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DEFEATING THE RULER OF THIS WORLD: Christian Heroes and Villains
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. [1John 5:19]
WARNING
The apostle John said the entire world lies in wickedness and is under the power and authority of the devil. Because I would think that “professing Christians” are not anti-John, I would think that “professing Christians” would agree with him.
But most do not. This falls under the heading the Lord referenced when He said that some people honor Him with their lips but actually refuse to obey Him. Unless one is under a deceptive trance, most likely a trance of the religious variety, one must agree that one of the main problems the Lord has is convincing “professing Christians” to actually obey Him.
REJECTING TRUTH IS A SIN!
On the other hand, if a “professing Christian” is otherwise under a deceptive trance, he simply cannot obey Him because he does not have “eyes to see” or “ears to hear.” And this is obviously why most of that which is perceived as “Christianity” is not the real thing. It simply can’t be the real thing, (1) Because it looks nothing like the Lord’s original, and (2) Because no one within it actually obeys Him.
This is what churches should look like:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” [John 14:12]
Therefore, the problem is not that the Lord cannot get His own people to obey Him, it is that most of those who refer to themselves as Christians are not really Christians. How can they be if they do not obey the Lord? They are certainly not doing the works that He did.
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” [Luke 6:46]
Of course, the Lord said they can’t obey, or actually do not obey by their own choice, because they only act on what they know, which means they simply cannot “see.” How can anyone act on what they do not see?
THE BIGGER PROBLEM
So it appears that the bigger problem, the problem for unreal Christians that is bigger than their rebellion, disobedience, living in sin, or insisting on believing things the Lord never taught, is the problem of perception—they are spiritually blind.
Now, this is not said to cause offense, but is a simple statement of fact.
One wonders how Christians can read the Gospel accounts and not see that the Lord continually made statements about the spiritual blindness of His own people. These statements have obviously not had the intended impact upon Christians in general. Most Christians must think that yes, the great majority of the Hebrew people, from the late Patriarchal Age until the first century AD, could certainly be spiritually blind, deaf, deceived, and compromised by sin, but certainly not us.
The facts, of course, are not that the Lord said His own people were especially more prone to rebellion against Him and thus to spiritual blindness than others, but that ALL people the world over are prone to rebellion against Him and thus to spiritual blindness.
In other words, it’s not a Jewish problem, it’s a human problem.
THE RULER OF THIS WORLD
This takes us back to the very powerful statement that John made about who really runs this world and how the power of this evil entity has essentially blinded the entire world to the Truth:
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. [1John 5:19]
From the very clear perspective of the early first-century Community of the Lord Jesus, they saw themselves as us against the world, especially since this perspective was confirmed by none other than John. The early Christians—the real Christians—knew that there were only two master kingdoms on the planet: The righteous Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and the evil kingdom of the devil, the god of this world.
The apostle Paul confirmed this truth—the fact that the devil runs the entire world and everyone other than real Christians support the devil, most completely unaware—and Paul completely agreed with John’s statement by writing the following:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2Corinthians 4:3-4]
The Lord Jesus also referred to the devil as the ruler of this world. The devil was ruling the world at the time of the Lord’s temptation. But the Lord, when speaking of His coming crucifixion, said this:
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” [John 12:31]
What He meant by this is that the devil would be defeated at the cross and all the devil’s garbage would, at the crucifixion, begin to be cleaned out of the world. Therefore the real Gospel has two main objectives while this cleaning out process proceeds:
(1) The salvation of souls—rescuing people from the devil’s kingdom, his control, and the power of sin—and transferring them to the Lord’s Kingdom.
(2) Taking authority back from the devil for the Lord Jesus, the only real King, through the power of His Name.
Paul said the Gospel is veiled to those who are perishing because the devil has blinded their minds. Now think about that. How is it possible that one cannot see the BRIGHTEST LIGHT in the entire Universe? It can only be due to spiritual blindness of the worst kind.
A VERY THICK GARMENT
The word “veiled” in the above passage is from the Greek word kalupto. This word appears 8 times in the entire New Testament. It appears 4 times in the Gospels. It is translated as (1) cover, (2) covers, (3) covered, (4) concealed, and (5) veiled.
Based on these definitions, the veil or covering that causes the blindness must be very, very thick, as the ultimate blackout curtain. The real Gospel (there’s only one) is hidden to everyone not in the Kingdom due to a very thick covering. What is this covering?
And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” [John 9:39-41] [1]
In this passage the pure teachings of the Lord Jesus also perfectly agree with the two passages written by John and Paul, especially, of course, since He’s the one who taught John and Paul. The Lord also paints a picture of only two kinds of people in the world:
First of all, before seeing “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,” EVERYONE is blind. EVERYONE. But the Lord said He came so that some will be healed of their spiritual blindness, “that those who do not see may see.” These are people who will readily accept the Good News and will repent of their sins, since it is their sin which causes their spiritual blindness.
The other kind of people in the world comprises those who will never be healed of their spiritual blindness simply because they refuse to admit they have any sin. They reject the only cure. They insist they are righteous without the real Gospel. Their “no Gospel” righteousness, in the eyes of God, however, is characterized by the following:
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. [Isaiah 64:6]
If you want to gain more insight regarding this spiritual phenomenon, you can read the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, from which I quoted earlier. It is a perfect allegory created by the Lord in the three dimensional world with an actual blind man who was made to see. The Lord Jesus was teaching a lesson, and for those who can see, He taught it perfectly. He showed how we can be healed of our spiritual blindness by having our sin removed.
Our sin is exactly as a filthy garment that covers our spiritual eyes.
Now perhaps you can see how the devil has blinded the entire world, and how there is only one cure for this blindness. In the same way he tempted the Lord in the effort to get Him to sin, without success of course, he tempts us.
He knows that if he can get us to sin he can make us spiritually blind.
This is why we must always do our best to obey the Lord’s actual teachings. They are designed to rescue us from the sin that blinds us, give us eyes to see and ears to hear, bring us to full spiritual health, and empower us to defeat the enemy through His indwelling Holy Spirit and the power of His Name.
FAKEWORLD
Anything and everything outside the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus on this planet is nothing but a façade, an illusion, and a powerful deception. The devil is a liar, and everything He says and creates is a lie. It is not real. Other than those in the Lord’s Kingdom, the devil is fooling EVERYONE.
This is why the Lord said that those who refuse to repent of their sin and stop sinning can never be healed of their blindness. This is especially true of those who have been deceived by some form of religion. As long as they stay under the power of their religion they will always be made to believe a lie. They will always respond to the illusion. They will always obey the devil, even though they are unaware of it.
Therefore, in the final analysis regarding the purpose of this article, the majority of “professing Christians” are also blind simply because they refuse the real Gospel and they believe in something that masquerades as the real Gospel. The fake gospel, in all its many forms, does not have “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Whenever it is applied to the blind man of John 9, the blind man stays blind. He might have the same willingness to honor God, but because he chooses a powerless unreal gospel, he stays blind and he stays in his sin. Many churches are filled with such people.
This is the main problem, of course, with all the devil’s fake gospel forms—they actually do nothing at all about sin. People who choose fake gospels may think they are delivered from the power of sin but they keep denying the proof that repeatedly shows up in their lives that they have not been delivered, in that they have little or no resistance to sin: They keep sinning. Uncontrollably.
As a result, they have created a false form of righteousness which includes sin. They insist they are righteous, though the fruits of repentance do not exist in their lives. Their spiritual blindness makes it impossible for them to obey the Lord.
And instead of defeating the ruler of this world, they have joined him.
© 2016 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church
[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.
Defining “Fruit”: THE PARABLE OF THE TREES (3)
Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’
“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’
“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’
Finally all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’” [Judges 9:8-15]
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The trees that produce good fruit never reign over other trees. Never. They refuse. It is not in their nature. It is not the will of God.
The nature of good trees is to be what they are as God made them and produce good fruit. Good trees do not produce bad fruit. Good trees only produce good fruit.
Only bad trees reign over other trees. Bad trees produce only bad fruit. Some of their bad fruit is the desire to reign over other trees. Only bad trees reign over other trees.
In the above passage from the Book of Judges, three good trees are mentioned:
The Olive Tree
The Fig Tree
The Grape Vine
One bad tree is mentioned: The Bramble.
The Bramble was a thorn bush. It produced no good fruit. It only produced bad fruit. It produced thorns.
“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit.
“For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.” [Luke 6:43-44]
CHRISTIANS RULING OVER CHRISTIANS
Good trees producing good fruit NEVER accept the reign over Christians. Only bad trees producing bad fruit reign over Christians.
This is a very difficult concept to understand for Christians since the majority has always been ruled over by other Christians. It seems no matter how many times the Lord Jesus tells the story most Christians just don’t get it. They insist that they must be ruled over by one of their own.
ABIMELECH
In the above passage from the Book of Judges, the people of Shechem chose Abimelech, The Bramble, as their king.
The name Abimelech literally means, “father is king,” or “Melek (“king”) is father.”
Abimelech was one of Gideon’s 70 sons. In his attempt to become the sole king and rightful heir of his father, he killed every single one of his brothers except one: Jotham escaped.
It was Jotham, the lone survivor, who told the Parable of the Trees.
Abimelech was eventually mortally wounded by a woman who dropped a big rock on his head, crushing it. Yet, so that it would not be said he was killed by a woman, he commanded his armor bearer to run him through with his sword.
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE WOMAN?
But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. [Judges 9:53]
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“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” [Genesis 3:15]
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“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 23:10-13] [1]
© 2016 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.
The Presence of the Devil (1)
In Secret Societies, the people comprising the lowest levels have no idea what is really going on at the highest levels. A false narrative is put forth as truth, and it is done in such a way to indoctrinate initiates without the initiates knowing they have been indoctrinated.
Part of the indoctrination process includes infusing the soul and mind of the initiate with the perceived fact that the society he has joined is the best, most prestigious, first in both importance and influence, and most profitable and advantageous for his life and career.
And to prove this, the initiate will be given an open door into some such benefit he would probably not otherwise receive, such as employment, to go along with his initial benefit of belonging to a group, something everyone needs and desires.
As the initiate travels upwards through the various degrees, he gains more knowledge and benefits. His life begins being built around and upon the precepts and initiatives of the order, and he begins becoming closer in alignment with the true purpose and intentions of the society, and those toward the upper levels who comprise it.
As long as the process takes place through a properly paced and methodical fashion the member grows in his awareness, becomes somewhat distant to the members of the lower orders in the sense of only revealing the knowledge allowable and not revealing the higher knowledge he possesses, and continues in his gaining of higher knowledge and growing closer to those in and around his level.
By ascending this ladder of knowledge, he grows closer to understanding the secret teachings that exist only for those at the top who give themselves wholly to the society, and the more his very life is built upon and within said teachings and the society itself. Though he started out committed, he reaches a point of visceral commitment to the society from which he could never exit without destroying his life and that of his family and future descendants.
This is why those at the higher levels never leave. The benefits are incredible. They begin receiving the best jobs, the most money, begin moving in the highest circles, and attain a virtual heaven on earth with reference to wealth, material possessions, and political influence. They discover that there is a hierarchy of powerful people who rule the planet, and that they are becoming part of it.
During the heyday of the mafia, it is said one could never leave after achieving a certain level, simply because he knew too much. The mafia was a society that clearly instructed its members that they were members for life, and to leave would be the equivalent of treason. As long as a member obeyed the dictates of the order, remained loyal, and did whatever was asked of him he would remain in excellent standing and would be the recipient of the full benefits. Part of being an excellent member was never being a “stool pigeon.” One must never reveal anything that was not to be revealed. The penalty for treason was death.
Thus, those who make it to the highest levels of the most prestigious Secret Societies never reveal anything that would expose them for what they are. They never reveal their influence and machinations behind the scenes, their positions of power, their true means of wealth, or the mystical knowledge they possess that makes them what they are.
Part of their secret is that they convince lower initiates there are no secrets. They convince them that there is absolutely nothing sinister or held back, that all is open to see for whoever might want to see it, that what you see is all there is, and that the very idea of a Secret Society is absolutely ridiculous.
But once one climbs the ladder for a while and gets vested, he realizes he was lied to, but for his own benefit and that of the Society as a whole. The key to keeping secrets then, is having a vested interest to do so. By revealing secrets one loses his vesting, or his benefits. It is the equivalent of being bounced from a bar or being a stoolie. Everyone within the society disowns him. No one will help him or grant him a position or employment. He essentially gets kicked to the street. And some pay with their life.
For any single man it is easier to get out, but the benefits of the society extend not only to the individual and his immediate family, they continue to extend to his descendants. Long term Secret Societies develop a gradualist approach that honors a family line, and as long as the individual descendants toe the mark and do all that is required, the benefits keep coming. This is actually very good for the society because it develops multi-generational loyalty and establishes solid family groups that act as both the foundation and glue that keeps it together and stable.
But for one to think that only human beings are involved in such longstanding, high level, powerfully influential, and extremely wealthy Secret Societies is not only naïve, it reeks of pure bullheaded, stiff-necked, and close-minded ignorance.
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” [Matthew 4:8-9]
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” [Luke 4:5-7]
The Lord Jesus calls the devil “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11). This is archon kosmos in the Greek. It refers to that which has been built on this planet by the devil and his invisible guys in concert with fallen humanity. This kosmos is not the planet, it is the fallen world of sinful man built upon this planet. It existed at the time of our Lord when He revealed it, exists now, and existed long before the Lord walked among us.
It has managed to circumnavigate the globe. It has succeeded in establishing itself almost everywhere and has achieved its greatest level of unity and universality to date. It will eventually succeed in becoming a single worldwide entity in complete control of everything with complete knowledge of everything and everyone.
Its absolute and total fullness is almost here.
Yet, there is one, and only one other society on this planet that is not part of this kosmos, and will never be—the community of the Lord Jesus. Hence, there has always been and always will be persecution directed from the devil’s kingdom against the Lord’s kingdom. It is the battle of Light and darkness, and as far as the devil is concerned, one must either join up and worship him or be killed.
Thus, the devil has built a universal Secret Society with himself ruling from atop a mystical pyramid. But one of the great secrets to his success in denying that he has done any such thing. And even more than this, he denies that he even exists. Its much easier to stay hidden when he indoctrinates people into believing he’s not even there to begin with.
But the Word of God reveals him. The Lord Jesus exposed him:
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. [Colossians 2:15]
As a result, the Lord Jesus has built a community composed of those who were formerly under the authority of the devil:
Such were some of you;
But you were washed,
But you were sanctified,
But you were justified
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God. [1 Corinthians 6:11]
Every member of the Lord’s community has been born into it (John 3:3-8). Every member enters through faith and repentance. Every member obeys Him, His teachings, and His commandments. Every member is saved by grace. Every member is wholly committed to Him in love and honor. All of this is required, or there can be no actual fellowship with God or one another.
But there are deceivers and those who have been deceived. Some who are members of the first group think they are members of the Lord’s group. And one must notice that unreal Christianity in all its forms is built exactly like a Secret Society and is in fact the same thing, and exists as part of the devil’s kingdom.
Unreal Christianity contains a hierarchy, a mystical pyramid structure, an initiate program, a spiritual ladder, ignorance of its true existence and purpose at the lower levels comprised of most of its members, and secret knowledge known only to those at the top. It is worldly, looks like the world, pays much more attention to head knowledge than possessing a true heart for God and knowledge of Him, and has much more in common with ancient religions than the community of the Lord Jesus. Its members refuse to be filled with the Spirit of God as per the Book of Acts historical model, and has invented a baptismal formula that refuses the Name Above Every Name.
The Lord warned us to be aware of very strong deception, but most refuse to consider the fact of their own deception. The answer should be straightforward and simple, but because of the devil’s “Secret Gnosis” placed upon and mixed within false forms of Christianity, it is just as the Lord said:
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” [Luke 12:1-2]
To close, John warns us:
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. [2 John 1:6-10]
And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments… [2 John 1:11] [1]
© 2013 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.
