Crucified With Christ

 

The Jewish religion began with God calling a man out from heathenism, out from his family, his way of life, away from the false gods his people were known to worship. This man, Abram, obeyed the voice of God. From that point on all the way to the birth of Jesus, these people, descendants of Abram, whose name was changed by God to Abraham, were called to a different way of life than others. 

They were called to be God focused, not self-focused. They were called to look beyond themselves and their earthly life. They were called to a life of hardship, of hunger, cold, pain. They were called to walk entirely by faith and not sight. So often they wanted to return to the warmth, the ease, the fulness of their bellies. Day after day, they wanted the quenching of their thirst at the first thought of need. They couldn't understand why they were call to a life of sacrifice, of suffering and yet beholden to Abram they journeyed with him, and that was only the beginning of those called chosen of God.

The history of those people called by God to be His chosen is rife with backsliding and betrayal, and still God remained a part of them. Just like the Gentiles, who as a majority refused God and his ways, the Jewish people constantly refused God and his ways too, only they substituted their own ways and called them God's.  They kept the title of being God's chosen and perverted that title over and over. 

Among those of the corrupted people, God was always able to find a faithful few. Those faithful few were called from their darkness shrouded religion into the light of truth. They exposed the apostasy among God's chosen and called for change. Change didn't always come. Punishments were enacted. Then maybe after a brief reprieve of repentance, once more the dark overshadowed the light. The cycle was seemingly endless. History shows very bright spots among the constant corruption and those bright spots served as beacons to those who truly sought God.

Then the Messiah was born. God Himself in flesh. And God Himself revealed  the corruption among those He'd chosen to be His people. He showed them that they'd lost sight of God. They'd taken a ceremonial system meant to teach sacrifice and forgiveness and perverted it through their avarice, through their pride and self-serving. The system meant to point to God had been twisted. They made sin a simple matter. Go on sin, then sacrifice--- wash, rinse, and repeat over and over again. Yes sin, we've got you covered here just buy this expensive animal and we'll do the rest and you are free to go, guilt free. 

The entire ceremonial service was corrupt.  The lambs slain to atone for the people's sins no longer had them realizing the depths of their transgressions. Mere ritual, by rote, a performance enacted with strict precision- day after day after day.

The Messiah, for three years of His ministry set out to show His people the truth. He did it slowly, step by step His love stripped back the façade of a hard-hearted, cold, calculating system that would no longer be necessary. The backsliding people were condemned along with their phony claim to godliness. The truth of God's love, of His forgiveness was made plain and abhorred by those whose hearts were evil continuously. The individualization of a person's relationship with God was brought to light. The knowledge that the Messiah came to open the way to life eternal was revealed. No, the Messiah was not to be a world dominating leader with an army of soldiers. No, the Messiah was not to destroy all those who were not among the chosen people, or bring those people into subjugation under the chosen ones. The Messiah came and shouted truth as He lived love for all to see. 

Instead of a chosen people from a world filled with people, instead of an elite society keeping all the riffraff out, the Messiah told the chosen people that their heartless, soulless, loveless existence was not God's way, and they were no longer God's chosen people, they could come out of that old way of life.

No longer would there be a single chosen people among the many. No longer would one race of people lay claim to God's preference. There would be the Messiah and any who would believe in Him and the love of God revealed to a broken world.

Not Jewish? No worries. A new and better way through Christ says that your ethnicity doesn't matter, your heart does, the truth does. 

Today, however, we've formed many offshoots of the Way of Christ.  

Ask yourself, why did Christ Himself tell us that few will find Him?

Why did Christ Himself say that many will think they are His, but they won't be?

Why did Christ Himself reveal that there would still be a broad way that many would travel taking them away from Him, and a narrow way for true followers?

The corruption of Christ's way began very shortly after Christ's death. 

Satan wasn't going to sit idle while Christ's conquering Him took place. He knew the fight was decided, the outcome of the war known. He knew He'd lost and his death sentence passed. He also understood that while he lived the rest of his existence on death row that he could still take as many of the humans that Christ died for with him.  In fact, he wanted them all! 

Corrupting the truth was a given for Satan who had nothing at all to lose. He was going to snatch as many people as he could, knowing everyone he laid claim to would break a piece of the Savior's heart.

Satan was down, but not out, able to created endless havoc from his death bed, from his jail cell. And…  today, this very moment, he has filled the world with his trophies and continues to add to them daily.

Just as the corrupted chosen people of God so long ago before Christ's appearance were in a constant state of backsliding and repentance, so holds true today of Christ's chosen people.  Instead of a single group of people among many in the world, that kept turning their backs on God. Today we have a world full of people, with many supposedly the true chosen who keep turning their backs on God. Some blatantly, others under the guise of false worship. 

Like the Jews of old who believed they'd forever be God's chosen and all others left out, there are Christian churches today that believe they are the only chosen church and all others are left out.  With both churches- the Jewish before Christ and the Christian after Christ- they believe in proselyting. They believe that people can come into their church, their ways, and be converted, and then they'll be God's people, but they don't believe anyone can truly be God's without them, not in the long run.

Few there be.

Narrow the way.

Not a single true follower of Christ wants to be among the many on the broad path caught under the delusion they are Christ's.  But to ignore these truths is self-deception.

Are you a follower of truth as it is found in Christ Jesus? Or are you a follower of the truth as it is found in traditions of man who claim to follow Christ Jesus?

How many Jewish people in Christ's day, in the Apostle's day, were under the delusion they were God's chosen still? How many of those people held fast to the traditions of man claiming God's favor? How many were completely sincere in their belief as they let themselves be led down the broad road? How many were utterly convinced in their hearts that they were following God and His way, only to die believing lies? They never accepted Christ or His sacrifice. They never listened to His words. They never followed His way, or His truth. They never kept the heart of the commandments AND had the testimony of Jesus. The never loved Jesus and therefore kept his commandments out of that love. They never saw the LOVE in the commandments that Christ alone revealed. They never picked up their own crosses and followed Him.  They were clinging to traditions of men under the guise of it being God's way. They were deceived because they refused the truth. They were blinded because they didn't want to see. They held fast to their personal beliefs, not God's. Their love was corrupt and self-serving, a feel-good religion without the truth- all the truth. They snatched a truth here and there and made that their religion while shunning the rest of the truth- allowing themselves to be deceived.

We are crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live, but not us, rather Christ in us. We die daily to all things but Christ and His way. Christ is the truth, the way, the life. We believe and ask for help for our unbelief- truly wanting help towards that end. We love Him and therefore keep His commandments. We know not one little dot of an i, or a tiny cross of a t, will be done away with from the Royal Law, the Moral Law, not a single one of those Ten Commandments that Christ's expounded upon as He kept them all. We cry out, God forbid that we glory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! Christ by whom the world is crucified to us, and us to the world. 

The cross, the sacrifice of innocent blood, the death of a God, the end of Sin. The cross of suffering and death. The cross of a life without blemish yet still blamed.  A cross where we crucify ourselves along with the innocent One. We live a life leading only to the cross. We glory in that cross and ALL it represents- Christ's sacrifice so we might live a life eternal with Him.

Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

 

 

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Patience of the Saints

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

What commandments of God are the saints keeping? We talk a lot about the faith of Jesus- people comprehend faith is hoping for salvation through the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Faith is the substance of things HOPED for the evidence of things NOT seen. We hope for salvation through our Savior, we don't see this, we can't see it, it is a belief through hope that we know we have a Savior, Jesus.

So, what commandments of God are the saints keeping, and in keeping they obtain patience in the waiting, in the hoping?

There is much made by those of my beliefs (and rightly so) about the seventh day Sabbath, that Sabbath God was talking about when He gave us the Royal Law, the Ten Commandments.

Why is there much made about it? Because God knew people would FORGET about this commandment in particular. He prefaced it with the word- REMEMBER. Throughout the entire Bible we know the Sabbath is forever on the Seventh day. In a world where we have a seven day week, we know the seventh day is our Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. The Jewish people who were God's chosen people before others were grafted in and became followers of the Jew, Jesus Christ and His Way, have always known which day the Sabbath is upon, it's never changed. When Christ died He reinforced the Sabbath day of Rest by remaining in the tomb. When He rose He did NOT say anywhere, at any time, to anybody that there is a new Sabbath day. He didn't! It's not in the Bible and something that monumental- the changing of a Royal Law, the changing of the day of the week upon which Jesus himself, and his followers kept and continued to keep, would have been a HUGE deal! Just as if He changed any other of the ten commandments. He didn't, there was no need to.

Some people like to say it was changed by the apostles, it wasn't. Yes, they conducted WORK upon the first day of the week, gathering together as they did on other days as well, but they never once instituted plainly something as important as a change to a Sabbath law. Think about it LOGICALLY please, for one moment. If one of the Ten Commandments that were a part of their lives since way back at there being given, were to be changed there would be such an uproar by those who didn't follow the Way of Jesus, that it would have been mentioned all over the place, in many, many writings- not just the Bible writings, but historical records. The headline would read-- The Followers of the Way of Jesus Have Stated the Sabbath Day Has Been Changed to the First Day of the Week!!!! Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Such a happening would rock the entire land of Israel and its people and wouldn't have been crouched it vague texts with even vaguer interpretations.

Yes, Jesus rose from the grave on the first day of the week, and we celebrate that in the Lord's supper where He told us once again to do something in REMEMBERANCE OF HIM. He had plenty of opportunity right then and there to tell us to worship Him on this new Sabbath day, to remember the NEW Sabbath day in His remembrance, but He didn't!!! He broke bread and drank wine and told us to do the same to remember His death and resurrection. He gave his body and his blood for us, his life and we have no choice but to remember His dying. His giving of that body and blood which caused His death wasn't the end of it. No one can think of Jesus' dying on the cross without being reminded of what?? That He didn't stay dead! The huge mind-blowing truth- He was RAISED from the dead!!!

Can you ever take part in the Lord's Supper without being reminded of that? Do you ever eat the bread of remembrance or drink the wine of remembrance without knowing death didn't hold Him? How? We remember He died and automatically have to remember He lives! His death was necessary, His rest in the grave on the Sabbath was necessary, and His resurrection on the first day of the week was necessary for Salvation's entire plan. You don't divorce one part from the other, you just don't. How sad it would be to as often as we can, take part in the Lord's Supper if all we did was keep Jesus in the grave after His death and thought no more of Him except of Him dying and dead.

God, died for us. And it's incomprehensible why we are so important, that we are worth so much to Him. We can never forget His, the greatest of all Sacrifices that lead to His Resurrection. Let us always remember this in the way HE, HIMSELF instituted and that was not by changing the day of rest, the Sabbath.

No man, no Apostle, no prophet, no king can change God's Royal Law, not one.

Going back to the fact the Saints of God will keep the commandments of God we have to note that it means ALL of them.

You can't just keep the Sabbath and go out and steal, lie, having other gods before God, speak of God uselessly. You can't keep nine but not ten, or eight and not two, or one and not nine commandments. You have to keep them ALL if you are a saint of God. And we keep them through HIS power, through the Holy Spirit's power as we SUBMIT our wills and our desire to be followers of the Way of Jesus Christ! We live as Jesus lived! Loving and doing good on the Sabbath- the SEVENTH day Sabbath, the only weekly Sabbath He even kept.

Isa_66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Don't you think, Jesus, who quoted about Himself from the book of Isaiah would have realized that He needed to make a day change very plain, especially in light of the fact worshipping God on the Sabbath would be something His people would do forever even in the world made new?

Men throughout many years have offered a reward to people to prove from the Bible and the Bible only the Sabbath day was changed from the seventh to the first day- NO ONE has ever claimed the reward.

I keep going back to the Sabbath, but I do want to reiterate that ALL the Commandments are to be kept, none to the exclusion of any other.

May God help us, may God the Holy Spirit guide us and enable us to do what we cannot do for ourselves, teach us to do the will of God in all things! We would be among the saints who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, PLEASE! All through the name of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus the Messiah! AMEN!

Put on your armor

 2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 

Paul, an Apostle of Christ, tells us that in HIS day there were false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

FALSE apostles, DECEITFUL workers, men who pretended to be the apostles of Christ.

The church was new, he was writing this approximately 24 year after Christ died, that is how young the church was at that time.  Paul was inspired of the Holy Spirit to write about the false apostles, the deceitful workers, why?  Because it is the reality of our existence. Satan was alive and well and tempting Christ while Christ was alive. He didn't stop. 

Christ's adversary, Satan, has never hit the pause button, but has kept on doing what he does- deceive, mislead, lie. He does all he can do to keep each and every single person from God. We are foolish if we believe otherwise.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen, the Bible tells us so. Faith is hoping in Christ our Redeemer even if we don't see Him.  We don't have faith in the unseen Satan because we have no hope in him. It takes faith to believe in Christ Jesus, to believe in God. And as soon as we believe in God we have no choice whatsoever but to believe in his adversary's existence.  It's impossible to believe in God without believing in Satan.

I recall off and on a conversation I had with someone once, I've written about this in the past too, but here I go again. I had a particularly trying day and I happened to say that I hate how Satan messes with me.  The person looked at me and shook their head and proceeded to tell me that people use Satan as an excuse for their own bad behavior, they want to have someone else to blame for their actions. My having a bad day didn't mean Satan was causing it. I had to take responsibility for my own part in the day and yes, things go wrong it doesn't mean there is an evil entity causing things to go wrong.  

Well, I listened to that person and if memory serves I told them that I believe Satan is the cause of all the evil in the world. I believe Satan will do all he can to cause us misery. I believe when I have particularly trying days, that Satan wants my mind off Christ and the hope I have in my Savior. I don't blame Satan for my sins, I have only myself to blame for my bad actions. Satan isn't an excuse for me to say- the Devil made me do it, and I'm not responsible. Satan is the root cause of all evil and he wants all of us to join him in that evil. When I sin and join him in the evil, I need to seek forgiveness and repent recognizing that I did wrong. 

Recognizing there is a force behind the evil doesn't excuse me at all. God is greater than Satan. For every temptation there is a way out of that temptation.  

1Co_10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Satan's temptations are awful, miserable to deal with! I'm not creating my temptations. Not that I can't. I can put myself into situations where I know I will be tempted and that is very, very wrong. But as a rule if I'm doing my best not to sin. I'm trying to rely upon Christ for my salvation, for my life now and in the future. When temptations start appearing all over the place, it's not me creating them. There are so many temptations that when you think you've got one beaten, ten more pop up.  Yesterday my patience may have been severely tried and I succumbed to unjustified anger, today I may have been very tempted to engage in gossip that served no purpose whatsoever. There are so many sins, and so many thing we don't even realize are sins because society says they're okay. I am an imperfect being who will struggle against sinning. I have an invisible adversary that will constantly harass me. 

No, I probably didn't go into this much detail with the person I had the conversation with, but I tried to explain how I viewed things. I ended up telling the person I hoped they didn't think I was blaming my guilt on Satan, I have to answer for my own sins. I'd be the first to admit how imperfect and sinful I am, but I believe the cause of all sin in the world is Satan. Just because I think he's the cause doesn't mean I can escape the consequences of my actions. In the end, only Christ can save me, I can't save myself, I have to believe He will save me. 

Did the person understand what I was saying? I don't know. I continued to say things like- Satan was really trying to get to me today, and the person never again said anything about it after our conversation. 

My Bible, God's Holy Word, tells me to put on armor to battle the invisible foes. God knows the evil is real, God knows Satan is real. God knows Satan uses people against people if he can. Jesus fought the wiles of Satan's temptations, so why wouldn't I have to?  I wouldn't need armor if I weren't expected to fight.

I'll say it again…we can't believe in God and not believe in the reality of Satan. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 

Men were transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. They were playacting at being Christ's apostles and deceiving people, 24 years or thereabouts after Christ's died.  Men haven't stopped transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, play acting at being Christ's apostles and deceiving people…1,970 years later. We shouldn't be surprised either about these deceivers dressed in religious careers. We shouldn't marvel at all, why? Because Satan HIMSELF does the same thing, making himself appear as an angel of light!  Those who choose to follow the ways of Satan, even if they refuse to call themselves Satan's followers, but delude themselves they are somehow righteous; they will get their just reward in the end. Their deception will be unmasked.  

There are many ministers of Satan pretending to be ministers of righteousness. We live in a sinful world and we will continue to live in a sinful world until Christ returns.

And yes, yesterday Satan was working overtime around me and I teetered and tottered almost falling into the trap he was laying, but I prayed when I realized what was happening, I prayed hard and praise GOD the situation resolved.  This is truth (often daily truth, often several times a day truth) I'm in a war and I need my armor and weapons-- praying always!

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

Purified Through Truth

 Purified your souls in obeying the truth

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently

Let's break this down-

How do you purify your soul? You purify it by…

Obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren.

You obey the truth through the Spirit, this is how it is done. Obeying TRUTH. That truth then leads you to…

unfeigned love of the brethren.

Therefore you…

love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Obeying truth leads to love. We know God is love, and Jesus, as one of the Gods we serve said that He is …the way, the TRUTH, the life.

People get confused and believe they can love without obeying truth. They've separated love into its own entity beyond truth. They claim love is Jesus, so love as Jesus loves but they don't comprehend that Jesus lived a life of PURE TRUTH. Jesus lived truth, because He is truth. Now, what is this truth that is Jesus? First what does the word truth even mean?

It means the state of being true. True means in accordance with fact or reality. A fact is something proved true. Reality means things as they actually exist.

Obeying truth, the reality of Jesus and all that He is in every facet.

Recently I had a discussion with someone about Jesus and the Royal Law, the Ten Commandments, and how Jesus didn't do away with a single one of them, they were all a part of His truth. He did clarify them, the ones that people were finding a bit difficult such as adultery, and murder. What had to be clarified about these? The fact that in your mind and in your heart you can sin without committing the actual act of adultery or murder. Fantasizing about sex outside of your marriage is, in truth, adultery. Desiring to murder someone is holding the hatred inside without letting it out and it is as if you had murdered them.

People say, "No! That's not true! I may have wanted to have sex with that other person, but I didn't I stopped myself from doing it. I wanted to kill that person, but I restrained myself because I knew it was wrong. I did not sin, I did not commit adultery or murder!" They are correct in that they did not physically go through with the acts of sin, BUT unless they repented of those lusts that they indulged in their minds and STOPPED altogether lusting to have sex outside their marriage or murder someone, it's still consuming a part of their heart.

Recognizing our sins in our thoughts is very important! If people recognize the sin in their thoughts more there would be a lot less physical actions towards those sins.

How many actual adulterers spend a lot of time fantasizing about committing adultery only to end up actually doing it, and the same with murder. How many people get consumed by murdering someone- planning it over and over, telling themselves they wouldn't do it, and there is no harm in thinking about it, but then the line is crossed over into the physical action? By definition, murder is planned. When a person allows themselves to hate without censure consoling themselves with the fact they aren't sinning in action, they are only fooling themselves.

Jesus told us we can sin in our thoughts and indulging our thoughts of sin is in fact… a sin.

Jesus also went on to tell the rulers in the church of his day that they had put too many restrictions on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was meant to be a blessing not a burden, not nitpicking at every single action committed. They had the audacity to believe healing someone on the Sabbath was wrong! Jesus told them it was a good thing to do on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a beautiful institution given to mankind out of love and the rules and regulations went far beyond what God intended in the lessens He was teaching us of love. Loving Him and loving others.

Are the Ten Commandments truth that Jesus lived? Yes, they are. They are a part of the revelation of His love.

As a parent we put restrictions on our children to protect them, restrictions with consequences should those restrictions be ignored. We don't put restrictions on our children because we hate them and want them to suffer. We do it because we love them and want to teach them things that are good for them because they are unable as children to comprehend the things that could be harmful to them.

We are forever Children of God and He too wants to protect us, to teach us, to guide us. To say the guidelines have been done away with would be ludicrous, especially when they were guidelines Jesus himself endorsed.

People confuse the doing away with 'laws' and not being 'under the law' as meaning the Ten Commandments are obsolete. Ceremonial laws were in place that were definitely done away with when we learned that only through Jesus we are save by grace and not offering our own sacrifices as if that can save us.

Laws exist so that the punishment is known for the ones who would break the laws. Those keeping the laws and not desiring to break them, and have no reason to fear any punishment. I don't live a life in fear of being caught stealing- because I don't steal. Because I don't steal doesn't mean the law should be abandon. The law is there for everyone to know there are consequences to their actions should they choose to disobey. You aren't guilty of being a thief if you've never stolen anything, you aren't under that law, it's not pointing you out to be guilty- because you're not.

Obeying the truth- nothing but the truth- all the truth that is Jesus, living love, that is Jesus. Don't strip Jesus' life down to his living as he pleased without any regard to anyone or anything. Jesus lived his life as His declared Father could approve and He lived it perfectly, resisting every single temptation He encountered and not consenting to a single one.

Love. Obeying the truth through the Spirit--- causing unfeigned love of other, causing true, genuine love for others, loving each other with a pure heart fervently! God is love! He loves us fervently.

1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

We KNOW we love the children of God WHEN we love God and KEEP his commandments! Not my words, God's word!

Luke {10:25} And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

{10:26} He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

{10:27} And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy

mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

{10:28} And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Thou has answered RIGHT, THIS DO and thou shalt live!

1 John {4:7} Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

{4:8} He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

{4:9} In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

{4:10} Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.

{4:11} Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

{4:12} No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

{4:13} Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

{4:14} And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son [to be] the Saviour of the world.

{4:15} Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

{4:16} And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

{4:17} Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

{4:18} There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

{4:19} We love him, because he first loved us.

{4:20} If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

{4:21} And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

What do you suppose would happen if suddenly there was no profit at all in being a doctor? No profit at all. What if being a doctor earned you about as much as your average grocery clerk? Stay with me here, this is all hypothetical and we're not going to get into the cost of education and all that. Right now, all the doctors in the world have been forgiven all their educational debts so that's not an issue, neither is malpractice insurance, that's all gone too. They have no extraordinary debts or costs to pay out, no more than your average grocery clerk. How many people do you suppose would become doctors if there were no money in it? If it weren't for the prestige and wealth? How many?

It's easy to see today when you're shoved into a waiting room packed with people and have to wait hours just to get shoved into another room alone to wait some more. And then the doctor comes in and spends more time fiddling with their little computer looking at your records and fussing about than they do looking at you. Oh yes, it's easy to see that hurrying up and trying to diagnose you, the answer a pill or two, a blood test or four, a urine test here and a x-ray there, let's just see what's what as quick as possible there are many more cattle needing to be herded through the place before the day is over. Are we even real to these people? Maybe I'm being harsh, or maybe not harsh enough. All I know is it makes me wonder how many people go into the physician field solely for monetary reasons and in truth they care very little about the people they'll be treating.

I know we like to think that not many do that, and you may be thinking me totally wrong because you've got the best, most caring doctor ever, but the truth is it's not like that for everyone.

Loving your brother.

Love meaning caring more for them than yourself.

How often does that happen?

I saw evidence of it not too long ago when my daughter (2008) who has a bad back and numerous health issues started pushing the car of a stranded woman to help her out. I was floored. I was a little angry too, how dare she do such a thing, didn't she know she could hurt herself more! She obviously felt helping the stranded woman was more important than worrying about her health. Stupid? I wanted to think so, but in truth isn't that what's important? Helping others and not caring about yourself?

All too often thoughts of self comes first- how does *this situation* affect me? Will I like this? Will it be an inconvenience to me? Do I have other plans? What's this to me? Self first, and if all is satisfactory on my end then maybe I can think of someone else.

God help me. God help us. Love has nothing to do with self. Nothing. Love has everything to do with others. Everything.

Love God. Love others.

There is No commandment to love yourself.

That ol' love others as yourself, doesn't mean loving yourself, it means love others as YOU would want to be loved.

If we had to love ourselves first and love others that way it would only be an obstacle especially for those that concentrate on loving themselves before they love others, there is nothing selfless in loving yourself. No, I'm not saying hate yourself. I'm saying self is important truly only in the sense that we do all we can to remain healthy and such so that we may respect our lives because God loves us and would have us love others. We're not here on earth to serve ourselves, but to serve God and others.

Mark {8:35} For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

John {15:9} As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

{15:10} If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

{15:11} These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.

{15:12} This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

{15:13} Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

{15:14} Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command

1 John {3:16} Hereby perceive we the love [of God,] because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

{3:17} But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

{3:18} My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

{3:19} And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him

Amen. (Revised from Nov. 29, 2008)

If God Can Forgive Us We Must Forgive Ourselves

 

C. S. Lewis, “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”

Letter to Miss Beckenridge, April 19,1951

The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis. Volume III: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy 1950–1963. Ed. Walter Hooper. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2007: 109.

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As the evil we've committed becomes more apparently evil to us, so too does the temptation to despair of ever being without the weight of that evil. Despair tries to lure us into a place of hopelessness, of no longer believing. We begin to think that our evil selves can never be forgiven, we're just too evil for that to happen.  

What we are doing is recognizing that we are powerless. Despair wants us to let that powerlessness we feel makes us despondent.  Christ wants us to let that powerlessness make us feel DEPENDENT upon Him, and His ability to forgive us. 

We must allow ourselves to comprehend the depths of Christ's ability to forgive us. He is the power in our lives, we are powerless in and of ourselves. We aren't going to gain our own powers outside of Christ's to fix ourselves, not ever. Christ will forever be the power that forgives and brings hope to our hopelessness. 

If you begin to fall prey to hopelessness try to recognize at once that you are looking to yourself for hope and not to Christ, where your ONLY hope exists. 

So, how do we truly believe in Christ's forgiveness when Satan and his minions are constantly reminding us of how very awful our sins are? I read once somewhere that Satan only brings up the sins that are forgiven already, because he doesn't want us to notice any sins we haven't asked forgiveness for. He'll terrorize us with our forgiven sins, why? Because as already mentioned, he wants to bring us to despair, to hopelessness that will keep us from truly believing in Christ's forgiveness.

To not forgive ourselves is in reality believing that Christ can't forgive us. 

It's only through HIS forgiving us that we are able to forgive ourselves. You will never find true forgiveness in and of yourself, without Christ forgiving you first. You forgiving yourself means nothing. 

If Christ has forgiven you, and you've forgiven yourself because He has, it won't mean that you won't feel the weight of that sin ever again. Satan will try to make sure we feel the weight, hoping to lead us eventually down his path. Satan won't stop trying to tempt us to take our eyes off God and put them on ourselves. 

What better way is there for Satan than to hold up the horrors of our past in front of us, slapping a sticker on them that reads - UNFORGIVEN. Satan wants us to believe because we see the sin in our memories, because we feel the weight of that sin, that it isn't forgiven.  

To God, our sins are GONE once they are truly repented of, and forgiveness is sought, all by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Yes, I said those sins are gone. The punishment that sin stands for no longer exists, it's been paid in full.  This is FAITH. And it is faith in Christ's righteousness, NOT OURS.

To think we have any power within us to forgive ourselves and make ourselves whiter then snow, is ludicrous. 

When we say we are forgiving ourselves what we are really saying is … we accept and believe Christ forgives us and that is more than enough.

Don't forget God forgives us our sins as we forgive others. The Lord's Prayer doesn't read- He forgive us our sins as we forgive ourselves. 

C.S. Lewis stating…  “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”

… is speaking truth, because GOD forgives us first and we accept that we are forgiven by Him, or else, we are negating God's forgiveness and trying to find another way to be forgiven, our own way. 

We must forgive others as completely as we want God to forgive us- giving those who have sinned against us to God to judge while we step back out of the picture completely. We forgive them because we ourselves need forgiveness.  We tell them that we are sinners too, just like they are. They are in need of God's forgiveness, just like we are.

If we had no sin at all in our lives we could condemn them, we would not have to forgive them… but our sins have condemned us, and we need forgiveness.  We recognize we are sinners and our seemingly white lying sinning, might be more deep down evil than their blatant sins that seem atrocious on a level of depravity we are sickened by.  

Sinners one and all. We MUST forgive those who sin against us if we are to believe Christ can forgive us our sins.  That sin, all sin, warrants death. The wages of sin is death-- all sin. 

The gift of God is eternal life through, Jesus Christ our Lord.    Romans 6:23

If you really believe God has forgiven you, then you must believe in that forgiveness,  not hold onto to your sins believing you aren't forgiven, because if you do then you are calling God a liar. 

Choosing not to forgive yourself is making yourself a god thinking you should have the power to forgive yourself.

When Satan gift wraps our forgiven sins in a box- our terrible, horrific, awful, disgusting, disgraceful, incomprehensible sins, and hands that box to us, we have to rip off the wrapping paper, open it up, hold it upside down, shake it and watch nothing fall out as we tell Satan, it's empty- our sins are forgiven. 

We might have to do that several times a day for who knows how long. Satan won't stop trying to use our forgiven sins against us, not ever. 

After showing Satan that empty box, pull out your gift box from God and tell Satan, God's gift supersedes any gift of his, God's gift is FORGIVENESS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.  

Cling to the gift of God tightly and never let go!

Strong Delusions

 In Paul's day around 51-52 AD, he wrote about  'the mystery of iniquity' and how it was 'already' working. (2Thess.2:7)  We know for a fact that 1,974-75 years later in the year 2025 that iniquity still abounds.  (Iniquity- wickedness, lawlessness, unrighteousness) No one who lives in this world today can tell me that iniquity doesn't fill our world to overflowing.

Paul the Apostle, spoke of the fact that even in the brand new Church there was wickedness, lawlessness, unrighteousness.  He also went on to say the mystery would remain a mystery- until it can no longer be so and THEN THAT WICKED would be revealed. Basically, Paul was saying there was the a mystery wouldn't be understood until a later time. Eventually that Wicked (that which produced the iniquity) would be revealed. And that revealed Wicked would then one day be consume with the spirit of Christ's mouth, destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's return.

Paul KNEW way back then 1,974-75 years ago, an evil that was started would continue on until the return of Christ, at which time Christ would destroy THAT WICKED. Paul goes on to give us even more insight into THAT WICKED - it will be one whose coming is after the working of SATAN. So, it's not SATAN himself, this is a WICKED that has its beginning in the early church and will continue in the church throughout time until Christ's return.

Think about that for a very long moment. So many people think that the early church was pure, spotless, wonderful, but it wasn't! Right away, only twenty years after Christ's crucifixion, there was INIQUITY, THAT WICKED whose coming was after the working of SATAN, was in the church!  Let that sink in. 

How is that possible you ask?  Because of this…That revealed WICKED one whose coming is after the working of Satan -- comes with ALL power, signs, lying wonders, deceivableness of unrighteousness.. And the worst thing…

Those that PERISH are going to do so because they are the ones caught up in the power, the signs, the lying wonders, and deceivableness of unrighteousness. Why will they perish? Because they are allowing themselves to be caught up in all that wickedness-- and they won't RECEIVE a love of the truth!!!  They won't receive truth that they might be saved! 

And worst still… it's not bad enough that they choose to believe lies rather than truth, they do so in such a way they cut themselves off from ever being able to learn the truth! And because they've cut themselves off from truth, which is GOD, which is JESUS, God is going to send them STRONG DELUSIONS, so those who want to be deceived, will be deceived. God allows them to live in the deceptions they've embraced. 

God sent His declared SON who was uniquely begotten, and all the truth of God was embodied in His SON. Jesus was living TRUTH. And still people are going to be deceived. Don't think for one minute being in a church, or being a follower of Christ will keep you from deception. Those in the first church were not exempt and people haven't been exempt throughout time in the many, many divisions of what was once the early church. The early church became corrupted, as Paul said, a deception would cloud the minds of those who believe they are truly Christ's, but are not. 

Why, because they received NOT the LOVE OF TRUTH that they might be saved! 

TRUTH.  When we know truth, when truth is revealed to us and we discount it as unimportant for any reason, we are accountable for that denial of truth. When we refuse to search for truth claiming Jesus as our Savior while ignoring all the truths He gave to us in His short ministry upon earth and even after, through the Apostles and men of God speaking as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and… yes, even this… if we ignore the truths in the OLD TESTAMENT- the word Jesus told us explicitly that speak of HIM, that He was even with Moses- 

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

…then we are ACCOUNTABLE for our choosing to ignore truth that is found throughout God's word! Whose commandments do you think were given on Mount Sinai? Christ was with Moses as they journeyed to that Mount and received those commandments. Christ Jesus during His ministry upon earth, enlightened us to the truth of those commandments, and some were more strict than they allowed for and others less strict than others allowed. He was teaching the true meaning of those TEN ROYAL LAWS. He never did away with a single one of them! He brought them to life. He wanted the TRUTH of keeping them to be revealed!  And yet, so many people ignore these facts, despise the truth and are comfortable with their strong delusions that God will allow. He won't force a single person to believe. We all make our choices, but when we choose Jesus we are choosing TRUTH and all that entails. We will all be accountable for our actions, our beliefs, the truth we follow. If we believe a truth that is filled with deception, if we do not receive a love of the truth, that delusion we are allowed is to let us THINK we are true Christ followers when we are anything but true Christ followers. Satan has the majority of people on the wide path comfortably numb to their deceived state. All those people will be damned who don't believe the truth but have pleasure in unrighteousness. They'll enjoy their deluded existence. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Righteousness is pure, unadulterated truth, and therefore unrighteousness is a pack of lies.  And even sugar-coated, honey-dipped, lies are worthy of damnation.  No one who is damned will have been forced fed their deceptions, they willingly partake of them. 

God help us ALL to only seek truth and in seeking truth, seek our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ always!

State of the Wicked Dead Pt 4. - Concluded

 The Rich Man and Lazarus

By J. N. Andrews

Concluded…

Lazarus died a beggar. But he rests in hope, an heir to the inheritance promised Abraham. Eternal life and endless felicity are his, and by personification it is said that he is "comforted." 

Dives(Rich Man) lives in the greatest splendor, and dies an impenitent man. The lake of fire is to be his portion. personification, he is represented as in it already. This is in accordance with the teaching of Paul, when he says of God that he calleth things that be not as though they were.

That is, God speaks of things that exist only in his purpose just as though they had a present existence; because they shall surely exist; even as he called Abraham the father of many nations, when as yet he had no son. Gen. 17; Rom. 4:16, 17.  

This is the more clearly seen when we consider that to Lazarus, in the silence of hades, there will not be a moment between his death, at the gate of the rich man, and his resurrection to eternal life, and not a moment to the rich man between the closing of his eyes in death, and his opening them in the resurrection to damnation.

  

That we have done right in hearing the testimony of "Moses and the prophets" on this subject, we have the authority of the parable itself to show. And we have this further evidence of the truth of this exposition that, without doing violence to a single text, we have a divine harmony on the subject of the dead in hades, in all that is said by Moses and the prophets and by Christ and the apostles.  

That those who conversed together are not disembodied spirits, but personified dead men, is further proved by the following facts: 

1. Not one word is said of the spirit of any person named. 

2. This conversation takes place in hades, which the sacred writers affirm to be in the depths of the earth. 

3. The persons named are men that had lived, the one clothed in purple, the other covered with sores, and both were then dead. But these dead men have bodily organs, as eyes, fingers, tongues, etc. 

But the truth on this point is sealed by the fact that Lazarus could only return to warn the rich man's brethren by being raised from the dead. 

"Neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead" -Gr., ean tis ek nekron anaste. It was not whether the spirit of Lazarus should descend from the third Heaven, but whether Lazarus himself should be raised from among the dead ones. This shows that the conversation did not relate to the coming back of disembodied spirits; and in fact that they were not disembodied spirits that here conversed.  

The parable of Dives and Lazarus does not therefore teach the present punishment of the wicked dead. And as there is nothing else on which to rest the doctrine, it must be given up as having no foundation in the Bible. The testimony shows that the wicked dead are asleep in sheol, where they await the resurrection to damnation. The following texts show that the resurrection and judgement of the wicked take place before they are punished; a doctrine in the highest degree reasonable, and sustained by many plain testimonies.  

"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to RESERVE the unjust unto the day of Judgement to be punished." 2 Pet. 2:9. The day of Judgment must arrive before the retribution of the ungodly.  

"The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. 3:7. The perdition of ungodly men comes at the Judgment. 

 

"The wicked is RESERVED to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:30. The next scripture will explain this.  

"Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. 

 

The wicked are first raised and judged, then afterward cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:11-15.  

Vengeance is taken upon all the ungodly together when the Lord comes with his saints. Jude 14, 15.  

The wicked are cast into the furnace of fire at the end, and not before. Matt. 13:30, 39-43, 49, 50.  

The burning day is the time when the wicked meet their fate. Mal. 4; Ps. 21:9.  

The wrath of God waits till the day of wrath. Rom. 2:5-9.  

Tribulation to the ungodly comes in connection with the advent of the Saviour. 2 Thess. 1. 

 

The wicked dead are not punished till after the seventh trumpet. Rev. 11:15, 18.  

The Judge says, "Depart from me, ye cursed," and then, for the first time, the ungodly enter the furnace of fire. Matt. 25:41.  

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NOTE.  The reader will observe that texts are quoted in this tract with words sheol or hades, instead of grave, or pit, or hell; which our English version uses.  This is because sheol, or hades, is the word used in the original Hebrew or Greek Scriptures.  See the lists above.

Webster defines personification thus: "The giving to an inanimate being the figure or the sentiments and language of a rational being; prosopopoeia, as 'Confusion heard his voice.'" 

     He defines personify thus: "To give animation to inanimate objects; to ascribe to an inanimate being the sentiments, actions, or language, of a rational being, or person, or to represent an inanimate being with the affections and actions of a person.  Thus we say, the plants thirst for rain.  'The trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou and reign over us.'"   Judges 9.

     He defines prosopopoeia, or intense personification, thus: "A figure in rhetoric by which things are represented as persons, or by which things inanimate beings, or by which an absent person is introduced as speaking, or a deceased person is represented as alive and present.  It includes personification, but is more extensive in its signification."