Deliverance or Delusion...?
—Which Do We Want...?
Part IV
We are our own worst enemy
November 26, 2013
"On the day when you again allow abominable men to confiscate your freedom, your money, your lives, your private property, your manhood and your sacred honor, in the name of "security" or "national emergency" you will die, and never again shall you be free. If plotters again destroy your Republic, they will do it by your greedy and ignorant assent, by your disregard of your neighbors' rights, by your apathy and your stupidity. We were brought to the brink of universal death and darkness because we had become that most contemptible of people — an angerless one. Keep alive and vivid all your righteous anger against traitors, against those who would abrogate your Constitution, against those who would lead you to wars with false slogans and cunning appeals to your patriotism." —Taylor Caldwell, "The Devil's Advocate"(1952); pp. 332 - 338.
We are our own worst enemy.
Anyone who does not accept this is in denial or spiritually dead. None is so blind as those who refuse to see. Anyone who needs a refresher course, read through Joshua, Judges, I & II Kings and I & II Chronicles.
We are our own worst enemy. The only thing that keeps God from delivering us and destroying our enemies, who seek to destroy us for no reason other than because they are evil and we are God's children, the only thing that prevents God's deliverance is our refusal to repent—our refusal to even admit that we have erred, sinned, or need to repent. Like corrupt politicians, most "christians" congratulate each other for being so fine and most sermons merely fluff the auras of the those in the pews making them think that God is pleased with them for their incredible service of "sitting there" for an hour once a week (and denying Him and Christ the rest other 167 hours of the week—if this were not the case, evolution and all the other reproaches and abominations that have taken over society, would have never even taken root, but would have been stamped out—but now the weeds oppress the good plants; why?: we not only did not uproot the weeds when we saw them, but we have even helped to plant them: we ourselves have funded the provision of and sharpened the blade of the very guillotine to be used on us). The problem is not in getting God's children "saved" but getting them to admit that they are lost and in need of salvation; and even those who are Christians think their lives are up to snuff, simply because they do not commit the baser of sins (or at least not on a regular basis); and imagine that God "does not sweat the small stuff" and all those tiny, obsolete, insignificant laws really don't matter (just God's wasted breath, bad ideas, mistakes). However, God does not overlook any offense no matter how small. He cannot. He is Holy. He declared the Sabbath to be holy. Those who violate it with impunity, change the day from Sabbath to Sunday (nowhere authorized in the Word of God), and even then do not hallow it as commanded, are in sin and God cannot hear their prayers. The same goes for the dietary laws. God designed the world; He designed our bodies. He told us how we are to function in this world; and yet like disrespectful, rebellious teenagers, we do what we choose instead... like Cain, who offered other than what was commanded, thinking, "This is what I am willing to offer God: Take it or leave it." God left it, and rejected his offering and Cain himself. Most modern "christians" are little different and will sadly, probably meet with the same rejection (as we shall see).
If God promised: "no weapon formed against thee shall prosper" and "when a man's ways please the Lord He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him"—then clearly WE are the problem: for weapons against us are prospering and our enemies who have surrounded us oppress us in our own nations. The only solution is repentance—TRUE repentance before God, and He will then deliver us.
Scripture tells us in James: "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
Paul tells us in Galatians: "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap."
and Solomon tells us in Proverbs: "the curse causeless shall not come."
All this evil, injustice, oppression, tyranny, Third-world aliens, perversion, godlessness, crime, corruption, disease, etc., didn't "just happen." And it is not the outside enemy's fault. A snake can't help biting people. That is his nature. The blame lies with the people foolish enough to invite snakes into their houses, first to share it with them as honored guests, the next to make them equals, after which the snakes made themselves the head and us the tail. Who is to blame? Who let them in? Who let the travel freely, buy property, vote? Who voted to make them (at least, artificially be recognized as) "equal"...? Vessels of wrath are not to blame. God created them as such. They are fulfilling their role. What is their role? To bring us to repentance so God can destroy them and not us.
Who then is the problem? Who then is the REAL enemy? —sinful self; modern-day pharisees who think they are God's pride and joy with no reason to feel guilty and no reason to repent of anything. Those who think so are the blindest of blind and are in the most profound of spiritual delusion (and yet often, most tragically of all, are usually the ones who are self-appointed spiritual leaders: the blind leading the blind). They have no concept... no concept... let me say it again, no concept of God's Holiness. You might as well talk about quasars, quarks, and worm-holes in the universe. You might as well speak in an extinct language. The reason they have no concept of God's Holiness is because they are at worst yet unregenerate, or at the very least their minds have not been renewed (choosing to remain profoundly spiritually retarded) and view even the reading of the Scriptures (as well as their daily life) from a humanistic perspective; they conform God to the image they think God should be and view everything accordingly... and so of course (in their minds) God is tickled pink and beams with pride like the proudest father in relation to them, for in reality, their god is self; their god is one pleased with them just the way they are—why, God is so fortunate just to have them on His side. Their minds and souls are polluted by "Touched by an Angel" (t.v. series) theology, which declares, "God loves you just the way you are (no need to repent or change anything)." This is antichrist theology and completely inimical and antithetical to all of Scripture.
Each and every child of God who does not do or say something when he sees evil flaunted in his face; each time he does not oppose evolution and other mind and soul pollution... each time each child of God looks at himself and thinks that his own heart is clean, he is in delusion; we, "good Christians" are the problem. Christ showed us how the Pharisees prayed and viewed themselves; and how the penitent publican, recognizing his own shame would not so much as lift his eyes to Heaven, but prayed, and smote his breast, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Christ said only one of the two went home justified (and it wasn't the Pharisee). Peter's recognition of Christ's Holiness is what made Peter initially refuse to allow Christ to wash Peter's feet (until Christ explained to him). The prophets, more holy by far than the average person, recognized God's Holiness and their own unworthiness, bowing down face flat on the ground, saying "I am a man of unclean lips," etc. The average Christian's concept of holiness is perverse. It is anti-holiness. If Christ were to show up, the average Christian would turn his back as to a hired servant, and bark, "It's about time you finally showed up, okay, follow me and do what I say, we have work to do."
Anyone who does not believe that WE are the problem is in denial and part of the problem. If "good Christians" (who are on the endangered species list and about to become extinct, except for a very tiny remnant who "Keep the commandments of God and have the Testimony/Faith of Jesus Christ") were fulfilling their role as "salt" and "light" (both of which kill bacteria), prevailing against the gates of Hell (which puts Hell on the defensive), and exercising dominion and governing this planet as God established, then clearly we would not be the problem. But when we SURRENDERED Christendom and all civilization to the savages and antichrists, it is delusional to think that WE OURSELVES are not the problem.
Edmund Burke said, all that is required for evil to triumph over good is for good men to do nothing. What are we doing? There is nothing we can do other than repent. The Prodigal was so low, all he could do was repent. When you have spent yourself into oblivion in debt, it is delusional to think you can pull yourself out of the hole. When there are a billion communist chinese and a billion in India who are aimed against us, not to mention Mexico, Korea, all the muslim nations, and the bastard state of israeli--and on top of that our own people are so stupid, like Stockholm syndrome, they side with the enemy instead of with our own people (and many others are outright traitors)—it is delusional to think we can survive by our own power. No, it will take a "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord"—but that won't happen until we actually and truly repent (and not just during a 30-second commercial during the superbowl). God's people haven't suffered enough, haven't even truly suffered yet, because the majority occupy their time with pleasure and leisure and amusement and their hearts are far from God and their minds are far from reality of the seriousness of the situation. The are in denial (but denial itself may be too gratuitous, for that presupposes that they even care).
We forge our own chains and invite God's very Judgment, by our hardness of heart, stiffness of neck, and dullness of mind. Our delusion is self-induced, and our ignorance itself is both a choice and sin. God commanded us to meditate on His Law day and night
[—which law was not done away with, it is the moral code He expects us to follow, which has nothing to do with salvation, but obedience. Salvation is 100% through Christ to deliver us from the Judgment of not being able to perfectly keep the Law, but our imperfection does not absolve us from obedience to the whole Law of God to the best of our ability through yielding to His Agency—and the Law is not merely the 10 Commandments, which are 10 categories under which all the Law of God is organized, but the whole Law. We were called unto good works (obedience, keeping the Law, proof of love) if indeed He is in us and we are in Him. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. How do toddlers walk? On daddy's shoes, baby steps, at first, simply "walking" where daddy walks (or more properly, being carried with the illusion of walking). What is the toddler's role? To not resist and walk where daddy walks by daddy's grace and strength; until we can walk more on our own by growing in His Grace and His Strength.
If we were obedient and meditated upon God's Law day and night, we would know and keep it more. Since most "Christians" do not so meditate upon God's Law, ignorance is a choice and sin itself, and leads to a plethora of sins that God does not ignore, sweep under the carpet, or stuff in the closet. God is a meticulous bookkeeper. God is Holy and Just and demands holiness and justice. "If we sin willfully after having come to the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Thus, such coming to the knowledge of the truth is mere head knowledge, not true conversion, otherwise we would not sin willfully without repentance and make the sacrifice of Christ an unholy thing.
As I explain in my books, if a father tells a child not to play in the mud and the child does, the father disciplines him, gives him a bath; cleans him up and puts clean clothes on him; tells him he loves the child and upon the child's repentance and asking for forgiveness, forgives the child (actually, he forgives before the child asks, but the child cannot benefit from the love and forgiveness until his own heart is right) —BUT JUST BECAUSE the child is forgiven does NOT mean he is then free to run right back out and wallow in the mud again. The law is not abolished because of judgment being inflicted and forgiveness granted. Christ did not do away with the law (not even the slightest pen stroke); that is believed only by a blind reading of Scripture. Christ did away with the curse of the Law, the final judgment, eternal death, for us, if we are truly of His flock. Thus, work out your salvation in fear and trembling does not mean we earn salvation, but that we examine ourselves whether we be in the faith; look at the Scriptures and then see if our lives reflect what Scripture says, if we reflect Christ. Good works / keeping the Law of God does not save—it is proof of salvation. Where no fruit is evident the Holy Spirit is not resident.]
We forge our own chains—not the tyrants.
[There was an older movie with James Garner in it, a western. He was hired as the new sheriff. He inspected the new uncompleted "jail" and discovered that each cell had 3 walls of bricks, but nothing where the bars were supposed to be. Garner, being a quick thinker, took a paintbrush and painted a thick black line where the bars were supposed to be. Then, he took some red paint and dribbled it over the line in one spot, randomly. Before long some lawbreaker was arrested and put in the "jail cell." He laughed, and asked where the bars were. Garner replied they had not gotten there yet, but they would be installed right where that black line was and he was not to step over the line. The criminal laughed and asked, "and what's going to keep me from staying in here...?" then, he looked and saw the red "paint" and asked, "uh... what's that?" Garner calmly replied, "Oh, that's the last guy who stepped over the line." Worked like a charm. The prisoner sat in the barless cell like a choir boy. The point is. We forge our own chains and build our own prison cells in our minds. We keep ourselves prisoners for as long as we refuse to look at how God commands us to live, instead, "enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season"--not worrying about paying the bill until it's too late, not thinking of how we enslave our very children and grandchildren. Those whom the Son hath set free shall be free INDEED; but those who are freed are only those who have let go of self and the past life.]
We empower the tyrants by our irresponsibility and sin and complacency and rebellion against God. We are the prodigal. The pigs in the pig stye are not the problem. The pigs are not our captors or our oppressors. The pigs are merely secondary or pseudo-oppressors: for we are the ones who submitted ourselves to them. We ourselves are our own captors and oppressors. You reap what you sow. We are free to repent and return (and sow righteousness and therefore reap blessing) to our Father any time we want. What keeps us from doing it? "Men prefer darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." Thus, many of those "christians" who do not turn to the Father, are illegitimate (bastards, hybrids), and not his sons; not of His flock. Every tree is known by its fruit. If ye were of God or Abraham, ye would do the works thereof.
Why does God then tarry? He is separating the chaff from the wheat, and purifying the wheat... Christ will one day command the holy angels to remove every plant that God has not planted, and separate the wheat from the tares and burn the tares in unquenchable fire. What then is our responsibility now? To make our election and calling sure, to be producing the fruit (kind after kind, whether wheat, olives, or grapes) that we were designed to produce so that when the angels separate the wheat from the tares, we are don't appear tare-like and don't get gathered up and bundled with the tares to be cast into the fire. If such does occur, then clearly such were not of God. Many on that day (of Judgment) will think that they did so many wonderful things in Christ's Name—but they are unregenerate humanists masquerading as "Christians" who did what their own fallen hearts and minds determined to be more "christian" and more "holy" and "enlightened" and "progressive" and "politically correct" than what God commanded (such as their violation of God's Word by first seating the dogs at the table with the Master's children—which, in time, led to the children being shoved away from their rightful place at the Master's table, then the children contenting themselves with licking the crumbs from under the table among the dog feces; "learned helplessness").... many who will have thought that they themselves were "good christians" serving God, will hear that God viewed everything they did as "iniquity" and God will renounced them, having never known them, and command them to be delivered unto judgment.
There was a scene from the movie Lethal Weapon with Mel Gibson, in which the South Africans were depicted as evil (and no doubt many are, but not because South Africa instituted Law and order which kept them separate as God commanded; clearly in all our nations there are evil men of our own people who think of themselves as the elite, who think they are above all law and order; regardless)... the main evil South African, a wealthy man smuggling Krugerrands, had several of his henchmen who had failed come into his office, they were standing on rolled out plastic, and when asked what it was, he said, "Oh, I am remodeling the office." He then asked them about their failures, about which they simply made excuses, he coldly pulled out a gun, shot them in the head, then had the plastic rolled neatly up and away. After a time, this evil gold-lord's right hand man came into the office, when he had been unable to kill Mel Gibson and the other cop, and he was acting nervous and looking all around; the mob boss told him to stand still and asked what he was doing, he replied, "I was just making sure I was not standing on any plastic." While of course a poor example, we should at least be as fearful of offending a Holy God and DAILY looking in His Word to see what He requires of us, not merely dismissing it all thinking that it does not matter and that Christ's blood covers all. It does not cover those who are not His, who are so deluded into thinking they can live lawlessly, spurning His Grace. Like the man forgiven a billion dollar debt and released from prison, who then grabbed some poor soul by the throat who owed him a few pennies, and cast him mercilessly into prison. When the king who forgave him heard it he was outraged and cast him back into prison until he paid the last farthing (thus, forever). This parable, like all examples, is imperfect; it cannot represent the whole of reality truly, or it would not be a parable but reality. However, it does portray certain thought. In reality, the man who owed a billion dollars was not actually "freed" from prison, but merely let out to see what he would do; if he forgave others, then he himself was truly forgiven and freed. If he himself showed no mercy but was a tyrant, well, he was imprisoned by his very nature and was never really freed; God was just proving to him that because of his very nature, he was not worthy of forgiveness.
This is far more than the power of positive thinking or "as if" behaviour. Of course, there are counterfeits who can go through the motions; but God is not fooled. Rend your hearts and not (merely) your garments. Love (obey) in deeds, not (merely) in words. If Christ is truly in us, we will show His fruit; if He is truly in us it is impossible for Christ not to shine through us (even as Moses' face shone with such radiance after being in God's Presence, that the people were afraid to even face Moses without Moses veiling his face!). We are supposed to be His ambassadors. Thus, we are supposed to represent Him, not ourselves. We must do what He wants, speak His words, etc. Most Christians think they are their own moral "free agents" and on a pleasure cruise, sight-seeing tour. They are not doing His Works (possible evidence He is not truly in them) and therefore, they may hear "I never knew you." It then behooves us, by the measure of grace given to us, to walk as He walked and make sure our calling (or, let our lives show the evidence that we are indeed of the called, the elect).
Love = obedience = keeping the whole law = good works. Not "Smorgasbord Theology" (pick and choose which you want to keep, which "suit you" or the ones you like, and throw the rest away as unwanted garbage). Psalm 19 and 119 are clear, as is Paul, that the law is good—all of it. God is Perfect. His Law is perfect. We are what is imperfect. The solution is not to throw away that which is perfect to glorify that which is imperfect.
[—which is what evil society does, by abolishing all morality, intelligence via dumbing down, true heritage and culture, purity, because others either cannot have what we have, or because they choose evil instead; J. Hawes said, "Those who disparage a good heritage are usually those who have none of their own"—our race and culture and religion are simply supposed to die out to make others feel better about themselves; this is the harlot church and end-time Babylon, "confusion by mixing." However the job of the remnant is to survive. The job of the remnant is to occupy till I come; not surrender.]
The solution is for us imperfect creatures to get in line with what God commanded, to the best of our ability, repenting for our failure, and drawing on the strength of Christ to be more and more conformed to HIS IMAGE (in which we were created) daily, by growing in grace.
"18My little children, let us not [merely] love in word, neither [merely] in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." (I John 3)
[How do we love in deed and truth? "11Even a child is known by his doings [not his "sayings"], whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." (Proverbs20) Love is proved by obedience; good works; doing what is right.]
"8This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. 9But in vain [worthlessly, to no purpose] they do worship Me, teaching for [instead of My] Doctrines the commandments of men [their own faulty concepts of right and wrong and morality and holiness]." (Matthew 15) (also Isaiah 29:13)
"5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6)
[HOW do we love the Lord? —by sitting with legs folded on the ground and hugging ourselves so tightly to the point of herniation, and grunting out "I love You this much God!!!" No, love is shown by obedience, the next passage tells us how this love is demonstrated—]
"6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
[The love in our hearts if, it is true love, is revealed by His Law in our hearts and our obedience to it in letter and in spirit.]
"6And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. 8And thou shalt return and obey the Voice of the LORD, and do all His Commandments which I command thee this day. 9And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers: 10If thou shalt hearken unto the Voice of the LORD thy God, to keep His Commandments and His Statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11For this Commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off." (Deuteronomy 30)
Christ confirmed this:
"37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the First and Great Commandment. 39And the Second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the prophets." (Matthew 22) (also Luke 12:30ff.; Luke 10:37ff.)
[If we truly love God and our neighbor (kinsman), we will not sin against either: we will not worship other gods or allow them in our land (God is not "tolerant" and "tolerance" of what He commanded against, is sin itself); we will not steal from or lie in court against our kinsman, we will not assault or beat or rape our kinsmen—or allow others to do it; or allow justice to be perverted. When the wicked rule the people mourn and there is no justice in the land; only godlessness, which is judgment for not doing what is right.
On these 2 (greater categories of) Laws (truly loving God and truly loving our neighbor-kinsman) the ENTIRE LAW OF GOD HAS ITS FOUNDATION—its very purpose and fulfillment. God laid the foundation (and He did so in and on stone, not on a foundation of shifting sands and a house made out of cardboard)... and He expects us TO BUILD on that foundation, according to the design He gave us in His Word, utilizing the tools (grace, strength, wisdom of the Spirit of Christ) that He gave us, so we can be fitly framed and thoroughly furnished unto all good works (obedience)—to God and our neighbor kinsmen (not those God commanded us to be separate from: let the dead bury the dead; the world cares for its own).]
"24And he that keepeth His Commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." (I John 3)
[The abiding Spirit empowers us and gives us the desire to obey God's Law. "Faith without works is dead." "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." "Without Faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." How do we diligently seek God? By doing what He commanded (turning neither to the right hand or the left). How do we do that? "Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." What are the lusts of the flesh? everything that is a violation of God's Law. There is no other morality.]
"13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His Commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12)
"3For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous." (I John 5)
[Can it get any clearer than that?]
"15If ye love Me, keep My Commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; " (John 14)
[Why did He promise to give us the Holy Spirit? ("Comforter" means, "along side one," paraclete)... to enable us to keep the Law of God and do that which is pleasing in His Sight. How? Because if the Holy Spirit is in us, He will lead us into all truth as we are obedient and meditating upon God's Law day and night, and as we walk in the Spirit, we will not violate the law, because He will give us a new heart of flesh and take away our stony heart that rebels against obedience to the law of God, for the carnal mind does not subject itself (is not in submission) to the Law of God, neither can it (but that does not absolve it of its guilt in not being in submission). The carnal man, unregenerate, is dead in sin, and cannot desire or even will to do good, much less do it. The Word of God is spiritual and must be spiritually discerned and that is only possible by being led of the Spirit into all truth. Those who think God's law was done away with are in delusion. If they persist in their delusion after the truth has been revealed, then that shows deadness of heart, a heart of stone: dead toward God; though maybe full of "man's" religion (substitute for God, in which humanists fancy that they are serving God by keeping pagan holidays and squeezing the baby Jesus in there somewhere, by supporting evil government thinking that is what pleases God, by mixing with the world and casting pearls before swine, by false evangelism and by calling good evil and evil good, by tolerating evil, allowing it to be forced upon us, etc.).]
"6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [merely] in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7)
[It is the CURSE of the Law (judgment: death) from which we have delivered. The Law is life and health and peace. Christ did not deliver us from God's Holiness or moral code, but from our cursed condition and the judgment that was upon us. Tell me, HOW can one keep the spirit of the law without keeping the letter also? How can I keep the "spirit" of the law of not committing murder or adultery, if I actually commit murder and adultery physically? You cannot keep the spirit without keeping the letter. However, you can keep the letter without keeping the spirit. Like the Pharisees, you can see how close you can get to the line separating obedience and disobedience. You can measure out your smallest garden herbs to make sure you do not give God one leaf above his required 10%--or you can give joyfully knowing God has promised 100-fold return. You can go through the motions because they are demanded, but your heart is not in it and if you didn't have to you would not.
Most Christians suffer from spiritual dementia or spiritual Alzheimer's (or at the very least, what I call "perplexia") —being so confused they cannot follow the simply plot of a simple story, nor keep the characters or their roles straight; inanely imagining each chapter begins an entirely new story as if all the previous books and chapters never existed. No wonder they are so confused, they have never been transformed by the renewing of their minds. They are still carnal, if not utterly reprobate.]
Christ did not abolish the Law, He took it to a higher level.
"17Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. .... 27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. " (Matthew 5)
[Is ALL "fulfilled"...? Here, we see, keeping the Law has nothing to do with salvation; that is through faith in Christ. Keeping the Law is for obedience, for the benefits for which the Law was given, to please our Father, to set us apart as His people, and for placement (not entrance itself) in the Kingdom. How can our (actual) righteousness exceed the (perceived, phony) "righteosness" of the Pharisees...? —only by being clothed in the Righteousness of Christ, when we walk in the Spirit, exercise the Mind of Christ and put on Christ. He is the Vine; we are the branch: only as we abide in Him can we bring forth much and good fruit (works, obedience), which we were ordained to bring forth. Every father wants his children to be obedient; but to what...? to the law of the man in the house across the street? to anyone they meet along the road? To HIS law. They are HIS children; they are to obey His Law. Obeying the father's law does not "make" them children of their father; that is naturally by birth by the will of the father; obeying the law establishes them as honorable sons.}
"3And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His Commandments. 4He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning." (I John 2)
[By "know" Him, it implies a close, personal, intimate knowledge--love even. It shows familial relation; not merely knowing about or knowing casually; but knowing with relation and obligation and devotion. A person may recognize the name of an author, like Solzhenitsyn and thus "know" him in this relatively superficial, even "handicapped, nearly crippled" meaning of knowing. If one has read a little of his works; he knows him some. If he has read all his works: studied them, devoured them, he knows his mind well. But if he is a family member or very close friend, he knows him personally. However, there is another twist, imagine if Solzhenitsyn's son had never ready a single word of his father's works. Not only would that be a supreme insult, but it would be a clear indicator that he does not truly know the mind of his father and that is a tragedy, for the Hebrew word "son" (beyn) means "a builder of the family name." HOW can one build upon the legacy of his father if he does not even know his father's mind? He cannot; thus he builds in vain. Love is perfected in obedience, even as Christ said,
"27My sheep hear My Voice [Word], and I know them, and they follow [obey] Me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand. 29My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s Hand. 30I and my Father are One." (John 10)
{Obedience does not make them His sheep, nor earn their salvation. They are His sheep because He chose them and the Father gave them to Him (made them by design to be His sheep). He gives unto them eternal life because they are His sheep. Salvation is not established by works, neither maintained by works, but by the Grace of God.}
"14We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love [merely] in word, neither [merely] in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. .... 22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His Commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His Sight. 23And this is His Commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us Commandment. 24And he that keepeth His Commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." (I John 3)
[David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear [grant] my prayers. Iniquity is one's heart if he with impunity violates God's Law. "9He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (Proverbs 28) Keeping God's Law and being obedient children is required for prayers to be answered. What is the commandment He gave us about loving our kinsmen? by obeying the Law and not violating it by sinning against God or our kinsmen (often bringing judgment on all if there is sin in the camp). How do we know if God's Spirit is in us—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit results in obedience. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If we are of God and God is in us, we will reflect the Light of the Father of Lights in Whose Image we were created. HIS IMAGE, not our own vain imaginations. HIS LAW, not what we modernly think is "more progressive and humane and politically correct."]
Yahweh declared, "Ye shall have no gods other than Me."
"4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4)
"15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the Will of God abideth for ever.
"24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6)
"My Glory will I not give to another, neither My Praise to graven images. " (Isaiah 42:8)
"I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, " (Exodus 20:5)
[God can be jealous, because He is Sovereign. He knows what is best, He commanded it and wants what is best for us out of love and by right. He owns us. It is no sin for husband to be jealous of the love and attention of his wife. It is no sin for a father to be jealous of the love and attention of his children (rather than their calling some other man father).
Divided loyalty in any area, God considers adultery and idolatry, in addition to disobedience / sin.]
Choose ye this day. The curse causeless shall not come.
"6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." (Hosea 4:6)
"29But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." (Deuteronomy 4)
"13And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. 14And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." (Jeremiah 29)
"38If they return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the House which I have built for Thy Name: 39Then hear Thou from the Heavens, even from Thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Thy people which have sinned against Thee. " (II Chronicles 6)
"7And I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart." (Jeremiah 24)
"14If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (II Chronicles 7)
"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is impossible that a nation of infidels or idolaters should be a nation of freemen. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence of justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence of fundamental principles." —Thomas Jefferson
"There is no longer room for hope. If we wish to be free, we must fight! .... we shall not fight alone. God presides over the destinies of nations, and will raise up friends for us. The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.... Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" —Patrick Henry
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." —Samuel Adams (speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776)
"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." —Benjamin Franklin
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." —John Adams
"On the day when you again allow abominable men to confiscate your freedom, your money, your lives, your private property, your manhood and your sacred honor, in the name of "security" or "national emergency" you will die, and never again shall you be free. If plotters again destroy your Republic, they will do it by your greedy and ignorant assent, by your disregard of your neighbors' rights, by your apathy and your stupidity. We were brought to the brink of universal death and darkness because we had become that most contemptible of people — an angerless one. Keep alive and vivid all your righteous anger against traitors, against those who would abrogate your Constitution, against those who would lead you to wars with false slogans and cunning appeals to your patriotism." —Taylor Caldwell, "The Devil's Advocate"(1952); pp. 332 - 338.
"When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, the battle is your calling, and peace has become sin. You must at the price of dearest peace lay your conviction bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith." —The great Dutch theologian, statesman, journalist, and Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1901-1905) Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920)
"ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable off enders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen." (General Confession from The Book of Common Prayer, 1928)
Back when our nation was truly Christian (before the subverters, the imposters took over), National Days of Prayer and Fasting were established, as well as Thanksgiving Proclamations to God, and National Days of Repentance. Why no revival? The elect are nearly extinct. Except God draw the days of tribulation short, not even the elect will survive. National Repentance will not come without individual repentance, prayer, fasting, and crying out to God to pour out His Holy Spirit without Whom we CANNOT and WILL NOT repent.
A Mighty Fortress
Herr Doktor Martin Luther
1. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevaling. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
2. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
3. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
4. That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours, thru him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill; God's truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever.
