Eternal Gospel Proclaimed - Cost of Discipleship Pt 122

Chapter 25 - The Decision

Mat 10:26  FEAR THEM NOT therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Mat 10:27  What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Mat 10:28  And FEAR NOT THEM which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31  FEAR YE NOT therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.


Bonhoeffer- ' The messengers abide by the Word, and the Word abides by the messengers, now and in all eternity. Three times Jesus encourages his disciples by saying "Fear not." Although their sufferings are not secret, they will not always be so: some day they will be made manifest before God and man. However secret these sufferings are at present, they have their Lord's promise that they will be eventually brought to the light of day. And that will mean glory for the messengers and judgment for their persecutors. Nor is the testimony of the messengers intended always to remain in obscurity. The gospel is not to take the form of hole-in-the corner sectarianism, it must be set forth by public preaching. For the time being it may have to be delivered secretly, but in the last day this preaching will fill the whole world spelling salvation and rejection. The Revelation of St. John contains this prediction: "And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people." ( Rev. 14:6) Therefore "Fear not."

My thoughts-

Truthfully the everlasting gospel HAS been preached to them that dwell on the earth. There are very few, if any, places that haven't had the opportunity to know the Word of God. We live in a time right now that Bonhoeffer probably couldn't even imagine.  Our internet, our means of transportation, all of this has given the word of God great ability to go everywhere and anywhere. People go to all corners of the earth, leaving very little unseen, unknown.

Yet, even in Bonhoeffer's time it was all unfolding, the gospel was being preached and the time of it was quickly nearing it's fulfillment.

Read this-

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 

The word nations is the same word translated gentiles in this verse-

Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The times of the gentiles will be fulfilled, that time of fulfillment is a prophecy give by Jesus Himself. And believe it or not, that prophecy has met its fulfillment

In 1980 the Jewish people were once more in control of Jerusalem and moved their Capital there.  They fought a war and won in 1948, and another in 1967, to shockingly gain control of Jerusalem.  After hundreds of years, after  1900 years they were in control of Jerusalem and NO ONE thought it was possible. No one thought it would happen.  Our Savior KNEW it would happen. Our Savior prophesized of it occurring. People say that we don't live in a time when prophecy is fulfilled but I was alive in 1967 and 1980, I'm living as prophecy is fulfilled. 

There are indepth studies on this particular prophecy and I've gone through them in my Bible Study blog before, but perhaps it's time to do so again.

By the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD we will study this prophecy more in depth because what Bonhoeffer is saying here does affect us today, but we have to consider the times when things are written and pray for guidance as to time and place of all God's word.

We are living in a time right now that is right on the verge of our Lord finishing His work on our behalf, we need to understand this, and believe this.

Too many want to say that everyone says this and it never happens, but if you have faith in God, faith in the Lord, our Savior JESUS CHRIST then YOU have to believe all that He tells us will come to pass. Someone will be living in the last days, someone will be alive to witness His return, someone will be enduring the horrors of the end times, it WILL all come to pass. We cannot say we believe and shirk the TRUTH just because we claim it's impossible to comprehend. Why would our God not enable us to understand? He does, if we truly want all His truth, if we truly want to see, and hear HIS WORD.

Please LORD bless us!
Please LORD keep us in YOU!
Help us to learn YOUR truth and believe in YOUR truth always!

Hated to the end of time - Cost of Discipleship Pt 121

Chapter 24 - The Suffering of the Messengers

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Bonhoeffer- 'The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the divisions which rend cities and homes. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord. But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes. Only he will he blessed who remains loyal to Jesus and his word until the end. But when the end comes, the hostility towards Jesus and his disciples will be made manifest the whole world over, and only then must the messengers flee from city to city, in order that they may proclaim the Word where it can still find a hearing. If they run away then, they will not be running away from the Word, but holding fast to it.

The Church has never forgotten Christ's promise of his imminent return, and she has always believed that this promise is true. The exact manner of its fulfillment remains obscure, but that is not a problem for us to solve. This much is clear and all-important for us today: that the return of Jesus will take place suddenly. That fact is more certain than that we shall be able to finish our work in his service, more certain than our own death. This assurance that in their suffering they will be as their master is the greatest consolation the messengers of Jesus have. As is the mast, so shall the disciple be, and as the Lord, so the servant. If they called Jesus a devil, how much more shall they call the servants of his household devils. Thus Jesus will be with them, and they will be in all things like unto Him.'

My thoughts-

The truth is -Christ followers are being persecuted all over the world.  Today to be a Christian and to follow God's truth, His words means you are biased, you are prejudice, you are morally deficient because you are not accepting of the world's ways. To hold fast to truth today means to align yourself against those who call themselves enlightened, those who profess to have TRUE love for all, something Christian's are supposed to have.  To believe in God's truth's right now in the world we are currently living in, means that what we call God's love, others call His hate. Things have been twisted and turned so violently misaligned that to be a true Christ follower means more than ever standing up for TRUTH. It means LOVING all sinners, but HATING all sin!

We cannot glorify sin and love sin. Those who choose to follow sin's path willingly and want the approval and acceptance of the sin in their lives, those who actually ask us to accept the sin as being not sinful, are the exact people spoke about in God's word-

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isa 5:22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Isa 5:23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Pro 17:15  He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

Mal 2:17  Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

Luk 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

As servant of God we must hold fast to the TRUTH and share the TRUTH. If we are persecuted for sharing the TRUTH we are to flee and continue to share the TRUTH.

More and more this world is becoming the place of evil.  We live in the age of evil acceptance.  Accept the evil and live as enlightened, loving, fair, moral, and good- or else.  Are you prepared to accept the label of an evil person, a person filled with hatred for people, a false Christ follower who doesn't really following Christ because Christ accepts all sinners.  Try as YOU might, are you prepared for others NOT to comprehend your LOVE of the sinners but not their sin?  Because they believe it's one and the same. They believe you cannot say you hate sin and yet love them because that thing you are calling sin is their life, it's a part of them they have no control over, it is who they are, it is NATURAL and to fault someone for their NATURE, for something beyond their control, is to hate them, and hate that part of them.

How does this fit in with what Bonhoeffer is saying about Christ's disciples, Christ's followers suffering? It's the time in which we live and a form of suffering that is just over the horizon for many. Daily we our morals have been beaten, whittled away and society calls all manner of lifestyles good, acceptable, natural, loving when the truth of it is the sin that has been accepted will NEVER be good, can NEVER be good. The sinners can find forgiveness for the sin however natural that sin is to them, but sin will never been changed to no longer being sin.

Our flesh nature is our enemy, living to our flesh nature in any form of sin is wrong, from the greatest to the least of sins. The one who loves their own covetous nature and clings to it, calling it normal and good, and right is just as guilty as another clinging to a physical urge that is part of their nature.  One is not more right than the other, one is not more acceptable than the other. The SIN is never acceptable! No matter the SIN!

For me to placate a coveting person and tell them not to worry, it's okay to be coveting would make me a part of their sin. I have to console the coveting person and tell them that there is HOPE in Christ to overcome, there is forgiveness at the foot of the cross, and if they have to seek that forgiveness constantly- then do so!

We are not guiltless, we are riddled with guilt and only CHRIST can save us from any of it! Only HE CAN SAVE US, but He will NOT save us without our willingness, without our consent. 

Please Lord, keep us in YOU all the way until they end of time as we know it. Please Lord, we would be YOURS in this world where so much is twisted and warped, where it truly is as it was in the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lord, please, let us remain true to You all by YOUR power, YOUR grace, YOUR love! If we suffer, Lord, help us to cling ever tighter to YOU in that suffering!  Please Lord, please! We would be YOURS.

Beware of men... - Cost of Discipleship Pt 120

Chapter 24 - The Suffering of the Messengers

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Bonhoeffer- 'The Word of God will also give the messengers an unerring insight into human nature. "Beware of men."  The disciples are not expected to show fear of men, nor malice, nor mistrust still less a sour misanthropy, nor that gullible credulity which believes that there is good in every man: they are expected rather to display an unerring insight into the mutual relation of the Word and man. If they are content not to pitch their hopes too high, they will not be perturbed when Jesus warns them that their way among men will be one of suffering. But there is a miraculous power latent in this suffering. Whereas the criminal has to suffer his punishment in secret, the disciples will have to stand before governors and kings "for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles."  This suffering will help forward their testimony. It is all part of God's plan and the will of Jesus, and that is why they will be given power to make a good confession and deliver a fearless testimony even in the hour when they make answer before thrones and judgment seats. The Holy Ghost Himself will stand by their side and make them invincible. He will give them " a mouth and a wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to gainsay" (Luke 21:15). Because the disciples remain true to the Word in their sufferings, the Word will remain true to them. To self-sought martyrdom this promise would not apply, but there is no doubt whatever that it does apply to suffering with the Word.'

*******

Sheep in the midst of wolves.

Can you picture that scene.  Sheep set in the midst of wolves? What a horrific sight, yes? You have to know what wolves do to sheep.  I'm reminded, strangely enough, of the movie - 'Jurassic Park'.  In that movie there is a scene where the park owners are trying to entice a tyrannosaurus rex to come into the view of passing tourist vehicles.  The park owners stake a goat to a pole and raise it up into the T-rex enclosure. A young girl in one of the vehicles is very disturbed by the thought of what is going to happen to that goat.  She knew that the goat was being sacrificed to the T-rex, and she knew what that meant- blood and carnage, the end of the goat's life and imaginably great suffering, and terror over what was to come.  A tragic life for that goat to be sure. I think that part of the movie comes to mind because I've never tended sheep and certainly haven't seen them as wolves attacked.  I can use my imagination though and my imagination tells me what has to happen to those sheep is pure carnage.  I can vividly picture their terror as they realize the wolves are among them. They know they are in great danger, not a tiny bit of danger, but very GRAVE danger, life threatening danger! Their lives are at stake! At any moment they could be taken down by a wolf.

Sheep in the midst of wolves.

Jesus said-

Mat 10:16,17  'Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.  But beware of men…'

Not a very pretty picture is it? You're going to be like a SHEEP in the MIDST of WOLVES. You're going to be vulnerable, attacked, stalked, terror-filled, among vicious killers.  No, definitely NOT a very pretty picture at all whatsoever!  We truly have to comprehend this because we so often moan and groan when we are made to feel the least bit uncomfortable  in our beliefs. Is it any wonder? We who live in America very seldom have to fear any attack, why if we're attacked we have our lawyers on speed dial and like an instant enclosure of safety that lawyer will erect a lawsuit of one sort or another to keep anyone from attacking us based on our discipleship. Yet take a giant leap over to other countries and you know what you'll find in many of them? Stones hurling at your head, jail bars wrapping you in a tiny cell, vicious verbal attacks, assaults so brutal they leave you barely alive and guess what? If you even try to go to the authorities you are truly risking your own life and there are no lawyers lined up ready to defend you.  Yet, Jesus told His disciples this is something they would face. He was actually telling them He was SENDING them into this sort of confrontation.  Was He only sending a limited few? Or were all of His disciples going to face the wolves?

Let's read the passage again-

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

This is something that will continue right up until our Savior returns.

This is something all disciples of Jesus should comprehend.  Yes, even those of us who live in a democracy and claim freedom from persecution. Maybe we need to understand even more so than those who have grown up being persecuted because if we are caught unaware there is a great chance Satan will use that opportunity to snatch us up as we are reeling from the idea of suffering, truly suffering persecution and rebelling from such a thing. Satan wants us to shrivel and shrink at the mere thought of suffering, and he'll gladly whisper in our ears that in no way does God want us to suffer, we must do anything and everything to keep ourselves from suffering.  That's a LIE, a HUGE LIE!  Do I mean that God wants us to suffer? NO. I mean that we MUST NOT DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to keep ourselves from suffering. We MUST NOT disobey God so that we do not suffer. No where does God tell us to disobey Him if we might face suffering. Not a single place does He condone disobeying Him so that we don't suffer. In fact we are told we might be put to death!  Did Jesus take that opportunity to say that we should stop obeying Him, stop loving Him, stop living the truth so that we don't suffer? NO! Yet we have been practically programmed to abhor suffering at all costs and believe that it's what God wants too.

Now before this gets all misconstrued, I have to say, as Bonhoeffer mentioned above - 'To self-sought martyrdom this promise would not apply…'  

Self-sought martyrdom is NOT what the suffering is, it is NOT being sent by Jesus, but sending yourself, following your own path, not the one Christ has laid out for those who truly follow Him.

Suffering abuse such as described by our Savior is a reality, not something anyone should ever deliberately seek to create. It is what is DONE to Christ's followers, not what manufactured by Christ's followers.  It is by following the WILL of God that the suffering comes.  It is not by following your own will. Any suffering that comes by your own devising in hopes of being considered a good disciple will not be truth, and you will  be lumped among those Jesus will tell He never knew them.

Mat 7:23  'And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'

The Holy Spirit will NOT speak through those who are not surrendered to Christ, it's impossible! 

The suffering that comes is endured and the Holy Spirit will use us to bring the Word of God to others. The words that we speak will NOT be ours!

Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

Imagine! Just imagine for a single moment the Holy Spirit speaking in you!

It isn't surprising some might try to manufacture a situation they can manipulate and try to say the Holy Spirit was speaking through them just so they can mouth the words.  It will be possible that another sort of spirit will speak through some if their hearts aren't Jesus', if they aren't truly His disciples. 

Sheep among wolves.
Harmless as doves.
Wise as serpents.
Living surrendered to Christ so completely the Holy Spirit speaks for a testimony.
Endure to the end.

All in CHRIST!

Will we face suffering?
Will we be brought before judges, put on trial?
Will we be hated?

Us, democracy raise people, find it hard to imagine, but honestly let's consider this a very real possibility so we aren't among those who would rather give up our faith than endure any sort of very, real hardship.

May the Holy Spirit guide us in all things! May the will of God be done in our lives!

Please LORD, bless us, keep us IN YOU, wholly in YOU, in all things!

We would be YOURS, by YOUR GRACE and LOVE!

Wise as Serpents, Harmless as Doves

Chapter 24 - The Suffering of the Messengers

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Bonhoeffer- 'Neither failure nor hostility can weaken the messenger's conviction that he has been sent by Jesus. That his word may be their strength, their stay and their comfort, Jesus repeats it. "Behold, I send you." For this is no way they have chosen themselves, no undertaking of their own. It is, in the strict sense of the word, a mission. With this the Lord promises them his abiding presence, even when they find themselves as sheep among wolves, defenseless, powerless, sore pressed and beset with great danger.  Nothing can happen to them without Jesus knowing of it. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." How often have the ministers of Jesus made wrong use of this saying! However willing they may be, it is indeed difficult for them to preserve a true understanding of this word and to adhere to the path of obedience. How difficult it is to draw the line with certainty between spiritual wisdom and worldly astuteness! Are we not all prepared at heart to do without "worldly wisdom" and much prefer the harmlessness of the doves and thus again fall into disobedience? Who is there to let us know when we are running away from suffering through cowardice, or running after it through temerity? Who shows us the hidden frontier? It is just as bad to appeal to the commandment of simplicity against that of wisdom, as to appeal to the commandment of wisdom against that of simplicity. There is one in the world who has perfect knowledge of his own heart. But Jesus never called his disciples into a state of uncertainty, but to one of supreme certainty. That is why his warning can only summon them to abide by the Word. Where the Word is, there shall the disciple be. Therein lies his true wisdom and his true simplicity.'

'Only the truth of that Word will enable him to discern what is wise. But to deviate from the truth for the sake of some prospect or hope of our own can never be wise, however slight that deviation may be. It is not our judgment of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God. Here alone lies the promise of God's faithfulness and help. It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.'

My thoughts-

We are all guilty of twisting God's word to suit ourselves, aren't we?  We've uttered the following words-  'God understands.'  As a way of making an excuse for our failings.

In my Old Testament reading it still amazes me how often God's chosen people turned away from Him only to turn back to Him, to only once more turn away from Him. How often the same king would turn to God only to turn from Him once more.  This was a constant, and if anything it reveal the evilness of men's hearts.

Jer_17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Man knows what God wants from Him- obedience.
Man knows this includes self sacrifice.
Man knows this means warring against their own natural inclinations.  If it were our natural inclination to follow God in all truth, we would have done that, right? It'd be easy.  Yet we gave up that natural inclination when we chose to sin.

The natural self rebels against God, there is an ACTUAL ACT of OBEDIENCE involved in following God, not an automatic act, not at all.

We have to constantly guard against our own natural inclinations even once we've turned to God because they'll forever be trying to creep back into our lives and turn us away from our Savior.

1Co_2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1Jn_2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Pe_4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe_4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

We must walk in CHRIST'S truth no matter what that truth is, whether our flesh nature likes that truth or not, and most assuredly it won't.

We cannot alter the truth to suit anyone!  We can't tell someone we have a special deal for just them- a half off special- they can sin half the time and still get the benefits of never sinning. It DOES NOT work that way! We must speak ONLY truth! We cannot condone a single sin.

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

We need our Savior to keep us, to save us!

We need to follow our God and the Holy Spirit's leading especially when we are working for HIM. And we can only work for Him as HE leads.  Any path of our own we forge is not good, it must be a path forged by God, with God's blessing, His leading.

Please LORD we would be YOUR.

We would truly be as WISE as serpents and HARMLESS as doves, only in the way YOU LEAD us to be, not in our own way, please Lord, Your way, not ours, always!

God's wrath is real - Cost of Discipleship pt. 118

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:11  And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
Mat 10:12  And when ye come into an house, salute it.
Mat 10:13  And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
Mat 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Mat 10:15  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.


Bonhoeffer- 'The whole message is staggering in its simplicity and clarity, and since the cause brooks no delay there is no need for them to enter into any further discussion to clear the ground or to persuade their hearers. The King stands at the door, and he may come in at any moment. Will you bow down and humbly receive him, or do you want him to destroy you in his wrath?

'If however, men refuse to hear, they have lost their chance, the time of grace is passed, and they have pronounced their own doom.'

Heb 4:7  ... To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

'Is this ruthless speed? Nothing could be more ruthless than to make men think there is still plenty of time to mend their ways. To tell men that the cause is urgent, and that the kingdom of God is at hand is the most charitable and merciful act we can perform, the most joyous news we can bring. The messenger cannot wait and repeat it to every man in his own language. God's language is clear enough. It is not for the messenger to decide who will hear and who will not, for only God knows who is "worthy"; and those who are worthy will hear the Word when the disciple proclaims it. But woe to the city and woe to the house which rejects the messenger of Christ/ They will incur a dreadful judgment: Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of unchastity and perversion, will be judged more graciously than those cities of Israel who reject the word of Jesus. Vice and sin may be forgiven, according to the word of Jesus, but the man who rejects the word of salvation has thrown away his last chance. To refuse to believe in the gospel is the worst sin imaginable, and if that happens the messengers can do nothing but leave the place. They go because the Word cannot remain there. They must recognize in fear and amazement both the power and the weakness of the Word of God. But the disciples must not force any issue contrary to or beyond the word of Christ. Their commission is not a heroic struggle, a financial pursuit of a grand idea or a good cause. That is why they stay only where the Word stays, and if it is rejected they will be rejected with it, and shake off the dust from their feet as a sign of the curse which awaits that place. This curse will not harm the disciples, but the peace they brought returns to them. '

My thoughts-

We truly do not like to imagine there is a WRATH OF GOD, do we? We'd much rather simply believe He's so benevolent that He just can't have a wrath that would hurt us lowly humans who don't know any better. He's too loving to have wrath.  People believe love and wrath cannot exist together. They say God is NOT loving because He has wrath.  It's a lie of Satan's, a lie he's used very well, very successfully.

We have to realize the truth is- those who do NOT accept Jesus Christ and His love, the Gospel of the Kingdom, will HAVE to face the wrath of God, there is no other way and it's their own choice!

God's wrath--

Num_11:33  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

2Ki_22:13  Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

2Ch_28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

2Ch_29:8  Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

2Ch_32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

2Ch_34:21  Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

2Ch_36:16  But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Job_21:20  His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Psa_78:31  The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

Psa_106:40  Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

Isa_13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Jer_50:13  Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

Joh_3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Rom_1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness

Eph_5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Rev_6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb

Rev_14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb

Rev_14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Rev_15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev_16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Rev_19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

*******

Do you believe Your Bible?
Do you believe in GOD?
Do you believe in JESUS CHRIST, as your LORD and SAVIOR?

If you answered, yes, then you have to believe in God's wrath as a REAL thing!

A very real thing, and His LOVE is equally as real!  He couldn't have the wrath without the love.

A parent knows in some very small measure, a parent understands.  And children as they get older they begin to understand.   You can love and still feel anger. 

God has to deal with the SIN problem, the worst problem that exists because it is the cause of ALL problems. Sin is the seed that sprouted every single agony, every single tear, every single heartache. God must get rid of sin forever so that it never rises again.  The anger He must feel over sin's evil has to be worse than anything we can imagine. Sin will be gone and all those who choose sin over love will experience the wrath of God has sin is done away with once and for all.

Everyone will get a chance.

None will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to know the LORD as their Savior.

The Holy Spirit will convict all and those who choose to believe in God and will cling to all the truth that is revealed to them.

We, as the disciples of Jesus, as workers for Christ, must be ready to do anything that the Holy Spirit convicts us to do, and do nothing on our own. We ARE NOT those who convict! 

Please, LORD, help us! Teach us to obey You in all things! Let us be YOUR workers, for YOUR will and only YOUR will!

In Your LOVE!

Poverty in our Riches? Lord, please help us! - Cost of Discipleship pt 117

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:9  Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Mat 10:10  Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

Bonhoeffer- 'To be a messenger of Jesus Christ confers no personal privilege, no title to power or renown.  This is true, even where the free messengers of Jesus have turned into a regular ministry in the Church.' 

'Any honors that come our way are only stolen from him to whom alone they really belong, the Lord who sent us. 

'The poverty of Christ's messengers is the proof of their freedom. '

'… Jesus enjoins strict poverty upon them. Note that this is an explicit command, and that the possessions the disciples are allowed to take with them are specified down to the last detail. They are not to go about like beggars and call attention to themselves, nor are they to burden other people like parasites. They are to go forth in the battledress of poverty, taking as little with them as a traveler who knows he will get board and lodging with friends at the end of the day. This shall be an expression of their faith, not in men, but in their heavenly Father who sent them and will care for them.  It is this that will make their gospel credible , for they proclaim the coming Kingdom of God.'

'And if this battle with the powers of Satan for the souls of men, this renunciation of all personal dignity, and of the goods and joy of the world for the sake of the poor and miserable and ill-used, is not work, what is? God had himself endured toil and labor on the cross for our salvation even unto death (Isa. 53:11)  The disciples are given a share in this work, in the proclamation, in the defeat of Satan, and in intercessory prayer. If men cannot see this, they have as yet failed to discern the true nature of the service of the messengers of Jesus. These messengers are not ashamed to receive the daily reward for their labor, and to remain as poor as ever for the sake of their ministry.'

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

My thoughts-

There are so incredibly many people who claim to work for the Lord as they increase their own material riches. They call it their due, their right. They say that the Lord wants them to be prosperous and have nice things. They tell themselves it's important for them to look nice so others realize you can look nice and still follow the Lord. They WANT people to believe they can have the love of money and earthly possession and still follow the Lord, this is the DEVIL'S DECEPTION! And this deception is running rampant everywhere! Fill your lives with THINGS! Heap to you as many possessions you possibly can, and make sure they're the best your money can afford. Work harder, work longer, not just to provide for your needs, but to give yourselves many presents, many gifts, many unnecessary possessions that please you, that make you feel good, that help you pass the time in this awful, sinful world. Tell yourself you need the diversions, you need the things that help you cope. Depend on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, but not on the SAVIOR, not really, not wholly on Him.  Consider yourself FIRST! You must come first, because how can you be any good for others if you neglect yourself? Trust in your things, and in your ability to get more things so you don't have to worry about living a life of emptiness and despair. The Devil tells us all the time that we have nothing without all His toys in our lives. He makes the toys seem harmless, but they are far from being so.  Work for Christ, but only to a certain point, right? Live for Christ, but only insofar as it doesn't trouble your equilibrium, it is so fragile a thing, keeping a grip on reality in this life, holding emotions in check, being able to keep functioning, to breathe, to live.

Is it any wonder that there are so few workers for Christ? So few Disciples?

We are given all we need by the Holy Spirit, our blinders are ripped off and we are able to see but we fall to our knees and scramble to find the blinders, we want them back on, we don't want to see the truth, not really.

Hide us from the truth, from the reality because that reality means true LOVE, and that true love means sacrifice of self.

This is what we pray behind the outward prayer asking for truth, for light, for knowledge, for Christ, for love.

We need to fall to our knees and beg for a clean heart, a clean desire, a clean hope, because Satan wants us to despair of ever being truly Christ's.

Please LORD CLEAN US!
Please LORD  SAVE US!

We cry out to you of our horrible failings to be truly yours and we cry out because we do NOT want to be kept from YOU and YOUR way by anything at all!  We get confused, we get lost in the idea of living in this modern world immersed deep in all its worldly ways and we get so close to the edge of despair we fear of falling into the pit of its deep, blackness. We cling to YOU LORD! We hope in YOU LORD! We have NO hope in ourselves, NONE!

Bless us Lord, we would be workers for YOU, we would be YOUR disciples! Please LORD!


By YOUR GRACE, MERCY, LOVE!

All praise, honor, all glory and thanksgiving unto YOU, our SAVIOR, our LORD, our KING, JESUS CHRIST!

The Work - Cost of Discipleship Pt 116

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Bonhoeffer- 'The work of God cannot be done without due authorization, otherwise it is devoid of promise.'

'But does not the very love of Christ constrain us to set no limit to its proclamation? The love of Jesus is something very different from our own zeal and enthusiasms because it adheres to its mission.'

'If Christ will not let us preach the gospel in any particular place, we must give up the attempt and abide by his will and word.'

'...the commission.

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The proclamation and activity of the messengers are identical with that of Christ himself. To them has been granted a portion of his power. They are charged to proclaim the advent of the kingdom of heaven, and to confirm their message by performing signs. They must heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and drive out devils. The message becomes an event, and the event confirms the message. The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the sinner through faith, all this is identical with the destruction of the devil's power, the healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The proclamation of the apostles is the Word of the Almighty God, and therefore it is an act, an event, a miracle. It is the one Christ who passes through the land in the person of his twelve messengers and performs his work. The sovereign grace with which they are equipped is the creative and redemptive Word of God.'

My thoughts-

The power of Jesus. The power to perform the miracles He wanted performed. Not a single miracle could be performed where Jesus did not want it performed. We can go anywhere we choose, but the power we go under will NOT be Christ's if we aren't doing His will but rather our own.  There might be someone we long to bring God's message, but every time we talk of Christ and His kingdom to them they grow deafer and blind to it. We can't comprehend the reason for their inability to understand. We pray for them, we ask God to bless us as we witness to them, and still… nothing.  It truthfully could be that it isn't us who are to bring the message of God to them, but another, in another way. We can't presume to do our WILL. Does this mean we stop offering the truth of the kingdom of God to others? No. It means we sow the seeds our Lord gives us to sow and then we let HIM through the Holy Spirit do the convicting of their hearts.

We may not have the power of the disciples given to them by Jesus Himself, but we have this--

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Read this prayer of JESUS to OUR FATHER GOD-

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Our Savior wills that ALL that believe on HIM through the word of His disciples be ONE as the FATHER is in HIM, and we may all be ONE in them.

This ONENESS is all of us agreeing in ONE ACCORD to the TRUTH! And that TRUTH is the LOVE OF GOD.

The work that our SAVIOR wants us to do is the work of HIS WILL, not our WILL. We must move as HE wills us to MOVE and if we are called to MOVE and we refuse that is on US, not HIM. And if we are not called to MOVE and we move that is on us as well. We must PRAY to God, pray that we work according to HIS will not our own, not ever our own.

Please LORD, teach us, show us Your will in ALL things, always! Help us NOT to do our own will, our own works thinking we are doing Your will, Your work.  PLEASE LORD we believe on YOU through the Word that has been given us through others doing YOUR will, we would be ONE with YOU. Please LORD.  By YOUR GRACE! Through YOUR LOVE!