so to speak, and accepted as standard reality from which actual morality appears unreachable and impossible. The idea of evil remains, however, but evil is relegated to the realm of the grossly evil. Hence, regular human beings doing regular things according to this low denominational moral understanding are perceived as good and moral, though it is no such thing.
In other words, God’s righteous standard, if we all obeyed and practiced it, would result in a truly wonderful and loving world, while mankind’s faux moral construct is equivalent to an extremely low moral common denominator in which almost everyone can feel good about themselves regardless of pesky moral consciences that are most often shunned and put aside.
Picture a scale of ten in which the Lord’s holy life for all is seen as a 10 and mankind’s false moral standard as a 1. A 1 is relatively simple to achieve since it almost always involves no necessary attempt at achievement whatsoever, and one in which 95% are good people exhibiting moral behavior, as in, “Gimme a break. I’ve never killed anyone, dude. Back off,” meaning that murder and such sins cross the line but almost everything else is fine and dandy.
This all came about for the same reason that all the little five year old soccer players started getting little individual trophies several years ago. First of all, little kids’ soccer is a faux sport in which all the little ones run around trying to kick a fat ball. Real hard. Then they all get a trophy for participating as if they achieved something when they actually achieved nothing.
In contrast, the early days of Little League Baseball showcased the clear differential between those boys good enough to excel at the sport, often through very hard work, dedication, practice, and much playing time among themselves with no adults ever present, and those geeky ones who were quickly seen as possessing little or no talent and no passion for the game. Teams were formed, leagues were formed, and ONE team from each league received ONE team trophy, if anyone ever received a trophy at all. Most of the time there was no such thing. And there were certainly never any individual trophies.
The point here is that winning a championship meant something and that only the winners achieved anything. Even those in second place were seen as losers. This resulted in a very high standard and something one must work very hard at to become a winner.
Do we not see this almost exact dynamic in international Olympic sports? Only one person in each event wins the gold, and often by milliseconds. Imagine missing out on the gold by .001 of a second. You’re still a loser regardless of losing margin. Why even bother with silvers and bronzes? They didn’t win. There is no winning in placing second or third.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. [1Corinthians 9:24-27]
To sum up, the world’s standard of morality is actually no standard at all. Almost everyone considers himself or herself righteous. Pretty much everyone believes himself or herself to be a good, basically decent person whom God has no real problem with, if indeed there is a God. Everyone wins a trophy, whether they run around in circles doing nothing, sit on the field as a spectator watching the untoward activity around them, become distracted by butterflies, knowing or unknowingly join the other team, never touch the ball, whine and cry, or refuse to leave the sidelines. Everyone gets a juice box and a snack and a trophy and good wishes from doting parents though the majority never achieve squat.
The above is this world in a nutshell. Most people are oblivious of the spiritual world all around them. They are spiritually blind and deaf.
But some, a few, actually have spiritual ears and eyes that work, and they receive little radio signals they know must mean something but can’t quite figure out. They remain intrigued, wondering why they see things a tad differently, and is why the blindfolded majority perceive them as a tad off, or strange.
These are the ones who can be reached by a parable.
They do not respond to religious dogma or forced compliance to some hackneyed, subjective, incomplete, false, or fractured moral code. Though they don’t know what they’re looking for, they know what it is not. They reject faux substitutes. They travel on in search of the lost chord—the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—that unseen something they will know when they find it.
This is why they reject religious indoctrination. They know that within their weakened state of being prior to discovering truth that they possess the potential to be force fed faux drivel and indoctrinated against the very truth they seek, and they intrinsically know they must shun such brainwashing efforts by the great faker controllers.
Indeed, such religious controllers, especially those of the Unreal Christianity variety, are as much a part of the world’s faux moral low denominational construct as all other members, and are actually the most sinister of all in that they represent the devil’s last chance at stopping the searcher of truth on his or her path toward life.
It’s like getting detoured a few yards short of the finish line on a winning run. Real Christians, both before and after their born again experience, can never allow themselves to be cut off at the pass by the religious chucklehead posse.
They must press on toward truth and life. They must listen to their conscience, and respect their hearing ears and seeing eyes though the volume be low and the vision initially blurry.
These are the ones who can be reached by a parable.
“For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” [Mark 4:22-23] [1]
© 2014 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.
Why the Lord Used Parables (And Why So Many Christians Still Don’t Get It). Part 1
Most Christians are taught what the Lord’s parables mean without actually receiving their meanings from God. At best, teachers teach what others have received from God. At worst, there are substandard and completely wrong interpretations passed off as genuine.
This is the difference between religious dogma and divine revelation.
In that light, it is said that spiritual knowledge is gained in two ways: (1) book knowledge, or head knowledge, or gaining data empirically, or reading our Bibles to gain facts, etc, and (2) divine revelation.
The former is accessed by a working brain regardless of heart condition or spiritual proclivity. The latter, divine revelation, is gained through the Lord revealing something to our hearts—bypassing our heads (or possibly going through them).
And speaking of brains, it should be obvious to most people with brains that divine revelation is the best method. One might even say it is actually the only method, and here’s why:
We have millions of Christians who have been taught and dogmatized by the letter but actually have no understanding of the spirit (and much of the letter they are taught is not Biblical anyway). In fact, the majority of Christians worldwide are walking around in head knowledge, and the probable majority of those have very little head knowledge, (that’s what we pay the preacher/priest/minister for!), which means they have absolutely no spiritual knowledge whatsoever.
How then are they Christians? One must understand the concept of cultural Christianity to understand that calling oneself a Christian because one identifies with some aspect of denominational Christianity makes one no more a Christian than so many proponents of other religions—those who are such only because of outside circumstances and cultural/family pressure. Many Buddhists, for example, do not actually practice the full teachings of the Buddha but still consider themselves Buddhists.
It is no different with Christianity in the sense that most Christians do not practice or attempt to practice the full curriculum of the Lord Jesus and reject becoming real disciples.
Real Christianity is different from all other belief systems and religions (including Unreal Christianity) simply because it is not a belief system or religion. It is based on an actual personal relationship with the God of the Universe who revealed Himself to us as one of us—God became a human being.
Now, that in itself sounds completely weird to the natural mind and is thus summarily dismissed and denounced by most people right off the bat, which reveals something about the natural mind, of course.
Further rejection by the natural mind of spiritual knowledge follows, and the idea that we can know God and God wants to know us and we can talk to God etc. is also thus placed in that place where the down to earth put belief in little green men and off-the-wall dark conspiracies and haunted houses and “I see dead people” and Ray’s hearing voices out in his field and in short, weird stuff that only weird people take a liking to.
For non-believers this is understandable, but for all the so-called Christians who fall into this category it is beyond mind-boggling and completely proves my point: Most Christians want no part of all the “weird stuff” put forth in the Bible, but only the completely surface indoctrination and cultural low-denominational “refinement” that characterizes all dead forms of Christianity, much like the dead forms of Judaism during the Lord’s day which caused its proponents to reject the Lord Jesus outright.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [1Corinthians 2:12-14] [1]
© 2014 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.
