FEATURE ARTICLE: Open Letter To Evangelical and Protestant Pastors Worldwide – Now is the Day to Turn Back to God’s Word
From: Roger Oakland, Understand The Times
The following letter is to all Bible-believing pastors throughout the world who have been or are being influenced by current trends that are attacking the Word of God through the postmodern humanistic mystical belief system. I have witnessed this deception firsthand on a worldwide basis but am most familiar with what has been happening in the two fellowships I have been part of for the past thirty years – one in Canada and one based in southern California.
It is with a heavy heart I write this open letter to those who consider themselves evangelical or Protestant pastors. While my desire is to do this respectfully and with the love of the Lord, I am compelled with a strong sense of responsibility to write this warning.
The fact is we are living in a time in history where there is great spiritual apostasy (a falling away), and sadly, many pastors don’t even realize it is happening. Others realize it but don’t know what to do about it, while still others see it but promote it anyway. The purpose of this letter is to shine light on the darkness that has crept into so many churches today.
For many years, I have documented my concerns about this apostasy and presented the evidence to the body of Christ. An article I wrote a few years ago called “Ichabod” described the departing of God’s Spirit from many churches. That article was later followed by the commentary “Is Your Denomination a Sinking Titanic?.” I believe we are witnessing the sinking of the Titanic at the present time. While most are still dancing around in the ballroom, a few have chosen to get off the boat. How many get off in time is the question that remains to be answered.
While I recognize that I am “marked” by some as someone who has caused division within the church, please understand I do not fear any man. I look to Jesus Christ and am committed to tell the truth whatever the cost. I know I have enemies among the “brethren” who insist that I remain silent. I have also been falsely accused and slandered by gossip as a means of discrediting me.
The Bible teaches that we should never fear man or follow man’s ways. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). We should fear God and His Word alone. Based upon what God revealed to Ezekiel (Chapter 3: 17-20), there is a biblical principal that cannot be overlooked. When God reveals deception and darkness, a watchman must speak out and tell the truth regardless of the circumstances and the consequences.
What I find very alarming is that many pastors who gave warnings in the past about End Times deception seem to have now ceased and become silent. Taking the place of the warnings are teachings or promotion on everything from church-growth, seeker-friendly, contemplative spirituality, Purpose Driven, postmodern/emerging spirituality to even a Catholic/Jesuit agenda.
These various teachings are not biblical Christianity, and for many pastors who once taught the Bible faithfully, these seductive teachings have pulled these pastors in a direction that negates so much of what they once stood for. It is not uncommon now to hear these pastors espousing those such as Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Richard Foster, and Rick Warren, all of whom de-emphasize Bible prophecy of the last days and emphasize the “Kingdom of God on earth” now.
Some pastors recognize that their own denominations or fellowships have turned or are turning away from the teachings of the Bible, yet so many have remained active participants of these denominations. As the years go by, these pastors do not speak up – they are silent. Is this silence an indication that they have bought into a sensual, carnal, three-legged stool plan that links hands with those such as Rick Warren and Tony Blair and is on the road to Rome for a One World Religion? I fear that for many that is the case. What may have begun as “looking the other way” has become outright rebellion in many cases. This is the way deception often happens.
We are living in the time of strong delusion that Paul wrote about (2 Thessalonians 2:11). If you are a Bible-believing pastor, shouldn’t you be helping to lead the way in warning about deception, not promoting the apostate agenda in any fashion?
Ecumenism within the church has been allowed to develop for years.
When a pastor does not warn his flock about ecumenical apostasy, it sends the message that exposing apostasy is just not that important. When a church, organization, or denomination starts down the Road to Rome, there is very little chance of turning back – the pull is just too great. Nowhere in the Bible is it acceptable to join hands with those who promote another Jesus and another gospel like that of the Roman Catholic Church.
This is why John warned: come out of her (the harlot) and be set free (Revelation 18:4).
Some Personal Ministry History:
In June 1981, Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, invited me to fly down from my farm in Saskatchewan, Canada to speak at Costa Mesa at a four-night conference called “The Bible: Key to Understanding Science, History and the Future.” Seven years later, in the fall of 1988, Chuck Smith asked me to join the staff at Costa Mesa. My family moved to Orange County, California from Saskatchewan, Canada.
My position at Costa Mesa involved being an outreach from CCCM as an apologist in the area of creation and evolution. I also showed the association of the New Age Movement and its relationship to Bible Prophecy.
In 1991, after being on staff for three years, Understand The Times was founded as an independent ministry, separate from CCCM. However, UTT was still closely associated with CCCM and was given missionary support. The UTT association with Calvary Chapel pastors and missionaries encompassed the world for about twenty years.
During a fifteen year time period, UTT had an office on church property at CCCM from time to time. Understand The Times had a five-minute radio program that aired on KWAVE and CSN for over ten years. I also had close relationships with members of the Smith family including Chuck’s brother Paul and his son Jeff.
While many of my experiences and associations with those in Calvary Chapel had been good over the years, I observed many serious problems in the Calvary Chapel movement, especially in the last five years. Many Calvary Chapel pastors I know have admitted they also see these same warning signs, but most have not felt they could speak out.
The reason I am writing this letter as an open letter to all pastors is because I believe that many of the problems I witnessed while part of the Calvary Chapel movement are the same problems that many other Christian organizations and denominations are experiencing today. And many of these kinds of problems lead to deception and apostasy.
Common Problems in the Churches:
Today many evangelical and Protestant pastors are operating on the principal or idea that if their churches are small, there is something wrong with them. The “doctrine of big” has replaced the doctrine of being faithful to the Word of God. Along with this doctrine of big comes the subtle attitude that any “offensiveness” must be removed from the church. Thus, a watered-down gospel takes effect; and thus, people in the churches are not hearing the true Gospel. Crosses are removed, Bibles are left at home, hymns are stopped, and talk about the blood of Jesus and His atonement for our sin ceases.
As Bible-believing Christians, we should be able to discern that there is a flaw in this doctrine of big. As churches get bigger, more funds are required to accommodate bigger budgets. The bigger the budget the bigger the offering is needed to meet the budget, and big donors become more and more important. Now you have a situation where the pastor preaches carefully so as not to create controversy. Controversy can cause powerful donors to leave. Pastors who once feared God now become man-fearing where doctrine is determined by men and their motives, and not by God’s Spirit and His Word.
Over the past two decades, I believe the Lord led me to author or co-author six books warning about the ecumenical one world religion movement and how it is impacting Evangelical Protestant Christianity. These were: (1) New Wine or Old Deception (2) When New Wine Makes a Man Divine (3) New Wine and the Babylonian Vine (4) How Marian Apparitions Plan to Unite the World’s Religions (5) Another Jesus: The Eucharistic Christ and the New Evangelization (6) Faith Undone: The Emerging Church – a New Reformation or an End Time Deception. God has put in my heart all these years a passion to warn of impending spiritual danger.
On March 6, 2011, I attended the Peace in a Globalized Society Forum that was held at Saddleback. Rick Warren and Tony Blair both explained what they are doing to set up a one-world religious program for peace. Yet even though it has become most apparent to many discerning Christians what is taking place with Rick Warren and his “new” reformation, very few pastors are publically denouncing the Purpose Driven Peace Plan. In fact, prominent pastors like John Piper are embracing Rick Warren and his teachings.
The Jesuit Connection
As I have written in some of my books, Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Order of the Jesuits in the Catholic Church. The Jesuit goal is to turn the inerrant Word of God into the word of man while at the same time promoting the word of the pope as the word of God. In addition, the Jesuit ambition is to bring the “lost brethren” back to the “Mother” church (read Another Jesus). This is no minor thing. I have been to the city of Rome. I have seen the multitudes worship and adore a man (the Pope) who carries a wafer and a vial of juice that is supposed to be Jesus. Martyrs in earlier centuries were murdered for rejecting the papacy and the Eucharist. And yet today, I am horrified to watch once Bible-believing pastors turn their hearts and their congregations toward Rome, often through a Jesuit influence. Instances of this are occurring more every day.
Now that Rick Warren and Tony Blair (who converted to Catholicism) have announced they will be working together to set up a One World Religion as they did on March 6, 2011 in southern California, how will Christian pastors respond to this? Or will they at all? History shows, most probably won’t.
What is known as fact is this: the emerging/postmodern, Purpose Driven ecumenical, contemplative mindset in the Evangelical or Protestant Christian church has not gone away. And it is not popular to speak against this growing apostasy. It is a lot easier to go down stream than upstream. The Bible foretells we are in the Last Days. What do you as Christian pastors want to be: dead salmon washed out to sea or true fishers of men?
Check out the Bible! There will be a One World Religion. Do you want to be part of the problem, or do you want to be standing up for truth? The latter is not easy and carries with it a high price.
A Wake Up Call to Pastors
Teaching and preaching the Word of God is a high calling. You should always be true to your calling and remain true to the Word. And yet, many know that something is seriously wrong, but they say nothing.
Saying nothing can be as detrimental as outrightly supporting the lie. It is time to wake up! We are in the last days, and many sheep are being deceived, and pastors have a huge role in that deception taking place. When the sheep have the wool pulled over their eyes, they cannot see. This is not acceptable. What about the wolves who are among the flock? Good shepherds should never allow that to happen.
While there still remain faithful Christian pastors who look to Jesus Christ as their Good Shepherd and still believe in the inerrant Word of God, the fact that so many pastors have moved away from the basics of biblical Christianity toward a man-made apostate church will result in much of the flock drifting with them.
And may I say this to any believer who now realizes his or her own pastor is compromising the Word of God and embracing apostate teachings: If you have done what you can to warn and exhort your pastor(s) to turn back to the truth, and if your warnings and exhortations are rejected, perhaps it is time to get out of that church. Paul addressed this when he said: “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject” Titus 3:10.
Deception has crept in, unnoticed to many, and even at times been purposely covered up. Jude warned this was happening in his day (Jude 4). The same is true in the perilous days in which we live (2 Timothy 3: 1-5).
As of last fall, I am no longer affiliated with the Calvary Chapel movement, although I am still friends with and associate with some of the pastors, ones who have sought to remain faithful to the Lord and His Word.
As do many leaders in the body of Christ, Calvary Chapel pastors who have veered need to get right, and they need to do it quickly. According to the Word, our redemption draweth nigh, and He could return for those who are ready at any moment.
If you are a pastor who has succumbed to the present-day spiritual apostasy, get back to the Word of God, and preach it, and teach it! If your congregation shrinks, so what! Better to have a few who are solid and can go out and be fruitful for the Lord than have a mega church full of participants of a social gospel that is being prepared for the coming One World Religion.
While the large-scale move toward apostasy has been taking place for some time, and postmodern/emerging, Purpose-Driven ideas are widely accepted, there still may be time if pastors will repent and return to the purity of the Gospel and God’s Word.
Many pastors reading this open letter who belong to an organization or denomination may feel fearful about leaving the security of such a “covering.” Perhaps you have never been out from under that umbrella. But at some point, you are going to have to ask yourself the question, Am I really “counting all things but loss” in order to gain Christ (Philippians 3:8)? Am I taking up my cross and following Him, no matter the cost (Matthew 16:24)? I have heard stories now of pastors (both in the Calvary Chapel movement and in other groups and denominations) who finally did make that decision to separate themselves from any apostate associations. If you are one of those, continue on with the ministry God has given you and follow Jesus Christ alone. You can never go wrong by being obedient to Jesus and His Word.
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon. May we be found ready and waiting.
Sincerely in Christ,
Roger Oakland
Understand The Times
P.S.
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. . . . Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. Isaiah 52:8, 11
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:13-14
May 31, 2011
May 30, 2011
The New Inquisition
Islam and the Gospel
It was the year 1569, at the height of Catholicism's Spanish Inquisition in Holland. Dirk Willems, a humble and pious follower of Jesus Christ, lay in prison awaiting a fiery death at the stake. His crime? Having been rebaptized upon confession of faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The official town records stated that the prisoner, "...persisting obstinately in his opinion...shall be executed by fire, until death...."
One day, Dirk, finding his cell momentarily unguarded, took the opportunity to escape. Across the nearby frozen lake he fled. The alarm was quickly raised, however, and a "thief catcher" was summoned to pursue the fleeing man. Hearing the crack of ice behind him, Dirk turned to see his pursuer break through into the frigid water. Pausing only a moment, he returned to rescue his enemy from certain death. In deepest gratitude, his pursuer pleaded that Dirk might be allowed to go free. His plea was denied. Dirk's date with death was upheld. Official records, preserved to our day, tell us that "...a strong east wind blowing that day, the fire was driven away from the upper part of his body...in consequence of which this good man suffered a lingering death."
Do we see some reflection in this account of Christ's own suffering for us sinners? The Scripture declares that "God is love." Love is His very nature. God's handiwork in creating the perfect environment for man showed in exquisite detail His forethought on behalf of the coming recipients of His love, culminating in His plan for man's redemption after the Fall. The sacrificial lamb prefigured the ultimate sacrifice of God's only begotten Son, when, in the dark hours of Calvary, He poured out His wrath against the dearest object of His love. From the Cross came Jesus' cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus knew the answer to that question, though its reality was so agonizing. God's Son became sin itself and thus must suffer His Father's rejection (2 Cor 5:21).
Do we dare compare Dirk Willems's act of "redemption" with that of our Savior? Should we, as Christians, take that step beyond happily rejoicing in our salvation to that of also taking the role of sacrificial lamb, as Dirk Willems did, when the opportunity arises?
Let's enter another arena, far removed from the times of the Spanish Inquisition of the sixteenth century. We have another "inquisition" arising farther east and reaching alarming proportions in our day.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, there is a total blackout on anything Christian: one cannot carry a Bible on the street or have a Bible study in the privacy of one's own home. Even in our embassy, over which the American flag flies, Christian church services are banned. It is officially the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim countries (and enforced unofficially elsewhere) for a Muslim to convert to any other religion.
Only Muslims can be citizens of Saudi Arabia. Even in Arab countries where shari'a(Islamic law) is not enforced by the government, Islam's influence prevents freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, and of conscience. In PLO territories, Christian Arabs, who once had freedom under Israel, now suffer persecution, imprisonment, and death for their faith. Yet neither the UN nor our own government protests such oppression behind the Islamic curtain. Muslims build mosques and worship freely in the West, but in their own countries they deny such freedoms to others. Instead of reporting this hypocrisy, the world media covers it up.
Islam spread rapidly under Muhammad and his successors through jihad ("holy war"). Muhammad himself planned 65 campaigns and personally led 27 involving naked aggression and treachery. This incredible "evangelism" made "converts" by the millions at the point of a sword. At its peak, Islam had conquered all of North Africa and almost took over Europe.
Islam continues its conquest worldwide. Today's invaders are millions of immigrants who make converts to Islam through misrepresentation. One sees on TV well-coifed and fashionably dressed women who claim to be converts to Islam and testify to its joys and peace-loving ways. Yet in Saudi Arabia, they would have to be veiled with only their eyes showing, would have to wear plain, dark full-length robes, could not drive a car, could be one of four wives habitually mistreated by their husband, could be divorced by mere denunciation, and would be virtual slaves under shari'a.
Islam's earnest goal, set forth in the Qur'an (references given herein are from three versions) and Hadith (Islamic written tradition), remains the same: to bring all mankind into submission (that's what "Islam" means) and to kill or enslave all "infidels" (i.e., unbelievers in Allah and Muhammad his prophet--Surah 2:190-92; 4:76; 5:33; 9:5,29,41;47:4, etc.). Islam (in obedience to the Qur'an and Muhammad's example) is the driving force behind most terrorism today. According to the Hadith, Muhammad declared, "The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them."
Many Westerners naïvely accept Allah, who inspired Muhammad, as the God of the Bible. Yet Allah has no son and rejects the Trinity (4:171), is unknowable, and was the pagan idol/god of Muhammad's tribe before he was born. Allah tells Muslims, "Take not the Jews and Christians for friends...slay the idolaters [infidels] wherever ye find them....Fight against those who...believe not in Allah nor the Last Day" (5:51; 9:5,29,41). But the triune God of the Bible wants men to know Him (Jer 9:24), a knowledge essential to salvation (Jn 17:3). Jews are His "chosen people" (Ex 6:7; Lv 20:26; 1 Chr 16:13; Ps 105:6, etc.) and Christians are His dearly beloved children (Rom 8:16,21; Gal 3:26; Eph 1:5; 5:1, etc.).
Instead of conversion by force, Christ said that His disciples did not fight because His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 8:36). Indeed, He told His disciples, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you" (Mt 5:44).
Christ gave His life to save sinners, and His followers must be willing to lay down their lives to bring this good news to the world. Biblical salvation is a free gift paid for by the death of Christ, who said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). That command includes today's one billion Muslims. They present a tremendous (and inescapable) challenge to every Christian. But how can we bring the gospel to those who may be killed for believing it, or who may kill us for offering it to them? To die fighting infidels is the only sure way for a Muslim to gain Paradise. Yet Christ also died for Muslims, and His love compels us to share the Good News.
Attempts to evangelize Muslims have had little success for obvious reasons. Lately, however, a new and seemingly more fruitful approach is being adopted: using Muslim scriptures to present Christ. The Hadith attests to the virgin birth, sinless life, and miracles of Christ, who is called "the Word of Allah." Some portions of the Qur'an, too, speak highly of Christ: that He was born of the virgin Mary (Surah 3:45-47; 21:91, etc.); He is the highest example (43:57); and He alone is called "Isa," which means Savior (3:45). Whereas Muhammad was unable to perform miracles (17:90-96; 29:50-52, etc.), Christ did so (2:252-53, 3:49); and unlike others such as Moses, who did miracles at God's command, Jesus did miracles on His own initiative (26:63 etc), even raising the dead (3:49; 5:110; 36:78-79, etc.). Further, the Qur'an declares that Muhammad was a sinner (9:43; 40:55; 47:19; 48:2; 294:1-3, etc.), but Jesus was sinless (19:17-19). The Antichrist (Dajjal) is a major topic of the Hadith, which warns of his coming. He is called the "false Christ" who will deceive many near the end of time. The Hadith teaches that Jesus will return at the end to destroy the Dajjal. Belief in "the Last Day" is an essential part of the Muslim's faith (2:62).
In spite of the honor and reverence accorded Jesus, however, the Jesus of Islam is not the Jesus of the Bible but "another Jesus" (2 Cor 11:4). While the Qur'an in its early passages honors at least parts of the Bible as "the Book" and both Jews and Christians as "the people of the Book," it often contradicts the Bible: it denies that Jesus is God (3:59, 62; 4:171) and that He died on the Cross (4:157-58; 5:116-20) for our sins. Early tradition held that at Christ's request a look-alike disciple rescued Him from the Cross by dying in His place. Other passages, however, seem to declare that Christ did indeed die (3:33,55; 5:117; 19:33), and many Islamic scholars take that view today. The Qur'an denies that one person could die for another (17:13-15; 35:18). Actually, it says that no "soul laden [i.e., sinner] bears the load [sin] of another." Since Jesus was without sin, He would have to be an exception.
For the sinner to be righteously forgiven, Christ had to pay the penalty demanded by God's justice; but that concept is foreign to Islam. The Qur'an breeds uncertainty: "Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance [and] then turn quickly [in repentance] to Allah....Lo! Allah pardoneth...all save [except] that to whom he will not..." (4:17,116). Neither "ignorance" nor "quickly" are defined nor why Allah forgives some and not others. Nor does repentance guarantee forgiveness.
In contrast, the Bible offers forgiveness to all. Christ even died to redeem those who hated Him and asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him (Lk 23:34).
In real life, Allah's forgiveness never comes in time to prevent a hand, foot, or ear from being cut off as the penalty for stealing. Hundreds of Iraqis, mutilated by this inhumane Islamic decree, flee to camps bordering that country. Yet kidnapping requires no such mutilation because a person is not considered to be property. Fornication also requires no such mutilation, while petty thievery does.
The Qur'an's contradictions of the Bible are excused by claiming that the Bible was corrupted. But the Qur'an was sent to stand "as a guardian" over the Bible (5:48); therefore, if the Bible was corrupted, the Qur'an failed. The Muslim's Holy Book itself admits that much of its text is ambiguous (3:7); Muslims are even to ask "the People of the Book [Bible]" for enlightenment (21:7)!
The Qur'an also contradicts itself. Allah created everything "in the twinkling of an eye" (54:49,50), "in two Days" (41:9,12), "in four Days" (41:10), "in six Days" (7:54;10:4,32:4), "a Day," equaling "a thousand years" (70:4); Jesus is not the Son of God (4:171), yet He is (19:17-21), etc.
In quoting the Qur'an and Hadith, we must avoid the impression that we are endorsing these writings. Consider Paul's discussion with the philosophers on Mars Hill: "...as certain also of your own poets have said" (Acts 17:28). Paul was not suggesting that these writers were inspired of God--and he went beyond them to to present the gospel. Likewise, we must be careful to go beyond what the Qur'an and Hadith say about Jesus to present the true gospel; otherwise there is no basis for salvation.
For a Muslim to become a true Christian, he must renounce Islam's false God, Allah, and its false gospel of salvation by works. Unfortunately, the gospel is being compromised to make it appealing to Muslims. (In the West, it's being made appealing to nearly everyone.) Many "converts" have never understood the gospel and thus have not believed that which is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16). The gospel is definitely not in the Qur'an. Yet Muslims are supposedly being saved by heeding it. The author of Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam(NavPress, 1997) gives the testimony of a Muslim "converted" to Christianity in Pakistan (p. 27):
As I was listening to the Qur'an read on the radio day after day, I heard that Christ was highly honored...and near-stationed to God. I said to myself, "If I wanted someone to intercede for me to God, who would be better than someone like Christ...?" And so I prayed, "Lord Isa [Jesus], please come to my help. I want to devote myself to God through you. Since you are highly honored and sitting near Him, you can do it."
The author then comments, "After that, he felt like a changed man, much happier than before...."
This is a delusion similar to that of those who say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?...and in thy name done many wonderful works?" to whom the Lord responds, "I never knew you: depart from me..." (Mt 7:21-23). Asking Islam's Isa to intercede for oneself will not save. One must believe the gospel to be saved: "[H]ow that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:1-4); "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16). That gospel is not in the Qur'an, and there is nothing in this "convert's" testimony to indicate that he knew or believed it.
The same author declares that "60 percent of Muslims who are approached with the methods explained in this book put their trust in Christ...." Yet Christ and His apostles experienced no such percentage of converts. Jesus said that few would be saved (Mt 7:13-14). The author enthusiastically refers to Muslims converted to Christ "while remaining [for years] in the fold of their Islamic community...without becoming detestable to their own communities" (p. 10). But Jesus warned His disciples, "And ye shall be hated by all men for my name's sake..." (Mt 10:22; Jn 15:20). All men, except Muslims?
We want to be wise and not needlessly offend in our presentation of the gospel
(1 Cor 10:32), whether to Muslims or anyone else to whom the Lord gives us the grace to present the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). But there is an unavoidable offense because of Christ (Mt 26:31; Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:8) and the Cross (Gal 5:11). We must be careful that we actually present the gospel, which one must believe to be saved. It will only damn souls if in our zeal to get the world to accept the gospel, we preach another gospel acceptable to the world.
Let us remember Dirk Willems, who, as Christ's representative on earth in another age, willingly embraced the Cross that his enemy might live. May we, too, minister life to Christ's enemies in our age, even as we see the followers of Allah minister death. The Cross proclaims that God is love, a love that conquers by the shedding of Christ's own precious blood for sinners:
In weakness like defeat He won the
victor's crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet by
being trodden down.
What a victory! TBC
It was the year 1569, at the height of Catholicism's Spanish Inquisition in Holland. Dirk Willems, a humble and pious follower of Jesus Christ, lay in prison awaiting a fiery death at the stake. His crime? Having been rebaptized upon confession of faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The official town records stated that the prisoner, "...persisting obstinately in his opinion...shall be executed by fire, until death...."
One day, Dirk, finding his cell momentarily unguarded, took the opportunity to escape. Across the nearby frozen lake he fled. The alarm was quickly raised, however, and a "thief catcher" was summoned to pursue the fleeing man. Hearing the crack of ice behind him, Dirk turned to see his pursuer break through into the frigid water. Pausing only a moment, he returned to rescue his enemy from certain death. In deepest gratitude, his pursuer pleaded that Dirk might be allowed to go free. His plea was denied. Dirk's date with death was upheld. Official records, preserved to our day, tell us that "...a strong east wind blowing that day, the fire was driven away from the upper part of his body...in consequence of which this good man suffered a lingering death."
Do we see some reflection in this account of Christ's own suffering for us sinners? The Scripture declares that "God is love." Love is His very nature. God's handiwork in creating the perfect environment for man showed in exquisite detail His forethought on behalf of the coming recipients of His love, culminating in His plan for man's redemption after the Fall. The sacrificial lamb prefigured the ultimate sacrifice of God's only begotten Son, when, in the dark hours of Calvary, He poured out His wrath against the dearest object of His love. From the Cross came Jesus' cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus knew the answer to that question, though its reality was so agonizing. God's Son became sin itself and thus must suffer His Father's rejection (2 Cor 5:21).
Do we dare compare Dirk Willems's act of "redemption" with that of our Savior? Should we, as Christians, take that step beyond happily rejoicing in our salvation to that of also taking the role of sacrificial lamb, as Dirk Willems did, when the opportunity arises?
Let's enter another arena, far removed from the times of the Spanish Inquisition of the sixteenth century. We have another "inquisition" arising farther east and reaching alarming proportions in our day.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, there is a total blackout on anything Christian: one cannot carry a Bible on the street or have a Bible study in the privacy of one's own home. Even in our embassy, over which the American flag flies, Christian church services are banned. It is officially the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim countries (and enforced unofficially elsewhere) for a Muslim to convert to any other religion.
Only Muslims can be citizens of Saudi Arabia. Even in Arab countries where shari'a(Islamic law) is not enforced by the government, Islam's influence prevents freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, and of conscience. In PLO territories, Christian Arabs, who once had freedom under Israel, now suffer persecution, imprisonment, and death for their faith. Yet neither the UN nor our own government protests such oppression behind the Islamic curtain. Muslims build mosques and worship freely in the West, but in their own countries they deny such freedoms to others. Instead of reporting this hypocrisy, the world media covers it up.
Islam spread rapidly under Muhammad and his successors through jihad ("holy war"). Muhammad himself planned 65 campaigns and personally led 27 involving naked aggression and treachery. This incredible "evangelism" made "converts" by the millions at the point of a sword. At its peak, Islam had conquered all of North Africa and almost took over Europe.
Islam continues its conquest worldwide. Today's invaders are millions of immigrants who make converts to Islam through misrepresentation. One sees on TV well-coifed and fashionably dressed women who claim to be converts to Islam and testify to its joys and peace-loving ways. Yet in Saudi Arabia, they would have to be veiled with only their eyes showing, would have to wear plain, dark full-length robes, could not drive a car, could be one of four wives habitually mistreated by their husband, could be divorced by mere denunciation, and would be virtual slaves under shari'a.
Islam's earnest goal, set forth in the Qur'an (references given herein are from three versions) and Hadith (Islamic written tradition), remains the same: to bring all mankind into submission (that's what "Islam" means) and to kill or enslave all "infidels" (i.e., unbelievers in Allah and Muhammad his prophet--Surah 2:190-92; 4:76; 5:33; 9:5,29,41;47:4, etc.). Islam (in obedience to the Qur'an and Muhammad's example) is the driving force behind most terrorism today. According to the Hadith, Muhammad declared, "The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them."
Many Westerners naïvely accept Allah, who inspired Muhammad, as the God of the Bible. Yet Allah has no son and rejects the Trinity (4:171), is unknowable, and was the pagan idol/god of Muhammad's tribe before he was born. Allah tells Muslims, "Take not the Jews and Christians for friends...slay the idolaters [infidels] wherever ye find them....Fight against those who...believe not in Allah nor the Last Day" (5:51; 9:5,29,41). But the triune God of the Bible wants men to know Him (Jer 9:24), a knowledge essential to salvation (Jn 17:3). Jews are His "chosen people" (Ex 6:7; Lv 20:26; 1 Chr 16:13; Ps 105:6, etc.) and Christians are His dearly beloved children (Rom 8:16,21; Gal 3:26; Eph 1:5; 5:1, etc.).
Instead of conversion by force, Christ said that His disciples did not fight because His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 8:36). Indeed, He told His disciples, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you" (Mt 5:44).
Christ gave His life to save sinners, and His followers must be willing to lay down their lives to bring this good news to the world. Biblical salvation is a free gift paid for by the death of Christ, who said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). That command includes today's one billion Muslims. They present a tremendous (and inescapable) challenge to every Christian. But how can we bring the gospel to those who may be killed for believing it, or who may kill us for offering it to them? To die fighting infidels is the only sure way for a Muslim to gain Paradise. Yet Christ also died for Muslims, and His love compels us to share the Good News.
Attempts to evangelize Muslims have had little success for obvious reasons. Lately, however, a new and seemingly more fruitful approach is being adopted: using Muslim scriptures to present Christ. The Hadith attests to the virgin birth, sinless life, and miracles of Christ, who is called "the Word of Allah." Some portions of the Qur'an, too, speak highly of Christ: that He was born of the virgin Mary (Surah 3:45-47; 21:91, etc.); He is the highest example (43:57); and He alone is called "Isa," which means Savior (3:45). Whereas Muhammad was unable to perform miracles (17:90-96; 29:50-52, etc.), Christ did so (2:252-53, 3:49); and unlike others such as Moses, who did miracles at God's command, Jesus did miracles on His own initiative (26:63 etc), even raising the dead (3:49; 5:110; 36:78-79, etc.). Further, the Qur'an declares that Muhammad was a sinner (9:43; 40:55; 47:19; 48:2; 294:1-3, etc.), but Jesus was sinless (19:17-19). The Antichrist (Dajjal) is a major topic of the Hadith, which warns of his coming. He is called the "false Christ" who will deceive many near the end of time. The Hadith teaches that Jesus will return at the end to destroy the Dajjal. Belief in "the Last Day" is an essential part of the Muslim's faith (2:62).
In spite of the honor and reverence accorded Jesus, however, the Jesus of Islam is not the Jesus of the Bible but "another Jesus" (2 Cor 11:4). While the Qur'an in its early passages honors at least parts of the Bible as "the Book" and both Jews and Christians as "the people of the Book," it often contradicts the Bible: it denies that Jesus is God (3:59, 62; 4:171) and that He died on the Cross (4:157-58; 5:116-20) for our sins. Early tradition held that at Christ's request a look-alike disciple rescued Him from the Cross by dying in His place. Other passages, however, seem to declare that Christ did indeed die (3:33,55; 5:117; 19:33), and many Islamic scholars take that view today. The Qur'an denies that one person could die for another (17:13-15; 35:18). Actually, it says that no "soul laden [i.e., sinner] bears the load [sin] of another." Since Jesus was without sin, He would have to be an exception.
For the sinner to be righteously forgiven, Christ had to pay the penalty demanded by God's justice; but that concept is foreign to Islam. The Qur'an breeds uncertainty: "Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance [and] then turn quickly [in repentance] to Allah....Lo! Allah pardoneth...all save [except] that to whom he will not..." (4:17,116). Neither "ignorance" nor "quickly" are defined nor why Allah forgives some and not others. Nor does repentance guarantee forgiveness.
In contrast, the Bible offers forgiveness to all. Christ even died to redeem those who hated Him and asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him (Lk 23:34).
In real life, Allah's forgiveness never comes in time to prevent a hand, foot, or ear from being cut off as the penalty for stealing. Hundreds of Iraqis, mutilated by this inhumane Islamic decree, flee to camps bordering that country. Yet kidnapping requires no such mutilation because a person is not considered to be property. Fornication also requires no such mutilation, while petty thievery does.
The Qur'an's contradictions of the Bible are excused by claiming that the Bible was corrupted. But the Qur'an was sent to stand "as a guardian" over the Bible (5:48); therefore, if the Bible was corrupted, the Qur'an failed. The Muslim's Holy Book itself admits that much of its text is ambiguous (3:7); Muslims are even to ask "the People of the Book [Bible]" for enlightenment (21:7)!
The Qur'an also contradicts itself. Allah created everything "in the twinkling of an eye" (54:49,50), "in two Days" (41:9,12), "in four Days" (41:10), "in six Days" (7:54;10:4,32:4), "a Day," equaling "a thousand years" (70:4); Jesus is not the Son of God (4:171), yet He is (19:17-21), etc.
In quoting the Qur'an and Hadith, we must avoid the impression that we are endorsing these writings. Consider Paul's discussion with the philosophers on Mars Hill: "...as certain also of your own poets have said" (Acts 17:28). Paul was not suggesting that these writers were inspired of God--and he went beyond them to to present the gospel. Likewise, we must be careful to go beyond what the Qur'an and Hadith say about Jesus to present the true gospel; otherwise there is no basis for salvation.
For a Muslim to become a true Christian, he must renounce Islam's false God, Allah, and its false gospel of salvation by works. Unfortunately, the gospel is being compromised to make it appealing to Muslims. (In the West, it's being made appealing to nearly everyone.) Many "converts" have never understood the gospel and thus have not believed that which is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16). The gospel is definitely not in the Qur'an. Yet Muslims are supposedly being saved by heeding it. The author of Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam(NavPress, 1997) gives the testimony of a Muslim "converted" to Christianity in Pakistan (p. 27):
As I was listening to the Qur'an read on the radio day after day, I heard that Christ was highly honored...and near-stationed to God. I said to myself, "If I wanted someone to intercede for me to God, who would be better than someone like Christ...?" And so I prayed, "Lord Isa [Jesus], please come to my help. I want to devote myself to God through you. Since you are highly honored and sitting near Him, you can do it."
The author then comments, "After that, he felt like a changed man, much happier than before...."
This is a delusion similar to that of those who say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?...and in thy name done many wonderful works?" to whom the Lord responds, "I never knew you: depart from me..." (Mt 7:21-23). Asking Islam's Isa to intercede for oneself will not save. One must believe the gospel to be saved: "[H]ow that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:1-4); "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16). That gospel is not in the Qur'an, and there is nothing in this "convert's" testimony to indicate that he knew or believed it.
The same author declares that "60 percent of Muslims who are approached with the methods explained in this book put their trust in Christ...." Yet Christ and His apostles experienced no such percentage of converts. Jesus said that few would be saved (Mt 7:13-14). The author enthusiastically refers to Muslims converted to Christ "while remaining [for years] in the fold of their Islamic community...without becoming detestable to their own communities" (p. 10). But Jesus warned His disciples, "And ye shall be hated by all men for my name's sake..." (Mt 10:22; Jn 15:20). All men, except Muslims?
We want to be wise and not needlessly offend in our presentation of the gospel
(1 Cor 10:32), whether to Muslims or anyone else to whom the Lord gives us the grace to present the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). But there is an unavoidable offense because of Christ (Mt 26:31; Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:8) and the Cross (Gal 5:11). We must be careful that we actually present the gospel, which one must believe to be saved. It will only damn souls if in our zeal to get the world to accept the gospel, we preach another gospel acceptable to the world.
Let us remember Dirk Willems, who, as Christ's representative on earth in another age, willingly embraced the Cross that his enemy might live. May we, too, minister life to Christ's enemies in our age, even as we see the followers of Allah minister death. The Cross proclaims that God is love, a love that conquers by the shedding of Christ's own precious blood for sinners:
In weakness like defeat He won the
victor's crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet by
being trodden down.
What a victory! TBC
God's work among the Jews
Among Israeli Jews, 20,000 embrace Christ
Posted on May 26, 2011 | by Ava Thomas
ISRAEL (BP)--White and blue flags rustled in the breeze, and kebabs sizzled on the grill. Ben Martin* gathered the group around and offered a prayer of thanks for the food.
"Thank You for this food. Thank You for this nation. And thank You that after 2,000 years, You haven't forsaken Israel."
He hasn't forsaken it -- in fact, Jesus Christ is at work among the Jews more than ever, Martin said.
The crowd at this Israeli Independence Day party was more diverse than one might expect for a get-together celebrating the founding of the Jewish homeland in 1948.
There were Iranian Jews. Iraqi Jews. Russian Jews. American Jews.
"The face of the Jews here isn't what you'd expect," said Martin, a Christian worker among the Jews. "Because of 'the return,' it's a very diverse group."
The return of Jews after 1948 to what is Israel today brought the Diaspora -- Jews scattered worldwide -- back from different countries and cultures. But despite differences, the work among them is expanding all the time, Martin said. Baptist work in Israel started in the 1920s in an Arab town, and the Messianic work among the nation's Jews is a growing phenomenon.
Now there are an estimated 150 Jewish congregations around Israel meeting in different languages. The number of believers is estimated to be around 20,000, growing exponentially from 1948 when 12 Jews who believed in Jesus could be counted, to 1987 when there were 3,000 and 1997 where there were 5,000.
"This is clearly the work of Jesus, because it's very hard for a Jew to become a believer," Martin said.
It's fine for non-Jews to be Christians, but many Jews feel being a Jew by birth and a Christian by belief is inherently impossible, he explained. They feel the two are mutually exclusive. "It's a lie of 2,000 years that the Messianic movement [Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah] has to fight against."
In the early years of the movement, when the Messianic Jews did street evangelism, they would often find Jews who already believed in Jesus but thought they were the only ones.
"We believe Jews are becoming more open to the Gospel all the time," Martin said.
And not just in Israel itself.
David and Cindy Bufkin* spent 21 years reaching out to the people of Argentina before they felt a strong pull to join the work God was doing among the Jews in the South American country. The couple was at the May 10 gathering, as part of the year they are spending in Israel to learn Jewish culture and Hebrew language before returning to work among Spanish-speaking Jews in Argentina.
"We wanted to be able to have the cultural foundation to connect with them and build relationships," Cindy Bufkin said. "It's a wide spectrum of culture among the Jews in Argentina, but they all have [Jewish tradition] in common. We want to be able to connect with them and lead them to the Messiah."
*Names have been changed. Ava Thomas is an International Mission Board writer/editor based in Europe.
Posted on May 26, 2011 | by Ava Thomas
ISRAEL (BP)--White and blue flags rustled in the breeze, and kebabs sizzled on the grill. Ben Martin* gathered the group around and offered a prayer of thanks for the food.
"Thank You for this food. Thank You for this nation. And thank You that after 2,000 years, You haven't forsaken Israel."
He hasn't forsaken it -- in fact, Jesus Christ is at work among the Jews more than ever, Martin said.
The crowd at this Israeli Independence Day party was more diverse than one might expect for a get-together celebrating the founding of the Jewish homeland in 1948.
There were Iranian Jews. Iraqi Jews. Russian Jews. American Jews.
"The face of the Jews here isn't what you'd expect," said Martin, a Christian worker among the Jews. "Because of 'the return,' it's a very diverse group."
The return of Jews after 1948 to what is Israel today brought the Diaspora -- Jews scattered worldwide -- back from different countries and cultures. But despite differences, the work among them is expanding all the time, Martin said. Baptist work in Israel started in the 1920s in an Arab town, and the Messianic work among the nation's Jews is a growing phenomenon.
Now there are an estimated 150 Jewish congregations around Israel meeting in different languages. The number of believers is estimated to be around 20,000, growing exponentially from 1948 when 12 Jews who believed in Jesus could be counted, to 1987 when there were 3,000 and 1997 where there were 5,000.
"This is clearly the work of Jesus, because it's very hard for a Jew to become a believer," Martin said.
It's fine for non-Jews to be Christians, but many Jews feel being a Jew by birth and a Christian by belief is inherently impossible, he explained. They feel the two are mutually exclusive. "It's a lie of 2,000 years that the Messianic movement [Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah] has to fight against."
In the early years of the movement, when the Messianic Jews did street evangelism, they would often find Jews who already believed in Jesus but thought they were the only ones.
"We believe Jews are becoming more open to the Gospel all the time," Martin said.
And not just in Israel itself.
David and Cindy Bufkin* spent 21 years reaching out to the people of Argentina before they felt a strong pull to join the work God was doing among the Jews in the South American country. The couple was at the May 10 gathering, as part of the year they are spending in Israel to learn Jewish culture and Hebrew language before returning to work among Spanish-speaking Jews in Argentina.
"We wanted to be able to have the cultural foundation to connect with them and build relationships," Cindy Bufkin said. "It's a wide spectrum of culture among the Jews in Argentina, but they all have [Jewish tradition] in common. We want to be able to connect with them and lead them to the Messiah."
*Names have been changed. Ava Thomas is an International Mission Board writer/editor based in Europe.
May 25, 2011
The Gospel of Rob Bell
IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG with ROB BELL's GOSPEL?
-by J. Lee Grady.
The popular author’s controversial book 'Love Wins' celebrates God's love but drifts dangerously into Universalism.
I'm usually quick to speak my mind. But in the case of Rob Bell's controversial book Love Wins, I've withheld comment until now because (1) I don't think Christians should judge books before reading them; (2) the theological issues addressed require careful analysis; and (3) I have many young friends who are fans of Bell's books, and they may write me off if I don't treat him fairly.
So I'll begin with a compliment. Bell is a masterful writer whose prose is poetic. As pastor of the 7,000-member Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, Bell has gained a following because of his casual style, his ultra-cool Nooma videos and the previous books he's released with Christian publisher Zondervan (especially Velvet Elvis).
With Love Wins, he's taking his message mainstream. HarperCollins published it, and Time magazine featured a cover story in April about the firestorm Bell has triggered among conservative Christian leaders who have accused him of heresy.
So what's all the fuss about?
Bell's core theme is that Christians have been too narrow in their view of God and His mercy. He argues that God loves people too much to banish them to hell. In the end, he says, after this life is over, everybody will find ultimate reconciliation in Christ. Bell claims this is what the Bible teaches, and he suggests that Christian theologians have promoted the idea for centuries.
He writes: "At the center of the Christian tradition ... have been a number who insist that history is not tragic, hell is not forever and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God."
That sounds a lot like Universalism, the idea that all spiritual pathsultimately lead to heaven. But pinning the Universalist label on Bell isn't easy because he doesn't write authoritatively. He muses, hints, speculates and suggests his views, so not to offend. Rather than preach with conviction, he invites his readers to a "conversation." It feels friendly and non-confrontational.
Near the end of the book Bell sounds solidly evangelical when he emphasizes that people must receive the grace God has offered to us. But he sounds more like Oprah when he asks: "Has God created millions of people over tens of thousands of years who are going to spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this, or even allow
this, and claim to be a loving God?"
I can appreciate Bell's desire to distance himself from the mean-spirited side of American fundamentalism. Young people today are horrified (so am I) by self-righteous, Bible-toting believers who burn Qurans or spew hatred toward immigrants or homosexuals. Bell despises the "turn or burn" attitude that has
made Christians look judgmental. He also believes we've trivialized salvation by turning conversion into a formulaic prayer, and by focusing the Christian life on the idea of "getting into heaven." I agree with him on those points.
But Bell is also guilty of trivializing salvation. He writes about an ooey-gooey God of love but leaves out God's justice and holiness. His gospel, at times, sounds squishy and spineless. You can't correct the abuses of fundamentalism by disregarding the severe side of God's nature. You can't bring balance by swinging the pendulum too far the other way.
Because of Bell's popularity, Love Wins could steer the American church into dangerous waters. You can ignore the book if you want, but you can't ignore the fact that younger Christians are turned off by certain attitudes in the church, and they need solid answers. We must address the key doctrinal issues that Bell raises:
1. The reality of hell. Bell downplays Scriptural support for the existence of hell while admitting that Jesus talked about it more than anyone in the New Testament. At times he suggests that hell is just a state of mind, or maybe a manifestation of evil on earth. He also questions whether God would send anyone to hell since He's so forgiving.
Yet when the apostle Paul preached the gospel he warned of "the judgment to come" (Acts 24:25, NASB). The essence of the gospel is that Jesus came to save us from eternal separation from God. Don't we still believe this?
2. The exclusivity of Christianity. Bell makes a strong case that Jesus died to reconcile all people to God, but then he suggests that not everyone will realize it was Jesus they were praying to. The inference is that Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists will show up in heaven since they were responding to a divine impulse they didn't understand.
If that's true, why did Jesus Himself say the road to salvation was exclusively narrow and the road to destruction was wide? (see Matt. 7:13-14). Why did He command us to take the message of salvation to the nations? Why did the early apostles preach that salvation was only in His name? Were they narrow-minded
fundamentalists too?
3. The necessity of evangelism. Bell comes close to ridiculing Christians who share their faith, and he wonders if it's really necessary for missionaries to share the gospel abroad. He asks: "If our salvation... is dependent on others bringing the message to us--teaching us, showing us--what happens if they don't do their part? What if the missionary gets a flat tire?"
I'm sure Bell gets laughs when he repeats that line in a sermon. But it's really not funny. He's suggesting that there's no urgency about preaching the gospel, and that lives aren't at stake when we ignore our responsibility to evangelize. Tell that to the apostle Paul, who wasn't laughing when he said he felt an overwhelming obligation to preach so he could save sinners (see Rom. 1:14).
Bell says he asked Jesus into his heart when he was a child, so I'm treating him as a brother in Christ. I'm not picking a fight with him. But I can't endorse Love Wins. The doctrines of heaven, hell, salvation and damnation are too serious to be treated haphazardly. May the Lord help us to reclaim a truly New Testament gospel in an hour of spiritual compromise.
-by J. Lee Grady.
The popular author’s controversial book 'Love Wins' celebrates God's love but drifts dangerously into Universalism.
I'm usually quick to speak my mind. But in the case of Rob Bell's controversial book Love Wins, I've withheld comment until now because (1) I don't think Christians should judge books before reading them; (2) the theological issues addressed require careful analysis; and (3) I have many young friends who are fans of Bell's books, and they may write me off if I don't treat him fairly.
So I'll begin with a compliment. Bell is a masterful writer whose prose is poetic. As pastor of the 7,000-member Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, Bell has gained a following because of his casual style, his ultra-cool Nooma videos and the previous books he's released with Christian publisher Zondervan (especially Velvet Elvis).
With Love Wins, he's taking his message mainstream. HarperCollins published it, and Time magazine featured a cover story in April about the firestorm Bell has triggered among conservative Christian leaders who have accused him of heresy.
So what's all the fuss about?
Bell's core theme is that Christians have been too narrow in their view of God and His mercy. He argues that God loves people too much to banish them to hell. In the end, he says, after this life is over, everybody will find ultimate reconciliation in Christ. Bell claims this is what the Bible teaches, and he suggests that Christian theologians have promoted the idea for centuries.
He writes: "At the center of the Christian tradition ... have been a number who insist that history is not tragic, hell is not forever and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God."
That sounds a lot like Universalism, the idea that all spiritual pathsultimately lead to heaven. But pinning the Universalist label on Bell isn't easy because he doesn't write authoritatively. He muses, hints, speculates and suggests his views, so not to offend. Rather than preach with conviction, he invites his readers to a "conversation." It feels friendly and non-confrontational.
Near the end of the book Bell sounds solidly evangelical when he emphasizes that people must receive the grace God has offered to us. But he sounds more like Oprah when he asks: "Has God created millions of people over tens of thousands of years who are going to spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this, or even allow
this, and claim to be a loving God?"
I can appreciate Bell's desire to distance himself from the mean-spirited side of American fundamentalism. Young people today are horrified (so am I) by self-righteous, Bible-toting believers who burn Qurans or spew hatred toward immigrants or homosexuals. Bell despises the "turn or burn" attitude that has
made Christians look judgmental. He also believes we've trivialized salvation by turning conversion into a formulaic prayer, and by focusing the Christian life on the idea of "getting into heaven." I agree with him on those points.
But Bell is also guilty of trivializing salvation. He writes about an ooey-gooey God of love but leaves out God's justice and holiness. His gospel, at times, sounds squishy and spineless. You can't correct the abuses of fundamentalism by disregarding the severe side of God's nature. You can't bring balance by swinging the pendulum too far the other way.
Because of Bell's popularity, Love Wins could steer the American church into dangerous waters. You can ignore the book if you want, but you can't ignore the fact that younger Christians are turned off by certain attitudes in the church, and they need solid answers. We must address the key doctrinal issues that Bell raises:
1. The reality of hell. Bell downplays Scriptural support for the existence of hell while admitting that Jesus talked about it more than anyone in the New Testament. At times he suggests that hell is just a state of mind, or maybe a manifestation of evil on earth. He also questions whether God would send anyone to hell since He's so forgiving.
Yet when the apostle Paul preached the gospel he warned of "the judgment to come" (Acts 24:25, NASB). The essence of the gospel is that Jesus came to save us from eternal separation from God. Don't we still believe this?
2. The exclusivity of Christianity. Bell makes a strong case that Jesus died to reconcile all people to God, but then he suggests that not everyone will realize it was Jesus they were praying to. The inference is that Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists will show up in heaven since they were responding to a divine impulse they didn't understand.
If that's true, why did Jesus Himself say the road to salvation was exclusively narrow and the road to destruction was wide? (see Matt. 7:13-14). Why did He command us to take the message of salvation to the nations? Why did the early apostles preach that salvation was only in His name? Were they narrow-minded
fundamentalists too?
3. The necessity of evangelism. Bell comes close to ridiculing Christians who share their faith, and he wonders if it's really necessary for missionaries to share the gospel abroad. He asks: "If our salvation... is dependent on others bringing the message to us--teaching us, showing us--what happens if they don't do their part? What if the missionary gets a flat tire?"
I'm sure Bell gets laughs when he repeats that line in a sermon. But it's really not funny. He's suggesting that there's no urgency about preaching the gospel, and that lives aren't at stake when we ignore our responsibility to evangelize. Tell that to the apostle Paul, who wasn't laughing when he said he felt an overwhelming obligation to preach so he could save sinners (see Rom. 1:14).
Bell says he asked Jesus into his heart when he was a child, so I'm treating him as a brother in Christ. I'm not picking a fight with him. But I can't endorse Love Wins. The doctrines of heaven, hell, salvation and damnation are too serious to be treated haphazardly. May the Lord help us to reclaim a truly New Testament gospel in an hour of spiritual compromise.
May 20, 2011
May 14, 2011
Persecution every Christian's Lot
Below is a sobering but timely message for today. As the Church falls more deeply into lukewarmness and compromise, and as it is becoming increasingly UN-popular to be a true Christian and take an uncompromising stand for the Word of God, we need to take these wise words of our brother to heart.
It's also a very good time to remind ourselves of this crucial admonition from the Lord...
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Mt. 7:13,14)
Keep fighting the GOOD fight saints!
Persecution every Christian's Lot
by George Whitefield (1714-1770)
2 Timothy 3:12, "Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
When our Lord was pleased to take upon himself the form of a servant, and to go about preaching the kingdom of God; he took all opportunities in public, and more especially in private, to caution his disciples against seeking great things for themselves, and also to forewarn them of the many distresses, afflictions and persecutions, which they must expect to endure for his name's sake. The great apostle Paul therefore, the author of this epistle, in this, as in all other things, following the steps of his blessed Master, takes particular care, among other apostolical admonitions, to warn young Timothy of the difficulties he must expect to meet with in the course of his ministry: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, as Jannes and Jambres (two of the Egyptian magicians) withstood Moses (by working sham miracles) so do they also resist the truth; and (notwithstanding they keep up the form of religion) are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith." But, in order to keep him from sinking under their opposition, he tells him, that though God, for wise ends, permitted these false teachers, as he did the magicians, to oppose for some time, yet they should now proceed no farther: "For their folly (says he) shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs (the Magicians) also was," when they could not stand before Moses because of the boil; for the boil was upon the Magicians, as well as upon all the Egyptians. And then, to encourage Timothy yet the more, he propounds to him his own example; "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me." And then, lest Timothy might think that this was only the particular case of Paul, says he, in the words of the text, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
The words, without considering them as they stand in relation to the context, contain an important truth, that persecution is the common lot of every godly man. This is a hard saying, How few can bear it? I trust God, in the following discourse, will enable me to make it good, by showing,
I. What it is to live godly in Christ Jesus.
II. The different kinds of persecution to which they, who live godly, are exposed.
III. Why it is, that godly men must expect to suffer persecution.
LASTLY, We shall apply the whole.
I. FIRST, Let us consider what it is to live godly in Christ Jesus. This supposes, that we are made the righteousness of God in Christ, that we are born again, and are one with Christ by a living faith, and a vital union, even as Jesus Christ and the Father are One. Unless we are thus converted, and transformed by the renewing of our minds, we cannot properly be said to be in Christ, much less to live godly in him. To be in Christ merely by baptism, and an outward profession, is not to be in Him in the strict sense of the word: no; "They that are in Christ, are new creatures; old things are passed away, and all things are become new" in their hearts. Their life is hid with Christ in God; their souls daily feed on the invisible realities of another world. To "live godly in Christ," is to make the divine will, and not our own, the sole principle of all our thoughts, words, and actions; so that, "whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God." Those who live godly in Christ, may not so much be said to live, as Christ to live in them: He is their Alpha and Omega, their first and last, their beginning and end. They are led by his Spirit, as a child is led by the hand of its father; and are willing to follow the Lamb withersoever he leads them. They hear, know, and obey his voice. Their affections are set on things above; their hopes are full of immortality; their citizenship is in heaven. Being born again of God, they habitually live to, and daily walk with, God. They are pure in heart; and, from a principle of faith in Christ, are holy in all manner of conversation and godliness.
This is to "live godly in Christ Jesus:" and hence we may easily learn, why so few suffer persecution? Because, so few live godly in Christ Jesus. You may live formally in Christ, you may attend on outward duties; you may live morally in Christ, you may (as they term it) do no one an harm, and avoid persecution: but they "that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
2. SECONDLY, What is the meaning of the word Persecution, and how many kinds there are of it, I come now to consider.
The word Persecution, is derived from a Greek word signifying to pursue, and generally implies pursuing a person for the sake of his goodness, or God's good-will to him. The
FIRST kind of it, is that of the HEART. We have an early example of this in the wicked one Cain, who, because the Lord had respect to Abel and his offering, and not to him and his offering, was very wroth, his countenance fell, and at length he cruelly slew his envied brother. Thus the Pharisees hated and persecuted our Lord long before they laid hold on him: and our Lord mentions being inwardly hated of men, as one kind of Persecution his disciples were to undergo. This heart-enmity (if I may so term it) is the root of all other kinds of Persecution, and is, in some degree or other, to be found in the soul of every unregenerated man; and numbers are guilty of this persecution, who never have it in their power to persecute any other way. Nay, numbers would actually put in practice all other degrees of persecution, was not the name of Persecution become odious amongst mankind, and did they not hereby run the hazard of losing their reputation. Alas! how many at the great day, whom we know not now, will be convicted and condemned, that all their life harbored a secret evil-will against Zion! They may now screen it before men; but God seeth the enmity of their hearts, and will judge them as Persecutors at the great and terrible day of judgment.
SECOND degree of Persecution is that of the tongue; "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Many, I suppose, think it no harm to shoot out arrows, even bitter words, against the disciples of the Lord: they scatter their firebrands, arrows and death, saying, "Are we not in sport?" But, however they may esteem it, in God's account evil-speaking is a high degree of Persecution. Thus Ishmael's mocking Isaac, is termed persecuting him. "Blessed are ye (says out Lord) when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake." From whence we may gather, that reviling, and speaking all manner of evil for Christ's sake, is a high degree of persecution. For "a good name, *says the wise man) is better than precious ointment," and, to many, is dearer than life itself. It is a great breach of the sixth commandment, to slander any one; but to speak evil of and slander the disciples of Christ, merely because they are his disciples, must be highly provoking in the sight of God; and such who are guilty of it (without repentance) will find that Jesus Christ will call them to an account, and punish them for all their ungodly and hard speeches in a lake of fire and brimstone. This shall be their portion to drink. The
THIRD and LAST kind of Persecution, is that which expresses itself in ACTIONS: as when wicked men separate the children of God from their company; "Blessed are ye, (says our Lord) when they shall separate you from their company:" or expose them to church-censures. "They shall put you out of their synagogues;" threatening and prohibiting them from making an open profession of his religion or worship; or interdicting ministers for preaching his word, as the high-priests threatened the apostles, and "forbad them any more to speak in the name of Jesus;" and Paul breathed out threatenings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord: or when they call them into courts; "You shall be called before governors," says our Lord: or when they fine, imprison, or punish them, by confiscation of goods, cruel scourging, and, lastly, death itself.
It would be impossible to enumerate in what various shapes persecution has appeared. It is a many-headed monster, cruel as the grave, insatiable as hell; and, what is worse, it generally appears under the cloak of religion. But, cruel, insatiable, and horrid as it is, they that live godly in Christ Jesus, must expect to suffer and encounter with it in all its forms.
This is what we are to make good under our next general head.
3. THIRDLY, Why is it that godly men must expect to suffer persecution? And,
FIRST, This appears from the whole tenor of our Lord's doctrine. We will begin with his divine sermon on the mount. "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." So that, if our Lord spoke truth, we are not so blessed as to have an interest in the kingdom of heaven, unless we are or have been persecuted for righteousness sake. Nay, our Lord (it is remarkable) employs three verses in this beatitude, and only one in each of the others; not only to show that it was a thing which men (as men) are unwilling to believe, but also the necessary consequence of it upon our being Christians. This is likewise evident from all those passages, wherein our Lord informs us, that he came upon the earth, "not to send peace, but a sword;" and that the father-in- law should be against the mother-in-law, and a man's foes should be those of his own household. Passages, which though confined by false prophets to the first, I am persuaded will be verified by the experience of all true Christians in this, and every age of the church. It would be endless to recount all the places, wherein our Lord forewarns his disciples, that they should be called before rulers, and thrust out of synagogues, nay, that the time would come, wherein men should think they did God service to kill them. For this reason he so frequently declared, that "unless a man forsake all that he had, and even hated life itself, he could not be his disciple." And therefore it is worthy our observation, that in the remarkable passage, wherein our Lord makes such an extensive promise to those who left all for him, he cautiously inserts persecution. "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time; houses and brethren, and sisters and mothers, and children and lands, with persecutions; (the word is in the plural number, including all kinds of persecution) and in the world to come eternal life." He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what Christ says in all these passages, and then confess, that all who will godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
As this is proved from our Lord's doctrine, so it is no less evident from his life. Follow him from the manger to the cross, and see whether any persecution was like that which the Son of God, the Lord of glory, underwent whilst here on earth. How was he hated by wicked men? How often would that hatred have excited them to lay hold of him, had it not been for fear of the people? How was he reviled, counted and called a Blasphemer, a Wine-bibber, a Samaritan, nay, a Devil, and, in one word, had all manner of evil spoken against him falsely? What contradiction of sinners did he endure against himself? How did men separate from his company, and were ashamed to walk with him openly? Insomuch that he once said to his own disciples, "Will you also go away?" Again, How was he stoned, thrust out of the synagogues, arraigned as a deceiver of the people, a seditious and pestilent fellow, an enemy of Caesar, and as such scourged, blind-folded, spit upon, and at length condemned, and nailed to an accursed tree? Thus was the Master persecuted, thus did the Lord suffer; and the servant is not above his Master, nor the disciple above his Lord: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you," says the blessed Jesus. And again, "Every man that is perfect (a true Christian) must be as his Master," or suffer as he did. For in all these things our Lord has set us an example, that we should follow his steps: and therefore, far be it that any, who live godly in Christ Jesus, should henceforward expect to escape suffering persecution.
But farther: not only our Lord's example, but the example of all the saints that ever lived, evidently demonstrates the truth of the apostle's assertion in the text. How soon was Abel made a martyr for his religion? How was Isaac mocked by the son of the bond-woman? And what a large catalogue of suffering Old Testament saints, have we recorded in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews! Read the Acts of the Apostles, and see how the first Christians were threatened, stoned, imprisoned, scourged, and persecuted even unto death. Examine Church History in after-ages, and you will find the murder of the innocents by Herod, was but an earnest of the innocent blood which should be shed for the sake of Jesus. Examine the experience of saints now living on earth; and, if it were possible to consult the spirits of just men made perfect, I am persuaded each would concur with the apostle in asserting, that "all who will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
How can it be otherwise in the very nature of things? Ever since the fall, there has been a irreconcilable enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Wicked men hat God, and therefore cannot but hate those who are like him: they hate to be reformed, and therefore must hate and persecute those, who, by a contrary behavior, testify of them, that their deeds are evil. Besides, pride of heart leads men to persecute the servants of Jesus Christ. If they commend them, they are afraid of being asked, Why do not you follow them? And therefore because they dare not imitate, though they may sometimes be even forced to approve their way, yet pride and envy make them turn persecutors. Hence it is, that as it was formerly, so it is now, and so will it be to the end of time; "He that is born after the flesh, (the natural man, does and) will persecute him that is born after the Spirit," the regenerate man. Because Christians are not of the world, but Christ hath chosen them out of the world, therefore the world will hate them. If it be objected against this doctrine, that we now live in a Christian world, and therefore must not expect such persecution as formerly; I answer, All are not Christians that are called so; and, till the heart is changed, the enmity against God (which is the root of all persecution) remains: and consequently Christians, falsely so called, will persecute as well as others. I observed therefore, in the beginning of this discourse, that Paul mentions those that had a form of religion, as persons of whom Timothy had need be chiefly aware: for, as our Lord and his apostles were mostly persecuted by their countrymen the Jews, so we must expect the like usage from the Formalists of our own nation, the Pharisees, who seem to be religious. The most horrid and barbarous persecutions have been carried on by those who have called themselves Christians; witness the days of queen Mary; and the fines, banishments and imprisonments of the children of God in the last century, and the bitter, irreconcilable hatred that appears in thousands who call themselves Christians, even in the present days wherein we live.
Persons, who argue against persecution, are not sufficiently sensible of the bitter enmity of the heart of every unregenerate man against God. For my own part, I am so far from wondering that Christians are persecuted, that I wonder our streets do not run with the blood of the saints: was mens power equal to their wills, such a horrid spectacle would soon appear. But,
Persecution is necessary in respect to the godly themselves. If we have not all manner of evil spoken of us, how can we know whether we seek only that honor which cometh from above? If we have no persecutors, how can our passive graces be kept in exercise? How can many Christian precepts be put into practice? How can we love; pray for; and do good to; those who despitefully use us? How can we overcome evil with good? In short, how can we know we love God better than life itself? Paul was sensible of all this, and therefore so positively and peremptorily asserts, that "all who live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
Not that I affirm, all are persecuted in a like degree. No: this would be contrary both to scripture and experience. But though all Christians are not really called to suffer every kind of persecution, yet all Christians are liable thereto: and notwithstanding some may live in more peaceful times of the church than others, yet all Christians, in all ages, will find by their own experience, that, whether they act in a private or public capacity, they must, in some degree or other, suffer persecution.
Here then I would pause, and, LASTLY, by way of application, exhort all persons,
FIRST, To stand a while and examine themselves. For, by what has been said, you may gather one mark, whereby you may judge whether you are Christians or not. Were you ever persecuted for righteousness sake? If not, you never yet lived godly in Christ our Lord. Whatever you may say to the contrary, the inspired apostle, in the words of the text (the truth of which, I think, I have sufficiently proved) positively asserts, that all who will live godly in Him, shall suffer persecution. Not that all who are persecuted are real Christians; for many sometimes suffer, and are persecuted, on other accounts than for righteousness sake. The great question therefore is, Whether you were ever persecuted for living godly? You may boast of your great prudence and sagacity (and indeed these are excellent things) and glory because you have not run such lengths, and made yourselves so singular, and liable to such contempt, as some others have. But, alas! this is not a mark of your being of a Christian, but of a Laodicean spirit, neither how nor cold, and sit only to be spewed out of the mouth of God. That which you call prudence, is often, only cowardice, dreadful hypocrisy, pride of heart, which makes you dread contempt, and afraid to give up your reputation for God. You are ashamed of Christ and his gospel; and in all probability, was he to appear a second time upon earth, in words, as well as works, you would deny him. Awake therefore, all ye that live only formally in Christ Jesus, and no longer seek that honor which cometh of man. I do not desire to court you, but I entreat you to live godly, and fear not contempt for the sake of Jesus Christ. Beg of God to give you his Holy Spirit, that you may see through, and discover the latent hypocrisy of your hearts, and no longer deceive your own souls. Remember you cannot reconcile two irreconcilable differences, God and Mammon, the friendship of this world with the favor of God. Know you not who hath told you, that "the friendship of this world is enmity with God?" If therefore you are in friendship with the world, notwithstanding all your specious pretenses to piety, you are at enmity with God: you are only heart-hypocrites; and, "What is the hope of the hypocrite, when God shall take away his soul?" Let the words of the text sound an alarm in your ears; O let them sink deep into your hearts; "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
SECONDLY, From the words of the text, I would take occasion to speak to those, who are about to list themselves under the banner of Christ's cross. What say you? Are you resolved to live godly in Christ Jesus, notwithstanding the consequence will be, that you must suffer persecution? You are beginning to build; but have you taken our Lord's advice, to "sit down first and count the cost?" Have you well weighed with yourselves that weighty declaration, "He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me;" and again, "Unless a man forsake all that he hath he cannot be my disciple?" Perhaps some of you have great possessions; will not you go away sorrowful, if Christ should require you to sell all that you have! Others of you again may be kinsmen, or some way related, or under obligations, to the high-priests, or other great personages, who may be persecuting the church of Christ: What say you? Will you, with Moses, "rather choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season?" Perhaps you may say, my friends will not oppose me. That is more than you know: in all probability your chief enemies will be those of your own household. If therefore they should oppose you, are you willing naked to follow a naked Christ? And to wander about in sheep-skins and goats-skins, in dens and caves of the earth; being afflicted, destitute, tormented, rather than not be Christ's disciples? You are now all following with zeal, as Ruth and Orpah did Naomi, and may weep under the word; but are not your tears crocodiles tears? And, when difficulties come, will you not go back form following your Lord, as Orpah departed form following Naomi? Have you really the root of grace in your hearts? Or, are you only stony-ground hearers? You receive the word with joy; but, when persecution arises because of the word, will you not be immediately offended? Be not angry with me for putting these questions to you. I am jealous over you, but it is with a godly jealousy: for, alas! how many have put their hands to the plough, and afterwards have shamefully looked back? I only deal with you, as our Lord did with the person that said, "Lord, I will follow thee withersoever thou wilt. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man, (says he) hath not where to lay his head." What say you? Are you willing to endure hardness, and thereby approve yourselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ? You now come on foot out of the towns and villages to hear the word, and receive me as a messenger of God: but will you not by and by cry out, Away with him, away with him; it is not fit such a fellow should live upon the earth? Perhaps some of you, like Hazael, may say, "Are we dogs, that we should do this?" But, alas! I have met with many unhappy souls, who have drawn back unto perdition, and have afterwards accounted me their enemy, for dealing faithfully with them; though once, if it were possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes, and have given them unto me. Sit down therefore, I beseech you, and seriously count the cost, and ask yourselves again and again, whether you count all things but dung and dross, and are willing to suffer the loss of all things, so that you may win Christ, and be found in him: for you may assure yourselves, the apostle hath not spoken in vain, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
THIRDLY, The text speaks to you that are patiently suffering for the truth's sake: "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; great shall be your reward in heaven." For to you it is given, not only to believe, but also to suffer, and perhaps remarkably too, for the sake of Jesus! This is a mark of your discipleship, an evidence that you do live godly in Christ Jesus. Fear not, therefore, neither be dismayed. O be not weary and faint in your minds! Jesus, your Lord, your life, cometh, and his reward is with him. Though all men forsake you, yet will not he: no; the Spirit of Christ and of glory shall rest upon you. In patience therefore possess your souls. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Be in nothing terrified by your adversaries: on their part Christ is evil spoken of; on your part his is glorified. Be not ashamed of your glory, since others can glory in their shame. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, wherewith you are or may be tried. The Devil rages, knowing that he hath but a short time to reign. He or his emissaries have no more power than what is given them from above: God sets them their bounds, which they cannot pass; and the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; no one shall set upon you to hurt you, without your heavenly Father's knowledge. Do your earthly friends and parents forsake you? Are you cast out of the synagogues? The Lord shall reveal himself to you, as to the man that was born blind. Jesus Christ shall take you up. If they carry you to prison, and load you with chains, so that the iron enter into your souls, even there shall Christ send an angel from heaven to strengthen you, and enable you, with Paul and Silas, to "sing praises at midnight." Are you threatened to be thrown into a den of lions, or cast into a burning fiery furnace, because you will not bow down and worship the beast? Fear not; the God, whom you serve, is able to deliver you: or, if he should suffer the flames to devour your bodies, they would only serve, as so many fiery chariots, to carry your souls to God. Thus it was with the martyrs of old; so that once, when he was burning, cried out, "Come, you Papists, if you want a miracle, here, behold one! This bed of flames is to me a bed of down." Thus it was with almost all that suffered in former times: for Jesus, notwithstanding he withdrew his own divinity from himself, yet has always lifted up the light of his countenance upon the souls of suffering saints. "Fear not therefore those that can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but fear Him only, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Dare, dare to live godly in Christ Jesus, though you suffer all manner of persecution. But,
FOURTHLY, Are there any true ministers of Jesus Christ here? You will not be offended if I tell you, that the words of the text are, in an especial manner, applicable to you. Paul wrote them to Timothy; and we, of all men, that live godly in Christ Jesus, must expect to suffer the severest persecution. Satan will endeavor to bruise our heels, let who will escape: and it has been the general way of God's providence, in times of persecution, to permit the shepherds first to be smitten, before the sheep are scattered. Let us not therefore show that we are only hirelings, who care not for the sheep; but, like the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, let us readily lay down our lives for the sheep. Whilst others are boasting of their great perferments, let us rather glory in our great afflictions and persecutions for the sake of Christ. Paul rejoiced that he suffered afflictions and persecutions at Iconium and Lystra: out of all, the Lord delivered him; out of all, the Lord will deliver us, and cause us hereafter to sit down with him on thrones, when he comes to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
I could proceed; but I am conscious, in this part of my discourse, I ought more particularly to speak to myself, knowing that Satan has desired to have me, that he may sift me as wheat. Without a spirit of prophecy, we may easily discern the signs of the times. Persecutions even at the doors: the tabernacle of the Lord is already driven into the wilderness: the ark of the Lord is fallen into the unhallowed hands of uncircumcised Philistines. They have long since put us out of their synagogues, and high- priests have been calling on civil magistrates to exert their authority against the disciples of the Lord. Men in power have been breathing out threatenings: we may easily guess what will follow, imprisonment and slaughter. The storm has been gathering some time; it must break shortly. Perhaps it may fall on me first.
Brethren therefore, whether in the ministry or not, I beseech you, "pray for me," that I may never suffer justly, as an evil-doer, but only for righteousness sake. O pray that I may not deny my Lord in any wise, but that I may joyfully follow him, both to prison and to death, if he is pleased to call me to seal his truths with my blood. Be not ashamed of Christ, or of his gospel, though I should become a prisoner of the Lord. Though I am bound, the word of God will not be bound: no; an open, an effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting gospel, and men or devils shall never be able to prevail against it. Only pray, that, whether it be in life or death, Christ may be glorified in me: then I shall rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
And now, to whom shall I address myself next?
FIFTHLY, To those, who persecute their neighbors for living godly in Christ Jesus. But, what shall I say to you? Howl and weep for the miseries that shall come upon you; for a little while the Lord permits you to ride over the heads of his people; but, by and by, death will arrest you, judgment will find you, and Jesus Christ shall put a question to you, which will strike you dumb, WHY PERSECUTED YOU ME? You may plead your laws and your canons, and pretend what you do is out of zeal for God; but God shall discover the cursed hypocrisy and serpentine enmity of your hearts, and give you over to the tormentors. It is well, if in this life God does not send some mark upon you. He pleaded the cause of Naboth, when innocently condemned for blaspheming God and the king; and our Lord sent forth his armies, and destroyed the city of those who killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them. If you have a mind therefore to fill up the measure of your iniquities, go on, persecute and despise the disciples of the Lord: but know, "that for all these things, God shall bring you to judgment." Nay, those you now persecute, shall be in part your judges, and sit on the right-hand of the Majesty on high, whilst you are dragged by infernal spirits into a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of your torment shall be ascending up for ever and ever. Lay down therefore, ye rebels, your arms against the most high God, and no longer persecute those who live godly in Christ Jesus. The Lord will plead, the Lord will avenge, their cause. You may be permitted to bruise their heels, yet in the end they shall bruise your accursed heads. I speak not this, as though I were afraid of you; for I know in whom I have believed: only out of pure love I warn you, and because I know not but Jesus Christ may make some of you vessels of mercy, and snatch you, even you persecutors, as fire-brands out of the fire. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even persecutors, the worst of sinners: his righteousness is sufficient for them; his Spirit is able to purify and change their hearts. He once converted Saul: may the same God magnify his power, in converting all those who are causing the godly in Christ Jesus, as much as in them lies, to suffer persecution! The Lord be with you all. Amen.
It's also a very good time to remind ourselves of this crucial admonition from the Lord...
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Mt. 7:13,14)
Keep fighting the GOOD fight saints!
Persecution every Christian's Lot
by George Whitefield (1714-1770)
2 Timothy 3:12, "Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
When our Lord was pleased to take upon himself the form of a servant, and to go about preaching the kingdom of God; he took all opportunities in public, and more especially in private, to caution his disciples against seeking great things for themselves, and also to forewarn them of the many distresses, afflictions and persecutions, which they must expect to endure for his name's sake. The great apostle Paul therefore, the author of this epistle, in this, as in all other things, following the steps of his blessed Master, takes particular care, among other apostolical admonitions, to warn young Timothy of the difficulties he must expect to meet with in the course of his ministry: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, as Jannes and Jambres (two of the Egyptian magicians) withstood Moses (by working sham miracles) so do they also resist the truth; and (notwithstanding they keep up the form of religion) are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith." But, in order to keep him from sinking under their opposition, he tells him, that though God, for wise ends, permitted these false teachers, as he did the magicians, to oppose for some time, yet they should now proceed no farther: "For their folly (says he) shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs (the Magicians) also was," when they could not stand before Moses because of the boil; for the boil was upon the Magicians, as well as upon all the Egyptians. And then, to encourage Timothy yet the more, he propounds to him his own example; "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me." And then, lest Timothy might think that this was only the particular case of Paul, says he, in the words of the text, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
The words, without considering them as they stand in relation to the context, contain an important truth, that persecution is the common lot of every godly man. This is a hard saying, How few can bear it? I trust God, in the following discourse, will enable me to make it good, by showing,
I. What it is to live godly in Christ Jesus.
II. The different kinds of persecution to which they, who live godly, are exposed.
III. Why it is, that godly men must expect to suffer persecution.
LASTLY, We shall apply the whole.
I. FIRST, Let us consider what it is to live godly in Christ Jesus. This supposes, that we are made the righteousness of God in Christ, that we are born again, and are one with Christ by a living faith, and a vital union, even as Jesus Christ and the Father are One. Unless we are thus converted, and transformed by the renewing of our minds, we cannot properly be said to be in Christ, much less to live godly in him. To be in Christ merely by baptism, and an outward profession, is not to be in Him in the strict sense of the word: no; "They that are in Christ, are new creatures; old things are passed away, and all things are become new" in their hearts. Their life is hid with Christ in God; their souls daily feed on the invisible realities of another world. To "live godly in Christ," is to make the divine will, and not our own, the sole principle of all our thoughts, words, and actions; so that, "whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God." Those who live godly in Christ, may not so much be said to live, as Christ to live in them: He is their Alpha and Omega, their first and last, their beginning and end. They are led by his Spirit, as a child is led by the hand of its father; and are willing to follow the Lamb withersoever he leads them. They hear, know, and obey his voice. Their affections are set on things above; their hopes are full of immortality; their citizenship is in heaven. Being born again of God, they habitually live to, and daily walk with, God. They are pure in heart; and, from a principle of faith in Christ, are holy in all manner of conversation and godliness.
This is to "live godly in Christ Jesus:" and hence we may easily learn, why so few suffer persecution? Because, so few live godly in Christ Jesus. You may live formally in Christ, you may attend on outward duties; you may live morally in Christ, you may (as they term it) do no one an harm, and avoid persecution: but they "that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
2. SECONDLY, What is the meaning of the word Persecution, and how many kinds there are of it, I come now to consider.
The word Persecution, is derived from a Greek word signifying to pursue, and generally implies pursuing a person for the sake of his goodness, or God's good-will to him. The
FIRST kind of it, is that of the HEART. We have an early example of this in the wicked one Cain, who, because the Lord had respect to Abel and his offering, and not to him and his offering, was very wroth, his countenance fell, and at length he cruelly slew his envied brother. Thus the Pharisees hated and persecuted our Lord long before they laid hold on him: and our Lord mentions being inwardly hated of men, as one kind of Persecution his disciples were to undergo. This heart-enmity (if I may so term it) is the root of all other kinds of Persecution, and is, in some degree or other, to be found in the soul of every unregenerated man; and numbers are guilty of this persecution, who never have it in their power to persecute any other way. Nay, numbers would actually put in practice all other degrees of persecution, was not the name of Persecution become odious amongst mankind, and did they not hereby run the hazard of losing their reputation. Alas! how many at the great day, whom we know not now, will be convicted and condemned, that all their life harbored a secret evil-will against Zion! They may now screen it before men; but God seeth the enmity of their hearts, and will judge them as Persecutors at the great and terrible day of judgment.
SECOND degree of Persecution is that of the tongue; "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Many, I suppose, think it no harm to shoot out arrows, even bitter words, against the disciples of the Lord: they scatter their firebrands, arrows and death, saying, "Are we not in sport?" But, however they may esteem it, in God's account evil-speaking is a high degree of Persecution. Thus Ishmael's mocking Isaac, is termed persecuting him. "Blessed are ye (says out Lord) when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake." From whence we may gather, that reviling, and speaking all manner of evil for Christ's sake, is a high degree of persecution. For "a good name, *says the wise man) is better than precious ointment," and, to many, is dearer than life itself. It is a great breach of the sixth commandment, to slander any one; but to speak evil of and slander the disciples of Christ, merely because they are his disciples, must be highly provoking in the sight of God; and such who are guilty of it (without repentance) will find that Jesus Christ will call them to an account, and punish them for all their ungodly and hard speeches in a lake of fire and brimstone. This shall be their portion to drink. The
THIRD and LAST kind of Persecution, is that which expresses itself in ACTIONS: as when wicked men separate the children of God from their company; "Blessed are ye, (says our Lord) when they shall separate you from their company:" or expose them to church-censures. "They shall put you out of their synagogues;" threatening and prohibiting them from making an open profession of his religion or worship; or interdicting ministers for preaching his word, as the high-priests threatened the apostles, and "forbad them any more to speak in the name of Jesus;" and Paul breathed out threatenings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord: or when they call them into courts; "You shall be called before governors," says our Lord: or when they fine, imprison, or punish them, by confiscation of goods, cruel scourging, and, lastly, death itself.
It would be impossible to enumerate in what various shapes persecution has appeared. It is a many-headed monster, cruel as the grave, insatiable as hell; and, what is worse, it generally appears under the cloak of religion. But, cruel, insatiable, and horrid as it is, they that live godly in Christ Jesus, must expect to suffer and encounter with it in all its forms.
This is what we are to make good under our next general head.
3. THIRDLY, Why is it that godly men must expect to suffer persecution? And,
FIRST, This appears from the whole tenor of our Lord's doctrine. We will begin with his divine sermon on the mount. "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." So that, if our Lord spoke truth, we are not so blessed as to have an interest in the kingdom of heaven, unless we are or have been persecuted for righteousness sake. Nay, our Lord (it is remarkable) employs three verses in this beatitude, and only one in each of the others; not only to show that it was a thing which men (as men) are unwilling to believe, but also the necessary consequence of it upon our being Christians. This is likewise evident from all those passages, wherein our Lord informs us, that he came upon the earth, "not to send peace, but a sword;" and that the father-in- law should be against the mother-in-law, and a man's foes should be those of his own household. Passages, which though confined by false prophets to the first, I am persuaded will be verified by the experience of all true Christians in this, and every age of the church. It would be endless to recount all the places, wherein our Lord forewarns his disciples, that they should be called before rulers, and thrust out of synagogues, nay, that the time would come, wherein men should think they did God service to kill them. For this reason he so frequently declared, that "unless a man forsake all that he had, and even hated life itself, he could not be his disciple." And therefore it is worthy our observation, that in the remarkable passage, wherein our Lord makes such an extensive promise to those who left all for him, he cautiously inserts persecution. "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time; houses and brethren, and sisters and mothers, and children and lands, with persecutions; (the word is in the plural number, including all kinds of persecution) and in the world to come eternal life." He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what Christ says in all these passages, and then confess, that all who will godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
As this is proved from our Lord's doctrine, so it is no less evident from his life. Follow him from the manger to the cross, and see whether any persecution was like that which the Son of God, the Lord of glory, underwent whilst here on earth. How was he hated by wicked men? How often would that hatred have excited them to lay hold of him, had it not been for fear of the people? How was he reviled, counted and called a Blasphemer, a Wine-bibber, a Samaritan, nay, a Devil, and, in one word, had all manner of evil spoken against him falsely? What contradiction of sinners did he endure against himself? How did men separate from his company, and were ashamed to walk with him openly? Insomuch that he once said to his own disciples, "Will you also go away?" Again, How was he stoned, thrust out of the synagogues, arraigned as a deceiver of the people, a seditious and pestilent fellow, an enemy of Caesar, and as such scourged, blind-folded, spit upon, and at length condemned, and nailed to an accursed tree? Thus was the Master persecuted, thus did the Lord suffer; and the servant is not above his Master, nor the disciple above his Lord: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you," says the blessed Jesus. And again, "Every man that is perfect (a true Christian) must be as his Master," or suffer as he did. For in all these things our Lord has set us an example, that we should follow his steps: and therefore, far be it that any, who live godly in Christ Jesus, should henceforward expect to escape suffering persecution.
But farther: not only our Lord's example, but the example of all the saints that ever lived, evidently demonstrates the truth of the apostle's assertion in the text. How soon was Abel made a martyr for his religion? How was Isaac mocked by the son of the bond-woman? And what a large catalogue of suffering Old Testament saints, have we recorded in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews! Read the Acts of the Apostles, and see how the first Christians were threatened, stoned, imprisoned, scourged, and persecuted even unto death. Examine Church History in after-ages, and you will find the murder of the innocents by Herod, was but an earnest of the innocent blood which should be shed for the sake of Jesus. Examine the experience of saints now living on earth; and, if it were possible to consult the spirits of just men made perfect, I am persuaded each would concur with the apostle in asserting, that "all who will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
How can it be otherwise in the very nature of things? Ever since the fall, there has been a irreconcilable enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Wicked men hat God, and therefore cannot but hate those who are like him: they hate to be reformed, and therefore must hate and persecute those, who, by a contrary behavior, testify of them, that their deeds are evil. Besides, pride of heart leads men to persecute the servants of Jesus Christ. If they commend them, they are afraid of being asked, Why do not you follow them? And therefore because they dare not imitate, though they may sometimes be even forced to approve their way, yet pride and envy make them turn persecutors. Hence it is, that as it was formerly, so it is now, and so will it be to the end of time; "He that is born after the flesh, (the natural man, does and) will persecute him that is born after the Spirit," the regenerate man. Because Christians are not of the world, but Christ hath chosen them out of the world, therefore the world will hate them. If it be objected against this doctrine, that we now live in a Christian world, and therefore must not expect such persecution as formerly; I answer, All are not Christians that are called so; and, till the heart is changed, the enmity against God (which is the root of all persecution) remains: and consequently Christians, falsely so called, will persecute as well as others. I observed therefore, in the beginning of this discourse, that Paul mentions those that had a form of religion, as persons of whom Timothy had need be chiefly aware: for, as our Lord and his apostles were mostly persecuted by their countrymen the Jews, so we must expect the like usage from the Formalists of our own nation, the Pharisees, who seem to be religious. The most horrid and barbarous persecutions have been carried on by those who have called themselves Christians; witness the days of queen Mary; and the fines, banishments and imprisonments of the children of God in the last century, and the bitter, irreconcilable hatred that appears in thousands who call themselves Christians, even in the present days wherein we live.
Persons, who argue against persecution, are not sufficiently sensible of the bitter enmity of the heart of every unregenerate man against God. For my own part, I am so far from wondering that Christians are persecuted, that I wonder our streets do not run with the blood of the saints: was mens power equal to their wills, such a horrid spectacle would soon appear. But,
Persecution is necessary in respect to the godly themselves. If we have not all manner of evil spoken of us, how can we know whether we seek only that honor which cometh from above? If we have no persecutors, how can our passive graces be kept in exercise? How can many Christian precepts be put into practice? How can we love; pray for; and do good to; those who despitefully use us? How can we overcome evil with good? In short, how can we know we love God better than life itself? Paul was sensible of all this, and therefore so positively and peremptorily asserts, that "all who live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
Not that I affirm, all are persecuted in a like degree. No: this would be contrary both to scripture and experience. But though all Christians are not really called to suffer every kind of persecution, yet all Christians are liable thereto: and notwithstanding some may live in more peaceful times of the church than others, yet all Christians, in all ages, will find by their own experience, that, whether they act in a private or public capacity, they must, in some degree or other, suffer persecution.
Here then I would pause, and, LASTLY, by way of application, exhort all persons,
FIRST, To stand a while and examine themselves. For, by what has been said, you may gather one mark, whereby you may judge whether you are Christians or not. Were you ever persecuted for righteousness sake? If not, you never yet lived godly in Christ our Lord. Whatever you may say to the contrary, the inspired apostle, in the words of the text (the truth of which, I think, I have sufficiently proved) positively asserts, that all who will live godly in Him, shall suffer persecution. Not that all who are persecuted are real Christians; for many sometimes suffer, and are persecuted, on other accounts than for righteousness sake. The great question therefore is, Whether you were ever persecuted for living godly? You may boast of your great prudence and sagacity (and indeed these are excellent things) and glory because you have not run such lengths, and made yourselves so singular, and liable to such contempt, as some others have. But, alas! this is not a mark of your being of a Christian, but of a Laodicean spirit, neither how nor cold, and sit only to be spewed out of the mouth of God. That which you call prudence, is often, only cowardice, dreadful hypocrisy, pride of heart, which makes you dread contempt, and afraid to give up your reputation for God. You are ashamed of Christ and his gospel; and in all probability, was he to appear a second time upon earth, in words, as well as works, you would deny him. Awake therefore, all ye that live only formally in Christ Jesus, and no longer seek that honor which cometh of man. I do not desire to court you, but I entreat you to live godly, and fear not contempt for the sake of Jesus Christ. Beg of God to give you his Holy Spirit, that you may see through, and discover the latent hypocrisy of your hearts, and no longer deceive your own souls. Remember you cannot reconcile two irreconcilable differences, God and Mammon, the friendship of this world with the favor of God. Know you not who hath told you, that "the friendship of this world is enmity with God?" If therefore you are in friendship with the world, notwithstanding all your specious pretenses to piety, you are at enmity with God: you are only heart-hypocrites; and, "What is the hope of the hypocrite, when God shall take away his soul?" Let the words of the text sound an alarm in your ears; O let them sink deep into your hearts; "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
SECONDLY, From the words of the text, I would take occasion to speak to those, who are about to list themselves under the banner of Christ's cross. What say you? Are you resolved to live godly in Christ Jesus, notwithstanding the consequence will be, that you must suffer persecution? You are beginning to build; but have you taken our Lord's advice, to "sit down first and count the cost?" Have you well weighed with yourselves that weighty declaration, "He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me;" and again, "Unless a man forsake all that he hath he cannot be my disciple?" Perhaps some of you have great possessions; will not you go away sorrowful, if Christ should require you to sell all that you have! Others of you again may be kinsmen, or some way related, or under obligations, to the high-priests, or other great personages, who may be persecuting the church of Christ: What say you? Will you, with Moses, "rather choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season?" Perhaps you may say, my friends will not oppose me. That is more than you know: in all probability your chief enemies will be those of your own household. If therefore they should oppose you, are you willing naked to follow a naked Christ? And to wander about in sheep-skins and goats-skins, in dens and caves of the earth; being afflicted, destitute, tormented, rather than not be Christ's disciples? You are now all following with zeal, as Ruth and Orpah did Naomi, and may weep under the word; but are not your tears crocodiles tears? And, when difficulties come, will you not go back form following your Lord, as Orpah departed form following Naomi? Have you really the root of grace in your hearts? Or, are you only stony-ground hearers? You receive the word with joy; but, when persecution arises because of the word, will you not be immediately offended? Be not angry with me for putting these questions to you. I am jealous over you, but it is with a godly jealousy: for, alas! how many have put their hands to the plough, and afterwards have shamefully looked back? I only deal with you, as our Lord did with the person that said, "Lord, I will follow thee withersoever thou wilt. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man, (says he) hath not where to lay his head." What say you? Are you willing to endure hardness, and thereby approve yourselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ? You now come on foot out of the towns and villages to hear the word, and receive me as a messenger of God: but will you not by and by cry out, Away with him, away with him; it is not fit such a fellow should live upon the earth? Perhaps some of you, like Hazael, may say, "Are we dogs, that we should do this?" But, alas! I have met with many unhappy souls, who have drawn back unto perdition, and have afterwards accounted me their enemy, for dealing faithfully with them; though once, if it were possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes, and have given them unto me. Sit down therefore, I beseech you, and seriously count the cost, and ask yourselves again and again, whether you count all things but dung and dross, and are willing to suffer the loss of all things, so that you may win Christ, and be found in him: for you may assure yourselves, the apostle hath not spoken in vain, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."
THIRDLY, The text speaks to you that are patiently suffering for the truth's sake: "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; great shall be your reward in heaven." For to you it is given, not only to believe, but also to suffer, and perhaps remarkably too, for the sake of Jesus! This is a mark of your discipleship, an evidence that you do live godly in Christ Jesus. Fear not, therefore, neither be dismayed. O be not weary and faint in your minds! Jesus, your Lord, your life, cometh, and his reward is with him. Though all men forsake you, yet will not he: no; the Spirit of Christ and of glory shall rest upon you. In patience therefore possess your souls. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Be in nothing terrified by your adversaries: on their part Christ is evil spoken of; on your part his is glorified. Be not ashamed of your glory, since others can glory in their shame. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, wherewith you are or may be tried. The Devil rages, knowing that he hath but a short time to reign. He or his emissaries have no more power than what is given them from above: God sets them their bounds, which they cannot pass; and the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; no one shall set upon you to hurt you, without your heavenly Father's knowledge. Do your earthly friends and parents forsake you? Are you cast out of the synagogues? The Lord shall reveal himself to you, as to the man that was born blind. Jesus Christ shall take you up. If they carry you to prison, and load you with chains, so that the iron enter into your souls, even there shall Christ send an angel from heaven to strengthen you, and enable you, with Paul and Silas, to "sing praises at midnight." Are you threatened to be thrown into a den of lions, or cast into a burning fiery furnace, because you will not bow down and worship the beast? Fear not; the God, whom you serve, is able to deliver you: or, if he should suffer the flames to devour your bodies, they would only serve, as so many fiery chariots, to carry your souls to God. Thus it was with the martyrs of old; so that once, when he was burning, cried out, "Come, you Papists, if you want a miracle, here, behold one! This bed of flames is to me a bed of down." Thus it was with almost all that suffered in former times: for Jesus, notwithstanding he withdrew his own divinity from himself, yet has always lifted up the light of his countenance upon the souls of suffering saints. "Fear not therefore those that can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but fear Him only, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Dare, dare to live godly in Christ Jesus, though you suffer all manner of persecution. But,
FOURTHLY, Are there any true ministers of Jesus Christ here? You will not be offended if I tell you, that the words of the text are, in an especial manner, applicable to you. Paul wrote them to Timothy; and we, of all men, that live godly in Christ Jesus, must expect to suffer the severest persecution. Satan will endeavor to bruise our heels, let who will escape: and it has been the general way of God's providence, in times of persecution, to permit the shepherds first to be smitten, before the sheep are scattered. Let us not therefore show that we are only hirelings, who care not for the sheep; but, like the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, let us readily lay down our lives for the sheep. Whilst others are boasting of their great perferments, let us rather glory in our great afflictions and persecutions for the sake of Christ. Paul rejoiced that he suffered afflictions and persecutions at Iconium and Lystra: out of all, the Lord delivered him; out of all, the Lord will deliver us, and cause us hereafter to sit down with him on thrones, when he comes to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
I could proceed; but I am conscious, in this part of my discourse, I ought more particularly to speak to myself, knowing that Satan has desired to have me, that he may sift me as wheat. Without a spirit of prophecy, we may easily discern the signs of the times. Persecutions even at the doors: the tabernacle of the Lord is already driven into the wilderness: the ark of the Lord is fallen into the unhallowed hands of uncircumcised Philistines. They have long since put us out of their synagogues, and high- priests have been calling on civil magistrates to exert their authority against the disciples of the Lord. Men in power have been breathing out threatenings: we may easily guess what will follow, imprisonment and slaughter. The storm has been gathering some time; it must break shortly. Perhaps it may fall on me first.
Brethren therefore, whether in the ministry or not, I beseech you, "pray for me," that I may never suffer justly, as an evil-doer, but only for righteousness sake. O pray that I may not deny my Lord in any wise, but that I may joyfully follow him, both to prison and to death, if he is pleased to call me to seal his truths with my blood. Be not ashamed of Christ, or of his gospel, though I should become a prisoner of the Lord. Though I am bound, the word of God will not be bound: no; an open, an effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting gospel, and men or devils shall never be able to prevail against it. Only pray, that, whether it be in life or death, Christ may be glorified in me: then I shall rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
And now, to whom shall I address myself next?
FIFTHLY, To those, who persecute their neighbors for living godly in Christ Jesus. But, what shall I say to you? Howl and weep for the miseries that shall come upon you; for a little while the Lord permits you to ride over the heads of his people; but, by and by, death will arrest you, judgment will find you, and Jesus Christ shall put a question to you, which will strike you dumb, WHY PERSECUTED YOU ME? You may plead your laws and your canons, and pretend what you do is out of zeal for God; but God shall discover the cursed hypocrisy and serpentine enmity of your hearts, and give you over to the tormentors. It is well, if in this life God does not send some mark upon you. He pleaded the cause of Naboth, when innocently condemned for blaspheming God and the king; and our Lord sent forth his armies, and destroyed the city of those who killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them. If you have a mind therefore to fill up the measure of your iniquities, go on, persecute and despise the disciples of the Lord: but know, "that for all these things, God shall bring you to judgment." Nay, those you now persecute, shall be in part your judges, and sit on the right-hand of the Majesty on high, whilst you are dragged by infernal spirits into a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of your torment shall be ascending up for ever and ever. Lay down therefore, ye rebels, your arms against the most high God, and no longer persecute those who live godly in Christ Jesus. The Lord will plead, the Lord will avenge, their cause. You may be permitted to bruise their heels, yet in the end they shall bruise your accursed heads. I speak not this, as though I were afraid of you; for I know in whom I have believed: only out of pure love I warn you, and because I know not but Jesus Christ may make some of you vessels of mercy, and snatch you, even you persecutors, as fire-brands out of the fire. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even persecutors, the worst of sinners: his righteousness is sufficient for them; his Spirit is able to purify and change their hearts. He once converted Saul: may the same God magnify his power, in converting all those who are causing the godly in Christ Jesus, as much as in them lies, to suffer persecution! The Lord be with you all. Amen.
May 3, 2011
May 1, 2011
Others May, You Cannot
By G.D. Watson (1845-1924)
"If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you to a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
"Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
"Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
"Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.
"The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small.
"He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit of it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.
"The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own.
"He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. But if you absolutely sell yourself to be His...slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.
"Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others.
"Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven."
"If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you to a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
"Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
"Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
"Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.
"The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small.
"He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit of it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.
"The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own.
"He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. But if you absolutely sell yourself to be His...slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.
"Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others.
"Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven."
Can the New Apostles and Prophets Seize Dominion by Political Intermarriage?
Can God's Supposed Lost Dominion Be Regained By Mere Political Means?
By Dr. Orrel Steinkamp
"How far into compromise will pastors go to “re-establish” America as a Christian nation? Has that become more important to them than serving the Lord and preaching the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ WITHOUT COMPROMISE? If establishing the lie this kingdom of God on earth is so important that the Gospel fades in comparison, what are they willing to do next. . . ?"[1]
On April 12-13 there is scheduled "The Government Transformation Summit for Visionary Leaders" in San Antonio. It is also called "Justice at the Gate." Before we proceed with our comments we must establish that the term "transform or transformation" as used in Dominion writings is simply a code word for Dominion or Rule. The introduction to this conference begins:
"God's heart is to transform [read rule, ed.] the nations not just individuals.... You are not getting this invitation if your vision is simply to grow your congregation [read traditional evangelism, ed.]. We applaud and affirm that, but this personal invitation is extended exclusively to proven leaders who have a heart for their city, state or broader."
Some of the leading speakers introduced to us are: Ed Silvoso, considered by many as the father of the Nation Transforming Movement, and Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego, the one tapped by Newt Gingrich be the Chairman of Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership committed to freedom, faith and free markets. The introduction continues:
"Expand your vision to a movement [notice not the church, ed.] forging an intersection of worship, reconciliation [the new meaning of the term, ed.] Governance Systems and Nation-Changing transformation [notice the bringing together of transformation and Dominionism, ed.]."
The Dominionists are now hitting the political big-time. There was a conference scheduled at Liberty University on April 8-9 sponsored by Freedom Federation called Awakening 2011. Broadcast on C-Span for the first time, it included 60 nationally known political operatives and many Dominionist personalities. The politicos included: Newt Gingrich, Rep. Mike Spence, Gary Bauer, Frank Gaffney, Marco Rubio and Michele Bachmann. The Domionist Clergy included Rick Joyner, Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs and David Barton.
Then, just recently on March 25-26, the Iowa Renewal Project "Rediscovering God in America" was held. This political event included pure politicians and Dominionist/Tea Party clergy. Included were George Barna, evangelical pollster and Jesuit trained. Barna in his 2009 book Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats extolled as leadership greats New Age sympathizers Ken Blanchard, Laurie Beth Jones, Newt Gingrich and emergent futurist Erwin McManus. We can only assume that Barna resonates with their teachings. Also a speaker was Mike Huckabee Southern Baptist presidential candidate anointed by apostle Lou Engle's apostolic hands. Also a speaker was well known politico Newt Gingrich, a presidential candidate and a lapsed Baptist and recent Catholic convert and serial adulterer. Other speakers included Minnesota's own Michele Bachmann, the Oral Roberts trained Word/Faith Congresswomen. Mike Huckabee has previously accepted an endorsement by and spoken at a "Watchmen on the Walls" convention. Watchmen on the Walls is a Joel's Army radical Dominionist group active in Ex-USSR countries but with a major presence among Russian and Slavic emigrants.
I have in the last year written about the convergence of the New Apostolic Reformation and the Christian Right. Some articles on the net include: "The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism," "R&R Revival and Revolt: The Tea Party's Strange Bedfellows and What They Believe," and "Mary Glazier: Wagner’s NAR Chief Prophetess In Alaska." Some months have passed and now these political apostles no longer feel any need to hide their political intentions and associations.
Roger Oakland, former Calvary Chapel lecturer, writing about the Iowa Renewal Project, can only exclaim:
"Are you familiar with these names: David Barton, Newt Gingrich, George Barna, Mike Huckabee? Do you know what Barna Group is? Do you know who David Barton is? What about Newt Gingrich? Do you know what role they are playing? WHAT IS GOING ON?
"If you look at the list of speakers for the Rediscovering God in America, it reminds me of a book I once read called Who's Who and What's What? Check out Barna and Barton and see for yourself their backgrounds and the things they are doing, then check out the Jesuit plan to establish the kingdom. Newt Gingrich is a Roman Catholic by his own admission, and he and Huckabee may each be running for President (or maybe a ticket together). George Barna was trained at a Jesuit college. And let’s not forget Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Catholicism and Catholic convert, interfaith activist Tony Blair?"
Perhaps one reason Roger Oakland was concerned about this "secretive" event is that the two clergy at this Iowa political conference were Calvary Chapel pastors, namely, Jack Hibbs Calvary Chapel pastor in Chino Hills, CA and Ken Graves Calvary Chapel pastor in Orrington, ME.
"Rediscovering God in America"?
Those promoting God's absolute rule upon the earth have become bedfellows with national politicians and are calling for the Kingdom of God to be politically instituted first in America and then around the world. This is a convergence that goes well beyond elections cycles. It is a union of national politicians and clergy who share not only political views but also share a vision for a Christian political domination for the whole world, in order to bring back Jesus to the earth. They no longer wait for a King from heaven but are straining to establish a political kingdom of God upon the earth before The King can return. Their goals are like hidden leaven within American politics, disguising their real agenda from unsuspecting voters.
Rachael Tabachnick, in her report, "The Rise of Charismatic Dominionism," explained:
"These Christian warriors would no longer be constrained by having to wait for a future Rapture. The battle against evil to bring about the millennial utopia would not wait for divine intervention, but be initiated by human hands - an army of Christian warriors bringing about the Kingdom, now."
This is a major shift. Twenty-five years ago Pentecostals and evangelicals were all awaiting the Rapture. Now many, if not most, are on board looking to gain control of society and government, postponing the Rapture till the earth is one huge Christian caliphate. Tabachnick observed, "A newer and potent movement has emerged like a phoenix from the ashes of Darby's Dispensationalism."
This hybrid eschatology, a heresy, is described by Earl Paulk, in his Handwriting on the Wall (p. 20), as:
"Jesus Christ has now done all He can do, and He waits at the right hand of the His Father, until you and I as sons of God become manifest and make this world His footstool. He is waiting for us to say, 'Jesus, we have made the kingdoms of this world the Kingdom of our God, and are ruling and reigning in your world." [emphasis added]
There are thousands of Christians converted to Dominionism who already are found on school boards, city officials, state legislators and Tea Party elected officials. They are already in place and they take their cues from the Dominionist/Political leaders, and they are totally convinced they are in the exciting struggle to bring total Christian Dominion to the earth. Christian Dominionists have become the Christian Right on steroids. They are found in one party but they are also political squatters who ultimately will have no allegiance to any party whatsoever.
But it amazes me most that these dominion advocates can actually suggest that God, the August All-Powerful Sovereign of the Universe, would need to sneak back into a so-called regained dominion of all the earth on the coattails of political operatives! Isn't this demeaning to pronounce that our Sovereign God needs political endorsement and financial gifts from the world's Uber-Rich? Isn't God capable to openly placard to the world his own Dominionist aims (if indeed that were His will before He returns)? Isn't God sufficiently omnipotent to take dominion in His own name and authority -- without being beholden to common variety politicians and clerical camp-followers?
The self-anointed false apostles and prophets of the NAR (C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation) make stupendous claims for wielding God's power even to the extreme of calling down from heaven ginned-up signs and wonders. Cindy Jacobs tells a story of the seraphim catching her hotel room on fire, etc. Why then do she and her co-apostles and prophets have to work cap-in-hand as mere political operatives?
If this political Dominionism should succeed do you think the God of creation would be happy to be an in-house vice regent with Newt or LDS Romney along the lines of the secret astrologer who advised Nancy Reagan on the safety of the president's foreign trips? How does this political dominionism construct compare to the biblical Jehovah Who chose to establish His rule by directly confronting the Egyptian Pharaoh?
D. James Kennedy, sometimes called by some the god-father of Dominionism, expressed his views openly. In 2005 He hosted at his church in Coral Gables a conference called, "Reclaiming America for Christ." He provided for the conferees some of his written materials. One such written source stated:
"We are to exercise godly dominion over our neighborhoods, our government , our entertainment, media our scientific endeavors, in short over every aspect and institutions of human society."
George Grant, who was for a time an associate pastor at Kennedy's church in Coral Gables expressed the dominion mandate ever more bluntly than Kennedy:
"Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence, it is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest is that which Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less. Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts and governments for the Kingdom of Christ." (George Grant, The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action [Ft. Worth: Dominion Press, 1987], pp. 50-51)
The so-called Dominion Mandate is a fraudulent interpretation of Genesis 1:28 and the Great Commission. Note that the Genesis mandate was simply a stewardship responsibility over the land and sea and the animal species. This verse hardly refers to political institutions and other humans. In the Great Commission we are called to preach the Gospel and baptize the nations. But this can't have political dominion ramifications for how do you baptize whole nations? The only precedent that comes to my mind may be early Roman Catholic missionaries to China who declared the state evangelized and employed mass broom baptisms by dipping a broom in a pail and sprinkling the populace. Now China is hearing the Gospel, but it spreads not by state broom baptizing but from individual to individual. Furthermore, the Greek word ethne ("nations" in the Great Commission) does not refer to whole nations but it was a Jewish term for non-Jews, that is, Gentiles. The Gentile Church is evangelism by sharing the Gospel, person by person, and not by state sponsored Christian dominion.
How the Seven Spheres Became the Seven Mountains
It is not my purpose here to elaborate on the 7 mountains teaching. It has received sufficient coverage. But it is helpful to reflect on the history of this teaching in dominion circles. It is irrefutable that the original source of this teaching originated in 1994 among Coalition of Revival (COR) advocates and Jay Grimsted in particular. (See Al Dager, Vengence Is Ours: The Church in Dominion, Sword Publishers, Redmond WA, pg 235-258).
But the political prophets of the NAR have chosen to recast the COR "Seven Spheres of culture" into a first person dominical revelation directly from Jesus. Apostle Lance Wallnau and others repeat ad-nauseum the oft repeated and embellished account of Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright. As I have heard the story, Bright and Cunningham wrote on their breakfast napkins the areas of concern in the culture. Lo and behold! They had written the same seven spheres as COR and Grimstead had taught earlier.
But the political prophets have now further morphed the 7 spheres into a visionary first person prophecy from Jesus and recast the Seven Spheres as Seven Mountains. Among those who accept current prophetic statements, the 7 mountains teaching now is just simply as true as the biblical story of Jesus feeding of the 5000. This highlights the indispensable nature of continuing prophetic false prophesies given to the Kingdom church, even though their prophets only claim a certain percentage of factual prophesies. For biblical Christians who hold to the "scripture only" teaching of the Reformation, with which the Reformers dispensed with extra-biblical revelations, we have trouble with a visionary appearance of Jesus among 7 mountains that appears out of a sea. The fact that this emanates from one Kim Clement arguably the most inaccurate of all the new prophets should give any serious bible reader extreme caution. But for those in the Seven Mountains Kingdom Church, they have all the false authority they will ever need.[2]
So-Called American Covenantal Roots
Cindy Jacobs, who claimed her room was invaded by the seraphim and who is C. Peter Wagner's designate for America's prophetic destiny, called for and completed a "Root 52 National Prayer Strategy," a 52-week tour of the USA to bring each state back into covenantal alignment with God going from state to state in the sequence they joined the union. By "releasing" the prophetic destiny of an American Covenant she purported to bring the USA state by state back into covenantal status with God.
All of this is far-fetched. Indeed America has been blessed but just what is this assumed Covenant that the USA has with God? It can hardly be in the Constitution for God isn't even mentioned in it. Mike Huckabee stated on January 14, 2008 in Warren Michigan:
“I believe it is a lot easier to change the Constitution than it is to change the Word of the Living God. And that’s what we need to do, is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards, rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other, and how we treat the family.” [emphasis added]
In other national founding documents the term God is not defined and the name of Jesus isn't mentioned. Furthermore the chief architect of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, was hardly a Covenant-Maker for the Biblical God:
"Thomas Jefferson for example, the man who contributed more to the framing of our constitution than anyone else was a Deist and hardly a model of moral rectitude. Accounts of his philandering and marital infidelity are well documented. And the so- called 'Jefferson Bible,'... was actually what he had cut up with a pair of scissors to remove all references to such things as the shedding of blood for remission of sins. He wanted nothing to do with the cross, and by the time he had finished with his 'bible', all that remained was a collection of platitudes he could use to add an apparent 'godly' air to his political postulations. Ben Franklin was a Rosicrucian who had no interest whatsoever in the truth as it has been revealed in and through Jesus Christ." (Zens and Bjork, Searching Together, Vol. 25)
Most of the founding fathers were Freemasons and Deists. Check it out. By the way, Deists taught a radical transcendent God who wound up the universe like a clock and has now disappeared forever. Furthermore, no Americans nor any other political institution could never on their own initiative establish a national covenant with God. No nation of its own accord dare claim a covenant with God. Indeed, God choose to enter a covenant with only one nation and that was Israel. The Puritans signed a Mayflower Compact but it related back to the king of England. God's covenant with Israel originated from God's sovereign will. Jehovah not only created this Covenant but He authored it Himself! That Covenant was succeeded by a New Covenant. It's author was, not this time by God through Moses, but by the Eternal Son of God in human flesh (Heb. 12:24: "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling...."). The God-Man through His death on the cross established a New Covenant -- not with a national entity but with all who would believe from all the nations.
It is pure fantasy when the NAR prophets declare that American has covenantal roots with God. Jon Zens and Cliff Bjork wrote:
"It is a serious perversion of biblical truth to use the promise of God's blessing as some kind of carrot to dangle in front of unregenerate sinners to entice them to follow OT moral codes. It is a promise that cannot be realized.... We have seen intense governmental lobbying and a flood of books, magazines, newsletters, videos and tapes calling for a return to traditional values. Leading proponents have invaded the media and drawn large crowds.... But the moral condition of our society has not improved. It has grown worse [and will grow even worse according to scripture]. To live and advance the Christian faith is indeed to engage in a great battle. But the frontlines to which we have been called are not the halls of congress, our nation's courts, or the muddy trenches of public opinion. The NT is quite clear that 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). It is the ramparts of spiritual bondage surrounding the individual sinner's heart and mind that we must scale with the message of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ. The Gospel was never intended as a battering ram to penetrate the embattlements of a fallen nation's political and cultural mores. [Jesus came to a Jewish nation clamoring for a political warrior Messiah to drive out the Romans and reestablish their OT covenantal kingdom reigning from Jerusalem. Jesus was dragged before a Roman court at the demand of OT Jewish dominionists.]
Why did the son of God submit so willingly to such injustice and ignominy? It is clear that he had the power to save himself... When He was arrested and Peter drew his sword to resist, Jesus rebuked Peter and said 'Put your sword away!... Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels.' (John 18:11).... Would this not have been an ideal time to launch a vigorous protest?... Jesus submitted to an ignominious kangaroo court not because of the ropes and chain that bound him.... Jesus understood that his real battle was not with Caiaphas or Pilate.... Jewish or Roman courts were not the front lines of Jesus battle. The Fathers appointed battlefield was the blood-stained cross of Golgotha. As far as reclaiming human kingdoms is concerned, Jesus answered the charge that he was leading a revolt against Rome explaining to Pilate - even in the face of certain death - 'My kingdom is not of this world. if it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews (the Judeo part of Judeo/Christian). But my kingdom is not from this place. [enteuthen] John 18:36.... Nearly 2000 years have gone by since Jesus victory at Calvary over sin and death. While that particular battle was His to fight alone, it defined the nature of our warfare and established the ground rules for victory that have not changed... the secret is to carry the battle to the right place. The enemy is not entrenched in political Washington, but in the hearts of anyone anywhere who still remains in the darkness of unbelief, enslaved by all kind of pleasures. You need not go further than your backyard fences or the local marketplace to find the frontlines of that battle. It can be fought in the halls of congress, not by lobbying for some political agenda, but by telling unbelieving senators and representatives about the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. Better that a single legislator's mind and heart be turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God than for dozens to sign on to some new "moral" legislation and remain in unbelief. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor10:3-4). That should be quite clear when you consider Paul's experiences at Corinth. Here was a city, a culture and a government that was 'morally bankrupt' beyond anything we can imagine in America." (John Zens and Cliff Bjork, Searching Together, Spring-Autumn 2000 and Spring 1997)
The So-called Kingdom Church
Though eschatology has many details, the teaching of the New Testament is clear enough for all. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself takes physical dominion of the earth when He as King comes back in His second advent. He, not the church, will dispense judgment when He arrives. The words of Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians bears this out. The Thessalonians were undergoing affliction and persecution for the sake of the Kingdom of God. But Paul assures them they are deemed worthy for the Kingdom of God. In 2 Thess 1: 7-8, we read:
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"
The Risky Future of Dominion Apostles and Prophets
The current bevy of apostles and prophets conveniently avoid the first person words of Jesus "my kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). In addition Jesus told his disciples: "But I say unto you. I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." (Matt 26:29).
What is there about these sayings of Jesus nearly 2000 years ago that is so hard to understand? Those mobilizing for dominion and rule appear to be in rebellion against the king himself and the teaching of the biblical apostles.
I have no hope that the NAR and its false apostles and prophets will abandon their efforts and organization of a Kingdom Dominion Church. They will never cease their efforts and politicians will never cease to exploit them for votes, especially when evangelicals make up the bulk a national party. No! they all have gone too far. They have too many self generated prophetic words, and their self deluded paradigm to cease this effort. In their minds they would have to abandon the Lord altogether.
We must choose. Do we go with these false prophecies of dominion or do we stand with those whose feet are both in biblical truth? The new apostles and prophets must run their course till perhaps even the King returns to earth. Indeed, Jesus could have called legions of angels to take him from the cross. But The sovereign Lord had a plan. It was for Salvation. God has a right to His own plan and it is clearly recorded in Scripture. Indeed! Jesus could have led a political rebellion after his resurrection and judged the nations and established His eternal rule then and there. But Scripture leaves no doubt this was not His plan. There is a first advent and a second advent. As He suffered in his first advent, His church must suffer with him till this evil age runs its course -- until it is stopped and dramatically interrupted by the visible return of the risen King from Glory. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will establish His Kingdom by His presence on earth and Judge the nations. Then His true people will enter with Him into THE AGE TO COME. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!
A Concluding Remark
Please don't misunderstand me. Should we not vote? Should we not share our views with others about the moral decline of the nation, etc? Of course we should vote! This is a precious privilege given to us in this country and many other countries. But we must avoid becoming political activists and political warriors who are determined to put away evil and evil doers by a so-called "kingdom authority" before Jesus returns. Judgment is God's prerogative and it is divinely planned for the second advent of Christ. Our calling now is to persistently preach and witness the Gospel of Grace by every means.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)
By Dr. Orrel Steinkamp
"How far into compromise will pastors go to “re-establish” America as a Christian nation? Has that become more important to them than serving the Lord and preaching the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ WITHOUT COMPROMISE? If establishing the lie this kingdom of God on earth is so important that the Gospel fades in comparison, what are they willing to do next. . . ?"[1]
On April 12-13 there is scheduled "The Government Transformation Summit for Visionary Leaders" in San Antonio. It is also called "Justice at the Gate." Before we proceed with our comments we must establish that the term "transform or transformation" as used in Dominion writings is simply a code word for Dominion or Rule. The introduction to this conference begins:
"God's heart is to transform [read rule, ed.] the nations not just individuals.... You are not getting this invitation if your vision is simply to grow your congregation [read traditional evangelism, ed.]. We applaud and affirm that, but this personal invitation is extended exclusively to proven leaders who have a heart for their city, state or broader."
Some of the leading speakers introduced to us are: Ed Silvoso, considered by many as the father of the Nation Transforming Movement, and Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego, the one tapped by Newt Gingrich be the Chairman of Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership committed to freedom, faith and free markets. The introduction continues:
"Expand your vision to a movement [notice not the church, ed.] forging an intersection of worship, reconciliation [the new meaning of the term, ed.] Governance Systems and Nation-Changing transformation [notice the bringing together of transformation and Dominionism, ed.]."
The Dominionists are now hitting the political big-time. There was a conference scheduled at Liberty University on April 8-9 sponsored by Freedom Federation called Awakening 2011. Broadcast on C-Span for the first time, it included 60 nationally known political operatives and many Dominionist personalities. The politicos included: Newt Gingrich, Rep. Mike Spence, Gary Bauer, Frank Gaffney, Marco Rubio and Michele Bachmann. The Domionist Clergy included Rick Joyner, Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs and David Barton.
Then, just recently on March 25-26, the Iowa Renewal Project "Rediscovering God in America" was held. This political event included pure politicians and Dominionist/Tea Party clergy. Included were George Barna, evangelical pollster and Jesuit trained. Barna in his 2009 book Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats extolled as leadership greats New Age sympathizers Ken Blanchard, Laurie Beth Jones, Newt Gingrich and emergent futurist Erwin McManus. We can only assume that Barna resonates with their teachings. Also a speaker was Mike Huckabee Southern Baptist presidential candidate anointed by apostle Lou Engle's apostolic hands. Also a speaker was well known politico Newt Gingrich, a presidential candidate and a lapsed Baptist and recent Catholic convert and serial adulterer. Other speakers included Minnesota's own Michele Bachmann, the Oral Roberts trained Word/Faith Congresswomen. Mike Huckabee has previously accepted an endorsement by and spoken at a "Watchmen on the Walls" convention. Watchmen on the Walls is a Joel's Army radical Dominionist group active in Ex-USSR countries but with a major presence among Russian and Slavic emigrants.
I have in the last year written about the convergence of the New Apostolic Reformation and the Christian Right. Some articles on the net include: "The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism," "R&R Revival and Revolt: The Tea Party's Strange Bedfellows and What They Believe," and "Mary Glazier: Wagner’s NAR Chief Prophetess In Alaska." Some months have passed and now these political apostles no longer feel any need to hide their political intentions and associations.
Roger Oakland, former Calvary Chapel lecturer, writing about the Iowa Renewal Project, can only exclaim:
"Are you familiar with these names: David Barton, Newt Gingrich, George Barna, Mike Huckabee? Do you know what Barna Group is? Do you know who David Barton is? What about Newt Gingrich? Do you know what role they are playing? WHAT IS GOING ON?
"If you look at the list of speakers for the Rediscovering God in America, it reminds me of a book I once read called Who's Who and What's What? Check out Barna and Barton and see for yourself their backgrounds and the things they are doing, then check out the Jesuit plan to establish the kingdom. Newt Gingrich is a Roman Catholic by his own admission, and he and Huckabee may each be running for President (or maybe a ticket together). George Barna was trained at a Jesuit college. And let’s not forget Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Catholicism and Catholic convert, interfaith activist Tony Blair?"
Perhaps one reason Roger Oakland was concerned about this "secretive" event is that the two clergy at this Iowa political conference were Calvary Chapel pastors, namely, Jack Hibbs Calvary Chapel pastor in Chino Hills, CA and Ken Graves Calvary Chapel pastor in Orrington, ME.
"Rediscovering God in America"?
Those promoting God's absolute rule upon the earth have become bedfellows with national politicians and are calling for the Kingdom of God to be politically instituted first in America and then around the world. This is a convergence that goes well beyond elections cycles. It is a union of national politicians and clergy who share not only political views but also share a vision for a Christian political domination for the whole world, in order to bring back Jesus to the earth. They no longer wait for a King from heaven but are straining to establish a political kingdom of God upon the earth before The King can return. Their goals are like hidden leaven within American politics, disguising their real agenda from unsuspecting voters.
Rachael Tabachnick, in her report, "The Rise of Charismatic Dominionism," explained:
"These Christian warriors would no longer be constrained by having to wait for a future Rapture. The battle against evil to bring about the millennial utopia would not wait for divine intervention, but be initiated by human hands - an army of Christian warriors bringing about the Kingdom, now."
This is a major shift. Twenty-five years ago Pentecostals and evangelicals were all awaiting the Rapture. Now many, if not most, are on board looking to gain control of society and government, postponing the Rapture till the earth is one huge Christian caliphate. Tabachnick observed, "A newer and potent movement has emerged like a phoenix from the ashes of Darby's Dispensationalism."
This hybrid eschatology, a heresy, is described by Earl Paulk, in his Handwriting on the Wall (p. 20), as:
"Jesus Christ has now done all He can do, and He waits at the right hand of the His Father, until you and I as sons of God become manifest and make this world His footstool. He is waiting for us to say, 'Jesus, we have made the kingdoms of this world the Kingdom of our God, and are ruling and reigning in your world." [emphasis added]
There are thousands of Christians converted to Dominionism who already are found on school boards, city officials, state legislators and Tea Party elected officials. They are already in place and they take their cues from the Dominionist/Political leaders, and they are totally convinced they are in the exciting struggle to bring total Christian Dominion to the earth. Christian Dominionists have become the Christian Right on steroids. They are found in one party but they are also political squatters who ultimately will have no allegiance to any party whatsoever.
But it amazes me most that these dominion advocates can actually suggest that God, the August All-Powerful Sovereign of the Universe, would need to sneak back into a so-called regained dominion of all the earth on the coattails of political operatives! Isn't this demeaning to pronounce that our Sovereign God needs political endorsement and financial gifts from the world's Uber-Rich? Isn't God capable to openly placard to the world his own Dominionist aims (if indeed that were His will before He returns)? Isn't God sufficiently omnipotent to take dominion in His own name and authority -- without being beholden to common variety politicians and clerical camp-followers?
The self-anointed false apostles and prophets of the NAR (C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation) make stupendous claims for wielding God's power even to the extreme of calling down from heaven ginned-up signs and wonders. Cindy Jacobs tells a story of the seraphim catching her hotel room on fire, etc. Why then do she and her co-apostles and prophets have to work cap-in-hand as mere political operatives?
If this political Dominionism should succeed do you think the God of creation would be happy to be an in-house vice regent with Newt or LDS Romney along the lines of the secret astrologer who advised Nancy Reagan on the safety of the president's foreign trips? How does this political dominionism construct compare to the biblical Jehovah Who chose to establish His rule by directly confronting the Egyptian Pharaoh?
D. James Kennedy, sometimes called by some the god-father of Dominionism, expressed his views openly. In 2005 He hosted at his church in Coral Gables a conference called, "Reclaiming America for Christ." He provided for the conferees some of his written materials. One such written source stated:
"We are to exercise godly dominion over our neighborhoods, our government , our entertainment, media our scientific endeavors, in short over every aspect and institutions of human society."
George Grant, who was for a time an associate pastor at Kennedy's church in Coral Gables expressed the dominion mandate ever more bluntly than Kennedy:
"Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence, it is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest is that which Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less. Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts and governments for the Kingdom of Christ." (George Grant, The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action [Ft. Worth: Dominion Press, 1987], pp. 50-51)
The so-called Dominion Mandate is a fraudulent interpretation of Genesis 1:28 and the Great Commission. Note that the Genesis mandate was simply a stewardship responsibility over the land and sea and the animal species. This verse hardly refers to political institutions and other humans. In the Great Commission we are called to preach the Gospel and baptize the nations. But this can't have political dominion ramifications for how do you baptize whole nations? The only precedent that comes to my mind may be early Roman Catholic missionaries to China who declared the state evangelized and employed mass broom baptisms by dipping a broom in a pail and sprinkling the populace. Now China is hearing the Gospel, but it spreads not by state broom baptizing but from individual to individual. Furthermore, the Greek word ethne ("nations" in the Great Commission) does not refer to whole nations but it was a Jewish term for non-Jews, that is, Gentiles. The Gentile Church is evangelism by sharing the Gospel, person by person, and not by state sponsored Christian dominion.
How the Seven Spheres Became the Seven Mountains
It is not my purpose here to elaborate on the 7 mountains teaching. It has received sufficient coverage. But it is helpful to reflect on the history of this teaching in dominion circles. It is irrefutable that the original source of this teaching originated in 1994 among Coalition of Revival (COR) advocates and Jay Grimsted in particular. (See Al Dager, Vengence Is Ours: The Church in Dominion, Sword Publishers, Redmond WA, pg 235-258).
But the political prophets of the NAR have chosen to recast the COR "Seven Spheres of culture" into a first person dominical revelation directly from Jesus. Apostle Lance Wallnau and others repeat ad-nauseum the oft repeated and embellished account of Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright. As I have heard the story, Bright and Cunningham wrote on their breakfast napkins the areas of concern in the culture. Lo and behold! They had written the same seven spheres as COR and Grimstead had taught earlier.
But the political prophets have now further morphed the 7 spheres into a visionary first person prophecy from Jesus and recast the Seven Spheres as Seven Mountains. Among those who accept current prophetic statements, the 7 mountains teaching now is just simply as true as the biblical story of Jesus feeding of the 5000. This highlights the indispensable nature of continuing prophetic false prophesies given to the Kingdom church, even though their prophets only claim a certain percentage of factual prophesies. For biblical Christians who hold to the "scripture only" teaching of the Reformation, with which the Reformers dispensed with extra-biblical revelations, we have trouble with a visionary appearance of Jesus among 7 mountains that appears out of a sea. The fact that this emanates from one Kim Clement arguably the most inaccurate of all the new prophets should give any serious bible reader extreme caution. But for those in the Seven Mountains Kingdom Church, they have all the false authority they will ever need.[2]
So-Called American Covenantal Roots
Cindy Jacobs, who claimed her room was invaded by the seraphim and who is C. Peter Wagner's designate for America's prophetic destiny, called for and completed a "Root 52 National Prayer Strategy," a 52-week tour of the USA to bring each state back into covenantal alignment with God going from state to state in the sequence they joined the union. By "releasing" the prophetic destiny of an American Covenant she purported to bring the USA state by state back into covenantal status with God.
All of this is far-fetched. Indeed America has been blessed but just what is this assumed Covenant that the USA has with God? It can hardly be in the Constitution for God isn't even mentioned in it. Mike Huckabee stated on January 14, 2008 in Warren Michigan:
“I believe it is a lot easier to change the Constitution than it is to change the Word of the Living God. And that’s what we need to do, is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards, rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other, and how we treat the family.” [emphasis added]
In other national founding documents the term God is not defined and the name of Jesus isn't mentioned. Furthermore the chief architect of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, was hardly a Covenant-Maker for the Biblical God:
"Thomas Jefferson for example, the man who contributed more to the framing of our constitution than anyone else was a Deist and hardly a model of moral rectitude. Accounts of his philandering and marital infidelity are well documented. And the so- called 'Jefferson Bible,'... was actually what he had cut up with a pair of scissors to remove all references to such things as the shedding of blood for remission of sins. He wanted nothing to do with the cross, and by the time he had finished with his 'bible', all that remained was a collection of platitudes he could use to add an apparent 'godly' air to his political postulations. Ben Franklin was a Rosicrucian who had no interest whatsoever in the truth as it has been revealed in and through Jesus Christ." (Zens and Bjork, Searching Together, Vol. 25)
Most of the founding fathers were Freemasons and Deists. Check it out. By the way, Deists taught a radical transcendent God who wound up the universe like a clock and has now disappeared forever. Furthermore, no Americans nor any other political institution could never on their own initiative establish a national covenant with God. No nation of its own accord dare claim a covenant with God. Indeed, God choose to enter a covenant with only one nation and that was Israel. The Puritans signed a Mayflower Compact but it related back to the king of England. God's covenant with Israel originated from God's sovereign will. Jehovah not only created this Covenant but He authored it Himself! That Covenant was succeeded by a New Covenant. It's author was, not this time by God through Moses, but by the Eternal Son of God in human flesh (Heb. 12:24: "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling...."). The God-Man through His death on the cross established a New Covenant -- not with a national entity but with all who would believe from all the nations.
It is pure fantasy when the NAR prophets declare that American has covenantal roots with God. Jon Zens and Cliff Bjork wrote:
"It is a serious perversion of biblical truth to use the promise of God's blessing as some kind of carrot to dangle in front of unregenerate sinners to entice them to follow OT moral codes. It is a promise that cannot be realized.... We have seen intense governmental lobbying and a flood of books, magazines, newsletters, videos and tapes calling for a return to traditional values. Leading proponents have invaded the media and drawn large crowds.... But the moral condition of our society has not improved. It has grown worse [and will grow even worse according to scripture]. To live and advance the Christian faith is indeed to engage in a great battle. But the frontlines to which we have been called are not the halls of congress, our nation's courts, or the muddy trenches of public opinion. The NT is quite clear that 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). It is the ramparts of spiritual bondage surrounding the individual sinner's heart and mind that we must scale with the message of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ. The Gospel was never intended as a battering ram to penetrate the embattlements of a fallen nation's political and cultural mores. [Jesus came to a Jewish nation clamoring for a political warrior Messiah to drive out the Romans and reestablish their OT covenantal kingdom reigning from Jerusalem. Jesus was dragged before a Roman court at the demand of OT Jewish dominionists.]
Why did the son of God submit so willingly to such injustice and ignominy? It is clear that he had the power to save himself... When He was arrested and Peter drew his sword to resist, Jesus rebuked Peter and said 'Put your sword away!... Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels.' (John 18:11).... Would this not have been an ideal time to launch a vigorous protest?... Jesus submitted to an ignominious kangaroo court not because of the ropes and chain that bound him.... Jesus understood that his real battle was not with Caiaphas or Pilate.... Jewish or Roman courts were not the front lines of Jesus battle. The Fathers appointed battlefield was the blood-stained cross of Golgotha. As far as reclaiming human kingdoms is concerned, Jesus answered the charge that he was leading a revolt against Rome explaining to Pilate - even in the face of certain death - 'My kingdom is not of this world. if it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews (the Judeo part of Judeo/Christian). But my kingdom is not from this place. [enteuthen] John 18:36.... Nearly 2000 years have gone by since Jesus victory at Calvary over sin and death. While that particular battle was His to fight alone, it defined the nature of our warfare and established the ground rules for victory that have not changed... the secret is to carry the battle to the right place. The enemy is not entrenched in political Washington, but in the hearts of anyone anywhere who still remains in the darkness of unbelief, enslaved by all kind of pleasures. You need not go further than your backyard fences or the local marketplace to find the frontlines of that battle. It can be fought in the halls of congress, not by lobbying for some political agenda, but by telling unbelieving senators and representatives about the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. Better that a single legislator's mind and heart be turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God than for dozens to sign on to some new "moral" legislation and remain in unbelief. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor10:3-4). That should be quite clear when you consider Paul's experiences at Corinth. Here was a city, a culture and a government that was 'morally bankrupt' beyond anything we can imagine in America." (John Zens and Cliff Bjork, Searching Together, Spring-Autumn 2000 and Spring 1997)
The So-called Kingdom Church
Though eschatology has many details, the teaching of the New Testament is clear enough for all. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself takes physical dominion of the earth when He as King comes back in His second advent. He, not the church, will dispense judgment when He arrives. The words of Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians bears this out. The Thessalonians were undergoing affliction and persecution for the sake of the Kingdom of God. But Paul assures them they are deemed worthy for the Kingdom of God. In 2 Thess 1: 7-8, we read:
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"
The Risky Future of Dominion Apostles and Prophets
The current bevy of apostles and prophets conveniently avoid the first person words of Jesus "my kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). In addition Jesus told his disciples: "But I say unto you. I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." (Matt 26:29).
What is there about these sayings of Jesus nearly 2000 years ago that is so hard to understand? Those mobilizing for dominion and rule appear to be in rebellion against the king himself and the teaching of the biblical apostles.
I have no hope that the NAR and its false apostles and prophets will abandon their efforts and organization of a Kingdom Dominion Church. They will never cease their efforts and politicians will never cease to exploit them for votes, especially when evangelicals make up the bulk a national party. No! they all have gone too far. They have too many self generated prophetic words, and their self deluded paradigm to cease this effort. In their minds they would have to abandon the Lord altogether.
We must choose. Do we go with these false prophecies of dominion or do we stand with those whose feet are both in biblical truth? The new apostles and prophets must run their course till perhaps even the King returns to earth. Indeed, Jesus could have called legions of angels to take him from the cross. But The sovereign Lord had a plan. It was for Salvation. God has a right to His own plan and it is clearly recorded in Scripture. Indeed! Jesus could have led a political rebellion after his resurrection and judged the nations and established His eternal rule then and there. But Scripture leaves no doubt this was not His plan. There is a first advent and a second advent. As He suffered in his first advent, His church must suffer with him till this evil age runs its course -- until it is stopped and dramatically interrupted by the visible return of the risen King from Glory. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will establish His Kingdom by His presence on earth and Judge the nations. Then His true people will enter with Him into THE AGE TO COME. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!
A Concluding Remark
Please don't misunderstand me. Should we not vote? Should we not share our views with others about the moral decline of the nation, etc? Of course we should vote! This is a precious privilege given to us in this country and many other countries. But we must avoid becoming political activists and political warriors who are determined to put away evil and evil doers by a so-called "kingdom authority" before Jesus returns. Judgment is God's prerogative and it is divinely planned for the second advent of Christ. Our calling now is to persistently preach and witness the Gospel of Grace by every means.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)
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