Jesus spoke many parables. A parable is defined as a story, the object of which is to learn a spiritual lesson. This narrative is of a physical story, but the hearer is to make the analogy to the spiritual lesson. Jesus used it often in a crafty way; He wanted to point out the deficiencies of the Jewish spiritual leaders without pointing His finger directly at them. In their guilt, they knew He was talking of them, but they couldn’t get too enraged to take His life without real proof. I think parables added some time He was allowed to speak freely; He was “lucky” to have lasted over 3 years before they had Him silenced --but only for a little while, right?
One group of parables is called Kingdom parables. When you read them over, you see three basic themes dominate them. We can learn much, and they have to do with how to get to heaven—so let’s study on.
Theme #1: God’s Kingdom People Would Start Out Tiny, then Grow in Number Around the World
Demonstrated In: Mustard Seed, Matthew 13:31-32
Leaven, Matthew 13:33
Example: Matthew 13:31-32: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
A mustard seed is really tiny. Yet it becomes a tree. And a small amount of leaven will ferment the whole loaf. These parables are also a prophecy, and of course that prophecy has come to glorious truth. There are believers all over the globe (as I have found!).
There is one possible argument that you could make about this parable: How do you reconcile the huge number of believers here with Jesus’ comments in Matthew 7:13:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So, the argument goes, which is it? A huge number, or few? Well, it could be both. It has been agreed upon by several scientists who should know that 100 billion people have ever lived. As my earlier blog (Most Americans Are Not Saved) points out, “few” is 6-7%. But 7% of that is 7 billion. That’s “few” of everybody—but a lot of people, too.
But it could also be argued that the number of initial believers is huge, much greater than the number who get in heaven at final judgment. (See another blog on that, or I will explain it in this blog next.)
Theme #2: Many Who Start Out As Believers Get Rejected in Final Judgment
This is very important. In at least three of these parables listed below, Jesus makes it crystal clear why the “believers” get rejected. They were not rejected because “they were not saved to begin with,” or “they trusted in their own righteousness vs. God’s imputed righteousness.” For our soul’s sake, let’s seek the real reason why they were rejected, so we can avoid such tragedy.
Demonstated in:Vine, John 15:1-10
Sower, Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23
Wedding feast, Matthew 22:1-14
Five foolish and five wise virgins, Matthew 25:1-13
The faithful and wise servant, Matthew 24:45-51
Talents, Matthew 25:14-28
Separating the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:31-46
Houses built on the Rock and Sand, Matthew 7:21-27
Example #1: John 15:1-10: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
This is some of the best writing in the New Testament, aside from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is the Vine; some of us are the branches. True, these verses don’t say how to get on the Vine in the first place, the initial salvation (it takes repentance and faith, explained elsewhere in Scripture), but they do a wonderful job of explaining the much-ignored path to final salvation. You need both (initial and final) to get to heaven. As these verses clearly show, we must abide in Christ to bear fruit. We must bear fruit for final salvation. If we don’t abide in Christ, we are “cast out,” we are “withered,” we are thrown into the fire, and we burn. An obvious reference to hell. The word “abide,” in the Greek, is defined as “continue, remain, tarry.” It suggests a relationship of bonding which we seek with our Savior, in gratitude for His saving us from hell. We want to find out and obey His commandments, His commandments of love, the best path for our life. Beside the requirement to obey His commandments, we must produce fruit. The word “fruit” might be best explained by Galatians 5:22-24:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
This concept of initial and final salvation is revolutionary, it seems, except in Scripture, where it is set forth plainly (see my blog, “Initial and Final Salvation.”) Protestant Reformers like Luther didn’t get it; he spent most of his time trying to be the opposite of the Catholics. If they said “works,” he had to say “grace.” I don’t deny grace. It is all grace for God to pay any attention to us sinful creatures. But the truth is, Catholics distorted their idea of works (they say a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just say your rosary, attend Mass, Confession, etc). And Protestant Reformers distorted grace (a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just accept Him, and you are saved forever, through His unconditional grace, whether you sin little or a lot, hey, we all have to sin). The real truth is, a relationship with Christ IS necessary to be saved, as Scripture clearly points out. That relationship will start out weak, of course, but then it bears a little fruit, gets pruned, starts to grow more each year. We gradually learn to love the world less, and Him more.
Example #2: Matthew 25:31-46: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
So the issue for final salvation is not a theological debate about grace, but simply, “What did you do with your life? Did you love your fellow man? Did you care for the poor?” Caring for the poor, and loving, being merciful and forgiving, are commandments Jesus gave frequently.
Example #3: Matthew 7:21-27: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
As anyone can read, hearing His commandments and DOING them is wise and keeps our spiritual house together; hearing and NOT DOING, no matter how much “service” you do to impress people, you are headed for spiritual collapse. We must “do the will” of His Father. It’s the same theme: Having been saved, doing His commandments gets you on God’s “good side” in judgment. Saying a prayer and accepting Him, no matter how sincere, might get you initial salvation; but follow through is necessary. It will mean nothing if you don’t persevere in Him as well. Living your life as you wish and ignoring God’s desire for relationship and His will for you puts you back on the road to hell.
For a little more proof, I cite John 5:28-29:
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
This is what Jesus preached. Maybe it’s different from what you hear at church? Are we going to twist the obvious meaning of this verse? It looks clear: “Doing good” gets you final salvation: the resurrection of life. (PS: Don’t forget initial salvation—you won’t produce fruit without His Spirit’s guidance, abiding in Him). If this seems to disagree with what Paul says about ignoring the law (especially in Romans and Galatians), you need to keep context in view: Paul was in the synagogue a lot, and dealing with new Jewish believers. Many of them were Judaizers—they wanted us to keep all their laws to be saved. “Let’s get all the male believers circumcised, too,” they said. “They have to follow the law of Moses to be saved.” That’s what Paul couldn’t stomach. He didn’t want us to just follow laws; he wanted us to have a relationship with Jesus. (I have other blogs on “Paul vs. James” on this subject).
Theme #3: God’s Kingdom People Would Have Non-Believers Among Them; Let God Weed Them Out at Final Judgment
Demonstrated in: Wheat and Weeds (tares), Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43
Dragnet, Matthew 13:47-50
Example: Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”…(ed, now speaking only to disciples) “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
In His kingdom, largely expressed through the church, there will be wheat and weeds together. We sometimes can’t tell who is a genuine Christian, though. That’s all right; the angels will pull out “those who practice lawlessness.” I believe that phrase means those people who publicly preach that obedience to His commandments, making Him Lord of your life, is not necessary. They are saying, “If you accepted Him, it’s possible not to worry about His law; you are unconditionally saved.” They are practicing lawlessness with that false gospel. Likewise those who made a profession of Christ, thought they had heaven “locked in,” and lived without thinking about what Christ wanted for them, or pay any attention to His laws. They are not abiding in Christ; they are living without laws--lawless.
Jesus is saying, further, that He doesn’t want concerned believers to spend all of our time examining other church member’s lives to see if we think they’re still saved, and then tossing out those who don’t meet our qualifications. Things like Spanish Inquisitions or Salem witch trials usually come of that. In other Scriptures, Jesus counsels against judging others. The word is: Let Him decide in the last days. Let’s love the foot-draggers among us and build His church missions accordingly. It may go slower, but it’s a good test of love. I’m not saying, forget church discipline. There are many good Scriptures on that score. But, what if the church discipline goes awry? If things get like the late Middle Ages, with the church married to the State, with wicked people running the show, with adulterous kings and bishops, and the wrong people getting disciplined, that might be a time to break away from that denomination completely.
Well, think awhile on these important parables. Don’t twist them to meet your previous theology. Don’t ignore them, thinking them too hard to understand with their couched language. As you can see above, Jesus’ language is really quite clear. We often just don’t like what He’s saying.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot CD, “Kingdom Parables,” Scroll Publishing.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The Nation's Abortions Have Consequences
I want to tell you a Bible story that will illustrate how God feels about abortion. Consider this: America has not retracted one bit from the disastrous Roe v Wade decision, but we are actually becoming accustomed to the terrible status quo. And by status quo, I mean we allow over one million babies to be killed in the U.S. every year. We tinker with abortion by restricting it a bit, but we’re still not about shutting it down. I read about how Asians around the world are still memorializing the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed 228,000 people. An astounding number. If you do 260 more just like it, you finally get close to the number of babies murdered through abortion in the U.S. since Roe (1973) was enacted, through today. That’s 60 million little lives lost. Where is our sorrow?
Our story begins with Jewish King Ahab, who is only famous to most people because his wife was Jezebel. But he has his own tale of evil. He adopted many religious practices from the Canaanites. The Canaanites were so evil that God threw them out of the land and told Israel not to leave a single soul breathing. That may seem unjust--but let me tell you just one of their worship practices, called the teraphim (Ahab did not partake of this, as far as we know).
Teraphim is ancestor-worship. When they wanted to zealously follow it, they would take the first-born male of their family and cut off his head. (I'm saying he was perfectly healthy when they decided to do that). The hair of the head would be removed, and then the head would be salted and oiled, thus retaining the son's features. The head was supposed to retain contact with the departed spirit. So, with the proper ritual, the mummified head could serve as a conduit to the spirit world, passing information between a family and their ancestor gods. The book of Jasher (a reliable book, mentioned in Joshua 10:13) records the following steps:
…taking a small tablet of copper…and writing the name upon it (ed., of the person you desire to contact), and placing the tablet under his tongue and putting the skull in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it. And at the time when they bow down to it, it spoke to them in all matters that they ask of it…
This, by the way, changed my opinion of ancestor worship, from bad to worse. This is demonology. It also strengthens my understanding of why God would initiate such a severe judgment on the Canaanites—He is a holy God, and never tolerates killing the innocents without passing severe judgment.
Let’s take another look at another unspeakable “religious” practice of theirs—killing children as a sacrifice offering. This was in honor of the god Molech, a god of Baal. This is where Ahab was involved. Here is II Chronicles 28:3 about his “religious” worship:
He (Ahab) burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
This horrific act seems beyond understanding. Why did Ahab do it? Well, maybe it was due to some other sexual “benefits” of Baal and Molech worship that might outweigh losing a son. (It helped if you had many wives and many sons; the pain of losing one was lessened). The religion included sex rituals. That included, would you believe, sodomy and prostitution in religious liturgy, and adultery with swapping wives and fornication with other men’s virgin daughters.
Unfortunately a later Jewish king, Manasseh, did the same shocking thing. But he did even worse: he promoted it! Many people followed his lead. From II Kings 21:11:
“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols)
More on Manasseh’s sin, II Chronicles 33:2-7:
But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD…5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God…
Unbelievable that he would do this in God’s house. Now in case you don’t know it, the “host of heaven” that he worshipped refers to stars and constellations. Studying them for scientific purposes is fine (in fact, I have a blog that does that), but seeking the future or "advice" from them is another story. God is totally against mediums and spiritists, as you see in Deuteronomy 18:9-14:
“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
As you can see, making your children “pass through the fire,” a sacrifice murder of your own child (similar to abortion, my main point), was mentioned as early as Deuteronomy. This practice, and God’s hatred of it, had been known a long time. So these two kings, Ahab and Manasseh, were in direct violation of a plain command of God.
But let’s get back to our story. Manasseh’s sin (promoting it to the people, and doing it in God's house) was so great in the eyes of God that He promised His anger could not be quenched. The sad words are in II Kings 21:12-15, right next to verses above:
… therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 … I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
What was Manasseh’s great sin that deserved such extreme judgment? In the next verse:
Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
It was the innocent blood. Blood of little children. "From one end" of Jerusalem "to another" meant lots of people followed his lead. Now Jesus loves little children. How was Manasseh’s sin greater than Ahab, so that Ahab wasn’t threatened with this ultimate calamity? I suspect because, as the verse above says, “by which he (Manasseh) made Judah sin.” He publicized it, and lots of people followed. So the murder of the innocents was that much greater. (But I suspect it doesn’t total America’s sin thus far, 60 million souls!)
Now you expect judgment, and if there is repentance, God is OK again, right? Well, now you’re going to see a part of God you don’t want to see.
We’ve all heard about how Jonah, after being burped out of a big fish, preached to the vicious Assyrians, you heard about their repentance—and how God repented of His promise of judgment on them and rolled it back. Great story about God’s mercy. Yes, we’ve all heard of the Jonah story, and there are many kids’ books about it. But did you know that Manasseh repented, and had a great reformation? Have you ever heard what happened after that? Well, did you ever hear about how his grandson Josiah had the greatest revival in human history? What, you’ve never heard that one? Not surprising, considering God’s reaction to this wonderful repentance is “unexpected.” Let me warn you: We all just need to know more about God. We have imagined His mercy is unending— but for a nation, that might not be a true image. Kind of important since He has the keys to nation's judgment.
First, Manasseh’s judgment and repentance. From II Chronicles 33:11-16:
And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. 14 After this he (Manasseh)…took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.
So, you say, the land was forgiven, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? Uh, no…He died right after that. Then there was a short reign of his son, who was killed. Then his grandson Josiah comes to power. During his reign, the priests find the buried Book of the Law, blew the dust off, and read it to him. He tore his clothes in distress, and urged his aides to seek a prophetess (not the same as a medium, this person was touched by God and had a 100% rate of prophecies that came true). II Kings 22:13 records Josiah's great words:
“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Later, he does a “clean-up” operation like his grandfather, only better; and this is what joyous Scriptures record, from II Kings 23:1-10:
Now the king (Josiah) sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah,[a] and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.6 And he brought out the wooden image[c] from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons[d] that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate… 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.
The “high places,” in case you’re wondering, based on other Scriptures, seem to be where the religious prostitutes were. He executed the priests of the high places, by the way. And he removed those who consulted mediums and spiritists. Josiah goes farther than his repentant grandfather, because and he goes out of his way to defile the worship places of false gods—and because he gets the populace involved with making a covenant to God. The main thing is that he stopped the sacrifice killing of children.
He goes even further yet. In honor of religious holidays that he’d just heard about, he institutes a Passover festival (memorializing God’s miracles which saved them from Egypt). We read this joyous event in II Chronicles 35:18:
There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
All in all, he was praised as a wonderful king—he gets higher praise than King David. Think about that! From II Kings 23:25:
Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
So, you say, God forgave the land, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? If God could give the vicious Assyrians a break with Jonah, He could give His favorites, the “apple of His eye,” a break, right? Uh….no. Only five verses after the great Passover festival, only four verses after the verses recording the reformation above, Josiah was simply…dead. Explanation? From II Kings 23:26:
Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
So, great reformation and the greatest revival in history could not bring forgiveness. I remind you, what were the “provocations” that were unable to save Jerusalem? Killing the innocents.
Immediately after Josiah, it turns out that the Israeli kings, and soon the land, too, are in the hand of their enemies. You can see why this story is not in kids’ books, and not well-known. We don’t like stories with a bad ending. But kill the innocent—and your country gets a bad ending. Shouldn’t we expect the same for the U.S.--who has not even repented? A country who seems to be satisfied with the status quo of killing a million innocents a year?
Now if any of my readers out there had an abortion, or encouraged one, that's a different subject than a country. We’re talking about your soul. You will have different consequences than Israel if you repent. Murder will, indeed, get you to hell—unless you repent and begin living your life for Christ, who came to die to pay for your sin. Become a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” as Romans 12:1 puts it. It’s never too late to confess and begin to have guilt-free living.
Acknowledgement: Ancient Paganism, Ken Johnson
Our story begins with Jewish King Ahab, who is only famous to most people because his wife was Jezebel. But he has his own tale of evil. He adopted many religious practices from the Canaanites. The Canaanites were so evil that God threw them out of the land and told Israel not to leave a single soul breathing. That may seem unjust--but let me tell you just one of their worship practices, called the teraphim (Ahab did not partake of this, as far as we know).
Teraphim is ancestor-worship. When they wanted to zealously follow it, they would take the first-born male of their family and cut off his head. (I'm saying he was perfectly healthy when they decided to do that). The hair of the head would be removed, and then the head would be salted and oiled, thus retaining the son's features. The head was supposed to retain contact with the departed spirit. So, with the proper ritual, the mummified head could serve as a conduit to the spirit world, passing information between a family and their ancestor gods. The book of Jasher (a reliable book, mentioned in Joshua 10:13) records the following steps:
…taking a small tablet of copper…and writing the name upon it (ed., of the person you desire to contact), and placing the tablet under his tongue and putting the skull in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it. And at the time when they bow down to it, it spoke to them in all matters that they ask of it…
This, by the way, changed my opinion of ancestor worship, from bad to worse. This is demonology. It also strengthens my understanding of why God would initiate such a severe judgment on the Canaanites—He is a holy God, and never tolerates killing the innocents without passing severe judgment.
Let’s take another look at another unspeakable “religious” practice of theirs—killing children as a sacrifice offering. This was in honor of the god Molech, a god of Baal. This is where Ahab was involved. Here is II Chronicles 28:3 about his “religious” worship:
He (Ahab) burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
This horrific act seems beyond understanding. Why did Ahab do it? Well, maybe it was due to some other sexual “benefits” of Baal and Molech worship that might outweigh losing a son. (It helped if you had many wives and many sons; the pain of losing one was lessened). The religion included sex rituals. That included, would you believe, sodomy and prostitution in religious liturgy, and adultery with swapping wives and fornication with other men’s virgin daughters.
Unfortunately a later Jewish king, Manasseh, did the same shocking thing. But he did even worse: he promoted it! Many people followed his lead. From II Kings 21:11:
“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols)
More on Manasseh’s sin, II Chronicles 33:2-7:
But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD…5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God…
Unbelievable that he would do this in God’s house. Now in case you don’t know it, the “host of heaven” that he worshipped refers to stars and constellations. Studying them for scientific purposes is fine (in fact, I have a blog that does that), but seeking the future or "advice" from them is another story. God is totally against mediums and spiritists, as you see in Deuteronomy 18:9-14:
“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
As you can see, making your children “pass through the fire,” a sacrifice murder of your own child (similar to abortion, my main point), was mentioned as early as Deuteronomy. This practice, and God’s hatred of it, had been known a long time. So these two kings, Ahab and Manasseh, were in direct violation of a plain command of God.
But let’s get back to our story. Manasseh’s sin (promoting it to the people, and doing it in God's house) was so great in the eyes of God that He promised His anger could not be quenched. The sad words are in II Kings 21:12-15, right next to verses above:
… therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 … I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
What was Manasseh’s great sin that deserved such extreme judgment? In the next verse:
Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
It was the innocent blood. Blood of little children. "From one end" of Jerusalem "to another" meant lots of people followed his lead. Now Jesus loves little children. How was Manasseh’s sin greater than Ahab, so that Ahab wasn’t threatened with this ultimate calamity? I suspect because, as the verse above says, “by which he (Manasseh) made Judah sin.” He publicized it, and lots of people followed. So the murder of the innocents was that much greater. (But I suspect it doesn’t total America’s sin thus far, 60 million souls!)
Now you expect judgment, and if there is repentance, God is OK again, right? Well, now you’re going to see a part of God you don’t want to see.
We’ve all heard about how Jonah, after being burped out of a big fish, preached to the vicious Assyrians, you heard about their repentance—and how God repented of His promise of judgment on them and rolled it back. Great story about God’s mercy. Yes, we’ve all heard of the Jonah story, and there are many kids’ books about it. But did you know that Manasseh repented, and had a great reformation? Have you ever heard what happened after that? Well, did you ever hear about how his grandson Josiah had the greatest revival in human history? What, you’ve never heard that one? Not surprising, considering God’s reaction to this wonderful repentance is “unexpected.” Let me warn you: We all just need to know more about God. We have imagined His mercy is unending— but for a nation, that might not be a true image. Kind of important since He has the keys to nation's judgment.
First, Manasseh’s judgment and repentance. From II Chronicles 33:11-16:
And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. 14 After this he (Manasseh)…took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.
So, you say, the land was forgiven, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? Uh, no…He died right after that. Then there was a short reign of his son, who was killed. Then his grandson Josiah comes to power. During his reign, the priests find the buried Book of the Law, blew the dust off, and read it to him. He tore his clothes in distress, and urged his aides to seek a prophetess (not the same as a medium, this person was touched by God and had a 100% rate of prophecies that came true). II Kings 22:13 records Josiah's great words:
“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Later, he does a “clean-up” operation like his grandfather, only better; and this is what joyous Scriptures record, from II Kings 23:1-10:
Now the king (Josiah) sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah,[a] and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.6 And he brought out the wooden image[c] from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons[d] that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate… 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.
The “high places,” in case you’re wondering, based on other Scriptures, seem to be where the religious prostitutes were. He executed the priests of the high places, by the way. And he removed those who consulted mediums and spiritists. Josiah goes farther than his repentant grandfather, because and he goes out of his way to defile the worship places of false gods—and because he gets the populace involved with making a covenant to God. The main thing is that he stopped the sacrifice killing of children.
He goes even further yet. In honor of religious holidays that he’d just heard about, he institutes a Passover festival (memorializing God’s miracles which saved them from Egypt). We read this joyous event in II Chronicles 35:18:
There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
All in all, he was praised as a wonderful king—he gets higher praise than King David. Think about that! From II Kings 23:25:
Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
So, you say, God forgave the land, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? If God could give the vicious Assyrians a break with Jonah, He could give His favorites, the “apple of His eye,” a break, right? Uh….no. Only five verses after the great Passover festival, only four verses after the verses recording the reformation above, Josiah was simply…dead. Explanation? From II Kings 23:26:
Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
So, great reformation and the greatest revival in history could not bring forgiveness. I remind you, what were the “provocations” that were unable to save Jerusalem? Killing the innocents.
Immediately after Josiah, it turns out that the Israeli kings, and soon the land, too, are in the hand of their enemies. You can see why this story is not in kids’ books, and not well-known. We don’t like stories with a bad ending. But kill the innocent—and your country gets a bad ending. Shouldn’t we expect the same for the U.S.--who has not even repented? A country who seems to be satisfied with the status quo of killing a million innocents a year?
Now if any of my readers out there had an abortion, or encouraged one, that's a different subject than a country. We’re talking about your soul. You will have different consequences than Israel if you repent. Murder will, indeed, get you to hell—unless you repent and begin living your life for Christ, who came to die to pay for your sin. Become a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” as Romans 12:1 puts it. It’s never too late to confess and begin to have guilt-free living.
Acknowledgement: Ancient Paganism, Ken Johnson
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
When Persecution Comes
I’m summarizing a great CD by David Bercot, about the possible upcoming persecution by the U.S. government against its Christian citizens, those who “live out” the Bible. He begins by saying, there are two types of persecution: primary and secondary. Both are serious, in terms of possible death or imprisonment. Primary is defined as where the intent of a law is to outlaw Christianity itself, or to force everyone to worship another religion. The ancient Roman Empire made Christianity illegal around 90 AD, but thankfully, it was only enforced sporadically. Plus, Rome required everyone to believe in the divinity of Caesar. Today, primary persecution is practiced in North Korea, and in various sections of Near East countries under Islamic rule.
In secondary persecution, the intent is not necessarily to persecute Christians; but the law would require us to do something or say something that would violate Christ’s teachings. An example would be a conscription law requiring military service, which some Christians throughout the world would not do, maintaining that Jesus’ commands regarding the enemy are sort of the opposite of killing him. Another example was where there were state churches established by the Catholic Church in the middle ages, and everyone was required to be a member, participating in its sacraments, thus acceding to all its doctrines. Many Waldensians, a serious Christian protesting group, went through the motions of attending Catholic services, but then had private meetings of their own. But other Waldensians still saw this as bowing to Rome, refused to do so, and came under severe persecution. In the end, all the Waldensians were declared heretical by Rome in 1215, nearly all killed in the 17th century, and survive today in small groups in Italy, Germany, the U.S., Argentina, and Uruguay.
Mr. Bercot doesn’t feel that the U.S. Christians will face primary persecution in the next 20-30 years (barring a possible Tribulation period), but considering how government can quickly and radically change, it’s better to be prepared now as to what to do if it does.
But he does believe that secondary persecution in the U.S. is more likely, as more laws create a conflict between U.S. government requirements and our Christian faith. When to rebel is sometimes uncertain, and Mr. Bercot sides with caution. Every time some anti-moral law is passed (abortion, for instance), it’s easy to feel rebellious. But remember, our first rule is to follow God’s Word in Romans 13:1-7:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Remember that Paul is writing during the time of one of the most violent governments in history, one that shortly would begin throwing Christians to the lions. Yet he doesn’t advocate open rebellion. So that means, for us: We obey the laws, period,
UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a law, or principle, of Jesus Christ.
Let’s not break Caesar’s laws lightly. To obey God’s Word, we should be the ones most conscientiously obeying the laws. But if the law demands that we disobey Christ’s commands, we ignore it. Follow the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of men.
Too many Christians break a law for light reasons. Here is an example of how we break the law simply because it’s “inconvenient” to our Christian work, and how we play games with our minds excusing our action. Say you run a food delivery and selling service to quite a number of people. The law requires that you have a commercial kitchen, subject to government certification and inspection and so forth. But you cut corners to keep profitable and to have more time to spend doing your Christian service for the church. If you seriously obeyed the law, you would have to slash the profits and take on other occupation. Since that would harm your time available for Christian service, you justify breaking the law. But the Scriptural point is, nothing in the food law requires us to violate Christ’s principles. The law is just inconvenient to our time for Christ. So the law is not persecution. And breaking it is illegitimate and not condoned by Christ.
Many Christians are upset with Supreme Court decisions making new laws. Well, consider how our system of jurisprudence works. We learned in school the simplicity that laws are made by legislators, and interpreted by courts. But the truth is, courts have a lot to say about how a law is made. In the process of interpreting laws, courts also help shape how they finally look and are applied. They fill in gaps that are left by the statutes the legislators have left, they decide how various laws interact with one another, they restrict the operation of certain statutes, they may strike down a statute as being unconstitutional, and they may interpret a statute in unexpected ways. Their interpretation IS the law. You can’t have 300 million people with different opinions of what a law means having a say; anarchy would result. You need a final arbiter—and that is the Supreme Court. We may disagree with the result, but we have to follow their decision as law. But as we said before, UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a principle of Christ.
Many Christians feel the Court does not respect freedom of religion. Keep in mind, that court cannot give us absolute rights for freedom of religion. An example is when your idea of freedom of religion causes you to infringe on someone else’s rights. Case in point: the Ken Miller trial of a couple years ago. A woman had a baby while she was in a lesbian relationship. Both women grew to love the baby. Later she became a Christian, broke off her relationship, and the Vermont courts had given the other woman visiting rights to the child, as a marriage would do. But she objected to the relationship of the lesbian with her child. She could not get the courts to change, so she decided to flee the country rather than comply with the court’s visitation order. Her relative (Ken Miller, a pastor) helped her in what amounted to a parental kidnapping, and he was later convicted for doing so. Keep in mind, both she and Ken can believe or speak whatever they want about homosexuality. Ken is free to teach that to his congregation (at least for now). He is free to deny membership of a homosexual at his church (since membership is a “privilege,” not a “right.”) He is free to refuse to participate in the marriage of two homosexuals, since they only have the right to get married by a state official, not to force any minister they choose (we have rights of association). The first amendment has given them all those rights. But their problem is, they have infringed on the court-granted rights of another—namely the right of visitation. Now if the other lesbian woman was a known child abuser, this story would be different. But it is assumed that a homosexual is not automatically a child abuser, so the court stood by her visitation right and against the man who helped someone infringe that right. (The authorities never found her). The courts behaved properly, given the laws as they now stand.
On a related issue, the courts may also allow the state to force you to violate your first-amendment Christian beliefs, so long as they perceive that the state has an “overriding governmental interest.” For instance, the courts have already decided that the first amendment doesn’t allow for conscientious objection when a country goes to war, since the “overriding” state interest is for preservation of the state and its freedoms, and every man should be armed to defend themselves to maintain that--even though you believe that Christ’s commands about how to treat enemies do not include killing them (what if some of them are believers, too? You have killed your brothers in the Lord). Fortunately, Congress moved contrarily, and made laws anyhow to legislate conscientious objection—but Congressional laws are not inalienable, and can be revoked by another law or by a court in a flash.
In another situation that went the other way, in Wisconsin vs. Yoder, the court decided that Wisconsin didn’t have an overriding interest in how the Amish children were only taught through eighth grade, when the state required 10th grade. The Amish children, having then learned reading and writing, were then taught superb vocational skills at home. The Amish and their kids were decent, tax-paying, law-abiding members of society, and not a financial burden on the state. Their breaking of the education law was for sincere religious purposes. So the eighth grade education was not shown to be harming society, and Wisconsin lost its effort to prove its overriding interest. The first amendment won here. (This story could be completely different if the court decided that Amish religion harmed the kids. Such an opinion would not upset too many people, in the current “spiritually asleep” culture).
Now you see that you can’t depend on court protection—but you can’t decide what to do based on it anyhow. The issue is, if they’re asking you to violate Christ’s commands, you have to rebel. Regardless of consequences. If the Congress took away conscientious objection, would that mean you would grab a weapon and start killing? No, I would hope not. All Mr. Bercot is saying, is, don’t be under any illusions about court protection or constitutional protection from persecution. Don’t assume the rapture has to get here before you can be persecuted. Christ told us that persecution would be our lot (Matthew 5). He was persecuted, to say the least—and are servants any better than their master?
What are the legal issues breathing down our necks in America to give Christians trouble today? Mr. Bercot picks two: (1) children; and (2) homosexuals. On (1), the government has become more and more involved in “protecting” our children, and taking them away from parents on sometimes unproven evidence. Maybe there is more child abuse going on, but maybe the problem is how the government defines child abuse differently than before. So far, it’s the cults that see their kids taken away, but don’t be surprised when people who are radical in the cause of Christ can expect to be seen as “cults” too. After all, some of them isolate their kids by doing home schooling, some restrict their kids from what they call “worldly” influences, and they dress funny (as opposed as the sexual apparel rampant today). Here is an interesting case that we can learn a lot from: the polygamous Mormon group in Texas in 2008. They had a thing for marrying young girls to men who wanted them obedient. We disagree with their polygamous practices, of course, but hear me out for learning’s sake. The “child protection” began from an anonymous call from a girl who claimed to be 14 and a member of the group, who told how she was sexually abused. The child protection services jumped and took away all the children of the group. I’m even talking babies and boys (who were not under any threat—just the young girls). When later it was proven to be a false call—it actually came from a young woman in Colorado, who was never a member of the group, who made the story up—but the state refused to give back the kids. They continued their investigation for several months before returning most of them. Consider what that means, Christian, down the road—here’s a Christian religious group, maybe meeting at home, maybe having some “activist” or “funny” beliefs, and someone who doesn’t like them could make a prank call, and suddenly you could have the trauma of having the kids removed for several months and investigated. Sounds to me like you’re guilty until proven innocent, and government watchdogs are ignoring the trauma of separating children and parents. They do what government likes to do—they’re heavy-handed and slow.
For those of you who don’t care about the state’s abuse here, since weird cults are not OK with you (even though this group had lived quiet peaceable lives), just keep in mind the quote from Christian pastor Martin Niemoller during the early days of the Nazi oppression of the Jews, when most people weren’t interested in helping the Jews: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew; then they came for me; and there was no one left to speak for me.” The day will come when serious Christians like US will be under attack. Serious Christians are appearing as strange to more and more people, folks. What’s strange now (home schooling children), could become anti-public policy. And then WE will become a “cult.” I suggest we nip government arrogance by defending anyone whose rights are violated.
It’s important to realize that a lot of hand-wringing could be avoided if we just wake up to the fact that the Supreme Court, the President, et al are going to do what comes naturally, as government is not majority-controlled by serious Christians—as is true for most institutions. I have argued in a separate blog that most people in America, in fact, are not Christians, even though they say they are. The statistics back up my claim. My point is, it does no good to become fearful over every wrong cultural movement and try to elect politicians, when they really can’t make a difference. The real key to protecting our kids, and ourselves, is to learn to love God, as “perfect love casts out fear,” I John 4:18. Develop spiritual keys to defeating life’s downtimes. We can’t rely on politicians to bring us peace and protection—we rely on God, and His peace.
The second area of possible persecution for us are laws considering discrimination against homosexuals. An important sidebar is this—13 years ago, Canada made a law against “hate speech,” defined as speech or writing that “incites hatred against any identifiable group.” A devoted, but crude, Christian in Saskatchewan mailed out flyers, speaking against the public schools, how they endorsed homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle. In 2013 he was guilty of violating the hate speech laws. What did he say, you ask? He said “now the homosexuals want to share their filth and propaganda with our children;” a sex education course “degenerated into a filthy session where gay and lesbian teachers used dirty language to describe lesbian sex and sodomy to their teenage audience.” I suspect if he smoothed his language, he wouldn’t have gone to court. But just because he is crude, do we strip him of his free speech? What group did he incite? There were no riots afterward. On the other hand, the media treated him as a Neanderthal, pathetic, hater. THEY incited people to despise him, only they did it with cunning finesse. The point of all this is, I can see hate speech legislation not far off in America. There are already many cries by people for us to be “politically correct.” The second point is, I can see no advantage in doing what he is doing, as a way to rebel. The way America is, it’s a loser situation for him. There are many more important arguments that he could raise (such as people’s complacency about being saved when they’re not) to get on with people. You probably won’t win those arguments either, but you made them think about hell and heaven a little. Remember, neither Jesus nor His disciples spent a minute trying to steer culture into being more moral. As Paul said, he preached only Christ. The Holy Spirit will make them more moral, when they become saved. If we’re asked point blank about God and gays, I suggest we recite Scripture (people will make fun of it if it’s the Old Testament—hey, they’re discriminating against Jews!) Work on your New Testament quotes, such as Romans 1:26 or Matthew 19—but don’t get any itchy trigger-finger to quote them. Let’s hope that simply quoting Scriptures will never throw you in courts as “hate speech”—but who knows when that may change?
Mr. Bercot sees the following in the future: (1) laws that require church and home schools to include homosexuality in the curriculum as an acceptable alternate lifestyle; and (2) laws that prohibit preaching against homosexuality as a sin, or as “wrong.” If a preacher wants to cover these subjects in his sermon, from God’s Word, it wouldn’t be a good idea for the church to record it—it can then be used against him in court.
Keep in mind that affected trades that are not desirable for serious Christians include: certified counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists, public schoolteachers, certain college professors, government officers—all of which will not certify you if you express the view that homosexuality is “wrong.” Stay away from these—along with operating a motel, an apartment, or running a B&B. You will be sued repeatedly for discriminating against homosexuals by not sheltering them overnight. If you’re a florist, someone will want you to decorate a gay wedding—the same idea goes for cake-making and videography. Christians are already losing regularly in courts in these areas.
So, what do Christians do? (1) Change the profession you’re in, or thinking of joining, if one of the above. Or, if you’re in rental, downgrade the business to only a few units—the laws are often different for small businesses. These actions could involve sacrifices and loss of money, but that’s the cross we should gladly bear for Him. The other major option is (2) Heed Jesus’ advice in Matthew 10:23:
When they persecute you in this city, flee to another …
Why not move? You say it’s a federal law, so it doesn’t matter—but remember, enforcement tends to be sporadic; it depends on local sensitivities. Moving out of San Francisco to Kentucky might leave you untouched til’ you retire. Before you move, study your possible new locations and the leaders of local society, carefully. Remember, don’t get paranoid yet—despite the Canadian hate crime law, nobody has been arrested preaching in a Canadian church (maybe that’s because the pastors are avoiding “hot” subjects). But if things get really bad all over the USA, consider moving to another country. There are many that are kinder to Christians than the U.S., even right now.
If we face laws in the future that criminalize the way we educate our children, it’s smart to move before the state moves in to grab your child. Fleeing after that means you get charged with parental kidnapping, which is a felony—and kidnapping is a federal offense, which means the FBI is after you. Parental kidnapping is a continuing offense, so the FBI never stops looking for you—the statute of limitations doesn’t even start until you’re apprehended. And don’t forget, if the state grabs your child, it’s smarter to work through the legal system than to grab the child and run when you visit. Then if they catch you, you will most likely permanently lose custody.
If you do grab your child and are ready to run after a court order against you, beware of leaving “tracks” in the form of digital or electronic footprints. Emails may serve as silent witnesses against us. Just “deleting” it doesn’t remove it from your computer, unless you have a software program which buries it by overwriting it with countless lines of gibberish. That make the forensic guys crazy. Forensic guys can determine the date and brand of a flash drive inserted into your computer as well. They can also trace any Google searches you’ve made. You don’t want to give away information on where you’re headed if fleeing from the government. Keep in mind, emails that you have sent have a recipient—and emails that you receive have a sender, whose computer may be searched by the government as well as yours. Also keep in mind that g-mails are also stored on Google servers, which the government may access by forcing Google to turn them over. Any service provider, for that matter, may have a copy of your emails.
The solution? Don’t use emails to communicate sensitive topics. Try letters, using a trusted courier if speed is necessary. If you’re already under investigation, keep in mind, the government may open your letters. It helps to send out through a public postal bin in another town, leaving your name and address off the envelope. Or try face-to-face communication, if at all possible.
Cell phones are another problem. If you talk during your escape, you can be traced by the government by simply seeing what tower it’s pinging from. The phone also has GPS, which the government can trace you as well even if you don’t call anyone. Best to remove the batteries when you’re running. Turn off any other GPS systems (Garmin), unless you absolutely need it for navigation (go back to Mapquest, maybe?)
When talking at home, remember that land lines have more privacy, since it’s harder for the government to tap—they need a court order. But they can obtain records on who you called—and the government might use them to help locate you, or they might use the call-recipient as witness against you.
Solution? Ditch the cell phone when on the move. Use public phones-curse their rarity. Thus, the way to beat the government’s high-tech capabilities is—go low-tech.
Finally, if you’re arrested, you will be advised of your Miranda rights. Take advantage of them. Say nothing except “let me call a lawyer.” Ignore the police’s telling you “it will go a lot easier for you” to confess. It’s a lie. Also, be aware of a document called “search incident to an arrest.” It gives the government freedom to search and attach whatever’s on you or close around you when they arrest you. It’s best, if you can see the arresting officers outside your door, to drop your cell phone, then go outside, close the door behind you, and then get arrested. If you’re in your car, with GPS, or computer nearby, it’s best to park, lock, and walk to the arresting officers, or get someone else to drive you to the police station. Finally, IF you’ve already been charged with a crime, destroying evidence after that is also a crime. My previous advice on deleting can be done before you’ve been officially charged. Keep in mind—an arrest does not mean you have been charged yet, don’t assume that.
Don’t forget, all communication with your attorney is confidential, so you need to be honest about your past. BUT don’t share your intent to engage in “crimes” in the future—that’s not protected by law, and your attorney can be forced to witness that against you. It is legal to discuss with your attorney “what if” scenarios to try to determine what’s within the boundary of the law. “What if” is not a crime yet (except in the movie Minority Report). Also keep in mind, everyone you involve in helping you could also be prosecuted with you. The less you tell them about what you’re doing, the better—or if you could do it yourself, that might be best. But you would miss out on the bonding experience of doing something “illegal” together for the cause of Christ. The day may come when small groups of Christians will have great causes and sacrifice their lives and reputations together.
Let us be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves. Our lives mean nothing in the cause of Christ. Endure the hard times, to be with Him eternally—a much better goal, is it not?
Acnowledgement: Dave Bercot CD, “When Persecution Comes,” Scroll Publishing.
In secondary persecution, the intent is not necessarily to persecute Christians; but the law would require us to do something or say something that would violate Christ’s teachings. An example would be a conscription law requiring military service, which some Christians throughout the world would not do, maintaining that Jesus’ commands regarding the enemy are sort of the opposite of killing him. Another example was where there were state churches established by the Catholic Church in the middle ages, and everyone was required to be a member, participating in its sacraments, thus acceding to all its doctrines. Many Waldensians, a serious Christian protesting group, went through the motions of attending Catholic services, but then had private meetings of their own. But other Waldensians still saw this as bowing to Rome, refused to do so, and came under severe persecution. In the end, all the Waldensians were declared heretical by Rome in 1215, nearly all killed in the 17th century, and survive today in small groups in Italy, Germany, the U.S., Argentina, and Uruguay.
Mr. Bercot doesn’t feel that the U.S. Christians will face primary persecution in the next 20-30 years (barring a possible Tribulation period), but considering how government can quickly and radically change, it’s better to be prepared now as to what to do if it does.
But he does believe that secondary persecution in the U.S. is more likely, as more laws create a conflict between U.S. government requirements and our Christian faith. When to rebel is sometimes uncertain, and Mr. Bercot sides with caution. Every time some anti-moral law is passed (abortion, for instance), it’s easy to feel rebellious. But remember, our first rule is to follow God’s Word in Romans 13:1-7:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Remember that Paul is writing during the time of one of the most violent governments in history, one that shortly would begin throwing Christians to the lions. Yet he doesn’t advocate open rebellion. So that means, for us: We obey the laws, period,
UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a law, or principle, of Jesus Christ.
Let’s not break Caesar’s laws lightly. To obey God’s Word, we should be the ones most conscientiously obeying the laws. But if the law demands that we disobey Christ’s commands, we ignore it. Follow the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of men.
Too many Christians break a law for light reasons. Here is an example of how we break the law simply because it’s “inconvenient” to our Christian work, and how we play games with our minds excusing our action. Say you run a food delivery and selling service to quite a number of people. The law requires that you have a commercial kitchen, subject to government certification and inspection and so forth. But you cut corners to keep profitable and to have more time to spend doing your Christian service for the church. If you seriously obeyed the law, you would have to slash the profits and take on other occupation. Since that would harm your time available for Christian service, you justify breaking the law. But the Scriptural point is, nothing in the food law requires us to violate Christ’s principles. The law is just inconvenient to our time for Christ. So the law is not persecution. And breaking it is illegitimate and not condoned by Christ.
Many Christians are upset with Supreme Court decisions making new laws. Well, consider how our system of jurisprudence works. We learned in school the simplicity that laws are made by legislators, and interpreted by courts. But the truth is, courts have a lot to say about how a law is made. In the process of interpreting laws, courts also help shape how they finally look and are applied. They fill in gaps that are left by the statutes the legislators have left, they decide how various laws interact with one another, they restrict the operation of certain statutes, they may strike down a statute as being unconstitutional, and they may interpret a statute in unexpected ways. Their interpretation IS the law. You can’t have 300 million people with different opinions of what a law means having a say; anarchy would result. You need a final arbiter—and that is the Supreme Court. We may disagree with the result, but we have to follow their decision as law. But as we said before, UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a principle of Christ.
Many Christians feel the Court does not respect freedom of religion. Keep in mind, that court cannot give us absolute rights for freedom of religion. An example is when your idea of freedom of religion causes you to infringe on someone else’s rights. Case in point: the Ken Miller trial of a couple years ago. A woman had a baby while she was in a lesbian relationship. Both women grew to love the baby. Later she became a Christian, broke off her relationship, and the Vermont courts had given the other woman visiting rights to the child, as a marriage would do. But she objected to the relationship of the lesbian with her child. She could not get the courts to change, so she decided to flee the country rather than comply with the court’s visitation order. Her relative (Ken Miller, a pastor) helped her in what amounted to a parental kidnapping, and he was later convicted for doing so. Keep in mind, both she and Ken can believe or speak whatever they want about homosexuality. Ken is free to teach that to his congregation (at least for now). He is free to deny membership of a homosexual at his church (since membership is a “privilege,” not a “right.”) He is free to refuse to participate in the marriage of two homosexuals, since they only have the right to get married by a state official, not to force any minister they choose (we have rights of association). The first amendment has given them all those rights. But their problem is, they have infringed on the court-granted rights of another—namely the right of visitation. Now if the other lesbian woman was a known child abuser, this story would be different. But it is assumed that a homosexual is not automatically a child abuser, so the court stood by her visitation right and against the man who helped someone infringe that right. (The authorities never found her). The courts behaved properly, given the laws as they now stand.
On a related issue, the courts may also allow the state to force you to violate your first-amendment Christian beliefs, so long as they perceive that the state has an “overriding governmental interest.” For instance, the courts have already decided that the first amendment doesn’t allow for conscientious objection when a country goes to war, since the “overriding” state interest is for preservation of the state and its freedoms, and every man should be armed to defend themselves to maintain that--even though you believe that Christ’s commands about how to treat enemies do not include killing them (what if some of them are believers, too? You have killed your brothers in the Lord). Fortunately, Congress moved contrarily, and made laws anyhow to legislate conscientious objection—but Congressional laws are not inalienable, and can be revoked by another law or by a court in a flash.
In another situation that went the other way, in Wisconsin vs. Yoder, the court decided that Wisconsin didn’t have an overriding interest in how the Amish children were only taught through eighth grade, when the state required 10th grade. The Amish children, having then learned reading and writing, were then taught superb vocational skills at home. The Amish and their kids were decent, tax-paying, law-abiding members of society, and not a financial burden on the state. Their breaking of the education law was for sincere religious purposes. So the eighth grade education was not shown to be harming society, and Wisconsin lost its effort to prove its overriding interest. The first amendment won here. (This story could be completely different if the court decided that Amish religion harmed the kids. Such an opinion would not upset too many people, in the current “spiritually asleep” culture).
Now you see that you can’t depend on court protection—but you can’t decide what to do based on it anyhow. The issue is, if they’re asking you to violate Christ’s commands, you have to rebel. Regardless of consequences. If the Congress took away conscientious objection, would that mean you would grab a weapon and start killing? No, I would hope not. All Mr. Bercot is saying, is, don’t be under any illusions about court protection or constitutional protection from persecution. Don’t assume the rapture has to get here before you can be persecuted. Christ told us that persecution would be our lot (Matthew 5). He was persecuted, to say the least—and are servants any better than their master?
What are the legal issues breathing down our necks in America to give Christians trouble today? Mr. Bercot picks two: (1) children; and (2) homosexuals. On (1), the government has become more and more involved in “protecting” our children, and taking them away from parents on sometimes unproven evidence. Maybe there is more child abuse going on, but maybe the problem is how the government defines child abuse differently than before. So far, it’s the cults that see their kids taken away, but don’t be surprised when people who are radical in the cause of Christ can expect to be seen as “cults” too. After all, some of them isolate their kids by doing home schooling, some restrict their kids from what they call “worldly” influences, and they dress funny (as opposed as the sexual apparel rampant today). Here is an interesting case that we can learn a lot from: the polygamous Mormon group in Texas in 2008. They had a thing for marrying young girls to men who wanted them obedient. We disagree with their polygamous practices, of course, but hear me out for learning’s sake. The “child protection” began from an anonymous call from a girl who claimed to be 14 and a member of the group, who told how she was sexually abused. The child protection services jumped and took away all the children of the group. I’m even talking babies and boys (who were not under any threat—just the young girls). When later it was proven to be a false call—it actually came from a young woman in Colorado, who was never a member of the group, who made the story up—but the state refused to give back the kids. They continued their investigation for several months before returning most of them. Consider what that means, Christian, down the road—here’s a Christian religious group, maybe meeting at home, maybe having some “activist” or “funny” beliefs, and someone who doesn’t like them could make a prank call, and suddenly you could have the trauma of having the kids removed for several months and investigated. Sounds to me like you’re guilty until proven innocent, and government watchdogs are ignoring the trauma of separating children and parents. They do what government likes to do—they’re heavy-handed and slow.
For those of you who don’t care about the state’s abuse here, since weird cults are not OK with you (even though this group had lived quiet peaceable lives), just keep in mind the quote from Christian pastor Martin Niemoller during the early days of the Nazi oppression of the Jews, when most people weren’t interested in helping the Jews: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew; then they came for me; and there was no one left to speak for me.” The day will come when serious Christians like US will be under attack. Serious Christians are appearing as strange to more and more people, folks. What’s strange now (home schooling children), could become anti-public policy. And then WE will become a “cult.” I suggest we nip government arrogance by defending anyone whose rights are violated.
It’s important to realize that a lot of hand-wringing could be avoided if we just wake up to the fact that the Supreme Court, the President, et al are going to do what comes naturally, as government is not majority-controlled by serious Christians—as is true for most institutions. I have argued in a separate blog that most people in America, in fact, are not Christians, even though they say they are. The statistics back up my claim. My point is, it does no good to become fearful over every wrong cultural movement and try to elect politicians, when they really can’t make a difference. The real key to protecting our kids, and ourselves, is to learn to love God, as “perfect love casts out fear,” I John 4:18. Develop spiritual keys to defeating life’s downtimes. We can’t rely on politicians to bring us peace and protection—we rely on God, and His peace.
The second area of possible persecution for us are laws considering discrimination against homosexuals. An important sidebar is this—13 years ago, Canada made a law against “hate speech,” defined as speech or writing that “incites hatred against any identifiable group.” A devoted, but crude, Christian in Saskatchewan mailed out flyers, speaking against the public schools, how they endorsed homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle. In 2013 he was guilty of violating the hate speech laws. What did he say, you ask? He said “now the homosexuals want to share their filth and propaganda with our children;” a sex education course “degenerated into a filthy session where gay and lesbian teachers used dirty language to describe lesbian sex and sodomy to their teenage audience.” I suspect if he smoothed his language, he wouldn’t have gone to court. But just because he is crude, do we strip him of his free speech? What group did he incite? There were no riots afterward. On the other hand, the media treated him as a Neanderthal, pathetic, hater. THEY incited people to despise him, only they did it with cunning finesse. The point of all this is, I can see hate speech legislation not far off in America. There are already many cries by people for us to be “politically correct.” The second point is, I can see no advantage in doing what he is doing, as a way to rebel. The way America is, it’s a loser situation for him. There are many more important arguments that he could raise (such as people’s complacency about being saved when they’re not) to get on with people. You probably won’t win those arguments either, but you made them think about hell and heaven a little. Remember, neither Jesus nor His disciples spent a minute trying to steer culture into being more moral. As Paul said, he preached only Christ. The Holy Spirit will make them more moral, when they become saved. If we’re asked point blank about God and gays, I suggest we recite Scripture (people will make fun of it if it’s the Old Testament—hey, they’re discriminating against Jews!) Work on your New Testament quotes, such as Romans 1:26 or Matthew 19—but don’t get any itchy trigger-finger to quote them. Let’s hope that simply quoting Scriptures will never throw you in courts as “hate speech”—but who knows when that may change?
Mr. Bercot sees the following in the future: (1) laws that require church and home schools to include homosexuality in the curriculum as an acceptable alternate lifestyle; and (2) laws that prohibit preaching against homosexuality as a sin, or as “wrong.” If a preacher wants to cover these subjects in his sermon, from God’s Word, it wouldn’t be a good idea for the church to record it—it can then be used against him in court.
Keep in mind that affected trades that are not desirable for serious Christians include: certified counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists, public schoolteachers, certain college professors, government officers—all of which will not certify you if you express the view that homosexuality is “wrong.” Stay away from these—along with operating a motel, an apartment, or running a B&B. You will be sued repeatedly for discriminating against homosexuals by not sheltering them overnight. If you’re a florist, someone will want you to decorate a gay wedding—the same idea goes for cake-making and videography. Christians are already losing regularly in courts in these areas.
So, what do Christians do? (1) Change the profession you’re in, or thinking of joining, if one of the above. Or, if you’re in rental, downgrade the business to only a few units—the laws are often different for small businesses. These actions could involve sacrifices and loss of money, but that’s the cross we should gladly bear for Him. The other major option is (2) Heed Jesus’ advice in Matthew 10:23:
When they persecute you in this city, flee to another …
Why not move? You say it’s a federal law, so it doesn’t matter—but remember, enforcement tends to be sporadic; it depends on local sensitivities. Moving out of San Francisco to Kentucky might leave you untouched til’ you retire. Before you move, study your possible new locations and the leaders of local society, carefully. Remember, don’t get paranoid yet—despite the Canadian hate crime law, nobody has been arrested preaching in a Canadian church (maybe that’s because the pastors are avoiding “hot” subjects). But if things get really bad all over the USA, consider moving to another country. There are many that are kinder to Christians than the U.S., even right now.
If we face laws in the future that criminalize the way we educate our children, it’s smart to move before the state moves in to grab your child. Fleeing after that means you get charged with parental kidnapping, which is a felony—and kidnapping is a federal offense, which means the FBI is after you. Parental kidnapping is a continuing offense, so the FBI never stops looking for you—the statute of limitations doesn’t even start until you’re apprehended. And don’t forget, if the state grabs your child, it’s smarter to work through the legal system than to grab the child and run when you visit. Then if they catch you, you will most likely permanently lose custody.
If you do grab your child and are ready to run after a court order against you, beware of leaving “tracks” in the form of digital or electronic footprints. Emails may serve as silent witnesses against us. Just “deleting” it doesn’t remove it from your computer, unless you have a software program which buries it by overwriting it with countless lines of gibberish. That make the forensic guys crazy. Forensic guys can determine the date and brand of a flash drive inserted into your computer as well. They can also trace any Google searches you’ve made. You don’t want to give away information on where you’re headed if fleeing from the government. Keep in mind, emails that you have sent have a recipient—and emails that you receive have a sender, whose computer may be searched by the government as well as yours. Also keep in mind that g-mails are also stored on Google servers, which the government may access by forcing Google to turn them over. Any service provider, for that matter, may have a copy of your emails.
The solution? Don’t use emails to communicate sensitive topics. Try letters, using a trusted courier if speed is necessary. If you’re already under investigation, keep in mind, the government may open your letters. It helps to send out through a public postal bin in another town, leaving your name and address off the envelope. Or try face-to-face communication, if at all possible.
Cell phones are another problem. If you talk during your escape, you can be traced by the government by simply seeing what tower it’s pinging from. The phone also has GPS, which the government can trace you as well even if you don’t call anyone. Best to remove the batteries when you’re running. Turn off any other GPS systems (Garmin), unless you absolutely need it for navigation (go back to Mapquest, maybe?)
When talking at home, remember that land lines have more privacy, since it’s harder for the government to tap—they need a court order. But they can obtain records on who you called—and the government might use them to help locate you, or they might use the call-recipient as witness against you.
Solution? Ditch the cell phone when on the move. Use public phones-curse their rarity. Thus, the way to beat the government’s high-tech capabilities is—go low-tech.
Finally, if you’re arrested, you will be advised of your Miranda rights. Take advantage of them. Say nothing except “let me call a lawyer.” Ignore the police’s telling you “it will go a lot easier for you” to confess. It’s a lie. Also, be aware of a document called “search incident to an arrest.” It gives the government freedom to search and attach whatever’s on you or close around you when they arrest you. It’s best, if you can see the arresting officers outside your door, to drop your cell phone, then go outside, close the door behind you, and then get arrested. If you’re in your car, with GPS, or computer nearby, it’s best to park, lock, and walk to the arresting officers, or get someone else to drive you to the police station. Finally, IF you’ve already been charged with a crime, destroying evidence after that is also a crime. My previous advice on deleting can be done before you’ve been officially charged. Keep in mind—an arrest does not mean you have been charged yet, don’t assume that.
Don’t forget, all communication with your attorney is confidential, so you need to be honest about your past. BUT don’t share your intent to engage in “crimes” in the future—that’s not protected by law, and your attorney can be forced to witness that against you. It is legal to discuss with your attorney “what if” scenarios to try to determine what’s within the boundary of the law. “What if” is not a crime yet (except in the movie Minority Report). Also keep in mind, everyone you involve in helping you could also be prosecuted with you. The less you tell them about what you’re doing, the better—or if you could do it yourself, that might be best. But you would miss out on the bonding experience of doing something “illegal” together for the cause of Christ. The day may come when small groups of Christians will have great causes and sacrifice their lives and reputations together.
Let us be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves. Our lives mean nothing in the cause of Christ. Endure the hard times, to be with Him eternally—a much better goal, is it not?
Acnowledgement: Dave Bercot CD, “When Persecution Comes,” Scroll Publishing.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Victory over the Taliban
In a recent blog I mentioned a Bible verse that had “hyperbole.” I would like to tell you a story—a true story recorded in Voice of the Martyrs—about what life can be like when you follow Jesus—in Afghanistan. When your father is a top Taliban leader. It is a perfect illustration of another hyperbole, Luke 14:26—but not in the way you might think. Here’s the verse, and the rather unbelievable story exemplifying it.
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
This is recent, so the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The protagonists will be named “John” and “Mary.” In the beginning of our story, John was 23, had a wife and baby son, and taught Islamic theology in his home town in Afghanistan. He traveled to Saudi Arabia three years ago on a hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. As he slept on the way overnight, John dreamed of a man with shining face and shining white clothes, who said, “My son, I see that you are seeking after me, but the real faith is not in Mecca, and I am not there.” This made John think as he performed the rituals of the hajj—what he saw was different; he saw hypocrisy in worship. In another night on the trip, John had a vision (not a dream) of the man in white. “Who are you?” he asked. “I want to talk to you because I love you,” the man replied. “If I tell you who I am, you will lose seven things. You will lose the Quran and Mohammed. You will lose your parents. You will lose your child that you love. You will lose your relatives and everyone will hate you. You will lose your wealth. You will be homeless and they will drive you from your country. If you don’t accept the loss of these seven things, you won’t be able to find Me anymore. Before you were born, I had plans for you. What is your choice?”
“If you tell me your name, I will believe in you.”
The Man replied, “I am your God; I am Jesus Christ.”
Jesus touched John’s head and then he fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt completely different. “I was completely cleansed from the inside, and I felt like I was a newborn baby.” John immediately abandoned the rest of the hajj and flew home. He called his father from the airport in Kabul. Upon arriving home, “Why did you come back?” his father asked angrily. “There are still three days left for the hajj.”
“I found my God. And I don’t believe in your Allah.”
“Whom did you find?”
“I believe in Jesus Christ,” John replied.
“You are an infidel!” his father shouted as he began to beat him. “If you speak to people like this, I will cut out your tongue.”
“I want to tell people,” John said. “I don’t want to stop.”
“If you tell people you have become a Christian, I will burn you, your wife and little son!”
John’s father threw him into a basement bunker on the property that was used for detaining and torturing anti-Taliban insurgents. He was held there for nearly 18 months, enduring repeated torture and pressure to give up his faith in Jesus. No one in the family knew where John was—his father told John’s wife Mary that he was sent to Egypt to study. John was fed almost nothing. His captors put snakes in the basement, but they either died or had no effect on him when they bit him. They also released a vicious guard dog, but it immediately became friendly with John. They even tried to crucify John upside down.
Throughout John’s long, lonely months in the bunker, he often had dreams of Jesus. “God gave me power, and told me, ‘I am with you.’” His father finally released him with a warning. “I agreed that I would not talk about Jesus to him, but I did not promise that I would not speak to anyone about Jesus,” John said.
When John walked into his home that day, after he cleaned up, he went to his wife, Mary. He wanted to tell her about Jesus. “Mary, I have to tell you something.” He said “I have to tell you something first,” she said. She told him that throughout the time he was missing, she had had dreams of Jesus. He comforted her and promised her that her husband would come home. Mary had come to believe in Jesus, but she had not told the family. John joyfully told Mary everything, and the two cried with happiness.
John didn’t stop talking about Jesus. “I began to tell my mother everything about Jesus, and then all my family believed in Jesus. But they didn’t tell anyone because of fear.” John’s mother, sisters, aunts, and cousins all began to follow Jesus. Each night, when his father was gone, John would teach them what he learned through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many in the community also learned of John’s new faith.
A few months later, when Mary became pregnant with her second child, John’s father instructed them to name the baby Sayeed Muhammed. “No” said John. “I don’t want to give my son an Islamic name. I am naming him Isa” (Jesus). His father exploded in anger and began beating John in the head. “Shut up, you infidel!” Then he threw John back into the bunker. When John’s father told Mary’s father (a mullah, an Islamic leader, and Taliban member), her father confronted her. “Your husband is an infidel,” he said. “You should abort the baby.”
“I believe in Jesus Christ too,” Mary told him. Her father slammed her forehead on the ground and hit her in the mouth, breaking her teeth. Then he began punching her in the abdomen. Then he tossed her limp body into the bunker with John. Her face was severely bruised from the beating.
While they were in the bunker, John’s father took their little son with him to meet some Taliban leaders in another city. Those leaders blamed John’s father for allowing his son to convert, and they ordered him to kill John. Mary’s mother heard about the plan and called John’s mother. She ran to the bunker and broke down the door. She handed John $2400, his computer, and a suitcase. “Please leave Afghanistan” she told them. “I’ll take care of your son.”
Although they didn’t want to leave their son, John and Mary knew that if they stayed at all, they would be killed. They fled. After three days and some distance, John found a Wi-fi “Skype” connection and called his mother. There was his 2-year old son sitting on her lap. John could see his son on the video screen but not her head. His son cried, “Papa! I am fine. Please come back. I miss you.” John’s mother also encouraged them to come home, saying the danger had passed. After the call, when John and Mary made plans to return, John’s mother called back again. “Don’t come back!” she warned. “The Taliban were standing right here when we were talking earlier, with a gun against my head. You must leave immediately.” John and Mary went on the run again, going as far as they could before the money ran out. They tried to register as refugees, but local Muslim workers refused to accept them because they were Christian converts.
But Mary was in severe pain, and could hardly move, having never healed from her father’s beating. A doctor gave them the bad news. The child in Mary’s womb had died, and Mary could die too if the fetus were not removed immediately. The procedure would cost $5,000. John didn’t have any money. That evening at home, John cried while Mary slept. As he prayed, he felt the Lord leading him to anoint his wife with oil and pray over her. John did, and prayed that Jesus would save his unborn son. Eventually he fell asleep.
The next morning, Mary was up and around, so they went to the doctor. He delivered some incredible news. “The baby is alive! How is this possible?” John shared his whole testimony with the doctor and told him that he had prayed in the name of Jesus that his son would be healed. “It is a miracle” the doctor said. “I’ve never seen something like this in my life.” The doctor called others from the clinic into the room to see Mary and John shared his story with them too. Several people in the room believed in Christ that day.
The Taliban had continued to stalk John. He received threatening phone calls from radicals in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even Saudi Arabia. The Taliban issued a demand: they would return to Afghanistan and recant their Christian faith, or their 2-year old son would be killed. The deadline was October 4, 2013. John did everything he could. He spoke to the embassy. He went to the U.N. Refugee Agency. But no one would help. A few days later, John’s father turned the little boy over to the Taliban—in order to restore his honor among his terrorist friends.
A relative called Mary and John with the news of their son’s death. “The Taliban put a picture of my dead son on their website” John said. The murder of the little boy shocked John’s mother and five sisters. They asked how the Islamic faith could justify killing a child because of his father’s actions. They told John’s father that his acts were shameful, and they then told their whole village that they, too, were following the Jesus Christ that John had shared with them.
“Very soon, we learned from my wife’s brother that my father killed his wife and my five sisters and buried them” John said. “We believe him, because we have not heard or seen anything of my sisters.” Although Mary’s brothers were Taliban members, they disagreed with the leadership about killing John’s son. And then, when the Taliban and John’s father killed John’s sisters, Mary’s brothers initiated a gunfight with other Taliban members. The body of her oldest brother was found days later with one hand cut off, but her youngest brother managed to escape.
When Mary’s father found out that his wife was the one who had revealed the Taliban’s plot to kill the couple, he killed her by feeding her rat poison. John and Mary could only weep and pray, saying, ”God, you know.”
In November 2013, John and Mary were baptized. In February 2014 little Isa was born, perfectly healthy. Because of continual threats from the Taliban, the family was forced to move six times in eight months. John continued to share Jesus with everyone, often speaking with Afghan tradesmen working in the markets. He once prayed with a medical assistant about her infertility, and later she called to tell him she had just learned that she was pregnant. John began using the internet to minister to Afghans around the world, including his former Muslim students in Afghanistan. Many have turned to Christ through John’s powerful witness. John continues to teach new converts. He leads hours of internet worship services with small groups several times a week.
In late 2014, John, Mary, and Isa were accepted as refugees in a Western country. And John continues sharing about Christ. “Every second I work for God I want more people to see Jesus. I don’t want people to see me; I want them to see God. I lost everything, so I want to tell people about Jesus. God said He made many houses in heaven; he needs people in them.”
So, it ended up that many of John’s beloved relatives were murdered—so what was the “victory” over the Taliban? The answer is: Many souls were won to the Lord. John will see his relatives in heaven again. None of their lives meant so much to them—or him—such as to sway them from their indomitable love for Our Savior. They loved Him so much that their feelings for each other seemed like hate in comparison. Our Lord gave up His life for us. What should we be willing to do for Him? What Jesus spoke was hyperbole in Luke 14:26 above, but John and Mary were the perfect examples of what it means.
Acknowledgement Voice of the Martyrs, January, 2015
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
This is recent, so the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The protagonists will be named “John” and “Mary.” In the beginning of our story, John was 23, had a wife and baby son, and taught Islamic theology in his home town in Afghanistan. He traveled to Saudi Arabia three years ago on a hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. As he slept on the way overnight, John dreamed of a man with shining face and shining white clothes, who said, “My son, I see that you are seeking after me, but the real faith is not in Mecca, and I am not there.” This made John think as he performed the rituals of the hajj—what he saw was different; he saw hypocrisy in worship. In another night on the trip, John had a vision (not a dream) of the man in white. “Who are you?” he asked. “I want to talk to you because I love you,” the man replied. “If I tell you who I am, you will lose seven things. You will lose the Quran and Mohammed. You will lose your parents. You will lose your child that you love. You will lose your relatives and everyone will hate you. You will lose your wealth. You will be homeless and they will drive you from your country. If you don’t accept the loss of these seven things, you won’t be able to find Me anymore. Before you were born, I had plans for you. What is your choice?”
“If you tell me your name, I will believe in you.”
The Man replied, “I am your God; I am Jesus Christ.”
Jesus touched John’s head and then he fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt completely different. “I was completely cleansed from the inside, and I felt like I was a newborn baby.” John immediately abandoned the rest of the hajj and flew home. He called his father from the airport in Kabul. Upon arriving home, “Why did you come back?” his father asked angrily. “There are still three days left for the hajj.”
“I found my God. And I don’t believe in your Allah.”
“Whom did you find?”
“I believe in Jesus Christ,” John replied.
“You are an infidel!” his father shouted as he began to beat him. “If you speak to people like this, I will cut out your tongue.”
“I want to tell people,” John said. “I don’t want to stop.”
“If you tell people you have become a Christian, I will burn you, your wife and little son!”
John’s father threw him into a basement bunker on the property that was used for detaining and torturing anti-Taliban insurgents. He was held there for nearly 18 months, enduring repeated torture and pressure to give up his faith in Jesus. No one in the family knew where John was—his father told John’s wife Mary that he was sent to Egypt to study. John was fed almost nothing. His captors put snakes in the basement, but they either died or had no effect on him when they bit him. They also released a vicious guard dog, but it immediately became friendly with John. They even tried to crucify John upside down.
Throughout John’s long, lonely months in the bunker, he often had dreams of Jesus. “God gave me power, and told me, ‘I am with you.’” His father finally released him with a warning. “I agreed that I would not talk about Jesus to him, but I did not promise that I would not speak to anyone about Jesus,” John said.
When John walked into his home that day, after he cleaned up, he went to his wife, Mary. He wanted to tell her about Jesus. “Mary, I have to tell you something.” He said “I have to tell you something first,” she said. She told him that throughout the time he was missing, she had had dreams of Jesus. He comforted her and promised her that her husband would come home. Mary had come to believe in Jesus, but she had not told the family. John joyfully told Mary everything, and the two cried with happiness.
John didn’t stop talking about Jesus. “I began to tell my mother everything about Jesus, and then all my family believed in Jesus. But they didn’t tell anyone because of fear.” John’s mother, sisters, aunts, and cousins all began to follow Jesus. Each night, when his father was gone, John would teach them what he learned through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many in the community also learned of John’s new faith.
A few months later, when Mary became pregnant with her second child, John’s father instructed them to name the baby Sayeed Muhammed. “No” said John. “I don’t want to give my son an Islamic name. I am naming him Isa” (Jesus). His father exploded in anger and began beating John in the head. “Shut up, you infidel!” Then he threw John back into the bunker. When John’s father told Mary’s father (a mullah, an Islamic leader, and Taliban member), her father confronted her. “Your husband is an infidel,” he said. “You should abort the baby.”
“I believe in Jesus Christ too,” Mary told him. Her father slammed her forehead on the ground and hit her in the mouth, breaking her teeth. Then he began punching her in the abdomen. Then he tossed her limp body into the bunker with John. Her face was severely bruised from the beating.
While they were in the bunker, John’s father took their little son with him to meet some Taliban leaders in another city. Those leaders blamed John’s father for allowing his son to convert, and they ordered him to kill John. Mary’s mother heard about the plan and called John’s mother. She ran to the bunker and broke down the door. She handed John $2400, his computer, and a suitcase. “Please leave Afghanistan” she told them. “I’ll take care of your son.”
Although they didn’t want to leave their son, John and Mary knew that if they stayed at all, they would be killed. They fled. After three days and some distance, John found a Wi-fi “Skype” connection and called his mother. There was his 2-year old son sitting on her lap. John could see his son on the video screen but not her head. His son cried, “Papa! I am fine. Please come back. I miss you.” John’s mother also encouraged them to come home, saying the danger had passed. After the call, when John and Mary made plans to return, John’s mother called back again. “Don’t come back!” she warned. “The Taliban were standing right here when we were talking earlier, with a gun against my head. You must leave immediately.” John and Mary went on the run again, going as far as they could before the money ran out. They tried to register as refugees, but local Muslim workers refused to accept them because they were Christian converts.
But Mary was in severe pain, and could hardly move, having never healed from her father’s beating. A doctor gave them the bad news. The child in Mary’s womb had died, and Mary could die too if the fetus were not removed immediately. The procedure would cost $5,000. John didn’t have any money. That evening at home, John cried while Mary slept. As he prayed, he felt the Lord leading him to anoint his wife with oil and pray over her. John did, and prayed that Jesus would save his unborn son. Eventually he fell asleep.
The next morning, Mary was up and around, so they went to the doctor. He delivered some incredible news. “The baby is alive! How is this possible?” John shared his whole testimony with the doctor and told him that he had prayed in the name of Jesus that his son would be healed. “It is a miracle” the doctor said. “I’ve never seen something like this in my life.” The doctor called others from the clinic into the room to see Mary and John shared his story with them too. Several people in the room believed in Christ that day.
The Taliban had continued to stalk John. He received threatening phone calls from radicals in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even Saudi Arabia. The Taliban issued a demand: they would return to Afghanistan and recant their Christian faith, or their 2-year old son would be killed. The deadline was October 4, 2013. John did everything he could. He spoke to the embassy. He went to the U.N. Refugee Agency. But no one would help. A few days later, John’s father turned the little boy over to the Taliban—in order to restore his honor among his terrorist friends.
A relative called Mary and John with the news of their son’s death. “The Taliban put a picture of my dead son on their website” John said. The murder of the little boy shocked John’s mother and five sisters. They asked how the Islamic faith could justify killing a child because of his father’s actions. They told John’s father that his acts were shameful, and they then told their whole village that they, too, were following the Jesus Christ that John had shared with them.
“Very soon, we learned from my wife’s brother that my father killed his wife and my five sisters and buried them” John said. “We believe him, because we have not heard or seen anything of my sisters.” Although Mary’s brothers were Taliban members, they disagreed with the leadership about killing John’s son. And then, when the Taliban and John’s father killed John’s sisters, Mary’s brothers initiated a gunfight with other Taliban members. The body of her oldest brother was found days later with one hand cut off, but her youngest brother managed to escape.
When Mary’s father found out that his wife was the one who had revealed the Taliban’s plot to kill the couple, he killed her by feeding her rat poison. John and Mary could only weep and pray, saying, ”God, you know.”
In November 2013, John and Mary were baptized. In February 2014 little Isa was born, perfectly healthy. Because of continual threats from the Taliban, the family was forced to move six times in eight months. John continued to share Jesus with everyone, often speaking with Afghan tradesmen working in the markets. He once prayed with a medical assistant about her infertility, and later she called to tell him she had just learned that she was pregnant. John began using the internet to minister to Afghans around the world, including his former Muslim students in Afghanistan. Many have turned to Christ through John’s powerful witness. John continues to teach new converts. He leads hours of internet worship services with small groups several times a week.
In late 2014, John, Mary, and Isa were accepted as refugees in a Western country. And John continues sharing about Christ. “Every second I work for God I want more people to see Jesus. I don’t want people to see me; I want them to see God. I lost everything, so I want to tell people about Jesus. God said He made many houses in heaven; he needs people in them.”
So, it ended up that many of John’s beloved relatives were murdered—so what was the “victory” over the Taliban? The answer is: Many souls were won to the Lord. John will see his relatives in heaven again. None of their lives meant so much to them—or him—such as to sway them from their indomitable love for Our Savior. They loved Him so much that their feelings for each other seemed like hate in comparison. Our Lord gave up His life for us. What should we be willing to do for Him? What Jesus spoke was hyperbole in Luke 14:26 above, but John and Mary were the perfect examples of what it means.
Acknowledgement Voice of the Martyrs, January, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
The Kingdom of God
What was John the Baptist’s first words?
Matthew 3:1-2: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
What was the theme of Jesus’ first message? Was it man’s need for salvation? Was it God’s love for mankind? Was it the necessity to be born again? Was it that He would die as a ransom for us? No, we find the answer in Matthew 4:17:
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand..”
Mark 1:14-15: Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The kingdom is the only thing that Jesus labeled as the gospel, which means “good news.”
For further on the importance of the kingdom, note what Jesus says in Luke 4:43, again early in His ministry:
But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
So what was the reason He was sent? For salvation? Yes, as many other verses point out. But it was also to set up the kingdom of God. It’s time, is it not, that we pay attention to this idea. After all, Jesus only talked once about the new birth; He mentioned His ransom for us only one time; there are only five or six passages in which Jesus used the word “salvation;” yet the kingdom of God is mentioned in the gospels nearly 100 times! Most of Jesus’ parables were about the kingdom. And as you saw above, Jesus said that the reason He was sent to earth was to preach about the kingdom. But do we hear this theme emphasized in the preaching of pastors today? No. All we hear is that Jesus’ primary purpose in coming to earth was to save us from our sin. Of course, that’s wonderfully important—but it still omits something vitally important. After all, wherever He went, He preached about the kingdom of God:
Matthew 4:23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
This is repeated in Matthew 9:35:
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
And again in Luke 9:11:
But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
He also made it the second petition in the model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…
That’s how high it ranks in the priorities of Jesus, and where it should rank in ours. Then what are we doing, ignoring this doctrine? The kingdom of God is almost totally missing from the gospel of today!
Now, you might argue that while Jesus was alive, He couldn’t say much about salvation through His death and resurrection—but surely, after these were completed, His disciples’ main theme was about that, right? Not the case. When Jesus commissioned His disciples, He specifically instructed them to preach about the kingdom.
Matthew 10:5-7: These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ….6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Luke 9:2: He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick
Luke 10:9: And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
In nearly every passage where Jesus gave preaching instruction to His disciples, He told them to preach about the kingdom. And they didn’t change the emphasis after He died and rose again.
Acts 8:12: But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized
Acts 19:6-8: And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all. 8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God
Even at the end of Acts—when Paul is under house arrest in Rome, having written about finally giving his life for Christ, what is he still thinking about? Acts 28:23:
So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.
In Acts 28:30-31, we should ask, what did Paul emphasize for two whole years at the tail end of his ministry? The answer? The kingdom and Jesus:
Then Paul dwelt two years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
As it was in Acts 8 above, these two verses have a dual emphasis in preaching: both Jesus Christ (and His salvation)—and the kingdom of God. The two go hand in hand. If you want Jesus as Savior, you need to accept His kingdom over your life too. He is the King, so we obey Him. Salvation is not the end of our religious effort; it is a means to an end—after we are saved, establishing our place in His kingdom should then be emphasized; what can we do to forward His kingdom? Notice carefully what Jesus said to Nicodemus:
John 3:3-5 (partial): Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot…enter the kingdom of God.
As you see, our being born again is not “the end.” It is a means to another end. Our real purpose is not to gain salvation, but to live to the highest use in His kingdom, to please our King. The kingdom is an absolutely crucial aspect of the gospel. When we tell people about salvation and ignore the kingdom, we are not preaching the gospel. We’re only giving half of it. We can’t have the King apart from the kingdom. Preachers must also call people to become citizens of His kingdom.
What gospel was it that Jesus said would be preached throughout all the world til’ the end comes? Matthew 24:14:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
So why is it that the gospel of the kingdom is not being preached? How did we miss this? We just don’t pay much attention to what the Scriptures really say anymore, I guess.
Well, now let’s talk about just what is the kingdom of God. All kingdoms have four components: (1) Ruler; (2) Subjects, or Citizens; (3) Domain, or the region the ruler has control; and (4) Laws. But God’s kingdom is sometimes different. God’s kingdom doesn’t have an earthly ruler—its ruler is Jesus Christ, who reigns from heaven. And unlike earthly kingdoms, who change rules, Jesus’ policies never change. They are spelled out in His infallible Word, the Bible. As to its subjects? The test, or method of determining who is a citizen in the kingdom of God is those who “bring forth the fruits thereof,” Matthew 21:43. What are the fruits? Holiness and praising God. The kingdom of God includes everyone IF they are bringing forth its fruits, if they are willing to gain in holiness. It excludes nobody—but those who exclude themselves by not bringing forth its fruits. To be heirs in this kingdom, we have to belong to Christ. We enter the kingdom through the new birth (see John 3). You can’t bring forth its fruits, you can’t be holy, without the help of the Holy Spirit, who is given to you at the new birth. It is His indwelling that brings forth fruit. See I Peter 2:9-10:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God.
As to Domain: The kingdom of God’s subjects do not occupy a certain portion of the earth; they are interspersed among all the nations of the world. This has caused conflict among His people—because we live under two kingdoms. You are a citizen in one of the kingdoms of the world, and you are a citizen in the kingdom of God. And since there are differences in their laws, those two kingdoms occasionally force a conflict, on occasion demanding of you two opposite actions at the same time. Of course, we are to follow our heavenly King; Jesus expects you to follow His laws, not the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13). This may mean persecution. Now you can’t avoid persecution by saying the kingdom is for the future, or it is a spiritual kingdom, so I can ignore His commands. Luke 17:21 does say the “kingdom of God is within you (KJV),” which could be translated as spiritual--but the phrae means “in the midst of you” (per Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words), a huge difference of meaning. Instead of saying “within me spiritually,” it says the kingdom is operating NOW among God’s people.
I want to say more about this conflict between the two kingdoms in another blog. It’s important to keep in mind, as we think about this, that most of the people in the world (including the U.S.) are not citizens of God’s kingdom. Most people are not willing to be holy and sold out for Christ. Many people who say they are Christians don’t really understand what sacrifices we might take to continue to be one. The people of the world cannot see the kingdom of God, and cannot understand our intolerance and refusal to keep up with the latest cultural trend. Jesus told Nicodemus, in John 3:3:
I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Colossians 1:13 says people are still in the kingdom of darkness. It also says we are NOW in the kingdom of God, if we’re saved and living for God—it’s not future:
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love
If we’re not living in His kingdom while we’re on earth, we’re not going to be there after we die. But most professing Christians don’t even know what the kingdom of God is. People equate it with “the institutional church,” with a certain political party, or even with a certain country. Those ideas limit what it is. Thinking about it makes you want to know what our King wants from us, especially as we possibly approach the last days, because Scripture says we can expect conflict, as I alluded above; and we must make each decision in those conflicts to advance the kingdom, and endure the persecutions to be in heaven when the time comes (II Timothy 2:12).
Keep in mind that salvation is not merely mental assent, but an active trust in Christ—it’s called “abiding in Christ.” Thereby we bear fruit. Knowing that we’re in His kingdom will help us to seek out and obey the King’s commandments, versus ignoring them, which goes on way too much today. Read John 15:1-6 or my blog on Initial vs Final Salvation. Following His commandments are necessary for final salvation, for an eternity in the right place—heaven.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot’s CD, “The Kingdom of God,” Scroll Publishing.
Matthew 3:1-2: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
What was the theme of Jesus’ first message? Was it man’s need for salvation? Was it God’s love for mankind? Was it the necessity to be born again? Was it that He would die as a ransom for us? No, we find the answer in Matthew 4:17:
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand..”
Mark 1:14-15: Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The kingdom is the only thing that Jesus labeled as the gospel, which means “good news.”
For further on the importance of the kingdom, note what Jesus says in Luke 4:43, again early in His ministry:
But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
So what was the reason He was sent? For salvation? Yes, as many other verses point out. But it was also to set up the kingdom of God. It’s time, is it not, that we pay attention to this idea. After all, Jesus only talked once about the new birth; He mentioned His ransom for us only one time; there are only five or six passages in which Jesus used the word “salvation;” yet the kingdom of God is mentioned in the gospels nearly 100 times! Most of Jesus’ parables were about the kingdom. And as you saw above, Jesus said that the reason He was sent to earth was to preach about the kingdom. But do we hear this theme emphasized in the preaching of pastors today? No. All we hear is that Jesus’ primary purpose in coming to earth was to save us from our sin. Of course, that’s wonderfully important—but it still omits something vitally important. After all, wherever He went, He preached about the kingdom of God:
Matthew 4:23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
This is repeated in Matthew 9:35:
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
And again in Luke 9:11:
But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
He also made it the second petition in the model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…
That’s how high it ranks in the priorities of Jesus, and where it should rank in ours. Then what are we doing, ignoring this doctrine? The kingdom of God is almost totally missing from the gospel of today!
Now, you might argue that while Jesus was alive, He couldn’t say much about salvation through His death and resurrection—but surely, after these were completed, His disciples’ main theme was about that, right? Not the case. When Jesus commissioned His disciples, He specifically instructed them to preach about the kingdom.
Matthew 10:5-7: These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ….6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Luke 9:2: He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick
Luke 10:9: And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
In nearly every passage where Jesus gave preaching instruction to His disciples, He told them to preach about the kingdom. And they didn’t change the emphasis after He died and rose again.
Acts 8:12: But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized
Acts 19:6-8: And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all. 8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God
Even at the end of Acts—when Paul is under house arrest in Rome, having written about finally giving his life for Christ, what is he still thinking about? Acts 28:23:
So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.
In Acts 28:30-31, we should ask, what did Paul emphasize for two whole years at the tail end of his ministry? The answer? The kingdom and Jesus:
Then Paul dwelt two years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
As it was in Acts 8 above, these two verses have a dual emphasis in preaching: both Jesus Christ (and His salvation)—and the kingdom of God. The two go hand in hand. If you want Jesus as Savior, you need to accept His kingdom over your life too. He is the King, so we obey Him. Salvation is not the end of our religious effort; it is a means to an end—after we are saved, establishing our place in His kingdom should then be emphasized; what can we do to forward His kingdom? Notice carefully what Jesus said to Nicodemus:
John 3:3-5 (partial): Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot…enter the kingdom of God.
As you see, our being born again is not “the end.” It is a means to another end. Our real purpose is not to gain salvation, but to live to the highest use in His kingdom, to please our King. The kingdom is an absolutely crucial aspect of the gospel. When we tell people about salvation and ignore the kingdom, we are not preaching the gospel. We’re only giving half of it. We can’t have the King apart from the kingdom. Preachers must also call people to become citizens of His kingdom.
What gospel was it that Jesus said would be preached throughout all the world til’ the end comes? Matthew 24:14:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
So why is it that the gospel of the kingdom is not being preached? How did we miss this? We just don’t pay much attention to what the Scriptures really say anymore, I guess.
Well, now let’s talk about just what is the kingdom of God. All kingdoms have four components: (1) Ruler; (2) Subjects, or Citizens; (3) Domain, or the region the ruler has control; and (4) Laws. But God’s kingdom is sometimes different. God’s kingdom doesn’t have an earthly ruler—its ruler is Jesus Christ, who reigns from heaven. And unlike earthly kingdoms, who change rules, Jesus’ policies never change. They are spelled out in His infallible Word, the Bible. As to its subjects? The test, or method of determining who is a citizen in the kingdom of God is those who “bring forth the fruits thereof,” Matthew 21:43. What are the fruits? Holiness and praising God. The kingdom of God includes everyone IF they are bringing forth its fruits, if they are willing to gain in holiness. It excludes nobody—but those who exclude themselves by not bringing forth its fruits. To be heirs in this kingdom, we have to belong to Christ. We enter the kingdom through the new birth (see John 3). You can’t bring forth its fruits, you can’t be holy, without the help of the Holy Spirit, who is given to you at the new birth. It is His indwelling that brings forth fruit. See I Peter 2:9-10:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God.
As to Domain: The kingdom of God’s subjects do not occupy a certain portion of the earth; they are interspersed among all the nations of the world. This has caused conflict among His people—because we live under two kingdoms. You are a citizen in one of the kingdoms of the world, and you are a citizen in the kingdom of God. And since there are differences in their laws, those two kingdoms occasionally force a conflict, on occasion demanding of you two opposite actions at the same time. Of course, we are to follow our heavenly King; Jesus expects you to follow His laws, not the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13). This may mean persecution. Now you can’t avoid persecution by saying the kingdom is for the future, or it is a spiritual kingdom, so I can ignore His commands. Luke 17:21 does say the “kingdom of God is within you (KJV),” which could be translated as spiritual--but the phrae means “in the midst of you” (per Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words), a huge difference of meaning. Instead of saying “within me spiritually,” it says the kingdom is operating NOW among God’s people.
I want to say more about this conflict between the two kingdoms in another blog. It’s important to keep in mind, as we think about this, that most of the people in the world (including the U.S.) are not citizens of God’s kingdom. Most people are not willing to be holy and sold out for Christ. Many people who say they are Christians don’t really understand what sacrifices we might take to continue to be one. The people of the world cannot see the kingdom of God, and cannot understand our intolerance and refusal to keep up with the latest cultural trend. Jesus told Nicodemus, in John 3:3:
I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Colossians 1:13 says people are still in the kingdom of darkness. It also says we are NOW in the kingdom of God, if we’re saved and living for God—it’s not future:
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love
If we’re not living in His kingdom while we’re on earth, we’re not going to be there after we die. But most professing Christians don’t even know what the kingdom of God is. People equate it with “the institutional church,” with a certain political party, or even with a certain country. Those ideas limit what it is. Thinking about it makes you want to know what our King wants from us, especially as we possibly approach the last days, because Scripture says we can expect conflict, as I alluded above; and we must make each decision in those conflicts to advance the kingdom, and endure the persecutions to be in heaven when the time comes (II Timothy 2:12).
Keep in mind that salvation is not merely mental assent, but an active trust in Christ—it’s called “abiding in Christ.” Thereby we bear fruit. Knowing that we’re in His kingdom will help us to seek out and obey the King’s commandments, versus ignoring them, which goes on way too much today. Read John 15:1-6 or my blog on Initial vs Final Salvation. Following His commandments are necessary for final salvation, for an eternity in the right place—heaven.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot’s CD, “The Kingdom of God,” Scroll Publishing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)