Differences Between Our Doctrine and the Early Christian Doctrine (Part 1 of 2)

The Church is fragmented into hundreds of different sects and denominations, so much so as to say, “There sure are an awful lot of differences in interpretation of this Book out there.” Can any of these groups say for sure that “We’re right, others are wrong.  We’re not deceived.”? No, they can't say that; many churches start off on the wrong foot, by not using a literal meaning for Bible verses. This happens most when they “interpret” Genesis and Revelation. Also, many churches are bending to the culture and changing doctrine—such as on homosexuality.  As a result, many denominations have persisted despite wrong doctrinal conclusions.  Given that the true meaning of almost all Greek words in the Bible have been determined, there is no excuse for the Christian churches to be disunited.   We should be humble enough to bow and pray, and say, “God, show me Your truth!” If we really do that, we would gradually unify, which is what Jesus wants.  Most of us pick our denomination based on family, or tradition.  The idea that the Bible differs from their denominational beliefs is not that important to most people.

Well, here's an idea:  If people are really looking for the real Christian church, and its theology, they should look again at the lifestyles and words of the just-started church in the book of Acts. That church was united—for 150 years or so.  The Kingdom of God was so irresistible, so radical, that the church left people with only two choices when it confronted them:   Either join us, or persecute us. There was no neutral ground.  Just like Jesus said, You’re either my friend, or you’re my enemy. There’s no “gray area” with Christ. The Church, in Acts—it will make your heart pound when you read it. When you read it, don’t you have a longing in your heart to see church today like that? When you look at the radical nature of what God is doing through them, does it ever make your heart burn? Let’s examine their actions in the Word.

Acts 2:41-47: Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4:29-35: Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

Acts 5:12-16: And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Acts 8:35-39: Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 9:32-35: Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. 33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately. 35 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Acts 13:2-3: As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Acts 14:8-10: And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.

Acts 16:25-31: But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 20:7-11: Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. 9 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” 11 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.

What keeps such an "on fire" church from happening in America now? Jesus might answer by saying, Do we really want to meet Him on His terms? The problem is, We don’t have their dedication and sacrifice. Are we hungry enough to get together and pray for ten days straight, as they did? If anyone in the church is lacking, would we give up our food, would we all fast to feed them? Would we give up all of our extra material possessions to the group to meet those in need—do we have a heart to give like that? That’s what they did. They truly acted on Jesus’ commandments to love one another.

Also, could it be that part of  the reason for this difference between us and this fireball group is that our interpretation of doctrine is different than theirs? After all, doctrine and lifestyle should go hand in hand. Doctrine is useless unless it transforms your life. You can think you believe something, but let's ask: Do you believe that the majority of people are on their way to hell? (It's true, Matt. 7:13-14).  Do you believe that there are many people deceived to think that they are on their way to heaven--but they are not (Matthew 7:21-27)?  To the extent that you actually believe that, you will intercede for the lost, your heart will break when you see people that don’t know the Lord, you’ll plead with people, or write a letter to a beloved, distant aunt that doesn’t know Him. You’ll be down on your knees often.

To the extent that you truly believe in something, it changes your life.

Did you ever ask:  What was it that the apostles believed that made their lives so radical? Let’s spend some time reading the writings of the early church fathers, whose lifestyles were the closest to the apostles. Remember, they were simple men.  And remember, they consulted no commentary.  They didn’t have to fool with interpreting Greek—they spoke it, they knew it intimately.

Here is an example of their lifestyle, as described by witnesses.  This is 125 AD:

First, from a new believer about his local congregation:  They do not bear false witness; nor do they covet what is not theirs. They comfort their oppressors and make them their friends.

Their women are pure as virgins and their daughters are modest; their men keep themselves from all unlawful unions and uncleanness. They go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. They love one another. They deliver their widows and orphans from those who would treat them harshly. He who has, gives to him who has not. They fast two or three days to supply the necessary food for the needy.  They follow the commands of their Christ justly and seriously. Every morning and every hour they give thanks to God for His lovingkindness to them. If any righteous man passes from this world, they rejoice and give thanks to God.

Now from a non-believer; his sarcasm means the local church is a good witness:

They despise the temples, as dead houses; they reject the gods. Half-naked themselves, they despise honors and purple robes. Oh, wondrous folly…They despise present torments, although they fear those which are future. They fear to die after death, but they do not fear to die for the present. The larger portion are in want, are cold, are laboring in hard work or hunger. And God allows it. You do not visit exhibitions; you reject public banquets and abhor sacred contests…you assume you will rise again but refuse to live in the meanwhile. Cease from prying into the destinies of the sky. What is wrong with you?

Could the church of America be accused of having such a witness statement? No, frankly. The church today, in fact, is more complacent and worldly and too often accused of hypocrisy. And, mostly, of lukewarmness. The early church had a Holy Spirit-touched lifestyle. They won souls, they turned the world upside down. The secret started in their doctrine, then resulted in action. It was different than ours.

NEXT WEEK: So What are the Three Doctrines the Early Church Had That Have Been Radically Changed in Today’s Church That Made Us Weaker?

Acknowledgement: Scott Schones, “A New Kind of Christian?” CD, Scroll Publishing

 

Why Will Jesus Reject Some "Christians" for Heaven? The Answers May Surprise You

 

 Jesus spoke many parables. A parable is defined as a story, the object of which is to learn a spiritual lesson. The narrative is of a physical story, but the hearer or reader has to make the analogy to learn the spiritual lesson. Jesus used it often in a crafty way; For one thing, 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 needed real proof to take His life.   I think parables added some time to His physical life. He was allowed to speak "freely;" He was “lucky” (but there is no such thing as luck to God's plan, right?) 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. Some of them are on the subject of how to get to heaven. Definitely important--so let’s study a few.

 Many Who Start Out As Believers Get Rejected in Final Judgment

Since Jesus has no less than 8 parables on this subject (see below), it is obviously important. I believe, considering many sermons I have heard and read about, that most unsaved people, if they are Protestant—and even many Catholics-- are deceived on this subject.  They think they are saved when they are not. If they read Scripture with an open mind, they would see that. The Protestants’ biggest problem is this:  They conveniently assume that once they are saved, they don't have to be sensitive to their personal ongoing sin. So as a result, they don’t change their life much.  But in the parables listed below, Jesus makes it crystal clear that it is not a simple case. Pastors today are not helping; they avoid dealing with seemingly contradictory verses in Scripture. If they studied them with the help of the Holy Spirit, they could reconcile those verses. I am speaking of one group of verses that praise works as an element of salvation, and other verses that say to rely on faith only, not works. The pastors refuse to deal with this difficult subject. They feel people wouldn’t understand, or that they are in the business of making people comfortable. They refuse to talk about sin in any detail, or the necessity of sanctification.  They pick out Bible verses that are all on God’s love. Pastors want to confirm people, not warn them. And they won’t bring up hell or have sermons on the depths of our sin-natures. And it’s unlikely that they talk about repentance. These silent subjects WERE talked about in previous days, and brought about some real revivals.  Avoidance like this amounts to deception.  Since it's possible that we have been deceived without realizing it, and since “where we spend our eternity” is at stake, heaven or hell, let’s keep our minds open, and seek the real reason why they (or you) could be rejected for heaven, so we can avoid such tragedy.

Demonstrated in: Parable of the Vine, John 15:1-10
The Sower, Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23
The 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

I picked four of the above for discussion:

The Vine: John 15:1-6: “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

These are some of the most important Words from Jesus in the New Testament, aside from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is the Vine; some of us become His branches (when we were first saved). We derive (eternal) life ONLY by staying attached to Him, and getting our nourishment from Him (vv 5-6).  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 these parables, from the lips of Our Truth, Jesus Christ, do a wonderful job of explaining the second critical issue--how do I “abide” in Christ, once I have experienced initial salvation? Otherwise, as the verses above clearly say, I could end up in hell.  Abiding, and I cannot stress this strongly enough, determines whether you end with salvation.  You need both (initial and abiding) salvation to get to heaven. Building a relationship with Jesus fulfills that second requirement, and heaven opens up to you. Without abiding, the destination, shall we say, changes. So here we go.

As a branch, we grow through pruning, which hurts. Jesus told us that staying with Him has a cost. One of the costs is disapproval from others. If we experience no disapproval, and we are “just one of the guys,” then we have a weak witness for Our Lord, and our Christianity can be questioned. Another cost of discipleship is sacrificing the world and its lusts. We must go to extremes to avoid temptation (Matthew 5:29ff); we spend money and time only on what God wants-- we do not buy luxuries, or things to satisfy our sinful nature—but we give that money to the Lord’s Work. Another cost is organizing our life activities around His commandments. We attend a solid Christian church, since that’s what Scripture demands. We pray. We study the Word to know Our Lord better, to know what He likes. We meditate, introspectively, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to figure out what He doesn’t like in our thoughts and behavior. This will not threaten our salvation; God knows about it; He is waiting for us to confess and ask forgiveness. We confess to Him, we repent (I John 1:8-9 does not say that we only do this once). He loves our humility. We get to know Jesus like we would do for the opposite sex who we are in love with. All these are what “abiding” is all about. It’s not just emotion.  As these verses clearly show, to finally get to heaven, and not be tossed to the fire, we must, through abiding in Christ, bear fruit. The above activities are part of that—as long as we don’t do it by “rote.” If we don’t abide and bear fruit, 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 must seek with our Savior.  We fail once in a while, but God is patient—to a point. Since by Jesus’ death in our place, He gave true believers heaven instead of hell for eternity. We see the love He had, and we owe all of our lives to Him. And we give it, even the important decisions, because we trust Him. We get help from the Holy Spirit to break the habits of sin. God gives grace for our occasional slip-ups, and forgives us when we confess and repent them to Him. (But we must not abuse His forgiveness by giving false repentance when we confess. Continuing for too long in the same sin, despite guilt and warnings by the Spirit, threatens your Christianity).  

An aside: This theological concept of initial and final salvation that I’m alluding to, seems revolutionary, since it's seldom preached on-- but it's in Scripture, where it is set forth plainly. Also, the earliest church fathers saw that you could lose your salvation (see another blog, “Initial and Final Salvation”).  This is not Catholic doctrine, not really Protestant either.  Protestant Reformers like Luther, tried too hard to be the opposite of the Catholics. If the Catholics said “works are big, obey them to gain sacraments,” and they forget about initial repentance, and assume that you had a good start for heaven just by being baptized,  Luther had to say “forget works, it’s all grace.” I don’t deny grace. It is all grace for God to pay any attention to us sinful creatures. Catholics distorted their idea of works (they say a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just say your rosary, attend Mass, Confession, etc). But Protestant Reformers also distorted grace. They say a relationship with Christ, and intentional sanctification, are not necessary, though it’s beautiful. As a minimum, just accept Him, and you are saved forever. Through His unconditional grace, He will make sure that you will persevere to the end, they say. But I have seen many who start out well, but don’t change their lives or grow—they are not persevering. They are not into a relationship with Our Lord. They are deceived.

 The Sower and the soils agrees with this. Soils are defined as people’s willingness to live for Christ. In two of the four soils—actually, the first soil was impossible to penetrate, so three of the four soils—were failures. Only one out of four was a success in bearing fruit. In two of the soils (persons), they showed early promise, but finally were unsaved because they did not produce fruit.  Here’s Matthew 13:21-22 on the two soils’ immediate response to the Seed sown:

…he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 

Now I want you to notice how a good church and an unhelpful church may also get involved, let’s say on intercession. In each of the soil examples above, if a person “receives it with joy,” or actually “hears the Word,” he might be in a church that, seeing this initial response, affirms his salvation. But if this person doesn’t follow through for years, they might, if they were smart, figure this person is becoming apostate. Which means he is likely to have turned and become unsaved and out of the Kingdom and on his way to hell.  Hopefully church people notice his change of behavior, and a senior member can pose some tough questions to him to make him aware of his dangerous state.  Leaders should observe behavior to get an idea if the discipleship is gone—in other words, they observe his “works” to get an idea where his heart is. (You may call this “judging”—dealt with in another blog—or “invading his privacy.” Then I say, “Do you care if this person ends up in hell?”) On the other hand, if a church and a pastor disaffirms “works,” the church will act completely different—and unhelpful to warn him. As long as they believe he was saved initially, their idea of warning him will be a confusing bag: “You are still saved, but we are worried.” I will assure you: In the confusion, he will only hear the first four words. This Calvinistic church is going the wrong way in treating him. These words are not an effective warning.

Getting back to our main church doctrines, both these theologies—whether Catholics believe in piling up sacraments and leaning on baptism to be saved, and Protestants who say “faith, not works are enough to stay saved”-- are lies, and put you in danger of hell, as these Vine and Sower parables clearly point out. You have to abide, too. And that takes works for final salvation, intentionally changing your life. Remember, you are a new creation, right? (II Corinthians 5:17} But does anybody notice the difference in you?  The Book of James needs to be read, not just Paul’s books.

Example #3, Sheep and Goats: 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 (people) 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 .... 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?... 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....44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger...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.”

The issue in this parable is, if we do not have enough love for our fellow man so we do not care for him in his hour of need, then this total lack of love means we are not a Christian. Jesus is asking us, did you care for the poor and the sick? To some people, caring for someone dressed in Goodwill knockoffs, or with messy hair, is beneath them. They have too much pride—and we know how God feels about pride. I would like to insert a plug for independent caring missions and relief organizations. If you give all your charity money to the local church, what if the church spends little on missions or the poor? Maybe they give free bread downtown to whoever wants it—but that is not efficient, because middle-class people come out of the woodwork when they smell a freebie.  Some churches would rather build a nicer church, or give the pastor a raise, or more staff. We need to watch this stuff; stewardship of God’s resources is important. You don’t want all your money to go to people who have it better than many Christians elsewhere in the world (did you know that over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day?) Too many people are unable to put good food on the table, or drink unpalatable water, or have miserable housing, or poor medicine--or are persecuted. This is serious: Look at what God says in James 2:13:

For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. 

Example #4, Rock or Sand: 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 Jesus requiring works?)  is building a foundation of rock, and keeps our spiritual house toward heaven.  But hearing and NOT DOING, no matter how much “service” you do at church—for people of status or to obtain friends of the same financial class-- you are headed for spiritual rejection. We must “do the will” of our Father. Let that sink in: We don’t do things for show. We do them for people who need them. Many verses praise works. As these verses point out, there is a necessary place for ‘works after we are initially saved.  

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; since you can lose initial salvation through no fruit, no obedience when the chips are down, final decision is made on faith and follow up, doing His will, versus those who have ignored His commandments through sins of commission or omission. We should explore our gift (I Corinthians 12), find out what we can do best—and do it.

What do most people do, upon reading this?  Are you going to possibly twist the obvious meaning of these parables? Or are you going to say, "It could be too dense for me.  Pastor will explain."  But pastor is trained something different in seminary. He parrots that; it might not save you. Some pastors are not open-minded, or they hate talking theology with people who have no degrees in it.  A simple reading of Scripture makes it clear: “Doing good” or doing His will, or bearing fruit, (with the help of the Lord when you call on Him) helps get you final salvation. If this seems to disagree with what Paul seems to say about ignoring the law (especially in Romans and Galatians), you need to keep context in view.  His frequent mention of ignoring the law could be explained by this: he had to deal with Judaizers—new Jewish Christians who wanted us to keep all their man-made laws to be saved. “Let’s get all the male believers in Christ circumcised,” 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 (Jewish civil or food) laws; he wanted us to have a relationship with Jesus. (I have other blogs on “Paul vs. James” on this subject, too).

A final aside:  Most of us like to have a large savings account, so WE can control our lives, not God.  So we give little to the church or to people in trouble but it goes to savings instead. Such a determination to be in control at all times means we have no clue about how the Holy Spirit could go to bat to help us. If we sacrifice material things for Him, THEN, later, if we run short, we can ask God to help

Theme #2: God’s Kingdom People Will Have Non-Believers Among Them In Church; 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

In the interest of space, we only comment on one.

Wheat and tares, 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 every church, there will be fakers and there will be sincere folks. That's the way Satan plans; wheat and weeds together--saved and unsaved people. Chaos will reign. Suppose we start looking for those in our congregation who may not show enough growth to be saved.  Then we want to remove the tares from the assembly.  But can we really tell who is a genuine Christian? This Scripture warns us that we can't.

 Jesus said, in these verses, Do not worry about all that; the angels will pull out “those who practice lawlessness.” Elsewhere He says to focus only on our sins, concentrate on "pulling out the plank" in our own eye, vs. focusing on specks that others have in their lives. Thus, it's clear that we are to let everyone attend who wants to attend—within reason. If that guy gets loud, and prophesies in the middle of the sermon, find a way to muzzle him. Scripture says he has control of his emotions (I Corinthians 14:32). As an extra way of avoiding chaos within the church, if someone is in a known fornication or adulterous relationship, the church must discipline. Scripture has much to say about that. Let's let Jesus do the deciding, in the last days. Let’s love the foot-draggers and the fearful of new things or fearful of risk people among us, and encourage them to do better. The tares sometimes put up obstructions to the Lord's plan, and we have permission to rebuke them. But not under the goal of throwing them out. IF God wants us to do something, He will find a way around the troublers.  We may go slower, but it’s a good test of the practice of love, too.

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

 

Some Surprising Facts About our Resurrection

Perhaps the most important question of all time, to a lot of people, is, What happens after we die?  Is there life after death?   This question has puzzled mankind since Adam, and there are many different theories suggested.   But God is rather clear in the Bible on this subject, as He would be, since Scripture claims in various places that He loves His children—so He would tell us “where we’re moving to” when we die.  

 

So, let’s study what the Word says on the “moving” issue.  Let’s promise ourselves that what the Scripture says is more important than what our church says—after all, different church denominations interpret it differently.  I believe the correct doctrine includes an intermediate state (we're not speaking of Catholic beliefs).  Few people believe this anymore--it has either been warped or lost.  Most Protestant denominations believe that saved people, after death, immediately go to be with Christ. But there is an intermediate state—the earliest church, by 100 AD, believed that—and it’s definitely in Scripture.  Let’s take a look at it.

 

The ONLY detailed explanation of life just beyond the grave is found in Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus.  See Luke 16:22-31, where Jesus says: 

 

²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’  ²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

 

 

What do we see in these verses?  

  1)  The previously poor man is in “Abraham’s bosom,” v.22. He is “comforted.” The rich man is “afar off”—a “great gulf fixed” away--suffering. They can communicate with one another, so they’re both likely in the same place. That place, with saved and condemned people, is called "hades" in most Bible translations-- which is a correct rendering of the Greek word.   Abraham's bosom is the” good” part of this place, but the "hot" section is the bad part. Beware--some translations use “hell” in Luke 16:23, which is a different Greek word not in this verse, and as a result, Christians reject Luke 16 as a “stopover” for them.

 2)Getting back to Scripture, the pagan is “in torments.”  He “cries out” in agony.  Thirst is a serious problem, since a flame is nearby. He has a memory--he is well aware of his previous life, since he remembered his brothers and now wants to see them saved from this.  This adds to his anxiety, and adds to his suffering.

3)  As vv 27-31 show, there is no way that someone in hades can warn those still alive.  There is no communication between dead and living.  Thus, we conclude that seances would be meaningless, today as well as then.

  

4)  Those who are I the “bad” side of hades will all later be thrown into hell.  Revelation 20:14:

 

      Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death

 

5)   Jesus, as the designer of hades, speaks through Abraham, and is tough on the former rich man.  He is willing to let him suffer, acknowledging “you are tormented” --yet without relieving him—because it’s too late for persuasion. Might as well let him see the judgement side of God. His ultimate destination of hell is fixed.  When the man complains of his suffering, Jesus through Abraham even taunts him, reminding him of the reversal of roles for the two of them—and telling him: those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’   This man is tormented by a flame—here and in the real hell—forever. 

A dreaded and powerful scene! I'm saying that these statements are based on reality; they are not just a "parable."  Modern theologians don't want to consider this a doctrine, because it makes God look incompassionate.  I don't think it is a parable; it's a doctrine, since it has named Lazarus, and parables don’t give names.  Plus, this is the only place in Scripture for what happens right after death. Let's imagine it was a parable--would Jesus set forth a deception about what happens when we die--would He express an untruth on such an important issue?  Especially considering we know so little about this important subject elsewhere in Scripture.  Would He say, "Hah!  I fooled you.  This story is all a lie about what happens beyond death.  Now that I’ve still left you in the dark, you can continue worrying about it. I didn’t feel like giving a straight answer to this very important question."  I think not.  
 
Part of the reason I believe this intermediate state, hades, is a truth is that it fits in with other verses in Scripture:

 

(1) If we have faith and live for the Lord, at death our spirit and our body separate from one another:  We are in the spirit, comforted by the Holy Spirit (shown by the comfort of Abraham’s bosom).

 

(2) We know there will be a day of judgment. We will see God’s uncompassionate wrath. Matthew 25:31-32, using the New King James version:

         “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.

 

An unfortunate aside: The word "nations" is a poor translation from the Greek "ethnos," which really means "a multitude of people of the same nature." Using “nations” gives you the impression that an entire nation is a sheep, or an entire nation is a goat. That gives you the impression that one nation might end up on His right, going to heaven, but another nation ends up on the left, or going to hell. But it cannot be that everyone in a nation will be judged the same, and all of its people are sheep, or another nation has all of its people lost. No, Scripture is clear that we are all individually judged.  Perhaps verse 32 should read “All the people will be gathered…” Or, I like the NIV:

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another…(Unfortunately, the usually reliable NKJV above has “nation” and then “He will separate them ( nations?) one from another…”  My point in these verses is, nobody on the hell-side is allowed to argue against the terribleness that awaits. You could be on the right, and looking at your relative on the left. You know you will never see them again. Imagine that.

 

(3) At the Judgment, the unsaved people, from the "bad" side of hades, went to hell; and the saved sheep, from the comforted in spirit side, get their bodies resurrected, and then salvation is complete.  Like Jesus, then we will have new body and spirit--all perfect, all desirous of doing His will (finally). 

 

(4) Yet another reason to believe in this Scripture as God’s version of the intermediate state is that this was universally believed by the earliest church fathers; they were brilliant men in their knowledge of Scripture, and believed it was truth.  They knew their Greek backward and forward, they knew the culture, they could have asked questions of the apostles, and got answers, or from someone only a generation removed from them.  Consider also that that early church was the most dynamic and godly church in history; so I believe their theology was accurate, and God blessed them because of that by touching their evangelism greatly.   

 

Now here are other supporting Scriptures for the intermediate state: 

1. Luke 23:43 records Jesus’ words on the Cross to the dying and just-saved thief alongside:  

      And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

What's Paradise?  Think with me: if the saved poor man’s first stopover after death, from Luke 16, is “Abraham’s bosom,” as we saw above, and if the first stopover for the just-saved thief is in “paradise,” we have to conclude paradise is the same thing as Abraham’s bosom.  Namely, the good side of hades.  We conclude that paradise is NOT heaven, but an intermediate state, hades.

 

2. Jesus went to hades too, when He died, as proved by Matthew 12:40 and parts of Acts 2:22-27, Here are the words of Jesus:  

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth

Here are the words of Peter:

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs…you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:  Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.²⁷ For You will not leave my soul in hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption From Psalm 16:10).

So Jesus did not die and go straight to heaven because He was in "the heart of the earth," which is definitely not heaven; nor did He go to hell, called “gehenna” in Greek, the lake of fire, a different Greek word than the two verses above.  The only choice left is that He went to the good side of hades. Jesus told the thief that he was going to paradise with Him--yet the two verses above clearly show, He went to hades.  If the good thief was going to join him, hades can’t be hell, because it makes no sense that the good thief would go to hell. This is proof that hades and hell are not the same thing. Jesus is explaining hades in Luke 16. It makes sense that hades is deep in the earth. Jesus’ soul did not remain in hades long—three days and nights; He then went to heaven. 

These truths about the intermediate state were so universally believed by the earliest Christians that it became part of the original Apostles’ Creed:  I believe in God the Father Almighty…and in Jesus Christ…was crucified, dead and buried.  He descended to hades (the proper translation of the Greek word, which agrees with other verses we’ve examined); on the third day rose from the dead…

 

3. John 14:1-3:  

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Note the underlined phrase. Jesus is saying that at His Second Coming (not before), “where I am (heaven), there you may be also.”  This proves that when the righteous die, they do not go immediately to heaven to be with Jesus.  Why?  Well, Jesus flatly tells them that they don’t get there until His Second Coming, the resurrection, when all the saved go up there at the same time. He has to “come again” (His second coming) and "receive" us, and then the saved go up to heaven.  If we were already in heaven when we die, He would not have to “come (to earth) again” to get us.  No, the truth is, our spirits are in the heart of the earth, in hades, waiting to join our new body for "pick up.” The pick up will be better than a really hot hot air balloon, better than being the delivery token for an Amazon drone. And our body? Well, speaking for myself—I will lose the fat and flabby and creaky.

 

4. John 5:28-29:

      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.

Thus, both groups will “come forth” (at the second coming) to the Judgment, possibly at the same time. If that’s the case, hades will be emptied all at once.  It gets true believers, soul and body, from hades to heaven, not from heaven to heaven+ body.

Hopefully these many Scriptures will be convincing.  But, you ask, "I don't think anyone teaches this, how can it be correct?"  Well, many Mennonites, some Brethren, some Amish, some in the Restoration movement, some conservative Anglicans still teach this. Am I saying, most of us has had it wrong for centuries?  How could that be? The speculation is, teaching on the intermediate state, believed by the early church fathers’ writings, has gotten dropped because the Protestant Reformation (Luther, Calvin) tried to get as far away from the Catholics’ false teachings, including purgatory.  Purgatory, the Catholic idea of the intermediate state, teaches that (a) the intermediate state can cleanse your sins and (b) it can change final status. Double False.  Scripture shows that hades (the real intermediate state) does not change final status, as we saw in Luke.  The sincere pleadings of the rich man were greeted coldly. He encountered Jesus not as merciful, but as an uncompassionate Judge.  Remember, few are saved (Matthew 7:14).  We are shocked and sometimes uncomfortable about seeing this "negative side" of God.  (That might explain why theologians can’t connect Luke 16 with a real doctrine). But God doesn't think as we do.  We cannot imagine, for instance, how deep is God’s hatred about sin.  If you’re unsaved when you go into hades, you’re unsaved when you go out.  Period.  There is no Scriptural basis for “cleansing from sin” in that state either.  The idea that you can purge your own sin is completely false and anti-Biblical, as Scripture points out, and I point out in many blogs. Jesus has done that cleansing from sin for us. The “works vs faith” argument was what kick-started the Reformation—a just movement, but it went to wrong theology on some minor points to get away from looking Catholic. (Yes, this discussion is minor when you consider “how can I get to heaven?” THAT’S major.)

Next, Catholicism teaches that there is a special status for those the Church classified as “saints”—they get to go straight to heaven.  Everybody else has to go to purgatory to “work off” their sins.  False.  Scripture is clear that everyone saved is a saint. It’s fixed at death. Also, there are no “status” Christians.  Philippians 1:1 says:   

Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. 

 If saints are the “status” Christians, why is Paul calling every Christian a “saint,” and, oh yes, let’s not forget the separate listing of bishops and deacons as saints.  How do you explain that?  

John Calvin, who formulated many Protestant doctrines (not my favorite person, as I have a blog on him), dropped the intermediate state doctrine totally.  So both Catholics and most “mainline” Protestants have it wrong.  You’ve got to read Scripture for yourselves, folks. They had an agenda.

PS.  This explanation of the “order of events” is simple and uncomplicated, as long as you don't believe in a separate Rapture.  Keep in mind, a separate rapture means that Jesus comes three times, which is un-Scriptural.  They're saying, first coming was His Incarnation; second, His "rapture;" third, His coming in judgment.  I have a separate series of blogs challenging this.  If you DO believe in a Rapture, the explanation for how 'who goes to heaven when' twists Scripture around like a pretzel to figure out. I won't even try; somehow I feel that God would make it simple to figure out the important question of "where do we go when we die?" But people have “itching ears,” and are oh-so willing to lean away from Scripture.

 

A verse that the "straight to heaven" crowd likes: Philippians 1:23:

For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Paul is not stating hard-and fast theology. He is just personally wondering which is better--to live and support Christians, or to die and be with Christ? He could mean “eventually” on that second option. Consider also that the Holy Spirit could be in hades with the spirit of a Christian after death, so He is "with" us in hades. So this verse, with the personal element, does not lock the case for the "straight to heaven" group.

Another favorite of theirs is Act 7:56, 59, at the martyrdom of Stephen:

and (Stephen) said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Well, Stephen is the first New Testament martyr; plus, he has just given a severe verbal admonishment to the Jews about their history defying God, and Jesus could be confirming or comforting him by showing up.  Naturally, a man near death would react by saying, "Jesus, receive my spirit."  Keep in mind, that's what a man is quoting, and not necessarily God.  Think of the musings of Job in Scripture; they're not all correct for doctrine.

Finally, II Corinthians 5:8:

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

This is clearly the "straight to heaven" folks' favorite verse. But...when there are abundant verses above telling us differently, should we believe that God changed the doctrine, and only indicated the change by this one verse?  Would God do that on such an important teaching as "where we go when we die?"  

 

So, as I'm speaking with mostly "straight to heaven" crowd--we should consider opening our mind to a different definition of these verses in Luke 16.  What I see is, none of these ‘contrary’ verses lock down the "straight to heaven" idea. My many verses on the intermediate state logically string together a solid case for the good side of hades, then later heaven at His second coming.    

It's not a new idea. After all, it was doctrinal by the believing Jews, then believed by the young church for another 600 years, then the Catholic church perverted it. Then it was dropped by most. 

If you want to know more about what Scripture really says on How Do You Get Saved, you need to know that Catholics and many Protestants have not emphasized the right doctrine as well.   I have a blog just on salvation, and another on initial and final salvation.  Also, though, would be to read the Gospels over and over, noting what Jesus says on that very subject.  He is quite clear.

 

Acknowledgement:  David Bercot, CD, “Life After Death."  Scroll Publishing

 

Bad News When You Kill the Innocent

 

I want to tell you a Bible story that will illustrate how God feels about abortion.

First, consider this: America has really not retracted from the assault on the unborn, despite the great praises given to our Supreme Court for ruling against Roe v. Wade. It simply rolled back the decision to the individual states. For example, Virginia and Minnesota recently passed laws about permitting abortion up till birth.  About half the states (unfortunately some of the more-populated ones) will keep abortion mills running.  Second, if you're in the "wrong" state and want an abortion, it's now estimated that 50% of employers will pay for your travel so you can get that abortion.  Third, there will be also be extreme pressure to make the abortifacient pills (formerly called "RU-486") an over-the-counter drug. Killing the infant by chemistry, applied by the prospective mother.

Even in "safe" states, you can still kill the infant as a zygote, when you can't hear a heartbeat, or whatever the politicians choose as a restriction to ease their conscience.  They have to pay attention to the voting public; and the latest poll indicates 57% of America is willing to kill that new life "under limited circumstances."  But the fact is, a fertilized egg, no matter how small, is a human life.  You're still killing it, no matter how little it is, and will earn God's wrath.  Because, as Scripture says, we are all made in the image of God.  That's a fact that is not known by many, and ignored by many more, Ignorance is not an effective excuse in heaven, just like ignorance will not "get you off" in traffic court.

We will still kill a horrifying number of innocent babies in the womb in the U.S. every year. We defy the polls that say 65% of Americans are "Christians."  No real Christian does this.  But for over 50 years we have allowed this bloody massacre to continue on our watch.  We all share guilt, for not doing enough to stop it.

I read about how Asians around the world are still memorializing the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed 228,000 people in the Orient. An astounding number, don't you think? 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, and more to come.

Let's get to the Biblical story that relates to our subject.  Start with a “religious” practice of the Canaanites—namely, they killed their children as a sacrifice offering to their god, Baal, whose title was Prince, Lord of the Earth.

Can you believe that Ahab, a Jewish king, also got hooked on this practice?  Since God had already condemned it many times in Scripture, you would think he was smarter.  Every king had scribes, but Ahab was not interested in them repeating God's laws.  It wasn't caused by his notorious wife Jezebel, but he had his own tale of evil when he hooked up with the Canaanites in doing this. The Canaanites were so evil that God told Israel to attack them and not leave a single soul breathing.  Here is II Chronicles 28:3:

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.

The horrific pain of a death by fire on a baby seems beyond understanding. Why did Ahab do it? Well, Baal was a god of fertility, which meant the religion included ritual orgies, sodomy and prostitution, and adultery with swapping wives and fornication with other men’s virgin daughters.  So maybe the sexual “benefits” were worth killing a son for. (It helped if you had many wives and many sons, which kings typically had; the pain of losing one was “lessened”).

Later, a reform king tore down all the "high places" where this ritual went on.  But these were erected again by a still later Jewish king--Manasseh.  He did the same shocking thing as Ahab, sacrificing his child. But he did even worse: he promoted it among the people! Many Israelites 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 33:2-3, 6-7:

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...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 a carved image in God’s house. That’s blasphemy, and a break of the second Commandment. God is also against killing innocents and out-of-marriage sex--and 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 their children “pass through the fire,” a sacrifice murder of their own child, was mentioned as early as Deuteronomy. This practice, and God’s hatred of it, had been known a long time by the Jews. So these two kings, Ahab and Manasseh, were in direct violation of an earlier 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.’”

The key is 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. Jesus loves little children. How was Manasseh’s sin greater than Ahab, so that Ahab wasn’t threatened?” He publicized it, and lots of people followed. So the murder of the innocents was that much greater. (But it doesn’t total America’s sin thus far, over 60 million souls!)

Israel should expect judgment, but--perchance, if there is widespread repentance, and sorrow for offending God, He would be 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 probably also heard about their repentance—and how God changed His mind of His promise of judgment on the Assyrians 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 of his sin, and had a great reformation? Have you ever heard what happened after that? I suspect not. Well, did you ever also hear about how his grandson Josiah had the greatest revival in human history? What, you’ve never heard that one either? Not surprising, considering God’s reaction to these wonderful repentances 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 every nation's judgment.

First, Manasseh’s judgment and repentance. Despite his reforms.  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, based on this contrition, 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. Josiah 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 100% of her prophecies 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)...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, 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 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 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.

Josiah goes farther in reform than his repentant grandfather, because 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 slavery in 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, godless Assyrians a break when they heard Jonah, then 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, despite two stupendous reforms? 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. They are captives, slaves, for life.

You can see why this story is not in books, not in sermons, and not well-known. We don’t like stories with a bad ending. But God is a God of Judgement, as well as a God of Grace. Kill the innocent—by government fiat--and a country gets a bad ending.

 So shouldn't we expect the same for the U.S.--since we have not even repented? A country who seems to lack the spiritual power to slow down or stop the status quo of killing nearly a million innocents a year?

Now a qualifying word:  if any of my readers out there had an abortion, or encouraged one, that's a different subject than judging a country. We’re talking about your individual soul. You will have different consequences than Israel if you repent. Murder will get you to hell—unless you repent and begin living your life for Christ, who came to die to pay for your sin. Become, in your life, 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