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MESSIANIC PROPHETS IN CAPTIVITY: STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND

The ancient Hebrew prophets spoke of the Messiah often. They told of a future day when He would arrive. It would obviously be the greatest Great Awakening of all time.

PROPHETIC ACCOUNTS

And His name will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6]

For historical perspective regarding the prophetic Messianic timeline, the prophet Isaiah, who was quoted by the Lord Jesus several times in the Gospel accounts, dates to the mid-to-late 700s BC. This means the beginning of his ministry was almost eight centuries before the Lord’s.

In his composite work The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, well-known author and speaker Josh McDowell highlights sixty-one major fulfilled Messianic prophecies. [1] The total number of fulfilled prophecies is actually much higher and an exact number depends on interpretation, comprehensive context, and detailed analysis. Suffice it to say, however, that the total exceeds 300! Specific sources cite 324 [2] and as many as 333. [3] In Isaiah’s written work alone, one source has listed as many as 122 fulfilled prophecies of the coming Messiah, each and every one fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, of course. [4] It is impossible that anyone else could have qualified to fulfill these many prophecies to even a slight degree.

Isaiah is characterized as a major prophet, primarily due to his book and extensive prophetic work. There are other prophets which could also be characterized the same but have no distinct books with their respective names in the title, such as Elijah and Elisha, whose works are recorded in the historical books of 1Kings and 2Kings.

JUDGMENT FOR SIN

The prophets with which we are likely most familiar date to either the time before the Babylonian Captivity, a severe judgment against the wayward Kingdom of Judah, or during it. This judgment began in circa 606/605 BC and lasted a prophesied 70 years. Before that key event, going back centuries, the Word of God had always arrived and in a clear and concise manner. This continued during the Captivity by a select group of Messianic prophets.

It must be noted that at the time of the Babylon judgment, the three-tribe Southern Kingdom of Judah was all that remained of a previously much larger United Kingdom of Israel which was composed of all twelve tribes (actually thirteen) and had existed from the time of the first king, Saul, who began his reign in 1050 BC. Following Saul, King David, through his many wars, excellent leadership, and heart for God, built the kingdom into the expanded state in which it existed for over a century until it was broken up into two separate kingdoms by internal strife in 930 BC after the death of Solomon (the third king). These two realms were the ten-tribe Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (comprised of the predominant tribe of Judah, plus Benjamin and Levi), each with its own kingly lines of succession.

The same manner of judgment against Judah at the hands of Babylon was also earlier rendered against the larger ten tribe Northern Kingdom over a century before by the Assyrians. The conquest by Assyria began in approximately 740 BC. This eventuated in the removal of the Israelite tribes located east of the Jordan River—Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh—to locations in Assyria. The invasion of Israel proper then commenced centered on the central section of Samaria. The conquest was completed in 722 BC when the rest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel population was also exiled to Assyria—the remaining seven and a half tribes—though many inconsequential stragglers remained. Samaria was later repopulated with other foreign groups who intermarried in part with the remaining native inhabitants and is why the area was later deemed a place of impure Israelite blood.

These two major judgments against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah differed however, in that the native tribes of the North were deported permanently with no allowed return, whereas the Southern Kingdom (Judah) would return after a 70 year hiatus. The tribes of the Northern Kingdom were apparently unredeemable since they had ventured so far into sin, idolatry, abominable practices, and gross degradation. Though Judah also engaged in great sin and likely deserved the same fate, a core of the nation had to be preserved for future purposes, the most obvious and greatest being the forthcoming eventual arrival of the Messiah. This is in part why the times called for Messianic prophets and their major works filled with detailed accounts of both the times and future prophetic events. (After the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Judah was later referred to as Israel also since it was all that was left and became the de facto Israelite nation.)

PROPHETS IN CAPTIVITY

The three primary prophets chosen for this difficult time were Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Prior to and after the start of the Babylonian Captivity in 606/605 BC the clear prophetic Word continued primarily through these men whose lives began before the great exile and continued throughout the first twenty year period thereof. This was the initial destruction phase which lasted until the fateful summer of 586 BC. It was on the infamous date of Av 9 of that year that Jerusalem and the 380 year-old Temple of Solomon were destroyed by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar. Afterwards, much of the remaining population was taken captive in the third and final deportation to Babylon.

Even though a sizable number of the population living in Judah was exiled per the nation’s judgment and was composed in the main of the nation’s best and brightest, Jeremiah only records a relatively small number of 4,600 deportees (See Jeremiah 52:28-30) though some authorities have estimated it to be as large as 20,000. There is also some apparent discrepancies regarding the deportation dates. Whatever the case, though these numbers of the exiled appear small relative to the overall population, there remained an existent segment of Israelites in the land left to survive on their own, primarily in the southern tribal areas of Judah and Benjamin (though a few migrated north). Yet it was likely the case that those who remained had the least chance for survival (or possibly no chance). This was due to God’s determination to inflict the strongest of judgments:

“Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’ [Ezekiel 33:27-29] [5]

Of these three major prophets associated with the Exile, only Jeremiah remained in the land for the initial twenty years until the great destruction of 586 BC. Though history does not record his exact birth year, it can be deduced to have occurred in circa 650-648 BC or possibly a little later. Jeremiah then began his prophetic ministry as a young man during the reign of the righteous King Josiah. He remained in his native land until sometime after 586 BC when the prophet was taken by force by his own people to Egypt, a place where many Israelites had been relocating in prior years. The time of his death is also lost to history though some sources estimate it took place in Egypt in about 570 BC.

The prophet Ezekiel was born in 623/622 BC and was part of the second deportation to Babylon in 597 BC. He began his ministry at 30 years of age like the Lord Jesus. Ezekiel’s year of death is unknown as well but is also estimated at the year 570 somewhere in Mesopotamia. The prophet Daniel lived from 620-536 BC though his date of death is an estimate based on the year of his last prophetic account. His life likely extended beyond that date, possibly to as late as 530 BC when he would have reached 90 years old. After being deported to Babylon as a young man in 605 BC he lived out the remainder of his life there, eventually seeing the same judgment inflicted upon Babylon when it was conquered by Persia. All three of these prophets never returned to their homeland and each were also victimized by the sad events of the Babylonian Exile.

With regard to other prophets of that time, Habakkuk, of which little is known, lived and preached in the range of approximately 612-598 BC according to some sources. If so he would have witnessed at least the first deportation and likely the second. Reportedly a contemporary of Jeremiah, he refers to the Chaldeans (Babylonians) in his short book of three chapters with strong sentiments and heartfelt complaints.

Thus we see that the Lord had good men stationed in the right place at the right time to give a clear and precise accounting of the events of that significant historical period. The Lord always kept His people informed though the majority either never listened or rejected His Word as well as the men who delivered it. Sound familiar? Nevertheless, the Messianic prophets were raised up and anointed to speak the Word of God to His people, to teach, guide, and direct them, and to apply ongoing necessary correctives and even severe rebukes.

There was always much need for the latter since the nation of Israel was constantly going astray.

[2] See: https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/

[3] See: www.preceptaustin.org/messianic_prophecies

[4] See: www.preceptaustin.org/messianic-prophecies-in-isaiah

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Ancient Israel, Babylon, Biblical Prophecy, Daniel, Discipleship, Ezekiel, God's Judgment, Isaiah the Prophet, Jeremiah, Jesus is the Messiah, Judgment, Lord Jesus, Messiah, National Judgment, Prophecy, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Rejecting God's Prophets, The Great Awakening

THE REAL CHOSEN PEOPLE (PART 2)

Oct 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

I wrote and posted this article in March of 2012 as the second of a series. It revealed the New Testament definition of “The Chosen People.” What follows is an updated version.

SAVING ISRAEL FROM ITSELF

The Pharisees and Sadducees were so intent on stopping the Lord Jesus and His followers they unwisely enlisted the help of the belligerent Zealots. This proved to be an inauspicious decision that resulted in national disaster a generation later when powerful warmongering Zealot armies and their false-Messiah leaders took control of the nation and the national city of Jerusalem in a winner-take-all fight against Imperial Rome.

We see the beginning echo of this unfortunate choice at the Lord’s trial in the choosing of the Zealot Barabbas over the Lord. This unrepentant criminal and likely murderer was released from prison by popular demand while the same vociferous crowd demanded the Messiah be crucified. As the man’s name clearly indicates, the choosing of the “son of the father” (which could further indicate “fathers”) illustrates the malicious nature of the choice.

In the Lord’s time this loose collection of brigands which came to be known as Zealots in the early first century AD remained relatively small and incohesive. The party existed primarily as a hyper aggressive small-scale terroristic militarist movement intent on striking back at Rome due to what they perceived as its tyrannical treatment of the otherwise independent Israelite people in their own land.

The Roman Republic’s entry began almost a full century before in 63BC during the ongoing civil war which ensued after the Israelite queen Alexandra-Salome died in 67BC and the two heirs, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fought each other for political control. This was yet one more event which demanded outside control to properly govern the region. The Roman general and statesman Pompey had already been moving east since being authorized that same year putting out fires, fighting battles, taking territory, and establishing Roman control across the northern Mediterranean regions. After capturing Syria in 64BC he decided to take advantage of the internal conflict in Judaea and head south.

One might note that this Israelite civil fight also involved the two still somewhat nascent but established major religious parties: The Sadducees sided with Aristobulus and the Pharisees remained true to John Hyrcanus II. Therefore, the Israelite civil war was a religious civil war as well. General Pompey entered the fray in Judaea and then after a siege took Jerusalem and captured the temple. Once establishing Roman control he returned home a hero. Rome then annexed much of the former Israelite kingdom, primarily Galilee and Judaea. This marked the beginning of the end of the independent Hasmonean Dynasty which eventually ceased to exist in 37BC when Herod the Great became the Roman client king. This set the stage for several profound future events culminating with the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.

CHOOSING THE CHOSEN

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;

My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He leads justice to victory.

And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” [Matthew 12:15-21]

In these days when everyone is a Christian and Christianity is watered-down to a consistency barely above water itself, why do we think God even cares about doing any choosing? This is how far fake Christianity has traveled. There is hardly any distinction at all between many so-called Christians and a world going to hell. And it is the touchy, thin-skinned, aggressively defensive and convicted Unchosen itself that is often first to speak out strongly against any perceived judgment, however slight, regarding its perceived standing in God. The motto of real Christians, on the other hand, is thus:

“Talk about me if you please, but I’ll talk about you on my knees.”

Where in this country is there a voice that represents the real presence of God? Where is the voice that distinguishes truth from error and fake, dry, dead, boring lifeless expressions of faux Christianity from the real thing? Those who have dissolved the life-giving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will have to account for it. All those who have been deceived by their “other gospel” will rise up against them at the Judgment, not that it will matter then.

Why does one think the people in hell will be gnashing at each other with their teeth like a pack of wild dogs? There is the clear indication that the unchosen do not agree with their ultimate status.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22:2-14]

This is a perfect illustration of God’s selection process. It goes like this:

(1) The first thing the king does is send out invitations. He makes his choices based on his own criteria. But these criteria must be based on those whom he considers His friends, relatives, and select subjects of his kingdom.

(2) What do the invited guests do? They refuse. They ignore him. They ignore the invitation. They treat the king with supreme indifference and disrespect. They are all completely unwilling to attend the wedding feast.

(3) Curious as to why no one wants to come after having been chosen, the king sends out another group to ask the invitees yet again, explaining how much trouble he has gone to, how much He has prepared, and how much he really wants them all to come and share in his joy. The slaves tell everyone what a great time will be had. There will be barbecued oxen and fatted livestock and a great dinner! My son is getting married and I want you all to come!

(4) This time the invitees not only continued to reject the king but some of them actually mistreated the king’s slaves, and they even killed them! What would compel the invited guests to resort to killing the messenger boys sent out by a loving king? (“Hey Joe, check out this story in the paper. Some dude up north was throwing a wedding for his son and one idiot killed the mailman when he got his invitation.”)

(5) Then what? The king was enraged! So He sent his army, executed the murderers, and torched their sorry city. I mean, all they had to do was politely decline. Why all the rage and murder about a simple wedding invitation?

(6) Now the king decides He is just going to invite everyone he can find. He no longer makes any judgment whatsoever on who may be qualified to come to the wedding. Those who were qualified proved themselves to be completely unworthy. He therefore sends out his slaves to invite one and all, whether good or bad. This time, he ended up with a packed house. His estate was filled to the gills with the rabble of the countryside. They must have thought themselves to be impossibly blessed. No one had ever done anything like this for them before. “Huh? You want little old nobody nothing me to go to a wedding at the king’s estate? Thanks!” They all wasted no time in taking showers and getting their fancy wedding duds on, however humble, and high-tailed it to the big barbecue. The king was most happy!

(7) But all was not perfect. You see, there was this one guy who made no acknowledgement at all of the great thing that happened to him. He didn’t consider himself fortunate and honored to be invited. He didn’t try to get cleaned-up. In fact, he had so little respect for the proceedings that he didn’t even put on a wedding garment. He just kind of wondered in off the street with no expression on his face loosely holding an invitation. The king confronted the man. He even called him his friend. But the man had no answer regarding his lack of proper attire. As a result, he was effectively thrown into hell. To close out the story, the Lord Jesus said: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

There are three kinds of people in this story:

(A) Those who are called and chosen but do not respect the king and reject his invitation, some of whom even kill the king’s servants. By their own decisions, they revoke their called and chosen status.

(B) Those who are called but are not chosen because they do not properly respect the king or his invitation and dress incorrectly.

(C) Those who are called and chosen because they respect the king, honor his invitation, and dress correctly.

The man without the wedding garment was masquerading as a real Christian. The “wedding clothes” represent the robe of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift. It cannot be earned but can be accepted after one shows the proper respect and honor for the King, and also who properly repents, trusts, and obeys:

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. [Isaiah 61:10]

The following verses give us an indication of what God requires with reference to the appropriate wedding clothes which Isaiah had described so wonderfully in the preceding verse. Please understand that no will enter joyfully into the presence of the King and remain without being properly and respectfully attired:

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” [Revelation 3:4-6]

“Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” [Revelation 3:14-20] [1]

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Tags: America, Ancient Israel, Ancient Jerusalem, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christian Pharisees, False Forms of Christianity, For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen, Hasmonean Dynasty, Hebrews, Isaiah the Prophet, Israelites, Jesus is the Messiah, Judea, Lord Jesus, New Testament, Parable of the Wedding Feast, Pharisees, Pompey, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sadducees, The Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD, The Great Awakening, The Real chosen People, The Romans, The Wedding Clothes, Zealots

WHO WILL SUPPORT THE LORD JESUS?

Oct 19

Posted by RJ Dawson

He gave everything He had to give. His love is total. He in turn asks exactly the same for those who would follow Him. Who will support the Lord Jesus?

CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES TODAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]

Serving the Lord Jesus is a 100% proposition. If one is to follow Him then one follows Him always. If one is to honor Him then one honors Him always. If one is to obey His teachings and commandments then one does not pick and choose but obeys His entire curriculum.

I coined the term Unreal Christianity many years ago. It refers to all the fake Christianity in the world and those fake Christians who claim to serve the Lord Jesus but do not. As it is in regard to the first two of the Ten Commandments, which text will follow shortly, the majority of Christians and their faux leaders believe in and serve the mere artificial religious constructs of men which exist as counterfeits and are only loosely based on real Christianity. It is a way to assuage one’s convicting conscience by engaging in a deception to fool it but one actually only fools oneself. Thus, Unreal Christianity in its many fake forms is nothing more than the creation of a deception to suit oneself and can never act as a true discipleship vehicle.

It is exactly the same when one attempts to create a god to suit oneself which is what the Second Commandment actually refers to. The real and only God will have none of it!

For greater spiritual light and understanding of the real meaning of this commandment, I wrote the following commentary and explanation of the Second Commandment in my book Real Christianity:

In Exodus 20:4–6, the second of the Ten Commandments flatly states: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

The word “idol” is translated as “graven image” in many Bible versions. The Hebrew word is pecel, and implies an image of a man or animal made from metal or wood. The word “likeness” in the stated verses is from the Hebrew temuwnah. This word has a more general definition—“form, representation, likeness”—but suggests three dimensionality. Both of these words connote something fashioned or shaped to be worshipped or served.

Hence, image building is designed to cover inherent flaws and promote a false representation of reality—a three-dimensional fashioning of an object other than God to be submitted to, and thus, to serve. Therefore, the intention of the Second Commandment is to protect God’s people from the temptation of honoring another above Him and consequently losing or never establishing both one’s blessed relationship with the Lord, and one’s dominion in Him. The most fully evolved form of an idol today is a living human being.[1]

GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH [1Timothy 3:16]

In light of what I just stated, let us read the text of the first two of the Ten Commandments once again. While reading, try to look through the lens of the revelation of our Lord Jesus who revealed Himself to the world as the one God of the OT. More importantly, ponder His actual identity as He made Himself known to His own people:

¹ Then God spoke all these words, saying,

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

⁵ “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶ “but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” [Exodus 20:1-6]

During His time on earth the Lord Jesus was the perfect representation of the Father. He was God manifest in flesh. We see then another clear reason why the unbelieving religionists and religious leaders of His time so thoroughly rejected Him. It was in regard to the following:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

By stating this, using the exact wording, the Lord Jesus was applying Exodus 20:6 to Himself.

He did such things often. Such statements exist throughout the four gospels. Therefore, as a few learned men had deduced in the past, this Man was either God or He was crazy. There is no in-between.

Of course, He continued to prove that He was God regardless of those who refused to believe then or refuse at present. This is why actual belief in the Lord Jesus has always been an all-or-nothing proposal. It is simply impossible that there can be anything in the middle. Hence we have this forced duality that continues to present itself as saint or sinner, sheep or goat, wheat or tare, and heaven or hell. We are either with Him 100% or we are not with Him at all. A real Christian must therefore give Him his or her entire heart. It does no good to only circumcise a mere portion of one’s heart.

This is why, in this temporary fallen world, we have either real Christianity or Unreal Christianity. There is no such thing as 50% Christianity or even 90% Christianity. There is only the real and the unreal. Regarding belief in and following God, it was exactly the same in the very beginning with all the patriarchs and prophets. It was the same with Moses. One was either with God completely and absolutely or one was not with Him at all.

The Lord Jesus said the same thing as applied to God, quoting the following words about Him by an OT prophet over 700 years before His time, which perfectly conjoin the truth of God’s true identity in the Old Covenant and the New and also reveals real believers and fake ones:

“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. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘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.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” [Matthew 13:13-17][2]

OUR CHALLENGING PRESENT

There was a time when Christians could get away with being halfway and partial or not at all in that it was relatively easy to keep up a Christian masquerade and still be accepted as legitimate. In the past, due to relatively good times in an apparent majority Christian nation, many faux bros could give forth the impression of being successful spiritually or appear that way enough to gain general acceptance and life success. Christians in general were simply less discriminating, less aware, and more easily deceived. In other words, doing one’s Christianity was easier. But though this former truth is far worse now in that the Christian masquerade has blown up like an exponential balloon with fake Christians everywhere emerging like sugar ants from the woodwork, the end result makes it that much more difficult for real Christians. This is why present times are such that successful spiritual warfare is now mandatory if a real Christian is to survive since a two front spiritual war has opened up featuring one’s usual obvious enemies but also one’s “Christian” enemies.

A quarter century ago during the “good times” I predicted in my book Real Christianity that Christian persecution in America would increase dramatically in the not too distant future. This is what I wrote then:

Christians have largely rejected the work of their most distant ancestors, and have lost due respect for the truths they taught, and the One who taught them.

Will we continue to be so blind and arrogant that we place the blame for this fact on them, rather than ourselves? They are the ones who built the foundation. They are the ones who paid in blood to set the example which all successive generations were to follow. If their very immature spiritual juniors of the present continue in this vein of quiet mockery and religious complacency, the Unreal Church of the Conformed will grow even larger with greater determination against truth. In fact, the bloody persecution of real Christians will expand from the present hell-holes of this world and will soon go international. Every nation will take part. The greatest enemy of the present day community of called-out ones, however, are not modern Herods and Neros, but modern religionists intent on protecting their turf.

And who are these chief persecutors? Who are the new Christian Pharisees? In what form do they exist today? Who are the ones influenced by the same spirit that gave Saul of Tarsus his commission to fight the Church? Such deceived ones are much closer to all of us than we think. Through their resolute and unwavering stand for their chosen form of Christianity, they have allowed themselves to become the very image of the unreal.

Our greatest enemy wears virgin wool.[3]

We are now there at that very place I predicted would come and actually have been for a while. But it is only happening for the most part to real Christians. (The devil is simply not afraid of Unreal Christianity. Why should he be?) Also, it is actually a lot worse than most Christians realize and this is proved by so many Christians essentially throwing in the towel and subverting themselves to the enemy’s playbook with very little if no fight left at all. Again, without successful spiritual warfare one cannot survive.

Unreal Christians, to their credit or discredit depending on one’s perspective, have therefore accomplished an excellent balance of being socially acceptable by both their respective Christian communities and the sinful decadent secular culture growing more degenerate by the day, and are thus compromised enough that Christian persecution has not and will not come to most of them. In fact, most of them are actually the chief persecutors of the real guys, which was the same dynamic in the first century.

Funny how that works.

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Tags: America, American Culture, Choose For Yourselves This Day Whom You Will Serve, Christian Persecution, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, First Century, Graven Images, Idol Worship, Idolatry, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Isaiah the Prophet, Jesus is God, Lord Jesus, Love is the Fulfillment of the Law, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Religious Culture, Spiritual Warfare, Ten Commandments, The Great Awakening, The Signs Of The Times, Unreal Christianity

THE DAY OF PENTECOST 2021

May 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

Today is Pentecost. It is the 50^th day since the anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection. On this date almost two thousand years ago the Holy Spirit outpouring began.

In the beginning God initiated the initial Great Awakening. He brought forth a great spiritual event heavily prophesied in Old Testament literature and in His own ministry. He told everyone with ears to hear what would happen and it is apparent that only very few had such ears. As recounted here often, the Lord Jesus had preached to tens of thousands at the populous height of His ministry. They came from near and far. Word had spread rapidly. For a while He was the most sought after and popular Israelite in history. But alas, like all things spiritually solid and truthful in a fickle, unbelieving, sinful, and shallow religious world, His popularity and support began to fade.

WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?

Though it was the greatest of Messianic ages in that a probable majority were aware of the prophetic times, there was much difference of opinion and confusion over what the Messiah must be. Most Israelites were obviously put off with their station in life and with the status of their nation as a whole, though it was no longer much of a nation. From the heights of the later portion of King David’s time a thousand years before when the Lord had brought together a roughly unified people after the defeat of Saul and emerging Israelite interlopers intent on the throne, a time not unlike the heights of Joshua’s conquest when the warrior David regained and established much territory, Israel began its long and steady decline. David’s son Solomon, like King Saul before him, had started out well but fell into sin and eventually descended into abject idol worship and tyranny. All that David had gained was lost not soon after Solomon’s death when the nation was split in two. From there it was a precipitous fall. The great nation began hemorrhaging and never recovered. Over the next millennium God did all He could to keep His believing remnant intact for His eventual arrival.

The Lord’s ministry experienced a similar pattern. The tens of thousands of followers were reduced over time due to various reasons, though He was as powerful and consistent as ever. It appeared as though His school might end. The Lord even alluded to the possibility of being reduced completely in the following passage:

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” [John 6:66-67]

By the time the great prophesied and hoped-for event of Pentecost arrived, only a relative fraction remained as His faithful followers.

The people of the Lord’s time thus looked back with great remorse over what had become of a once profound nation and also seethed with anger over its centuries-long perceived mistreatment at the hands of various world powers. Little did they know or appreciate that such powers—Babylon, Medo-Persia, the Macedonian Greeks, and now the hated Romans—were actually being used to keep the nation intact. Without the strong unifying governmental structure applied from without, the Israelites would have easily destroyed themselves years before from within. Which brings to mind a statement of God made early in their history which encapsulates and defines Israel’s true identity that it would never be able to slough off or prove otherwise:

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people… [Exodus 32:9 KJV]

This descriptive term arrived in the English language in 1526, undoubtedly associated with William Tyndale’s first printed English translation of the New Testament of the same year, the first to be translated directly from the Greek. Most of the much later King James Version (1611) was taken directly from Tyndale’s version, though not credited to him. The echo of the preceding statement of God referencing the early Israelites in Exodus 32:9 is found in its only New Testament occurrence, translated by Tyndale and spoken by Stephen, telling the world that nothing had changed in the intervening centuries:

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” [Acts 7:51KJV]

And they still resist the Holy Ghost. And most Christians do likewise. In fact, Christianity has taken such stiffneckedness to entirely new levels beyond that of its early Israelite forebears. In somewhat reasonable defense of the Pharisees et al who pretty much had no impulse control whatsoever when it came to any perceived slights against their prideful exalted religious standing and highly slanted, opinionated, and goofy interpretations of OT Scripture, they never had any hands-on frame of reference to Pentecostal happenings as later Christians did. In fact, the history of Christianity in the world contains a world class stiffnecked opposition toward all things New Covenant spiritual that actually puts the rebellious Pharisees to shame, if that were possible, and thus evokes the notion, judging by having so much in common, that those same Pharisees had somehow morphed into fake Christians.

RESISTANCE AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT

There are several strange non-New Testament beliefs held by some Christians who are not so clear on the concept regarding the Holy Spirit’s identity. Many Christians actually believe that God is literally three different persons. They believe this because they were taught it. They did not acquire this belief from the Lord’s pure teachings or the New Covenant writings because it simply isn’t there. Call it an interpolation. The classic trinity doctrine was invented two to three centuries after the Lord’s time. There is obviously no such thing ever alluded to in OT literature which consistently and repeatedly states, in direct contrast to the rest of the world, that God is one. He is one Person. This was a quite radical departure among the ancient Hebrew patriarchs from the polytheism of the time. The prophets especially reveal this truth. Isaiah shouts it. But whatever. That was a long time ago and those guys just didn’t get it, right? I wrote about this in my post, IF ISAIAH SAID THAT HE’S A LIAR!

To illustrate this further, I remember seeing a Christian production a few decades back likely put on by some mega church and broadcast on Christian TV that featured the Lord Jesus in the usual stage depiction but also added the Holy Spirit as an additional personage. One might have thought prior to production, “But how do we display the Holy Spirit?” They solved that problem by essentially using the Casper the Ghost model. I kid you not. They made a Holy Spirit effigy out of a very white sheet flowing loosely below but gathered together at the top in a clearly delineated rounded head motif by installing the required wadding and utilizing an unseen band at the neck. They were somehow controlling this from above with piano wire or something to make it flit about. So there was the Lord and His disciples and some other hangers on all in the usual Biblical dress with robes and head wrappings and whatnot and among them flitted this “Holy Spirit” ghost thing, in appearance pretty much exactly like a ghost and invoking memories of Halloween. As far as I remember this person of the Holy Ghost had a non-speaking part, which, when one thinks about it, probably did much to further the notion of etherealness and spiritual distance from lower level humans. But I think it might have been just this side of awesome if this depiction of the Holy Ghost did speak just to see how far they might have taken it.

I would think if this is the real Holy Spirit no one should have anything against Him. It has been opined in the past that if Jesus was the super cool hippie dude as often presented by the know-nothings, why would anyone hate Him? Who in their right mind would crucify Mister Rogers? But again, Scripture is quite clear that the Israelites in general and the Israelite religious leaders in particular really hated the Holy Spirit pretty much the same way they hated the Lord Jesus (clue alert). And I guess since we’re on the trinity theme they must have also hated God the Father.

HEART CIRCUMCISION (OR NOT)

Stephen told them what their problem was. He said their hearts were each encircled with a fat encrusted infected mass that also had metastasized to their ears. Now, the concept of fat encrusted infected masses on human hearts was not a new thing. It too, as the previously mentioned stiffneckedness, was spoken of in the vast distant past in Old Testament lore which came to the fore through Moses (15^th century BC):

“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” [Deuteronomy 10:16]

Jeremiah (late 7^th to early 6^th century BC), brought a prophetic explanation to the issue 800 years later in the following:

“For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” [Jeremiah 4:3-4]

Imagine then, a thick foreskin-like wrapping encircling the heart encrusted and hardened like sun-baked fallow ground impervious to plows. Then imagine the stiffest of necks reinforced with #18 rebar. Then imagine ears plugged with epoxy and spiritual eyes sealed with super glue. How is a loving God supposed to get through to such evil people? How are such spiritually diseased people to apply a remedy? What concoction from great grandma’s dusty cupboard might do the trick and heal the sick?

In the few more explanatory Bible translations we get a fuller academic meaning of the word stiffnecked. A more expository definition of the Hebrew and Greek originals results in the well known English word obstinate. And if you’re wondering how that plays out consider the thesaurus entries of this word from Misters Merriam and Webster:

obstinate adjective:

1. unwilling to submit (as to reason or control) <he had an obstinate determination to live as he pleased>

Synonyms: bullheaded, closed-minded, deaf, hardheaded, headstrong, incompliant, intractable, intransigent, muleheaded, muley, mulish, pertinacious, perverse, pervicacious, pigheaded, refractory, self-willed, ||sot, stiff, stiff-necked, stubborn, tough, unpliable, unpliant, unyielding, willful, wrongheaded; Compare UNRULY 1

Related: resistant, unsubmissive, withstanding; contrary, crabbed, recalcitrant, renitent; inexorable, inflexible, obdurate; opinionated; resolute, staunch, steadfast, unbudging [1]

Yikes. Now that we have a greater understanding of the heart, neck, eyes, and ears condition of those on the other side of rightness with God, we must get to the (ahem) heart of the matter regarding Christian religious prejudice against the Lord’s teachings and spiritual ways of operating. Again, the Pharisees and those guys in powerful opposition to the Lord were certainly bad enough but the later Christians who subverted the New Covenant were in my opinion far worse. Once the Light has come there is no longer any excuse for darkness. Once the first guy way back when decided to reject particular aspects of the New Covenant and opened the door for later anti-Christian hordes successfully masquerading as pro-Christian to further undermine and sabotage real Christianity to the nth degree and coerce millions to follow accordingly (or else), the die had been cast as it were and evil gained a great upper hand. It would do all Christians good to admit there is a devil and that he is extremely good at what he does. And it should not be so difficult to believe he has power to convince anyone to follow him and believe his tripe. And furthermore it must follow that there is only one cure for his great ability to deceive and if that one cure is not applied then one has no chance.

THE DEVIL GOES TO CHURCH

Many years ago there was a popular minister who pastored a very large denominational church, one of those “First” churches located in a large metropolis. He used to shout from the pulpit something to the effect that if one didn’t like something in the Bible then just tear it out! I am not sure if he only pretended to tear pages out of his Bible or just acted like it but he made his point very clear. Of course, this man also had his extreme prejudices against holy writ and had effectively already torn much from the New Testament, but this mattered little. No one among his own ever called him on it because they all believed the same. His church had a membership role in the tens of thousands. His denomination consisted of thousands of churches. Except for the ever-present minor squabbles among those otherwise perfect Christians they all believed basically the same thing. Isn’t that why they call them denominations?

Anyway, this particular minister apparently made a definitive anti-Pentecost statement at the forefront of the Holy Spirit outpouring of the early 1960s which I’ll get to shortly. A little background: The Lord had begun blessing Protestants with the infilling of the Holy Spirit at that time. Before then, due to religious prejudice, this experience was only possible for the most part among Pentecostal Christians. The new outpouring of the 20^th century dated back to the Topeka, Kansas event in 1901 and the Azusa Street Revival which began in 1906 in Los Angeles. In the 1950s a few Protestants from various denominations began receiving the experience and their influence spread the word among their own. By about 1960 the movement had started to spread throughout Protestant churches and by early 1967 the movement even found favor among Catholics. Catholic priests and nuns were suddenly speaking in tongues, which brings me to the statement apparently made by the minister in question:

He supposedly said “Tongues are of the devil.” This was very well known at the time in Pentecostal circles. After all these years we must attempt to understand that “speaking in tongues” was a huge cutting-edge issue at the time and extremely divisive. Nevertheless, and despite the shenanigans of more than a few within the movement, the overall historical Pentecostal outpouring of the 20^th century was decidedly very real. It has since spread all across the planet. Multiple millions have received the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Returning to our origins then, what happened on the first Pentecost in Jerusalem in about 32AD was clearly unprecedented. Also, in true Gideon paradigm form, many thousands of the Lord’s one time followers were eliminated from participating in the Upper Room Experience by their own unwillingness to walk with the Lord to the finish line and were reduced to a relatively microscopic 120 ever-faithful ones. In line with Gideon’s retort to God, how could the Lord’s future ministry, after so much work and spiritual achievement, possibly be successful with so few remaining disciples? The point here is that many were called but few were chosen. To put it another way, real disciples were not only called, they were also chosen and remained faithful, no matter what. That last part is really tricky because a Christian’s faith in the Lord Jesus will be tested greatly, far beyond the point one ever would have previously thought. The remaining 120 had been through the ringer. They were threatened always and sometimes with death. The disciples knew the religious leaders were out to stomp them into the ground. Sound familiar? The others could not handle it. It was simply too much. There were various reasons for departing, all involving some form of fear. For the most part it was simply because they either refused full obedience or could not bring themselves to the 100% commitment level. They were concerned about their status and livelihoods unlike the 120 who pretty much lost everything and had their reputations destroyed. It was the cost all real disciples must pay and are willing to pay.

But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:62]

THE FINAL MEMBER TO YIELD

The Lord’s brother James, in the third chapter of his noted epistle, taught that the unregenerate human tongue is evil. It is a condition, of course, that every human has in common prior to spiritual regeneration and commitment to the Lord. Whereas the tongue is a miraculous creation with great abilities and is capable of many astounding achievements, it is also responsible for the worst atrocities. The following are the descriptions James used to define the tongue:

1. A boaster of great things
2. A fire
3. Able to create allegorical forest fires
4. A world of iniquity
5. A body part that defiles the entire body
6. It sets the course of one’s life on fire
7. Is set on fire by hell
8. A restless evil
9. Full of deadly poison

Wow. James certainly didn’t stutter. Everything he wrote, however, is absolutely true though not often acknowledged. It is clear then, that this body organ we call the tongue is the most powerful organ we possess. Of course, James is referring to human speech. He gives the cure in chapter four and it essentially comes down to giving one’s all to the Lord Jesus in total surrender. This is actually what a real believer is. One either gives 100% to the Lord or one does not. If one never submits completely then one’s tongue is never tamed. Why? Because only the Lord can tame the tongue. Only He can bring it out of subjection to sin. And this means He must be in total charge. Any remnant of remaining human control will subvert the process.

It is thus completely within the realm of spiritual rationality that there must be a universal sign that the most unruly, rebellious, and sinful member of the human body has been tamed and brought under control. The New Covenant writings, especially the Book of Acts, reveal this sign. Paul mentions it directly in First Corinthians 14. In the recorded historical events regarding the infilling of the Holy Spirit it was not only the event that proved something profound and miraculous took place, but also that each one additionally proved in some way the taming of the tongue and a brand new use of human speech never utilized before. Just as the human heart must be spiritually circumcised to remove the fat encrusted infected mass encircling it so must the human tongue be cleansed of evil. Both are a vital part of the sin removal process. Both require the hands on participation of the Lord Himself. Only He can do it. Our part is to fully surrender to Him so He can. The tongue is the last member of the body to submit.

THE EVIDENCE

Though most Christians probably look for long term evidence proving one’s genuine relationship with God, from a New Testament perspective there was also immediate evidence. Just as there were immediate healings, immediate miracles, immediate answers to prayer, and immediate occurrences of deliverance, so were there immediate transformations of heart and tongue. These things did not have to take long. They did not need to be drawn out. It was simply a matter of the Lord Jesus taking authority. He has ALL authority on earth and in heaven but will never force anyone to do anything. Thus, a person must simply submit to His authority. When the Lord Jesus is given authority to act on one’s behalf by that person then all things become possible according to His will, and it is certainly always in His will to excise the evil from one’s heart and tongue. Once a person has been spiritually cleansed and becomes a clean vessel the Holy Spirit can then take up residence.

For perhaps most Christians, this is an entirely new definition of faith in Jesus. It demands total trust. And this demands the complete abdication of our own personal opposing authority which makes His work on our behalf impossible. When we allow Him to work, miracles happen. Always.

Happy Day of Pentecost everyone.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. [Acts 2:1-4] [2]

Posted in Real Christianity

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Tags: Community of the Called-Out Ones, Human Speech, Isaiah the Prophet, Lord Jesus, Signs Following Believers, Speaking in Tongues, The Day of Pentecost, The Great Awakening, The Infilling of the Holy Spirit, The Upper Room

GOD REFUTES THE TRINITY DOCTRINE

Mar 5

Posted by RJ Dawson

Whatever one believes about the nature of God, one must know that the traditional Christian doctrine explaining Him never emerged until a full three centuries after the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place;’ I, the LORD, speak righteousness, declaring things that are upright.

“Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; they have no knowledge, who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save. Declare and set forth your case; indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD?

“And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.” [Isaiah 45:18-24] [1]

THE MISSING TRINITY DOCTRINE

The Lord never spoke of any Trinity Doctrine. There is no mention of a Trinity Doctrine throughout the entirety of Old Testament Scripture or even within the many OT apocryphal works. There is no mention of a Trinity Doctrine in the New Testament either, or in any NT apocryphal works, such as the Book of Enoch, for example, which was quoted by New Covenant writers and which appears at least a tad New Agey. There is no mention of a Trinity Doctrine within the vast library of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date to the first century BC and first century AD. The many Jewish sects of that time period, including the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Scribes, Essenes, and Zealots never mentioned a Trinity Doctrine. There is not even any mention of a Trinity Doctrine within the Jewish oral law in general—the Mishna, Talmud, etc. Monotheistic Muslims and Jews think the entire idea of God being composed of three persons is preposterous.

But let’s put all that aside for now. Let’s say that when some second century AD Christian philosophers, theorists, and other interpreters began straying from the pure New Covenant writings and the powerful witness of the original believers and began attributing Roman, Greek, and Egyptian triad formulas to the Christian God that they were on the right track. Let’s say they thought they were acting in good faith in order to gain greater cerebral and intellectual understanding of the Christian God and that they attempted to make the New Covenant writings less confusing and more rational.

Let’s also say that as the third century progressed and this idea was latched onto by a greater number of “church fathers” that they were really onto something deep and profound, and that they began finalizing a previously unknown great revelation, a revelation that was even unknown to such OT stalwarts as Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David. And which also, incredibly, somehow remained unknown to all the powerfully anointed-by-the-Spirit-of-God OT prophets put together, including Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and especially Isaiah, as quoted above. This proposed, seemingly previous great unknown revelation had also escaped the notice of the Lord’s close associate and forerunner, the powerfully anointed John the Immerser, who never mentioned it or even alluded to it.

And let’s say these early “church fathers” of the second through fourth centuries AD were incredibly brilliant spiritually, so brilliant and receptive that they discovered and formulated something brand new (but was somehow there all along), though no one else had ever had the understanding or the “eyes to see” to see it. Such spiritually blind people who never saw it also included all the apostles, who were never aware of a Trinity Doctrine and never taught it. These included even the apostles Peter and Paul, the latter of whom wrote most of the New Covenant epistles by the inspiration of God and learned the Gospel through direct communication with God all alone out in the desert. He must have somehow missed that particular class. And let’s say when the final rendition of what we know at present as the classic Trinity Doctrine was authorized and finalized at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381 that they had come up with something that the Lord Jesus Himself either did not know about or never taught if He did know about it.

It appears as though their great brilliance and spiritual knowledge had even superseded His. Wow. No wonder they also officially removed His Name from water baptism.

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Tags: Baptism in the Name of Jesus, Isaiah the Prophet, Lord Jesus, The Name Above Every name, The Name of Jesus, The Trinity, There is Power in the Name of Jesus, Yehoshua HaMashiach, YHWH, YHWH-Salvation

First Day of Spring: New Life

Mar 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

It is the first day of spring.

Regardless of the many New Year celebrations that occur on various calendar dates, this is the actual beginning of the New Year in the northern hemisphere.

It has been a long winter, and a very difficult winter for many. Today marks the time to look forward to the inevitable thaw and the bursting forth of new life.

Officially, spring arrived three minutes before noon CDT, almost 1 o’clock on the east coast and 9:57am on the west. The planet leveled out at that exact time. Scientifically speaking, it is the Vernal Equinox, a time when planet Earth completes its tilt back from the southern hemisphere, which just completed summer.

It is a time of perfect balance when the sun shines directly on the equator, and when the southern hemisphere experiences the beginning of autumn. This balancing event thus only happens twice a year, and that briefly.

God created seasons for a reason. The planet tilts on its axis to give the entire planet its fair share of sun and warmth. He does the same with His people in a spiritual sense. Though I am concerned with sounding trite, life actually does consist of ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and the spaces in-between. There are times things for some are going good, while things for others are not so good. For real Christians, it is an opportunity for their good times to be shared with others who may be going through a rough stretch.

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. [Isaiah 40:3-8]

John the Immerser quoted these words in part when teaching about the ways of the Lord and about that particular point in history. We are currently at the same kind of historical juncture. The idea of equinox is presently before us in the spiritual realm as well. Let us learn the lesson that we all indeed are our brother’s keeper and act according.

…The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’”

So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

“His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [Luke 3:2-17] [1]

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Tags: Isaiah the Prophet, John the Immerser, Lord Jesus, New Life, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Share, Spring, The Great Awakening, Vernal Equinox

BLOWOUT! (Part 3)

Jan 20

Posted by RJ Dawson

The primary reason many people have a problem with the Word of God is the fact that God simply tells it the way it is. He defines that which is good. He defines that which is evil. He speaks of light and darkness, and very little about any gray areas.

Indeed, there is that time in the morning and evening when night gives way to day and day gives way to night. But these times are relatively brief. Morning and evening are but beginnings and endings. Daytime is not night time. Light is not darkness. And good is not evil.

Jesus does not compromise truth. He IS the Truth. He stands firm on a solid rock. He IS the Rock. And He expects His followers to do likewise.

But standing firm for the truth will get one in trouble. Compromisers want no part of trouble. They want everyone to play nice. Well, evil is not nice. Evil is evil.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, but His hand is still stretched out. [Isaiah 5:20-25]

WOW…

How many people heard THAT in church last Sunday?

Things have gotten so fouled-up and twisted around that much of “Christianity” would never allow the words of Isaiah anywhere near their cute little gatherings where never a strong word is heard or such bold apparent pejoratives as “repentance” dare be muttered.

Repent from what, anyway?

Haven’t you heard? We’re all going to heaven. Every last one of us. It doesn’t matter what we do, what we say, what we believe, or what we think. The old idea that all roads lead to Rome remains ever strong but with a different terminology.

The reality is, except for one road, the road the Lord talked about, all roads lead to hell.

This is simply Biblical fact, which takes us back to why so many people hate real Christians and real Christianity.

Remember when you were young and you were allowed to do anything you desired? Remember how your parents or guardians explained to you that good and evil were mere concepts and there really is no difference between right and wrong or that there is any such thing? Remember how you were taught that variety makes the world go ’round and that everyone is different, has different lifestyles, and that sin is a primitive idea created by Neanderthals too dull and stupid to understand alternative lifestyles and choices?

Many people think the Lord Jesus is some cool dude pretty much okay with anything and everything. Does their ignorance make Him so?

The reality is that He loves us all regardless of our sin and evil and pleads with us to repent and get right. He knows the destiny of the unregenerate and repeatedly warns of the results of our wrong choices and embrace of evil. He tries desperately to break us free from deception and our self-imposed entrancements, but most people laugh and walk away.

Even among Christians, those who take strong stands are most often shot down and treated with contempt. And no one was treated worse for this than God Himself. By His own people.

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [John 1:3-5]

Boy Howdy. Did John get that right or what?

We live on a polarized planet. Literally. It contains opposing forces. However, God has structured things in such a way that there exists perfect harmony and balance among such forces. Yet, there are still such things as hurricanes and naturally-occurring vast forest fires and massive earthquakes and spewing volcanoes and floods and tornadoes and deafening thunder and blinding lightning and a few other events to help maintain the proper planetary balance.

And God looked at all of it and said it was good.

So if you ever wonder about your place in standing up for the Lord, His Word, and Truth, remember that to not act would be a tragedy.

Do not back down. Let the sparks fly. Put your whole heart into the work of God. We’re in the early stages of a spiritual blowout. But we all must do our part, regardless of the price to pay. And the price of the greatest love is the greatest life.

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. [Romans 12:16-21] [1]