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WHY DO MOST NEVER TRUST THE ONE MOST TRUSTWORTHY?

Sin is not only a destroyer, those under its power are also prone to colossal deception. It is why so many refuse to trust the Lord Jesus.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7: 13-14]

THE LORD’S MISSION

No one is more loving or kind. No one is more willing to sacrifice on your behalf. No one gives His heart as He does. He will do anything to save you. He has proven this by His perfect life and sacrificial death. His goal was to defeat sin and thereby set people free from its power. There was only one way to do this. He risked everything in the process. How so?

What most Christians fail to consider are the immense implications of His mission. In order to defeat sin He would have to live His life entirely free from sin. He could never sin, not even once. If He did He would suffer the penalty of sin which is spiritual death.

Once the Lord God decided to become a Man, to pass into the realm of humanity as one of us and enter into the greatest and riskiest mission of all time, He knew it meant putting the entire Universe including the celestial environs of heaven up for grabs. If He failed the devil would gain everything. If the Lord sinned, if He violated the Torah, even only once, and even only in a minor way, He would no longer qualify as the perfect unblemished Sacrifice Lamb. That would mean there would be no Savior. It would mean there would never be a Savior. That would mean He would go to hell. It would also mean we all would go to hell. There would be no way to get around it. The apostle Paul would never write, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Death would win. It would forever sting the heart of all. Human beings would be but a memory. God would be a memory. The devil and his evil henchmen would rule forever.

Thus, we must always be cognizant of what was at stake. The Lord’s life/mission was obviously the most fundamental and crucial aspect of our potential salvation. No one can even imagine the immense pressure the Lord was under. These were monumental implications. The prodigious power of sin and the temptation thereof is such that no human being has the ability to ever come close to defeating it. It is by far the greatest disease known to man. Sin is simply far too powerful and human beings are far too weak and prone to temptation to ever have a chance against it on their own. Once Adam sinned he released this sad inability and weakness, this incessant persistent flaw, upon all succeeding generations. Once sin entered the realm of humanity it put everyone at risk of eternal damnation.

Prior to the Incarnation, with Himself as the only possible candidate, the Lord God knew He must be the first human to defeat sin. He knew He must be the first to never give into temptation, to never be deceived by the devil, and to never be betrayed by His own flesh. Setting a perfect example, He would never choose this fallen hell-bound world and its absurdly temporary pleasures over the spiritual purity of heaven. He must be successful in opening a spiritual door to eternal life for all. He would be that Door.

ADAM’S MISSION

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. [Genesis 2:15]

Humans were not bound by sin in the very beginning, of course. Adam had authority over sin. He had authority over death. Hell had no hold on him. He was absolutely free and lived in paradise. The Lord created Him above all Creation which included the devil. Adam had greater power than the devil. Adam ruled over the devil and all his fallen angelic cohorts. He was the king of the Garden, second only to God. The objective was for the Lord God, through Adam His human agent, to spread His righteous dominion throughout the world defeating the devil one step at a time and eventually eliminating his dominion here. God’s pure, holy, righteous, and loving dominion as it existed in the Garden would replace the devil’s evil dominion across the planet. The way Adam would accomplish this would be to continually cultivate and keep the Garden.

I wrote the following passage in my book Real Christianity in reference to Naboth’s Vineyard. You can find his story in the Book of 1Kings, Chapter 21. His Vineyard is a perfect spiritual type of each real Christian’s individual ministry and purpose. The spiritual significance is the same as Adam’s Garden:

One would do well to understand the creative power of one’s own vineyard. Every believer has a destiny to fulfill, a purpose for being here. Each person has a vineyard and is commissioned by God “to cultivate it and keep it.” The believer’s cultivating and keeping of his vineyard is his reason for existence. To cultivate is to prepare, to work at, and to foster growth. To keep one’s vineyard is to guard it, to preside over and protect it, to secure and maintain dominion, and to be individually responsible for its yield. It is that which gives purpose, it is his or her place in the body—the place where God dwells. [Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church © 2001 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.]

Well now, without looking too far into this, one should be able to immediately ascertain the devil’s strategy. Adam was the sole link between God and His dominion on the earth. Adam was outstandingly faithful to his mission but was only successful at continually achieving it day by day by fully focusing on God first and on his cultivating and keeping.

He was also fully aware that he must never engage in any activity that would subvert it and by which he would lose the strength and wherewithal to achieve it. Such spiritually unfruitful activity, the one and only “Thou Shalt Not” he received from God, is fruitful nonetheless though in the evil realm and is actually represented as forbidden fruit existing within Adam’s own Garden, a reminder that even in his earthly paradise there existed temptation and at a given point in time, a tempter. But not to worry. Adam was fully aware of this. The Lord taught him well. He trusted God. He obeyed God. Under these circumstances he would never eat the fruit of the Death Tree.

Remember, the devil did not need to defeat the Lord God, which he could not do anyway; all he had to do was defeat Adam. Yet he knew, of course, that this was a virtual impossibility. He knew he could never convince Adam otherwise. Perhaps he had tempted Adam on occasion, maybe many times. It did no good. Adam’s bond with God with far too strong and unyielding. And no, Adam wasn’t duded up with body armor or armed with automatic weapons that could perforate the devil in seconds and cut him into a thousand pieces. Such weapons have no power over angelic beings (hell’s angels) of the spiritual realm. The only method for defeating and taking authority over the enemies of God, demonic entities, and sin is by gaining and using the Lord God’s spiritual power and by living in a state of no sin. As long as Adam never sinned he would maintain his complete dominion over the devil. He would continue honoring God, serving God, living for God, and increasing God’s dominion. He would continue RULING OVER the devil forever. Though certainly a potential weak link compared to God, Adam was effectively no weak link at all. The devil was flummoxed by this. (Keep this in mind as you consider your own discipleship.)

EVE’S MISSION

For however long it was, when Adam remained alone with God he remained successful. He continued faithfully in his work. But eventually, he became aware of something missing, an awareness he could not initially explain or understand—he became lonely. He realized that he had developed a desire for human companionship. He sought God over this issue. The Lord, not feeling slighted in the least, responded by blessing Adam with his next greatest gift. You see, Adam’s future mission must include others. Not only must the Garden be fruitful—Adam must be fruitful. Not only must the Garden continue producing beneficial fruit of every kind in great amounts and continue to expand, others must come forth to assist in Adam’s “cultivating and keeping.” He must have faithful human offspring to assist him in defeating the evil forces pressuring the Garden borders from without while he expanded them outward from within. Adam was meant to be a spiritual patriarch of a great righteous clan. He was destined to grow from miniscule beginnings in a tiny obscure Garden amongst the wilds of nature and the evil dominion of the devil to a worldwide Garden covering the earth with no room for evil and no place for the devil.

To achieve this he would need help, a lot of it. The overall mission was far too grand to achieve alone. He would especially need someone very close. One cannot be a patriarch without a strong loving matriarch. Of course, rather than the future, Adam primarily had the present on his mind at that particular time. And rather than thoughts of a future matriarch and kids and family, as wonderful as such thoughts were, he was thinking more along the lines of an extended honeymoon. God did not disappoint.

The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” [Genesis 2:22:23]

Eve was God’s crown of Creation. As far as Adam was concerned, God saved His best for last. For both, it was love at first sight. A holy covenant between these two was formed. God officiated as both a covenant official and a wedding preacher. He explained what love was, what it meant to be husband and wife, and what was expected of each for both one another and the future. He also taught them about working together, about ministry, and about cultivating and keeping. Because Eve was essentially born into an existing situation God explained what her role would be.

You see, Eve was created to be Adam’s one and only fully supportive side-by-side loving companion in holy covenant with him. She was Adam’s ezer kenegdo, a “helper suitable for him.” She was not equipped to rule except as part of Adam’s rule and must yield to the one she was created to serve just as Adam yielded to the One he was created to serve. Also, she was not equipped in the natural to as great a degree as Adam to perceive spiritual dominion and what must be done to gain it and maintain it. She was not created primarily to be a warrior but a nurturer. She was there to stand with Adam, to support him, to assist in easing the pressure of responsibility upon him, to be forever by his side and work alongside him under his authority. Her gifting and nature would be a tremendous benefit for Adam, aiding him to assist in maintaining his strength and continuing onward. He would become a much better and spiritually fruitful man due to her love and support. He would, of course, also love her and shelter her and protect her. He would cherish her. It was to each other’s benefit to provide what the other lacked and needed the most within the realm of their humanity. These two were destined to be on the forefront of spiritual battle and would need every bit of each other’s support, care, and encouragement. They were dependent on one another. They must be true. They were the only people in the Garden.

SATAN’S SUBTERFUGE

As long as their covenant union remained intact the devil would continue losing and continue losing ground. The wicked devil, a being of great darkness and evil, therefore must find a way to subvert this covenant marriage and especially this new person, this innocent beautiful woman.

The creation of Eve presented the devil with a new opportunity. Once Eve inhabited the Garden the devil planned on applying the exact initial strategy against her as he had with Adam. He would operate on the sly. He would find a way to bypass Adam. He would do an end around and hope Adam would never suspect anything. He determined to catch her off guard and meet with her alone away from Adam’s protection. It wasn’t simply because she was a new opportunity for him but because he had noticed a weakness in Eve he could exploit, a weakness Adam did not have.

Though the devil ruled the planet and had the run of it in the spiritual realm ever since God cast him out of heaven, he only had dominion here and nowhere else. And he didn’t appreciate the new invaders invading his turf. The devil hated the Garden. He hates everything pure and holy and righteous. He obviously opposed Adam’s mission from day one knowing exactly what it represented. He knew it was spiritual war directed against him but his counter offensive against Adam had been completely ineffective.

What the devil attempted with Eve is what he attempts with everyone. His goal is to corrupt, to change whatever is good, wholesome, and honorable into something immoral and sinful. Adam’s only chance was staying close to God. With him, however, it was not mere chance; Adam was very close to God and would never, ever betray Him.

The devil knows all too well what happens when a person becomes dedicated to God the way Adam was initially. Such people—real Christians—are a never ending headache for him. They’re a pain in the neck, a thorn in the flesh, and an endless succession of punishing left jabs and jaw-breaking right crosses pounding cranium and midsection, leaving ribs broken and face a bloody pulp, and all this before the sweeping left hooks slam upside his head, contorting it grotesquely, and knocking him clean out of the ring. These real Christians unrelentingly stand up for the Lord Jesus and His righteousness and thereby inflict ongoing damage to the devil’s workings. They do exactly what Adam did when he was right with God.

Though the devil fights them, they have the wherewithal through the Lord’s Holy Spirit to successfully fight back and thus engage their enemy every step of the way. They pray. They fast. They stay “read up” on the Word of God. They stay filled with the Holy Spirit. They remain revved up on full oil lamps. They invade the enemy’s dominion. They rescue lost souls. They witness. They tell others about the Lord. They preach and teach the Gospel. They uncover lies, false doctrines, and false narratives, revealing them for what they are. THEY EXPOSE THE DEVIL AND THE LORD’S HUMAN ENEMIES. They do exactly what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to do:

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” [Luke 10:17-19]

EVE’S WAVERING TRUST

Though she did very well for a while, maybe a relatively long time, the day came when the devil’s temptations and tricky wordplay began to at last find their mark. On a particular day, not unlike any other, she happened to have a weak moment. This happens on occasion to all believers, of course, and demands an immediate adjustment. One must quickly pivot back in God’s direction. I would think Eve had done this many times. She was not unaware. And she certainly was not unaware of temptation. Well, she suddenly pivoted alright, but in the wrong direction.

She started perceiving the Lord God as someone holding out on her. She felt she was being dishonored. She tired of her apparent secondary place. Mostly however, the devil had finally convinced her that Adam was no longer worth honoring or serving. Why should she be this so-called ezer kenegdo? Why should her life be a mere side by side support to Adam’s life? Shouldn’t they be identical? Shouldn’t they share top billing? And for that matter, why should she actually serve God? Is He really what He claims to be? Why are we stuck in this Garden? Why can’t we venture forth outside these Garden walls and check out the scene beyond? What else is out there? Maybe this serpent isn’t so bad after all. Maybe this tree, this big beautiful tree, filled with beautiful fruit that looks quite delicious and nurturing and is likely even better than all the rest of the fruit in this Garden is actually a very good thing, a wonderful thing, and something that Adam and God are keeping me from enjoying. Maybe if I do eat this fruit that for some strange reason they don’t want me to eat I can not only attain the authority of my husband but actually have him serve me! And maybe I can even be like God! Give me the papers. I’m signing…

TRUST MISAPPLIED: THE FALL

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” [Genesis 2:16-17]

Adam didn’t have to eat the forbidden fruit. He knew better. God had always warned him. God warned him for a very good reason. He could never explain the full implications and outcome of such a vile deed because Adam, in his purity and innocence, would never understand anyway. Rather than know, then, Adam would have to TRUST. This is what faith is. It is not just faith, it is pure faith in the Lord God. It is faith in believing His words, directives, teachings, and commandments. It is trusting in Him that He knows best and we therefore must obey and comply. It is for our own benefit but also His and our relationship. And this faith, this trust, is not just faith in a generic “God,” it is faith in the Lord Jesus who is the express image of God.

Those who trust in “God” but refuse to trust in the Lord Jesus are not actually trusting in God at all. They don’t even know God.

Yet, Adam knew God. And he trusted Him completely. But he was suddenly presented with a different dynamic. It came out of left field and he had a big problem processing it. As the one who had to keep everything intact, he was challenged with fitting this new puzzle piece in—it was large and unwieldy and appeared unsuitable to the Garden environs. In the effort to contain it all Adam lost sight of his main objective, part of which was to not try to fit things in that simply didn’t belong, that were not at all good for the overall setting.

His main problem along these lines (understatement alert) was what to do about Eve. She had already eaten the fruit. She never prayed about it. She never asked his advice. She just did it. And now she was a different person. Her internal beauty had faded. He still wanted her, of course, but he also wanted God. How could he have both? Somewhere around here is where Adam began losing his trust. He was no longer completely sure about the Lord. He had strayed into onset unbelief. The new dynamic threw him. It was something he never thought he would have to deal with. In his final analysis, he decided that the only way to make it all work, to please God, to please himself, to please his wife, and keep everything intact and all included, was to join up with Eve in her new endeavor instead of showing her the door. This way he could keep her. God would understand…

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” [Genesis 3:8-13]

SIN CAUSES SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

Adam failed. He failed at his mission. He was defeated by a far lesser foe. The original dominion plan was lost.

This required another Adam. A future Adam. A final and only remaining chance Adam who must be successful, though also under the commandment to never sin and thus maintain power over the devil, and the world, and the flesh, and temptation, and the grave, and hell, and death itself. He would be the last Adam:

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [1Corinthians 15:45]

He would also be the firstborn of a new paradise, an everlasting spiritual Kingdom:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. [Colossians 1:15-18]

The God Adam knew was the only God there is, the One who dwelt in heaven in the far reaches of a glorious celestial realm. But this God also walked in the Garden. This is not a mere euphemism. Adam and Eve heard the sound of His walking. They also talked to Him. Directly. This was not a theophany. It was not a disembodied Spirit. They heard His voice. They saw His face.

Yet now, somehow, something terrible had happened. Adam was now on the other side of a former spiritual relationship. Fear had replaced faith. His purpose had drifted away. His mission had ceased.

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]

How is it that the devil has the power to blind the minds of the unbelieving? Could it be because unbelief is a sin? Could it be because those who willfully dwell in sin are under his authority? Is it because they cannot bring themselves to trust someone they cannot perceive? Do they not perceive Him because they are under a trance? An enchantment? And is this not due to the great power of sin? The fact of the matter is that sin causes spiritual blindness and a break in relationship with God. The only way to be reconciled to Him and have the spiritual blindness removed is to first have the sin removed. And the only way to do that is to turn from sin and seek the Lord Jesus since He is only one that has the cure.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8]

One must desire an actual relationship with God. One must no longer justify sin or dwell willingly with sin but repent of sin and cease from its practice. One must become pure in heart. When a person is cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, which pays for all sin, it washes it away. It scours out all the sin from an individual’s life all the way down to the infinitesimal DNA level. Then an amazing thing happens—spiritual seeing happens—spiritual sight is created. The thick colossal deception one has been subjected to is overcome and removed. Though one may never see the Lord God with the physical eye one can nonetheless see Him with spiritual eyes. One becomes aware of His holy presence. One discovers that the Lord Jesus actually exists and is the source of all Life and blessing.

One receives the revelation that Jesus is the Lord God. He is the One we all have been searching for. He is the One who longs to rescue and save all who desire Him.

And one knows He can be trusted to the nth degree.

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” [John 2:28-29]

BLESSING BORN OF TRUST

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;

He who watches his way preserves his life.

Pride goes before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly

Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

He who gives attention to the word will find good,

And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. [Proverbs 16:16-20] [1]

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Tags: Adam and Eve, Called Chosen and Faithful, Christ Died For Sinners, Faith and Unbelief, Fight the Good Fight of Faith, Garden of Eden, Lord Jesus, Naboth's Vineyard, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Salvation in Jesus, Sin and Rebellion, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Deception, The Great Awakening, The Last Adam, The Sinner's Self Deception, Trust Your Heart With God, Without Faith it is Impossible to Please God

AWAKE, SLEEPER

Nov 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

[If you are reading this on the WP Reader please read it at my site. Thank you.]

Useful Unbelievers—Gullible Sheep

Those Who Ne’er Try to Waken From Sleep

Dreaming Through Existence

Their Obscure For Instance

Lives, Never Touching Eternal Deep

What Could Have Been Was Scripted Forward

A Plan Discarded As Untoward

Alternative Chosen

Their Heart’s Fire Frozen

Full Steam Ahead, a Course Set Backward

They Bought Into the Deceiving Lie

Too Lazy or Uncaring to Vie

For Truth, They Fail to See

To Be or Not To Be

They Flunk the Question and Then They Die

The Lord Said the Saved are Only Few

Who’ll find the Gate That’s Narrow and True

All the Rest Give Their Best

To the Broad Way, a Fest

And Reject the Way That Leads One Through

Give Praise to the Lord Who Paid the Price

Who Gave His Life to Cleanse Us From Vice

And Bless With a Welcome

To His Present Kingdom

A New Living Way For Those Born Twice

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Tags: Enter Through the Narrow Gate, Father of Lies, Finding Our Way Home, For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen, Gospel Truth, Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Praise, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sinners Saved By Grace, The devil's a Liar, The Great Awakening, The Sacrifice Lamb, The Way of Life, Unreal Christianity, You Must Be Born Again

BAPTISM OF OPTIMISM: REJOICE!

Jul 11

Posted by RJ Dawson

He was born to die. He always knew it. He planned it. But even at the very darkest hour He knew there was a call for unbounded optimism: He would soon open the Way to Life.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [Hebrews 12:1-2]

COUNT IT ALL JOY

Mature Christians of the real variety are very well acquainted with giving a message most will reject. As the Lord Jesus engaged in the greatest ministry of all time with a perfect message expertly delivered and a perfect teaching curriculum second to none, no one was more aware of the inherent difficulty of the task at hand than Him, in that His perfect message would be wasted on the majority.

It would seem, during His time, that all impartial hearers and personal witnesses of His love, compassion, mercy, mighty works, and incessant miracles would immediately join up with Him in a veritable heartbeat if for no other reason than that nothing they experienced could be denied. Denial of His extraordinary presence and perfection was impossible. His ministry was that clear. It was absolutely astounding.

And yet, as a stark testimony to the sheer impossibility of errant and immoral human beings besought with a sinful human nature—obstinate and unyielding at its core to any and all reform—recalcitrant and unruly—not only did the majority of His own people reject His message, they also rejected Him and drove His Name into the dirt.

His “own people” constituted not only His fellow Israelites in general but also the political leaders of His nation, the religious leaders of His nation, the foreign leaders in positions of authority in His nation, an untold number of His relatives, and even members of His own immediate family. One can only wonder at the great mental, moral, and emotional disconnect existing in the heart of the willfully lost and the message that could set them free. The Lord had effectively given everything He had, even acting as a supernatural electrician running miles of spiritual romex connected to the power plant of Heaven directly to their hearts and all they had to do was flip a switch. BUT NO.

And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” [Mark 3:2-22]

Rather than acknowledge the great Light that had arrived for their salvation and honoring Him and praising Him and being thankful for Him they instead said He had an illegitimate birth, that He was a drunk and a glutton, that He was crazy, and that He was demon possessed. If this does not reveal to an impartial observer the wickedness of humanity nothing ever will. These hell bound moral laggards, at that time the greatest DAs in the history of the world though perceived by the world as upstanding and trustworthy, were the epitome of deceived demon-influenced dunderheads which a sinful unseeing nation prostrated themselves before and trusted exclusively with no thought of thinking for themselves or even giving God a glance. The blind were truly leading the blind but only because the wimpy blind yielded to the authoritative blind because they were far too fearful to risk thinking for themselves.

And yet none of it took the Lord by surprise. No one was more aware of the utter depravity of humanity. He created humanity. He watched humanity fall. He saw humanity from the very beginning from the Garden up to His present and knew very well what He was dealing with. And He came to this earth anyway. He subjected Himself to the vast stupidity and hate anyway.

He knew most would reject Him. He knew most would find fault with Him. He knew most would count themselves better than Him. He knew most would trust their own inclinations or those of their betters. He knew most would not budge an inch from whatever their chosen belief system was. He knew the majority of the indoctrinated and brainwashed would willingly remain that way.

He knew, for most of the people He preached to, that facts would never matter. Nor would the truth matter. Most would not and could not appreciate the truth. For most there was simply no love for facts and truth if these in any way violated their chosen beliefs.

BLINDED BY SIN

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]

“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.” [Revelation 3:17-18]

How spiritually blind must one be to indignantly and continuously reject the very Light that would heal their blindness and allow them to see spiritual reality? How dark are the hearts that refuse the Light which would otherwise brighten their being and deliver them from the eternal night?

THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM

Yet there were others, a decided and relative few, who took a completely different tack. They were personally bold enough to go against the grain of the fallen world and deceitful sinful culture. These were spiritual pioneers who would rather seek Light and salvation even it meant inviting the wrath of the wayward and cause ongoing personal suffering. They possessed a gravitas that strengthened them against all onslaughts from evil, both human and demonic, and allowed the Lord to greatly supplement their strength with a spiritual power none could resist.

These composed the Remnant. He would rescue these. He knew they would comply. He knew they would surrender to Him and obey. Why? Because they had already been communicating with Him through prayer and supplication for years, long before He ever arrived as one of us. They had been asking for His help. They knew He could help. They wanted Him. They longed for Him. They would do anything for Him. They knew He was and had always been the answer.

Of course, due to their excellent attitude and desire for actual spiritual reality they did not fare too well with other members of society who were impossible to communicate with on a spiritual level. These had a different mindset. They had very little in common with the unrepentant. The Remnant, with reference to this world, knew something was off. They refused to make peace with sin or accept the sinful ways of the world, though they also knew it would make life more difficult.

They knew the way of the Lord Jesus was the highest way, the most pure and righteous way, and they would do their best to follow it. Thus, they rejected the social relativism of the sinful culture which always sought an extremely low common denominator. Such relativism is, of course, the administered agenda of the controllers since dumbed-down masses all on the same drivel-inspired page of monotony are much easier to control and use to do their bidding. And the exact dynamic is present in Unreal Christianity.

OUR GLORIOUS PRESENT

People are waking up. People are gaining their sight. By allowing evil the upper hand and freedom to show itself in all its wickedness, that which had previously been hidden behind dark shadows has emerged into the open. They think the coast is clear. They think they are free to sin to their heart’s content with no ramifications or accountability. They have revealed themselves for what they are. And people are noticing. Those who desire righteousness are raising up a standard, first, in their own lives and then against the wicked. Many are coming to an understanding of repentance, what it is and why it is necessary.

Real Christians have always known from the time of their born again experience that a spiritual Rubicon must be crossed and that one can never go back. They know that when a person makes a commitment to the Lord Jesus it is an irrevocable commitment. There is no looking back or turning back or desire to do so. They know they have crossed a line of separation. The terms of the New Covenant demand it. Those who have recently been awakened know they can never unsee what they have already seen. They know too much.

They know the only remaining direction is forward.

The world of fakery, much of it media-inspired, whether cultural or religious, must be left behind.

BAPTISM OF OPTIMISM

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. [Psalm 23:1-3]

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, and I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones. [Psalm 52:8-9]

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [Psalm 92:12-15]

He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the green leaf. [Psalms 11:28]

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” [Jeremiah 17:7-8]

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. [Joel 2:21-24]

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:10b][1]

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TODAY IS THE DAY THE LORD JESUS PAID FOR YOUR SINS

Apr 15

Posted by RJ Dawson

He died a horrific death after undergoing many hours of grueling torture. His own people and arrogant religious leaders did this to Him in a demonic spasm of evil hatred.

I had to catch up on some chores around the house yesterday. I got the lawnmower tuned up for another mowing season. I also had to tend to a very minor roof leak. While on the roof, on a relatively cool and breezy early evening, I noticed a few branches from an old ash tree on one side of the house that had grown over the roof a tad that I might as well trim while up there. This tree was one of a few hit hard by a massive out-of-the ordinary hard freeze the previous winter. It almost died but survived. It bloomed out last year but only partially. Several of its large branches died. It bloomed again this year with a flurry of new bright green leaves on about half its branches, most of them closer to the central core and trunk. It is a tree showing signs of life and death at the same time.

A couple of dead bushy branches were within range of trimming from the roof. At first I was cutting them but because they had died over a year ago it was easier to just break them off. While doing this, standing right at the edge of the roof, a had to put a little extra effort in breaking off a larger one and when I did my forearm came down on a closer branch that had a few broken protrusions on it. It caused a good little surface skin gash. After a few seconds I had three or four rivulets of dark blood tricking forth a few inches down my fore arm. A couple of drops fell upon the roof and left noticeable small round splatters. I continued with my work and other chores another hour or so.

I must confess to you, my readers, that I lost track of the time this week. Like you, I’ve been pretty busy. I knew Resurrection Sunday was coming, of course. I knew Monday April 11 was the “Day of Crossing Over.” This was the day, Nisan 10 on the Hebrew calendar, when the young nation of Israel first crossed over the Jordan River after their forty years wandering the desert wilderness. I always mark that day every year as the start of a new season in the Spirit. But I lost track of the most important day coming up.

That day is today. It is Nisan 14. As I write this it marks the time when the Lord’s false judgment at the hands of evil people had reached its final conclusion which they had been lusting for during the Lord’s entire ministry. They would finally get to do to Him what they had always wanted. For them, it was a great day. The Lord’s torture and crucifixion process began early that morning. He shed great amounts of blood at His scourging of thirty-nine stripes before He ever got to the crucifixion site. He shed much more blood there…

He did this for all of us. He had to pay for our sin. Every person who first comes to the Lord is very aware of sins they have committed in life of which they can do nothing about. There is a record of sin on their account that they are well aware of. They wish they could do something about it. They wish the record didn’t exist. But there is nothing they can do. Many try to stop sinning. Some try very hard. But their understanding of what sin is trips them up. And the people they hang with, friends and family, (even so-called Christians and church-goers), don’t seem to have any concern about sin. They do their best to get along but want new life and cannot find it. They may have some success against their sin and eliminate a few things but no matter what they do they cannot stop entirely. They remain convicted of past sins and a growing record but must simply put up with the unfortunate results and a long rap sheet that won’t go away.

Then they hear about the Lord Jesus. They suddenly discover that there actually is a way to get their sorry record expunged. They come to the Lord as a dead man walking with no previous chance whatsoever and discover someone who actually cares about their sin record as much as they do. And they realize that He paid for it all long, long ago. He paid for their sins. He paid the penalty. He qualified to do this because He had no sin. He was the spotless Lamb of God, the Sacrifice Lamb. He gave Himself over to evil people in complete surrender so the price could be paid in full.

And it was. I remember when I first came to the Lord as a young adult. It was so hard to believe that my record could be cleared, that my sins could be washed away, and that I could have an entirely new life living for the Lord. But I did believe. I submitted to Him completely. He washed my sins away. I remember when I was water baptized. It had only been a few days. I wasn’t waiting around. I wanted the whole catalogue. I had been searching for Truth for several years and the Lord directed me to exactly what I had been looking for. My new local shepherd came down in the baptismal tank with me as they did back then. He said, “Upon the confession of your faith I now baptize you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ…” I went under water and came up a new man. Everyone was gathered around, smiling and shouting. There was much joy and laughter. I could not stop beaming.

It was the opposite of what the Lord had endured that day so long ago, the same day on the calendar as today, Nisan 14. And though many Christians will honor the Lord today on this Good Friday for His sacrificial death, the original Nisan 14 was on a Thursday. But no matter for our purposes at the moment. What we must be concerned about is what He did for us. We are all going straight to hell without Him. Prior to real salvation, our record of sin is clear and a mile long, including those who refuse to acknowledge their sin or don’t think they have any. All who attempt to enter heaven without having done anything about it will be turned away. Heaven is not for sin criminals. Heaven is not for unrepentant sinners. Heaven is not for those who refuse to honor the Lord Jesus properly and what He did for us.

He died that we may live.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” [Luke 23:39-47] [1]

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IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

Mar 7

Posted by RJ Dawson

They’ve been violated. It has already happened. There is no use, therefore, in being fearful of what’s coming because it’s already here. It’s been here in stages a long time…

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

The deceived don’t know this. They have been unaware of this hidden reality in general ever since it was first brought forth. They have no idea they are being played. Some may have a clue or two momentarily but usually reject the idea of sinister planning behind closed doors by hidden higher-ups as the fruit of the nut brigade. By this they prove their membership in the latter by discarding the very possibility of gaining the required insight toward being released from deception.

Anyone with adequate Biblical knowledge knows the enemy is a deceiver. He deceived Eve in the very beginning. What thus took place in The Garden of Eden was certainly a conspiracy. It was a planned assault formulated in secret and expertly managed to deceive our first parents toward surrendering their high spiritual status and gaining authority over their lives. It worked like a charm, as they say.

The enemy has done the same masterful job to date by bringing along a long term plan very slowly but surely. As in the beginning, he has a lot riding on its success. Part of the reason for the long gradualism approach was waiting on the technology to catch up with the plans. The plans, of course, have always been there. The specific plans for our generation were made long before our generation existed. One must go back four or five generations to discover the original source of the river now upon us.

Because people are created by God to be Strong and Freedom-Loving, one of the first things that had to be done was pare down the inherent strength of human beings and remove their freedom in as many areas as possible to the greatest degree possible to make them more pliable, conforming, and weak. An insecure weakened foe with less freedom and confidence is more easily defeated. An ignorant unaware foe disconnected from the reality of his or her inherent potent nature is much less likely to make a stand and fight. For the most part, through surreptitious and deceptive means undetected by the victim, the battle is often over before it ever starts.

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY AND DISCIPLESHIP

Big rocks are not pliable. There are big rocks in big rivers that can withstand indefinitely the ongoing powerful effect of raging waters. It will take a very long time to wear them down. Most of the time the only thing that happens to them is ongoing smoothing and polishing. They become more rounded and less sharp-edged. This is the exact process that takes place when the Lord’s people subject themselves to real discipleship. The rough edges are slowly removed. But the great Strength of the Freedom-Loving rock not only remains but grows even Stronger and more Freedom-Loving. Their smoothed out and polished nature allows opposing forces to flow past with little feeling or discomfort.

Christians who have been brainwashed by religion and religious idiots into thinking that God is against freedom obviously do not know God. That a likely majority of Christians believe this and surrender their lives accordingly proves that a likely majority of Christians are not clear on the concept. They’ve got their minds stuck on submission to authority, submission to authority, submission to authority. The idea isn’t necessarily wrong but they submit inappropriately to the wrong people. They become slaves to those they submit to whether they understand it or not. Slaves have little or no freedom.

And as I have said forever, the teachings of the Lord Jesus never advocate for such beyond one’s complete submission to Him. If the Lord wants us to obey others under His authority we only do so because we obey Him first. Real Christians place themselves first and foremost under His umbrella of authority. In this way whatever we may do is under His authority which means He has complete control over anyone else He may want us to submit to and if such people exceed their authority we can immediately cease to obey them just as the apostles Peter and John explained in the following:

And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:18-20]

In other words, those who command Christians to do something against the will of God that grossly violates their entire reason for living can be effectively told to go stick it in their left ear and jam it in all the way until everyone knows they’re as much a moron as they appear. Christians with such an attitude will always have the full 100% support of the Lord Jesus in doing such. ¿Comprende?

Therefore, all real Christians know they must submit to the Lord Jesus entirely or there cannot possibly be a real relationship with Him and His authority will never work in their lives. The unreal Christians do not understand this or have lost sight of the fact that all real Christians have been bought with a price. Our spiritual freedom was paid for by His horrific torture and death as the only possible Sacrifice Lamb who paid for our sins and set us free from its power.

Now, after the Lord Jesus has willingly paid the greatest price that could ever possibly be paid to buy us back from the forces of evil and the evil power of sin, why would He then violate our new freedom by making us slaves all over again?

It is true that real Christians are effectively His bond slaves. In fact, the English word “servant” in the Gospels referring to the Lord’s people is best translated as slaves and is translated that way in some versions. But this fact must be put into the proper context. The Lord Jesus is also obviously a loving Father. Again, did He not die for us? And is not that the greatest love? This being the case, He is obviously wholly trustworthy, loving, kind, merciful, and compassionate. Why then, must real Christians go through such a tough process which seems to violate this affection to become Strong Freedom-Loving disciples?

There are several reasons. We live in a broken, dysfunctional, sinful, fallen world filled with evil ruled over by powerful evil forces. If one is to have any effect against such evil then one must be very strong and powerful otherwise one will have no chance. To become spiritually strong and powerful one must work very hard at it and allow the Lord to assist in the process. This is in part why there must be growing pains and spiritual trials.

And in case you’re wondering, it impossible to possess this kind of powerful spiritual strength unless one is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure. The Early Church of the first century was filled with His Holy Spirit and this is what made it so powerful. They had greater power than the devil. It wasn’t their power. It was His power. The evidence of His power within them is illustrated throughout the New Covenant writings.

Remember the Roman centurion who believed in the Lord? He stated the authority paradigm very well. By considering the military we better understand the need for growing pains, spiritual trials, and necessary discipleship. The military takes young raw recruits and transforms them into strong, disciplined soldiers who obey orders. One could never have an effective military otherwise. We can also see this in the realm of sports in which the very best players work extremely hard over many years to become the best they can be. Both of these examples illustrate the necessity of submitting to strong training and discipline. It is how the largely worthless and weak become powerful and great. Some may have great natural talent but such still must be properly subjected to the process. For real Christians, it is absolutely mandatory that they get their flesh under control and never allow their lower human nature to subvert their higher nature and violate their true character. The addition of the Lord’s Spirit to our spirit makes this possible.

But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. [1Corinthians 6:17]

Real Christians understand real discipleship. They know they are greatly loved and supported by the Lord Jesus but also know they are in a spiritual war against powerful evil enemies. They know that pacified, compliant, soft, wimpy, conformed-to-the-sinful-culture non-Spirit-filled Christians won’t have much impact whatsoever against such evil forces. They know that those who insist on such an attitude are actually working for the enemy. Keep this in mind when religious rulers insist that one must submit to them rather than the Lord Jesus. It is exactly the same when such Christians weakly submit to the secular variety of such rulers. Those who submit to either of these without ever submitting fully to the Lord are doing the same thing Adam and Eve did when they rebelled against God. They are effectively submitting to the devil.

This is why it is vitally necessary to submit to the Lord fully and properly. His teachings tell us how this is done. The history of the first-century Christians reveal to us how they did it. However, much of what the Lord taught and what the original Christians did in obedience to His teachings has been thoroughly rejected by the majority of Christians ever since. Now, why would they do that? Hmmm… This should tell one all one needs to know about Unreal Christianity. It is just another of the devil’s evil and deceptive hell holes. Rather than being Strong Freedom-Loving rocks as created by God, such Christians are mere spiritual wimps led around by the nose, broken and violated. And they don’t even know it. They are deceived.

THE LAST TWO YEARS

The Lord told me eleven and a half years ago in late August of 2010 that we were in the early stages of a national Great Awakening. He revealed this to me long before the term “Great Awakening” became popular. Starting maybe five years ago at the most this term began being appropriated by a few and then grew to massive acceptance. Curiously, however, it has rarely been used in Christian circles, Christian media, or churches. It is as if Christians are completely unaware of what is actually going on in these times. In reality, this is exactly the case. The majority of Christians are clueless because their chosen official leaders are clueless, because such official Christian leaders for the most part are not serving the Lord Jesus and have different agendas. They serve someone else. They desire something else.

Yet, how is it then that many non-Christians in America know a great deal of what’s going on behind the scenes, do an incredible amount of research, work very hard to stay informed and aware, filter out all the mis and disinformation, and do their best to inform others (for free!) while most Christians don’t know squat? Could it be because such Freedom-Loving people are doing a much better job obeying their Creator and being what He wants them to be even though they likely don’t know Him or know Him very well? And could it be that they have refused to submit to brainwashing of either the secular or religious variety?

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. [Romans 2:14-16]

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” [Matthew 21:28-32]

Even though the last two years have likely been the worst ever experienced in America though many Americans don’t know this or believe it because they are, well, you know, and though the devil has made great strides toward his master plan, the Lord Jesus has also had a plan. His plans always predate the devil’s plans. The Lord knows what the devil will do before he does it and has a plan to counteract it. But the Lord can only implement His plans through fully submitted disciples—loving sons and daughters pledged to Him and His work—those who not only say they will do the work but actually go out and do it. Thus, we now perceive much more clearly the real Christians and the fake ones based on what each has done over the last two years. Some Christians merely did everything they were told to do without ever seeking the Lord and therefore were exactly like the wayward son who told his father he would obey but never did. And because these Christians obeyed someone other than the one they claim to follow it proves they don’t really follow Him. The last two years have revealed the unreal Christians for what they are.

The last two years have also revealed the real. The real are those who acted as big rocks in a raging river who refused to move but got that much more smoothed out and rounded and polished during a greatly difficult time. By staying with the Lord Jesus and one another and doing their best, they preserved who they are and got even stronger and more aware of the devil’s tricks.

…so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. [2Corinthians 2:11] [1]

Because the enemy was arrogant he became vulnerable. The Lord Jesus drew him out. The Lord depended on His people to withstand the process and remain faithful though it looked as though all was done and over with and the enemy had achieved a great victory. Thank the Lord that so many of His children did remain faithful. The enemy will never quit, of course, and has already brought the next phase of his plan out, but, as always, the Lord Jesus has His own plan to counteract this one as well. His people must be faithful to the current plan of the Lord as well. It is why real Christians must be forever faithful and obedient. It is how they remain Strong and Freedom-Loving.

Anything less proves spiritual adultery.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (1)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, Christ Died For Sinners, Christian Pharisees, Discipleship, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sin and Evil, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Deception, Spiritual Freedom, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Unreal Christianity

GOD’S GIFT OF GRACE

Jan 24

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sometimes I wonder why the whole world isn’t lined up to receive the one thing that cures their eternal ills and reconciles them with God.

Though living a real Christian life is not easy, living in a cold, hard world is significantly more difficult and often impossible. We were designed to live for God and with God. We were created to be with Him, not apart from Him, and not lost on some weird avenue leading nowhere but down. Everything about the Lord is upward, and positive. He lifts spirits, He blesses with joy and peace, and He makes a place for the lonely and alone:

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. [Psalm 68:5-6]

Grace is not about deserving anything. It is by perfect definition a pure gift—a gift inspired and motivated by pure love. The Lord is out to get us. He wants us for Himself. His desire is to smother us with love and affection, make our backs strong and straight, light up our faces with the joy of His Spirit, and bless us abundantly. But He also knows we can only handle so much blessing. Too much at any given time and He might spoil us, something He will never do. In the meantime, though our trials and times of testing and growth may be severe, such in no way must ever question or diminish the full measure of His love and grace. As He Himself, these things are eternal. They are gifts to be accepted that He will only give and never, ever take back. Falling away from God and going into a world of sin, however major or minor, is purely our decision. It is never His. Though He often grieves for lost souls who refuse His grace, He also respects their choices.

And though He is a mighty Warrior and powerful in all respects, the Lord Jesus has a tender heart of love. He extends a hand of grace toward you this day.

…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [Romans 3:23-26][1]

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REAL CHRISTIANITY HAS THE ONLY CURE FOR THE SIN DISEASE (BEWARE THE BLIND GUIDES)

Jan 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

**Sin generated a maelstrom of evil upon God’s perfect Creation. Every time someone sins evil is released. Sin is the real deadly virus. Sin is the real pandemic.**

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALTAR CALLS?

Much of Christianity, that which refuses the Lord’s full authority, and that which I have long termed Unreal Christianity, has, in recent years, especially the last two, become that much more obvious regarding its true nature. There is no greater proof of this than its outright refusal to preach and teach the truth about sin.

If you don’t preach sin there is no conviction of sin experienced by the hearer. It is conviction of sin which tells a sinner he is one, is in possession of sin, and must do something to eliminate it from his account and be cleansed. The sinner is then drawn to the Lord Jesus, who paid for his sins, to have his sins eliminated, gain power over sin, and receive salvation. This is clearly a vital component of the Gospel message.

However, instead of telling sinners they are sinners and attempting, per the Lord’s New Covenant teachings, to bring them to real salvation and transform them into disciples, the proponents of Unreal Christianity do the very opposite. They don’t want to bring it up. They are afraid of the negative reaction from unrepentant sinners. They are afraid people will leave their church. They are afraid of losing their social standing in the local community. They are afraid it will negatively affect their market share. They know it’s bad for the bottom line. They might even go out of business. They would thus rather coddle sinners and bless them on their way to hell. They are fearful and faithless. The New Testament reveals them as deceptive imposters.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

One may note the strong and unwavering Biblical directive on correctly measuring up to God’s righteousness standard in this statement:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. [James 2:10]

In this declaration, the brother of our Lord states clearly that anyone who does not keep the Law of Moses in full is guilty of violating the entire Law. It does no good to keep as many as nine of the Ten Commandments, for example. One must keep all ten or one stands in violation. God doesn’t grade on the curve. He demands 100%. We must score an “A.” Of course, there are actually a total of 613 commandments in the entire Torah. Imagine acing that test. Seeing as how it appears to be an impossible task, how can one actually attain God’s standard of righteousness?

In addition to the Law of Moses which lists and defines sins, and which primarily concerns “the mere performance of externals,”[1] the Lord Jesus goes even further in His teachings to incorporate “the inner stirrings of motives.”[2] He obliterates the idea of a religious checklist in which one can outwardly appear to keep the Law (or church protocol) while possessing an uncircumcised heart filled with sin and corruption. His teachings expose the false standing of the likely majority of Christians in America who only pretend to be Christians, hide their true nature, carry hidden sin, and compromise with the enemy. In mining the depths of the following example of the Lord’s teaching in this regard, in which He insists on getting to the very root of the problem and leaving no stone in a stony heart unturned, one can see just how far one must go to live a truly righteous life:

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” [Matthew 5:21-22]

From this, it is apparent that violating the sixth commandment involves much more than Thou Shalt Not Kill. In the Lord’s Community, we are supposed to love our brothers and sisters as true family members. If one becomes angry with his brother to the point of a break in relationship and refuses any attempt to make peace, he is guilty of a relationship trespass violation and becomes “liable to the court” the same as one who commits murder. Now, keeping in mind that murder was a stoning offense (the death penalty), being angry with one’s brother is a much worse offense than we may realize. Anger itself is not the problem because anger in itself is not a sin. The apostle Paul, quoting Psalms 4:4, taught this:

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” [Ephesians 4:26]

We know the Lord was angry on occasion as was Paul, but what both are getting at is continuous anger with no forgiveness. This not only results in a break in relationship, which the Community of the Lord must never have, but causes the object of the anger to be falsely characterized as unworthy of relationship, essentially meaning he is evil and beyond redemption. To make sure anger does not lead to such a separation, one must deal with it before the sun goes down so it won’t gain power and eventually become set in concrete.

The Lord then goes further and speaks of the highest court, the Sanhedrin, which had the greatest earthly authority among the Israelites to pronounce sentence. Here, the Lord says whoever says to his brother “You good-for-nothing,” (Raqa) will also be guilty of violating the murder commandment. This is probably an Aramaic word. It means “empty” or “good for nothing,” One authority (Bruce) says, “Raca expresses contempt for a man’s head=you stupid!” The Lord says this is a great offense against one’s brother, even greater than being angry with him. Even so, the Lord does not stop at this point because there is yet a greater offense than these two that also deserves the same sentence as murder. However, it appears that the first two contain the possibility of redemption. The third does not. What could be so bad that is not actual murder but would cause one to be in grave danger of hell? –“You fool!” Yes, calling your brother a “fool” will do it. The Greek word is Moros, defined as “dull, stupid, or foolish.” Bruce says it “expresses contempt for his heart and character=you scoundrel!”[3]

Thus we see that, though a man be not guilty of actual murder, he can still violate the sixth commandment by having murder in his heart. This evil condition starts with unresolved anger and a refusal to forgive. It grows into accusing one’s brother of being empty headed, good for nothing, and stupid. Beyond that one expresses utter contempt for his brother’s heart and character and accuses him of being a fool and a scoundrel. Note that the accused brother in question, probably originally guilty of a minor infraction that caused his brother’s anger, is most likely none of these things but has been subjected to character assassination and had his good name slandered, all because someone was offended at some slight and then built up the offense into a bonfire. The sixth commandment does not spell out these details but the Lord Jesus sure does. If the willfully sinning unrepentant angry man is able to convince enough people of these lies, the innocent man could actually lose his place in the Community by being effectively convicted by false charges and innuendo, have his reputation destroyed, and suffer greatly in life as a result.

Consider this while you consider the existence of so many Christian “denominations” and how the extreme disunity they caused ever happened in the first place. Each denomination exists because it diverted from the original or diverted from another denomination but stopped before it advanced to honoring the original.

REAL CHRISTIANITY

The Lord Jesus started only one Church (Ekklesia)—the Community of the Called-Out Ones. He has only ever had one Church. He still has only one Church. It is composed only of real Christians. A real Christian is defined as one who is 100% under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus. Regarding sin, real Christians fully obey the Lord’s teachings regarding being completely freed from sin. They do this through initial repentance as a type of sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering in which the cleansing Blood of Jesus is applied coupled with full immersion in water invoking the Name of Jesus for the remission of sins per the command in Acts Chapter 2, and ongoing repentance of sin as required:

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:38-39]

The entire purpose of real Christianity is to free people from their manifold sins, from the destruction their sins cause to themselves and others, and from the deadly disease of sin which wracks their souls, and then bring them into the New and Living Way:

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [Hebrews 10:19-22]

Our great Founder, the One who created His Creation—all that exists around you sans sinful man’s additions to it—decided on His own before He ever created anything that He would have to one day pay a visit here, walk among us, teach us the truth and the proper way of living, and then, in the greatest act of love anyone could ever possibly make, and in His case, the greatest act of love of all time, actually surrender His perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to make payment for our sins and to save and deliver humanity.

His sacrifice works because He never committed any sin, not a single one, in His entire life as one of us. He obeyed the Law of Moses to perfection, never violating a single proviso. Obviously, no one had ever done this before or since. His perfection was in part unequivocally proven upon His resurrection from the dead. He actually defeated death. Death could not hold Him. “It was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). He was and remains the only perfect antidote or cure for all sin for all time.

WHY UNREAL CHRISTIANITY FAILS THE LEGITIMACY TEST

It doesn’t properly address the sin problem.

Again, the whole point of Christianity is to address what we must do about sin, which is defined as “missing the mark” or violating the laws and teachings of God which exist to lead one to righteousness. Christianity is supposed to have the means to allow people to be cured of and released from their deadly disease that will cause them to struggle through life, lose their souls, and go to hell. The teachings of the Lord Jesus perfectly address this. He tells us what sin is, how it got here, and how to get rid of it. His teachings instruct us on how to stop sinning, overcome the hold that sin has on one’s life, and cease being slaves of sin. If this central teaching of the Lord Jesus is not being properly and correctly addressed by a minister, church, or denomination (and many ministers, if not most, no longer preach about sin), then it should be obvious that those ministers, churches, and denominations are frauds. They may be clueless brainwashed frauds in that they are too deceived to know it or more likely, they know they are frauds but don’t care. They don’t care because they are not in it for the right reasons. They are merely using the platform for their own purposes.

Note: It is impossible for those hungry in heart searching for truth to hear the real Gospel and not be convicted of sin. This conviction is designed to activate faith, which leads one to repentance, which then leads to salvation. Unless one’s temple is thoroughly cleansed through proper repentance by washing away all sin with the Blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit of the Lord will not take up residence within it. The same is true for churches. This is why it is imperative to preach and teach about the disease of sin. Refusing to address sin and expose it allows for its destructive hidden presence to remain and allows the enemy a place of residence and a foothold from which to operate.

THE PRESENCE OF THE DEVIL

The Lord Jesus saw fit to give us a perfect allegory in His time of false shepherds in action which can be applied to any time or geographic location. The first century Hebrew/Israelite major religious parties, the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes, had control of almost all religious thought. Almost every Israelite of the first century AD identified with one of these three parties, mainly, of course, the first two.

One of the reasons the Essenes are not addressed in the New Testament Scriptures is because they were not involved as movers and shakers in the overall society at that time. The original group of them had long since left town in the middle of the second century BC. Happiness for them was Jerusalem in their rear view mirror as it was the only way to appease their conscience regarding the sinister machinations transpiring in the City of David. They took up residence out in the wilderness to the east, close by the northern edge of what the later Romans called the Mare Asphaltum. Scholarship consensus maintains these Essenes were the monastic group inhabiting the ruins of Qumran associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient writings discovered initially in 1947. As former members of the viable Zadok priesthood, this group of men left the temple and Jerusalem because they grew disgusted with what became the official priesthood of that time—a shady group placed in power through political means.

Over the next two centuries this illicit priesthood in Jerusalem became staffed through political appointments which had nothing or little to do with God’s original intent. The political had merged with the religious. Sound familiar? Rather than the priesthood addressing sin as the Torah commanded, the appointees thereof merely went through religious motions appearing as real while saturated with sin and fraud, not the least of which was masquerading as being legitimate. This corruption started a fight for control which eventually congealed into two main religious parties that controlled Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee, and also the temple and the synagogues: The Sadducees, who worked hand in glove with Rome and had authority over Jerusalem and the temple, and the Pharisees who controlled the local synagogues.

These two parties made a mockery of God, the prophets, and Moses the lawgiver, by appropriating their own versions and wrongheaded interpretations of God’s Word, which even included mass exclusions of Holy Writ (the Sadducees) and a wholesale rewriting of Scripture through ultra-interpretive, casuistic, and specious renderings, the so-called Oral Law, which, in the words of the Lord Jesus, invalidated the Word of God! (the Pharisees). Think about that. These religious leaders were so wicked they both trashed Scripture and rewrote it while pretending to teach it! This is exactly what Unreal Christianity has done and is doing.

Also, keep in mind that the prophetic word had ceased 250 years before that time, in the late 400s BC, so there were no Hebrew prophets correcting these ultra-erroneous shysters. At present, of course, in American Christianity, we have a parallel condition. It explains why most ministers and churches get away with their multitudinous errors. They are all non-Prophet organizations.

KNOWING THE TREE BY ITS FRUIT

The majority of that which is referred to as Christianity in America is incomparable to the original. It refuses the truth of Scripture regarding sin, refuses to teach it, and thus refuses the actual teachings of the Lord Jesus. It has rejected God. It merely uses the Lord and Scripture for its own purposes without actually submitting to Him. Again, maybe the majority of those engaged in this are completely duped, but if so it is the greatest duping ever known to mankind. Why? Because they have the Word of God. They read it. They teach from it. They claim to honor the Lord Jesus. And all in all, they disregard and refute anything in His curriculum they do not feel comfortable with or agree with. Remember, one both strives to follow the Lord fully and obey His teachings fully or one is in violation of not following Him at all. This halfway walk of the false ministers who pick and choose what they believe and teach, and make a god to suit themselves, is the height of ministerial evil but it is an evil couched in faux righteousness. It is an evil that leads people toward the pure and holy stream but never gets them there. They would never allow anyone under their jurisdiction to partake of it. They only want to get close enough to appear real without actually being real. This means they are exactly the same as the ancient Israelite Pharisees and Sadducees though with simulated Christian clothing.

In other words they are mere actors. On a stage. Loving the limelight and place of honor. The Lord called them false stage players or hypocrites. And all unreal Christians deceived and captured by Unreal Christianity are living in a controlled simulation. It appears to be real but is nothing more than a choreographed program in which people go through spiritually meaningless motions which have no effect on their eternal soul and their personal sin. They enter church services as sinners and they leave church services as sinners. They substitute false religious rituals heavy on surface connotations with little or no spiritual effect. The vast majority have never repented of sin properly or had a real born again experience, both of which the Lord Jesus said was mandatory for all. This is deception of a very high order.

BLIND GUIDES

There is no new thing under the sun. The world has never been devoid of religious charlatans. No matter what the righteous may do expose their trickery and eliminate their influence they always somehow manage to creep back in and establish a foothold. In closing, the following passage is a great refresher on this recurrent “goats as sheep” problem that presently exists as a nationwide mainstream false representation of Christianity. It gives a great explanatory illustration of these pretenders in action. It exposes those of today just as it did those of yesterday. Read, watch, and pray:

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”

But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” [Matthew 15:1-14][4]

[1] ISBE

[2] ISBE

[3] See A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament

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Tags: America, American Sin and Depravity, Baptism in the Name of Jesus, Blind Guides, Christ Died For Sinners, Christian Denominations, Christian Pharisees, Jesus Created One Church, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Repentance, Sin, Sin and Rebellion, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Warfare, Ten Commandments, The Disease of Sin, The Great Awakening, The Sinner's Self Deception, The Wicked Sin of Unbelief, Unreal Christianity

THE TEARS OF GOD

Dec 9

Posted by RJ Dawson

For all the senseless sins of humanity

For all the hate

For all the children

Whose lives are snuffed out

By their parents.

And other beautiful children

Born deaf or blind

Who love their lives

And give their might to prove their worth

While privileged ones

Throw theirs away

For so many so rebellious

No one can reach them

Intent on evil

Who deceived them?

And on it goes

Century after eon

Nothing ever changes

Man’s inhumanity to man

Brings untold misery

And hard, hard work for nothing

Destroyed in a day

Lifetimes achieving

She said it wasn’t worth it

And darkness descended

But what of another choice?

What of beauty?

What of kindness and love

And compassion?

What of joy?

Why the hate and discontent?

When air can be so pure

And nature so rich?

How can creatures so bright

Descend into such a pit?

Day after day after day

Misery upon misery

And evil people in power

Will no one ever stand to save?

Will we let it all slip away?

Day after day, tears fall

Year after year, tears fall

Century after…

The dry void receives the wet

Salty, salty tears

The levels rise

Overflowing banks

And continuing upward

So much sin

So much pain

So much flat out rejection

Of the cure

Of the means to stop it

To live right

To get it right

To stop the bleeding

But they would not

And the levels rise

More tears, flowing daily

Won’t you stop?

Won’t you try to live right?

Won’t you take care of one another?

I’ve given all I can give

I can give no more

And the levels rise

Drowning continents

Filling the earth

Overcoming all bounds

An unending stream

Of the Creator’s anguish

Oceans of tears

Jesus Wept

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Tags: America In The Balance, Devil's kingdom, Lord Jesus, Prayer and Repentance, Rebellion Against God, Repentance, Sin and Evil, Sin and Rebellion, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Warfare, The Disease of Sin, The Fallen World of Sinful Humanity, The Sinner's Self Deception, The World The Flesh The Devil, They Hated Me Without a Cause

CHRISTIAN WITNESSING: A CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE

Jul 29

Posted by RJ Dawson

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The term adult is overrated. It is often ill-defined and based on a confined perspective. In reality, when compared to God, eternity, and an ancient earth, we are all mere newbies, children trying to find our way.

YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME

We see ourselves as sovereign. It is this way from childhood. Some children are more vocal than others on the subject and the little highnesses don’t hold back when perceiving a challenge to their noble standing. Once they understand they’re behind the generational eight ball, however, at least for the present, and the big people have the drop on them, they begin making plans for the future—“When I get big…”

Wiser children are a tad more circumspect. They somehow understand intrinsically that their little lives are good or at least not so bad. They have shelter and food and… toys!

“But they’re just using toys to keep you in line and under their authority.”

“What? You don’t like toys?”

“Toys are just tools of the capitalist bourgeoisie to train you as future oppressors of the proletariat.”

😶

“I gather by your lack of proper retort that your brainwashing has already progressed to a probable point of no return and I must therefore and forthwith identify you as my enemy and insufferably target you with my considerable wrath, the first thrust of which is leaving you bereft and alone in the midst of this sordid establishment to suffer the misery of a wasted existence built on false hopes and dreams rather than join the glorious people’s revolution and overthrowing the man!”

“Johnny, are you spouting Communist propaganda again? Okay, to the playpen…”

“You may imprison me but my heart will stay free!”

“Want some apple juice?”

“Okay.”

(The little Commie might have been more successful if he had conformed his propaganda to the interactive fine art of playing with toys. He overplayed his hand.)

THE SIN PANDEMIC

Here is an interesting fact. Many years ago, three months before I gave my heart to the Lord, I was witnessed to for the first time. Then, three months later, I was witnessed to once more, by the same person (It bore fruit). And guess what? I don’t remember ever being witnessed to again. That little factoid doesn’t speak well of American Christianity in general which surrendered its previous hard-charging evangelistic DNA maybe a century or so ago. And I was raised in a denominational church but I don’t recall ever hearing the term “witnessing.”

But there we were. And there they were, telling me about a big new change in their lives. I had already heard something about it. They were close friends, a young married couple. This was the first time they came over to see me since it all went down and tell me the weird news in person. Only it wasn’t so much them telling me about them but them telling me I had to also be like them. I was roughly their age, and was doing a good job of being friendly and open.

My associates and I had always prided ourselves on being open-minded and often partook of great conversations on any number of subjects and were never concerned about getting too deep. In fact, getting deep was cool. We were young adults. Everything was new and open. Being dogmatic was better left to canines. It was much more fun to hear many different points of view and gain information. No one owned the information and if you didn’t care for it, it was no big deal.

We opposed any form of censoring for the simple fact that we could end up missing good ideas and positive information, and things we might apply in our lives to make them better. Conforming to a dead orthodoxy was the last thing we wanted.

But these people, who I used to know and hang out with, had changed in what I soon perceived to be in a not so good way. I started feeling pressure. Are they trying to sell me on something? Really? And the answer was yes, they were. Rather than a conversation it switched over to a sales pitch. I started getting irked. The smiles were gone from their faces. I know now what was going on. They themselves were under pressure. They felt they had to do this, to witness to me, to tell me I must change…”

I got quiet briefly, my mood transformed from being welcoming, open, and very friendly to a tad somber. I’m sure I must have lowered my eyebrows and effected a somewhat borderline dismayed expression. At last I told them that if they didn’t stop they may as well leave. (What they were doing was not cool. Not in the least.) He looked more upset than she did and said “Let’s go.” She showed more concern and didn’t want the visit to end on a bad note but they’re the ones that brought it on. They overplayed their hand.

WITNESSING IS A FORCED OPTION

So you see, sinners don’t like being referred to as sinners. No one likes to be thought of as inferior in need of a major remodel and paint job. Pride always kicks in. We stand up for ourselves and should. It is in the heart of every person to defend their honor regardless of morality level. There might only be a half tank or so left but good things still reside within and besides, aren’t these people a tad arrogant to think they’re better? This is why witnessing is tricky and witnessers must have some level of proper training. The Lord did this. He prepared His men before sending them out.

I think a much better witness would have been for my friends to come over still exulting in the joy of the Lord as I know they did in church and at home. They were too young then spiritually, as we all are early on, to understand that witnessing is a forced option in that it happens no matter what we do or how we do it. What I saw was a religious sales pitch. What they saw was the need to make me convert just as they had. Although they didn’t really convert. They were actually gloriously filled with the Holy Spirit and had a powerful and positive life-changing experience. If they had come over with absolutely no pressure tactics and allowed me to see the big change for the better in their lives simply by their love, joy, and outward actions, I would have been more impressed. It would have planted a seed within that would have grown into greater curiosity on my part and later on I might be more willing to open up, likely when I was down or struggling.

And this is exactly what ended up happening. They changed tactics and began praying. The whole church prayed for me. Over a three month period I felt my swagger and manly security slowly slipping away. I began being more aware of my shortcomings. In a tender and loving way the Lord was showing me my sin. The Lord Himself was witnessing to me! He was preparing me for what He knew I really wanted, and part of the preparation was “breaking up the fallow ground of my heart.” He was plowing deep furrows in my heart is what He was doing. He was getting the soil ready to receive the Gospel seed. When the time came for the final witness I was ready.

That second time around it was exactly like what I had suggested before. It was a time of smiles, laughter and joy. Whatever it was they had, I wanted it.

But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” [Luke 18:16-17][1]

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Tags: Evangelization and Witnessing, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Power To Be Anointed Witnesses, Repentance, Salvation in Jesus, Sin and Rebellion, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Disease of Sin, The Sinner's Self Deception

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY 101 (Lesson 17)

May 2

Posted by RJ Dawson

He did the impossible. He defeated death on our behalf. Peter continues his Pentecost message by telling the throng that “Death Could Not Hold Him.” Neither will it hold His real followers.

INTRODUCTION

Ch 1: LESSON 1 LESSON 2 LESSON 3 LESSON 4 LESSON 5 LESSON 6 LESSON 7

Ch 2: LESSON 8 LESSON 9 LESSON 10 LESSON 11 LESSON 12 LESSON 13 LESSON 14

Ch 2: LESSON 15 LESSON 16

LESSON 17:

Acts 2:22-24

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³ this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. ²⁴ But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

Imagine that. He defeated death. One of the first sermons I ever remember hearing from my first pastor was entitled something along the lines of “Death Could Not Hold Him.” This man was a great preacher. He could paint a word story that kept us enthralled, filled with emoting and tone changes, teaching all the while. He made a man feel like he was there.

So one thinks about this tricky human condition called death. We seem somewhat invincible in our youth—working all day at hard physical toil, staying up late at night, always having so much energy, a few hours of sleep and we’re back at it. But then slowly but surely a few things start going south. The only thing to do is continue staying a step ahead of the grim reaper. We go from laughing in his face to eventually facing the fact that he will win. Facing this reality can be a killer.

SAVED

But thanks to the Lord He saw a young man with a hungry heart longing for truth and presented an opportunity I did not mess up. Dodging a million bullets since—those unseen slugs that often otherwise find their mark— the Lord blessed with a never-say-die desire to keep moving forward. This comes only by His Holy Spirit. If you live for God you will get knocked down. You can either stay there or get back up. And this is not because death does not await, but because death will not win after all. Because my Father GOT BACK UP, I will too, and so will you if you put your trust in Him. In the meantime the victory comes by laughing death in the face anyway and trying to live absolutely as long as possible working and living for the Lord the whole way. My advice is quit thinking in terms of years remaining and start thinking in terms of decades remaining. More decades means having that many more opportunities to serve the Lord who saved us from death because He died in our place.

There was an old church song we sang in my rookie year that sums up what our attitude should be in this regard. It had a big impact on me because it wasn’t just a song but my life. It was called The Old Account. It featured these lyrics:

There was a time on earth when in the book of Heav’n

An old account was standing for sins yet unforgiv’n;

My name was at the top, and many things below—

I went unto the Keeper, and settled long ago.

Long ago, long ago,

Yes, the old account was settled long ago;

And the record’s clear today, for He washed my sins away,

When the old account was settled long ago.

The old account was large, and growing every day,

For I was always sinning, and never tried to pay;

But when I looked ahead, and saw such pain and woe,

I said that I would settle—I settled long ago.

Until one becomes a real Christian one will never know just exactly what the Lord did by becoming one of us. He actually risked everything. Now, stay with me here because this might get a tad deep. God wanted to ransom humanity. But it obviously could not involve coercion. Each person must decide on his own. But no one could ever defeat death because no one could live without sin. Once Adam released sin into the world all humans have become smitten with it, or might I say slapped upside the head. Someone would have to enter humanity and live a full life without ever committing even a single sin. Someone must be able to actually keep the Law of Moses without violation. You see where this is going.

And no, God didn’t spy His good young Son and tap him on the shoulder and tell Him to go. No father would ever do that to his son. A real father would always go in place of his son. The reality is that the Son did not exist until the Incarnation. There was no such “Eternal Son” in heaven. The only God there was God. And He would have to go Himself. But when He arrived on earth He would have to live a perfect life, something otherwise impossible for us mere mortals. Yet, if He had only sinned once, and it was certainly possible, the entire plan would have been wrecked. There would be no spotless Lamb of God to sacrifice. There would be no Blood of the Lamb to cleanse us of our sins. All humanity would be lost including the Lord Himself. And death would win. And the devil would win the universe.

The Good News is that the Lord did not sin. Not once. And because of that He confidently looked death square in the face with no fear. He would certainly die but would not stay dead. Why? Because “Death Could Not Hold Him.”

For many Christians, a probable majority, there is little or no self-identification with the Lord’s great sacrifice. His sacrifice may be acknowledged but that’s no good. It must be applied. And that can only happen if a person surrenders to Him completely, holding nothing back, and burning all bridges in the process. We must throw ourselves upon the altar of burnt offering and die in order to receive His help and be reborn. There is no other way. Halfway Christianity takes people all the way to hell.

MISSION POSSIBLE

“Your mission Jim, should you choose to accept it, is to get the big idea that God became a Man, lived a life of absolutely no sin, followed the path and plan perfectly, and then sacrificed it all for you. He knew He would be getting back up, but what He really wants is to see you get back up.”

I will leave you with one of my favorite sayings of the Lord Jesus that perfectly typifies His powerful no fear approach to His coming death. He always knew what would happen. It was why He came. That didn’t make it any easier but that much more difficult. How many of us guys, if we knew the death we were about to die, would stick with the plan? But not only did He stick with the plan, He slammed death, hell, and the grave as wimps! He called them out for the lowdown disgusting sorry idiots they are and was even willing to let them hit Him first with their best shot. And boy howdy, did they ever comply. Even then, though, it was not enough. They knew the stakes. They had their opportunity. And they failed. They failed because He was too much Man for them. They simply did not understand who they were messing with.

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!” [John 2:19] [1]

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JESUS IS THE ANSWER

Mar 17

Posted by RJ Dawson

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Those in high positions of authority are not revealing all they know. Others in lesser positions may be clueless but will dutifully comply with the agenda and continue to drive the panic.

BOY HOWDY, THIS GOT UGLY QUICK

From the beginning, back in early January or so, there were a few rational people who saw what was happening, as the few often do, and began warning against the warning. Since then both sides have ramped up their rhetoric, though the rational voice has been completely deluged by now. Once the major media gets on board and begins relentlessly driving the narrative it is case closed. That’s because the majority of Americans are addicted to the major media and treat it like God.

You might have heard me say this before a time or two, but this phenomenon is not unlike what goes on in many churches, in that members have knee jerk reactions in times of such trouble to seek out their leaders and abide by their pronouncements. Mainline Christianity is thus no different than the mainstream media, in that they all say the same thing, never tell their people to not honor them as difference makers, but accept their middle man role and dole out the advice, which not surprisingly sounds exactly like the government’s advice.

I was at the grocery store late last week. It’s a big store, and relatively new. There were loaded and semi-loaded shopping carts and shoppers waiting in a ridiculously long line that snaked all the way along the main drag checkout area to the far end and down an aisle. It was probably that way on the other side of the store also. I had never seen such before in that store. And when a store has about thirty or so check out stands that says something. I didn’t notice how many were actually in operation but it appeared to be most.

While finding my place in line, almost halfway down a central aisle, still somewhat amazed, I did what I always do. I tried striking up a conversation with the man in front of me but he wasn’t very talkative. Another middle-aged woman came by, with a small child, and a young man in a wheel chair with a leg injury. They asked if this was the line. They had to cut across from their direction. I said yeah and she, with a big smile and jovial attitude, and a slight incredulous manner, dutifully lined up behind me. As we got closer to the front of the store the line parted in two, one for shoppers with lesser items. And we waited, and shuffled along. I’m sure many of you have experienced the same thing by now.

I was successful in this particular line in finding someone to discuss the situation with, and we carried on a conversation the rest of the way to the checkouts. Our theme, of course, was this strange happening and the current crisis which suddenly jumped out of nowhere but without what one would normally associate with such a crisis. There were not thousands dead, for example. Not even hundreds. At that time, across the entire country, there were about fifty and most of them were in one specific location in one state.

But the authorities continued saying it was about to get much worse. By that time a national panic was in the works. It was not based on reality, however, but on projected reality. I was not thinking there was not a potential crisis but that the crisis continued to appear overblown. Those voices I told you about back in January, who were saying the crisis showed all the signs of being manufactured? Well, they continued on, some with greater fervor, trying their best to tell the truth of the matter. But as always, you had to search for them. The mainstream media was now in lockstep, all saying the same thing, that the end of the world as we know it is upon us, and for all of you out there who are unprepared, well, you better hunker down, bunker or not.

Even the President was reluctant to get on board. He knew the entire thing was fishy, apparently, but was soon forced to go along. Again, I am not saying there is not a real danger here, but only that it’s been blown entirely out of proportion. Nevertheless, national fear has now set it. It is being taken advantage of to drive an agenda. I tried to warn you with my latest posts. You can gain a lot by reading them. You will have greater understanding of how this crisis was planned and carried out. You may figure out who’s driving it and for what reasons. It gives the PTB a good look into the present American psyche. And it lets them know who the lemmings are.

WHAT ABOUT GOD?

Meanwhile, for all real Christians out there, those who actually follow the Lord Jesus, especially those who have been around a while and are mature disciples, what is presently occurring is not so earth-shattering. They have already been through much worse. When whatever crises that happened to them took place, it wasn’t national news. No one except a very few knew about those occasions. They had to weather the storm though, and do their best to overcome and survive. The world at large didn’t care. It didn’t know. These were private struggles. But the Lord came through for each and every one. He made a way where there was absolutely no other way. They learned all the more to live by faith in their Savior who loves them, and trust Him. They have confidence in Him. They know He does what He says. They learned to not give in to fear and panic, especially when it regards a largely manufactured crisis.

It is good that you can’t find any hand sanitizer anywhere. People know what they need. It is good that the nation is being instructed to wash their hands. Really? That says a lot, that the people of a nation this large and influential doesn’t even know they should wash their hands. A hundred and fifty years ago, no one knew germs existed. They never made the connection between unsanitary practices and conditions with disease and illness, or on some occasions, general pandemics. And then America apparently forgot this knowledge. And America continued to slip headlong into the worst social practices ever when very few understood or cared that such behavior has a massive downside. When the majority practices such the end of that nation is in sight.

So this, again, is a test, on several levels. Doing one’s best to stay away from the virus is good. Taking all the proper precautions is good. Those who do the best in this regard will have the better chance. Maybe this will help the country turn the corner. Maybe Americans will discover that proper sanitation actually works. Maybe they will learn to be more disciplined regarding how they protect their bodies, what they put into their bodies, and what they engage in with their bodies. Maybe more people will get the big idea that the Lord’s instructions along these lines are there to protect us.

But I’ll believe when I see it. I have been teaching whoever might listen about all of these things for several decades now, and have only seen things get worse overall, though there does exist a percentage of the country that pays close attention to healthy lifestyles and nutrition. Most people prefer ignorance and apathy. This makes them easily led. They are then taken advantage of and steered into whatever thinking is desired at the time. They become dense to the truth they need. They make the mistake of being led by the wrong leaders. These wrong leaders, whether civil or religious, don’t really care about people but only their own interests and agendas. When I see it among Christians, however, it is most disconcerting. People think they are escaping an evil world and joining Christianity but are unaware they are often only jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak. And then they continue to be misled.

Those who refuse anything less than the full truth never stay in a place where they discover the full truth does not exist. They move on. They continue seeking. Perhaps this is why all the spiritual greats mentioned in the Word of God were relatively obscure in their times and associated with only a relative few, especially the Master Himself. Not only did few follow Him, He suffered terribly by this world’s leaders, most of whom never knew Him or appreciated Him.

My advice at this time is the same for any other time: Seek the Lord. None of this is any surprise to Him. And carry on in your work. Never trust those who merely talk the talk but rarely or never walk the walk. You will be led astray. Rather, seek the One who has already walked it out and will even walk a mile with you, or a hundred, or a million.

You can trust a Man who gives His life so you can live.

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Tags: American Sin and Depravity, Christ Died For Sinners, Hidden Agenda, If You Love Me You Will Keep My Commandments, Lord Jesus, Salvation in Jesus, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Disease of Sin, The Great Awakening, Unreal Christianity

PANICKED OVER A TRICK PANDEMIC

Mar 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

red apple fruit with black background

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Whatever this actually is—a pandemic, yet another disease scare, a hoax, a biowarfare attack, or a government response test—the REAL pandemic remains unacknowledged.

It’s getting worse. The infection rate continues to rage and rise, in some places exponentially. The worst perpetrators thereof are either too preoccupied to notice or care, or owe their lives to practices which make them vulnerable. If they stop they lose everything and their kingdoms crumble. They built their lives on dirt foundations with no escape hatch and could lose their existence of error when the big one hits. Many are so tied-in to a lesser-based life they will never get free without major disruptions from which they may never recover.

Yet there has always been a way out. Most humans see it, though, as too way out. Their social credibility suffers at the prospect of embracing it. Thus, those with the most invested in the fake world have the most to lose in leaving it, and choose a temp existence over long-term reality. This is why the Master opined on this quizzical matter by saying the worst are often first, in that they are less invested and more free to enter. Their baggage is the kind happily left behind. And besides, they’ve usually been treated like outskirts scum by the success party and denied membership since their résumés don’t add up. But the Master’s door is always open.

The rich man faithless deniers do anything they want with access to anything money can buy but will end up in the hot place with Mr. Dives craving a mere rain drop on their desert palates to no avail, while all the poor little faithful formerly sore-ridden Lazarus’ hang out safely in Abraham’s comfy air-conditioned crash pad. This reversal of fortunes is really cool when you think about it and does justice proud. It proves once again that playing by the rules of a dog-eat-dog world will get you a dead dog death in the long run regardless of manifold plaques on your wall and trophies in your case. None of those sorts of things are transferable to the great beyond.

Therefore, this latest scare we must beware means more effort wasted on things that don’t matter and playing right into the hands of the unseen gear grinders always coming up with more dastardly plans to insure their control and lessen yours. If you can’t see through it you must clean your windshield, change your perspective, and try harder to focus. Maybe take off those dark shades that look so cool. And don’t trust the ones the Master instructed us not to trust but trust Him.

Only He has the cure for the real pandemic.

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Tags: Adam and Eve, American Sin and Depravity, Christ Died For Sinners, Lord Jesus, Real Christianity, Salvation in Jesus, Sin and Evil, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Disease of Sin, The Great Awakening

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD

Oct 30

Posted by RJ Dawson

A Christian can determine how much love and respect he has for the Lord Jesus by whether or not he actually believes this statement and is willing to apply it.

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” [Matthew 19:26]

Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” [Mark 10:27]

But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” [Luke 18:27]

I KNOW GOD LOVES ME ‘CAUSE I’M RICH

Many Jews of the Lord’s time believed prosperity was a sign of God’s approval. The Sadducees were certainly well off. The Pharisees were lovers of money. Accordingly, those without such prosperity, though otherwise hard workers and sincere commandment keepers, were undoubtedly looked upon by more than a few as essentially forsaken or rejected of God. They were seen, even among themselves, as somehow falling short due to some unknown inexpressible inherent weakness. They likely believed that God knew something about them or their character that excluded them from His greater blessings.

This is why the Lord’s disciples were shocked at His teaching regarding the rich:

And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” [Matthew 19:23-25]

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

There is a man referred to in Scripture as “the rich young ruler.” But don’t go searching for this particular collection of terms because you will not find it. It does not exist. The phrase appears nowhere in the New Testament. It is actually a descriptive compilation using separate single words from three different passages in three different gospel accounts which were later conformed into a whole, likely by preachers and Bible expositors.

In the gospel of Matthew, this individual is referred to directly as “someone” and “the young man.” He is referred to by implication as “a rich man.” In the Matthew narrative it says he was one who owned much property. In Mark he is called “a man” and by implication “wealthy” and “a rich man.” Mark also says he was one who owned much property. In Luke the man is referred to as a “ruler” and by implication “wealthy” and “a rich man.” He is also said in the narrative to be extremely rich.

So here we see an overall synopsis of a nameless historical character who unknowingly in his time provided a teaching example for all time. He became the subject of an object lesson that is still used today to present an eternal truth relative to everyone: Will we trade what we consider riches for a walk with the Lord? Will we take the chance? Will we risk everything? Those who do have satisfied themselves, at least to some degree, that all things truly are possible with God. In other words,

They know that whatever they must surrender of this world to make the transformation to spiritual life simply does not matter and they would do it anyway regardless of what their new future may be.

They know what the Lord has done in bringing them into the light and adopting them as His children, and that their life has changed dramatically for the better.

They know as well that the Lord will provide spiritual riches far more valuable than whatever they surrendered.

They also know He will bless them with compensation of a material or monetary nature necessary for sustaining one’s life in this world.

(As an illustration, I will quote George Bailey from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, when he finds out that Clarence the angel has no money: “Ah, well, it comes in pretty handy down here, bub!”)

The English word “ruler” is from the Greek word archon. Generally, this is one who has rule over others in either the religious or civil realms. The members of the Sanhedrin or synagogue officials were referred to as archons, as were civil magistrates and judges. Beyond these there were also men of wealth and influence known by this term. Scripture is not definitive on what kind of ruler the young man was but it appears clear that he had inherited great wealth from his father who must have been a significant individual. Hence, the young archon felt responsible not only for what he possessed and his own reputation but that of his father as well, who had undoubtedly worked very hard to attain his possessions and place in life.

Yet we also know that this “rich young ruler” had spiritual things on his mind. Something had been nagging at him. From his demeanor there was no doubt he respected his father but he also had little or no input into the creation of the wealth he now possessed. He was grateful but he wanted something more. He knew there must be more. He had heard about this new prophet called Jesus and made it a point to address Him when he discovered the Lord was near.

In the narrative we find that the man was raised well in that he knew the Law of Moses and kept it from his youth. Why could he not be satisfied? He was rich, a man of honor, from a good family, and respected the commandments of God. Why would he ever ask the following question: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Had he not already fulfilled what the Law required? There is something missing here, and it is indicative of a person who is dutiful and respectful of God, his family tradition, and his culture, but is otherwise empty on the inside. His spirit is crying out for more, for spiritual sustenance, and his heart for something beyond the wealth of material and social benefits.

When I was a young man my friends and I, though not Christians at the time or familiar with Scripture, would discuss such topics as wealth and social structure. We were raised on the lower end of middle class. We were not against wealth necessarily but could certainly see the adverse effect it had on people. In general, people with money appeared arrogant. They saw themselves as better than others. I was on a spiritual quest then and was searching for truth. Consequently, I was not as concerned with giving myself over to the acquisition of wealth and position. We worked. We earned money. But it wasn’t an obsession. I knew there had to be more. We talked about the concept of either owning stuff or stuff owning us.

The Lord understood right away what the problem was. This is what that young man so long ago was going through. In his heart of hearts he wanted to follow the Lord. But with all of his wealth, obligations, and upper class authority over others he knew he could not. The simple solution then, was for him to just get rid of all his stuff, surrender his social status, and quit living for this temporary world. These things were holding him back! They were keeping him from going where he wanted to go and being what he wanted to be.

“One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” [Luke 18:22]

Think about that. Would you rather have the world’s temporary treasure or treasure in heaven? If you lived back then and were given a direct invitation from THE LORD JESUS to come and follow Him and hang out with them and do all the fun stuff they were doing, would you do it? Could anything possibly be better?

But the wealthy young archon could not. He couldn’t do it. And this is the test.

EXCUSES AD INFINITUM

“He would have to give up everything!” And I answer that by saying that everyone who comes to the Lord has to give up everything. And whatever one must surrender is relative to one’s station in life. There is always a great cost because one must give his or her entire heart.

“But what about making up for all one has surrendered or lost!” Well, I say, the Lord makes provision for that. He said as much in the same passages:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” [Matthew 19:29]

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” [Mark 10:29-30]

And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” [Luke 18:29-30] [1]

If the young man had actually done it, if he had chucked it all in and threw in his lot with the Lord, the Lord would certainly have taken care of him. The cries of his heart would have been answered. Whatever he needed concerning the good things of this world the Lord would have given him. He would be rid of the monetary, family, and social obligations keeping him from a higher call. He would have activated his faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord. This in turn would have opened up a door to an entirely new life previously thought to be something that did not or could not ever exist. He would have entered into the glorious kingdom of heaven on earth. His heart would have been filled to overflowing with pure joy. Most importantly, he would have had a King who loved him.

And he would have seen that all things are indeed possible with God.

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Tags: All Things Are Possible With God, Discipleship, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord Jesus, Money, New Covenant, Real Christianity, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Great Awakening

AMERICA IS NOT BEING JUDGED!

Feb 6

Posted by RJ Dawson

Many Christians continue to erroneously paint the entire country with a very broad brush. They could not be more wrong. Good is actually overcoming evil.

In my last post six days ago I revealed the truth of Selective Judgment. Regarding the bold, unapologetic political moves of the abortion industry last week, I asked the question: Is Selective Judgment Looming? The very next day judgment descended.

A prominent state governor was exposed for being a hypocrite. Earlier last week he spoke in no uncertain terms about actually killing a baby that had just been born. On Friday, the day after my last post, a huge news story broke that served to expose the depravity of the abortion industry. Since then the mainstream media is doing all it can to reverse the process. This story, however, is not going away. It was featured prominently in the President’s State of the Union message last night. Ungodly practices are being exposed and condemned and the people who support such practices will no longer be able to hide.

This is proof that America still has a moral conscience and that millions of Americans are good people living right and honoring the Lord. This is why Christians must stop insisting that God hates America and is bringing judgment. For example, there are Christians who actually support the idea of any number of doomsday scenarios, such as God allowing America to be struck with nuclear missiles. They talk about how depraved the country has become and that America must be severely punished. This perspective could not be more asinine and short sighted.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PRIOR POST?

I’m not sure what happened to my traffic last Thursday but my post Re: Legal Baby Killing—Is Selective Judgment Looming? was effectively invisible. My post before that had received exceptional traffic. It appears as though many of you may not have known I posted anything at all last week. I wonder sometimes about the usual censorship suspects. I know the mainstream media always fights to ban Pro-Life news or anything that shines a light on the evil of abortion. Perhaps something of that sort is at play here. Whatever the case, the Lord is on the side of righteousness.

Also, regarding The Notorious RBG, who has been missing in action for over six weeks, there was at last a claimed reported sighting the other day at a concert venue. But strangely enough, there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever. In a world of ubiquitous cell phones, this is curious. I waited until last night to see if she would show up at the State of the Union. She didn’t.

THE FUTURE OF AMERICA

Many of us have children and grandchildren. We would like them to live in a great country. We would like them to be blessed. But the forces of anti-America have become so powerful they render such desires as evil. They hate the idea of America being great. Where the hell did these people come from? Why are they here?

I assure you that the Lord Jesus is here to love us and save us, not condemn us. He has no plans to destroy America.

He knows people usually end up destroying themselves without His intervention. It is His intervention that He cares about. He wants to save us, help us, and bless us. That’s what the Good News is all about. As Christians, we are supposed to be telling everyone the Good News, not that God is going to get you.

The pastor of the previous President wanted God to damn America. That’s one of the most asinine messages to ever come forth from a pulpit. Such people are raving lunatics. The current President wants to make America great again, and for that he and his supporters are pummeled on a daily basis. By such behavior and rhetoric they are only hastening their own demise. Their treachery is being exposed. They are being outed for what they are.

The same is true for the all the fake Christians who incorrectly see God as a destroyer of worlds. In reality, if He is forced to bring judgment, He does it selectively. One can read about this throughout the entire Old Testament. One can also see such judgment as it happened in the first century. When the forces of evil reach a place of such concentrated power that they defy the possibility of any societal corrective against their evil, and vast numbers of innocent people are being greatly harmed, something must be done to stop them. Otherwise they will eventually eliminate the righteous. Thus, the Lord fights on the side of goodness and supports those on the righteous side of battle for the sake of saving those who want to be saved and appreciate His great salvation.

“He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” [John 12:45-48][1]

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JUDGMENTAL CHRISTIANS: Breaking Fellowship Over Non-Salvation Issues

Mar 16

Posted by RJ Dawson

About a decade and a half ago there was a Christian conference relatively close by and would take place in just a few days. It featured a man I’d seen on television countless times. I made it a point to be there.

His name is Hugh Ross. In 1986 he started a ministry called Reasons To Believe, “Where Science and Faith Converge.” I encourage you to visit this website and look around.

As a young man he began looking for spiritual truth and, like so many of us with a hunger for God, began searching world religions. When he began his research into Christianity he was immediately struck by what he found in the first chapter of Genesis—it made perfect sense from a scientific point of view. He was amazed by the accuracy. He soon became a Christian. He also eventually became an astrophysicist.

THE CONFERENCE

I planned on getting there early with hopes of meeting Mr. Ross. I walked into a relatively mid-sized conference facility about the size of a very large classroom. There were many people milling about as new arrivals wandered in. I took a seat on the front row. At some point Hugh Ross walked in and went up to the front. He gave an informal talk and said we would wait a little longer until everybody arrived, and then sat down a couple of seats from me.

People who know me very well know I pray about everything, and I pray about everything in the context of God’s will, knowing for a fact that God’s will is always the best. A person can never do better than the will of God. Well, on the way over I had asked the Lord if it would be okay if I could talk to this man. Then when I got there the man sits down two seats over. No one approached him. I didn’t waste any time introducing myself and we began a brief discussion.

Hugh Ross is not a young earth creationist. For this reason alone many Christians don’t like him. Some see him as a heretic. It does not matter how well he explains everything from both a purely Biblical perspective and from pure science, many Christians judge him right off the bat as soon as they find out he doesn’t believe the Universe was created about 4000BC.

We had a great talk. I was trying to shed light on the nature of God and how the Bible clearly states that the Lord Jesus is the Creator though so many Christians recoil at that fact. He agreed. We spent most of the conversation, however, discussing young earth versus old earth creationism.

Hugh Ross is a solid Christian. He believes the Bible is the absolute Word of God. He makes an excellent case both Biblically and scientifically why young earth creationism is lacking. He is a very gracious man but has certainly seen his share of Christian persecution (that is, persecution from Christians). Then he said something very profound. Remember, this is a very brilliant man who loves the Lord Jesus with all his heart. He lives to serve Him. He is low key, humble, relaxed, and the very opposite of professorial.

We were discussing why so many Christians can’t see eye to eye on the creation issue. I have also faced many fights in this area even though most of the time I really don’t have a dog in that fight. Why can’t the young-earthers, who have traditionally composed the much greater percentage of creationists, find it in their heart to fellowship with those with a different perspective? Why can’t they honor the beliefs of others? Hugh answered my question perfectly:

“Because they see it as a salvation issue.”

I was somewhat taken aback and went silent for a few seconds. I was thinking. “Of course. I knew this, or I should have, and I have certainly applied this to other Christian doctrines and beliefs.” But still, in that moment, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It is why so many Christians favor separation over unity. It is why there are approximately four billion Christian denominations. The separatist Christians believe EVERYTHING is a salvation issue.

Though I always spend much more time in study and research than the average Christian, I am almost always forced to prove everything. This is impossible, of course. When Christians believe they have all the light and truth on an issue, they become not only dogmatic but very judgmental. They close their eyes and ears. Those who do the larger work and pay the greater price know the truth, however. They work very hard to see an issue from as many perspectives as possible. Those who rarely or never do the work usually only believe something because that is what they have been told. They can only see it one way.

What if a Christian is walking in all the light he has? What if he loves the Lord? Must he also be absolutely perfectly right in every doctrine taught by a particular denomination or pastor or single believer in order to be saved? Are Catholics saved? Are Protestants? Are Pentecostals? In all actuality we have millions of distinct beliefs within Christianity in general and there is no possible way anyone can believe it all. Much of it is contradictory. Much of it comes forth from people who insist they are right and never budge. What is being preached on one side of town is often the very opposite of that which is preached on the other. There is no way both can be right. But both can be wrong.

REAL CHRISTIANITY

This is why I always make my final and only appeal to authority to the Lord Jesus. It is only His curriculum that is perfect and it must be His entire curriculum that we learn and live by. Not everything in His teachings, however, is a salvation issue. We should never, ever be divided as a result of such. If two Christians believe the Lord Jesus CREATED the universe but differ on how He did it or how long it took, that’s okay. Both of these Christians can still be saved. Besides, we were not there. We don’t know exactly how He did it.

The Lord came across this problem often and just as often He had to do some rebuking. His greatest rebukes were always for the hard core religionists who refused to see anything other than the way they saw it and would disfellowship a person in a heartbeat for not seeing it their way. What we should be doing is working harder and studying more and praying more and fasting more instead of thinking we’ve cornered the market on truth.

I found out later that evening that Hugh Ross and I did not believe everything the same way. But it didn’t matter. Wherever we differed on beliefs, they were not salvation issues. I’ll never forget that brief though deep discussion we had. He was humble enough and approachable enough to give me a few minutes of his time right before he was to give a major talk to so many of his ministry’s supporters.

Please readers, keep up all the great work. Keep doing your study and research. Keep reading the Word. But most of all, knowing we are all at different spiritual places based on our discipleship and knowledge level, let us not make everything a salvation issue and thus a disfellowship issue. The Lord only has ONE community. At the end of the day, the only opinion that matters with regard to who is in it and who isn’t is His. Let us all try to keep the salvation issues among the salvation issues, such as the simple teaching that decides salvation as quoted here:

**For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.**

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. [Ephesians 2:8-22] [1]

RECOMMENDED READING FROM MY FRIEND LISA:

You are saved by grace? or works? or faith? or fruit? Can Grace save you?

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When Sinners Die: Rejecting the Sacrifice Lamb (1)

Dec 1

Posted by RJ Dawson

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. [1Peter 1:17-19]

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” [1John 1:29]

THE SIN DISEASE

The Lord always warns us. He warns us repeatedly. He has warned us all from the very beginning. His is a heart of mercy.

He tries to explain to us the nature of sin. He attempts to explain how and why sin works, and why every human being is stricken with the disease from birth, though one must reach an age of accountability before personal responsibility for sin kicks in.

Most sinners do not necessarily have an agenda against God, I don’t think, but are rebels against Him nonetheless. Yet, there are people on this planet who certainly have an agenda against Him and His pure teachings, who hate Him, and who fight against Him every day.

Their focus, like the focus of all sinners in general, is SELF. Hence, the reason for sin is nothing more than pure selfishness and what can be gained for self through any means, including the violation of any and all moral restraints. Moral restraints, however, are not simply the result of what many people see as arbitrary rules created out of thin air.

THE CONSCIENCE

Regardless of the various forms of moral restraints and statutes in this world, and chosen or accepted guidelines by which to live, there is one very personal, genuine, legitimate warning mechanism given to each and every human being designed to alert us and govern personal conduct.

We call it the Conscience.

For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

Therefore, we have no excuse, and will never have any excuse, and all those who die as sinners in an unrepentant state will have a record of sin when they go before the Lord at the judgment.

Each individual record of sin could have been expunged prior to physical death.

Everyone is given that opportunity. Even those who have never heard of the Lord Jesus or heard the Gospel have an opportunity to repent due to their convicting conscience that warns of sin and reveals good and evil.

Therefore, when sinners die they will be judged appropriately. There will be a clear, exhaustive record of everything ever done in one’s life including the committing of every single sin—a multitude of sins, and the record will show that they liked it—they enjoyed their sin or at least certainly made compromises toward it instead of standing against it.

Would that it could be that all unrepentant sinners sinned only against themselves and never harmed another. But it is obvious that sin affects other people, and some sins greatly affect other people, and some sins affect great numbers of people.

None of this had to be. None of it was written in stone. All sin is due to wrong choices. We learn, then, if we are to advance in life and grow morally, to cease from wrong choices. This is what childhood and pre-adulthood is for.

Whoever goes down the path toward moral righteousness, however, eventually figures out that human strength and human will alone will not get the job done. We need a higher power. Temptation is too strong. The power of sin has too great a hold on us. There must also be a way to clear our existing sin record and give us our release. This is why the search for truth always ends successfully when one chooses the Lord Jesus. The human conscience helps us in this process. Those who never grow up, however, who never seek to overcome sin and temptation, never cease from sinning.

They have decided to bypass their conscience.

REJECTING THE SACRIFICE LAMB

Human beings do have an amazing capacity for sin and keeping stone-faced about it, and refusing to do something about it, even though their individual consciences are warning them loudly and continuously. But the reason they refuse to address it is because they have rejected the only cure—they refuse to surrender to the Lord Jesus so He can help them. They have thus learned that their chosen cures don’t work so they quit trying and give in to being what they are.

What a conundrum this is, that a perfect cure is always available but for most it is always rejected. Why? —Selfishness—which returns us once again to the reason for sin:

If one builds one’s life on sin and constructs a framework of sin that keeps one’s life together, it is only a matter of time before such a weak and ridiculous foundation and structure is revealed.

What to do?

ATTACKING SIN AS ONE’S MORTAL ENEMY

The best thing to do about sin is deal with it… NOW. The Lord told us how. If one’s conscience is doing its convicting work, it is a great sign. It means one’s conscience is alive and well.

Sinning is bad, but refusing to repent for sin is worse. Again, the best thing to do is simply surrender to the Lord Jesus, admit that one is a sinner, that one is stricken with the sin disease (the worst of all diseases), that one is tired of fighting against conviction, that one is tired of feeling spiritually dirty, that one wants to be whole again, and healthy, and happy, and FREE, and begin attacking sin as one’s mortal enemy.

It is obviously better to do it now than attempt it after death, when it will be absolutely impossible. One cannot repent after death. Those who say one can are not telling the truth. The Lord Jesus never taught such a lie. The time to repent is NOW.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. [Philippians 2:12-13]

At this very moment there are uncounted millions of souls in the unknown geographic location of dead unrepentant sinners who are waiting for trial, tormented each second by what could have been.

Though they had the incredible opportunity of a wonderful and loving defense attorney while alive, they rejected His counsel.

They died in sin. They know it. They knew it then. They have no chance. They will be found guilty. Each of them, and all those who are added to them as time goes on, wasted their life. They traded eternal life with the Lord Jesus in heaven for this temporary world and for very temporary self-rule.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:36-38]

They are as much alive and conscious at this moment, though in a different state, as they always were. However, their fates are sealed. Repentance and getting right with God is no longer an option.

You know what else? Even if the option existed, because they had repeatedly rejected the Sacrifice Lamb during their earthly sojourn, it appears readily apparent that NOT A SINGLE ONE WOULD EVER REPENT IF GIVEN ONE FINAL CHANCE.

Their desire is not to get right with God.

It is only to escape the restriction of their incarceration.

Focusing on SELF promotes sin and destruction.

Focusing on the Lord Jesus and others promotes love, salvation, and spiritual freedom.

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” [Galatians 5:13-14] [1]

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Tags: Christ Died For Sinners, Conscience, Discipleship, Door of Death, Lord Jesus, New Covenant, Real Repentance, Selfishness, Sinners Saved By Grace, The Golden Rule, The Sacrifice Lamb, The Sinner's Self Deception

The Lighter Side of Darkness

Feb 26

Posted by RJ Dawson

When human beings are subjected to the full authority of the Lord Jesus, they treat other human beings with equal respect. They have long since gotten down off their high horse. They see by the light of the Gospel that they were formerly sinners destined to hell and realize they were saved from that hell by the sacrificial death of their Lord and Master. They consequently can no longer be critical of others as “sinners” since they themselves are former sinners saved only by the grace of God.

Real Christians still commit sins, however. What changes is the lifestyle of sin. Those not subjected to the Lord have no true awareness of their sin and no true desire to cease from it. They exist in a fairy tale land of no recompense for their evil deeds. Indeed, the idea that they do “evil deeds” is ridiculous to them. In their reasoning, only vile criminals, murderers, etc, engage in “evil deeds.” But God has a different opinion. And when people come into contact with God for the first time through the hearing of the powerful Gospel message, which includes the cutting truth that one is a sinner in opposition to God, it causes them to bow before their Creator and seek His pardon.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.

And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” [Luke 7:36-50]

Real repentance is often done with much emotion. For those who refuse to repent, they consider the Gospel message as inapplicable to themselves, in that they see themselves as righteous apart from God.

These reject the Gospel message and continue on their journey toward hell.

Those who repent, on the other hand, cease being sinners in that their previous sins are removed by the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God. They do an about face. They start walking in the opposite direction. They get off the train to hell and hop on board the train to heaven.

They still sin from time to time, partly from ignorance, partly from not yet fully overcoming the dictates of their sinful nature, and partly from not continuing in their spiritual disciplines. An altar of repentance always awaits them for personal use when needed, and the blood of the Lord is once again invoked to cleanse them. In time, they grow more spiritually mature and their faults grow fewer.

They learn to take it on the chin. They learn to not fight back against others who treat them with contempt. They see other people as those in need of salvation the same way they were. They become more accommodating and graceful. They learn the art of spiritual tact. They attempt to help others see the light that was shown to them. They do not consider themselves better, or holier, or a greater specimen of humanity, but someone who was saved from a life of sin and eventual hell by a loving Savior through no effort whatsoever of their own.

They understand that their righteousness is a gift.

They see clearly that the death of the Lord Jesus paid for all sins for all time.

They see there is nothing to crow about, that though they are cleansed, they personally had nothing to do with it except merely saying yes to God and accepting His generous offer of salvation.

         Humility becomes their standard.

         Obedience to the Lord becomes their modus operandi.

         Loving the Lord and others becomes their purpose.

         Telling others about the Good News becomes their principle occupation.

They want to see others saved from sin and set free the way they were.

They want others to meet the Lord.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30] [1]

THANKS TO ALL FOR READING AND SPREADING THE WORD

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Tags: Lord Jesus, My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light, Real Christianity, Real Repentance, Self-Righteous Pharisees, Sinners Saved By Grace, Spiritual Maturity, The Good News, The Gospel Message, The Lighter Side of Darkness

GOD’S GIFT OF GRACE

May 18

Posted by RJ Dawson

Sometimes I wonder why the whole world isn’t lined up to receive the one thing that cures their eternal ills and reconciles them with God.

And though He is a mighty Warrior and powerful in all respects, the Lord Jesus has a tender heart of love. He extends a hand of grace toward you this day.

…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [Romans 3:23-26] [1]

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Tags: Christianity, Five, Gift of Grace, Grace, Lord Jesus, Phil Keaggy, Real Christianity, Sinners Saved By Grace, Under the Grace, Unmerited Divine Favor

Real Christianity

The Great Awakening

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Sin generated a maelstrom of evil upon God’s perfect Creation. Every time someone sins evil is released. Sin is the real deadly virus. Sin is the real pandemic.

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The term adult is overrated. It is often ill-defined and based on a confined perspective. In reality, when compared to God, eternity, and an ancient earth, we are all mere newbies, children trying to find our way.

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Those in high positions of authority are not revealing all they know. Others in lesser positions may be clueless but will dutifully comply with the agenda and continue to drive the panic.

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Whatever this actually is—a pandemic, yet another disease scare, a hoax, a biowarfare attack, or a government response test—the REAL pandemic remains unacknowledged.

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A Christian can determine how much love and respect he has for the Lord Jesus by whether or not he actually believes this statement and is willing to apply it.

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Many Christians continue to erroneously paint the entire country with a very broad brush. They could not be more wrong. Good is actually overcoming evil.

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About a decade and a half ago there was a Christian conference relatively close by and would take place in just a few days. It featured a man I’d seen on television countless times. I made it a point to be there.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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Sometimes I wonder why the whole world isn’t lined up to receive the one thing that cures their eternal ills and reconciles them with God.

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“WHEN YOU LIFT UP THE SON OF MAN, THEN YOU WILL REALIZE THAT I AM.” [JOHN 8:28]

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**Sin generated a maelstrom of evil upon God’s perfect Creation. Every time someone sins evil is released. Sin is the real deadly virus. Sin is the real pandemic.**

**For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.**